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Winter is coming. Holiday shopping is going to be more expensive than ever.

Save big on last-minute holiday shopping with these  4 free apps and sites

[Images:
rupixen.com
/Unsplash; Rawpixel]

BY Doug Aamoth1 minute read

I just spent $50 at the grocery store on ham, salami, cheese, bread, and pickles. Things have officially gotten out of hand.

As such, it’s more important than ever this holiday season to make sure you’re getting the best deals possible. And instead of inundating you with a laundry list of apps and sites, here’s a short list of truly handy tools that can save you money online and in stores.

Honey

Arguably your best bet for online shopping, Honey works as a browser extension that finds you deals by automatically trying out coupon codes for any shopping sites you’re on.

It finds deals at more than 30,000 stores and, if you frequent Amazon, there’s a special Amazon-only feature that compares prices of products on Amazon against the same products at other online stores to ensure you’re getting the best deal.

There’s also a feature called the Droplist, which allows you to save items you’d like to buy and get notified if they drop in price later.

DealNews

If it’s available for purchase and it’s on sale, it’s almost certainly on DealNews.

It’s a great site to check daily, full of both user-submitted and editorially chosen deals spanning just about every product category under the sun.

I use it often if I need to get something for someone but I’m not quite sure what. It’s the ultimate in window-shopping and deal hunting, all rolled into one.

Upside

Kind of like the aforementioned Honey service but in real life, the Upside app uses your location to determine nearby participating brick-and-mortar stores.

Instead of coupon codes, however, you get cash back on stuff you’d buy anyway.

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Open the Upside app, see what’s available nearby, shop at that store, and you’ll get cash back deposited into your bank account, your PayPal account, or via gift card.

Coupons.com

If you’re still clipping coupons the old-fashioned way, you’re doing it wrong. But if you’re not clipping coupons, you’re routinely leaving money on the table. Quite a predicament, isn’t it?

Check out Coupons.com instead, which lets you virtually clip coupons for brick-and-mortar stores with the click of your mouse. Each coupon you clip gets reflected in a little calculator tool at the top of the screen that shows you how much you’re saving.

Clip a bunch of them at once and then use the handy printing feature to print them out in bulk. You get all the savings with none of the scissor work.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Doug Aamoth is a 20-year veteran of the tech industry and has written extensively about trends in Big Tech; innovative, new products; and personal-productivity tips.You can connect with him on Twitter/X and LinkedIn. More


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