10 Awesome Tips to Save Money on Everyday Purchases
Budgeting is an important skill that will save you some valuable bucks . Learn how to save money on everyday purchases in this elaborate blog.
When it comes to saving money on everyday purchases, not only we can cut down on our expenditures substantially, but the same practice can also help us become more financially disciplined. A couple of bucks saved off everyday purchases collectively sum up to considerable amounts of money. We can use the same for various other purchases or simply use it to swell up our saving accounts for a rainy day.
Sales
With the advent of capitalist modes of bulk buying and solitary selling, the consumer class can benefit from the sales hugely. We have recently witnessed a surge in flat sales and targeted sales aimed at selected items. If the customers manage to time their purchases correctly, they can find a sweet deal for nearly everything on the market. Add to this, the fact that most of the sales are available on online shopping sites. There are separate websites that collect information about different sales available on popular shopping websites like Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and the likes of these. Make sure you keep an eye out for the sales on your desired items and as soon as they go on sale you can add them to the cart and you will be good to go.
Card discounts
Visa and Mastercards have become a common mode of payment nearly everywhere in the modern world, hugely replacing hard cash. The debit and credit cards of many banks offer modest to moderate discounts on the purchases made off them. This means that if you can swap your cash with a card, you can easily save significant amounts of money. If you are big on online shopping, you can choose a bank that gives good discounts on online purchases. The internet is teeming with reviews about such banks and the kind of discounts these can offer.
Bulk purchases/ wholesale
Bulk purchases can save you from the hassle of going to the market every other day while at the same time being a good way to save money. When you are buying things in bulk, there are a number of easy ways to save money. Firstly, you are saving the cost of transportation which you would have to spend otherwise on solitary buying. Secondly, most of the shops offer some sort of discount if you are buying an item in bulk. Thirdly, there are special markets for wholesale where the prices are substantially down from those shops which sell items in retail.
If you have a good idea of the volume of certain goods you will be needing in the future, you can preplan your purchases and buy the same items in bulk.
Off-season purchases
Now this one might not be for everything, but there are many items which we can buy off-season and get a sweet deal. If you can be smartly-thrifty, a departing winter is just the right time to buy that expensive fur coat you wanted to buy but could not due to the sky-high price. Or if you wanted to buy an inflatable swimming pool, buy it well before the summer vacation when they usually are in high demand. The point being that if you can plan ahead of schedule, you can get a good bargain for yourself and buy that product when the market is cold for it.
Bargaining
Thrifty housewives around the world have employed the time proven method of bargaining to get a good deal for themselves for centuries now. Bargaining is an art and a science. Experienced bargainers can buy things off as much as 50% of the asking price. With the rise in online shopping and shopping from big stores, this method of getting good deals is somewhat obsolete but still if you are buying something from a thrift store or a garage sale or even from eBay, chances are huge that you can bring the seller down from his humongous asking price. Like every skill, your bargaining skills are honed over time with experience but if you have a decent idea of how flexible the seller can get, you can hit a jackpot with your good bargaining ability.
Thrift Shops/ Second-Hand Items/ Garage Sales
A lot of times, we buy things from the market that we could have got rather cheaply from our next-door neighbor in a garage sale. Books, home appliances, furniture items, electronic appliances; In short, there is a non-exhausting list of items we can easily get in good shape even when they are slightly used. There are online websites for second-hand items which offer a wide variety of goods to choose from.
Couple that with a good trip to a thrift store and you can get nearly everything at just the right price. However, there is a little chance that you can get swindled in a transaction like this. You can avoid this by making sure you know what you are purchasing and properly inspecting it before making the deal.
Busy Shopping Days
Black Friday, St. Patrick’s day, Super Saturday, and many other holidays like these have become the national shopping holidays during the last decade. The good thing about these shopping days is that there are huge discounts and sales on nearly everything you can think of. These sales are available in stores as well as online. Some of these days have specific sales on particular items like Black Friday sales are particularly popular to buy electronic appliances. Super Saturday sales leading up to Christmas are particularly important if you want to get yourself or your loved ones Christmas presents. The list goes on and on. However, these shopping days are notorious for being a little too busy at times so make sure you get what you want before it runs out.
Thorough Research into Substitutes
A lot of things are tagged with hiked prices simply because they have particular brand value associated with them. If you subtract the brand value, you can usually get the same thing at a much cheaper price. People who are particularly brand-conscious might go out on a limb to buy the thing of their choice, but if you do not have any romanticism of the sort, you can easily try out a reliable and often cheaper alternative. You do not necessarily need to compromise on the quality. Just make sure what you are buying has good reviews and an intact warranty. These substitutes can save you a good buck on regular purchases.
Prior Window Shopping
A better idea than buying something on your first trip to the market is to do a prior market survey or window shopping before you actually buy the thing you are hunting for. These activities increase your knowledge about the particular good and are helpful in giving you a rough ballpark idea of the actual cost of the said item. For example, if you have set your eyes on a particular car, make sure you check out the listing on different websites for the same car and also make a round trip to the local car yard. This way your chances of being fiddled will be down to minimal.
Doing it Yourself
A great way to cut down your expenditure on daily purchases is to embrace the mantra of “Doing it Yourself”. If you can make a good coffee for yourself at home, it can rescue you from buying that overpriced coffee of a particular brand. Similarly, if you can fix up a sandwich for a dinner using the available supplies, buying the same from takeaway is not a mindful thing to do. Using this approach, you can not only save money but also get more hygienic and healthier food from the comfort of your home. Now, we know that a lot of times you are busy or just not in the right mood and these are exceptions. But for the majority of the time, you are better off preparing things on your own.
Conclusion
We have listed the most popular money-saving tips out there. The point being that as the end-consumer you deserve to get the best bargain. If you can cut corners on daily buying, you will gradually develop a shopping ethic which might look trivial on its own but gradually, it will save you a good deal of your hard-earned money. We believe that everyday purchases should not cost one an arm and a leg. With just the right mentality, we can tailor our buying to suit our end. Frugal living is something which definitely pays off in the longer run.
Here are some more articles I think you will enjoy.
Safe Investments That Beat Inflation. Here Are Five Awesome Ways.
Business Ventures That Are Easy On Your Wallet
Thank you for reading. Please leave a comment.
