If you’re looking for the ideal gift online, planning a new home purchase, or just doing some casual window-shopping, arm yourself with this checklist of five shop-smart tactics to ensure that you spend wisely and rack up savings along the way.
1. Buying wholesale
When you stock up on groceries while they are on sale, you can save nearly 30% on the food you purchase each year. You live off of what you’ve accumulated and don’t have to visit the grocery store often.
You won’t have to buy groceries monthly. It’s always going to save you plenty of money. All sorts of non-perishable food can be stored, and when you find them on sale, you can freeze bread and meat.
2. Avoid Impulsive Spending
Regardless of what you are purchasing, before you shop, make a strategy. Identify who you are shopping for if you’re looking for presents, have an idea of what you want to spend, and have a few gift ideas in mind that you can purchase within your budget.
If you’re shopping for yourself, take inventory of what you already have and what you need. Likely, most households spend at least a few thousand dollars a year on items they don’t expect to purchase. There are two simple ways to minimize and save thousands on these impulse purchases:
3. Stick to your grocery list
Individuals who can resist impulsive spending can save up to 23% on their food bills. So make a list of groceries and stick to it if you want to save any money. A family of four could theoretically save over $2,600 by following this one tip.
4. Don’t shop with plastic
People who use their credit cards for shopping pay 12 to 18% more than those who use cash when shopping. When you use a credit card rather than cash, you are likely to spend almost twice as much.
It is a lot different from shopping with $100 in your pocket than shopping with a $10,000 credit limit on your card. When you want to save some money, try shopping with your debit card in conjunction with coupons and vouchers.
If you are used to putting everything on credit, following this single tip alone will save you well over $3,000 a year.
5. Use Coupons
Before you check out, always make it a point to search for coupon codes or rewards you can use. Take a look at the promo section, app, catalog, or social media pages of the store for discounts that might be available, review your credit card rewards to see whether you have any points that can be used for your purchase, and quickly search online for coupons that can be posted on other pages.
When a few minutes will save you the cost of delivery or a discount on some of the items in your cart, there’s no need to pay full price.
Not only will Slickdeals give you access to exclusive deals and encourage you to make purchases on the go, but it can also make it easier to find what you need while searching the aisles of brick-and-mortar stores.
Conclusion
These days, online retailers seem to be getting more and more innovative to try and get shoppers to spend more. If you’re a smart bargain hunter, or would just love to get big discounts without breaking the bank, consider using these 3 smart online shopping tips.
