Raise your hand if you have Groupon fatigue. OK, now use your other hand to scroll down and check out some websites you might never have heard of that also boost your bank account.
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You don’t need us to tell you about all the online daily deals and flash sales that help you get stuff on the cheap. But there’s a new breed of cash-saving sites out there that are still flying under the radar. And we didn’t want you to go another day without knowing about them...
Manilla
This just-launched site is the mother of all financial organizational tools. It’s like having a personal assistant. For free. Manilla lets you manage everything from your credit cards to your cable bill, your travel rewards points to your cell carrier (and about a gazillion other accounts and programs) in one place with one log-in.(Can we get a hallelujah for not having to remember 27 different passwords slash totally not-securely using the same password for a bunch of sites?) And you can set up alerts to remind you of bills that are due, meaning you won’t be in danger of missing a payment and getting charged through the nose for interest and a late fee. It can even let you know when your subscription to Cosmoor any other magazine is close to expiring so you can renew. Like we said, this is your new personal assistant.
Ebates
We like to call this one the “shopping enabler” because the site literally pays you to make purchases.Ebates is linked up to tons of department and big box stores, in addition to niche retailers like Verizon, Sephora, and Harry & David, and every time you buy something, you get up to 25 percent back—in cash. (Most of the items we checked out offered somewhere between three and 10 percent back, but if you dig around you can find ones that reward you with 25 percent.) The list of stores is so extensive— check it out here—that there’s really no reason not to go to this site first when doing online shopping.
BillShrink
Yes, it does exactly what you think it does. You plug in info like your wireless carrier, your cable provider, the gas stations you use, which credit cards you own, etc. Then BillShrink does a scan of all of the other options available to you and lets you know if you’re overspending and could get a better deal, for example by switching to another cable company or stopping at a different gas station. Oh, and it provides all of this info for free.
Plastic Jungle
Receiving a gift card to Bobby’s Sportfishing & Tackle Warehouse from your uncle (who still hasn’t received the memo that you’re not a nine-year old boy scout) just got a lot less sucky. BecausePlastic Jungle will take that store credit off your hands for close to the full value, and you can even trade gift cards with other users, to get them for stores you actually shop at. You can also use the site to buy gift cards at a discount. So if you’ve had your eye on, say, a $100 duvet cover from Pottery Barn, go to Plastic Jungle first and pick up a $100 gift card, which might only cost you $75. Voila, it’s like everything’s on insta-sale!
GrooveShark
You can listen to any song at any time as many times as you want—for absolutely nada. And you can even save playlists. So instead of dropping a ton of cash on iTunes to put together a mega list of songs for a party you’re throwing, just do it on Grooveshark.
Tenka
We believe this is the next generation of Groupons. You go to the site on your smartphone, scan the ever-changing list of deals offered (things like buy one slice and get the second free, 50 percent off bike rental), claim the coupon (it’s free to do), then go to the restaurant/club/bar/store/whatever to redeem it. There are a limited number of coupons per deal so you have to not only claim it, but actually use it before they run out. Sure, it requires a bit more planning than most group coupon sites, but the upside is that you can open your phone wherever you are, check for nearby deals, then walk right in and use them. And somehow, magically, a good chunk of the deals are actually freebies. Right now Tenka is only available in New York City, but they have plans to expand very soon so keep checking back.
