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6 Items You Should Never Pay Full Price For

December 6, 2021 By MelissaB Leave a Comment

Items You Should Never Pay Full Price For

When I graduated from college and came back to live at home for a few years, I went with my mom to the furniture store to buy a bed, dresser, and desk set. We found one that I loved. However, I was embarrassed when my mom started haggling with the salesperson. She haggled for about 10 minutes, and in the end, she got 15% off the set. Turns out my mom knew something I, as a young person in my 20s, didn’t—there are certain items you should never pay full price for.

New Furniture

As per my experience, you should never pay full price for furniture. To save money on furniture, use these tactics:

Shop in Winter or the End of Summer

Furniture stores get their inventory in the spring and fall, so they will be looking to get rid of older pieces and be more willing to negotiate. (I bought my furniture in January.)

Go to Smaller Furniture Stores

You won’t be able to negotiate at a big store like Ikea. However, if you visit a small, local furniture store or chain, the salesperson will likely negotiate with you.

Shop Clearance Items

Most furniture stores have a clearance section. They want to get rid of those items, so you may have even more negotiating power if you shop clearance.

Buy Used Furniture

Of course, buying new furniture isn’t the only way to go. You can save much more if you’re open to buying used furniture. For instance, I was driving through a neighborhood one day when I saw a dining room table as part of a garage sale. That table was only $50 and included the table, leaves, and four chairs. It has lasted us for 10 years, though we’re due to replace it sometime soon.

In addition to garage sales, you can find good used furniture advertised on Craigslist and at second-hand shops. You’ll pay only a fraction of the new price.

Hotel Rooms

You can save on hotel rooms in a variety of ways.

Use Online Tools

Many online tools can help you pay less for a hotel room. Consider using Kayak, Expedia, or Priceline.

Use Your Membership

Do you belong to AARP, AAA, or the military? If so, mention that when you check in, and you will likely get a discount.

Avoid Hotel Rooms

Another option is to bypass hotel rooms altogether. You may find that vacation rentals are cheaper than hotel rooms, especially if you have a large family.

Rental Cars

Rental cars are a necessity, but the price can add up quickly, especially when you add optional insurance coverage. Luckily, you can use these strategies to save.

Book in Advance

The earlier you can reserve your rental car, the less you’ll pay. Our family had to rent a minivan for a trip, and we booked three months in advance. As the day got closer to our day to pick up the van, I was astonished to see how much the price went up. We easily saved 20% by booking in advance. Most reservations are non-binding, so booking in advance is a low-risk proposition.

Use Your Costco Membership

If you have a Costco membership, use their travel tab online and make your reservation through Costco’s website. You’ll pay the least amount of money with your Costco card. That’s the only way we book rental cars now.

Don’t Rent at the Airport

Most people get off the plane and go right to the airport rental car desk. Sure, doing so is convenient, but you’re paying extra for that perk. You’ll likely save more if you take an Uber or Lyft to a rental car location a few miles from the airport.

Use Your Credit Card for Insurance

One of the costly fees when renting a car is to pay for the daily insurance. Before you rent the car, call your credit card company and see if they offer primary insurance on rental cars when you use their card to pay for the rental. If so, you could save a bundle by opting out of insurance.

Vehicles

In the market for a new car? Get ready to haggle because you don’t want to pay full price for a vehicle. The car will likely be listed with the MSRP (Manufacturer’s Retail Sales Price). However, to negotiate successfully, you’ll also need to know roughly how much the dealer paid for the vehicle. Then, you’re ready to negotiate. Consumer Reports has an excellent tutorial on how to negotiate with a car dealership.

One caveat: the used and new car markets are strained due to the pandemic, so we’re in a seller’s market. You may not be able to negotiate as successfully as if there wasn’t a supply chain shortage and an increase in demand.

School Supplies

Items You Should Never Pay Full Price For
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Our family never pays full price for school supplies. Instead, we buy an excess of school supplies in July and August when they’re dirt cheap. Then, when we need glue, or scissors, or paper, or a notebook some other time in the year, we just reach into our stockpile. By shopping like this, you can easily get school supplies for 90% off the retail price.

Mattresses

Look to buy a mattress during the major holidays and Black Friday. They will often be offered for 10 to 20% off. Also, just like furniture, you can save a bundle if you buy right as the new season’s mattresses arrive. That means if you buy last season’s model in April, you should save a significant percentage because the store wants to make room for the new models. You can also try to negotiate with the salesperson to save a bit more.

Final Thoughts

If you’re in the market for these items you should never pay full price for, I hope you can use these tactics to save money. Many of these items are big-ticket items, so the more you can save, the better.

Read More

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MelissaB
MelissaB

Melissa is a writer and virtual assistant. She earned her Master’s from Southern Illinois University, and her Bachelor’s in English from the University of Michigan. When she’s not working, you can find her homeschooling her kids, reading a good book, or cooking. She resides in New York, where she loves the natural beauty of the area.

www.momsplans.com/

Filed Under: Cars, credit cards, Frugality, Saving Tagged With: buying a car, Frugality, saving money, secondhand

Creative Dating Tips When Broke

September 27, 2021 By MelissaB 1 Comment

When my now husband and I first started dating, I was a graduate student, and he was an undergraduate. We were both broke, but we didn’t let that stop us. We spent nine months mostly going on free dates before we became engaged. If you’re short on cash, don’t let that interfere with your dating life. Instead, follow these creative dating tips when broke and go out and enjoy life. Who said dating has to be expensive?

Dating Tips When Broke

 

Free Date Ideas

You may be under the misconception that dating is expensive, and it can be—if you let it. But there are still fabulous ways to spend time together that are free or cost very little and are fun.

Scenic Drive

Why not take a scenic drive and explore the area around you? We enjoy this most when the leaves are changing in the fall, and the scenery is gorgeous. But a scenic drive can be fun no matter the season.

Free Performances

If you live near a college town, see if they have any free performances. Colleges frequently have free music concerts. Some towns also have free plays in the summer or free movie viewings outdoors in the park.

One of our regular summer dates was a music concert the college held every Wednesday night. We got to spend time together, listen to good music, and, best of all, not spend any money!

Trip to the Beach

You can hit the beach for some daytime relaxation and fun. Or, for a more romantic date, try going to the beach an hour before sunset. There’s nothing better on a summer night than walking the beach, feeling the cool breeze, and watching the sunset.

Hike

Hiking can give you a chance to see how adventurous the other person is and to see how he or she handles difficulty if you take a more challenging trail. Or, you can opt to take an easier trail and have fun seeing the scenery and spending time together in nature.

Geocaching

Take your sweetie on an adventure. Geocaching is a free treasure hunt about which some people are almost cultish. Using GPS, find the nearby coordinates and the treasure that someone else has hidden.

Cook Together

Dating Tips When Broke

You both have to eat, so why not cook together? This activity gives you a chance to see how you work together as a team and delegate responsibility, plus you get to eat something that’s (hopefully) tasty after all of your hard work. If you have a good few hours to spend on preparation, you could even turn it into a little romantic restaurant-style dinner at home. You can get dressed up, perhaps with your favorite perfume (plus some extra True Pheromones to make yourself even more appealing), set a beautiful table with candles, flowers, etc., and recreate a special meal that the two of you have had in the past.

If you have a bit of money to spend, you can make cooking together more of an adventure by buying a meal kit like HelloFresh. If you can’t afford that, Blue Apron has all of its recipes online for free. Just buy the ingredients you need.

Eat2Explore has boxes that include recipes for three meals from another country. Each box has directions, the sauces and spices you need, and a little bit of information about the country. You supply the ingredient. We’ve used several of these boxes and enjoyed trying foods from other countries.

My husband and I cooked together at least two or three times a week when we were dating. We both still like to cook, but now we take shifts—one cooks, one does the dishes. We figure when the kids are grown, we’ll have more time to cook together like we did when we were dating.

Star Gaze

If you live in the country, there’s something so romantic about putting down a blanket, lying together on your backs, and watching the stars. Of course, it’s fun to find constellations, but many times, if you stay there long enough, you can even see a shooting star or two. Plus, the stillness and the beauty of the night sky make for a very memorable date.

Go to a Museum

Many museums have one or two days a month when admission is free. Just be prepared that if you go during this time, the museum will likely be packed.

Some libraries also offer culture passes. These can be checked out and used for free admission to museums in your area. If you use these, you can go for free without dealing with the overcrowding that the one free day a month usually brings.

Low-Cost Dates

While the free dating tips when broke can supply you with many great dating ideas, there may be times when you want to go out and spend a little money. These fun date ideas don’t cost much money.

Go Out for Dessert

While getting an entire meal together at a restaurant might be a bit pricey if you’re broke, you can share a dessert for a fraction of the cost. For example, a Caramel Apple Blondie from Applebee’s is only $6.99. Or, their Brownie Bite is just $1.99. Plus, many of these desserts are so large, they’re like a meal in themselves.

Coffee Shop

Dating Tips When Broke

Going to a coffee shop can be the perfect, intimate date. You can chat and focus on one another while sipping a beverage.

If you’re bookworms, you could get your drink at a bookstore coffee shop and spend an hour or two perusing good books and discussing them. My husband and I loved this type of date. We frequently went to coffee shops from the start of our relationship until after our first child was born.

Paint Together

Though you’ll have to pay for the supplies, that will likely be the only expense when painting together. If you’re both artistic, you could try to paint on your own with no direction. However, if one or both of you are artistically challenged, there’s no shortage of YouTube tutorials to watch. For instance, you can now find many of the PBS Bob Ross tutorials on YouTube.

Final Thoughts

Being short on cash doesn’t has to kill your love life. If you use some of these creative dating tips when broke, you can continue to enjoy spending time with your romantic interest in a way that doesn’t leave you with even less money. The most important aspect is being together. Doing that doesn’t have to be expensive or boring.

Read More

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MelissaB
MelissaB

Melissa is a writer and virtual assistant. She earned her Master’s from Southern Illinois University, and her Bachelor’s in English from the University of Michigan. When she’s not working, you can find her homeschooling her kids, reading a good book, or cooking. She resides in New York, where she loves the natural beauty of the area.

www.momsplans.com/

Filed Under: Frugality, Saving Tagged With: broke, dating, Frugality

Do Fitness and Frugality Go Together?

April 19, 2021 By MelissaB 9 Comments

Fitness and Frugality

Maybe it’s just because of the impending spring-like weather, but it seems like I’ve seen a large number of fitness-related posts on many of the personal finance sites that I read.  This made me pose the question, do fitness and frugality go together?

Ways Fitness and Frugality Go Together

The answer is complicated.  Fitness and frugality can go together.  Think about this–by its very definition, frugality is the rationing and careful spending of resources.  In being frugal, we carefully budget our money.  We carefully check over the fliers and find the best deals on groceries.  Eventually, as we continue doing these things, they become second nature.  We do them almost without consciously knowing that we are.  It becomes a way of life.

Fitness is very much the same.

Ration Resources

In being fit, we ration our resources, eating only what our body needs.  This can lead to a slimmer physique and a reduced grocery bill.  There are also other ways being fit can help us ration our resources

Not Buying Junk Food

Save on Groceries by Limiting Junk FoodJunk food is expensive, and it also can be a contributing factor for piling on the pounds.  If your fit and healthy, you’ll likely buy more natural ingredients like vegetables, fruits, healthy grains, and proteins.  These can help you stay fit and lower your grocery bill.

Not Going to Restaurants

Even if you eat what you think is a healthy salad at a restaurant, you’re likely consuming many more calories, fat, and sugar than you think.  Plus, restaurant food isn’t cheap!  If you eat at home more, you’ll not only save money, but you’ll eat healthier because you know exactly what is going into your meals.  As a result, you’ll feel better.

Track Our Progress

We frugal people keep close track of how we are spending our resources and are constantly trying to find ways to improve our outcomes.

This skill can easily translate to fitness.  We can keep track of our fitness progress while also trying to run a faster mile, bench press more, and do more sit-ups and pull-ups.  This drive can make us fitter over the years.

Lower Medical Costs

People who are frugal are patient.  They’re used to waiting for a good deal.  They’re used to waiting to see their retirement grow, knowing that each bit they invest will help secure their future.

Likewise, in fitness, each exercise you do and each healthy food you eat helps future you by reducing your long-term medical costs.  Ideally, the more fit you are, the less you need to spend on medical bills in the future.

Final Thoughts

Fitness can be expensive if you let it.  You can pay for a monthly gym pass.  You can buy the latest exercise equipment.  But you don’t have to.

If you are frugal, you can find ways to save money while getting fit and improving your lifestyle.  Simply improve your diet and find frugal ways to exercise like walking, biking, running, or lifting weights at home.

Read More

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MelissaB
MelissaB

Melissa is a writer and virtual assistant. She earned her Master’s from Southern Illinois University, and her Bachelor’s in English from the University of Michigan. When she’s not working, you can find her homeschooling her kids, reading a good book, or cooking. She resides in New York, where she loves the natural beauty of the area.

www.momsplans.com/

Filed Under: Frugality, Saving Tagged With: fitness, Frugality, Personal Finance, saving money

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