Something For Nothing

There is no such thing as a free lunch. My dad was famous for always having a cliche at the ready. This one though is more than just a cliche. It is often taken as truth second only to Truth. This explains why so many people are loath to explore the world of bargain shopping. Their world view precludes the potential of gain without investment. So which is it? Is there always a piper to be paid? Or can the early bird get the worm?

As an ex-coupon scorner I appreciate the common attitude toward them. I thought that they were mostly worthless (pennies off junk I wouldn't normally buy) and just a ploy to entice shoppers to buy stuff they don't need or want. Not to mention the time and money spent getting the coupons in the first place. After all, how would thirty five cents off a roll of refrigerated biscuits help our family's budget in any way? Especially when the paper costs $1.50 and we don't even eat biscuits? Besides, you can't get something for nothing, right?

And that, right there. That was my down fall. I was being limited by what I thought I knew. See it turns out there is an art and a science to bargain shopping. The art involves timing and an occasional bit of luck. A fast Internet connection doesn't hurt either. The science, though, that takes a bit of learning. There are rules that must be followed. There are sources of information that must be learned. And yes, there is a price to be paid. It might require a small (think less than $10) investment, but mostly what it requires is study.

Surgeons make a decent living. But you can't just pick up a scalpel and hang out a shingle and expect to start rolling in the dough right? To truly capture the best deals it will require you to <sigh> perhaps spend twenty minutes and READ a bit. I know, I hated that part myself. And being a bit arrogant I figured how hard can it be? Why bother reading, I'll just DO it and figure it out as I go. Remember the $50 fabric softener? So much for thinking on the fly.

Now if I was like most sane people I would have cut my losses right then and moved on. But I had been bitten by the bug and quitting wasn't an option. And after learning how to work this new system, I actually DID save money. My detail oriented hubby tells me that the first six months our food budget decreased by half and the house hold budget was cut by 3/4ths. We had been spending $150 per week on groceries and $50 a week on house hold items. Which means that I had cut $112.50 out of the weekly budget. $450 a month. $5400 a year. Not an amount to replace an income of course. But a tidy sum regardless. Think of the vacation we could take, or the amount to be paid toward debt pay off, or charitable giving. So the average of two hours a week I spent on bargain hunting, coupon clipping, and Internet surfing equated to about $56 an hour. Would you take a job that paid $56 an hour? Put that way, it seemed like a heckova deal to me. Remember, it isn't two hours at one time. It is five minutes here, ten there, where ever I can squeeze it in.

And here's the funny part. Have you ever noticed how lucky people seem to sort of attract good fortune? I mean it seems like the same people win over and over. Now if deals depended on luck I'd be left with no hope what so ever. But here is a truth: success is opportunity meeting preparation. Simple example? Say dishwasher soap is on sale for $2.49 a box. Regular price is $3.75. Good deal right? Assuming you use that product regularly and need more. BUT, what if I tell you that two weeks ago a coupon was in the paper for $2.50 that same soap. If you had prepared ahead of time and had purchased that paper you would now be able to score free soap.

Well fine, that's just peachy. but still even a free box of laundry soap is not that exciting, right? Well this is where the science enters into it. If you understand just the rudiments of marketing, distribution, and cyclical sales you can score almost all your house hold stuff for free. Shampoo, soap, conditioner, tooth paste, tooth brushes, detergent, hand soap, toilet paper, paper towels, and every manner of creams, potions and lotions.

First you need to understand how a coupon works. See a manufacturer issues it as an incentive to get you to buy something right? They hope that you will try a product and become so infatuated that you will continue to buy said frippery regardless of the price later. When you hand a store a coupon they then submit it to the manufacturer for the value of the coupon. So the store does not lose money. (OK they have to pay somebody to file them but that's another story) So in the story above, the seller did not lose money on the dish soap. They will get their $2.50 back.

Stores also use various tactics to lure consumers into their doors. One of these is called using "loss leaders". The store has a sale on item X and sells it below their cost. Why? Simple. They assume, usually rightfully, that once through the doors you will spy other things you need and thus they make up the difference on other items. So imagine for a minute if all you do is take advantage of loss leader items. Of course it does require discipline. That is you must resist the siren call of all the other stuff you did not intend to purchase when you walked into the store. Since I like to live dangerously I can stand the heat. Some people will be better served to limit their excursions.

Another weapon in the bargain hunters arsenal is the knowledge that sales are cyclical. Usually they come around about every 12 weeks. How does this help? Well suppose you had known ahead of time that there was going to be a coupon for $2.50 off the detergent. Let's say you knew that your house used about 1 box of detergent every month. Now what would you do? Simply buy three papers right? Remember a paper costs $1.50 so you spend $4.50. The following week you buy 3 boxes of detergent. Now BC (before coupons) you would have bought one box at $2.49 and then the following two months you would buy it at $3.75 a box. So all together you would spend $9.99BC. AC (after coupons) you spent $4.50. Clear savings of $5.49. That does not take into account using any other coupons at all in the paper. That one alone justified the cost.

Well yes, Nancy, that's all well and good but for those of us lacking ESP how do we know what papers are worth buying and how many we need? And that right there friends is the crucial question. See it turns out that you can find out just about everything on the net. There are sites that post the list of coupons before they come out. There are sites that list that week's upcoming sales, loss leaders, and "hidden" deals. In short, think of being a spy for a government so riddled with leaks that you couldn't catch them all in a portable swimming pool. It really is just that easy. Not simple, maybe, but easy. It's not for everyone, I admit. For some $56 an hour doesn't even come close to being worthwhile. For some, no matter what, there just aren't 120minutes not spoken for in a week. After all a drowning person can't save anybody no matter how much they may want to. But for some people, the potential reward, the thrill of the hunt, or just plain old fashioned curiosity is enough to motivate you to try it for yourself.

WAIT!!! STOP!!! BEWARE! Remember the $50 fabric softener??? If you want to try it there are lots of easy deals to try but if you don't know ahead of time what to do, odds are you're going be inducted into the bargain shoppers hall of shame post haste. So how to get started? I suggest Two simple things: 1. read two articles on moneysavingmom. Here and here and 2. before you buy anything online check out retailmenot.com for a sale code. There is more, of course but surgeons don't start out with quadruple bypasses. First learn to tie a stitch and then we'll move on to scoring free trial items. Yes, companies actually BEG to send you things for free, but trust me, you're probably not ready for that yet. First you have to suspend disbelief and get comfortable with the wide world of coupons.