The Internet can be a pain. It’s over-priced for high speed, has annoying glitches, and you really have to wade through some terrible crap sometimes to find what you need. That said, would I give it up for a swimming pool full of chocolate - NO.

The Internet, with all it’s issues, has changed how we do just about everything, and best of all it can save you money. Here are five ways that surfing can save you big bucks.

Reviews: How often have you bought something and ended up hating it? With the Internet, you can find reviews on almost everything on the planet - books, soup, coffee, toys, cars, movies, electronics, real estate agents, and more. Best of all, most reviews are totally free. However, take reviews with a grain of salt. I always hit my most truested sources, like say, CNET for tech gear, and I always double check with other review sites.

Home, fun, & cooking: Kids crafts, adult crafts, patterns, coloring pages, recipes, DIY plans for a greenhouse, DIY sink fixes, and so much more are available online. It pretty much eliminates the needs for coloring books, cookbooks, and a lot more.

Banking fees: You can save on checks with online bill pay, save time and money by never actually setting foot in your bank - most offer all services online, and even learn about stocks and bonds. Banking and money transactions have come a long way online, and using these services can save you money.

Coupons & deals: For example, right here at Thrifty Mommy, Karen posts all kinds of sales, coupons, and deals for you to enjoy, and she’s not the only one. There are plenty of online sites completely dedicated to locating you the best deal possible on every item under the sun.

Music and movies: While I hate to think of the web as the best entertainment (get outside!) it’s true that there are tons of free entertainment options online. You can download or listen to music, watch movies, and even do away with cable but still watch your favorite television programs online.

Now - tell me how the Internet saves you money?

[image via stock.xchng]

In my previous post, five reasons why I don’t use coupons, I noted that one of my issues with coupons was their non-green factor. It’s a lot of paper waste, especially since not all of us recycle as well as we should. Well, I recently got the heads up about a new application that eliminates paper coupons (to a point) and still saves you money.

What’s this application?

Coupon Sherpa is an application you can add to your iPhone or iPod Touch. It allows you access to hundreds of in-store coupons for tons of merchants.

Coupon Sherpa allows access to two types of coupons…

“Exclusive Coupons - This application features coupons from many retailers that are exclusive to Coupon Sherpa users. Show these coupons to at checkout to receive the discount.

In-Store Coupons from the Internet - The Coupon Sherpa staff scours the Internet daily to conveniently bring you the best in-store coupons. Find a coupon you would like to use by searching for the store name or category, then show it on your iPhone at check out, or email it to yourself to print out later.”

See a video of how Coupon Sherpa works.

Coupon Sherpa Features:

• Hundreds of in-store coupons
• Find coupons by category or store name
• Email coupons to friends
• Create your own favorites list of stores
• Find the nearest store
• Exclusive coupons that can’t be found elsewhere
• New coupons added daily

What does this cost?

This is a pretty inexpensive application out of the box - $1.99, BUT in honor of Earth Day you can download it FREE until Friday. Visit Coupon Sherpa to learn more.

What do you think? Is this something you might try?

[images via Coupon Sherpa]

I have had the best luck finding online coupons by simply searching the “item” and “coupon” on Google. It is worth a shot to get even more off of your online purchase since you will be paying for S&H, which I abhor! I recently found a 25% off coupon for Potty Patty Panties for Turkey Butt.  Here is my search result and you can see that there were many sites to choose from.  They are wonderful as they don’t leak and we aren’t having much luck with a very STUBBORN little girl and the potty.  I consider her potty trained since she knows what to do.  She just refuses some days and I will not keep buying pull ups for daytime.  I will just do laundry every day.

But I regress…  So if you want to find out if there are promo codes you can use online before you check out, go to Google and search your item or company and coupon.  You will be surprised at the money you can save.  Free shipping is usually the most common coupon you will find.  Good luck!

I love Turkey Butt’s Potty Patty Panties.  They are an all in one waterproof training pant.  That way, I don’t have to use pull ups since she treats them like a diaper.  I might have to do laundry every day but at least she will stop getting diaper rash from her pull up and maybe she will stop being so stubborn soon and can go to big girl panties.  But I found a coupon online that gave me 25% off.  So if you are in the need for potty training tools or waterproof training pants that are wonderful, use 25-off-newsletter in the coupon box for 25% off your order.  And if your order is $50 or more, you can get free shipping.

All of the technology improvements have made it easy to reproduce or even create coupons.  Printed coupons meant for limited distribution are being scanned and emailed in mass quantities.  This is causing stores to be hesitant to accept printed coupons.  Some stores are now refusing them altogether.

If a coupon sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.  You may want to call the retailer to check a coupon’s validity or make sure it came from a store newsletter or website.  The coupon shown above is for Blockbuster.  According to Snopes, this one is real but not valid.

Have you had any problems using coupons that you have printed from the internet?