海角大神

For me, frugality means figuring out which products do the job they鈥檙e supposed to do聽well, then finding those products for the lowest price. In other words, I鈥檓 always looking to maximize 鈥渂ang for the buck.鈥�

For many products, the generic or store brand version works well. For other products, there are certain brands which are drastically better than the other options and you鈥檙e better off simply seeking bargains and coupons.

The challenge is figuring out which is which, particularly on more expensive items. Here鈥檚聽exactly聽how I do it.

First of all,聽I turn to聽Consumer Reports.聽Their product reviews are a starting point for me for virtually everything that I buy. While I 诲辞苍鈥檛 consider them infallible, I do consider them a great place to start.聽

贬辞飞别惫别谤,听滨听诲辞苍鈥檛聽start with their 鈥渢op鈥� item.聽The one I usually start with is their 鈥渂est buy,鈥� one they usually designate and explain in their rankings. Sometimes, it鈥檚 their top one, but usually it鈥檚 one that鈥檚 in third or fourth place at about half the price of the top one with only negligible differences between the two.

I usually also figure out their lowest priced items and see where they rank. If the lowest-priced item is anywhere in the top half of the rankings, I鈥檒l usually give it a try, too.

The result is that聽I usually wind up with two or three items to investigate.聽If it鈥檚 a low cost household item, I鈥檒l usually add the store brand as well.

If the item is a low-cost one such as a household supply,聽I鈥檒l usually buy the lowest-cost item on my list and try it out. If it meets my needs, I stick with it. If it doesn鈥檛, I鈥檒l try another on my short list.

What about more expensive items, such as a tablet computer? When an item costs more than about $20, I do a few more things before making a purchase.

贵颈谤蝉迟,听I try to identify the exact needs this item is going to fulfill.聽What do I want it to do? Knowing this is vital so that I鈥檓 not talked into paying more for extraneous features that sound neat but that I鈥檓 not really going to use.

After that,聽I鈥檒l ask my social network for thoughts.聽I usually stick with people who I think will have some particular insight about the product. So, I won鈥檛 ask my great aunt who barely uses a computer what tablet I might want to buy.

狈别虫迟,听I鈥檒l look for opportunities to try out the products myself.聽I鈥檒l visit an electronics store, or I鈥檒l ask my friends to let me try out their tablets. Any opportunity for hands-on access is golden.

I鈥檒l also聽read lots and lots of reviews.聽Yes, some 鈥渞eviews鈥� are essentially paid advertisements, so I try to stick to ones from sources I trust聽and聽I try to read a large number of reviews. I rarely stick to even two or three reviews of the various products I鈥檓 considering.

I 诲辞苍鈥檛 really bargain hunt until I鈥檝e narrowed my purchase down to one or two options, but when I鈥檝e figured out what I鈥檓 going to buy, then I start shopping around like crazy. If it鈥檚 not urgent 鈥� and most purchases are not truly urgent 鈥� I鈥檒l watch prices at a bunch of e-commerce sites as well as local retailers, waiting for a sale, and I鈥檒l also look for coupons and coupon codes.

I use my web browser as a tool in this process.聽I usually do this by establishing a bookmark folder in my web browser, where I put the product page from the sites of several online retailers for the item I鈥檓 interested in. I鈥檒l usually re-name that link to the 鈥渘ormal鈥� price for that item on that site. I鈥檒l check each of these daily. I鈥檒l often also include any links I find through Google searches that list coupons or other discounts for this particular item.

Then, I wait. I usually try to wait for a price that鈥檚 at least 20% below the average of the other retailers, but that can change depending on the specific product. When I find a price I鈥檓 happy with, I pull the trigger.

Another advantage to this type of shopping is that while I鈥檓 shopping for a particular item, I tend not to think much about buying other things. Spending a month or two focused on one item ends up subtly keeping me from spending money on other items.

This sums up my process for buying virtually anything. No matter what it is, it usually goes through a process very similar to this and, thanks to that process, I find myself consistently getting a strong 鈥渂ang for the buck鈥� as well as making fewer unnecessary purchases.

The post聽The Art of Figuring Out 鈥淏ang for the Buck鈥澛燼ppeared first on聽The Simple Dollar.