Price-Based Shopping

I believe wholeheartedly in using coupons to save money. But maybe, for some reason, you don't. Maybe you're morally opposed to them, or maybe you don't have thumbs and therefore clipping coupons is exceptionally difficult for you. Or, maybe you just don't have the desire to get started. Whatever the reason, I can say that I still hope to convert you to the dark side of coupon use. But in the meantime, the following post will describe how to save money on nearly everything you buy without ever picking up a pair of scissors.

This great savings involves a complete shift in the mindset you use to approach the shopping that you do. I would guess that about 99% of Americans do their shopping based on need. I touched on this briefly in an earlier post, but I'll elaborate here. Need-based shopping is a simple concept; it's likely what you do often. It means making your grocery list based on the items in your fridge and cupboard that are about to run out. It means running to the store several times a week to buy last minute items for dinner. Need-based shopping means paying $2.99 for a loaf of bread because you're almost out at home, even though that same bread is sometimes on sale for $1.19.

Price-based shopping is shifting your mindset 180 degrees in the other direction. It means buying toothpaste because it's on sale for $.99, even though you already have three tubes in the bathroom at home. It means stocking up on pasta when it's on sale so that you can prepare meals with ingredients pulled from your stockpile, rather than from that frantic afternoon shopping trip. Price-based shopping means buying products when they're at their lowest price, and buying enough so that you don't have to buy again until they hit that low again. By changing the way you think about everyday purchases, you can save money without ever opening a newspaper insert (but you still should)!

In the next couple weeks, I'll touch more on what it means to shop based on price, including building a stockpile and looking beyond the grocery store or the drugstore to get great deals.

For those of you keeping track, we made it to 20 followers! This means details regarding the La Bella Rosa giveaway will be coming very soon. Stay tuned!