Hey there bargain shoppers! I used to be an
insane bargain shopper. Now, I'm a
savvy one. What's the difference? An insane bargain shopper spends an hour a week clipping coupons to save $5 or $10 on groceries. I used to do that. An insane bargain shopper makes a U-Turn to go to the other side of the street to save 1 penny on a gallon of gas and save 20 cents. I used to do that too.
All of that penny pinching didn't get me very far. It wasn't completely useless, of course, but it might have added up to $1,000 a year in savings, max, and my time was worth a lot more than that, at least once I got out of college and into the Real World!
So now I focus on being a
savvy bargain shopper. What's the difference? If you spend 30 minutes researching your purchase of a new flat-screen HDTV, for example, you could save hundreds of dollars. That one HDTV deal might save you $500 -- or the equivalent of clipping 500 grocery coupons! So, the savvy shopper focuses on big savings on bigger ticket items instead of lots of little deals on $20 or $30 items.
That's the philosophy I bring to
Kitchen Daily Deal and it's brother blog about robots,
Robot Stock News.
I focus on finding the best deals on big ticket items. As a general rule, with a few exceptions, if I can't save you $20, I don't post the deal. And on big-ticket items like
Dyson Vacuums,
KitchenAid Stand Mixers or
Anolon Cookware, the savings can reach into the hundreds of dollars. I check all of the deals every day
personally instead of some sites that use computer programs to compare prices. Those comparison sites are okay to a point -- I sometimes use them myself. But the computer often is not smart enough to check for the latest manufacturer's rebates and usually will not find the latest coupon codes or specials like free shipping. (Not that every price will be right -- retailers are changing prices and coupons all of the time, sometimes by the hour, so forgive me if a deal has expired!)
That being said, I have several other philosophies on being a savvy shopper that save me thousands a year and could do the same for you, without too much effort.
* Never pay full price. Just because I don't spend time clipping coupons any more doesn't mean I reach for the Tropicana Pure Premium at $5 a pop if it's not on sale. I try to shop at the grocery store only buying half price specials, plus produce.
* Avoid recipes. You want to know why grocery stores stock lots of cooking magazines? To get you to use recipes with lots of expensive ingredients. As I said, I tend to cook whatever is on sale that week. If you walk in with a pre-set list of ingredients, you're liable to walk out with a huge bill. If you MUST use recipes, try to plan in advance. Say you have a favorite pumpkin pie recipe, and you have canned pumpkin, whipped cream, nutmeg, ice cream, etc. on your list. Chances are, if you plan just a few weeks in advance, you'll be able to get almost every item on sale, if not half price. If you go that week, the grocery store will have some items on sale and some full price. In fact, grocery stores know popular recipes and will avoid, for example, having ground beef and taco shells on sale at the same time, or A-1 Sauce and steak. You can stock up on taco shells or A-1 Sauce when they are half price one week and buy the beef on sale the next.
* Know your stores and shop accordingly. Some grocery stores have great deals consistently on daily staples -- milk, eggs, paper products. And others -- Whole Foods in particular -- focus on high-quality, high-cost products, earning it the knickname "Whole Paycheck." You may be surprised to learn that I shop at Whole Foods almost every week. Yes, I am a bargain shopper, but getting second-rate, pesticide-laden produce ain't necessarily a bargain. It's about getting value, and a $10-a-pound ultra-fresh wild-caught fish from Whole Foods could be a better value than a $5-a-pound sad-looking farm-raised fish at your local supermarket, especially for special occasions. But I would never buy wickedly overpriced paper towels from Whole Foods, or bottled water or any other staples that can be found much cheaper elsewhere. You can also eat $3 to $4 worth of food grazing on the Free samples at Whole Foods too.
* When you are buying an appliance that you plan to use for years, don't go ultra-cheap. It's true, you can buy a vacuum cleaner for $50 these days, and you can buy some off-brand kitchen mixers for $50 too. But you are going to have to live with these appliances for years and years, and the upfront savings of buying a cheapo no-name appliance is almost never worth the hassles of trying to get one fixed or living with substandard performance. On a big-ticket item (anything more than $100), it's worth it to do your research, read the reviews at Amazon or Consumer Reports, and then find the best deals. Before posting deals here at Kitchen Daily Deal, I check Consumer Reports, Amazon and other review sites and avoid posting deals for products that are poorly reviewed. Remember: There is no such thing as a good deal on a lemon (other than the fruit, that is -- Here's a tip: At Chipotle, never buy a drink -- ask for the free water and make your own FREE fresh-squeezed limonade with the free lime/lemon wedges at the counter)!
* Know how much your time is worth! Remember the insane bargain shopper I used to be? I would spend perhaps an hour each week clipping coupons, sorting them, going to the grocery store and buying the various items. All to save $5 or $10. Unless you are working at McDonald's, your time is worth more than $5 or $10 an hour, plus the space all that coupon clutter takes up in your brain, wallet, etc.! (Saving time is why I love my Roomba robot vacuum and my Scooba robotic mop -- I save 100+ hours a year vacuuming and mopping!)
* Service is important. You want to buy from a reputable company. That goes for both the product and the retailer. Stores like Amazon, Sears, Linens 'N Things and factory outlets, and companies like KitchenAid and Cuisinart have it in their interest to keep you as a long-term customer. Some catalog retailers like Hammacher Schlemmer also have fabulous reputations for customer service as well. Remember that your time is valuable, and time spent waiting for poor quality customer service if there is any problem can quickly nuke any bargain.
* Shop online. Almost all of the time, the deals online are better than the deals in the stores. Even if a price is advertised as lower than the online price, it often isn't when your total cost is included. For example, assume Amazon and a local retailer are both carrying a KitchenAid mixer for $299. Amazon offers free shipping and no tax to most states. The local retailer will charge tax, you will have to haul your butt out there to buy it, stand in line and haul your butt back. On crowded sales days (like Black Friday), you can easily burn an hour or two. So: Local price + 5% sales tax + 1-Hour hassle @ $20/hour = $35 more for the local store, even if it is the same price in the ad. Considering that online prices are often MUCH cheaper, and buying online becomes a no-brainer. Remember that when you buy from a brick-and-mortar store, you are paying for that brick-and-mortar and that cashier. If you buy online, you are paying for a computer system and a warehouse.
* Get a rewards credit card, or preferably two. Get one that gives you 5% back on gas and groceries and a second that gives you cash back on every purchase. The best cash back Visa is the Fidelity rewards visa offered to Fidelity account holders. You can get 1.5 percent cash deposited directly into your account! No waiting for checks in the mail, no points that have to be redeemed into gift cards.
* If you are buying from Amazon, remember that they have a 30-day in-store price matching policy. If they lower the price of the item within 30 days, you can contact Amazon and get a price adjustment (now that's customer service!). A good way to keep track of Amazon prices is to add the item to your cart. Every time you add another item to your cart, Amazon will update all the other items in your cart with any price changes since you last checked in. Best bets for low prices? Amazon cuts prices on hundreds of items every Friday in the Friday sale. Amazon also periodically has major sales that last one, two or three days, as well as special holiday events. Major sales in Kitchen & Housewares will always be listed on Kitchen Daily Deal. Bottom line? If you are buying a gift for Christmas and you are worried Amazon will lower the price by then, go ahead and buy and check back frequently to see if there is a better deal. That way you are assured your purchase will arrive in time for gift-giving and won't sell out! (Note that Amazon's price matching policy does not apply to third party sellers.)
More tips to come!
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and 
Amazon's usual price is $129, and I haven't found a better deal.
. The hand vac comes with a 2-year warranty and features a best-in-the-world 21-volt lithium power pack that puts any cheezy Dustbuster to shame! (And it looks super cool besides!)
List is $629! Amazon's usual price is $499.
The hand vac comes with a 2-year warranty and features a best-in-the-world 21-volt lithium power pack that puts any cheezy Dustbuster to shame! (And it looks super cool besides!) 
