10 Shopping HACKS to Save Money

Sharon Tseung 0:02
This is the digital nomad quest podcast with Sharon Tseung. teaching people how to build passive income, become financially free and design their best lives. Hey guys, it’s Sharon Tseung. And today we’re gonna go over 10 hacks to help you save money when shopping. So I have a lot to say on this topic, I tend to care a lot about value and getting the most bang for your buck and actually recently shared a cheap flight hack. And I got a ton of response that it was super valuable, which is why I wanted to make this episode today, I figured people would be interested in stuff like this, because with a lot of experience and research, I’ve been able to figure out different hacks to help you get items a lot cheaper, so you can reduce your expenses. It’s important to learn these hacks because while you’re trying to spend as little money as possible, the primary goal of stores is to persuade us to spend as much money as possible. So without further ado, let’s just get right into these different shopping hacks. So first off, you want to use Keepa to track Amazon prices. So this is something I do a lot that helps me save and you’re probably like what the heck is Keepa I found this chrome extension. I’m gonna link it in the description below and it allows you to check the detailed price history chart for Amazon products. Once you get it and keep the extension on you can see the price chart history on the Amazon listing page when you need products, I check over the price chart to see if I’m buying at a high price or low price. That way you can compare not just across products, but also with its historical pricing to see if you’re buying at the right price. So this is a good way to compare not just product by product, but also historically with its previous pricing. Number two, you can use cashback apps to make money on your purchases. So I use an app called Fetch rewards to scan my receipts you get points for this and then you can trade those points to get gift cards. That way you can make money on things you already buy Rakuten is also another great cashback app that I use, you turn this chrome extension on. So when you are shopping online, you activate it and then you get cashback for a lot of your purchases Hack number three, you should look for price adjustment policies and take advantage of this price adjustment also known as price protection or price guarantee means that the retailer will refund the difference if the price of an item drops on something you purchased there in the last 14 or 30 days. As of this video, Home Depot has it for 30 days Target has it for 14 days, and Costco has it for 30 days also see if retailers have price matching policies with other sellers and not just on their own price drops. For example, Costco doesn’t price match with other sellers as of this moment, but Best Buy will price match local retail competitors including their online prices, and they price match products from Amazon, dell.com hp.com and other retailers. So check the retailer policies as their policies may change in the future. Don’t just depend on this video for the most updated dates because things may change later. And with this tip, you don’t have to wait for Black Friday or Cyber Monday for some of these retailers. For example, if you check their price adjustment policy and if it favors you, you can buy the item a week before then keep the receipt and have it refunded when the price drops. This will also lessen your worry of items selling out so you should keep things like your original purchase receipt the product or other proof of purchase the original payment method used in the purchase and then when you’re buying things online, you should keep this in your records your order number, your email address and obviously your full name Hack number four you can use deal sites so for example, I use Slickdeals a lot to buy a lot of my goods especially during Black Friday. So as you can see this is what slick deals looks like they’re a bunch of different products and they’re going to be promotions on different ones. So what I like to do is scan and see if there’s anything that could be interesting for me that I need or something I know that I’m going to use a lot in the future I check those pretty often so that I can get really good deals for travel I use secret flying the flight deal and slick deals as well and I have a whole system for Google Flight number five hack is don’t fall victim to I level is by level so many retail strategies employ the principle of I level is by level meaning that when you look at the products, and they may put higher margin products and the ones most likely to entice the customer where you’re looking at eye level, these aren’t always the most expensive items either instead, it might be the products that the store makes the most money from. So according to this article, a study found that the product placement which has the greatest ability to capture attention is 14.7 inches below eye level and upward to meet eye level most of the time it is eye level front and center. So to save money, consider looking at the top and bottom parts of the shelf which is especially applicable to almost all products in the grocery store to just make sure that you’re constantly comparing prices and quotes number six hack compare the per unit price instead of the actual product price. This is an especially solid hack for grocery shopping and is the best way to make sure you’re getting the most bang for your buck. So if you’re debating between two products, it’s easy to compare the price of the actual product but in reality you may be paying more for something that seems cheaper for example, and this is just for illustration purposes, not actual bundles or prices that I may find but if a six pack of soda cost $4.50 The pert can price is 75 cents, but if you’re comparing this to a 10 pack that cost $6 You might get the six pack because it feels cheaper but the 10 pack actually has a persona can cost as 60 cents which is cheaper than the other pack. Now this is an obvious example and you might be like okay, duh, but when you’re comparing things like pasta or chicken broth, you might not see this right away because there’ll be measured in ounces for example, that’s why you should look at the number next to the product price on the price tag, they usually have a per unit costs on it and that’s what you should always compare to help you get the most value Hack number seven, you want to check your receipt so scanner errors happen all the time when shopping and it can cost customers a lot of money, the cashier could incorrectly count change ringing the wrong total mess up when trying to honor coupons and as a customer, you should keep your receipt make sure all items are accounted for and that there are no duplicate scans. Make sure the prices are right make sure that discounts for sales and coupons are applied because you never know if there are going to be some errors in the checkout process Hack number eight Do not be fooled by big shopping carts. Okay, so what does this even mean? If you’ve noticed shopping carts have become bigger and bigger and this is actually a psychological marketing strategy. A larger cart gives you more space which lets you think that you have more spending or purchase potential according to this article, marketing consultant Martin Lindstrom told today that when the shopping cart was doubled in size in an experiment, shoppers would buy 40% more merchandise. So if you really want to save consider using a basket and skipping the cart altogether. If not just remember this marketing strategy and be aware of it stick to your shopping list and have self control Hack number nine buy offseason for clothes you should actually buy towards the end of the season because they’re trying to get rid of the clothes. So for example, February is when you’ll most likely get deals for winter items, you should look for sales on apparel and winter sports gear that you will need later in the year. That’s because they’re trying to clear the winter stuff for their spring and summer apparel. This is also the same for warmer months in July and August is when the sun is still out. But demand for summer clothes starts to go down so you can buy up shorts, tank tops and things like that while stores make it worth it. You can think of this for holiday items as well. You can get good leftover chocolate in February after Valentine’s Day and for Halloween. Historically, the best candy prices come at the end of September and early October. So don’t buy right around Halloween Hack number 10. Consider going online. So when you see something and you have no context of pricing for the item, it’s a good idea to compare it with online quotes. I normally do this when I’m shopping around at Target. For example, check the same item online and see how much it costs. It stopped me a few times from buying at the physical store when there’s a significant difference in pricing. So try comparing items on walmart or amazon for example, when you google it usually shows at the top in the shopping section. According to the balance money shopping online can save you money especially when you combine it with online savings codes deals of the day no tax is charged and free shipping offers. By doing this, you might be able to get the same item for a cheaper price online. You might also be able to find discount vouchers or coupons and it will give you some time to think about it if you actually need it. Another thing is when you shop online, some stores will offer an abandoned cart discount if you decide not to buy right away. So you should definitely check that out. And another thing when you’re shopping online, it’s a good idea to actually leave your items in your cart for 24 hours because many times you’ll forget to even buy it because you didn’t really need it. I’m gonna leave you guys with one last Bonus tip and that is to get cashback from your credit card. So if you’re able to stay organized and be responsible with it, credit cards can be a great way to get rewards as well as build credit. So what I like to do is make sure that I have credit cards with high percentage cashback so that whenever I buy things normally I would get cashback for those purchases and not only cashback they usually have travel points and things like that. So I’ve been able to score a lot of vacations for free just from getting the cashback and rewards if you apply this on top of the cashback apps that I mentioned, like federal awards, you’re gonna be able to get a lot of money back when you are shopping. So I hope you guys enjoyed this episode on the different shopping hacks that can really save you a lot of money. Make sure to be smart with your purchases, make sure that you understand the psychological marketing techniques that stores employ, as well as the different tools cashback apps, credit cards and things like that that you can use to make money back on things that you would normally buy on a regular basis. I hope all these different techniques help you on your journey. This is going to help you save a lot of money so that you can put that into investments grow your wealth and become financially free. So I hope you guys enjoyed this episode. Please make sure to rate review and subscribe. It really helps our podcast grow. And thanks again. I’ll see you guys in the next one.

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