I came across this video, and I couldn’t resist posting it.
Just as I suspected, liquidation prices aren’t necessarily the best deals. No matter where you’re purchasing an item, make sure you’ve done your homework to ensure you’re getting the lowest possible price.
In the end, the supposed “percentage off” is less important than the final price. Always shop for the lowest final price, not the largest percentage off.
The best way to save money on contacts is to wear glasses instead. You can get a great deal at online discount stores like Zenni Optical, and a good pair of glasses will long outlast your supply of contact lenses.
I’ve had the same pair of glasses for two years, and they’re still in great shape.
As much as I’d like to give up contacts, I just can’t get over my discomfort with glasses. My lenses magnify my eyes, making me look pretty silly. So I only wear my glasses in the evening and at home.
I have an eye exam scheduled for this weekend, and it’s time for me to order new contacts. In the past I’ve ordered them from the same place where my exam is done. This time, I’m doing some research to find a better deal.
Here’s what I’m doing to make sure I pay the lowest price possible:
I’ll have my doctor write a prescription for my contacts so I can shop around online and in stores for the best price.
I’m not thrilled with the prices at 1800contacts.com, so I’m checking prices at Wal-Mart, Costco, and other places to find the absolute lowest price.
There are a ton of coupons for online contact lens dealers. I’m finding the best ones so I can figure them into the online prices for a real comparison.
By shopping around, I’m hoping I can get a 6-month supply for $75. The best I’ve found so far is $100 for a 6-month supply. Hopefully I can do better than that!
Where do you buy contact lenses?
photo by hlakhani
I think I went a little overboard with my frugality. I know, it’s hard to believe that’s possible, but hear me out.
Last week, I made the decision to join a gym. For the record, I went with the 12-month commitment at $20 a month. Because we were already paying for the membership, I didn’t want to put any extra money toward my exercise budget. Even though I was primarily jogging, I didn’t want to spend money on new sneakers. So I pulled out the old pair I’ve had for 9 years.
My feet were killing me after every work out. At first I chocked it up to being out of shape. You’re supposed to be sore at first, right?
It was particularly painful Thursday night, though. I found myself limping on my way home. When I finally took off my shoes — excuse me for being too graphic — I found that my ratty old sneakers had drawn blood. Ouch.
When Tony saw what had happened, he was angry with me. “I thought frugality was about making smart choices with your money, not depriving yourself to the point of physical pain.”
He’s right. The frugal choice would have been to shop around and find a good deal on a good pair of running shoes. I shouldn’t be spending hundreds of dollars on sneakers, but I also shouldn’t be working out with old shoes that tear up my feet and threaten damage to my knees and other joints because they don’t offer proper support.
Last night, Tony and I went to several shoe stores. We found a reasonably priced pair of running shoes on clearance for $40 and used some of the Christmas money that I was going to put toward my gym membership to pay for them.
I was concerned about investing too much in working out because I was afraid of not sticking to it. Tony made a good point, though. Even if I don’t stick to it, a good pair of sneakers is a good investment. Most importantly, it’s an investment we can afford right now.
I’ve never been a fan of Black Friday. Instead, I wait until all the holiday hubbub is over to find the best deals.
It’s no secret that there are usually a ton of sales this time of year. Stores that overstocked for the holidays are trying to make room for new inventory by dropping their prices.
However, I generally avoid big ticket items in the days after Christmas. Why? I’ve found that prices fall even further in the bleak retail month of February. You may see sales on big ticket items right after Christmas, but the prices are nowhere near rock bottom. Retailers are counting on post-Christmas shoppers with gift cards to spend.
If you’re planning on dropping a big chuck of change, even if it is holiday gift money you’re spending, do yourself a favor and wait a couple months.
Smaller electronics and appliances that were overstocked for Christmas like DVD players, computers, and small kitchen appliances are likely to have big discounts this week. If you’ve been in the market for these items, now may be the best time to buy. Make sure you do your homework, though. Just because the deal looks good doesn’t mean it’s the best deal out there.
And don’t forget, now is definitely the time to shop for the holidays next year. We didn’t buy any holiday decorations this year, because we bought them last year at drastically lower prices (about 75% off). Then we threw them into storage to use this Christmas.
Look for holiday decorations, greeting cards, scented candles, artificial trees if it’s time to replace yours, and other holiday items that retailers are practically giving away. Now is also the best time to pick up calendars for next year. But hurry! The best items never stay in stock for long after the holidays are over.
Many of you are probably eagerly anticipating the great after Christmas deals this year. You may not have to wait until December 26 to get started, though.
Today is the deadline for most online retailers to ship items by Christmas. Even though the holiday is a few days away, online after Christmas sales will start tomorrow.
Most people are already done Christmas shopping (especially online), and they won’t start shopping for post-holiday deals until this weekend. Get a head start online in the next few days before all the best stuff is sold out!
Remember, though, only shop the deals if there’s something you genuinely need. You’re not saving anything if you’re only buying it because it’s on sale!
Every month I’m learning more about saving and frugality. I freely admit, though, that I’m not as frugal as I could be. Not by a long shot. There are plenty of choices that I make that aren’t the most frugal, but I continue to make them anyway. Some of them are out of convenience, others compromise. Some are simply weaknesses that I’m continually trying to improve on. Here are my worst offenses:
I use dish rags and cloths for a lot of things, but sometimes I just want a paper towel for particularly tough messes. I don’t like keeping dirty or wet rags around the kitchen, so if I was going to switch to completely reusable rags, I’d be washing them constantly. Sometimes it’s just easier to use a paper towel. Of course, I use coupons to buy them, I always look for sales, and I try to keep my use to a minimum. That’s my frugal compromise.
We don’t spend a lot of money on entertainment or meals out. The compromise? We spring for cable television with DVR. It’s expensive at about $60 a month, but it certainly makes it easier to stay home instead of going out and spending money.
For most things, I don’t mind buying the generic version to save money. But there are some items (including paper towels, dog food, laundry detergent and shampoo) that I spring for the brand name. In my experimentation, I’ve discovered that I really can tell a difference. Most of the time I can’t tell a difference between brand names and their generic counterparts, but if there’s a considerable quality difference, then I’ll spend a little more for the better product.
The grocery store has always been our top weakness. We’ve worked really hard to cut our grocery spending down from $80-$90 a week to about $55-$60 a week. I wanted to cut it to $40 a week, but I found it to be too much of a struggle. So to make things easy on us, I decided to cut myself some slack. Somehow we still manage to go over budget on food every month, so this is definitely an area that I continue to work on. But I’ve stopped being quite so hard on myself about our failures. Every week is a learning experience.
I’m still working on doing better, and I continue to improve. But there are some things (like cable and paper towels) that I may never give up. Frugality is as much about compromise as it is about saving, so I try to keep a balance.
Do you have any frugal weaknesses?
Photo by engnr_chik
Who doesn’t love online shopping? It’s fast, convenient, and often offers lower prices. But it’s not always the most frugal way to shop.
I bought all of my nieces’ and nephews’ Christmas gifts through Amazon. They were shipped right to my door, and I did all of the shopping right from my couch. It doesn’t get more convenient than that.
But what happens if one of them already has the gift? What if it’s defective or they just don’t like it? In the past, I loved including gift receipts with any and all gifts. There’s no way to include a gift receipt with gifts purchased online.
It’s also easy to overlook shipping costs when shopping for online deals. Sure, the item itself might be $5 cheaper than in stores, but you’re not saving money if you’re paying $6 to ship it.
Time is another important factor. Are you shopping at the last minute? If so, it’s best not to risk holiday shipping delays for a few bucks off.
Shopping online may be more convenient overall, but it requires extra research and care.
Compare online and in-store prices, and be sure to factor in shipping costs when shopping for the best deal.
Consider the likelihood that the gift will need to be returned. For gifts like clothing that must be tried on, it might be worth it to spend a little more in-store so you can include a gift receipt. If it’s an appliance, book, or other item that you know the recipient wants, online shopping is the way to go.
Find out the person’s clothing sizes before you start shopping, and make sure they don’t already have the item you buy.
Because I knew I wouldn’t be able to include a gift receipt, I was extra careful when I shopped for my nieces and nephews. I checked with my sisters to make sure the gifts were a good fit. I also read product reviews to ensure I was buying quality toys that weren’t likely to be defective.
Shipping was free, and I paid for the gifts with an Amazon gift card I received through MyPoints. You can’t get a better deal than free, but if I had been paying out of my pocket, I would have comparison shopped to make sure I was getting the best deal.
In our culture of convenience and technology, it’s very easy to convince yourself that online is always better. Be sure to look at the whole picture before you make a decision, though.
Over the weekend, Tony and I were picking up a gift card as a Christmas gift for his grandparents. A month ago when we worked out our Christmas budget, we agreed upon an amount that we could afford. But as we stood in line I found myself second guessing our decision. “Do you think this is enough?” I asked him.
This isn’t the first time this has happened. I ask myself that question almost every time I buy a gift. “Is this enough?”
That’s a pretty silly question, though, isn’t it? Enough for what? After all, anybody who would receive a gift only to think it isn’t good enough really doesn’t deserve the gift at all.
Of course I wasn’t worried that Tony’s grandparents would feel that way. They’re probably not expecting anything from us at all, and they’ll be thrilled that we thought of them. So where does this doubt come from?
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that this doubt is more about me than it is about them. I enjoy giving gifts to the people I love because it makes them happy, but the desire to give more than I can afford comes from the same place as the desire to buy fancier things than I can afford.
It’s a tough thing to admit, but in the past I’ve used gift-giving as a status symbol. I’ve charged up credit cards and spent money I didn’t have on gifts. I’m sure the people who love me would be horrified if they knew that buying them gifts was putting me at financial risk. I certainly wouldn’t want anyone to risk their financial security to buy something for me.
I told myself that I was being generous. I wasn’t being generous, though. It was quite the opposite. Buying those fancy gifts made me feel good about giving them. Sure, it made the person who received the gift happy, but that’s not the real reason I was doing it. The people I love would be just as happy with a thoughtful gift that I could afford to give, whether it be something small, homemade, or even baked. The truth is, I liked the way it made me feel to give fancy gifts.
The past couple years have taught me valuable lessons about spending that I’ve learned to apply to gift-giving. Spend only what you can afford, and give only what you can give.
I’m still tempted to break my gift budget, but I have to remind myself that the people who love me would much rather I didn’t risk getting myself into trouble. After all, the safety and financial security of the people I love is much more important to me than receiving Christmas gifts. When I’m tempted to overspend, I remind myself that the people who love me want the same security and safety for me much more than they want presents.
The holiday season is a great time to make the people I love feel special. Spending more than I can afford just isn’t the way to do it.
If you’re like me, then you found yourself staring longingly at the fresh turkeys this year, convinced that they must taste better. After all, they’re fresh.
OK, so I’m not convinced that they do taste better. My husband swears by it, though. I’ll admit, the idea of skipping the thawing process with a huge turkey taking up half my fridge for a week before Thanksgiving is appealing to me. But there’s no way I’m ever going to spend $1+ a pound for fresh turkey when the frozen ones are on sale for 49 cents a pound.
I was kicking myself yesterday, though. You see, this year Tony and I went to a potluck for Thanksgiving Day and cooked our own Thanksgiving meal yesterday. We ran out to the store for a few last minute items yesterday and discovered that fresh turkeys were deeply discounted. They were actually about 40 cents a pound.
“Why didn’t we think of that?” my husband asked.
He’s right. We’ve known since before we bought our turkey that we would be cooking on Friday. It makes perfect sense that fresh turkeys would be dirt cheap the day after the holiday. What else are they going to do with a bunch of fresh turkeys with a sell-by date a week away?
Next year we’ll try a fresh turkey, and we’ll only pay 40 cents a pound. I don’t mind cooking a day late if it’s just us again.