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In my quest to get the best bargains on groceries, I decided it was high time I visited one of those warehouse grocery superstores. I picked Costco and upon entering the store, I was thrilled with the sight of TVs and other electronic gadgets.
But by the time I got to the actual groceries, I was so overwhelmed with the diversity and the sheer volume—merchandise stacked from the floor to the ceiling—I ended up with only a pack of steelhead trout and a pair of sweatpants for my husband. Since Costco doesn’t give out bags (next time I’ll bring my Trader Joe’s bags), I ended up walking to my car carrying 2 pounds of trout and a pair of pants.
Others, loading up their trucks with 96-count packages of toilet paper and the like, stared in my direction. I can’t say for sure, but I think they felt sorry for me. I wanted to say, “Hey, it was my first time!” But I just kept my eyes straight ahead and walked to my car.
But I always learn from my experiences, so here’s how I’ll approach it next time:
- Expect to be overwhelmed with the amount of merchandise. Products are stacked from floor to ceiling. I’m only 5′2″ and I felt like Thumbelina walking around in there. My first reaction was that I needed to leave warehouse shopping to those who are taller (and who have more storage space). But I got used to it after a while. Just don’t enter into a warehouse and expect to see neat little displays within easy reach.
- Buddy up with a friend. I have friends who swear by these stores and shop there religiously. So I’m planning to give it another whirl and go with one of my friends. If you’re on your own, though, don’t buy 100 rolls of paper towels unless you have a place to put them.
- Eat before you go so you don’t get mesmerized by the free food samples and overspend.
- Don’t assume everything is a bargain. Take a calculator because unit prices aren’t always readily available. But there are some terrific savings. Here’s a a great article in Real Simple about finding the warehouse deals.
I spent last weekend at a baseball tournament. We had a two-hour break between games and so I had time to sit and think about how expensive it is to have a kid in sports. My son is in the 8th grade and on a travel baseball team. With the uniforms, fees, and tournament play, it can get pricey. But this is true for many sports, especially if you have a child who has a passion for their sport. And when your child takes it to a higher level, well, expenses soar to a new level, too. For instance, they might need private tumbling lessons or need to upgrade to more expensive equipment.
Whether your child plays football or is on the track team at school, here are a few tips to lower the overall expense:
Have cooler, will travel. Our tournament last weekend was in Monroe, Georgia, and I can’t even begin to decribe how hot it was. I didn’t come prepared to sweat and I spent way too much on drinks from the concession stand. Honest to goodness, it was so hot I’d have paid almost anything for that last glass of iced tea I had. Pack a cooler and fill it with Gatorade, water, or your desired beverage. Have enough for your child, too. Bonus tip: Add a ziploc bag of crushed ice to the cooler. If you run out of drinks, just suck on some crushed ice and you’ll be amazed at how much this cools you off.
Car pool to practices. This not only saves you gas money, it frees you up to either work, exercise, or get stuff done around your home. If your kids are young, this may not be an option. But with older kids, they won’t miss you. Carpooling also gives you a chance to prepare a meal at home before your child goes to practice. There have been many a night when I’ve succumbed to the drive-thru window because I felt too frantic to make dinner and drive my kid to practice.
Share the cost of lessons. When my daughter was a cheerleader, she needed weekly tumbling lessons. I teamed up with another mom and we found a coach who would take both of our daughters at the same time. The girls encouraged each other and the mom and I saved money because we split the cost of a private lesson. In a sport like tennis, group lessons might be an option.
This weekend, I’m on the road again for baseball. You can bet I’ll have my cooler with me. If any of you have some suggestions to share, I’d love to hear them.
My son is starting the 8th grade next Monday. Yesterday, we went to his middle school’s “Sneak a Peak” day. This is the day when we get to meet his homeroom teacher, make sure his locker combination works, and, oh yeah, spend humongous amounts of money.
In the hallway, a friend walks up to me and says, “Is this not the most torturous day of the year?” I had to laugh because while we all support the school, it gets really exhausting standing in lines and writing all these checks. Oh, and the air conditioning wasn’t working. I live in a suburb of Atlanta, and let me tell you, we’ll pay anything to keep a/c in our lives.
If back-to-school expenses are making you feel like there’s an IV hooked up to your checking account and money’s slowly dripping out of your life, you’re not alone. Here are a few tips to help you hold down the expenses:
Take advantage of tax-free holidays. In Atlanta, our chance to forgo some sales tax took place last weekend. But for many of you, your opportunity is just ahead. Check out this site, 2009 State Sales Tax Holidays, to see when your state is celebrating tax-free holidays. Here, you also get details about what items are tax free and what the limits are.
Take a “school supplies inventory” in your home. You can save a lot of money just by organizing supplies you already own. Pick a shelf or drawer to designate for school supplies. And what about last year’s backpacks? Unless your kids are extremely tough on backpacks, it’s possible to make them last two years. Do your inventory before you go to Staples or Target with your kid’s school supply list. You’ll be surprised at how many things you can cross off the list before you even leave your house.
Take a “clothes inventory” before shopping. This is the same concept as the previous tip. And remember to check all the places where clothes accidentally end up, like under the bed or in the shower stall (I once found my daughter’s shoes in the guest bath shower stall). You might even hit pay dirt and find a few pencil sharpeners and crayons in these under-the-radar areas, too. Don’t agree to buy any new clothes until you know exactly what your child has and what still fits. Keep a bag handy so you can fill it with the clothes that no longer fit. This makes it easy to donate to charity. And when you donate the clothes, ask for a receipt so you can get a tax deduction for your donation.
Take a relaxed approach to shoe shopping. Before you ask me if I’ve lost my mind, you can, indeed, stay calm when faced with a thirteen-year-old asking for $85 tennis shoes. Set your budget for shoes before you even get in the car. Tell your child that if he wants shoes that cost more than, say, $50, he’ll have to use his own money. This approach has two benefits. First, your child gets practice making a major financial decision. And second, he’ll take better care of those $85 shoes because he paid for a portion of them.
I’ll stop here lest I get into “tiresome tips” territory. By the way, my blog post, ”Saving Money: Top 10 Most Tiresome Tips,” was mentioned in MSN Money’s Smart Spending blog. A big welcome to those who read Smart Spending and decided to check out my blog.
Now, college expenses are in an entirely different stratosphere. Tomorrow, I’ll offer some tips for those who still have to find some funds before college starts.
I’m a recovering self-help junkie and so I have to limit the time I spend on the self-help aisle at Barnes & Noble. I don’t order online because it’s too easy. I’m afraid I’d just order books all day long. We all have our weaknessess, and being a writer, mine involves owning absurd amounts of books and magazines.
Anyway, I’ve recently been reading Jack Canfield’s Principles of Success. I chose this book with career goals in mind. But then I realized I could apply some of Canfield’s principles to my goal of being more mindful about what I’m spending my money on.
I liked Principle # 52: “When in doubt, check it out.” I’m an extrovert and have even been known to be a little bossy. But when it comes to anything that potentially involves conflict, I turn into a pile of mush. I’d been holding onto a pair of sweat pants I’d bought my husband at Target over the holidays (yes, that would be seven months ago). I’d picked up a pair that was at least two sizes too big. My husband and an NFL defensive tackle could have shared these pants. But I was hesitating to take the pants back because I’d lost the receipt.
Well, after feeling empowered by Principle # 52, I went to Target and told customer service that the pants were way too big and I needed a refund. Please. When asked for my receipt, I stayed calm and said I had unfortunately misplaced it. I also smiled. I live in the South, and down here, a smile goes a long way toward getting you just about anything you want (just a hunch, but I’m guessing the “smile” tactic doesn’t work as well in a place like NYC).
The clerk said that was no problem and promptly gave me back my $20.39. Wow, that was easy! After this, I started getting bolder about making sure I get what I pay for. I check my receipts after I buy groceries and last week noticed that my Publix had charged me $7.14 for red plums. I love plums, but I hadn’t bought any that day so I went to my Publix and asked (with a smile!) for a refund. Ka-ching! Another $7.14 back into the family coffers.
A week later, one of the yogurt smoothies in a pack I bought at Publix had been opened and consumed. Yuck, right? I had no receipt and I’d thrown the smoothies away in a fit of disgust. But with Principle # 52 now firmly implanted in my psyche, I went to customer service and explained the situation. No problem, they said. I recouped $4.28.
In the past two weeks, I’ve recovered $31.81. It won’t pay the mortgage, but it helps to pay for my son’s new baseball cleats. From now on, I’m making sure that I’m satisfied with the way my money is spent, even if I don’t have a receipt. In the words of that great British philosopher Mick Jagger, “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need.”
As a freelance writer, one of the things I do to sell my ideas to editors is come up with something unique. In my world, this is called a “fresh” idea. With the economy tanking for a while now, it seems like everyone is a financial expert. I wouldn’t mind it if they’d come up with something, um, fresh.
Here’s my Top 10 list of tiresome tips:
1. Give up your lattes/iced mochas/insert favorite beverage here. I’m not big on a lot of self-sacrifice. Of course, if you’re spending $1,200 a year on your caffeine fix, then perhaps you do need to heed this advice. But I think you need to have a few luxuries. If you don’t keep a few treats for yourself, you’ll go on a binge and spend more than what you’d pay for a latte.
2. Make a list before you go to the grocery store. I do think this is a good idea, but I think you need to make it a flexible list. Otherwise, you miss out on sales in the store. I have a computerized list and I do a basic inventory (pantry staples, health-related products, etc.) before I go the store. Then I do a couple of quick online searches to read my grocery stores’ flyers. But when it comes to fruits and veggies, I sometimes wing it because I want to see what’s fresh.
3. Increase the deductible on your homeowner’s insurance. How many times have you read this tip over the last month? Enough said. Again, it’s a good idea unless you live in Tornado Alley or in California. But here’s a better–and wait–fresh tip: Learn about cashing in on car insurance incentives from a piece on Wallet Pop.
4. Get organized. For the record, I’m an organizing geek. Ask anyone who heard me speak about this topic at the ASJA Writers Conference in NYC this past April. And I do believe that organization saves money. But if just “getting organized” was the answer, wouldn’t we all do it? In this blog, I’ll be covering organization quite a bit because when it’s tailored to meet your needs, it can increase your chances of meeting your goals, both personal and fiscal. But I’ll be giving you details on how to make it work for you and your personality type.
5. Grow your own vegetables. I come from a long line of farmers, so I’m not dissing this idea. But unless you live on several acres in a rural area, this has practicality issues. If I had corn stalks reaching for the sky in my back yard, I’d get a visit from my Homeowner’s Association. But I tried this in small doses on my deck this year. I have a thriving tomato plant and a luscious-looking basil plant. My advice? Pick a few things to plant that you tend to spend money on frequently. I like to make Italian food, so there you go.
6. Take a staycation. Has there ever been a more overused word combo? Well, maybe Watergate or Brangelina tops it. Okay, I don’t have a better word for it. I also don’t think this is a new concept. Families have been making decisions about how much they can spend on vacations for quite a while.
7. Make your own clothes. No one wants see what I’d be wearing if I made it with my own two hands. Trust me on this. If you’re handy with a sewing machine, go for it. Now I do bargain shop for clothes at places like Target. I also wait until a season is well underway before I buy new clothes. Right now is a good time to get deals on summer clothes.
8. Watch DVDs at home instead of going to the movies. Good advice, but is anyone else tired of watching movies at home? One way to spice this up is to invite a few other families over for a night at the movies. Make popcorn and enjoy watching a movie in a crowded room. And enjoy using a bathroom that has toilet paper in it.
9. Stop eating out. My personal favorite. Probably because this is the one rule I used to abuse the most. I’ve gotten much better about this since I started using Mint.com. I almost choked when I first saw how much I spent on restaurants. Now, before we go out, we have a family meeting and set the budget for the dinner. Added bonus: Your kids get practice doing math in their heads!
10. Stop using credit cards. In theory, this makes sense. If you stop using credit, your debt stops growing. But we all know there are times when you have to use your card. Maybe you’re buying something online. Or maybe, like me, you use online money management software and you use your credit cards for purchases so you can track your expenses. The key to this is self-control. Not everyone has it, of course. If you don’t, then Tip #10 was written for you.
Sure, all these tips have merit. But, geez, I happen to think that we’re all smart enough to know this stuff. In fact, I’ll best most of you already practice most of these basics. Just for fun: Are there money-saving tips that you’re tired of hearing about? I’d love to know what yours are.
Okay, I’m finally recovering from my daughter’s graduation festivities. And last week I drove her to Berry College for freshman orientation. Now I’m at my desk and working like a maniac. Well, now I have to pay for college tuition. And let me tell you, that’s pretty good motivation.
College expenses have soared in recent years. If you’re finding there’s a huge gap between what’s in your wallet and the tuition bill, don’t despair. Try telling the admission’s rep that the school is your child’s number one choice. Then stress that you need some help with the tuition to make this dream a reality. This approach works best when your child is a good fit for the school in question. You might be amazed at how much the school will work with you.
Be sure you check out Free Application for Student Financial Aid (FAFSA). And I also like The SmartStudent Guide to Financial Aid Web site. If you need to pursue an alternative to traditional lending, consider person-to-person lending. For information on how to use social lending to finance college, check out the piece I wrote for Bankrate.com, Peer-to-Peer Sites Offer College Loans. It doesn’t hurt to explore all your options in your quest to pay for college.
I was in New York City last weekend and spoke at the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) conference. If you’re a writer, I highly recommend this organization. I’m so high on ASJA I’m quoted in the April issue of The Writer magazine about the steps I took to become a member. The only downside to the conference is the location: NYC.
Now, I love NYC. If I could have an apartment somewhere, it would be NYC so I could hang out in the theater district. By downside, I mean expense. But now I have that problem solved. I used a travel agent for the first time and saved a ton of money. Julie Sturgeon of curingcoldfeet.com got me amazing rates on the hotel and airfare. The conference room rate was $309, but by using Julie’s travel agency, I got $139 per night. I saved $170 per night!
I’ll be using curingcoldfeet.com again next year for my conference travel plans. But I’ll also use this agency when I plan my family vacation. If you’re putting a vacation on hold due to the economy, don’t give up on your trip to paradise just yet. There are good deals out there and sometimes it takes an expert to find the best ones. Worried about commissions? Don’t be. The vendors pay the commission, not you.
Remember those rectangular, white envelopes that show up in your mailbox? Your physical mailbox, not your email. I’m probably in the minority, but I still love getting real-life mail. And lately, local vendors seem to love sending it to me. I think the recession has forced some businesses to get back to some basic direct marketing. So before you toss out what looks like junk mail, take a minute and see if your next dining experience isn’t in there somewhere.
Our family has really cut back on dining out, so getting these coupons gives us some options. I’ve gotten coupons for fast food places, for sure, but also for fine dining establishments. l got an offer from our local Stoney River steakhouse for a four-course dinner for two for $59.95. If you’ve ever eaten there, you know that’s a deal. Save it for a special occasion and have cocktails when you get home instead of in the restaurant. Imbibing at home saves you about $20 or so.
I think most of us are aware of restaurants.com and there are some great deals there and other places online. If you have a local favorite, check the menu online from time to time and see if there are early-bird specials or if they’ve lowered their prices. Don’t laugh—our local Bonefish Grill (it has to-die-for pistachio parmesan-crusted rainbow trout) lowered their prices recently. We were so impressed, we personally thanked the manager for making it possible to have a night out without sacrificing our daughter’s college education. I also snagged a $50 coupon recently from the Web site of one of my faves in Atlanta, McKinnon’s Louisianne. So if you have a favorite restaurant in your area, get on their Web site and hunt for deals.
But don’t forget to check your real mailbox, too. You might be surprised at what you’ll find!
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