Comparing Prices

How I Spend Less by Comparing Prices

I love saving money on everything I can. I’m going to share a few key points on ways in which I save money on a daily basis. First of all I’m CHEAP! A lot of people look at it as a negative thing, but I don’t. Here’s why! 

Why should you be happy with paying more than you need to? Let’s say I need to by a lamp. Store “A” has the lamp for $50, store “B” has the lamp for $55, and store “C” has the same lamp for $53. See illustration below.

  1. $50
  2. $55
  3. $53

If I walked into store “B” first and purchase the lamp without comparing it with other stores, I just spent $5 more than I would have spent if I had compared the price store “A”. The $5 I did not save by purchasing the lamp at store “A” is not a huge loss, and a lot of people wouldn’t care. But it goes deeper than that. Let’s say you spent $5 more than you should on 10 different purchases. That’s $50 that could have been saved. See illustration below.

$5 x 10 = $50

Now let’s take it one step further and add some sales into the mix. Some stores throw sales to give people the perception that they are saving money. Store “A” is throwing a SALE and has the lamp listed at $50 (How much are you really saving on that sale price??). Store “B” is not running a sale but does have a store coupon for $10 off. The lamp is $55 but with the coupon the price comes down to $45. Store “C” has a store sale reducing everything $5 from the original price. The lamp in store “C” is now $48, from what was $53 at first. Which store has the better price now? Store “B”, who originally had the highest price of the three stores. See illustration below.

  1. $50 – SALE = $50
  2. $55 – $10 store coupon = $45
  3. $53 – $5 SALE = $48

So now you’ve saved an additional $5 which brings the savings from $5 to $10. If you saved $10 on 10 different purchases that’s $100 you just saved. What would you do if you happened to find $100 on the ground?

Side note: Sometimes you can create your own discount by asking for one. Don’t be afraid to ask for a discount in the store. The worst you may hear is, “no”. I’ve received big discounts like 50% off or received items for free just because I wasn’t afraid to ask for a discount.