Another year, another hustle and bustle, and another year of trying to save as much as possible on shopping. Lately, living costs have been going higher and higher, making it tough to save money, which is why we love it when we save a lot on our shopping, especially when we have a low budget. Even a minuscule amount saved can make a big difference.
Many entrepreneurs and successful businesspeople understood this and brought forth markets and online markets where one could easily buy things on a low budget; for example, liquidation sites like Amazon Liquidation offer great-quality products for a lot less than their original price tags (more on this later.) For now, let’s get started with the main topic, so you can go ahead with your shopping and save some bucks.
Plan Ahead
I’m willing to bet all my savings on this—whenever we shop without a proper plan, we end up buying a lot more than we intended and also spend more than we intended. More often than not, we spend on things which we don’t need, which makes our budget even tighter, so one has to make a proper plan and stick to it when you’re on your spending spree.
Now planning ahead is tough to do on the spot, so take some time and follow the 50/30/20 rule. The 50/30/20 rule is the best thing since sliced bread and that’s no exaggeration; the 50/30/20 rule is the most flexible and near-perfect rule for budget shopping. In this rule, you note down your income (after taxes) and put your “Needs” in the 50%, this will include groceries and other day-to-day life things.
In 30% you put the things that you “Want” and in 20% you put your “Savings”; savings come handy for your wants or needs or in emergencies. Under no circumstances should you cut the savings percentage. You can cut your wants if you don’t have enough money in your needs or vice versa. Now let’s move on to the next point.
Food Expenses
We can easily agree that most of our money goes into food expenses, and most of that expense goes into junk food/fast food rather than actual groceries. We can easily spend 7-8$ on fast food and much more in sit-down restaurants.
According to Kevin O’Leary, expensive coffee and fast food are the two key contributors of “ghost money”. For those who don’t know what ghost money is—it is recurrent small purchases that drain your account. It takes a serious amount of self-discipline to avoid restaurants and junk food, and to actually cook a meal at home, but it isn’t impossible.
If you want to shop on a budget, cut down your junk and fast food consumption and visit a farmers market or discount shops to get good deals on fresh produce. That way you’ll be physically and financially healthy.
Buy Online
Buying online is the best thing you can do if you wish to save a good amount of money and get everything you need. Through the online arena, you can access so much more than within your geographical area, and that too for a lower price than what you buy locally.
Sure there are delivery charges, but you can solve that with yearly subscriptions, which don’t cost that much. I mentioned liquidation sites earlier—they are a boon for frugal shoppers.
Liquidation sites work with e-commerce sites such as Amazon to liquidate their excess or returned stock. This means you can buy good-quality products for around 60% less than what they actually cost. As these products are usually misdeliveries, shelf-pulls, clean returns, you can actually get top-quality products for dirt cheap. If not liquidation sites, then do watch out for special discounts.
Buy in Bulk
This one is quite familiar to the majority of American families. Bulk buying is a great way to cut down the costs on the commonly used goods such as toilet paper. Wholesale stores like Costco offer bulk buying. Although these need an annual subscription, one can actually save a lot through selective purchasing.
These subscriptions are a double-edged sword, as when you apply for one, it can put a lot of stress on your budget. However, over the course of the year, it definitely pays off. There are also online sites like The Simple Dollar that offer great suggestions for bulk buying.
Buy It in Cash
This is a must-do and a must-remember point. Buying things with cash is the best tactic to cut down your huge credit debt. More often than not, most of us end up with enormous credit debt due to a lack of discipline.
When you save credit cards for real emergencies like home and auto repairs and start using cash for everything else, you start asking yourself how much you really need a particular thing. This makes you really think about your financial condition.
In short, buying things with cash discipline helps people cut down on debt and save money.
Conclusion
Having a tight budget is nothing new, neither is the wish to save cash every month, but that hardly happens. If we discipline ourselves to buy only what we need, we can lead a happier life with enough money for emergencies.
Money-saving tactics vary from person to person, but these points are sure to help you save money. If you’ve any tips yourself, do share below in the comments.
