Online shopping has really caught on, but what are people buying? Handbags, games and airline tickets are popular but boring items to purchase over the Internet. It's time to think differently. Get creative and you'll find that online shopping can help keep money in your pocket. My first online purchases were made more than a decade ago, when I bought discounted clothing. Those were easy, almost no risk purchases of skirts and shirts. Then I became a little braver and bought some designer shoes. Men's shoes are easier to buy than women's shoes. It seems that the addition of a two-inch heel to footwear can create an unpredictable walking experience. Next, I moved on to accessories, eyeglasses specifically. I have very poor vision and so I wear glasses with expensive high-index polycarbonate lenses. Pop these thin lenses into a designer eyeglass frame and Saudi optical shops will slap on a SR2,000 or more price tag. It left me in constant fear of breaking my glasses and I would rarely get a new pair. Then I found coastal.com and now I buy my glasses online at a discount. The site gives great advice on how to select the best eyeglass frame and there's even the option to upload a photo to “try on” the frames. The purchase is insured, which means that if the glasses don't arrive, a replacement pair is immediately shipped. Because the price is less than half of what I used to pay, I've bought an extra pair of eyeglasses, which has given me piece of mind. And sometimes the website has sales or discounts which reduce the cost even more. After my success at purchasing eyeglasses, I got bolder. Replacement parts for everything from kitchen appliances to servers can be bought online and shipped to Saudi Arabia. Why buy new? We went on vacation and I shipped all our new leisure wear, bought on sale, directly from the online shop to the hotel where my family would be staying. There was a lot less packing, no worries about lost luggage ruining our holiday and no expensive purchases to make at the holiday resort. Perhaps the craziest thing I've ever bought online was a house. Remember a few years ago when the US economy was in a depression? The news was full of reports about the crashing housing market. So I went and took a look at some websites including zillow.com and trulia.com. I also did research on great places to live in the USA. The goal was to purchase a first-rate investment and after much discussion, my husband and I decided not to pay more than $50,000 for the property. Eventually the project involved my entire family. We wouldn't be able to get a mortgage to buy the house because we didn't live in the USA. We had half the cash in hand and were going to take a loan for SR100,000 from a local bank. But when my father-in-law heard of our exploits, he offered us a personal loan, with the provision that he be advised of our progress. What came next were six months of daily online searches and a lot of patience in looking for the perfect property. In early 2011, after losing out to other bidders on the first two houses we tried to buy, we found a two bedroom house on two acres of land, in a town that was very attractive to families. We wouldn't have any problem finding renters and could either expand the house or sell the extra land. We located a real estate agent online who lived in the town and was happy to make the offer to the property owner on our behalf and handle all the legal particulars involved in such a transaction. Then there was an international funds transfer, a one month wait for the closing and the house was ours. I still haven't seen the house, except in photos, but we found a property manager online and the house is rented and well maintained. It has increased in value by $10,000 since we bought it, so as an investment, it was a good choice. Shopping online can be a lot of fun but the smart use of Internet resources can help you save money or even grow your financial future.
