Free Coupons and Deals: Bookmark-Worthy Sites

We're suckers for online deals. Coupons and promo codes are like free money. And with today's technology, you can find savings everywhere.

By Samantha Leal for TheNest.com

Thinkstock / The Nest

RetailMeNot.com
This site has one of the web's most comprehensive collections of printable coupons and online promotional codes. What we love is that you can even enter promo codes to determine their success rate -- so you know whether they've expired.

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Coupons.com
Yeah, we know: No-brainer, right? But if you think this site is outdated, you're completely wrong. It has everything you need to save, from loyalty card coupons that you can add to your loyalty card online to local coupons. You can even search for products you want to buy (at a discount).

MyPoints.com
This site is the best resource for making the most of online purchases. Basically, MyPoints gives you points for purchases made with its associated retailers. We're talking everyone from Target and Walmart to Madewell and L.L. Bean. Go to MyPoints.com, search for a retailer, and shop. Once you have enough points, you can redeem them for gift cards to places like Amazon and T.G.I. Friday's. You can even have cash directly deposited into your PayPal account. The best part? You don't even have to shop to get points! Use the search bar to gain points, or click on the MyPoints emails; you'll be racking them up in no time.

Ebates.com
This site is similar to MyPoints, but it only rewards you in actual money via PayPal or paper checks instead.

Swagbucks.com
Search and earn points that you can then redeem for merchandise and gift cards. This site is addictive, and there are a ton of extra ways to earn points, including taking daily polls and watching "Swagbucks TV": video segments with ads that run in the beginning. Hey, time is money -- literally.

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Freecycle.org
Looking to swap? Post a wanted ad that details what you need, and you usually can get it for free. Keep the cycle going by posting the goods you have to offer in return.

Shop4freebies.com
Consider this the ultimate list of freebies. It's updated every day and includes both samples and online coupons. We're talking free food, free cleaning supplies, free haircare.... Hey, if you name it, it's probably on here.

Yipit.com
If you're going the whole daily deal route, a la Groupon, this is the way to go. It's a deal aggregator that gives you the lowdown on price, location, category and more for 115 cities. Your inbox will thank you, as will your wallet.

Lifebooker.com
Need a massage? Haircut? Highlights? This site lets you book for a significant discount (up to 70 percent off!) at a huge number of salons and spas. It also offers "Lifebooker Loot," which alerts you to daily deals for fitness classes, spray tans -- even laser hair removal. And you can read member reviews and submit your own reviews for reward dollars that you can use toward your next appointment. We can't promise you a painless wax, but savings like these can help take out the sting.

Groupon.com and LivingSocial.com
If you're new to the daily deal thing, it's always good to start with the classics: Groupon and LivingSocial offer so many deals for a ton of cities, so you're bound to see some that are applicable to you.

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Getting Serious? Register an Email Solely for Deals
A lot of sites have you register for newsletters, bonus emails and so on. If you're not into it, you can always unsubscribe from the email list. But we find it's easiest just to keep all of these emails in one place with a separate email address. Hey, you never know when you'll want to see that newsletter!

Track Your Deals
Sign up for Manilla.com or CityPockets.com to keep track of your vouchers -- and use them before they expire!

Make the Deals Make Sense
There's a fine line between saving and buying stuff you won't ever use. Don't cross it.

Daily-Deal Buyer's Remorse? Try a Reselling Site
CoupRecoup.com, DealsGoRound.com and Lifesta.com are all sites that help you get your money back on deals you're not going to use by their expiration date. Just in case you did cross that line.

Maximize Your Savings
It pays to do your homework and rack up all the deals you can. What we mean by that: Say you're buying shoes online from DSW. First, make sure you're a DSW Rewards customer and that you have an online login (DSW rewards repeat customers with coupons after you reach a certain number of points). Head to MyPoints.com, click to DSW, and shop. Use a debit or credit card that has rewards points for purchases and log in with your DSW account. Last, enter a promo code from RetailMeNot.com before checking out.

To recap: You purchased shoes at a discount and received points not only for the retailer (DSW), but for MyPoints and your credit or debit rewards program. It's easy to build on this habit for every purchase, even if you don't shop often. Because, hey -- you eventually do have to make life purchases. Our advice? Make them count. (But make sure to pay off that credit card bill in full -- racking up debt is definitely not the way to save!)

Did we miss anything? How do you use the web to find deals?

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