Good morning Loves. Remember Monday when I said that I never pay full price for anything? Well that’s not exactly true. There are a few things that I do pay full price for if I have to. My shopping motto is buy it on sale but if you have to pay full price make sure it’s worth the cost and make it last as long as you can. It’s the perfect balance between buying what you want and saving money when you can.
Here are my shopping secrets to make dollars stretch:
Look on your receipts for discounts. Stores such as Bath and Body Works and The Body Shop offer a discount percentage or a dollar amount off your next purchase when you present a receipt from a previous sale. I love this because even if items are full price in the store I am still getting a discount on my entire purchase. A discount on your next purchase is an incentive for clients to come back and shop again. It encourages customer loyalty and repeat business which is great for brands.
Make your items go as far as they can. I like to shop at LUSH. That’s right now you know my financial weakness – fun bath products. No I don’t need bath bombs and bubble bath that smell like candy floss, but I like them. It makes my day better to come home and relax in a hot bath while reading my book. Currently I’m reading Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I also like using LUSH products because they don’t irritate my pale sensitive skin. I use an expensive face cleanser from LUSH and I make it last by alternating with a less expensive cleanser from The Body Shop. This helps make my product last longer. I also chop my bath bombs up into pieces and use them in multiple baths instead of just one, this makes me feel like my money is stretching farther.
Buy multiple items at once. I know that some people feel shopping in bulk is a waste of money. This is true if you waste the items. We are always going to use products such as toilet paper, paper towels and laundry soap so I see no harm in buying in bulk. To some people paying $16 for 15 rolls of Bounty paper towels is expensive because it is quite a large lump sum of money for paper towels. However buying in bulk does lower the price per unit so if you are going to use the items you might as well buy them cheap. Right?
Don’t be afraid to indulge. I don’t do this very often but when I do buy something nice for myself I try not to feel guilty about it. This usually happens with food. On my recent trip to NYC I bought four cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery for $3.50 each. That’s $14 for four cupcakes in four days. Some people would say that’s a waste of money, but to me it’s worth it. I should also confess that I also spent $13 on two slices of apple pie from Junior’s. I love my desserts.
Photo from Flickr
My shopping secret is I only purchase items when there it’s midnight sale. That’s the time where items are being discounted. It’s become cheaper and affordable.
Oh wow Hannah. That is money dedication at it’s best. I don’t think I could get out of bed at midnight for a good deal. But that’s probably because I’m lazy.