Save Money in Unusual Ways While Shopping
You have just entered your serious shopping mode. No high prices, fake sales, or polite store personnel will stand in your way now! This is more than likely how you envision yourself as you hit the aisles of your local stores. Or perhaps your the more conservative saver. Either way you may be missing some of the tell tale industry signs of a bad deal. They come in all shapes and sizes! Here we will break a few down for you.
When we refer to generic brand we are referring to the stores respective brand. When we refer to organic brand we are making reference to which ever brand is selling in your area as certified organic. Name brand is meant for any brand that uses mass advertising to be familiar with the consumer.
Watch out for:
Ounces - Some companies now cleverly disguise their healthier or more expensive products in lower ounce packages. This means that when your looking at the generic 14oz. cereal and the Organic brand is the same price, that is because the Organic box weighs in at less around probably 8oz. Sometimes the difference can be found with-in the brand as well.
Family Size - Some products market an appealing family size value. Stop and consider first whether or not this product will get used by your family soon enough to not expire and end up in the trash. If it will, consider if the product is healthy enough to be consumed in large amounts. After all if you end up unhealthy that will cost you more in the long run.
Compare Ingredients - We may sometimes think that buying name brand ensures a level of quality that you can not get with generic. This though is hardly the case, often if you compare ingredients you will notice little or no difference between the two. Using common sense you can easily determine when you should just go with generic.
Buy One Get One - Some stores offer a buy one get one on a product. There are two important things to consider. First, was the price on one raised to help offset the price of the other, if so you may actually be getting buy one get one half off. Second, if you split the price in half does one still cost more than the generic brand of the same product? If it does you may want to go with the generic brand.
Crafty Coupons - You may feel like you scored an awesome coupon getting $1.00 OFF a product. But do not forget to check that if even after you get that buck off you are still saving buy not getting generic. Also stay sharp about these Buy Two get whatever OFF coupons. Often they are making you get more than you need and not saving you the money it takes to get generic instead.
Reward Programs - Some stores offer a point per dollar spent awards program. However if that store is not the best deal around (which they are often not that is why they have the program), then you will spend more then you will ever get in savings.
These are just a few of the many things that we have a tendency to over spend on. But now that your the wiser for it you can avoid the scam. Shop smart, Shop successfully!
Tell us what you think! Really.