Moving Forward in Today’s Economy Part 2

Plan Ahead and Shop Around

Running from store to store to compare prices makes no sense.  You will use up more gas and time than you will save.  With the internet at your fingertips, there’s no need and comparison shopping is easier than ever before.

Last December I was in the market for a small countertop convection oven.  I wanted it to be big enough to hold a casserole or even bake a chicken or pan of muffins.  By searching Google, I found several sites that showed different models and prices.  The best part was they included customer feedback.  It covered everything from some models being hot to the touch, others were smaller inside than they looked or had maintenance problems.  I was able to narrow down exactly what I was looking for and figure out an online price including any shipping.  Then when I went to the store, I was armed with the knowledge to make a good deal.  In the end, I decided to wait until after Christmas and try to find a sale.  I found out that a store had donated a dozen ovens to my local food pantry and they were selling for half of what I expected to pay.  I love my Oster Convection oven and use it often.  It doesn’t heat up the kitchen like my big oven did and makes holiday cooking much easier.

My Experience With Couponing

As promised, here’s my first couponing lesson.  If it looks a little obvious, remember that I’m learning the do’s and don’ts of how the experts shop.  Since I often learn more from my mistakes, I’m sharing them with you.  Eventually I’ll put them into their own Coupon Post for easy reference.

I had a coupon for “Buy one Get one Free” on toothbrushes.  The toothbrush was $2.19 which makes this a good deal.  I was shopping during double coupon days at my local store and heard that you could get both free when they doubled coupons.  At the checkout my coupon was not doubled and it took me a moment to realize why.  They only doubled coupons up to $2.00.  My toothbrushes were .19 over that so no doubling.   You can bet I won’t forget this lesson and will sure pay attention to price in the future.

(By the same thinking, if a store doubles up to $1.00, a 50 cent coupon will double but a 75 cent one won’t.  If the store doubles coupons that are up to $1.00 then both of them would double.  Yes, it’s a little confusing, but if you spend a little time learning it, there are big rewards.)