Thrifts stores have more going for them these days than just second hand clothes for sale. You can get toys, furniture and jewelry in a variety of different thrift stores. Goodwill stores even offer reconditioned computers in some areas for only $150 each. With so many people out of work or having trouble making ends meet, a trip to the thrift store can help put a little shopping fun back in their day without the guilt.

What You Can Find

More and more consumers are finding some great deals at their local thrift store. Depending on the store’s policy, you can find either costume or real gold and silver jewelry. In many cases, the jewelry was stuck into clothing by mistake and donated. Most thrift stores make it a point to notify owners when that happens, and the jewelry is returned. Otherwise, if no contact can be made and no one claims it, after a few months it is assumed to be donated and put up for sale. This gives the buying public the opportunity to buy nice jewelry pieces for far less than at retail prices.

Other great finds include antiques. You can find antique dishes and furniture, and sometimes lamps. If you’re not into antiques, people often donate brand new items, still in the box or with tags, because they simply don’t like the purchase, received it as a gift, or are unable to return it to a store. Just because it’s brand new doesn’t mean it’s priced higher. New clothes go for the same as used, and only do some household items get priced a little higher. Yet, you can still get a great deal sometimes for as little as 5 bucks.

Thrift Store Shopping Increased By 35%

Thrift store owners have reported on average a 35% increase in sales. You can blame the economy and the fact that thrift store shopping is now seen as a smart option, rather than only for those with a low-income. Even pawn shops, another place that used to be stigmatized by public opinion, have become more popular too. As people continue to look for ways to save money, thrift store shopping will continue to increase in demand for the foreseeable future.

If you’ve looked at the fares online right now, you’ve probably wondered where all the deals have gone. On top of paying huge fares for tickets, airlines are now charging to check in bags too. Is there any way a traveler can get a good deal these days? The answer is yes! There are still ways to plan ahead for the vacation and either get lower prices while shopping online or securing tickets via mile rewards programs. (more…)

With the economic boom of the 80’s and 90’s, many membership cards cut their cost of membership to zero. You could get a credit card without an annual fee pretty easily. You could even obtain a free payday loan without much fuss. You could get a shopper’s card for free, too. Even though warehouse clubs continued to charged a membership fee, they were minimal. No one would have considered paying an upfront membership fee a good deal. Times have changed, and with it comes the reappearance of the annual membership fee. Along with it, though, is the possibility of obtaining higher value from your membership cards than you would without the fee attached. (more…)

We all know that supermarkets are out to get us - but we all fall into the same old traps of buying “bargains” from the end caps and putting stuff we don’t need into our shopping cart over and over again. But here are a few more tricks retailers use - if you are aware of them, then there’s a better chance that you can avoid their traps.

• If you don’t buy it now, you won’t be able to buy it - some retailers (especially of clothing and other non-perishables, for example) deliberately keep you guessing about which items will still be there on the shelves the next time you come back to the store. They want you to feel pressure - if you don’t buy it now, maybe you’ll never see it again.
• You really need ten jars of this - the buying in bulk trap is a tricky one, because sometimes buying a bulk offer is a really smart thing to do. You should ask yourself if you really need a large quantity of the product - will you use it within a reasonable time frame, and will you remember it’s in the cupboard. You should also check if it is actually a good deal - sometimes it won’t be.
• You must have this appliance - advertising or demonstrations that show you how useful a product is are forgetting one important thing: until that moment, you have survived perfectly well without this product. Remember that fact and you’ll come home with fewer new-fangled devices that you don’t end up using.

When you think of coupons, you may think of small ads that promise a few cents off a purchase for the hours spent pouring over multiple coupons, cutting them, filing them, and then using them. That’s the reason couponing, while saving people money, was never that popular with most people. That’s changing though as electronic coupons are bringing in a younger crowd of fans, while providing businesses with savings in printing and greater Internet exposure. They truly can provide a lower price while shopping, at the same time also making it easier and less time consuming to implement them into your budget. It’s time to take another look at coupons, whether you’re on a budget or trying to gain new customers for your business. (more…)

Finding a bargain got a lot easier with the advent of the Internet. All sorts of consumer products are easier to shop, compare, and even discount over the Internet, from different kinds of savings accounts to travel arrangements. Here are a few easy ways to scout around for good deals and make the most of the Internet. (more…)

New York City is one of the most exciting places in the world. It offers an enormous range of cultural and recreational venues, restaurants, shopping and unending scenery. Even someone who enjoys “people watching” will be able to dedicate countless hours to their favorite past time. Many people visiting the city want to know which is the most expensive neighborhood in New York, but there actually is no firm answer to such a question. (more…)

An interesting thing happened to me last week. As a (very) belated Christmas gift, my father gave me a $100 coupon for the local department store. But he gave it to me on one proviso: that I buy something I wanted, rather than something I needed. In other words, clothes for work or kitchen equipment were out. Fun was the order of the day.

I headed out shopping, coupon in hand, and after about an hour, I hadn’t found anything that I really wanted. I only wanted to buy something worthwhile, not something frivolous that would soon sit around taking up space. When I read Philip Brewer’s Needs, Wants and Not Even Wants post I could recognize that I’ve got beyond that place where I wanted to buy something just because someone else has one, or because it satisfied some short-term want. I’ve become frugal!

I guess that’s a good thing, as I’ve got a mortgage to pay off and a retirement fund to contribute to. I’ve lost the ability to go and spend money frivolously, and that means I’m still carrying around that $100 coupon. I might even end up spending it on something I need instead - just don’t tell my father.

With the economy so bad, cutting expenses can help you get by for the time being. But how are you going to save money? One of the best and most used ways of doing so is shopping with coupons in hand. In other words, do your best to only buy items that you have a coupon for. This may not save you a lot on each individual purchase, but by the end of your trip to the store you will realize just how much money you have kept in your pocket.

Using coupons at the grocery store is a great way to test out this savings method. You can find plenty of coupons by scouring your local newspaper, or better yet printing them off the internet. Either way, you should consider using every coupon that you come across.

Of course, you should not stop at using coupons on groceries. Many other retailers, such as clothing, electronic, and hard stores also make coupons available to customers.

All in all, you can let coupons dictate where you shop as well as what you buy. This will allow you to save money, while also trying new stores and products that you may have never thought about using in the past.

If you shop with coupons you will save money; there is no two ways about it!

Did you know that one of the simplest ways to save money is by changing the way you buy food? Eating for less need not mean a sacrifice in taste or variety. In fact, you may quickly discover that paying more attention to the amount of money you spend on groceries translates into more attention to the foods you choose and how you prepare them. Drawing inspiration from “tips and tricks to eat healthy on a budget“, here are a few hints to get you started: 

• Pack a lunch instead of buying food during the day. Ready-made food is often expensive and unhealthy. Stick to eating what you know is good for you. 
• Buy local whenever possible. Enjoying fresh and healthy food from local producers isn’t as expensive as you might expect. 
• Prepare a specific shopping list before you head out to do your food shopping and never shop on an empty stomach. This will help you avoid the impulse purchases that are based more on your poor memory or hungry stomach than any real need you might have for a product.
• Make some thrifty friends and find out what they do to save money on food and where they shop. If you have coworkers with lots of kids, ask them where they shop for food. A person accustomed to feeding lots of people in one house typically knows where to shop for the best food deals!  photo credit: x-eyedblonde