Ways to Save: Postage

Spending money on postage is one of those necessary evils. Being the lover of deals that I am, it always bothers me when I have to shell out money for something that I can never save on such as gas, stamps, parking meters etc.

Well, about 1 1/2 years ago I discovered that I could save on postage. Rather significantly too. And you just might be surprised how: Ebay. Yup, you got it. Ebay. For instance, if you go to Ebay and put "stamps 41" in the Find box, you'll come up with a number of deals. When I did that just now I saw several options for 100 41 cent stamps, one of which was selling for $37 and another for $36. Do the math and you'll find that you save $4 to $5 (assuming the shipping is free, which it often is).

That is a pretty significant savings on stamps I think. All you need to do is buy some 3 cent stamps and you are all set to mail for cheap. Well, sort of. At least it is cheaper.

If you are concerned that it will take you forever to use 100 stamps don't worry. Split them with a friend or just be patient. I have often found smaller amounts for sale as well. It just takes a little willingness to wait.

If you want to make the deal even sweeter, go to Ebates and shop through there. If you are new to Ebates, you'll automatically earn $5 just for signing up. Once you are on the Ebates site, go to the "Select a Store" option, select Ebay and you are on your way to earning 3% back on your stamp purchase (or any other Ebay purchase for that matter).

Another way to save on postage is to pay your bills online. We do this for almost all of our bills and it saves us a significant amount on postage. One thing to be aware of though are payment fees. There are some companies that charge you extra to do online bill payments and of course that is just not worth it!