Frugal Shopping

These days, more people are relying on their instincts and turning towards frugal living. However, many of them don’t yet appreciate or understand the concept of fugal shopping, which is why they are still paying up to 300% more than they should be for their goods. It’s very possible to have everything they need and more, and still have extra funds left over at the end of the month by planning carefully and shopping around a little more. Below are just a few ways that shoppers can benefit from learning to shop frugally:

Consignment Stores

The idea of buying used or ‘last season’s styles’ is a turn off to many people, but many new name brand-products (including clothing) can be found at resale stores for great prices. For instance, many shops have clearance or dollar rooms filled with a wealth of bargains, including everything from Old Navy to Burberry. Liz Claiborne and Eddy Bauer can be found with price tags still in place for just a few dollars.

Household items such as tables, rugs, lamps and more can easily be found in resale shops – most of which have hardly or never been used. One never knows what they need until they start to resale shop, and once you start, you likely will never stop. And don’t forget about the value of shopping consignment for children! Smaller children hardly ever wear out their clothing before they grow out of it.

Frugal shoppers can find wonderful clothing deals for both adults and children in a consignment store. If you’re a bit sceptical at first, seek out second-hand stores in upscale neighborhoods. Places like Plato’s Closet have a reputation for selling great clothes at rock bottom prices, so why not try them out?

Grocery Shopping

Every city has frugal food stores such as Save-A-Lot, Aldis, Acme and more. Their brands are delicious and in blind tests, many participants have preferred the tastes of the “off brands” in comparison to the more expensive “name brands” offered in other stores. So why not give the local option a try? Especially when it comes to ingredients and produce, you can’t go wrong.

Also, don’t forget about fresh bakery items. Every city has a bakery to try out. Patrons can generally buy a fresh loaf of bread for $.69 as compared to $2.50 retail. Besides, fresh tastes better and lacks disgusting preservatives! How can you argue with that?

Extreme Couponing

Couponing takes time and effort but in the end, it saves a lot of money. The coupon enthusiast must be highly organized and devoted to spending at least a few hours per week on couponing (some dedicated few even spend 30-40). They must study weekly grocery store flyers and compare prices and coupon policies within each store. Know your store’s policy on double and sometimes triple coupons, because this can pay dividends you never dreamed of. Couponing is officially a movement, and it only makes sense to jump on this bandwagon!

The Daily News

Stop buying the newspaper and get your news online. This will save about $20.00 per month. With the media transitioning to online-online delivery, it doesn’t make sense to subscribe to the hard copy versions. Besides, you’ll be doing your bit for the environment by not having all those newspapers to recycle.

Garbage Service

Every city has aland fill site. Make a trip there once a week and pay about $8.00 per month verses a possible $25.00. One can load up garage and basement cleanouts and take this with their weekly trash run. Garbage companies do not as a rule take anything else except for bagged garbage. This is so easy, and you can also take advantage of community recycling projects knowing that you’re both saving money and making a difference!

There are many more reasons to start being frugal, but these 5 alone should be enough to convince anyone. The bottom line is that there are more opportunities than ever to get frugal and start saving money, so it would only benefit you to get started as soon as possible.

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