A summer spent on Katy Perry concerts and six flags summer passes could leave any teen broke, but with the help of a few computer clicks, teens can use websites to regain money lost on summer activities.
According to Farnoosh Torabi, author of You’re so money, teens could easily cut costs on clothes and outings if they were aware of the countless ways to earn and save money online.
Some LZHS teens, such as junior Colleen Loverde, have utizlized these saving sites and redeemed extra money in the process.
“I love bookscouter.com. When I transferred from Carmel, I had all these unused textbooks, and so I looked to sell them online” Loverde said.
Bookscouter is a site that displays other websites that buy textbooks and novels and tracks the highest offer. If you choose to sell to one of the websites suggested, a Visa gift card for the going price will be sent in the mail. Amazon gave Loverde $47.84 through Bookscouter for her Chemistry and World History books.
Loverde also suggests Gazelle, which buys old electronics like cell phones and cameras online. Gazelle offered Loverde $42 for her used Motorola Droid X.
“Gazelle definitely buys products that are new and in high demand, but if they aren’t, they’ll offer to recycle, and it’s nice to not have them sitting around anymore” Loverde said.
But teens shouldn’t worry if they don’t have items to sell because couponing is another way to stock up on cash. Junior Angela Ufeil uses the web to find coupons for her favorite stores and restaurants.
“My favorite sites are couponsherpa.com and teenfreeway.com.” Ufeil said. “Every time I go out, I save about $5-7, which may not seem like a lot, but after a couple of months I’ll have saved enough for a new phone.”
Teenfreeway.com offers printable coupons to everything from 30 percent at Barnes and noble to $10 off at JC Penny and free drinks from McDonald’s.
Ufeil finds and uses $5 off and free appetizer coupons when she eats at places like Chili’s and TGI Friday’s with friends.
“The best deals I find are usually for restaurants because they encourage you to go to their establishment by offering free starters and desserts,” Ufeil said.
However, the deals aren’t limited to just restaurants. Ufeil says she spends most of her money on movie tickets, so any deal she can find online is a good one.
“On fandango.com, I got free movie tickets just for getting my family to sign up for Netflix,” Ufeil said.
Bargain hunters can also score extra movie cash by switching in unwanted gift cards for ones from theaters such as AMC and Regal.
Ufeil and Loverde both suggest sites like plasticjungle.com and giftcardgranny.com, which accept gift cards from hundreds of stores in exchange for gift cards offered on their website at a discounted price.
“I’m always spending money going to the movies and buying clothes when I can, so I’m always looking for that extra way to save,” Loverde said.
With the help of a few computer clicks, Torabi believes all teens can splurge where they want if they know about the deals hiding in every town.
“There are opportunities everywhere to make money,” Torabi explains in her book, “and we, as a bright, young, energetic crowd, have the highest potential to capitalize on this than any other demographic.”