You don’t need me to tell you money is tight. And yet, Amazon just hit record sales in July during their Prime Day sales — raking in $12.7 billion. So perhaps we could all benefit from making more disciplined choices online.
Some things don’t last, and others we don’t treat as well as we should.
But if you want the latest and greatest, there are ways to save a buck. Be careful though, or you will you might just cost yourself more money while trying to score yourself a deal.
Here are some failsafe tips for stretching your dollars while expanding your own personal technological capabilities.
When you sign up for a free trial, always put a reminder in your phone or calendar app a week or so before the trial expires. Schedule a backup reminder, too, the day before the trial ends
Set TWO calendar reminders to cancel free trials
Free trials are great for binging a season of a show or catching a movie — if you remember to cancel before you’re charged. It’s easy to tell yourself you’ll remember, but streaming companies are banking on you forgetting.
When you sign up, put a reminder in your phone or calendar app a week or so before the trial expires. Schedule a backup reminder, too, the day before the trial ends.
If you don’t use the service much during the trial period or feel the price is not worth the service, cancel. You’ll usually have access for the remainder of your trial period.
Monthly fees add up. Check to see what you’re paying for and ensure you still need it. Open the App Store, sign in, tap your profile picture or initials, and then tap Subscriptions to find out
Review your subscriptions in Apple’s App Store
Maybe you signed up for an app that only charges a few bucks a month. ‘Sure,’ you thought. ‘I’ll meditate every morning. This is totally worth $2.99.’
Over time, those monthly fees add up. Check to see what you’re paying for and ensure you still need it.
- Open Apple’s App Store and sign in, if you aren’t already.
- Tap your profile picture or initials, then tap Subscriptions.
- Select the app you want to cancel and choose Cancel Subscription.
- Open your device’s Settings app.
- Next: Tap Google > Manage your Google Account.
- Select Payments & subscriptions.
- Under Subscriptions, you will see a list of apps you pay for and the next date you’ll be charged.
- To cancel, tap Manage subscriptions, then choose the app subscription you want to remove. Choose Cancel subscription at the bottom of the page.
Don’t cut corners on tech safety
Being cheap can cost you. It’s easy to find charging cables that only cost a few bucks, but don’t expect them to last long.
Even worse, cheap charging cords can be dangerous. One girl woke up to her bed in flames after her charger caught fire. If you’re shopping for a phone charger or replacement cable, get an official or certified cable. When it comes to third-party options, choose a reputable company like Anker or Belkin.
The same goes for bargain e-bikes and other tech that could do some real damage if the lithium-ion battery goes up in flames.
If it ain’t broke, skip the upgrade
Let’s face it: You fall for the marketing. We all do.
So what if the latest fill-in-the-blank is faster, more powerful and shinier! Do you really need it?
If whatever tech you’re considering upgrading works fine, don’t get caught up in the vicious cycle.
Whether it’s a TV, laptop, phone, drone, desktop or wearable, there will always be something newer, better, smaller, larger, more powerful, and faster for you to buy.
So, give your credit card a break. It’s costly to upgrade all the time, plus it takes time and effort to switch from the old to the new.
Only buy used tech with a good return policy
Just like with used cars, you need to shop carefully to make sure you’re not getting a lemon that doesn’t work correctly.
Used tech goes by several names, including ‘refurbished,’ ‘renewed,’ ‘off-lease’ and ‘remanufactured.’ The manufacturer or the site will typically offer a return policy or special warranty.
And make no mistake: You need these assurances with any used tech.
Second-hand devices sold by individuals on sites like eBay, Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace may be cheaper for a good reason. You’re relying on the seller’s opinion to vouch for their device’s condition.
Unless you set up certain conditions before buying, such as using an escrow service, you won’t get any guarantees that their device works as advertised. You might end up with a PC that’s just a huge paperweight.
Stick with options like Amazon Refurbished, Best Buy, and others with a solid return policy. You’ll be thankful you did.
Free software is often just as good as the pricey stuff
Usually, you get what you pay for. Sometimes, though, talented developers create useful apps that work just as well as the most popular paid software.
Consider LibreOffice, Focus Writer, or Google Docs for an alternative to Microsoft Word.
FreeOffice TextMaker is another solid Microsoft Office alternative. It’s handy when you need to open .doc and .docx files. Unlike other free word processing programs, it offers a spell check feature in 58 languages. Like Word, you can insert tables, pictures and drawings.
Another great offering from FreeOffice is PlanMaker, their free Excel alternative.
Photoshop is powerful, but you might not need everything it offers. Canva makes it easy to make quick photo edits and graphics. And GIMP is a solid Photoshop copycat.
Do your research before you shell out money on an expensive program, even really complex software like audio and video editors.
Not only is audio track editing complex — especially for beginners — but the programs for this task can cost you an arm and a leg. Not so with Audacity, one of my favorite free programs.
It is easy to use once you get the hang of it. Even a beginner can pick up the process after a few minutes of watching tutorials on YouTube.
If you need to edit video on the cheap, try out DaVinci Resolve 17. As with any powerful editing software, there is a learning curve. But this one is a beauty and its tools go way beyond simple cropping.
It’s available for Mac, Windows and Linux operating systems and allows you to make quick edits to your video clips or packages.
VLC is another great free program: It’s a free, open-source media player that plays almost every audio and video file format in existence.
If you’re shopping online without using a browser extension to help you score discounts, you’re paying too much. Try camelcamelcamel, Honey, or Capital One Shopping while you look
Score deals with these browser extensions
If you’re shopping online without using a browser extension or a third-party site to help you score discounts, you’re paying too much.
- Capital One Shopping provides easy coupon codes that instantly apply to your cart at checkout.
- The Camelcamelcamel extension tracks price drops on Amazon, so you don’t have to keep refreshing.
- The Honey browser extension can help you search for coupons across more than 30,000 websites. It can also auto-apply discounts right when you check out.
Sales: set them, so you don’t forget them
Shopping for something specific — and expensive? Set a Google Alert so you know when it goes on sale. This is worth it if you’re making a big purchase.
- Go to Google.com/alerts and log in, if you aren’t already.
- In the search box, type in the product name and a word like ‘sale’ or ‘discount.’
- Click the pencil icon to edit the alert. Here, you can choose how often you want to receive alerts, sources, etc.
- To finish, click Update alert.
Sound like a tech pro, even if you’re not! Award-winning, popular host Kim Komando is your secret weapon. Listen on 425+ radio stations or get the podcast. And join over 509,000 people who get her free 5-minute daily email newsletter.
