5 Easy Ways to Get Discounts on Everyday Purchases
In the modern age there’s many ways to save money, but the best way to save is to buy discounted items when you can. With a few thoughtful techniques you can easily save money on your day-to-day purchases. Here are 5 easy ways to get discounts on everyday purchases.
1. Buy Refurbished or Used items
While this doesn’t help get discounts on all goods (no used underwear please) you can easily get huge discounts, 50%+ off the purchase price of bigger ticket items when you buy them used. Most people will never do this as they are intimidated by the thought of buying used items. But it is a good way to save on everyday purchases, especially for those that do not have a large budget for new items.
It’s also never a bad idea to wait for sales or sales only stores that are clearing out their unsold inventory (like Goodwill and Kmart) then buy some last season clothes at an even better deal. Stick to buying clothes new, just discounted though, at least that’s my opinion on it.
2. Use cashback platforms
If you’re shopping online this is an absolute must. There’s plenty of cash-back platforms out there, some of them are quite frankly not worth your time such as swagbucks, but others such as Lolli don’t waste your time and simply let you click a button and get cash-back of over 5% back on your purchases through them.
The main reason I prefer Lolli over other cashback platforms such as Shopkick is that they pay you your cash back in bitcoin, which means while you wait to hit the payout threshold your cash-back continues to grow in value.
3. Buy items on sale and in bulk
Whether it’s Christmas, Halloween, or any other holiday sales are always going on somewhere. While stores make most of their profit during the holidays they also have huge mark-ups and sales time is the only time they discount a lot of items.
You can easily save a ton of money on your everyday purchases by buying items at the sale prices or buying them in bulk. For example, if you find out that you only need one particular item in bulk (such as toothpaste) then buy it in bulk and get discounts on everything you buy over that particular product.
The biggest discount in terms of buying in bulk in my opinion is buying pet food and care supplies, as big bags of dog food are often discounted by 50%+ in comparison to the smaller bags of the same chow.
4. Use coupons and coupons sites
Coupons are another way to save money, as long as you still use the coupon correctly and not just apply it to their website copy. Using the coupon correctly is the most important part of using coupons, if you don’t take advantage of the full value of the coupon then it’s probably not worth your time. Coupon sites such as RedPlum or RetailMeNot are decent, however ultimately we prefer to use a cash-back platform instead due to their more reliable success-rate than the couponing sites.
5. Buy better quality and spend less in the long-term
I’m ending with the most controversial of the tips, as I know some people will be offended by it. Buying better quality goods that last longer is always a good idea, especially if you are buying items that have the potential to last a long time such as clothing or furniture. No one wants to buy new things all the time as they get worn out, so buying quality will not only save you time (and time is money) but it’ll also save you money in the long-term.
Budgeting is an important way of learning how to become financially independent and I don’t think anyone should be spending more than they can afford on any given day.
Closing Thoughts
Saving money on your everyday purchases is easy, you just have to have the right knowledge. Use cash-back platforms and cash-back methods, buy used items and in bulk, shop around for sales and discounts, and buy quality items to reduce the amount of times you need to replace them.
It’s also important that while saving money is a noble idea that you don’t go overboard and forget why you’re saving up in the first place. Use what you save to invest in your future, fund your investments, and live a better happier life – but don’t go overboard and make your life miserable for the sake of saving a dime here or there. Just like most things saving money is all about balance.
Salman Zafar is an ecopreneur, consultant, advisor, speaker and journalist with expertise in waste management, waste-to-energy, renewable energy, environment protection, conservation and sustainable development. His geographical areas of focus include Asia, Middle East, Africa and Europe. Salman is the Founder of EcoMENA, a popular voluntary organization based in Qatar. He is also the Founder and CEO of BioEnergy Consult, a reputed consulting firm active in biomass, waste-to-energy and waste management segments.
Salman is a professional environmental writer with more than 350 popular articles to his credit. He is proactively engaged in creating mass environmental awareness in different parts of the world.
Salman Zafar can be reached at salman@ecomena.org or salman@bioenergyconsult.com
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