Beating Broke

Personal Finance from the Broke Perspective

5 Tips to Make Black Friday Shopping Work for You

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I’m not a big shopper.  Never have been, never will be.

However, I do love scoring a great bargain, which is why I do some shopping on Black Friday.  However, I always remind myself that even the best deal isn’t a deal if I’m buying something I don’t need.

If you want to snag some great Black Friday deals, but you want to be mindful of your money (and your spending), trying using these strategies.

Make Black Friday shopping Work For YouMake a List of What You Need

Notice I didn’t say, make a list of what you “want.”  There are lots of things you might want looking through the Black Friday ads.  You might want the electric blanket that will keep you toasty all night long, but do you really need it?  Your son might want the latest gizmo toy, but does he already have so many toys that he doesn’t have room to put them all away?  Move on.

Make a list of things that you truly need.  Last year, my  husband and I noticed that our kitchen pots and pans were getting scraped up at the bottom and the non-stick coating was coming off.  We bought a set from Kohl’s on Black Friday, and after the sale and rebate, we got the pans for less than 50% of the retail price.  I was also tempted by the deal on a Kitchen Aid mixer, but I didn’t need the Kitchen Aid mixer, I just wanted it, so I passed that deal up.

Think Beyond Toys and Electronics

Many people think of toys and electronics when they think of Black Friday deals, but expand your horizons.  If you need new towels because yours are ragged, Black Friday is the perfect time to look.  Look around your house at anything you think you may need to replace in the next year and consider taking advantage of the Black Friday sales.

 

 

Shop Online

Thanks to the Internet, there’s no need to go shopping on Thanksgiving to score the deals or to fight with the hordes of people flocking to the store.  Most of the time, the stores only stock a limited supply of an item that will likely be sold out before you get to the right aisle.

Shop online from the comfort of your home, and you’ll find almost  everything you want in stock.  Better yet, many retailers offer free shipping, so it can be delivered right to your door.

Capture Additional Savings

If you’re shopping online, make sure to take advantage of additional savings.  Use a site like Ebates to get cash back for some of your purchases.  You can also shop online codes to get free shipping if the store doesn’t already offer it.

Learn When the Sale Starts

Now that Black Friday sales are so popular, retails are trying to extend the Black Friday shopping season.  First, they began opening their stores late on Thanksgiving night.  Last year, many retailers offered their Black Friday sales online during the entire week of Thanksgiving.  I think we scored our pots and pan deal on Monday, four days before Black Friday.

Find a deal blogger to follow, if you don’t already, to get the latest scoop on when the sales will start.

Use these tips to score the best Black Friday deals, keep your budget intact, and enjoy your time with family on Thanksgiving.

Do you shop on Black Friday?  What other tips would you add to this list?

 

Grocery Shopping Once a Month – Can You Do It?

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My husband and I recently bought a house, and we’d like to plump up our emergency fund just in case we have a large house expense.  (Because, of course, when you have little savings, expensive things start to break.  It’s the law of nature, right?)

To inspire myself, I reread America’s Cheapest Family Gets You Right on the Money by Steve and Annette Economides.  One strategy of theirs that I latched onto is once a month shopping.  The Economides shop once a month for their family of seven and right after shopping day, they make 15 to 17 freezer meals to help them on nights when they’re too busy to cook.

Alright, I already regularly cook freezer meals, so how hard could it be to shop once a month for my family of five?

As it turns out, very tough, at least the first month.

Grocery Shopping once a monthBreaking Bad Habits

I have a bad habit of making a big shopping trip on the weekend and then running to the store for this or that several times a week.

Do you do this, too?  From all of the harried shoppers I see at the store at 5 p.m., I’m guessing I’m not alone.

The problem is that each time I run to the store, I buy more items than I initially went to the store to buy.  The Economides recommend once a month shopping to avoid this kind of impulse buying that blows up the grocery budget.

Making the Big Shopping Trip

This month, eager to change my bad shopping habit, I scouted the deals and made my big, once a month shopping trip.  I spent two days afterward cooking up meals to put in the freezer.  I was set, or so I thought.

Turns out, limiting the impulse to stop by the store is more difficult than I thought.

There are a number of reasons why we’re struggling:

  • My husband likes fresh fruit and veggies.  Our family wiped these out after a week, so back I went to the store to pick up some more.
  • I’m an impulse eater.  If something sounds good to me, I want to make the recipe and have it for dinner.  I don’t want to wait until my next monthly shopping trip to get the ingredients to make it.  (The whim would have passed by then, which is the point, I guess.)
  • Eating up odds and ends at the end of the month is not fun.  Sure, trying to make meals out of what food is left is fun, but the last few days, most of it doesn’t taste good.

Taking Baby Steps Moving Forward

While it would be easy to give up on the idea of once a month shopping, I haven’t yet because I know it can be a big money saver.  Instead, I’m going to back up and move to twice a month shopping.  This will allow me time to plan out our meals for two weeks, making sure we have all the ingredients we need.  Many fruits and veggies stay good for nearly two weeks, so my husband will have the fresh fruits and veggies that he wants.

I don’t know if I’ll ever fully implement once a month shopping, but if I am successful with twice a month shopping, I will still significantly reduce my impulse shopping trips and improve my grocery budget.

How often do you grocery shop?  Are you a multiple trip, impulse buyer like I am (was?), or are you a grocery store ninja?

Looking for More Ways to Save? Try Asking for Discounts

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There are plenty of ways to save on a daily basis–clipping coupons, resisting the urge to buy something, packing your lunch instead of eating out, etc.  There are many ways to live a more frugal life, and chances are, you incorporate the ways that are easy.  You know, the ones that don’t cause you to change your lifestyle much.  Things like giving up cable and getting streaming through your Xbox instead.  That’s fairly easy and doesn’t change your lifestyle.

Another easy way to save that doesn’t change your lifestyle is to ask for discounts.  Have you tried it?

Asking is surprisingly easy, and even more surprising is how often you actually get the discount.  You just have to get up the nerve to ask the first time; once someone says yes, you’ll gain confidence, and it’ll be easier to ask next time.

Ask for the DiscountWant proof that asking is as easy as I say?

Credit Card Fees

A few years ago, I made an online payment to my credit card on the day it was due, which was a Saturday.  The web stated that any payment made on the weekend wouldn’t post until the next business day.  Yep, my on time payment was counted late, and I was charged a $25 late fee.

I called the company and asked them to remove the late charge.  They did immediately.  Why?  Two reasons.  First, I asked.  Second, I never make late payments, so they rewarded my good payment history by removing the late payment.  I’ve had this happen to me 3 times in about 10 years of credit card usage.  Each time I called and they removed the charge.

Credit Card Interest

We’re paying down debt, and one thing that slowed our progress was our credit card APR of 13.99%.  I called to ask to have the rate reduced.  I had to talk to a supervisor, but she lowered our rate to 9.99%, and she gave me enough reward points to cover the cost of our annual fee.  I saved a few hundred dollars right there in about 10 minutes, just by asking.  (But when I got an offer to move my balance to a 0% APR card a few months later, you better believe I did it.)

Grocery Store Purchases

Asking for discounts isn’t limited to credit cards.  If I see something at the grocery store that is at the sell by date, I’ll ask someone in that department to discount it.  I’m only successful here about 50% of the time, but still, that’s half the time that I save more than I would if I hadn’t asked!

Garage Sales & Craigslist

I love shopping garage sales in the summertime.  If things are already priced dirt cheap, I don’t haggle, but if the price is too expensive, I have no problem asking for a lower price.  Most of the time people will say yes because they just want to get rid of their stuff.

Likewise, people on Craigslist expect you to ask for a lower price than they have listed.  Just don’t get ridiculous with the amount you ask.  That can be insulting for the seller and usually won’t lead to a deal.

These are just a few examples of how I’ve saved by asking for a discount.  However, any time I think asking might lead to a discount, I ask.

What was your most successful discount you got just by asking?