On top of many of the techniques already described, I am saving thousands through super simple things like:
1.) Purchasing vacations at charity fundraisers. Often, trips go for 60-70% less than I would pay through careful shopping. For an upcoming Disney trip–staying on Disney property–I have purchased airfare, 1-bedroom villa, tickets and extras at several charity auctions. My favorite charities made out and so did I. We take at least one trip per year that we get at steep discount from a charity auction.
2.) I also purchase gift cards and products at big discounts from the auctions at local charity events. Sometimes, I don’t even purchase an event ticket. Many charity events now have their auctions online so I bid from home and pickup items later.
3.) I’m still doing SYW games for free points. With a K-Mart nearby, I get $10-$14 per week for playing the games in my free time. I pay no out of pocket and purchase whatever makes sense each week or two using my free and surprise points.
4.) I grocery shop with a list prepared through the Coupon Mom site. The site combines store sales ads with coupons and cashback sites to rank products by money-makers through percentage saved. It matches coupons from circulars and online printables and makes putting together my list and coupons easy.
5.) I am making ~$120-150 per quarter cashback by using iBotta (with one teammate), Savings Star, Checkout 51 and Ebates.
6.) I do surveys for points that I redeem for giftcards. So far this year, I have redeemed points from surveys for $250 in gift cards and 1000 airline points that I needed to get to a free airline ticket to Europe.