I often hear from my friends and family that I am the go-to guru for finding things on the cheap. Snagging an item for sometimes half its’ listed price is like conquering Mt. Vesuvius to me. And I readily exclaim at what bargain I received it at when someone comments on the item. Now that I’m a mom, I’ve taken “thrift” to a whole ‘nother level ! Some folks think my searches are a waste of time, but for those of you who are coupon-clippers such as myself…. read on!
I’m going to unveil my savings secrets to all willing to listen… or read. And the biggest secret of all is that none of them are really “secrets” – most of you probably know of or use these suggestions. I just probably use them a lot more than you do and in combination together.
1 – KNOW YOUR PRICES – The biggest suggestion I can give you is, no matter the store, know your prices!
2 – FREQUENT YOUR FAVORITE STORES – In order to accomplish #1, you’ll have to go shopping a lot (oh, darn). Price changes and Sales are a big part of savings, so in order to know who’s got going on and when, you have to constantly be present. You can do this on the Internet too, but I’ll talk about Internet savings later. If you use the Internet for local stores you typically shop at, most of the really good deals won’t be listed there – you’ll have to run across them for yourself in the actual store.
3 – “CLEARANCE” vs. “SALES” – Both of these words are misconstrued by retailers. I find you need to get to know the particular retailer to understand how good the savings can be if something is “on clearance” vs. being only a sale item. I usually don’t stop at an item that has a sale sign of less than 30% on it; but I’ll always pause at what’s on clearance.
4 – HOT SPOTS in RETAIL SHOPS – You need to know where the (what I call) “hot spots” are in the store – this is the area where the highest discounted items will be found. Almost always, they are in the way back of the store, not in an obvious location and sometimes hard to get to. I usually start my searches there which allows me to really think about a purchase and if it’s worth it while I’m perusing the rest of the store.
5 – SHOP amongst ALL STORE CATEGORIES – I break down stores into the following categories:
- BRAND Stores– i.e. Toys’r’us
- DISCOUNT Stores – Walmart, Target, IKEA, Zellers, Canadian Superstore, Winners
- USED Stores – Consignment, Thrift stores, Craigslist
- DIRT CHEAP – Garage Sales
I shop continuously at all of them with about 50% of my budget going to the Large Discount Stores category, 15% to Brand Stores and the remaining 35% between Used stores and dirt cheap ones.
6 – THE GOODS on individual stores– Here’s my opinion on some of the stores that fall into each of the above categories:
- TOYS’R'US: rarely have sales that are really worth it and if they do, it’s usually on really small items like books. http://www.toysrus.ca
- WALMART: Let’s face it, they corner the market on cheap new toys (keep an eye out for the rollback signs). If you don’t have a problem giving your money to this monopoly, this is the best place for diapers, formula and new toys. http://www.walmart.ca
- IKEA: A great place for cheap everything for kids, specifically look thru the “As Is” section of your local IKEA in the marketplace (sometimes not easy to find). I’ve never bought any furniture that WASN’T in the “as is” section and all of my stuff doesn’t even have a scratch on it. The deal is, if IKEA receives a pallet that has a small injury to it (a lot of times one or two of the cardboard boxes gets dented or broken), everything on the pallet goes to “as is”. Other items there are display models, items going out of stock, and of course the damaged goods. http://www.ikea.com/ca
- ZELLERS: Most of the time, not worth it… UNLESS THEY HAVE A SALE! When Zeller’s has a sale, they mean business. I just bought a whole season’s worth of pants for my little girl at $1.50 each and as we speak, they are having a 50% toy clearance of selected items which were already marked down. http://www.zellers.com
- CANADIAN SUPERSTORE: Skip the toy section and head for the clothes. Their Joe brand is stylish, durable and cheap! They also rival Walmart in diapers and formula prices. http://www.superstore.ca
- WINNERS: This is a hidden gem for toys and clothes. The deals come with the nuisance of having to sift through the racks and shelves ALWAYS in disarray and making sure that you are purchasing something that’s not broken. HomeSense also has a small children’s section with toys, books, etc., so look there as well. http://www.winners.ca and http://www.homesense.ca
- CONSIGNMENT: If you haven’t hit up this kind of store, now is the time to venture. Consignment no longer means a smelly, damp store with cement floors and random stains on their products. Well, some probably do, but find the ones that aren’t and you’re in for some severe savings. I particularly like ones that allow you to trade in your old toys for new ones. The trick here is you have to frequent them often to catch the great deals. Good items go quickly! I’m in the White Rock area of BC and some of my favourite shops out this way are – Toy Traders (604-532-9516) and in White Rock – Buckets of Fun http://www.bucketsoffun.ca and Kidazzles (604-531-7931).
- THRIFT STORES: Nowadays, they seem to only cater to the elderly in things someone would actually buy. I say skip them all together. If you do find a toy you’re actually half interested in, it probably won’t work and you won’t be able to chisel that reddish paste off it.
- CRAIGSLIST: Another rare gem and probably the most frequented place I check. If you are still in the stone ages and don’t know what I’m talking about, go to http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca and search for items in the “for sale” section under Baby+Kids or Toys+Games categories. Craigslist functions as an online garage sale basically of individual sellers posting messages about items (of all kinds) they are selling. There are risks here because you have to be quick, sometimes items are in worse condition than sellers actually admit to and, with everything on the Internet, there are scams out there (so be wary). I don’t even bother with ads that don’t include pictures and haggling is a must!
- GARAGE SALES: Ah, the crème-de-la-crème of items can be bought at garage sales, but again, some rules apply. Be out there EARLY, like 8am on a Saturday early. Be prepared to have to scrub whatever you purchase and, when possible, buy several items so you can negotiate a good deal. And you must be willing to hunt and only find something you actually buy from time to time.
I’ve got plenty of other strategies and goods to give up, but I’ll save those for another blog.
Again, all of this information is strictly of my own personal opinion, derived from countless hours of aimlessly wandering malls and toy stores, midnight internet surfing sessions, sifting through magazine and newspaper ads and comparison shopping with other moms. I think that qualifies for something, so if you happen to use my advice – happy hunting!
More to come…
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