3 Essential Tools Every Online Shopper Should Use to Save Money

Through the years, I've had friends who were faithful couponers sitting at their dining room table on Sunday afternoons, snipping away at the Sunday paper. I've also had friends who could best be described as obsessive shoppers, always on the lookout for a bargain. Neither couponing nor shopping for sport has ever appealed to me. I do enjoy the assistance of 21st-century technology, specifically websites, extensions, and apps that do the hard work for me.

Unless you still enjoy the feel of ink on your hands after hours of clipping coupons or the thrill of moving from store to store to find the lowest price, I suspect you will also appreciate these three essential shopping tools.

1. ShopSavvy

I compare ShopSavvy to my friend Linda. Linda (almost freakishly) always seems to know where the best sales are to be found. Once, when she was shopping for new flooring, Linda tracked prices like a big game hunter tracks prey. The homework she puts into shopping is fascinating, but exhausting.

ShopSavvy is the Linda of apps and browser extensions. You let it know what you're hoping to buy, and it continuously tracks the price of that item across thousands of retailers. It then compares prices across those same retailers to ensure you know where to find the best deal. ShopSavvy even alerts you when an item you've had your eye on drops in price or goes on sale.

But wait, Linda (I mean ShopSavvy) does more: It tells you when an item you want is back in stock. And, if you're shopping in a store, you can scan the barcode of a product you're interested in through the app, and ShopSavvy will bring up other merchants selling the same item. (If you're not a fan of scanning, it also works if you type the item into the search bar instead).

ShopSavvy has a free version, which is just right for the average shopper. Sure, there's an occasional ad, but unless you use it every day, it's unlikely to bother you much. However, if you'd like the ad-free experience, there's ShopSavvy Pro for $2.99 monthly or $29.99 per year.

The ShopSavvy extension is ideal for Chrome, Safari, and Edge browsers. The mobile app works with iPhone, iPad, and Android devices.

2. PayPay Honey

If you've heard of Honey, it's probably because the browser extension is so good at ferreting out coupons and coupon codes.

If, like me, 75% of your shopping has been online since 2020, the extension is a sweet addition to your favorite computer or iOS device. Here's how it works:

• You shop as you normally would (it's not at all creepy that Honey lurks in the background -- honestly).
• Honey keeps an eye on what you're shopping for.
• Once Honey knows what you want, it combs through more than 30,000 retailers to ensure you've found the lowest price and can end the month saving a little more money than usual.
• At the same time, Honey looks for promo codes you can use, and if it finds any, automatically applies the code offering the deepest discount to your order.

It's sort of like having Linda standing behind you at the cash register, just waiting to slap a sweet coupon down on the counter.

PayPal Honey works well for Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge, and Opera browsers. And while it also does its thing as a mobile app on iOS devices, it's not available for Android.

3. Capital One Shopping

There's no need to be a Capital One cardholder to use Capital One Shopping, and to quote Martha Stewart, "It's a good thing." The Capital One browser extension and app are so incredibly good at doing the legwork that it would be a shame if anyone had to miss out.

Like Honey, you just go about your business, shopping for the things you need. As you stop to look at an item, Capital One Shopping gets busy searching for online coupons, rewards, and a lower price.

If it locates a lower price, a small note will pop up on the corner of your screen (I like to think of it as a thoughtful whisper). That note tells you where a better price is available and how much you'll save by scooting over to another retailer to make the purchase.

If you decide to make the purchase (no matter which retailer you decide to go with), Capital One Shopping scans and tests coupons and promo codes. Specifically, it tosses out any that are expired. Occasionally, it will tell you that you've already found the best deal.

Capital One Shopping is a great addition to Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari browsers. The mobile version is available for iOS and Android devices.

I'm unsure if you have a Linda in your life, but even if you don't, that's okay. While you can't share a soft pretzel with any of these online tools, they do make pretty great shopping partners.