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Black Belt Shopper Black Belt Shopping Training Day Patricia (not her real name), a friend of mine already at retirement age, is moving from an apartment to a brand new house in a senior community, and she is on a budget. She wanted a comfortable retirement, but knew that the expenses of a new home would make that challenging. * * * Knowing she was unaware of many shopping and budgeting resources. I offered to spend a day shopping with her in her new community. I’ll call it Black Belt Shopper Training Day. The project was a huge success! Here are a few highlights. Researching Major Purchases Moving to a hot climate, Patricia was anxious to have five ceiling fans for her new house. At first she thought she had to have them right away, but she soon learned an important principle of black belt shopping: Never be in a hurry if you want to make a good decision. We went to several stores and found that you could buy cheap, solid, and highly upscale. We listened to the salespeople, reflected on Patricia’s past experience with ceiling fans, and talked with others who owned ceiling fans. We found that buying at the high end of solid would give her what she wanted. Highly upscale gave very few benefits for a very large price increase. We also discovered that quality of installation was at least as important as the design of the fan in giving quiet performance. Patricia was glad that she took her time, asked questions, and thought about her decision rather than feeling pressured to buy right away. Visiting the Dollar Store "I don’t really want to go in there. What can they have that’s any good for 99 cents?" That’s what Patricia told me as we passed a dollar store. Once I got Patricia in there she was pleasantly surprised. She found that many of the setup items she got for her house (dish drainers, etc.) she could have gotten at the 99 Cent Store much cheaper. While I was there, I got a pair of sunglasses with a $12.95 price tag for 99 cents. When Patricia got home, she excitedly told her neighbors about her find. Most of them were aware of the local dollar stores and frequented them regularly. If you haven’t checked out the dollar store, do so. While in the past they mainly specialized in "treasure hunting" type items, more and more they are selling groceries (often name brand) and other items at deeply discounted prices. You’ll be surprised at what you’ll find there. The Closeout Store As a housewarming present, I had given Patricia a gift card to a somewhat upscale closeout store that had a location in her town. I thought she could use it for a few items to turn the house into a home. Patricia had never been to this store and was pleasantly surprised. She spent my gift card in the clothing section, but we also looked at all the household items. "Once I get unpacked, I’m coming back here," she told me enthusiastically. "Today is for exploration. There will be other shopping trips to furnish my house." Patricia now gets it. Look at closeout stores if you haven’t. Chains like Big Lots will help you with your everyday purchases while merchants such as Marshall’s, Ross, and TJ Maxx have somewhat more upscale items. Alternatives to the Supermarket Supermarkets are convenient and have everything you need under one roof. Patricia knew better than to concentrate all her grocery shopping in supermarkets, but didn’t know the offerings in her new community. I introduced her to Trader Joe’s, a unique affordable store that has both basic and gourmet-type foods at affordable prices. She immediately bought whole wheat pita bread. Many communities have alternative grocery stores like this. Farmers’ markets, warehouse stores, dollar stores, and ethnic markets can provide affordable and often more interesting alternatives to the supermarket. You may even want to try growing some of your own vegetables if you have room for a garden. Preview of Coming Attractions Patricia isn’t quite ready to buy furniture (though that may come sooner rather than later as she makes good use of these shopping resources), but I found some resources as she furnishes her new house. Through an online search, I found a locally owned furniture consignment store. I visited the store and found the woman who runs it knowledgeable and maybe even one to refer Patricia to refinishers and the like. When I went to the supermarket near her house, I found that they carry the Recycler, a classified ad newspaper common here in California. I know she’ll find a good deal on the quality bedroom set she is looking for once she’s ready. Black belt shoppers know that if you are on a budget for furniture, high quality used beats low quality new any day of the week. But Patricia is smart not to concentrate on furniture for awhile. She has a lot on her mind just moving in and has had many expenses. She really doesn’t need to go into debt for furniture. She also wanted to learn to coupon. Sometime when I’m there on a Sunday when the supplement comes out, I’ll show her how to save on her grocery bill. Training day was both fun and productive for Patricia and for me. So, that brings up the next question–What is Patricia training for? Patricia has not had her own home for some time. She wants to make this house a home. Black belt shopping will allow her to do it better and sooner. Think about a financial goal that black belt shopping can help you attain. Maybe you want to get out of debt, but have not been able to pay much more than the minimum on your cards. Black belt shopping can help you hasten the process. You may think you want to get started as an investor. A few dollars a month will go further than you think. Or perhaps you would like one spouse in the family to be a stay-at-home parent. You may have been looking longingly at travel brochures, but don’t have the budget to go to the corner. Becoming a better shopper can help you in that arena. Getting started in new shopping habits can sound daunting. If you haven’t really been to strategic with your shopping habits, pick the brain of an expert–most of us love to share our strategies. Then think about how you can make good use of the money you save to improve the quality of life for yourself and your family.
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Copyright © 2003 by Larry Wiener Want more money-saving tips? Get a FREE subscription to our monthly Ezine!
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