365 Ways to Live Cheap (24 page)
297. O
RGANIZE
“W
ORK
P
ARTIES
” W
HERE
P
EOPLE
G
ATHER TO
H
ELP WITH A
T
ASK
Do you have a major task that needs to get done, like laying new cement for a basketball court or re-shingling your roof? Utilize the social network you’ve built and invite a group of your friends over to help out. Provide refreshments and be willing to offer your help to them if they need it for similar large projects. You can transform a large, arduous task into a fun social event for a large group of people. The key is to be willing to do the same for the people you invite; in fact, if you hear about a friend who is organizing such a “work party,” volunteer to help out. You’re much more likely to get people involved in your task if you show a repeated willingness to help others out. In either case, a “work party” can be a very inexpensive and fun way to spend an afternoon, plus it can save you a lot of money if it helps you get a major task done with minimal expense.
298. S
HARE
P
URCHASES OF
E
QUIPMENT WITH
N
EIGHBORS AND
F
RIENDS
Do you have a large yard and need a riding lawn mower? Are any of your friends in a similar situation? Look into sharing the cost of a major purchase, then sharing the use of the item equally. Doing this gives you full use of the equipment that you need with only half the cost and half of the repair expense when it breaks down, or even less if you get a third or a fourth friend involved in the purchase.
A
tip:
If you do enter into this type of an arrangement, clearly specify between you what the ground rules are for use, who will store it, how the other person can easily access it, and so on. Be a bit flexible and you can wind up saving yourself thousands of dollars.
299. S
HARE
M
ONEY
-S
AVING
T
IPS WITH
Y
OUR
F
RIENDS
If you discover a clever way to save some money, share it with your friends. Tell them about the great idea you’ve implemented and how much money it’s saved you. Then, when they discover a clever way to save money, they’re likely to share this idea with you, which you can then implement to save money as well. Sharing such ideas can be a great way to touch base with friends while at the same time discovering new ideas for reducing your bottom line.
300. B
UY IN
B
ULK WITH
F
RIENDS
Bulk buying can save you a lot of money, but it’s hard to get through all of the material that you purchase before it begins to go bad. You can solve that problem by arranging bulk purchases with your friends, splitting the cost of the item and the purchase itself. For example, if you can save 20 percent by buying an enormous box of cereal, split the cost with a friend, then divide the box in half (with half remaining in the box and the other half in a container) when you get home. That way, you each have the contents of a normal-sized box of cereal with a 20 percent discount. You can do the same thing with almost any bulk purchase that you both agree on. Visit a warehouse store together and select items as a team.
301. H
OST AN
A
LL
-D
AY
“C
OOK
A
HEAD
” P
ARTY
Eager to try cooking meals in advance but the time investment seems tremendous? Want to take even more advantage of bulk buying of ingredients? Host a “cook ahead” party at your house, where each person brings a huge amount of a few ingredients, then you all work together to assemble a bunch of meals that can be frozen for future easy cooking. Casseroles work really well for this, as do soups and stews. Figure out some recipes, call up some friends, assign some items for each person to get, and have a giant cooking party. It can be social fun while saving you all money on food and time later on, when evenings are busy.
C
HEAP
T
ACTIC
$
FOR
S
HOPPING
302 Don’t Shop for Entertainment’s Sake
303 Discover Craigslist and Freecycle
304 Get into Free Customer Programs
306 Use the “One Month” Coupon Strategy
307 Use the Internet for More Coupons
308 Double Savings with Manufacturer and Store Coupons
309 Wait on Purchases Until Sales Appear
310 Use Store Flyers to Identify Those Sales
311 Use a Price Book for Your Regular Purchases
313 Set a “Time Goal” When You Walk in the Door
314 Only Buy the Specific Item(s) You’re Shopping For
315 Don’t Buy Any Item in the Checkout Aisle
316 Shop on Your State’s Tax-Free Holidays
317 Shop Online for Better Price Comparisons
318 Don’t Store Your Credit Card with an Online Shopping Site
319 Don’t Buy “Just One More Thing” to Get Free Shipping
320 If Prices are Equal, Buy at Your Local Store
302. D
ON
’T S
HOP FOR
E
NTERTAINMENT
’S S
AKE
One of the biggest social temptations that people face is the idea of shopping for entertainment’s sake. Heading out to the mall with friends, credit card in hand, or hitting the golf or electronics shop with your buddy are sure ways to convince yourself to spend extra money. If you don’t have a distinct purchase you need to make, don’t go to a shopping center. Instead, find another activity to do, one that doesn’t constantly encourage you to bust out the plastic for things you don’t really need.
303. D
ISCOVER
C
RAIGSLIST AND
F
REECYCLE
If you’re unfamiliar with these services, get familiar. They’re both tremendous ways for you to save money on items. Craigslist (
www.craigslist.com
) is essentially a giant free online classified ad service that often lists items at tremendous discounts or for free if you’ll just come and get them. Freecycle (
www.freecycle.com
) is a series of local listings where people list things that they’re wanting to get rid of, while others list requests for items that they’d like to receive. Visit these sites, browse the listings, and get a feel for the stuff that’s available. You’ll likely find some tremendous bargains, as well as a way to get rid of your unwanted stuff and find a happy home for it.
304. G
ET
I
NTO
F
REE
C
USTOMER
P
ROGRAMS
If a store you frequent regularly has a free customer rewards or a frequent buyer program, sign up for it. First, before you go to the store, sign up for a free Gmail account (
http://gmail.google.com
) to give yourself a free address with which to collect the e-mails they may send out. Then, sign up for any free programs at any stores you visit. Always list this new e-mail address in the email field. Then, on a regular basis, check that e-mail address and see what offers have been sent to you. Always check it if you’re about to head to that store with a specific purchase in mind—you may have an appropriate discount just waiting for you.
305. T
RY
W
AREHOUSE
S
HOPPING
Another effective way to save money is to try warehouse shopping at one of the many warehouse “members only” clubs, like Costco or Sam’s Club. Call your local store and see if you can get a guest pass (some clubs offer these; others do not), then take your old grocery receipt in there with you to compare prices. Compare the prices you regularly pay with the regular prices in the warehouse club—some may be the same, but many may be lower. Depending on your purchasing habits, you can easily save $10 to $20 per shopping trip at a warehouse club, and if that’s the case, a membership in such a club will quickly pay for itself.
306. U
SE THE
“O
NE
M
ONTH
” C
OUPON
S
TRATEGY
The coupon section in your Sunday newspaper can be a treasure trove of savings, but only if you use it effectively. Many items that you see coupons for are in the midst of a promotional campaign that will often include in-store sales as well at a later date, usually a month or so later. So, to maximize the value of these coupons, clip the good ones now and hold onto them for a while. Compare your coupon hoard with the store flyer each week to see if any of them match up, then add that item to your grocery list and take the coupon with you. Doing this as a regular habit can get you many items for mere pennies, particularly if you check the flyers from drugstores (like Walgreen’s and C
VS
) and discount grocery stores for good coupon matches.
307. U
SE THE
I
NTERNET FOR
M
ORE
C
OUPONS
Many websites offer coupons as well. Some of the more popular coupon sites, such as
Coupons.com
(
www.coupons.com
), offer a bevy of coupons for all sorts of products. Go through those sites, looking for coupons for products you already use or coupons that seem to create a tremendous discount on the product, and print them out to add to your coupon hoard. You can also directly visit the website of your favorite stores, as many of them offer in-store coupons to save even more money on specific products.
308. D
OUBLE
S
AVINGS WITH
M
ANUFACTURER AND
S
TORE
C
OUPONS
If you find a manufacturer coupon and a store coupon for the same item, you’re in luck. Almost all stores will honor both coupons, meaning you can often double your savings with little effort. Thus, checking on both manufacturer and store coupons can be incredibly valuable, sometimes netting you free and almost-free items. If you’re doing coupon searches online, open up two browser windows, one with a manufacturer coupon site like
Coupons.com
, and another with the website of your favorite retailer. Compare the coupons on both, and print out any coupons that appear in both forms, as quite often these add up to a free or nearly free item.
309. W
AIT ON
P
URCHASES
U
NTIL
S
ALES
A
PPEAR
If you’re considering a larger purchase, particularly of an item that’s not a hot new release, practice a bit of patience before you make your purchase. Shop around and wait for a sale to crop up. For example, if you’re considering buying a D
VD
player, don’t just run down to the store and pick one up. Be patient and wait for the D
VD
players to go on sale. Waiting a month or two won’t be the end of the world, particularly if it saves you some cash.
310. U
SE
S
TORE
F
LYERS TO
I
DENTIFY
T
HOSE
S
ALES
The easiest way to find these sales is to hit the store flyers each week. Pick up a Sunday paper (which usually has dozens of store flyers inside) and examine each one for the item you’re considering buying. If you don’t find the item you’re thinking of purchasing, wait until next week. This saves you the effort of searching in multiple stores for a particular item over and over again. Instead, let the sale come to you via the flyers.
311. U
SE A
P
RICE
B
OOK FOR
Y
OUR
R
EGULAR
P
URCHASES
Most people fall into a routine of buying thirty or so items on a very regular basis, sometimes during every shopping trip. Items like milk, eggs, laundry detergent, toothpaste, and bread are common purchases for most people, and many people often have a preferred choice or two within these items. One way to subtly save yourself money on these regular items is to start a price book, a brilliant tactic made famous by Amy Dacyczyn in her
Tightwad Gazette
newsletter in the 1990s. All you do is make a list of all of those items you buy regularly, then write down the price for that item at each of several different grocery stores in the area. You’ll usually get a clear picture of where the discounts are, and it can help you select the cheapest store to shop at by default as well as a tool to compare your shopping list with, because there may be a cheaper store to shop at depending on the exact items you’re buying that week.
312. S
HOP
A
LONE
Unless you’re shopping specifically to split purchases with a friend, try to shop alone. The more people you have along on a shopping trip, the easier it is for impulse buys to slip into the cart, as there’s many more opportunities for impulsiveness with multiple people than there is with one person. A single person equipped with a planned shopping list has the least chance to slip an impulsive purchase into the cart, so go alone to save some money in the checkout aisle.
313. S
ET A
“T
IME
G
OAL
” W
HEN
Y
OU
W
ALK IN THE
D
OOR
If you’re entering a store where you know you’re likely to be distracted (like a clothing store, an electronics store, or a bookstore), set a time goal when you need to check out and leave the store. This will reduce the opportunities you have to be distracted by impulsive buys and keep you focused on the items you’re intending to purchase. One effective way to do this is to set the alarm clock on your watch or on your phone, so that it beeps loudly, reminding you that it’s time to get out of the store and making sure you’re not dawdling.
