CouponBirds Scholarship Winner List

We've all seen the TLC specials that foray into the world of extreme couponing, in which people buy 100 bottles of shampoo at a time and keep an incredible stockpile of consumer goods in their garage. The issue is, if the public perception of couponing remains too extremist and too fanatical, couponing will be unattainable and unrealistic for the vast majority of individuals who don't have the time or desire to take couponing to such lengths. Coupon sites, like CouponBirds, need to dispel this myth and put the power of couponing back into the hands of everyday consumers, who currently view couponing as too big of a hassle for too small of a reward. By commoditizing coupons as a method of exchange between individuals through fun and intuitive user interface design, CouponBirds can gain an incredible competitive advantage.

The future of couponing lies in the ability of platforms to build interpersonal connections between individuals. Referral programs are an incredibly powerful tool to growth, and while no one tool is the extensive solution to a complex problem, referrals are a great place to start. Let's look at some contextual statistics first-

92% of consumers trust referrals from people they know, individuals are 4x more likely to complete a purchase after being referred by a friend, and 77% of consumers are more likely to buy a new product when learning about it from friends or family (Nielsen, 2013).

So, referrals are important on paper, but what about in practice? Let's look at some recent case studies-

Popular commission-free stock trading app Robinhood built a base of 1 million users before it had even launched (Mengoulis, 2019). PayPal used referral systems to invest in its direct customer base, eventually growing its $60 million investment into a market cap of $46.6 billion; Dropbox rewarded referrals with free storage on its platform, and they had gained 2.8 million new users in their first month (Eke-Allen, 2018).

Why Do Referrals Work?

There's a psychological phenomenon referred to as FOMO (fear of missing out). Everyone hates the idea of missing out, and they love the idea of being ahead of the curve. By harnessing this concept and coupling it with an incredibly simple sign-up process, user bases can grow exponentially in a short amount of time. Gamification is another great method of keeping user interest, especially when the rewards of these games are actually desirable, and in this case, the reward is saving money-who doesn't love to save money?

Next Steps for CouponBirds

Short term: Incorporate a referral system into your website design, leveraging email lists with referral codes to build your user base.

Mid term: Continue to expand this program where users can achieve rewards for different levels of referrals, creating a fun user interface within which users enjoy earning rewards and using them to redeem different coupons.

Long term: Develop a CouponBirds mobile app to make it incredibly easy for users to text links, codes, coupons, and rewards to one another. Allow scanning of coupons directly in the app interface with Apple Wallet integration to enable consumers to pay for their goods alongside Apple Pay and their other mobile payment methods.

...As a kid, I grew up learning to appreciate my little pocket money. I accumulated my pennies until it was enough to buy my favorite magazine at the store around the corner. While my small income increased with taking on part-time jobs; unfortunately, my wishes grew bigger as well. In every stage of life, there are things we desire: Entertainment, higher education, a new apartment, or a trip abroad. Everybody has their own priorities, and I became tired of seeing my dollars being 'wasted' for expenses that were essential but seemed pointless to me. The first and most important step to save money is to spend your limited budget mindfully. And therefore, to make up your mind about what your priorities are.

Over the years, I managed to prioritize my expenses and use tricks in my daily life to save money on things I care less about in order to have it available for items on my wish list. For me, education comes first, then traveling and, occasionally, going out with friends. In return, I am willing to make compromises on drugstore items, electronic devices and groceries. Other people might prioritize fashionable clothes or regular appointments at the coiffeur, and in turn spend their vacation at home.

So, how do I actually spend less on my trade-offs? There are many ways to get a good bargain: Paper or online coupons (CouponBirds or apps like SnipSnap), watching out for weekly ads, or sticking to special days like Christmas and Black Friday. However, there are more opportunities – even without much effort. Most of the stores you enter daily offer some reward program that can be joined online. Of course, companies do not forego money just because they are so nice. Their purpose is to gather and evaluate customers data. This is nothing bad per se, just something I think everybody should be aware of. Setting up an extra e-Mail account not only helps to keep track of your memberships but prevents any other data usage from linked accounts as well. Reward programs work in different ways. Some send their members exclusive offers and coupons (like CVS) and others convert your in-store spending to points that can be redeemed on further purchases (e.g. Starbucks, Best Buy). The point-programs may only become beneficial if you are shopping regularly at this place and spend a considerable amount of money. Be careful not to increase your visits to gather more points – you will end up spending more than before, that's the catch. However, many companies already reward you for signing up, with free dishes for example. Thepennyhoarder gives you a great overview of these deals, but the most rewarding for me are iHop, Moe's, and DairyQueen. In addition, you will receive gifts or coupons on your birthday (e.g. Starbucks, Cinnebon, Sephora).

Another kind of memberships are websites where you can purchase discounted vouchers, such as Groupon or LivingSocial. They are especially handy when it comes to visits at the coiffeur or gym contracts, but also for restaurants and webstores.

Another beneficial way for me to pile up my savings (and my karma points) is to buy used goods. This refers to clothes as well as electronics, furniture and even food.

Food? Yes, food. By 'used' food I mean items, that have expired (often found in the last aisle of the grocery store) and dishes a restaurant or café could not sell during the day. The app 'Too Good To Go' allows you to scroll through participating places in the area, purchase a meal or surprise bag for only a couple of dollars, and pick it up at a certain time. I have already had bags filled with pastries and masses of sushi for a couple of dollars. This is not only a great way to save money, but to fight food wasting, too. Same counts for thrift shops like Salvation Army or Goodwill, small vintage stores, flea markets, garage sales and online marketplaces like Craigslist, Ebay, Tradesy, Swappa or Facebook. Here, you find clothes as well as everything for your household. It might require more time to find what you are looking for, but you will end up spending a tiny part of your usual shopping expense and give a new life to a product. This is a cheap and sustainable way to obtain something exceptional and rare. The furniture pieces I like most are the ones I got for little or no money and restored myself.

Spending less money, however, is only one side of the coin. The reverse side is selling goods that became needless. Every few months, I go through my clothes and sort out what I have not been wearing in the last half-year and evaluate if it is worn down or can be resold. Think about gadgets you bought but never really used, or electronics you kept even after replacing them with new devices. While they lost their value for you, others might be looking to buy these secondhand – to save money, too. The same marketplaces you use to purchase secondhand items can be used to sell your belongings, too. Even if the individual profit is small, its sum can be remarkable. I have sold many pairs of shoes that never quite fit, games I stopped playing, and relicts of hobbies I abandoned.

In conclusion, efficiently saving money requires the right mindset. You should reflect upon what is truly worth your money, make these your priorities and, in return, agree on compromises regarding other expenses. It can be helpful to first monitor these expenses and then searching for tricks to reduce them: Deals, reward programs, used alternatives etc. For me, this has turned out to be a great way to balance between saving and spending. Not only do I save a lot of money in my daily life, but I still get to enjoy what really matters to me and it makes me happy that I enabled myself to afford it. Spending money should not cause a bad conscience – it just needs to be well considered. And I love to spend what I saved!

...Saving money begins with making this mundane task a priority. Big shocker right? I think not. It makes sense. If one wants to save money, one needs to constantly think about how, what, when, where and why that individual should save. This all begins with setting aside time for this matter and allotting costs to any monthly fixed and variable expenses. Fixed expenses are those reparations that do not fluctuate and remain stationary. These include set in stone bills such as rent, insurance, dues and subscriptions. Variable expenses are the opposite, where they fluctuate depending on sales, production, or some other activity. These include groceries, credit card bills, clothing, automobile gas and utility costs. In all, this is budgeting in its basic form. There are many mobile applications as well as online websites, such as Mint (www.mint.com), Money Lover (https://moneylover.me/), and Mobills (https://www.mobillsapp.com/). These are all free simultaneous websites and applications both on Apple and Android, so there's no excuse not to use them! They all calculate one's income and distribute it in terms of where one needs to save and where one can and should spend. Even though this is the primary way of saving, it helps not to think of this as a chore but rather as something that will allow one to essentially stop living paycheck to paycheck and eventually reward him/herself with something gratifying. Setting aside just one to two hours a week can help one save $25-$50 weekly. Think of it as wholly investing one's time into something worthwhile!

Another essential but often overlooked tip is to utilize coupons and discount codes. With the wave of the digital age and the Internet, there is no reason to absolutely avoid any of these because people can take advantage of these simply from the comfort of their own home. This aligns with the first tip, making the time to actually make the effort to save money where one possibly can, even when it comes to one's wants vs. one's needs. My favorite Google Chrome browser installation that I utilize whilst shopping is Honey (https://www.joinhoney.com). It synchronizes with sites that it is applicable too (i.e. Domino's Pizza, Bath & Body Works, Redbox, Amazon), calculates all coupon codes, and then chooses the best one with the biggest discount. There are even mobile applications for most stores that allow one to collect points and receive discounts that further decrease spending costs. Furthermore, sites such as CouponBirds (https://www.couponbirds.com/), RetailMeNot (https://www.retailmenot.com/) and Groupon (https://www.groupon.com/) allow one to obtain a multiplicity of not only coupon codes but huge discounts for products such as clothes, furniture, automobile tools, social activities, and much more. One can name it, and it is there! There is literally a coupon code for everything. Even when it comes to the more traditional couponing methods, one can discover coupons on their receipts from previous purchases for their next shopping trip, whether it be from the grocery store or online clothing purchases. Even the classic Entertainment Book (https://www.entertainment.com) sold in local school fundraisers and now individually obtainable have gravitated towards being simultaneously tangible coupons as well as online and mobile coupons so that it is more user friendly in today's technological frenzy. If worse comes to worse, Google (http://www.google.com) is one's best friend. Literally looking up each key word of what one is trying to discover a coupon or discount code for is possible due to this widespread innovation of a search engine.

An additional huge trick for saving is utilizing cash back websites and mobile applications. Just like coupons, they offer one to save. However, these require spending one's money in full and then subsequently getting the cash back after the purchase has been made. In all, this is still a good way for preserving one's money. My few favorites of these when it comes to using a desktop or laptop are Swagbucks (https://www.swagbucks.com) and Ebates (https://www.ebates.com). Just utilize them while shopping and automatically get sent a check in the mail or even gift cards to compensate for a certain portion of one's purchase back. Even mobile applications such as iBotta, Checkout 51, and Receipt Hog allow one to scan their receipts (typically grocery purchases) and get an allotted amount of money back. With these inventions, no wonder it is more than possible to save the loads of money!

With all of the means to saving money, there is no possible way for them to be effective without one's true intentions being, without a doubt, to control his/her money. Truly think about the purchase being made. Is it necessary? Or will it end up in the shed later down the road? Think of each purchase as an investment, no matter how little, and this will get one to build the habit of healthy spending and consumership. Additionally, do not assume and always be sure to read the fine print. When it comes to returns and exchanges, sometimes it is better to be safe than sorry and know the store's policy before making the purchase. So be sure to explore all avenues of where one can make this specific purchase to truly get the greatest deal. Correspondingly, keep a paper trail. This will ensure that if any purchases do need to be returned or exchanged, one is able to willingly do so and get fully refunded without worrying about where the receipt is. Lastly, a trick that I carry up my sleeve is that I assume every transaction cannot be undone. By thinking this way when it comes to every single purchase I make, it wholly guarantees that I am for sure and serious about my purchase. It makes me truly think about all aspects of how and why I am making this purchase.