How did I miss this thread? I am the queen of cheap and have gathered many tricks over the years.
My first trick was bringing my own bag. This started when I lived in an apartment near a grocery store and I would walk to and from. Plus three flights of stairs. I bought big canvas totes with sturdy handles for the trek and discovered from the manager that I got five cents off for every bag I would have used. This was never more than fifty cents but it adds up. You also cannot underestimate the poor of poor that I was at the time. The lesson is: talk to your manager. Build a relationship with them and you have the inside information on what is overstocked and is therefore going to be the next big sale.
I am a coupon freak. My dad used to scour the ads from all the chains and combine the sales with coupons. That is the trick to coupons, hold on to them for a few weeks and you can often get even more for the money. Typically, marketers will use coupons to push new products they want people to try or woo them back to a product that is dropping in sales due to a competing effect. As a result, often stores will overstock these products in the hopes that more of it will move. Sometimes people don't and that's when you pull out the coupon. I save up my coupons (only for products I actually use, that's the other trick- don't be wooed by the advertisers!) and sort them by category, when I see a product on sale that's when I whip it out and will buy many. Sometimes the combination works out so that the item is free, no joke. I don't think I've paid cash money for Soft Soap in years.
The Grocery Game works on this same principle. I gave the free trial a whirl and if I had a big family I would have kept it as a time saver as five dollars isn't much investment. Also, the big chain stores all moved out of my area and the spreadsheets don't work for the little guys I shop at now. Worth a look for you guys though. Years of learning curve are eliminated by that system and it works.
Currently, I don't even pay for papers, I am that cheap. Luckily the Uni gets free papers even on Sunday. I'm not on campus that day, but I have a friend who lives in the dorms and she raids them for me. In exchange I give her lifts to my side of town when she needs to get out of Dodge. That is another big tip, reciprocity. Like Shea with her neighbors, don't be embarassed to talk to people about what you need. I have a friend with a Sam's Club membership, and a friend with a Costco membership. We split the big items that neither household could finish and split the cost. Since they pay dues and I don't, we return the favor by offering our truck when they need to move something big. As they are friends we'd prolly do it anyway, but one delivery fee from Home Depot saved for them is a membership fee saved for us.
Also, I hunt for coupons online. I have a free bagel coupon on my desk I just printed after becoming a fan of Einstein Bros on facebook. I always search for stupid things like that, and I use them! Free is free, even if I don't go back. I can always delete my fan status after and get another one another time.
We also use the fact that Mr. Monde is a teacher. If you have any particular badge or affiliation, wear it proudly. Veterans, seniors, AAA, use that to your advantage. Many places offer insane discounts if you ask- but you have to ask! We get 20% off drycleaning, 10% off the Art Supply Store, 15% off at the Fabric Store, 20% off Halfprice Books and Barnes and Noble, (B&N is only during "appreciation weeks" so you have to have a good email for those deals. I have a seperate email account I check everyday just for that stuff. I get fantastic coupons sent to me too.) Trust me, I use my student status the same way.
Sign up for everything besides credit cards and if a store gives a survey on the reciept DO IT. Quite often you will get coupons for free products or percent off next purchase. Saves tons of money and being a maven pays you. This sounds stupid, but if there is a product you really really like and can't live without, call the number and do a satisfaction survey. They will send you free shit. And it takes only a little bit of time. I do it on weekends when the call is free. Or go to their website. We all spend a lot of our time OL, so why not get somewhat paid for it.
Those are my main tips on shopping. In the kitchen I am very frugal. My best waste saver is planning. I plan my meals on Sundays and do my shopping then. (That is also the start of the sales week, when stocks are the highest at the lowest prices. Go early before everything is moved out.) Planning menus means that I get what is the most affordable that week and nothing gets tossed. I'll cook extra veg for dinner that goes in my salad the next day for lunch. Rice on stir fry night goes into a dish the next night. I'll save up the little ends of cheese in a freezer bag and make a Fromage Fort. That kind of thing.
Speaking of cheese, I also depend on the kindness of friends. If a friend has a party I go early and stay late. I help them set up and pick up, which they appreciate and I don't mind. Sometimes I'll fully cater the party for them, with my tiny house I don't get to entertain much on that scale and I enjoy it. At the end of the night I cart home oodles of leftovers. Cheese brought it to mind, because I usually get a ton of cheese that way.
I'm not ashamed of my scavenging ways. I also crash as many lectures and gatherings on campus as I can and do the same thing. Free lunch, network with the faculty, help them out with the scut work and then cart off the bonanza.
Cheap Demi is CHEAP!
Re: Experiments in Cheapness
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