These days, there are few among us who don’t indulge in spending sprees online. Without a doubt, one of the best online market places on Earth is Amazon, where you can get everything you could ever need for discount prices. But are there even more ways to save money when you shop on Amazon? There sure are!

10. Some Credit Cards Get You More Benefits Than Others.

One of the first rules of shopping is that not all credit cards were created equal, and shopping online is no different! Some credit cards offer rewards for shopping on Amazon, whilst there are other cards created specifically for Amazon shoppers. For those interested in the entertainment sections of Amazon or Foodies the Citi Forward Visa is the best choice, whilst the Amazon Rewards Visa is perfect for every day shoppers.

9. Use Amazon Trade-In To Sell Your Old Stuff.

Using Amazon Trade-In you can trade your old electronics, books and games for Amazon Credit! This may not seem as beneficial as using a site like Gazelle to trade for money, but you are likely to get a significantly larger amount of money in credit than cash. For example, if you trade an iPhone 5 for money you can get around $75, but if you trade for credit you can get $225.

8. If Your Package Doesn’t Ship On Time You Can Get A Refund.

Before you simply accept that your package is late, make sure you check the delivery dates that you were promised when making your purchase. If you package is shipped or arrives late you may be eligible for a refund or an extended Amazon Prime membership. All you need to do is contact Amazon or the seller to receive the rewards for waiting.

7. Get Amazon Add-Ons When You Spend $25 Or Over, Or Skip The Minimum Entirely.

Amazon’s add-on scheme is a particularly crafty piece of marketing as it promises discount prices but only when you spend $25, which may be more than you ever intended to spend in the first place. To get around this $25 minimum and get your add-ons without going overboard, all you need to do is add a pre-order to meet the price. Pre-ordering video games, movies or books is completely free of charge until they are ready to ship, so just make sure you cancel before they’re released.

6. Get A Refund If There’s A Price Drop.

If the price of an item you’ve bought drops within 7 days of it’s delivery then you may be eligible for a refund of the difference. Sure, sometimes this may only entitle you to pennies, but you never know and it’s always worth checking!

5. Get Price Drop Alerts Using CamelCamelCamel.

An easy way to check for price drops is to use CamelCamelCamel, a price tracking site that will email you or send out a tweet when items you want or have recently purchased are reduced. You don’t necessarily have to sign-up to CamelCamelCamel, but doing so allows them access to your Wishlist and tailored emails.

4. Find Anyone’s Amazon Wishlist Using Just A Name Or Email Address.

Speaking of Wishlists, when it comes to what someone really wants there are few better places to check than their Amazon Wishlist. All you need is their name or email address and you should be able to get them what they really want for their birthday, christmas or wedding.

3. Shop On The Amazon Warehouse, Amazon Outlet Or MyHabit.

If you’re looking for seriously discounted goods then you need to take a look at Amazon Warehouse, the home of returned items. You can also check out Amazon Outlet that stores all new items that are 30% or more off or MyHabit, where designer discounts rule.

2. Save By Subscribing.

If you buy your toiletries, hair dyes, nappies or any other products regularly, why not use the Amazon subscribe feature? You choose how often the products are delivered and in the long run it will most probably save you a lot of money, time and energy. More so, if you order five or more subscriptions on the same delivery day you save 15% on your order!

1. Get A Replacement Item Or Refund If Your Package Is Lost Or Stolen.

Without a doubt, the most frustrating risk of shopping online is that your package may never turn up. This has happened to me a couple of times, however Amazon is always there to help. A short chat with customer service will usually result in either a replacement order or full refund depending on which you’d prefer.

Featured photo credit: Noelas via flickr.com

We all like to dream about being financially wealthy. For most people though, it remains a dream and nothing more. Why is that?

It’s because most people don’t set their mind to achieving that goal. They might not be happy in their current situation but they’re comfortable – and comfort is one of the biggest enemies of growth.

How do you go about developing that millionaire mindset? By following these simple steps:

1. Focus On What You Want – And Take It!

So many people are too timid to admit they want something and go for it. When there is something that you want to accomplish don’t think “I could never actually do that”, think “I could do that and I WILL do that”.

Millionaires play to win, not to avoid defeat.

This doesn’t mean to have to become a selfish jerk. What it means is becoming more assertive and honest with yourself. You don’t have to grab off other people. There is a big pot of unclaimed gold in the middle of the table — why shouldn’t you be the one to claim it? You deserve it!

2. Become Goal-Orientated

It’s almost impossible to achieve anything if you don’t set firm goals. Only lottery winners become millionaires overnight. By setting yourself attainable goals, you will get there eventually. Don’t try to get rich quickly — get rich slowly.

Let’s take the idea of making your first million dollars and expand on what kind of goals you might set to get there. Let’s also say you’re starting at a break-even position – you’re making enough to get by with a few luxuries, but nothing more.

Your goal for the first year can be having $10,000 in the bank within a year. It won’t be easy but it is doable. Next, you need to figure out the steps you need to take to achieve that goal.

Always look at ways to make growth before cutbacks. With that in mind, you might want to see if you can negotiate a pay rise with your boss, or if there’s another job out there that will pay better. You might be comfortable in your old job but remember, comfort stunts growth.

You may also have other skills outside of your workplace that you can monetize to boost your bank balance. Maybe you can design websites for people, at a fee of course, or make alterations to clothes.

If this is still not enough to make the money you need to save $10,000 in a year, then it’s time to look at cutbacks. Do you have a bunch of old junk that someone else might love? Sell it! Do you really need to spend $10 on your lunch everyday when you could make your own for a fraction of the cost?

If you are to become a millionaire, you need to start accumulating money.

Here’re some tips to help you: How to Become Goal Oriented and Achieve More in Life

3. Don’t Spend Your Money – Invest It

The reason you need to accumulate money is for step three. Millionaires tend to be frugal people, and that’s because they know the true value of money is in investing. Being your own boss goes hand-in-hand with becoming a millionaire. You’ll want to quit your regular job at some point.

Stop working for your money and make your money work for you.

Rather than buying yourself a new iPad, that $500 could be used to invest in the stock market. Find the right shares (more on that later), and that money could easily double within a year.

There’s not just the stock market — there’s also property, and your own education.

4. Never Stop Learning

The best thing you can invest in is yourself.

Once most people leave the education system, they think their learning days are over. Well theirs might be, but yours shouldn’t be. Successful people continually learn and adapt.

Billionaire Warren Buffet estimates that he read at least 100 books on investing before he turned twenty. Most people never read another book after they’ve left school. Who would you rather be?

Learn everything you can about how economics works, how the stocks markets work, how they trend.

Learn new skills. If you have an interest in it, learn everything you can about it. You’d be surprised at how often, seemingly useless skills, can become extremely useful in the right situation.

Start developing the habit of learning continuously: How to Create a Habit of Continuous Learning for a Better You

5. Think Big

While I advise to start off with small goals, you absolutely should have a big goal in mind. If you have a business idea, then that is your ultimate goal – to start that business and make a success of it. If you want to invest your way to millions of dollars and do little work other than research, then that is your big goal.

There is no shame in not achieving a big goal. If you run a business and aim to make $1 million profit in a year and “only” make $200,000, then you’re still significantly ahead of most people.

Aim for the stars, if you fail you’ll still be over the moon.

6. Enjoy the Attention

To be successful, you have to be willing to promote yourself and enjoy the attention to a certain extent. Now the attention doesn’t need to be on yourself, it could be on your brand, but attention definitely attracts money.

Never be embarrassed to get your name out there. That means finding a spotlight and being brave enough to step right up underneath it.

If you run a business, try contacting the local papers. You’d be surprised at how amenable they often are to running a story about you and your business, and it’s all free publicity.

Above all, remember: You control your own destiny. Push hard enough for anything and you’ll get it.

More About Thinking Smart

• 20 Things Smart People Don’t Do (And What They Do Instead)
• 15 Inspiring Ideas to Boost Your Motivation for Success
• How Millionaires Manage Their Money Differently?
• 5 Ways to Cultivate a Growth Mindset for Self Improvement

Featured photo credit: Austin Distel via unsplash.com