Maximizing Your Dollars Online: What to Do and What not to Do
While median US household income is at a historic high in nominal terms, the cost of living is also on the rise, and many people, particularly middle-class households, are feeling the squeeze. The picture across the country is also varied, with the Northeast and West Coast continuing to be the areas with higher wages, while rural regions lag.
It is not just geographically that there are differences, either. In 2024, 45% of Americans lived in households with annual incomes of below US $75,0000, but 16% had incomes above US $200,000. Despite billing itself as the land where anyone can become rich, there are still an estimated 38.9million people living in poverty in the country, which is a rate of over 10%.
The truth of the matter is that, unless we are in the rare mega-rich class of billionaires, everyone in the US has been hit by tariffs, inflation, and slowing employment, which have made everyone conscious of rising costs. It therefore makes sense to maximize what we have and save on expenditure where we can.
Looking after the digital pennies
The phrase ‘look after the pennies and the pounds (or dollars) will look after themselves’ still rings true even in an age where fewer and fewer of us carry cash or pay with physical money. Online, we have no option but to use digital services, but we can still keep an eye on the small amounts to make significant savings.
Advertisers would have us believe that we need to buy ‘brand new’ and ‘now’ to maximize our online savings. However, that is often not true. The key to being wise when spending online is to not fall for too many marketing ploys that are not there to make us save money, just spend more. While browsing can be fun, impulse purchasing is one of the fastest ways to minimize our online dollars.
Take your time
Everything on the internet is intended to create a sense of urgency to make sure that you not only look but also put things in your basket and complete the purchase. When we go to most online stores these days, we are asked if we would like a discount in return for our email address. This can be very tempting, and it is a good idea to sign up if you had genuinely intended to make a purchase. However, the trick in the future is not to be lured back over and over again for items you never intended to buy, just because they are at a special price.
Shop wisely
We are not knocking discount codes and offers. In fact, they are a great way to maximize your dollars when shopping online; however, it is essential to know what you want to buy (or at least have an idea) if you are going to use them to save you money. Avoiding impulsive purchases is a maxim to try to live by on the internet, particularly on social media. If we do not keep a check on our impulsivity, we might find ourselves going on social media to look up a few cool cat memes and come away having bought a cat tree, a catio, and an ongoing subscription to gourmet cat food (and we don’t even have a cat!).
Clearly, the above example is extreme, but many of us have come close to going down that slippery path. What is even worse is that, having looked at a social media advert, we now find ourselves bombarded with ads for similar products or the same one if we somehow did not complete the purchase.
Keeping a flutter fun
Maximizing dollars online means having your wits about you. The same rules apply if you are considering having a flutter at an online casino. The first thing to remember is that casino games should be played for fun and are hardly ever a dollar-maximizing activity (other than for the casino owners). Online casinos are businesses, and over time, the house always accumulates more than it pays out.
The experts at Casino.org recommend that you play at the best payout casinos to ensure that you get your hands on any winnings as quickly as possible. That, along with finding great bonuses and playing on games with the highest possible RTP (return to player) rates, is the sure-fire way to stretch your gambling purse. Before you start a session, set yourself a budget and never chase losses by borrowing money. If you treat online casinos as you would any other form of entertainment, you can have a great fun time without breaking the bank.
Maximize subscriptions or avoid them altogether
On the subject of entertainment, another way to keep an eye on the pennies is to consider what subscriptions you have. These days, everything from music and audiobooks to TV and video games seems to be offered on subscription services. Think twice before signing up for yet another one. If you aren’t careful, you can find that you have recurring subscriptions to umpteen services, some of which you hardly ever use. While many of them offer you a free trial period, many of us forget to cancel in time.
If you take out a subscription, set calendar reminders to review and see if you are really using the service. If you are a family, you can often find music streaming platforms like Tidal that allow multiple users on a single account. Sharing the subscription cost enables each person to pay less.
While subscriptions can feel like the only option for many online services, it’s worth noting that there are plenty of alternatives. For example, if you are an audiobook lover, there are options that do not require an ongoing subscription to Audible. For instance, XigXag is an audiobook alternative that allows UK listeners to buy books on a per-title basis rather than a monthly subscription. BorrowBox lets you borrow audio and eBooks for free if your public library is part of the scheme.
Head not heart
Maximizing your dollars online is usually about not jumping in feet first but using your head to think things through and make decisions on needs rather than wants.
