Budget conscious and looking to save money on your purchases? Instead of window shopping, you can try buying what you need (or want) online.

You can easily save lots of money by shopping online and utilizing discount coupons. Here is how it works.

Online retailers are giving away great discounts to try and attract new customers. They do this because the Internet space can be highly competitive. Prices are transparent, and consumers are more price sensitive. With a few clicks of the mouse, they can check out the latest prices at different online stores. Who do you think they will buy from? Obviously, they are more likely to buy from the store with the best prices. For this reason, many online stores offer great deals all year round to try and attract (and keep) customers.

Discounts are usually in the form of digital promo codes. There are no physical vouchers. A simple code is given to you. To get your discount applied to your purchase, just apply the code during the checkout process. Note that the discount is applied BEFORE you proceed with payment. So you get to see how much discount you are getting with the promotional code. The amount you can save depends on the coupon you are using. Some coupons can give you as much as 50% discount or more! So how do you get hold of these coupons? There are several ways you can acquire discount codes.

1) Join newsletters. Online retailers often encourage web visitors to sign up to their newsletters. They then communicate with these potential customers through email. Once you join their newsletter, they will send you their latest deals, offers, etc.

2) Blogs. Coupons and often posted in both personal and business blogs. Don’t just depend on the retailer’s blogs for coupons. Sometimes, retailers allow their affiliates to create their own coupons. These affiliates then post their custom codes on their personal blogs. You may end up with a greater discount with these codes!

3) Forums. The shopping community is easily excited when there is a great deal going on. For instance, let’s say a popular tech gadget is on sale at 50% off. Someone grabs hold of this special offer and posted it in a related forum. Look out for special threads like that and you may just find some unique codes.

4) Social networking. Social networks like Twitter has been growing very quickly. When there is a great offer, the word spreads like wild fire. The retailer publishes a discount coupon and someone posted a tweet on the website. His friends get to see the tweet and they, in turn, retweet the same information and the word gets passed around. If you have many friends in your social network, it’s hard to miss great discounts.

Here are some possible items that will help you maximize your savings.

1) Cosmetic products – These can be expensive. So applying a discount coupon can lead to massive savings.

2) Electronics and furniture. – Each item can cost thousands of dollars. Even at just 10% off, you are saving hundreds of dollars.

3) Digital products. – Need professional graphic software? Intend to invest in an e-course that cost hundreds of dollars? Perhaps a coupon can give you massive savings!