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Who doesn't love a bargain? But in a recession, when most people are struggling financially, it's even more important to comparison shop and get the best price on things you need to buy. If you haven't looked around, you might be surprised to find how much prices vary from one vendor to the next. You can save a large percentage on your monthly expenses, just by taking the time to compare.
When we built the new house, we bought lots of things online, from hardware to fixtures to lights. We got some great discounts and stretched the building budget a lot…although not enough to cover the builder's overages.
Our best deal finder was the internet. Easy access to so many vendors makes it simple to find price savings. Even if you don't end up buying from a web store, it gives you a benchmark so you can more accurately evaluate local prices.
How have you managed to cut costs during the recession?
Alison Moore Smith is a 61-year-old entrepreneur who graduated from BYU in 1987. She has been (very happily) married to Samuel M. Smith for 40 years. They are parents of six incredible children and grandparents to two astounding grandsons. She is the author of The 7 Success Habits of Homeschoolers.
I collect coupons 🙂 (before I was throwing them away). Also I follow my local shops and when they offer a discount, I try to go there and buy there. And I use the word of mouth – i listen to recommendations of my friends and it really helps.
Our biggest strategy has been to stop buying so much! We cut out a lot of discretionary spending and we do more free things for fun.
Anna, coupons can be a great cost cutting measure if you do them right.
When we were in college I was a very serious coupon/rebate fanatic. I had categorized expandable files that I could take to the store. With the double couponing that was popular then (do any stores still do that?) and rebates, I not only got almost all our toiletries and lots of food and household items free, but even made money on the purchases!
That was one way (seriously!) that I was able to stay home with the girls while Sam was in graduate school.
Margie, that is the fundamental, isn’t it? Not spending at all is even better than getting a bargain. And using no cost entertainment is another good tip. (I feel another blog post coming on!)
Thank you both for your input.
Our biggest strategy has been to stop buying so much! We cut out a lot of discretionary spending and we do more free things for fun.
Hey Alison,
I agree with you, it is a good idea to take the time to compare in order to save a large percentage on your monthly expense. My best deal finder is the internet as well. I actually think it’s fun to compare each vendors’ prices by searching the web.
It’s very fast and convenient, which is why I like doing it so much. Thanks for sharing Alison, I think we all are trying to cut costs in this recession.
John, thanks for stopping by. I remember back in the day having to drive all over or call a billion places. It’s so much easier now to get information. 🙂
Alison, true story! When I went back to college as an adult student, I was on a VERY tight budget, so I bought used editions of the books I needed on Amazon from other people for a fraction of the cost of the used ones in even the school store. Great stuff! Thanks for posting!
That’s a great tip. Now that we have such easy access to book prices, that can be a huge saving to students. Books are a huge part of the equation. (For the record, my dad is a math textbook author and, in spite of the exorbitant prices, the authors are not the ones getting wealthy!)
Going back to school has to be tough. When Sam finished his master’s degree, we toyed with what to do. I was a couple of months away from getting my bachelor’s, so we were staying around for that, Sam knew he wanted to get a PhD eventually, but we weren’t really sure we wanted to do it right then — and be poor that much longer.
I was pregnant with our first baby then and decided that it would probably be easier to stay poor than to be not poor and go back to being poor. 🙂 By the time he finished we had two of our children. I was expert on making ends meet with really tight budget constraints!
Now I try to save in the following way – I buy high quality goods so as not to pay twice. It concerns furniture and clothes. My other saving is petrol. before I drive everywhere, even if I had to go to the shop that is nearby to buy bread. Now I prefer walking or bicycling. Also a good idea.
My parents taught me that lesson, LoveChic. We always had a subscription to Consumer Reports and they looked for the best quality for the money, just like you said. This is also true with cars, sporting goods — pretty much anything that is needed to last.
With gas prices “necessarily skyrocketing,” reducing driving will certainly help, as well. Ugh!
Thanks for your input.
Yeah, internet shopping is far to easy, we can shop from so many vendors with the click of a button, imagine traveling from shop to shop, that too in this hot summer. Besides off line vendors does not give as much of a discount as the online ones does.
i will give your recommendation a try, and good to know that it worked out nicely with your home constructions,
I just want to say about one point from our budget: buying clothes. Before I used to buy whatever I wanted and I didn’t pay attention to the quality. As a result, such clothes were thrown away in a month or so. Now I buy brand clothes which are more expensive, of course, but they can be wore longer and in this way it is real saving.
I’m all about saving money. Since the new year started I’ve begun calendaring our meals for the month and then I do one huge shop at the start. Then I only make runs for parishables. Before I was at the store several times a week and would come home with things not on the list. 🙂 Fewer trips equals fewer items bought that were not on the list. Also with toddlers we buy most of their clothes at the second hand store or childrens consignment stores. Sometimes the items at the thrift store are in such great shape that when I’m through with them I’ll consign them and get more back than I paid myself…ie the Easter dress that’s only worn 2-3 times by the tween. Ahhh love the challenge of penny pinching.
Oh, great ideas, Denise! Making money by buying clothes, that’s something I could get into. 🙂
What are your favorite stores for grocery savings? I’ve been thinking about getting back into couponing. I was a master when we were in college, but haven’t done it seriously in years. Got kind of inspired by a weird couponing show I saw last week.
I have a five-week, rotating menu plan. I don’t do a monthly bulk shopping day, but I do have it integrated with my food storage, so lots of it is pre-purchased in a sense.
i Really do the same @Anna I collect vouchers and when people tell me of discounts on in certain places I will go there and check them out. It is when you do this you realise that at times you are paying far too much
In fact I have always been money-saving and my mum taught me to save on everything – I hate such situation but it’s in my mind and before buying anything I compare prices in several shops, I count my benefits (maybe they offer additional bonuses), etc.
But I think that if we all are careful, the world will be better and we will be able to save more resources.
Bargaining is not bad even in healthy financial condition.because it will gives you the best deal ever you made. Same in retail business retail agents are putting efforts to get best deal for their business to earn more incentives as their work appreciation.
I think even if it is not recession, it is still advisable to look for bargain products. There are a lot of them online. Deal sites are also everywhere which can really help us save a lot of money. 🙂