Money Saving Tips – Sales Save Money Outside the Home #3

Money Saving Tips include sales to save money outside the home. Your best bet in any kind of shopping is to seek out the sales. Groceries to cars, we all want to save as much as we can and feel we have found a good bargain. Plus, the money left over always has another place it will be spent.

Couponing for Savings

Couponing. This is hands down one of the most traditional ways of saving money. And it has become an art for some with intense organization and discipline and planning. Couponing troopers will invest in several newspapers weekly, register for online couponing deals and spend hours clipping and organizing with weekly sales. Coupons will be sectioned by category or expiration or according to store and sales. There is no funny business for the dedicated coupon guru. However, their efforts pay off with incredible savings. For a while, my sister-in-law did this extravagant couponing and she would go shopping and come home with carts full of groceries and MORE money in her pocket than when she left. She got PAID to money back for using her coupons wisely.

Getting in on the Sales

Sales/Bulk purchasing – Buy One Get One. This means when you buy one at regular price, you get the second one for free. Pay attention and you will find buy one, get two FREE. I like these and bulk buy sales or case sales. It means a lot of the same items but there are those family favorites where this makes sense. Meats, canned vegetables, canned soups, chili and such.

I remember when hot dogs were 25 cents a package. We ate a lot of hot dogs as kids. Now, I buy hot dogs only when they are on buy one get one sale. Or when there is an incredible sale price for one package. I am floored to see a package of 8 hot dogs around $8.00 plus.

For a Buck

Then I think, well, a hot dog for a buck isn’t bad. But the hot dog in my mind comes with a bun and the condiments – ketchup, mustard, relish, onions. By the way, I prefer my dog to have mustard, mayonnaise, sauerkraut and loaded with onions, fresh chopped onions or grilled. I lean a little more to the fresh chopped for the crunch. Either way, guaranteed, I need to stand a few feet away until I get my teeth brushed and its been awhile.

Timing on this is everything too. Hot dogs and ground beef usually have great sales around Memorial Day, Father’s Day, July 4^th and Labor Day. Take this opportunity to stock up while they are on sale and put them in your freezer for use the rest of the year.

Research Your Sales

For big item sales you want to do a little research and discover when is the best buying time. For example, the month of May is the best time of year to make a refrigerator purchase. October is recommended for car shopping. Laptops are hot deals around back to school days in August and September. Televisions are discounted big time just before the Super Bowl. Furniture deals linger over from the New Years sales because March brings the new furnishings shows where the buyers are ordering for all the new stuff.

Shop for Your Barbecue at the END of the summer for the BEST SAVINGS!

Another rule of thumb you can go by is purchase in the off season. Or the end of the season. For example, buy winter coats at the end of February/March. Purchase your outdoor patio furniture towards the end of the summer. If its outdoor wants, buy when you spend time indoors. When its indoor wants, such as furniture, buy it when you are outside – in the summer!

The Spend & Save Methods

Buy generic. I admit, there are items I refuse to use the generic brand. However, before I come to that conclusion, I will buy one of the generic items to try first. I have found some generic items to be superior or equal to some things. And, yes, I have found some items just don’t have a substitute to suit my personal preference.

Pick Your Limited Few

For me, the two biggest examples where I refuse to budge on my brands are Jimmy Dean sausage and Cottonelle toilet paper. I must disclose I do use Johnsonville sausage links but all other sausage recipes or uses are Jimmy Dean. With Cottonelle, I either use the package with the purple or the blue, double-ply.

I used to also prefer Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup. Until I learned how to make my own homemade Cream of Mushroom soup. Now, I won’t go back to the canned version unless it is a component ingredient in another recipe. Then I will use is simply for making it an easy shortcut. Otherwise, when I want the soup, I will make it on my own.

Generic Label vs Brand Label

We all have our specific preferences. When we look at our options, we have to consider how valuable is our preference compared to how much we save.

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Finding Balance Between Substitution and Elimination

The point is to find a balance where there are generic products you ARE willing to substitute and save money. Keep a selective few products you want. There is no need to make yourself feel totally deprived. Deprive yourself too much and your efforts will backfire. To be denied all your desires, then a feeling of resentment builds. Eventually, the resentment will lead to a complete abandonment of your plan. This only comes back to hurt you and your credit and financial health in the future.

Eliminate sugary beverages, fancy coffees and coffee syrups or flavors, and alcohol. Eliminate unhealthy snacks. In other words, don’t do impulsive spending on unhealthy cravings or personal desires. Now, when it comes to coffee and alcohol, I feel strongly if you are going to indulge in these products, you need to invest in products that will be of health benefit to you, WORTH THE VALUE….AND CAN PAY YOU BACK. Yes, you can earn an income with these two.

Earn Money While Saving Money?

*People are making 6-figure incomes with these! And you can too! Learn more about it here.*

Now, if we are talking about saving money, how do you do any better than get your product for free and earn an income? Yes! It’s a real deal! There are plenty more details about this in another article of mine. Visit my Coffee and Wine and Money article to learn how you can do this! Oh – and lose weight doing it! No kidding!

Round It Up

Round up goes to your savings. A friend introduced me to this method of saving money. He set it up with his bank that every time he uses his debit card, the total is automatically rounded up at the bank and the difference between the exact total and the rounded total is deposited into his savings account. By the end of the year, he has a few hundred dollars he hadn’t counted on being available. Hey, I would much rather have a few hundred dollars in my favor than have it be the other way! And I don’t feel I am missing on these few extra cents daily.

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