Saving early on

Groupon, LivingSocial and Eversave are wonderful new tools to help save money. The way these websites make money by keeping approximately half the money the customer pays for the coupon. So, for example, an $80 massage could be purchased by the consumer for $40 and then the coupon website and the retailer would split the $40. That is, the retailer gives a massage valued at $80 and gets approximately $20 from the coupon website for it. The consumer gets the massage, in this example for $40.

There are many reasons to purchase these 50%-90% discounted deals in your area as well as areas you visit or know people in. Each website will email you the main deal of the day but if you click on the email there are side deals on the side bar (usually deals that are from earlier in the week that did not sell out). Here are some reasons to subscribe to these daily coupon websites...

Gifts-
PROBLEM: It is Christmas and you wanna get that perfect gift for your sister that doesn't have room for one more thing in her apartment and has a very particular taste in clothing. Everything is wicked expensive or stores are just too crowded.
SOLUTION: Subscribe to one or all of these coupon websites NOW. Then when you see one that makes you think of your sister, purchase it. Check the expiration date and often it is a full year from when you purchase it.

PROBLEM: Your cousin lives in Dallas, TX and mailing him a gift gets costly.
SOLUTION: Subscribe to Groupon, LivingSocial or Eversave for Dallas and wait for a good coupon to come in then purchase. You can email this to them or mail it.

Out of Town Guests-
PROBLEM: You want to show of your area's finest attractions and restaurants but don't want to spend so much money that you can only order water and crackers.
SOLUTION: Wait for a coupon to come to your email that is for a nice restaurant or fun event and purchase it and keep it on hand for when guests do arrive

Date Nights-
PROBLEM: When you and your honey-bunny finally get time off of work together you have to figure out where you want to go and how to save money at the same time.
SOLUTION: Buy a coupon for something that will interest both of you and keep it handy.
ie. I saw a coupon for a $50 gift certificate for a Brazilian BBQ (where they shave the meat at your table and you eat unlimited amounts of food) for 50% off. I spent $25 and kept it in my glove box and one night when we both had off and were craving a nice sit-down dinner we used the coupon.

TIP: If you hate getting daily emails that clutter your mailbox, set up a separate email account just for the coupons (and other things that require your email )to be sent to.

Today's deals on Groupon, Eversave and LivingSocial in Boston:
$39 for two personal horseback riding lessons and a grooming tutorial ($139 value-68% off)
$39 for 1 hour deep-tissue or swedish (or combo of both). ($80 value-51% off)
$12 bikini wax ($25 value) or $27 for Brazilian wax ($55 value)
$10 for pizza, wings and soda at Anthony's hand-crafted pizza ($20 value-50% off)
$223 for 2-night weekday stay at a historical VT inn, 2 passes to Ben & Jerry's ice cream tour, 2 passes to Cabot visitor center and cheese factory, daily breakfast for 2, nightly appetizer at River House restaurant and a bottle of wine. ($446 value-50% off)