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"Though social media often bombards us with an overload of friends&amp;#039; updates, family portraits, and vacation photos, it can also serve as a tool to save money. In fact, a lot of companies use promotional campaigns specific to social media. So, next time you&amp;#039;re spending hours procrastinating or surfing through pictures on social media, remember that you can constructively use your browsing time to save money. Facebook and Twitter Compile a list of companies that you frequently buy from, like grocery stores, clothing stores, airlines or general department stores. Follow these companies on Twitter or &amp;quot;like&amp;quot; them on Facebook to get insider access to flash sales and coupons that may not be available to the general public. Companies will often hold Facebook contests offering freebies and giveaways, like Manilla.com&amp;#039;s Get It Together Challenge. The Challenge encourages you to use bill and account management service Manilla to get organized for the chance to win $2,500. For example, a company might ask followers to post a specific status or a photo and the contestant with the most &amp;quot;likes&amp;quot; wins. Similarly, companies on Twitter ask followers to &amp;quot;retweet&amp;quot; something for a chance to win a giveaway. Even though it&amp;#039;s a shameless plug for free marketing, you can win plenty of free gear simply by clicking a button. If you don&amp;#039;t want to clog your mini feed or tweet stream, find companies that do the legwork for you, like @Coupons and @DealsPlus. There are also bloggers you can follow who specialize in couponing, like The Krazy Coupon Queen and Go Momma Coupons. These companies and bloggers compile coupons in one convenient place so you don&amp;#039;t have to scour the Internet for deals. Lastly, you can ditch the daily newspaper by following news outlets on Twitter for free live updates and articles. #Hashtag Hashtagging is the vogue use of the pound sign followed by a word or phrase that has been coined by social media sites, including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Using hashtags categorizes posts by &amp;quot;tagging&amp;quot; them to a specific category within the site. So, if you search #coupon, everything that has been tagged as such will appear in a stream for you to browse. Popular social media bargainista hashtags include #coupon, #BOGO, #deal, #savings, #frugal and #giveaway. Pinterest Companies use Pinterest less for promotional deals and more for visual purposes, but you can still use it to save money. There are plenty of Pinterest boards focused on do-it-yourself projects that will teach you inexpensive or free tricks of the trade, from making your own cleaning products to fashioning your own jewelry. In the spirit of saving money, Pinterest (and social media in general) allows you to follow free financial service companies, which provide free personal finance advice on topics like budgeting and saving. Instagram Sometimes companies hold photo contests via Instagram, asking followers to post a specific kind of picture and to tag the company&amp;#039;s username. The best picture usually wins some sort of giveaway and a feature on the company&amp;#039;s account. Recycle Items Use social sharing sites, like Freecycle, Bookmooch or Craigslist, to find free items. You can join a local Freecycling group, an environmentally friendly website that focuses on reusing things like home goods. The best part about it is that everything is free. Bookmooch is an international book trading website that lets you recycle books throughout its community. All you have to do is pay for shipping when one of your books is requested. Craigslist is another social network that can connect you to plenty of free or discounted items. First, use the &amp;quot;wanted&amp;quot; section to post what you need. People looking to make a quick transaction can contact you to get rid of their unneeded items. Second, you can use Craigslist to cut out the middleman. For example, you can find plenty of apartments for rent by owner to bypass an expensive broker&amp;#039;s fee. Yelp/Foursquare Both Yelp and Foursquare are social networks that focus on finding you nearby attractions or shops. For example, if you search &amp;quot;coffee&amp;quot; in New York, N.Y., the sites will list hundreds of caf\u00E9s with locations, maps and reviews. These are helpful tools to use before making dinner reservations or making a purchase because you can consult your peers before you indulge to ensure you&amp;#039;re getting quality for your money. Additionally, these sites regularly offer deals for &amp;quot;checking in&amp;quot; at different locations. &amp;quot;Checking in&amp;quot; means you share (via the app) that you&amp;#039;re at a certain business or restaurant and in return for the free advertising, you can receive great offers like a free appetizer. Daily Deal/Social Buying Websites Daily deal and social buying websites, like Groupon and LivingSocial, offer numerous promotions for products and services, all of which can be delivered via a convenient list right to your email. The best part is you can customize your account to your current city, which makes these apps very useful for traveling. LivingSocial even provides information from local experts about attractions and top restaurants. Keep in mind that bargains are generally things at an unbeatable price that we don&amp;#039;t really need. You may find things that are a steal, but before you seal the deal ask yourself: Can I live without it? Evaluating whether an item is a need or a want will help you avoid overspending on impulse purchases. More Great Advice From Manilla.com:  4 Financial Pitfalls to Avoid This Summer Decorate Your Home on a Budget 11 Financial Lessons to Avoid Learning the Hard Way 6 Things You Can Sell to Make Money Now  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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