Whether you're shopping for groceries or trying to save on your utilities, there are always things you can do to save a little money. Trae Bodge, smart shopping expert and founder of TrueTrae, joined TheStreet to share five shopping tips that will help you keep some money in your pocket.
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Full video transcript below:
CONWAY GITTENS: That's why today I wanted to talk to you about some shopping tips. We still live in an inflationary world. What are some of your best tips? The first is to consider doing it yourself, so talk to me about that.
BRING BODGE: This is the one that's a little unpopular. So what I mean by do it yourself is that you're probably paying someone to do something that you could do yourself, and this could be something as simple as going to see your favorite barista and drinking your matcha tea every day. days or buying your lunch at the office instead of bringing it, or something like getting a weekly manicure or washing the car every month. These are things that, if you are physically capable, you can do for yourself. And if you make them yourself instead of paying someone else, you'll be able to save that money. That's what I recommend if you're trying to fix your finances temporarily.
CONWAY GITTENS: Tip 2 is to check your monthly bills to see if there are savings.
BRING BODGE: That's why I think a lot of us get caught up in our monthly bills and feel like we have to pay them because they come every month. But you should really look at them and see if there's any wiggle room. So for example, on your wireless service, you might be paying a few hundred dollars for wireless service for your family and maybe you could look for a smaller company. Also, maybe cut the cord or change your Wi-Fi provider by doing all three. I saved my family $200 a month and then I can take that, save it, and put it towards a tough time, a college education, or a retirement.
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CONWAY GITTENS: Tip three: Look beyond the supermarket for food.
BRING BODGE: Yeah, and that's why the grocery store is great. It is a staple food, but it can be very expensive. And there are ways to save if you venture off that path. So when searching for groceries online, for example, you can look for deals on coupon sites. So Cabin coupons, for example, have deals on Instacart, FreshDirect, D'Artagnan. That's a good way to save by simply shopping online. I would also recommend a Wholesale Club, especially if you have a larger family, you can buy things in bulk and you can do it just by doing it. Then there are services, like a cool app called Marty where you can get a sort of stock of groceries or companies when they change their packaging. You can also save there. There is one called Flash Food and they partner with grocery stores across the country and sell items that are in surplus or close to their expiration date. And you place your order on the app and go to your supermarket, pick up your Flash Food order and save up to 50% that way. So there are lots of different ways to save on food, especially since it's so expensive right now.
CONWAY GITTENS: So your fourth tip is to shop smarter, and that covers a lot of different things. So explain that to me.
BRING BODGE: Yes, get into the habit of looking for deals and buying at the right time, for example, May is Maytag month. And many people don't know that you can save up to 30% on major appliances by simply purchasing during this month and then throughout the year, start looking for those three-day weekend opportunities. Look for those seasonal opportunities. Like, for example, as we approach summer, you might want to buy a swimsuit. Now, it is not the best time to buy swimsuits, the end of summer is a good time to buy swimsuits because they will all be on sale. So look for those scheduled sales and then also big sales like Black Friday and amazon Prime Day. And if you are strategic about that, you can save a lot. And then I would also say use those coupon sites, use Coupon Cabin, Rakuten, Retailmenot, all those coupon sites will help you save. And if you get into the habit of using them every day, every time you shop, you can save significantly.
CONWAY GITTENS: And your last point has to do with remembering to save, which I thought was funny because you're a shopping expert, but you didn't talk about saving. But you're saying that's part of your strategy and being a good buyer.
BRING BODGE: Yes, while using all these techniques we just talked about, you might forget to take that extra money you've saved and put it away somewhere smart. So for me high yield savings accounts are the place to go, Bread Financial for example is an online bank. You can sign up in a couple of minutes with a minimum deposit of $100 and then you can earn a 5.15 APR on that money you're working so hard to save compared to having that money sitting in your bank account, sitting around. there as a temptation, or if you are putting it under the mattress or in a jar in the house, it is not working for you. So if you're saving, you need to make sure the money works for you too.
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