5
Money-Saving Holiday Shopping Tips By Rob Wilson
Let’s face it. As college students, money is tight. Buying gifts for others (or yourself) can be fun and exciting, but the costs can add up quick. As the holiday shopping craze approaches, I’d like to share some tips in hopes of saving everyone some cash.
Make a List
Making a list before going into a store is easy. Following it? Not so much. Try writing the person’s name, give a description of what you’d like to get them, and then set a budget before going in the store. If you’d like to impulse buy, set aside some money beforehand and stick to the budget.
Use Deal-Hunting Websites
Websites like slickdeals.net are a great resource when trying to find the best deal. There is a large community dedicated to posting noteworthy sales and deals they find both in store and online. I’ve personally saved hundreds over the years thanks to using the site. For in store deals at Walmart or Target, using 3 rd party inventory checkers like brickseek.com can give a general idea of whether a store has a product in stock. Though not always accurate, this is especially useful on clearance items.
Don’t be Afriad to Compraison Shop
Looking at a new video game console? How about a new smartphone? Comparing prices between stores is a great first step. Flipp.com allows comparing between published store ads and has keyword searching.
Look at Price History
This is a little more difficult to do in store, but for Amazon there are websites like camelcamelcamel.com (yes, that’s three camels) which can give you a good insight into pricing on an item. If an item recently had a markup, keep an eye out for it to drop.
14
Nov/Dec 2018 | Student Run Publication
@fox_times
@fvtcfoxtimes
