Money Saving Ideas....series

Today I wanted to share a bit of a post I shared in 2013 - just a little reminder of things to watch for when trying to save money.   

The following is a list of some things that I have learned over the past year:

#1. The store brand is not always the cheapest option. Case in point:
I have been buying my cats Whiskas cat food- but last week I thought that maybe I could save money by choosing the store brand instead. Boy was I wrong. 6# bag of store brand cat food- $7.22. Same size bag of Whiskas cat food- $6.98. A savings of 24 cents by going with the name brand.

#2. Buying bigger packages are not always the better deal. Sometimes it is a good idea to buy the bigger package because it ends up saving you some money in the long run by spending less per serving - but this is not always true. It is a good idea to have your calculator with you and figure up the price per unit- many times this info is given on the tag for the item on the shelf.

#3 Buying in Bulk is not always the best deal. Some people love to shop at stores like Sam's and Costco but when I have gone - I have many times realized that buying a regular sized item would be a better deal. Or even buying the store brand. Just don't get fooled into believing that your saving money just because you are buying in bulk. A lady I know would buy the bulk sized cans of beans and such for her family of 3. Many times half of that can would be wasted. That is not saving money.

#4. Using coupons is not always the way to get things the cheapest. Ever since I have checked out Aldi's I have been going there once a week, why? Because I save money every time I go. Many times I can get things for a better deal than if I bought a brand named item with a coupon.

And don't forget - most coupons are not free. I really loved to use coupons, especially back with our local Krogers would not only double but triple coupons up to $.39 cents. This would help me get really good deals- sometimes even free items, but they stopped that a couple of years ago.

For me to use coupons now- I would have to pay $3.00 or more for a double back Sunday paper to get double the coupons. Then the extra trip to a store that sells that double pack - more money spent on gas. Some would then say will you can get coupons free on the computer- yes you get them for free- but in order to use them you have to print the coupon, which would mean you would have to have ink for your printer. The ink costs money- and right now we don't have ink in our printer - and haven't for the past month or more because we just don't have the money to spend on ink. So my point - the coupons that save you money- cost you money- make sure that you are saving enough to make it worth using them .

#5. Sometimes it really does save you money to shop around. So what I do now is compare prices at different stores. I learn where the best deals for things are and buy them where I can get them cheapest. It really makes a different.