Five Ways You're (Supposedly) Wasting Money

Here's a piece I found on Yahoo that lists five ways you're wasting money. Their list:

1. Buying gas at the least expensive gas station.
2. Going to different stores to get sale items.
3. Buying the cheapest instead of the best value.
4. Purchasing items on sale.
5. Buying in bulk.

Their (supposedly better) advice to each of these:

1. Choose the least expensive gas station that is no more than a mile from your regularly traveled route.

2. Find the closest store that will price-match.

3. Look beyond price when you purchase a product.

4. When purchasing items on sale, only purchase those items that you would eventually purchase at full price.

5. Take the time to make sure you carefully consider an item's shelf life and how it will be consumed before buying it in bulk.

My thoughts on each of these:

1. I agree. I'm always amused by people who will drive all over, wasting time and gas, to save a couple cents per gallon. I've found the cheapest place near my house (I have 4-5 choices) and use it almost exclusively. I do make sure they're always competitive though by checking the prices of the other stations when I drive by during the natural course of running errands.

2. I can see their point, but price matching doesn't always work either. Why? Some places only have in-store specials that you won't see unless you visit them -- and other stores won't match based on rumor a competitor has something on sale. My wife and her friends have a pretty close ear to the ground when it comes to in-store specials, and they pass the news back and forth at lightning speed. When there are great deals to be had (which is often), it's best to spread around the shopping -- especially if "spreading around" is only a few blocks away.

3. Agree 100%. I usually buy this way. But on the rare occasion I don't, I usually end up with a disaster like my Sears elliptical.

4. What about items I would like to try, but would never buy since they are too expensive? If they were on sale for a decent price, wouldn't it be worth it to try them?

5. Nope, disagree. We buy in bulk all the time -- it's the reason we got a freezer in our basement. We buy meat, frozen foods, juices, etc. in bulk and on sale, then store them in the freezer until we need them. We save a good deal of money this way. 

Comments

[Fellowes]

I agree with everything except the gas argument. I drive an SUV with a relatively large fuel tank and also live in Seattle where gas prices can vary from station to station (not sure why) by more than $.20 per gallon in some cases. Driving a little bit out of the way does still save me money. What I'd really like to know is why the gas prices fluctuate so much around here.

[Lazy Man and Money]

On the main street in my town the gas fluctuates by as much as 50 cents a gallon. That's 3.83 for the cheap stuff and 3.33 at another station. Yes, we have the most expensive gas in SF, but it's wise to keep an eye out for those that are really bad and stay away.

[Rick]

Regarding gas, just use your local www.gasbuddy.com affiliate. I use www.coloradospringsgasprices.com. Whenever I need gas, I just pull up this website and see the cheapest place near my route. It's wonderful.

[Not very observant]

So on point 5 you don't actually disagree. You're just taking into account the added "shelf-life" of an item put in deep freeze. Would you buy 30 pounds of tomatoes?

[FMF]

If you click through to the article -- they take a bit of a more aggressive stance -- which is basically "buying in bulk is a bad deal." And while I wouldn't buy 30 pounds of tomatoes, I would buy half a cow and freeze it for later use.

[Hawk]

I worked retail for a bit and saw people making mistake #4 on a regular basis. Now I shop the sales, so I understand this, but it can go too far. My favorite example -- we had a $10 off coupon for $50 in merchendise from our Home department. Woman comes up to my register (this is 2 minutes prior to closing, mind you) and discovers that some of the items she thinks are Home items are in fact, not, and rushes back to buy $20 in light bulbs to save that $10. Had she not done this she would have spent (saved) $20 less. Mind you, light bulbs will last forever, but still. This is not how you save money.

[Nicole]

How did things turn out with your elliptical and your crusade against Sears? Have you thought of posting a link to their customer contact center so your readers can register their complaints?

[zen]

Seeing how it's just myself and my wife - we tend to not buy in bulk (until we've saved for a good-sized freezer). That said - I did buy paper products in bulk once. About two years ago. And I *still* haven't had to buy anymore.

[Aaron]

How much does your extra freezer cost to buy and run? Did you include this cost when you figured you were saving money by buying frozen food in bulk? There's an interesting discussion here: http://www.stretcher.com/stories/05/05feb28a.cfm Assuming a 20 year life for the freezer and standard US electricity costs, it is estimated to cost $6 per month to own and operate a second freezer. That's going to be tough, but not impossible, to make up in bulk food savings.

If the extra freezer can save you some _trips_ to the store and save you time that you would otherwise have to spend shopping, then the overall utility from owning and using a second freezer can definitely be worth it.

[Hazzard]

A long time ago, my family owned an auto parts store. We had one somewhat regular customer who ALWAYS compared prices on nuts and bolts. He would spend upwards of two hours pricing out nuts and bolts between our store and the hardware store (a full couple miles away). Once done, he'd buy 5 or 6 of each. Even at the age of 16, it was clear to me that he was spending far more in fuel and time than he ever saved by comparing the prices.