The Couponizer Company
Hey Shoppers! Check out our great money-saving tips below!
Hey Shoppers! Check out our great money-saving tips below!
Have you ever impulsively bought a sale item thinking you will find a use for it only to have it become useless clutter or perhaps it was not the right fit for a room? Especially now that 75% off sales seem to be in every store, I think most all consumers have done this and most experience frustration over time and wasted money.
Well, I have figured out a way around this, especially as it relates to finding deep discounts on big ticket items such as furniture, rugs, and home accessories. I use my cell phone camera to take pictures of items I am seriously considering buying. I am able to share the photos with my husband or perhaps a friend whose opinion I trust. This way, I walk out of the store with the image but not having spent any money. If I am shopping around, this makes comparison shopping much easier. It is also easy to e-mail the pictures if you don't want to leave the store before making a decision.
In the end, using tools like this will build in some thinking room that will help you make better decisions on how and when you spend money.
A simple way to maintain savings
Coupons are great when the items you are shopping for are in stock, but what happens when you locate an item on sale and/or an item you have a coupon for and it is sold out? What do you do?
Depending on the item you may find yourself doing any one of the above things while shopping. However stores change prices frequently and in order to maintain the sale price as advertised your best bet is to ask for a rain check. The definition of rain check is an assurance to a customer that an item on sale that is sold out or out of stock may be purchased later at the sale price. All you need to do is take your sale circular to customer service and ask for a rain check for the item(s) out of stock. The circular will show the price to mark on the rain check.
So unless the item out of stock is a critical missing ingredient you need that day, then getting a rain check will ensure you receive the savings you deserve.
You Can Be Creatively Frugal with What's in Front of You
There are many reasons to make a trip to the store...for ingredients to try a new recipe, cleaning supplies that are running low, a special new outfit for an upcoming event. It's just an automatic response that if we need or want something, we go buy it. But is it always necessary to dash out to get we think we need? Or monetarily wise?
Understandably some items are just needed when there needed, like diapers! But other times...stop and think about some alternative possibilities. For instance, when it comes to cooking, different ingredients can be substituted without sacrificing flavor and can produce tasty new results! Click here for a list of ingredient substitutions.
Cleaning supplies are other items that you can concoct right at home with ingredients you likely already have. Vinegar, lemon, ammonia and baking soda are common household items that can be used in different ways to do the job the expensive store- bought brands can do. And it's much less toxic! Click here to find "recipes" for cleaning supplies that will save you time at the store and money in your wallet!
Fashion is always calling us to the mall or our favorite neighborhood boutique. Try shopping at thrift stores and consignment shops if you've just got to have something new but the checkbook is really maxed. Better yet, look no further than your own closet and I bet you could piece together something smashing in no time. Dress up jeans with a nice blouse, belt and a scarf...try different shirts under sweaters and blouses to give them a fresh look. And wear those boots you've been saving only for special occasions...if you've got it and you like it, wear it! Click here for frugal fashion tips.
As you can see, if you just set your mind to it, what you want or need is probably right in front of you!
We often assume shopping and spending always go together. In many instances we do shop and spend in the same trip however it helps to understand the difference between these two activites if you are going to make the most of your money.
Let’s look at what activities are involved in shopping and spending to establish an understanding of these behaviors to better manage them.
Shopping:
Spending:
For weekly expenses such as groceries, shopping and spending habitually go together and for larger items and holiday gifts, we are conditioned also to get this all done in one trip. However, it is wise to consider unraveling these activities. The Internet is a powerful tool in helping you achieve a full understanding of value, price, availability and while you are at it you are able to check your available funds before purchasing anything. I have made it a new routine to shop for items, even groceries via the internet and then go to a local store to purchase them, eliminating a shipping charge. The great part of this new routine is accessing coupons and prices through websites like Valpak and The Grocery Game which even further boosts my savings when I get to the store and do the spending.
According to the Institute for Consumer Financial Education, consumers who do not take the time to comparison shop usually end up paying about 20 to 30% more, over the long term, for goods and services than those who do. I find that comparison shopping is a great way to stop or greatly reduce impulse spending. Impulse spending is an obvious budget buster and unless you rein it in especially during the holidays, it will rob you of joy in the season.
In the Shopping & Spending lists above, we often carry out only the first bullet point of behavior and we do it on the same shopping trip. However, if you try to separate shopping from spending and carry out some or all of the behaviors listed more often in your routine, then you will gain more self control, reduce stress and place yourself in a better position to maintain your overall financial goals.
Often times when juice boxes go on sale and you can combine the sale with a coupon and get a great deal. Combining store sales and coupons is the road to maximum savings!
Now, to make the most of your juice box inventory, save some for lunches and take some to put in the freezer. When the kids want an icy treat, cut the top off and there you have a juicicle complete with a covering that functions much like push-up. The closed bottom catches the melted juice and makes it easy to drink up.
Also, this is a great way to make use of the juice boxes that have lost their straws!
One way to avoid making unnecessary purchases is to try before you buy. For big ticket items, think about things you may be able to borrow, rent or try out before you purchase. If you use this approach, you will determine quickly if it is truly something you NEED and it will serve you well -OR- something you will get bored with and never use again.
My 3 year old daughter spilled blue paint on the carpet of the stairs to the basement. I knew I need to deep clean and did not want to call a carpet cleaner (that would cost $200), so a neighbor let me borrow her handy carpet cleaning machine. It worked great! Since then we have had many more carpet stain disasters. However, I remembered how quickly we got to the stain by having a carpet cleaning machine, so I went out and bought one last week. I spent $175 (less than the cost of one visit from the pros) and we have been steam cleaning our way to savings ever since!
Try before you buy with FREE Samples...
The quickest way to drop big bucks on costumes, decorations and treats for Halloween is to let it "CREEP" (in honor of Halloween!) up on you and you are left with little time to plan and find good deals. So here are a few things you can start doing now to avoid unnecessary costs and still have a good time:
— Shop online and consignment deals for costumes.You will be amazed at the selection of gently used as well as new costumes available at consignment stores. I spent $3 on a darling ladybug costume for my 3 year old last year and she will likely wear it again since she loves it. Also, my kids like to dress up year round, so you may find a few outfits for way less than the cost of one new one. If you wait until the end of the month, then the selection will not be as desirable and you may feel pressure to spend more than you intended. Homemade costumes are always a bargain - click here for ideas.
— Take inventory of everything from last year, before you shop for home and school decorations.You may have purchased some items in a post-holiday sale that you have forgotten about. I know because I have done this!
—Use coupons when purchasing candy and other treats.Go for price, not brand since most kids don’t care. Also, consider going in with a friend to purchase the treats and dividing it up. This way you will be able to take advantage of the quantity requirements that sometimes get in the way of using the money saving coupons.
If you do these things you will be well on your way to pacing your spending through the holiday season. Have a safe and happy Halloween.
You might think I am being a bit extreme by suggesting that resisting sampling while shopping will save you money, but it can! Think about it, the last time you were in the grocery store, you or your children likely sampled a juicy piece of fruit, a freshly baked cookie, a buttery cracker with aged cheddar or a new breakfast cereal sure to help you lose weight. While you may not have bought that particular product, you have been distracted enough by the experience to buy something else. Believe it or not, grocery stores (and other stores too) are carefully set up to distract you through your senses becasue this is just what it may take to get you to buy MORE.
So, the key is know your own strategy going into any store. If your strategy is to stay on budget while buying your necessary items, then perhaps if you really do enjoy the samples, go back to them after you have checked out!
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