4 Great Ways To Save Money

It’s good to have a money saving mindset but there are a few traps companies use to get you to buy more while making you think you’re saving money. Here are 4 great ways to save money.

1. Don’t Buy Only The Cheapest Things

If you’re at Best Buy and you’d like to purchase a large flat-screen TV, choosing a TV based on the lowest price-tag may end up costing you more in the long run. In this scenario you’re compromising quality for cost-savings. Inversely, purchasing the most expensive TV is no better. Always keep a medium level between quality and cost and it won’t bite you in the ass in the long run.

Another good compromising example is to purchase the non-brand cereals versus the brand-name cereals. Studies have actually shown that there isn’t a huge difference in taste or quality between the two so in this scenario, it pays to choose the non-name brand.

2. Don’t Open a Store Credit Card to get a Discount

I’m guilty of this. I opened up an Express credit card in order to get 20% off my purchase for that day. I had purchased a full 3-piece suit and some accessories which cost me around $700 so I figured 20% off was an amazing deal!

The flaw behind this is that these store credit cards often carry a high interest rate and charge an annual fee for keeping it open, which in the long run, will offset that initial 20% discount you acquired.

The best thing to do for money saving in this case, is to open one, and then pay it off as soon as possible. Afterwards, close the card.

3. Don’t Drive Further Just to Get Cheaper Gas

I live in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan area and gas around here is expensive. A little south of D.C. is Woodbridge, VA and gas prices there are a little cheaper than in the Metro area. Is it worth the drive?

It depends. Driving down to Woodbridge, you will encounter huge amounts of traffic on a normal basis, even on weekends. The time it takes to get through traffic to save a little bit of money gas can cost you lots of time, an opportunity cost that can never be gotten back. Be mindful. Use your money saving mindset and schedule your time around errands and events or when there is no traffic.

4. Don’t Buy More Items Just to Get Free Shipping

On the SquareEnix website, you get free shipping if you purchase over $100 worth of items. When I purchased the FFX/FFX-2 collectors edition, my total came out to $91.90. You can imagine how I felt when I had to select the $9.99 ground-shipping cost and thought about how I could’ve gotten free shipping if I had purchased just one more item.

Many websites and companies utilize this strategy to tempt you to buy “just a little bit more”. In the case of free shipping, if you had purchased just “one more item” you would’ve gotten free shipping. At the grocery store, if you had bought 3 Cokes, you would’ve gotten the 4th one free. In terms of present value, a dollar today is always worth more than a dollar tomorrow. Ask yourself, did you need that extra coke? Is this really a money saving venture?

Keep your money saving mindset active and weigh out the costs versus the benefits of whether to purchase another item or not.

Listen To Your Money Saving Mindset

Remember to always approach your purchases from an objective stand point. Ask yourself if the totals will cost you more or less and make a decision based on the total cost-savings. These great ways to save money will help you out. Numbers never lie and it will be your friend.