IS THE RING DOORBELL WORTH IT?

Thinking of buying a ring doorbell or other Ring home security product?

Stop and read this first!

Let me first start by saying this article is in no way sponsored by Ring, I just wanted to give an honest overview and share some ways to possibly get it cheaper.

HOW DO RING PRODUCTS WORK?

Ring products use your existing home Wi-Fi network to help secure your home. You basically hook the products (Ring doorbell, cameras, security system and more) up to your Wi-FI and use the free Ring app (available for Apple and Android devices) to alert you whenever someone approaches your door or comes in the range of a security camera.

You can then view an HD video stream of the person and speak to them using two-way audio communication (love that feature). Put simply, with Ring products, it’s like you’re always home.

But are Ring products worth it and do they live up to the hype? Let’s look at the cost next.

WHAT DOES RING COST?

The easiest and cheapest way to try out a Ring product is to grab the Ring doorbell which starts at $99 for the first model of it.

2020 UPDATE: I found the 720p HD Ring Video Doorbell for just $69 here!

It’s brand new, I ordered it and although it ended up being on backorder I got it pretty fast.

As soon as I get it installed I’ll write a review on it but I have friends who have this version and they like it.

There are over 30,000 reviews on the Ring doorbell on Amazon you can check out here. Overall it gets 4 stars but I did read some negative reviews mostly about their device being stolen.

Interested in the Ring camera?

The cheapest Ring camera I saw was around $179 on Amazon (have you seen my article on how to get free Amazon gift cards?).

UPDATE 2020: I was able to find a black Ring Spotlight Cam 1080p Outdoor Wi-Fi Camera with Night Vision for just $129 (the white one was significantly more at $199).

How about the Ring Home Security System?

You can buy the home security system starting at $199. It doesn’t have any contract but if you want, you can add professional monitoring at just $10 a month or $100 for the year which also includes longer access to your videos (up to 60 days) and an extended warranty.

UPDATE: I was able to find the security system here for $166 (not sure how long that price will last).

Obviously the more sensors and cameras you add the more you have to spend at first.

IS RING WORTH IT?

Ring products are an investment at first depending on what you want so the question is are Ring products worth it?

My best friend just recently bought a few Ring security cameras for her home and the quality on them is awesome. I helped her set it up and it was so simple to do. It took us minutes to set up each camera and then just the time to mount them where you want them to go. She bought the battery-operated ones so that she didn’t have to hardwire them.

If you buy the battery-operated ones and you don’t want to have to climb up on the garage or other outside areas when its time to change it, you can buy the optional solar panel which will charge the battery as well.

You can be up and running in less than an hour. A lot sooner if you just have one product to install but my friend had three.

I love the video quality and how much area you can see with one camera if put in the right place. I also love how you can adjust the settings to alert you however often you want it to.

My favorite part? The two two-way audio feature and the live feed. You can hear what’s going on in both the recorded videos and the live feed and you can talk through the camera to whoever is at the house. This works great for the doorbell because when someone rings it you can answer like you’re home.

HOW TO SAVE ON RING PRODUCTS

I love it when products are sold on Amazon because for me that means I can possibly get it for free with a little work.

If you have read many of my articles you know I talk about money-saving hacks and one of my favorites is getting free gift cards.

One of my favorite ways to get free Amazon gift cards is Swagbucks and MyPoints (use my link for a $10 bonus).

You can check out my 10 Ways to Get Amazon Gift Cards article for all ten ways and start saving up for your Ring!

UPDATE 2020: The 720p version of the Ring Doorbell is on sale for $69.99 here. The black Ring Spotlight Cam 1080p Outdoor Wi-Fi Camera with Night Vision for just $129 and the Ring Alarm Security Kit (5-Piece) for $166 here.

CHEAPER RING ALTERNATIVES

If you’re looking for a cheap home security camera under $50, I just grabbed this Wyze camera for my grandmother’s apartment.

It was actually only $38.00 but I also grabbed the memory card for an additional $13.

It works great as a nanny cam or pet cam as well.

This is what it looks like. The one feature I wish it had was for it to be wireless. It does require you to plug in it but the picture quality is great for such a cheap security camera.

One negative besides it having to plug in is that the two-way audio had a bit of an echo. It may be that I have it placed on top of a small tv monitor so I will be testing out different scenarios to see if that improves.

I posted a full Wyze camera review here and you can also go ahead and read the reviews on the Wyze camera.

Are you using the Ring doorbell or Ring home security system? How about the Wyze cam? Let me know in the comments!

This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here

COUPONCABIN REVIEW

If you follow my blog you know I love to try out cashback sites and other ways to save money and then report them back to you.

One of my favorite ways to save money while shopping online is by using cashback sites like Ebates and TopCashBack.

So when I found out about CouponCabin I wanted to give it a try and let you know my thoughts!

If you’re not familiar with cashback sites let me first give you a quick summary of how they work.

What is a cashback site?

Cashback sites like CouponCabin partner up with major retailers like Target, Walmart, Amazon and many many more and when they send customers their way they earn a commission on any purchases that customer makes.

The cashback site (in this case CouponCabin) will, in turn, share their commission with you for having started your shopping through them. So basically, it is a win-win!

The cashback site I am trying out now is called CouponCabin. They have been around quite a while. I am not sure why I haven’t tried them until now but CouponCabin was nice enough to reach out to me and see if I would like to give them a try.

I accepted and wanted to share with you some details of my experience so far.

How does CouponCabin work?

It’s pretty simple and typical of most cashback sites.

1. Sign up

CouponCabin is 100% free to use and it took me less than 20 seconds to sign up! You can sign up here.

2. Shop online at your favorite stores

Click on any of their coupons or Shop Now buttons from their website and then shop as you normally would after that.

3. Get paid!

Within a few hours of making a purchase, cash back will automatically post to your account. You can choose to be paid by Amazon.com gift card, PayPal, direct deposit or a check in the mail.

I chose to get an Amazon gift card because they offer a 10% bonus if you do but you can choose what you would prefer.

My experience with CouponCabin so far

As soon as I signed up I was given a bonus cash back offer to download their Chrome extension which is free and I would get a $2 cash back bonus as a result.

Later I was able to grab a $1 cashback bonus for reading their Top 11 things you should know about cashback so my balance is already $3 and I haven’t even made a purchase yet at this point.

Both bonuses showed up right away as you can see in the photo above.

I plan on making a purchase soon and letting you know my experience with that. I will update this article as soon as I do.

What I noticed right away about CouponCabin is their high-value exclusive deals. As you can see in the below screenshot, they have an offer for $100 bonus on orders over $100 at Aeropostale and similar offers for 1800Flowers and Kay and high percentage bonuses on other stores each day.

These are very limited exclusive offers that you can score if you can get them before they run out.

These are very intriguing and I will report back if I am able score one :).

EXCLUSIVE OFFER JUST FOR ESAVINGSBLOG READERS!!

CouponCabin was nice enough to give some of my readers an Exclusive Offer of $50 cash back on orders over $50 at Amazon!

Like I mentioned above this will work like their other exclusive offers. There are very limited quantities and you must claim it before they are gone.

You can check out this offer here and as you can see it is currently locked until it activates later today.

Note you may claim 1 “Members Only” offer every 30 days, one per store/brand every 90 days. Also only a single account per computer network, IP or household may claim offers. That means if you were already a member and you already claimed one of these offers you won’t be able to get this one.

But don’t worry you can qualify for more in the future just head back over to CouponCabin next time you shop online.

For the Amazon exclusive offer mentioned above just be sure to follow the important notes below to make sure you get the cash back! And act fast because these go very quickly!

Important notes:

• Your order can not include coupons or codes sourced from any other site, including Amazon.com
• After an order has been placed, if it is modified in any way, for any reason, or is returned or canceled, it will result in the reversal and cancellation of your cash back and your account balance will be adjusted accordingly.
• Once a limited quantity “Members Only” offer has been claimed, it cannot be removed from your account under any circumstances.

Details:
Cashback is calculated on the amount before tax, shipping and any fees are added and after all coupons, discounts, credits and gift cards are deducted. Cashback is excluded on the purchase and use of gift cards. Expires at 11:59 pm CT on expiration date shown.

To earn cash back, please make sure:

• You are logged into your CouponCabin account.
• Your order is placed & completed entirely online (no phone orders, no mobile apps, no in-store pickup).
• Your shopping cart at Amazon.com is completely empty before clicking our cashback link.
• Your order is completed immediately after clicking a cashback link and before visiting any other website.
• Your browser is not set to Private or Incognito, and Ad-blocking or Privacy add-ons are completely disabled.
• Your browser is set to accept all third-party cookies.

You can check out their FAQ’s for more detailed information on how these deals work as well as on each deal there will be a “view details and exclusions” section with more detailed information on each particular deal as some do have exclusions as to what you can buy to get the cash back.

These notes are actually quite typical of cashback sites and as long as you follow the rules you shouldn’t have any issues. They want you to earn cashback because remember it’s a win-win. You both get money so that is why they list out all the details very clearly so you know.

Didn’t get in on this deal? Its ok they have new ones every day. Plus you can take advantage of other great deals and cashback offers that are not so limited!

Leave a comment and let me know if you are a member of CouponCabin and your thoughts and if you were able to get in on this exclusive offer just for Esavingsblog readers!

This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here