The Best Time to Buy What You Need

Money saving ideas, if you have some you would like to add to this series please email them to .

1. What does your typical day look like?

• Do you use the drive thru to purchase coffee everyday? What is the cost of this in one month?
• Do you shop at the corner store instead of going to the grocery store? Although the corner store is convenient there is an additional cost for that convenience. Items are priced much higher in these convenience stores than they are if purchased from the grocery store.
• Are you dining out more often than you would like? Prepare meals at home, get the whole family involved.
• Entertain at home, ask your guests to bring one item for the meal and have a pot luck theme, or request everyone bring something different to contribute to the meal. Some of the items could be listed and your guests could choose what they would like to bring such as: salad, buns, wine, dessert, casserole, meat dish, potatoes, etc.. Be creative have a theme for the meal.

2. Rethink the way you do things.

• Do you purchase single gym memberships? You may be able to get a much better deal if you do a bit of research and sign up with a friend. You may be able to receive that same membership for half the original cost.
• Borrow movies from the library instead of renting from the Video Rental Store.
• Many stores offer "best price" or "lowest price" guarantees. If you find an item you've purchased at a lower price many stores will give you a refund for the difference between what you paid and the lower price. Sometimes they throw in an additional discount.
• Does your bank charge service fees for ATM withdrawals. Try to stay within your limit so you don't get charged the additional service charges.
• Does your bank have a package price for service fees. Some banks are very flexible in offering lower service fees for maintaining a certain balance in your account.

3. Are you paying late fees?

• Many utility companies charge additional fees if you don't make your payments by a certain date. Some of these fees are an additional $8.00 to $15.00 per month.
• Credit card companies charge additional fees for being over the limit. These can be as much as $25 or more per month.
• NSF charges for non sufficient funds in a bank account can run upwards of $30 - $50 by the time you pay the bank and the establishment where the cheque bounced. Keep track of all cheques written in a cheque register so that you are always aware of your account balance.
• How much interest are you paying on your credit cards? Most banks can offer credit cards with lower interest rates, sometimes you need to ask them to do this for you. There are offers that come in the mail as well that offer much lower rates for an introductory period. Watch out for these when the trial period is over the rates increase to somewhere around 19 to 24 per cent.

4. Shop Smarter and Pay Less

• Do you buy your magazines in the supermarket? Purchase them by subscription for less than half the cost.
• Use coupons at the grocery store, drug store, even at Wal Mart. Coupons are offered by dining clubs, restaurants, department stores, etc.
• Do you have a package deal for telephone, internet, cable etc. Many companies offer them at a reduced rate.
• Take advantage of savings for insurance, when you have the same insurance company for your home and vehicles, you may be eligible for multiple discounts.
• Do you take advantage of discounts offered for students, seniors, fifty five plus, group discounts, Automobile club memberships such as CAA which offer reduced rates for car rentals, travel and hotels.
• Check out department store flyers to see where the best prices are for certain items in your area.
• Research prices on the Internet.
• Insurance prices can be cheaper if you increase the amount you are willing to pay in the event that there is a claim. If you raise your deductible amounts on car and home insurance you will pay cheaper insurance premiums.
• Take advantage of those loyalty cards given by some establishments. Use your card everytime you shop there and eventually your next item will be free. My Pet Store does this for every tenth bag of dog food I buy the next one is free.

5. Grocery Shopping Pitfalls to Avoid

• The most expensive items on the grocery store shelves are usually at eye level. You can save money buy looking to the top or bottom shelves for those same items.
• When visiting the grocery store stock up on sale items if they are something that you use all the time. If you don't usually use the item not much sense in buying it if it is only going to take up space. It isn't a bargain if you don't need it.
• Buying the bigger package is almost always cheaper. Compare the prices for small packages against the prices for the larger package. Usually you will find you'll save about half the cost by buying the larger package.
• For some items use the generic brand. If you check the ingredients and they are the same choose the cheaper generic brand. For somethings though I like the name brand especially when it comes to buying tomato soup. I only like Campbell's tomato soup in the can and I've tried them all, but I only buy the Campbell's now.

6. Travel Cheaper than you think you can

• I love making my travel arrangements via the Internet. I love Travelocity.ca and Red Tag. Recently, I was able to  book my flight for a very reasonable price through Red Tag and book my hotel room for a 20% discount using Travelocity.ca.
• Last year my husband and I flew to Arizona using our Airmiles.
• Travel web sites offer the advantage of comparing several different companies, dates and times, to determine when the most economical times are to book. They also offer the opportunity to book flights, hotels and car rentals via one travel site.