How to Save Money in 2018 – Summer Deals

How to Save Money with Summertime Deals, Amazon Prime Day, and July Black Friday

Looking for more options on how to save money in 2018? More summer time deals or deal days, such as Amazon Prime and July Black Friday, are great options.

I wrote about summertime sales and deals in an earlier post. But these summertime savings are not just for the holidays. Mid-year is when some websites offer big deal days – big enough that it is sometimes called July Black Friday. The most famous of which is Amazon Prime Day. But others want in on the fun. Read on for more about this year’s Amazon Prime Day and other ways to save with July Black Friday 2018 deals.

How to Save Money in 2018 with Flash Deals

Amazon Prime Day and other Black Friday in July deals are some short-term deals offered via online shopping. This post is more on these deals happening right now, but there will likely be more as summer goes on as I mentioned in this post and in also, this post on how to easily save money with cash back sales and summertime deals.

But, for now, looking for how to save money in 2018 right now? Here are some deals and sites you should check out.

Amazon Prime Day 2018

Unless you have been living under a rock and only visit the internet to view my blog, you probably know that this year’s Amazon Prime Day is this Monday, July 16th, 2018.

What is Amazon Prime Day?

• Basics: 
  • This is the day (or day and a half) that Amazon offers some pretty heavy discounts to prime members.
  • The official Prime Day (or day and a half) starts on July 16, 2018. But there are deals and offers leading up to it.
• Prime Day is for Prime members, so you may want to sign up for a free trial at least or check if you have a nice friend or family member that is a prime member.
  • You need prime, BUT if you have a friend with prime, there is an option for prime members to share access to these deals with a friend or family member.
• This Year’s Prime Day. 
  • This year, Amazon Prime Day has been promoted VERY heavily. I am a bit curious in the deals that will be offered.
  • Especially because this year will offer some special benefits for Whole Foods as its the first year since Whole Foods and Amazon joined together.
    • What does this mean? Read on…

Whole Foods deals and Prime Day (plus everyday deals for Prime Members)

• Whole Foods is now in on the deals.
  • Prime members can get extra deals at Whole Foods on Prime Day and also additional savings on Amazon Prime Day deals for shopping at Whole Foods on Prime Day.
  • So you can save on groceries too!
  • Note: Recently Whole Foods deals and savings rolled out as part of a program for Amazon Prime members. This is separate from prime day (so you can use it whenever!).
    • It is worth mentioning because if you shop at Whole Foods and are an Amazon prime member, then you may want to check it out. Learn more about Prime member Whole Foods deals here.
    • Tip for this? Download the Whole Foods app, available on the App Store and Google Play, before you next shop at Whole Foods.
    • You need to have the app and be logged into your Amazon account to have a code to show at checkout. It is not fun doing this while checking out, so get the app before if you want in on these deals.
    • I am guessing you may need the app too for the Amazon Prime Day related deals, so you may want to go ahead and get the app for that reason as well.
    • Either way, for anyone that shops at Whole Foods, the deals offered to Prime member is another great new way if looking for how to save money in 2018.

Amazon App and $5 off deals before Prime Day. 

• Another thing I have noticed about this year’s prime day? The Amazon App, available on the Apple App Store and on Google Play, is being promoted a bit more.
• So what does this mean? If you get the app now, you can preview some of the upcoming deals.
• Also, you have opportunities to try out features of the app to get up to six $5 off coupons that can be applied to purchases you make that are part of the Amazon Prime Day deals.
• I did one that was using the camera feature on the app which is pretty cool and not too time consuming. This is an easy $5 off.

Prime Day Countdown Deals

• Can’t wait for July 16th to get the deals? Check out some of the Prime Day Countdown Deals here.

Thoughts

• You can view some products that will be on sale prior to Prime Day.
• In the past, some of the biggest deals have gone very fast. These are usually higher priced items. But you can get some pretty substantial discounts by taking advantage of deals offered on this day. If you are considering a bigger item (electronics and furniture for example), my tip is to look at ones you may want now. Unless you make sudden purchases on big items, you may not have time to shop around before items with prime day deals sell out.
• You can watch these items on the Amazon app.
• Even for smaller items, personally I would flag them now since Amazon’s inventory is so huge. Not all items will be part of the prime day sales, but if you see something you may want in the next few days, why not flag it and benefit from the savings (and maybe use one of the $5 coupons mentioned above).
• Also, if you sell anything on Amazon, note that you can add your product to prime day deals – but you should promote it as there are MANY products.

Not a Prime Member? Try Out a Trial!

Free 30-day trial:

Another link (it is not just limited to Prime Day! and there are many benefits to being a prime member throughout the year):

You can also give prime membership to someone:

And if you are a student, save on your Prime subscription:

This was how I originally got hooked on Amazon Prime. And I love it. 6 years later.

2018 Black Friday in July Deals

Another way for how to save money in 2018? Black Friday comes early. Not to be outdone, other retailers are offering online deals with the so-called Black Friday in July.

RetailMeNot offers a great article here highlighting some of the top deals you can get this weekend. You can also check out some more of the deals with RetailMeNot on its black Friday page.

• Get the Chrome browser plug-in for RetailMeNot, discussed in my post on browser plug-in extensions for easy ways to save, to effortlessly see potential savings as you browse the internet.

Timing

• NOTE: some are ending July 13th, so hurry up!
• However, some stores are offering deals a bit longer. It varies by the site so check around if you miss the deals tomorrow.

eBay Deals

Do not forget about the deals on eBay that periodically change and are available here: eBay Deals.

One deal available until the end of July 14th, and while supplies last, is this Free Google Mini Deal. Note it is free so long as you spend a certain amount but is worth checking out.

Ebates

P.S. if shopping on eBay, you can get up to 2% off with Ebates. see my post on browser plug-in extensions and my post on save with cash back apps for more on Ebates which is also featuring some July deals at various retailers.

Now Go Save

Check out some of these deals. Also, share any other deals or tips you have on how to save money in 2018 in the comments or contact me if you want me to add something.

Happy savings. For more ways on how to save money in 2018 check out my master savings post list here.