RedFlagDeals – Where Canadians Save? …or Where Canadians Spend?

If you are a discount shopper or deal seeker in Canada and haven’t heard of RedFlagDeals , it’s quite possible you may have been living under a rock for some time.

RedFlagDeals is a website that aggregates content from all across the Internet including things like current shopping deals, links to retail stores, a collection of weekly flyers, credit card comparisons and more.  Pretty much anything shopping-related in Canada,  you can likely find it here.

Now I have to admit, I am not overly familiar with the website at large, but I believe the forums are the most popular area and the biggest draw for most folks, as well as the biggest potential area for savings.

Deals Discussion and More

The RedFlagDeals forums encompass just about everything under the sun.  If you want to find the best cashback credit card to pay your forum recommended divorce lawyer, then find a deal on fireworks and party supplies for afterwards – you’ve come to the right place! 

Neighbour disputes are solved here, parenting tips are exchanged, items are bought and sold.   Where else can you get a brand new king size mattress for $180 or a 2TB Hard Drive for $9?  Trust me, even if you don’t get one of the legendary deals yourself, it’s kind of amazing to read about.

If you haven’t used the forums before, take the opportunity to look around.  Try it out researching an item you’re currently looking to purchase. It will usually point you in the right direction.  Over the years I’ve been able to save money in a number of ways using the RedFlagDeals forums.  Here are a few examples…

Home & Garden

The Home & Garden section is pretty expansive and covers a huge array of topics.  It’s not so much deals you’ll find here, but there is plenty of helpful advice and a lot of free tips!  Tips that will likely save you cash.

These forums have been great in the past for things like comparison shopping or getting real feedback on products from current owners.  Particularly on items such as expensive appliances, home upgrades like new windows, renovation advice and more.  When you’re contemplating an expensive home renovation or rejuvenation project, it’s always handy to have some reference data.  Getting some numbers from others who have undertaken similar projects will ensure not only that you’re getting a relatively good deal and good quality, but also that you aren’t getting completely hosed!

Great advice is also abundant if you look hard enough and find the right people.  If you’re so inclined to attempt your own home repairs, things like basic plumbing and electrical advice, lawn maintenance and more can help you save cash and avoid mistakes.

I’ve fixed a number of relatively minor issues from leaky faucets, broken water-dispensers and poorly-functioning light fixtures thanks to forum advice and feedback.  When you think about the average cost of a service call nowadays and the inflated prices for parts, you can save a ton of money if you have the time and willingness to take on certain tasks.  I’ve also learned when it makes more sense to call a professional and what to look for when you’re trying to find one.

Personal Finance

The Personal Finance sub-forum covers everything from investing and real estate, to credit cards and loans.  I’ve been fortunate to find great deals and advice on huge expenses like mortgages, as well as other products such as lines of credit and high interest savings accounts.   There are plenty of websites offering such reviews, but the forums are a great place to find the most current offers.

A good example of a deal I stumbled upon was Tangerine offering a free 90-day Line of Credit up to $30,000!   At the same time they were offering something like 2.50% interest for new deposits in all savings accounts.  Hmm….  seemed like a no-brainer.  Borrow some money, collect almost $200 in interest, pay back money.    Now, keep in mind this could be quite tempting or we could say, risky for someone who is either forgetful or bad with their money.  You could quickly negate any savings by forgetting to pay the loan back on time and paying higher interest costs once the borrowing rates kick in.  On the other hand, if you’re responsible with your finances it’s a great example of a deal to be had.  Basically free money.   (I should note that my credit score was temporarily impacted, but recovered as soon as the funds were repaid in full.)

Credit Cards

Credit Card ‘Hacking’ as some people call it, is another example of how RedFlagDeals has helped me save some money.  Or should I say, made me money?  Over the course of a year I have netted close to $10,000 in various travel and cashback rewards thanks to credit card advice.  How you ask?  Credit Card bonuses and generous sign up reward offers, plus knowing about the best current cards on the market.  There are plenty of rewards like free hotels, flights and Aeroplan miles available that can make your trips that much sweeter,  knowing they’re FREE of course!

Unfortunately COVID-19 has put a bit of damper on the travel industry (understatement of the year) and the potential rewards.  I ended up using up the majority of my points that I had intended to use for travel for cash (statement credits) this year.  I was hoping to travel to Hawaii this fall for a week or two, but that definitely won’t be happening now.  It stinks that a lot of us are restricted in where we can fly or that many of us just don’t want to fly in the middle of a pandemic.   On the bright side, at least some have been able to find a bit of humor in the situation and aren’t too bummed out about missing out on Hawaii.

Investing

If you’re careful and do your research, there is also a lot of great investing advice and links to investing resources such as the Canadian Couch Potato.  Many threads focus on things like saving on fees, strategies for saving in registered accounts and how to start investing for complete beginners.   It is important to remember that most people aren’t professionally qualified to give investment advice (including me!), but many can help point you in the right direction to get started and you can make your own decisions from there.  There is a ton of great learning material available on the Internet for those new to investing and the investing forums can be a great place to ask where to get your feet wet with the basics, and begin your research.

Contests

Here’s a strange category and a maybe a potential time-waster.  But believe it or not, I do frequent the contest area of RedFlagDeals from time-to-time.  They’re fairly infrequent visits, but you can actually enter quite a few contests at a time and reasonably quickly since most of them are online and only require your name and an email address or signing up for a newsletter.

I have friends that will enter literally every contest under the sun.  And guess what?  They actually win quite often and have banked some incredible prizes!  Winning contests can seem difficult, like the odds are ridiculously impossible.  The truth is, there are actually tons of them out there, many of which are pretty poorly advertised or just lack interest from the general public.  When you have contests for smaller items that only 40 or 50 people enter, your odds are pretty good comparatively.  If you ever wondered why your friend on Facebook is such a big fan of the Dairy Farmer’s Calendar, or likes Finish Dish Detergent so much, well…  you might have just discovered the answer.

I have a few favourites that I like to enter and in the last year I actually won a prize with a retail value of around $1,100!  Now that’s not to say I win frequently – because I don’t!  I’m one of those people that doesn’t play the lottery and have no expectation of ever winning draws.  But it just goes to show you, even the most skeptical people can win by entering the right contests and having a small touch of luck.  In some cases the odds are very reasonable if you’re selective about what you enter and don’t mind some mediocre prizes.   It’s still free stuff, right?

Hot Deals

Have you ever thought to yourself that your duck-carving knife just isn’t sharp enough!?  Or suddenly realized your belt doesn’t have a secret zipper pocket to discretely store  your USB keys with sensitive data?

Well if you’ve found the Hot Deals section of the RedFlagDeals forums, you’ve hit the jackpot.  You’ve also entered some dangerous territory!  If you want to find the best and most recent deals around, this is the place to be!  Also the most obscure and potentially useless ones…  Updated by the minute by thousands of users, you can find deals on everything you could imagine here.  From discount bamboo cuttings boards to brand electric new cars, the sales are endless.

All the deals are rated by forum members and given a score ranking.   The deals can be sorted by score, by retailer, by date… whatever you like.  Sorting by score will generally find the best and favourite recent deals.  Also combining that with the word “HOT” in the title is usually a big tip off.  If you’re lucky enough to see a thread titled “LAVA HOT” you might just find yourself buying something you never intended to own.  Lave Hot deals are so good they are frequently accompanied by the phrase, “buy now, think later”.

While RedFlagDeals offers some seriously amazing savings to those that frequent “Hot Deals” and monitor prices for things they actually need – it can also be a double-edged sword.  I’ve found myself buying things like “an umbrella that will never blow away in the rain”, a giant cutting board because it was the “Lowest price ever!” or a 3-year supply of water filters.   I also almost pulled the trigger on a $600+tax Lego set for no other reason besides the fact that it looked freaking awesome!  (I came to my senses in the end and avoided that purchase).

Dangerous “Deals” are Waiting

The bottom line is, there are so many great deals here you just may find yourself spending money you never intended to.  Not only is deal-hunting a little bit thrilling, but it can also be addictive.  This is similar to the old air miles credit card rewards trap or when waffle irons go on Black Friday clearance at Costco.   Companies are great at getting us to spend money on things to collect points or simply because we think it’s such a great deal we can’t pass it up.  The unbeatable price justifies the fact we don’t actually need it.  A lot of the time it makes sense to step back and assess how badly you really need a product or if it’s something you can actually get by without.

We tend to collect a lot of clutter and junk as a society, and deal hunting is one of the ways to do it.  Yeah there are a lot of cool things we can buy or get for a great price, but do we really need them?  It helps to think of how these items will impact your life or improve it?  How would you feel in 3 months if you didn’t have the item still?  Will your purchase have a negative impact long-term or how long will the positive impact last before it becomes something that just takes up space.

Conclusions

I’m as guilty as anyone of collecting clutter and things I don’t need!  Some purchases turn out great and are worth every penny. Other items I wish I could get my money back and reclaim the  space they take up.   One of the challenges I’d like to take on this year is reducing clutter around the house and buying less in the way of “deals” and “stuff”.  Like things you find on RedFlagDeals!

RedFlagDeals however, is an amazing website that can offer you an assortment of ways to save money.  From DIY help, to financial advice and everyday product deals – there is boatloads of money to be saved here.  Just be cautious when you enter the wormhole that is the “Hot Deals” section.  It has a tendency to suck savers into one end, and spit shop-a-holic’s out the other.

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