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How to Get the New Gadgets You Want Without Breaking the Bank

There are so many new electronic gadgets on the market every year that, if you love to keep up with technology, you can end up spending a lot of money. It was anticipated that consumers in the United States would spend 5 per person on new electronic devices in 2012, which was a nine percent increase from the previous year, according to NPD. That’s a big chunk of money and, if you are on a budget, it can be impossible to get all the electronics you want or need without overspending. But that doesn’t mean that you have to go without electronics in order to stay within your budget.

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Shopping Online
Shopping online for electronics is a great way to save money. Not only can you find online deals or sales that aren’t available in stores, but you can also use online coupons. While some businesses offer in-store sales or the use of in-store coupons, online sales are prominent, and online coupons are more popular than ever. One study determined that about half of all American adults who shop online will have used an online coupon by the end of 2012, according to one of the article on InternetRetailer. If you haven’t used an online coupon before, using one on an electronic gadget is a great way to get started. It’s easy to find online coupons if you know where to look. Start by searching for a good coupon gathering website. This will be a website that features online coupons and promotion codes from various dealers and makes it easy to find the ones you need for a particular retailer. Once you’ve found the coupon you need, it’s as easy as entering the code during the checkout process to see your savings add up.

Where to Shop
Especially when you are purchasing an expensive electronic gadget, it is not a good idea to buy from an online retailer that you have never heard of. Instead, try shopping the online store of a physical retailer with which you are already familiar, like Best Buy, an electronics store that sells mobile phones, cameras, laptop and desktop computers, tablets, video game consoles, and more. It’s probable that you’re already familiar with this very popular shop for electronics and you might think of Best Buy as the big blue and yellow store that you wander around in when you need a new laptop or a cable for your television, but Best Buy also has a large online presence. In fact, Best Buy is the third most visited online retailer on Black Friday, with 2.75 million unique users, according to StatisticBrain. Part of this presence is due to the online coupons that you can use when shopping BestBuy.com and you can also take advantage of sales that aren’t available in stores. Another great perk to shopping with BestBuy.com with online coupons from sites like Mycoupons is that you can visit one of its many physical stores to browse available items, then shop online to purchase the item and save more by using that online coupon. Best Buy also allows you to make returns, which is essential if you receive an item that isn’t what you expected or that is defective in some way. Another advantage is that you can return items purchased online to the physical store. It’s likely that you live near one of Best Buy’s many stores, so you can save time and money by returning items purchased online to the store instead of shipping them back to the warehouse.

Americans are spending much more on electronics as more items become available and as technology becomes an even larger part of their lives. With all this technology comes a pretty big price tag, and if you can save money on your initial purchase of electronic items, it can offset the cost of keeping them up and running, especially if they come with a monthly usage bill. One survey found that 63 percent of American households spent more money on technology than on utilities, with their mobile phone bills costing the most, according to an article on Huffington Post. If you are spending more money per month on your cell phone bill than you are on your heating and cooling bill, saving on the initial purchase of your tablet or cell phone can really come in handy down the road. Use online coupons to find great deals and shop with reliable retailers in order to feel confident in your purchase, and in the fact that you’ll have no trouble returning it if you don’t like it or if it is defective. Whether you’re in the market for a new tablet, a new cell phone, or that big screen television you’ve always wanted, you can probably find it for less by shopping online and by using promotion codes and online coupons.

By Jayvee Fernandez

Jayvee Fernandez is a tech enthusiast, EAN certified SCUBA Diver and underwater photographer based in Metro Manila, Philippines. His photos and videos have appeared in various international and local publications including Random House Germany, Discovery Channel Canada, and CNN.

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