Money Saving Holiday Tips

Money-Saving HolidayShopping 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

Don’t Spend Money to SAve Money

From credit cards offering new customer offers to storewide sales, it can be easy fall into the illusion of getting a good deal. Stores generally are not going to advertise how to get the best deal on something, it takes doing your own research to come to that conclusion. One store, Kohls, had merchandise marked up to a higher price so when put on sale it would seem like a juicier deal. Kohls and other retail stores were mentioned in a 2012 report from CBS13 in Sacramento. Some say, in the end it’s not about how much you spent, but how much you saved. Don’t be one of those people.

Bonus Tip

This one mainly applies to electronics sold on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. While I’ve personally experienced it with electronics, it wouldn’t surprise me if this happened in other categories as well, like small appliances. If you’re shopping for a new TV, laptop, tablet, etc., pay attention to the model number and do some research on the product. Every year manufactures produce specific models only to be sold at major shopping events. While sometimes they can be decent, generally they are a lower level of quality made to only last until the next year. Major products like video game consoles, and flagship smartphones (think iPhone and Samsung Galaxy lines) generally don’t fall victim to this as making them differently wouldn’t make them the same product. For TVs however, you might want to think twice about that $99 32inch if you plan to keep it for a while.

I hope these tips can help some of our readers get more bang for their buck this holiday season. Happy shopping!

15 Nov/Dec 2018 | Student Run Publication @fox_times @fvtcfoxtimes