How Facebook and Twitter are saving Winnipeggers money

WINNIPEG – Winnipeggers’ pay cheques are being stretched further with property taxes, school taxes and a list of other fees going up.

So it’s no surprise a Facebook page dedicated to saving Winnipeggers money is loved a lot more than liked.

“It’s almost like a little community,” said Angela Hansen, a member of the savemoneyinwinnipeg Facebook group.

Nearly 12,000 people are a part of the group. Its administrators tell Global News they only approve requests of people who are from the city.

Members post pretty much anything relating to saving money.

Often times the posts are questions asking other members where is the cheapest place to buy products. A quick glance at the site shows questions relating to inexpensive kids rain boots, who has washer fluid on sale and even the best place to buy a turkey.

Many of the posts have several comments with suggestions.

Consider it crowd sourcing savings.

“My husband and I were looking for a car battery and desperate for it and I just posted where is the best deal for a car battery,” said Hansen. “Someone told us about a mom and pop kind of store and we got the best price and within an hour it was changed. I never would have found out about that place had I not posted.”

Deals spotted while shopping are also shared including pictures of items on clearance and what stores they can be found at.

Thanks to the site, Hansen figures sure has saved nearly $1000.

“I never thought I would be able to save that much because of a Facebook group,” said Hansen.

Facebook isn’t the only social media site helping save people money.

Companies are taking to Twitter to post deals for their followers.

Every Monday Safeway tweets out a picture with a deal for that day.

This week it was a frozen pizza, container of ice cream and either milk or pop for $3.99

Special 2 day offer! Get pizza, ice cream & your choice of pop or milk - $3.99+tax #SafewayDeals #yyc #yeg #yvr #ywg pic.twitter.com/nLD2gLuWlM

— Safeway Canada (@SafewayCanada) March 9, 2015

“I check twitter every Monday, I even set an alarm in my phone so I check it,” said Randi Zimmerman, a shopper who took advantage of the deal.

She isn’t alone.

“Our promotion is twice as popular based on population in Manitoba as it is the rest of western Canada,” said John Graham, with Safeway Canada. “We (thought we) would get good response and we are seeing that within western Canada but really within Manitoba its been exceptional.”

Graham says building a relationship with shoppers through Facebook and Twitter is increasingly important.