South Florida on the Cheap » shopping

Clipping coupons may not pay

Teresa — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 21:51:12 +0000

As a personal finance columnist, I am supposed to advise you to clip coupons to save money. The truth is, it may not be worth your time.

Whether clipping grocery coupons will save you enough to compensate you for the time it takes to organize them depends upon your shopping habits and, even more, on what [...]

Save by buying used electronics

Teresa — Sat, 22 May 2010 18:45:16 +0000

I’m writing this column on a refurbished laptop I bought last year for about $250, a great price at that time. I got it from Dell Financial Services, a department of Dell Computers that leases computers and then sells returned units at a discount.

When I bought the laptop, it was already a couple of years [...]

Discounts for local residents

Teresa — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 17:15:31 +0000

We’re all familiar with the discounts we can sometimes get at attractions for being Florida residents.

For instance, Disney World is currently offering a four parks in four days pass for $99, among several deals for Florida residents only.

Occasionally some local attractions offer deals to South Florida residents, such as the current Jungle Island deal that [...]

Save at CVS with the Drugstore Game

Teresa — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 23:10:09 +0000

There’s a lot of strategic shopping going on these days. But perhaps no shoppers are as strategic as those who play the Drugstore Game.

You may, like me, belong to CVS’ ExtraCare program or Walgreens’ Register Rewards, through which you sometimes receive coupons on your receipts. Occasionally, you may even use one.

But Drugstore Game players are [...]

Before you order, look for free shipping

Teresa — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 01:02:33 +0000

I love the convenience of online shopping, but I hate paying a hefty fee for shipping, especially when buying an inexpensive item. Happily, a lot of companies are offering free shipping to win your holiday business. There’s even a new holiday: Free Shipping Day.

Free Shipping Day this year is Thursday, the last day to order [...]

Want a better deal? Ask

Teresa — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 01:00:38 +0000

One of the easiest ways to get a discount on products or services is to ask for one. Yet few people do.

I’m not by nature a haggler, so asking for a discount doesn’t come easily. But I have found that just saying, “Can do you any better?” often nets a lower price.

Here are four types [...]

Buying in bulk not always a deal

Teresa — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:58:27 +0000

Conventional wisdom has it that you always save money if you buy in bulk, choosing the largest sizes and stocking up on items when they’re on sale.

The truth is, we might end up spending less if we bought only the amount we’re going to use, even if it costs more per unit. A gallon of [...]

Just say ‘no’ to holiday shopping

Teresa — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:55:28 +0000

As much as I hate to start thinking about holiday shopping before Halloween, it probably is time to talk about what might be the greatest gift you can give your friends and relatives this year: Freedom from the obligation to exchange gifts.

You will not only save them (and yourself) money, you will save them time [...]

If you don’t shop, you don’t spend

Teresa — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:53:02 +0000

When I moved from southeast Hollywood, so convenient to Aventura shopping, to Miami’s Upper East Side, so inconvenient to shopping anywhere, I stumbled onto a wonderful way to save money: I gave up retail therapy.

I used to think it was fun to roam the malls, looking at this and that, occasionally buying something and otherwise [...]

Sometimes it pays to splurge

Teresa — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:47:05 +0000

The pale green cotton comforter on my bed cost $100. It seemed an incredible amount to pay for bedding, but I really, really liked it. It matched my brand-new Anne Klein sheets. And I had a new job, and a new higher salary, so I could afford it.

It went against my whole sense of thrift, [...]