save money {and your sanity}: 3 fun places to shop online

I've come to love shopping online.

Something about having four little kids completely changes your perspective on mall browsing. The leisurely strolls through Target I so enjoyed when I had only one baby now look more like a mad dash while the hubs and the kids wait in the car. ;)

These days I'd definitely much rather sit on my comfy couch and shop after the kids are in bed!

If you're there with me, here are three places you can shop to save both money and your sanity:

1. Shop Target.
No mad dashes needed- thankfully, now I can shop at Target from home without paying for shipping!

I have a Target Red Debit Card, and when I use it, I get 5% off of my entire purchase, and free shipping on everything online {no minimum}. It's awesome!

The debit card was free- it simply withdraws straight from my checking account like a debit card from my bank, but only works at Target.

This might not be an option if you only use cash, but if you're using your debit card anyway, you could be saving 5% without any effort. And of course, the 5% off works in-store too!

Sometimes they have promotions to sweeten the deal- like buy two, get 10% off, which is something you won't see in stores. The offer also extends to clearance items, which are aplenty over at Target!

2. Shop used bookstores.

In the past, I would buy books new on Amazon without even blinking. Their low price, easy cart and quick free shipping lured me into buying mindlessly. The new book I wanted, Thrive Foods, is $12.60 new there, but one click over to the other small tab revealed the same book, shipped for free from Amazon's warehouse for $11.21. So simple, but so easy to miss sometimes!

The deal with Amazon, though, is that you have to buy $25 worth of items to get the free shipping, unless you pay for their prime membership {$70 per year}. If you don't want to gather $25 worth of items, consider buying your books and saving a few extra pennies over at Half.

I can buy the same book at half.com for $7.37, plus $3.49 shipping, which equals $10.86, an even better deal than Amazon!

Don't forget to always check your used options first when it comes to buying books. There's so much you could be saving!

3. Shop Etsy for gifts.
I love buying personal gifts for my friends and family. Etsy is the perfect place to do it, because the prices are so affordable compared to local personalization shops.

 For less than $50, you can shop for wedding gifts like these family signs:

only $31 shipped here

$35 plus shipping at this etsy shop

And I love this personalized subway art for $25:

And for $8.49 shipped, you can get an adorable custom baby bib like one of these:

And what mama wouldn't love a cute chevron embroidered burp cloth? :D

It's only $14.50 shipped. Not too bad for a special gift! :)

What are your favorite places to shop online and save? 

*Thrive Foods contains affiliate link- if you buy it, I receive a small referral percentage from Amazon