One of my friends recently moved into a house with her boyfriend. It's not her first time living on her own but it IS the first time that money will be tight. Usually she has moved in a with someone who makes more money in a month than she sees in a year so she doesn't have to worry about bills and stuff. Now suddenly she's having to budget her spending and she's never done it before. I told her I would give her some pointers based on the 3 years I have under my belt of living on a budget while paying bills. Finally, things I learned at college are being put to use!!
Tips For Shopping-Look at coupons and sales. It may not seem like much but if you are a tuna fish-freak and you see a coupon for $.25 off X cans. You'd have probably bought those cans anyways, now you can get some money back. But don't buy things you won't use just because they have a coupon! Also,
read your coupons. If it's not a real deal don't bother! So many coupons look like a bargain but really you can get the store brand for less every day!
-Buy store brand. It's often just as good for less. This isn't true for everything so it may be a matter of trial and error.
-Just because it says 'SALE' doesn't mean it's a value. Read what the sale actually is and don't be afraid to research between stores for the better price.
-Buy bulk on items you know you use large quantities of or that you go through quickly, like toilet paper. Also some stores have great bargains on meat products for a good price and if you have a vacuum sealer you're set! Just divide the package into portions (2 pieces if you have 2 people or just one if you live solo) and just seal them up and store them in your freezer. You can take out each portion when you are ready to eat it.
What ways have you found to save money on shopping (groceries, school supplies, clothes, etc)?
Comments (6)
Those are good grocery shopping tips. Also, when shopping for clothes, always shop a season behind. There's really no reason to pay full price for something when you know it's going to be clearanced in just a couple of months.
The old standby of shopping with a list really does help! It cuts down on running to the grocery store for the one thing you forgot - that always ends up with 5 extra things. It also helps cut down on impulse buying! If you didnt need it enough to put it on your list, do you really need it when you are at the store?
Very good writeup! I would like to add to avoid things on the end caps of aisles - usually it's the stuff that's not on sale that they want you to impulse buy mixed in with sale stuff. Check the weekly supermarket ads for sales. Shop sales as much as you can. Get the Sunday paper for the coupon circulars. Between shopping sales combined with coupons, you can save at least 25% of your shopping expenses on minimal time and effort. You can save more if you get really good at shopping sales - plus learn which generic products taste good to you vs. paying more for the name brands. Stores have guarantees, so if you don't like their brand/generic, you can return it for a full refund.
Miyaka@
student car insurance
But don't buy things you won't use just because they have a coupon!
Oh god, can I put this on a poster and send it to my father? He's always running up to me with random sale stuff -- "These weird pretzels nobody likes are on sale, let's buy five!"
Sometimes companies will post a sample signup online and mail out the samples along with a coupon. One time I got one for two bucks off a box of Kashi cereal... waited until it went on sale and after the coupon it was a buck.
being cheap is bad for your health. make sure you get all the nutrients and vitamins you need--I am a member of a wellness company and they take good care of me, I shop online and get my things shipped straight to me.