Category Archives: Smart Shopping

Black Friday? No thanks.

Sigh. Black Friday.

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite frugal holiday. Nothing but friends, food, and relaxation. Aside from food, I typically don’t spend any money at all the entire weekend after Thanksgiving. I’ve never headed out to the sales on Black Friday. I’d prefer to spend the Friday after Thanksgiving in my PJs grazing on leftovers and watching movies.

This year, we’re attending a potluck Thanksgiving on Thursday. We weren’t invited until last week, and we’d already spent the month collecting food for our own meal. So we’re having Thanksgiving 2 on Friday. That makes me feel even less motivated to go out and shop.

I think my problem is that there’s just nothing I need. Our Christmas shopping is done, and I usually try to avoid crazy sales unless I need something anyway. I don’t want to be tempted to buy just because the deal is great.

I’m curious about the deals, but I’m afraid to look at the circulars because I don’t want to be tempted. With our big trip back to Indiana for the holidays coming up next month, we really don’t need to be spending extra money right now. Even if it’s a good deal.

I know how hard it is for me to turn down a great deal. So I’ll most likely stay home this Friday relaxing. I probably won’t be able to resist looking through the ads, but hopefully there won’t be anything so compelling that I can’t resist. I’m not so into the crowds, to be honest. I don’t like feeling like shopping is a competitive sport. :)

My advice to those of you braving the sales racks? Look through the ads, make a list of ONLY what you need, and stick to it when you hit the stores. Don’t be tempted to buy just because it’s a deal!

Are you heading out this year? What are you buying?! (I have to ask. :) )

Would you buy it if it wasn’t on sale?

Photo by theogeo

clearance saleThis time last year I was working in retail in a clothing store. I wasn’t making much money, but one of the “perks” of my job was an employee discount.

I bought a lot of clothing during this time. Not only did I take advantage of my 20% discount, but I scouted the sales and clearance racks. I never paid full price for anything. I thought I was getting a great deal. In all honesty, I really was. I usually paid about 20% of the original price.

As I look back, though, I’m reminded of the strange psychological effect of sale prices. Sale prices can turn a ho-hum item into something you must have.

Since I worked in the store every single day, I was in a unique position. Instead of stumbling on these great deals, I was aware of my changing perspective as the prices dropped. Many of the items I bought off the clearance racks, I didn’t even notice at full price. Though I stocked them, rehung them in the fitting room, and straightened the shelves after closing each night, I barely noticed them at all. But as soon as they hit the clearance shelf, I suddenly had to have them.

Looking back, I realize I wasn’t really shopping for clothes; I was shopping for bargains. It wasn’t that I really wanted the items I bought for such a great discount. I just loved the rush of knowing how much money I had “saved” compared to the original price.

Shopping for bargains is dangerous, though. If you’re not careful, you’ll go broke saving money.

Don’t get me wrong, there were items that I coveted from the day they came into the store. A beautiful cashmere sweater that originally retailed for $60 comes to mind. I absolutely wasn’t going to pay full price for it, but I kept a close eye on our inventory, hoping my size would be there when the sweater finally hit the clearance rack. It was, and I paid $8 for that sweater at the very tail end of the winter season in March.

For the most part, though, it wasn’t the price that deterred me from noticing full price items. It was that I just didn’t particularly like or want them. But as soon as the price dropped and it was a “deal,” my mindset changed completely.

Sale prices can be blinding. As the holidays approach and prices start to drop, it can be tempting to buy buy buy. I’ve said it before, though — if you don’t need the item, you’re paying too much (even if it is on sale).

Next time you’re tempted by a sale price, take a hard look at the original price. Ignore the sale price for just a moment. Try to ask yourself, “Would I want this if it was $60 instead of $10?” Regardless of whether you can afford to pay full price, would you even want it if it wasn’t on sale?

I absolutely wanted that cashmere sweater even at full price — I just couldn’t afford to pay full price. When I finally bought it for the clearance price, it was incredibly rewarding. It’s still my favorite sweater of all time. I can’t say the same for 90% of the clearance items I bought during my time working in retail.

Frugal ways to make your dreams come true now

Photo by darwinbell

washer and dryer

Being frugal involves a lot of waiting. But frugality isn’t just about planning, saving, and waiting. Sometimes it’s about finding ways to get the things we want now without going into debt or spending a lot of money.

Yesterday I wrote about the dreams my husband and I have for all the things we want to do with our money in the future when our debt is paid. Today I want to share what used to be on the list of things we want, and the frugal ways that we found to get them now.

Washer and dryer

Every time we trudged our laundry to the laundromat and spent hours washing, drying, and folding, we dreamed of having a washer and dryer of our own. A few months ago, I bartered with a co-worker: she and her husband had an extra washer and dryer, and they needed help moving. In exchange for a Saturday and some heavy lifting, we got a nearly new washer and dryer for free. Now we do our laundry at our leisure in the comfort of our home without having to schlep it to the laundromat. Best deal I ever made.

Furniture

When we moved out of our college apartments, we left behind the furniture that belonged to our roommates. The nice thing about college towns, though, is recent grads are always trying to get rid of decent furniture for next to nothing just so they won’t have to move it.

I spent my last year in my college town collecting furniture. Some of it we bought for very cheap; some of it was given to us by generous friends and family members. As I said yesterday, we dream of the day when we can replace it with new(er), nicer furniture. For now we have a comfortable place to sit and sleep even if it’s not the prettiest or the roomiest. Most importantly, we didn’t have to go into debt to furnish our home.

A good set of knives

For people who love to cook, good knives are an important investment. For years we used dull knives and dreamed of chopping with ease with a good quality sharp knife. We thought it would be a while before we could afford a nice knife set, but a few weeks ago we found a clearance knife set at a Linens n Things closeout sale. Using birthday money and a little from our regular spending budget, we finally got the knives we’d always wanted at an affordable price. We’re still on the look out for cookware, though.

A dog

For as long as we’ve been together, Tony and I dreamed of welcoming a dog into our family. When we moved to North Carolina, we knew we wanted to adopt a puppy. We saved up enough to pay the adoption fee at a shelter (significantly less than we would have paid to adopt a pure bred puppy). We also negotiated with our landlord before we signed the lease to reduce the pet deposit.

Once we adopted Howie, we found frugal ways to care for him. We bought a nearly new kennel on Craig’s List for 1/4th what we would have paid at a pet store (the previous owner’s German shepherd puppy had only used it 3 months before she outgrew it). We found a vet that offers a 20% discount on vaccinations every Thursday, and we continue to make his appointments on Thursdays to save a little money. We buy his flea and heartworm prevention medicines online to save money. We spent a lot of time training him so he doesn’t have destructive habits that cost us a lot of money. Despite our best efforts, pet care is still expensive. It’s worth every penny, though.

What about you? How have you used your frugal skills so you don’t have to wait for the things you want?

I just earned $8 for buying $57 worth of toys

Photo by .bean

Christmas giftWhew. I got a lot of Christmas shopping done this weekend. Well, not a LOT since we’re not buying a lot, but I’m about 75% finished with my list.

This year we decided to cut our shopping list down to our parents and our 5 nieces and nephews. Unfortunately, we have huge families, and we don’t a lot of money in our budget for gifts (or anything other than bills, debt, and savings, really). I’ll do some baking for my sisters in the spirit of the season, but we just couldn’t afford to shop for everyone.

In true frugal holiday spirit, I found a way to get a great deal on toys for my nieces and nephews.

I redeemed about 7,500 MyPoints for a $50 Amazon gift card. (Have you joined MyPoints yet? If not, email me so I can send you a referral link! I’d love to get some points for telling you about it! :))

I found 4 of the 5 toys we need at Amazon. We bought one of the toys last month when we came across something that we knew one of my nephews would love. I made sure everything shipped directly from Amazon, so all the toys qualify for free shipping since my total was over $25.

My total came to $57. I used my Amazon gift code to bring the total to $7 and some change.

Here’s the best part: Right now, Amazon is offering a free subscription to Cookie magazine when you spend $25 on toys. (Thanks Kacie at Sense to Save for letting me know about this!) According to the promo information, you can pass on the subscription and request a $15 rebate instead. I should be receiving an email about it in the next few days. According to the promo, all I have to do is send a form along with my order confirmation to Amazon and they’ll send my $15.

If it works out, I’ll actually end up earning $8 on this transaction. Even if it doesn’t work, I bought Christmas presents for all 5 of my nieces and nephews for just $7. Not too bad considering I got $57 worth of great toys. :)

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$1 tarts and votives at Yankee Candle

Now through Tuesday, you can use this link to get Yankee Candle tarts and votives for $1 each. As I’ve explained before, tarts and votives are a good opportunity to try a variety of scents. Even at the regular price, they cost just as much as the larger Yankee Candles per hour of burn time. Unfortunately, at the regular price of $1.99 each they’re pretty overpriced for candles. I usually stock up during these sales.

I received a printable coupon to take advantage of this deal in the store because I’m signed up for Yankee Candle’s mailing list. If you’re a candle person, I suggest you sign yourself up. They send deals like this one every few months.

If you didn’t receive this coupon in your inbox, you can take advantage of this deal online using the link above. The discount should automatically be applied to tarts and votives in your order. If not, use the coupon code XF810TS. Unfortunately, their shipping rates are a little high (flat rate $6 for orders up to $100), but if you plan to stock up on a lot of tarts it might be worth it even with the shipping.

Tarts and votives make a wonderful addition to Christmas gift baskets. Enjoy!

Victoria’s Secret bras for cheap

I’ve admitted before that I love to shop at Victoria’s Secret for bras. I can’t afford the high prices there, though. So how do I fund my Victoria’s Secret habit? I wait for deals like the one Thrifty Mama posted yesterday.

Using the coupon codes at Thrifty Mama, I got two bras and a pair of underwear for about $20 including shipping! My total before coupons was almost $60. And that’s with the sale price for the bras. I think retail value for this order without the sale would have been over $100.

Thrifty Mama suggests going with the 2/$40 bras, but the deal will work with more expensive bras, too. It’ll just be a couple dollars more. I bought he 2/$44 bras, and it worked fine. She also gives a specific item number for black panties, but the deal will work for any style of cotton panties as long as they’re a plain color (white, black, ivory, buff, or whisper pink).

These deals only come once or twice a year, so I suggest you hurry before it expires!

Classic frugal mistakes newbies make

I’ve learned a lot of lessons and made plenty of mistakes over the years. If you don’t do it right, frugality can actually end up costing you money or alienating people around you.

Here are some common frugal mistakes. Some of them I’ve made myself, some of them I’m seen others make, but all of them offer important lessons about frugal living.

1. Buying something just because it’s on sale.

It’s easy to get caught up in the mark-down of a sale item. If an item’s regular price is much higher than the sale price, it’s tempting to convince yourself that it’s a good deal. But if you don’t really need the item — if you’re only buying it because it’s marked down — then you’re actually losing money. Just because the item is 50% off doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t find it cheaper somewhere else, either. This is particularly important to remember as we head into the major post-Thanksgiving, pre-Christmas sales.

2. Compromising quality for a lower price.

I’m not talking about the subtle quality difference between name brands and generics. Most frugal folks don’t even notice a difference in that case. I’m talking about buying junk to save money. I learned this lesson the hard way when I bought ink cartridges through an online retailer, and they didn’t work. I ended up getting a refund, but the point is that I wasted a lot of time and energy on junky cartridges to save only a few dollars.

The tricky part is that it’s hard to know whether you’re buying junk or not until you’ve tried it. The best you can do is educate yourself on products and their low-cost alternatives, seek out reviews, and try to be sure you’re getting quality products at a low price. In the end, though, it takes a lot of trial and error to find a balance between quality and price. Make sure you’re not gambling on big ticket items, though.

3. Not budgeting for surprises or irregular expenses.

I love zero-based budgeting. The only problem is that it’s very easy to assign all of your income to various expenses without leaving room for irregular expenses like oil changes for the car, haircuts, or gifts. These are expenses that don’t qualify as emergencies, but don’t really fit anywhere in the monthly budget. I’ve only been sticking to a budget for about three months now, but every single month something comes up that I wasn’t expecting or that I forgot to add.

I handle it by planning for certain expenses, like car maintenance and haircuts, by putting aside a few dollars every month. I also try to leave about 5% of our income for “miscellaneous expenses.” This doesn’t always work out, but it’s a good goal to strive for. If you don’t use the money by the end of the money, throw it into savings or debt.

4. Being “cheap.”

There’s a big difference between being frugal and being cheap. To me, the difference is in the effect your behavior has on others. Frugality should never come at the expense of others. The most obvious examples of cheap behavior are stiffing a good waiter to keep a restaurant bill low or showing up to a dinner party empty handed to avoid spending money on a bottle of wine or dessert dish. There’s a good reason that cheap has a such a negative connotation.

Besides, the way I see it, frugality is a fun game. I’m constantly challenging myself to find clever ways to live well and give more to the world around me without spending a lot of money. Being cheap is cheating. Where’s the fun in that?

5. Depriving yourself.

The most important lesson I’ve learned is that frugality is a lot like dieting — if you’re too extreme, you’re probably not going to succeed. Frugality isn’t about deprivation. There are certainly sacrifices involved, but it’s important to make sure you’re not completely depriving yourself of the little things in life that makes you happy. For me, that means treating ourselves to a restaurant meal once a month, budgeting $50 a month for entertainment, and finding frugal ways to continue our favorite hobbies.

Saying “yes” to an extravagant purchase for a great price

In August, Tony and I spotted a deal on cookware that was almost too good to be true. Originally priced at $200, the set was 50% off. We’d been looking for cookware for some months, and the amount of cooking we do would have made it a great investment. But we walked away from it to avoid blowing our first successful budget. In hindsight, I think we made the right choice.

Today, we stopped in at the Linens ‘n Things liquidation sale. I wasn’t expecting to find anything great. Last time we were in there, I wasn’t impressed. In my opinion, their prices were so inflated in the first place that even on sale they were still too expensive. But some weeks have passed, and the prices have been lowered even more.

The shelves were almost completely empty today. For the most part, I wasn’t impressed with what was left. Until I wandered over to the knives.

We have a knife set that we received as a Christmas gift a couple years ago. Unfortunately, the knives haven’t aged well. Some of the handles are even starting to rust. We rarely use them anymore.

Instead, we use a Chef’s knife that I bought Tony for Christmas last year. It was a fantastic deal at $25. It’s been a great knife, but it’s starting to dull. Though it’s a wonderful knife for what we paid, Tony has always wanted a high-quality knife set.

Today on the bottom shelf of the locked cabinet, we found a J.A. Henckels knife set marked down from $160 to $100. It was marked down an additional 20% off the liquidated price because it was missing the kitchen shears.

For $80, we got an extremely high-quality knife set including a Chef’s knife, paring knife, serrated utility knife, santoku knife, honing steel, and wooden storage block.

We decided a while ago that we wouldn’t buy a big knife set. Though our previous set had 10 knives, we never used most of them. Instead, we decided to buy a small set with just the knives we need so we could afford higher quality knives. This new set includes all the knives we use and none of the unnecessary knives that we won’t. Because they’re top quality they’ll last us for years.

The best part? Tony used $50 he received as a birthday gift last month to cover most of the cost. Since we never included that $50 in our regular budget, we’re only paying $30 out of our regular budget for these knives. To me, this is the kind of deal that’s too good to pass up.

If there’s a Linens ‘n Things closing in your area, I recommend you check out the deals. Even if you’ve already been there and you weren’t impressed, now might be the time to take advantage of lower prices as they try to clear out the store.

Just make sure you only purchase items you really need. Even an extreme clearance price is too high if you don’t need the item.

Time to start planning for Christmas

Photo by mysza

Last night, Tony and I went over our budget and plans for Christmas. The holiday stress has definitely begun.

Though we have a large extended family, we have to keep our gift list short this year because our travel expenses will be high. Not only are we paying for gas, we’ll have to stop overnight at a hotel on the way there.

I’m also going to have to take a couple days off unpaid because I haven’t accrued enough vacation time. I’ll have to factor that into our budget.

We considered using only the vacation time I have, but we don’t know when we’ll be able to make it back to Indiana to see our families again. Last year we stayed here. Since we’re splitting our time between two families, we really need a couple extra days to cover our driving and make sure we have plenty of time to spend with everyone.

My family doesn’t do a massive gift exchange. We’re all pretty much on the same page as far as gifts go, so this shouldn’t be a problem. Besides, I’m sure if my sisters had to choose between receiving a gift in the mail and having us there for Christmas, they’d choose the visit. Instead of shopping, I’ll bake some treats, wrap them up, and bring them along as gifts.

I have five nieces and nephews who are 5 years old and under. We’ve included a little money in our budget for them, so we’ll be shopping for some toys. We like to do it since we don’t have any kids of our own yet. A little holiday toy shopping is fun! Besides, the expense isn’t that great when they’re this young.

We pained over what to do about our parents. Finally, we came up with a fun idea. We’re going to build North Carolina-themed gift baskets filled with local treats. We haven’t decided exactly what’s going in them, but we’ll spend the next few weeks shopping and filling them up. We’ll put a lot of effort and thought into them, but not a lot of money. I think that’s a fair trade.

I’m relieved to have the ball rolling. I probably won’t start shopping until next month when I can build it into my budget, but coming up with a budget and gift ideas is half the battle.