5 Best Places to Save Money Online for Fun Family Purchases

No matter how frugal your budget, everyone needs to splurge from time to time on family fun. Whether your family is into charades and shadow puppets or roller coasters and axe-throwing, every family has its thing. More and more families are finding ways to stay in and have fun. While there's a lot to be said for playing hot lava monster with couch cushions and used Amazon boxes, at some point it's nice to loosen up those digital purse strings and splurge. Here are five great places you may not considered for making a family fun purchase for the whole house to enjoy.

eBay - hit up their selection of nostalgic toys and games

eBay is well known for auctions and consumer-to-consumer sales and purchases and is actually a wonderful place to save money. You can find gently used and brand new toys, lawn games, board games, and all sorts of fun things to enjoy as a family. Lawn darts, puzzles from the 1950's (or earlier), and vintage working record players and vinyl LP's, are a few great items you can find on the cheap. And you don't have to hit up an auction war to buy. Plenty of people price their items to sell - no bidding needed. To ensure that you save the most money while shopping on eBay, make sure you compare and contrast prices. Never buy the first item you see because chances are, there are others that are way cheaper. Take time to compare with other sellers, and you may find an even better deal. You should also ensure that you negotiate with the seller.

Old Navy sells way more than just clothes

Old Navy sells clothing for men, women, and children in various sizes and is an excellent place to shop if you are looking to save money. Find matching family outfits for cheap at Old Navy, as well as other goodies you might not have known they carried like lovely board books (with artisan quality infographics), washable sidewalk chalks, puzzles, excavation kits, glow-in-the-dark fossils, photo props, checkers games, and much more.

You can compound these savings by using one of their coupon codes (Old Navy always has coupons), earning cash back on your purchase through a deals site like Swagbucks or MyPoints, and then opting for in-store pickup to avoid shipping charges. (Although you can get free shipping from Old Navy for orders of $50 or more.)

Kohl's has delightfully fun novelties

You can get nearly anything you need for the family at Kohls. They stock furniture, footwear, household appliances, clothing, among other items. Most of us think of Kohl's as the place to buy clothing and shoes for kids (it is) but there are a lot of fun novelties you can get for the entire family at Kohl's. Because every family needs a giant inflatable dinosaur sprinkler or Jaws themed shark attack sprinkler. Their inflatable fun starts at just $19.99. And you can earn cash back on your Kohl's purchase if you shop Kohls.com through a deals site like Swagbucks, Rakuten, MyPoints, or Honey.

Facebook Marketplace

Before you click "buy" or "purchase" anything online, check out Facebook Marketplace. Odds are good that someone in your area is listing something similar to what you're looking to buy - if not the very same item itself. I've found plenty of treasures online for my family, including: a like-new wood play kitchen for $20, a well-loved (but still usable) trampoline for $10, free buckets of crayons, and a free Radio Flyer tricycle.

Summary

Buying fun family things doesn’t have to be the huge investment you may think it is. There are plenty of money saving options available, even at the biggest brands as we’ve shown above. For further money saving, it’s always worth checking out cash back shopping sites, apps like LetGo, consignment shops, and local yard sales and garage sales.

stacy.g@prodege.com

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