Five Things To Do When Shopping
November 16, 2008 | Filed under Money
…to save a few extra dollars every week.
Check The Online Price
Let me give you an example. A few months ago, my family were shopping around for a new washing machine, as our old faithful had finally kicked the bucket after a decade. We found a particularly energy-efficient model we liked at Retravision for $699AUD, and had gone home to think about it. Out of curiosity, I went online to look at more details about the machine, and on the store website, found the exact same model listed at $599AUD. Needless to say, I printed off the online price and took it in store to purchase the model for $100AUD less than the store-listed price.
That’s an extra $100AUD in the family fund. This isn’t only applicable to whitegoods, but also to any product sold by any store with an online shop as well. See an item you like at Topshop or Forever 21? Check online first to see how much it is before buying it in store – if it’s significantly less (e.g. $5AUD or more), print off the page and take it in store. Most of the time, they’re obligated to sell you the item at the lower price.
Clip And Use Coupons
I know it seems like an awfully granny-ish thing to do but it really works, saving you a couple of dollars every week. Spend fifteen minutes every week going through newspapers, local district leaflets, advertising and junk mail, and clip out all coupons for items you normally use or a close enough version thereof. Don’t use coupons to buy things you don’t normally use – you’d be wasting money rather than saving money especially if you don’t end up using the item.
Derivatives of a certain item are a good idea, e.g. if you usually buy packs of sultanas to use in your baking, use a coupon for packs of dried fruits which you can still use in baked goods. Home-brand toilet cleaner for example, is pretty much exactly the same as branded toilet cleaner.
Ask For A Discount
This isn’t available in many stores (e.g. larger chain stores), but if you do a lot of your shopping in smaller boutique stores, or family-run stores, they’re more able to knock a few cents off the dollar for a discount. For instance in my position as manager of a small maternity wear boutique, I’ll never offer a discount to a customer until they ask. If they ask for one, then I have the power to give them 5% off at the very least, or up to 10% if they pay with cash.
5-10% discount doesn’t seem like much, but it does add up over time. In a month, I might save as much as $20AUD by simply asking for a discount – over the course of a year, that’s $240AUD, or six tanks of petrol. Putting things into perspective, wouldn’t you prefer having an extra $240AUD in your pocket just by asking a simple question every time you shop?
Shop For Vouchers And Gift Cards On Ebay
I know that eBay is my answer to everything, but it is very possible to save a large amount of money by simply pre-purchasing store credit on eBay. This credit is usually in the form of vouchers/coupons (e.g. buy one get one free), or gift cards with a set value loaded onto them. For instance, I often purchase Woolworths/Safeway gift cards online. Why? Because I’ll use it. I’ll always have to buy groceries, so it’s not an unnecessary purchase that I waste my money on.
You can normally purchase a $100AUD Safeway gift card for about $90AUD to $95AUD on eBay. It’s not a big difference, but again, if you apply that 5-10% discount on all your groceries and other essential expenditure (e.g. soap, toilet paper), it really starts to add up over time.
If you buy a lot of music through iTunes as well, eBay is great for iTunes vouchers. There’s always at least a couple dozen floating around on eBay Australia, so imaginably, at least a hundred on eBay International.
Sign Up To Loyalty Programs
Also known as store cards, store memberships, etc. I have a wallet full of store cards, all of which don’t have membership fees attached. The two that give me the greatest dividends are my Pulse card and my Priceline card, though I have about ten more.
My Pulse card can be used across several different stores: Sanity/Virgin Entertainments/ezyDVD (home entertainment, CDs, DVDs, etc.), Bras N’ Things (lingerie), Dusk (candles, aromatherapy, etc.) and Diva (jewellery). For every $100 I spend (not necessarily in the one transaction), I receive a $5 gift voucher. My Priceline card awards me 5% credit for every purchase I make, so every six months, they’ll mail me a voucher generally worth about $5.
Not a lot, but essentially, you’re being given free money for things that you have to buy anyway (all my Pulse points are earnt at Bras N’ Things because I’m always going to need underwear and bras, and you can’t exactly go without toiletries at Priceline). You can’t really go wrong.
Summary
These are just a handful of things you can do, combined with general common sense and frugality, in order to save a few dollars every week. Saving ten dollars each week doesn’t seem like much, but over the course of a year, it’s well over five hundred dollars. You can spend that money on something more important!
7 Responses to Five Things To Do When Shopping
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More often than not, companies who bring international shops here tend to add quite a handful of bucks. Like the iPod, for example, the iPod nanochromatic (8 GB)is $149, as said in the Apple website. However, they sell it in here for around $40 more but we couldn’t blame them because of the heavy tax they pay whenever they import these products. So, I couldn’t really do what you suggest in #1. Nice list, though. Very helpful. :)
Enzo on November 16, 2008 #
Carl always asks for discounts, especially if we are buying 2-3 big things. Sometimes he manages to get almost $50 off the total price..I, myself feel awkward asking for discounts.
Bobbi-lee on November 16, 2008 #
Those are all really awesome tips. If I shopped more to begin with I’d probably use them. Coupon clipping is something I might start doing anyway.
Veronica on November 17, 2008 #
I usually buy things online. Of course you have to wait longer, but it’s so much more convenient (you don’t have to leave home) and often a lot cheaper.
Clem on November 17, 2008 #
These are all really good tips. I’d be way too embarrassed to ask for a discount, especially because the smaller companies that are more willing to give discounts are the ones who need the money the most! I just think it’s rude, but I guess it isn’t? Hm.
Rebee on November 17, 2008 #
I wish I could get six tanks of petrol for $240. That would only just get me four tanks here… and no, I don’t have a big tank.
Nellie on November 17, 2008 #
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