A Personal finance blog for saving money and earning more and thus having a better life
Black Friday is just around the corner and most consumers are beyond excited to be able to get a hold of unique discounts and perhaps score some expensive items in a really good deal.
Discounts might sound extremely appealing when you are not swimming in cash, but it is especially when you are in a financially precarious position that you should be extra careful with how you spend your money.
Lately, we have been shopping big ticket items only online. We recently had a baby and almost all the nursery furniture we got were bought online. We found that things are cheaper online than at retail stores. Not only furniture but, electronics and even clothes as well.
But not always you get things cheaper online. There are some exceptions. As a policy, we don’t buy food items or any perishable item online. We also don’t buy clothes online. We prefer to check them out in the fitting room before buying. so we do look for deals and discounts at the retailers as well.
Nowadays, nearly as many people have a credit card as own a mobile phone, and whether we are purchasing online or from a physical store we will probably be paying with a card of some sort. Whilst cards are often a safer alternative than carrying cash, using your card to shop online carries its own risks.
If our card or wallet gets stolen we notice immediately and can notify our banks to cancel them and stop the further fraudulent activity. However on the internet, our information can get into the wrong hands without us even knowing it. As recent cases have shown, this can also happen with reputable websites who have highly secure systems, thus it’s important that everyone checks their credit card statement regularly.
Being able to shop online is the best thing that ever happened to the Internet. Forget about Facebook or Google for a moment and picture the wonderful benefits you get shopping in your favorite online store. You know they are many, right? But let’s look at the ten most amazing benefits online shopping gives us.
We go shopping occasionally mainly because there’s nothing else to do and we live 5 mins to an outlet mall. So, mostly our in-store shopping are mainly window shopping, except for groceries and home depot stuff. We are recent homeowners so we like to spend at least a few hours every week at Home Depot. Because that’s what you got to do when you buy home!
These days, it seems there’s no end to what’s available to buy in supermarkets. A wide range of household provisions has always been available, but in recent years, the range has been increased dramatically to include services too, such as life insurance, auto insurance, car breakdown services, Internet access and many other services. This greater freedom of choice brings with it more temptations to spend money, so it’s important to be cost-conscious. There are great savings to be made in supermarkets; you just need to be aware of them.
Add to it the McDonald, Subways and Pizza huts right beside the supermarket entrance. If you give it a pass while entering, you may not pass it on your way out. So it’s not only the products you buy but also the products and services you are made to pay for, goes to your super market shopping list.
I have a quick and simple way to determine if you are over spending at your grocer.
Bloggers are always fed constantly with various survey reports and studies. being a personal finance bloggers, I do get daily dose of emails containing press releases and market trends. Last week I received an email from a well known market research firm, about the latest trend in consumer buying experience. It reported declining over the counter sell and increasing online sells over the Black Friday weekend.
Spending at physical stores declined by 2.9 percent compared to the same four-day period last year beginning with Thanksgiving day. Whereas Cyber Monday sales soared 21 percent over last year. Also, this year’s Cyber Monday was the biggest online shopping event to date.
I use coupons and vouchers, but not insanely. Even though I believe that using coupons won’t make us rich, I use Priceline for our hotel and airfare often. I do try to look for coupons for every big ticket purchase.
Once we were obsessive, especially right after coming to this country, actually online coupons increased our spending. We realized coupons are to be used intelligently.
Purchasing in bulk appears to be great. You get everything you desire and need and supposedly pay a lot less for them. Plus, you dont need to shop so often. This is great for those who hate shopping and love discounts. Yet, bulk buying has risks, as well. Therefore, it is time to learn about budgeting basics.
Many people believe that bulk buying is a great alternative to save money. While this seems a good way to avoid breaking the piggy bank, buying in bulk often costs individuals a lot more than they imagine. It is not about purchasing more of a specific product to enjoy the bulk deal, but by purchasing and substituting a low-cost product. Purchasing in bulk is often known as something you do not require a lot of at a cost you cannot miss. This practice has become popular and quite widespread.