Another exclusive article by the people of the www.epilipinas.com
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OUR CONSUMER SAVING TIPS
THE FILIPINO-AMERICAN CONSUMERS
Another exclusive article by the people of the www.epilipinas.com
Filipino Americans are really a breed apart when it comes to shopping.
They were trained early as to how to spot a good deal and how to spend the
hard earned money wisely. With all those Balikbayan boxes we're trying to fill
up, we better know how. Those who are trying to save some bucks here
and there, here's one article that will try to give you pointers.
COUPONS
Coupons are the biggest savers of all. Clipping coupons from Sunday newspapers
are not all that hard and the returns are enormous. Imagine a supermarket that
have an advertised sale price, say of 10 cents from one dollar original price
will give a 10% off but adding the coupon will give additional cut of another
20 to 30 cents from the dollar bringing a total of at 30% savings - multiply
this 100 times and you will have a $30 savings from the total groceries. What
more if the store is a double coupon store - a savings of additional 20%. And
if you have a big family to feed, imagine the 30% savings could do to your budget.
These coupon savings are not are not only in the supermarkets but with other
goods as well. An advertised car's lube job with coupon could be between 20
to 30 percent savings. A 19.99 lube special for a 4 cylinder car will be cut
to 12.99, a savings of $6 - a good lunch at McDonald's.
Talking of food, coupons are also one way of saving. Carl's, McDonald's, Olive
Garden and almost all the fast food and restaurants have coupons for you to
use. We always have them in our car, so that anytime we need to eat in these
restaurants we have coupons ready.
Likewise buying cosmetics at department stores will give you more discounts
plus giveaways like traveling bag or an umbrella. And these giveaways are
really nice and name brands to boot.
All kinds of people uses the coupons for all purposes. And using them is common
in all classes of people. Savings annually and compounded until you retire will
be a sizeable nest egg. It's there use them.Don't be embarassed when using coupons
the manufacturers want you to use them to instill brand loyalty.
Businesses should look into coupons for promotion, it could bring in customers during
slow days The benefits of Sponsoring thru coupons.Visit Coolsavings.com for free Coupons.
FACTORY OUTLETS
Buying directly from the manufacturers is another way of saving big
on name brand apparrels.In California and almost all over the U.S. there are
factory outlets that really bringing the prices down. I remember friends and
relatives alike getting excited in relating how they stumbled upon
unadvertised specials in one of the outlets near their areas.
Even in our out-of-state vacations we will definitely try to visit local
factory outlets. When we visited Vermont with a close friend from Boston, my
wife and I went to the local factory stores to look around while our companions
went skiing. Being winter in East coast, they were trying to free up some old
inventory of name brand short sleeve shirts - the savings of almost 60%
from original price. But this example of savings is just our experience we
are sure a lot of good shoppers can top this in savings. We've done these
as well in other states that we've been to. Believe me, ladies have noses
for great bargains.
If you are a Californian like us, I am sure you are familiar with the factory
outlets in and around your respective 'shopping zones'. But going to Vegas is
the most fun going to, says my wife, if you like bargain prices specially in
Ralph Lauren clothings and accessories. Sometimes it is a good idea to drop by
in these outlets before losing your shirt in Vegas. The 2 arm bandits are
really the 'bread and butter' of the casinos. And if you've spent some of
your gambling pocket money in the outlets, you already a winner, there's less
money for the casinos. Some money you normally will lose in their casinos, will
be spent at least on a new pair of jeans.
HOLIDAY SALES
Everytime there's a holiday there will be a big sale going on. Even if there are
only several holidays in a year, these days are big for department stores. They also
make a big deal of those non observed holidays like Valentine's, Father's and
Mother's as big attractions for everyone to come and buy something for your dear
ones. When I was small or little (whichever you prefer), I think Valentine's was
a holiday for chocolate makers and greeting card manufacturers, not to
mention, the sugar and paper companies - the dentists too in someway. But kidding
aside, these are big deals for serious shoppers too.
The greatest of these holidays is the Day After Thanksgiving Day Sale - the mother
of all holiday sales. This is the start of the Christmas gift buying season. This
year the Thanksgiving Day is Sept. 23, the day after is 24. Since all stores will
have their own version of price slashing, make sure you compare prices specially
on high ticketed items. The best sources for prices are the newspaper ads and
flyers that comes with Sunday papers - stores advertise sales way ahead of time
that you have plenty of time to compare.
In our household, we buy normally all those gifts for relatives and friends prior to
Christmas but for our stocking up and reserve for gift givings we shop after the
holidays, specially after Christmas and New Year's, why? You see the department stores
will lower prices sometimes lower than sale prices on these days to discourage
returns and getting rid of excess inventories.
THE INTERNET
Check the Internet as well for price comparison. Big e-commerce sites like Amazon,
uBid, Buy and others with dot com at end will give those department stores a run
for their money. The sales tax is already a big saving plus sometimes the shipping
cost is free as well. The Internet has given traditional gift buying an alternative.
Psss.... sometimes the Internet web sites goofed in posting prices and once orders
are placed they have to honor them or lose buyers' confidence - it's a secret.
If you see a price way too low chances are the data entry clerk made a mistake.
Don't think twice place them in your cart and check them out with a credit card
just in case the reason for the price reduction is the product being defective.
Seldom does product problem is the cause of the price slashing, it is the wrong
price posting.
The truth is, we bought our computers through an Internet reseller.The price is
really way below the price compared with the stores in our area and with tax not
included the price diferrence was even more. The computer is working fine after
over a year.
Visit the e-commerce site of toy stores, bookstore, computer stores and others. There
bargains that are sometimes only can be find on the web. Sites like Amazon.com,
and barnesand noble.com. They are encouraging people to shop in their site
to minimize traffic in their stores during the holidays.
For office supplies, I normally buy our office supplies from the local Office Depot
Office Max, Best Buy and so on. But when we tried the Staples, because they been so
aggressive in their promotions that we tried them and we really save. The supplies
arrived the following day delivered by Staples truck. Wow the service really impressed
us that we buy regularly from them provided we get the right price. With $25 off on
a $75 order is their latest promo, we will surely can use the savings.
The other site worth mention here is Priceline.com. A unique site for looking for no
frills and steal prices. Just name the price you want to pay a service/product like
airline tickets, hotel and more. To back up your bid for the product you need to enter
your credit card and once bid price accepted only then they will charge your account.
A good site to know for those last minute flight booking.
Compare prices with the Internet resellers and you may get the surprise of your life.
USE CREDIT CARDS
Use those credit cards for 2 reasons.
First, you get important points when you pay using those with this kind of
a program. These points can be redeemed for airline tickets, products or gift
certificates. You'll be amazed how fast you accummulated those points that
soon you'll be flying to your vacation all courtesy of the credit card purchase
points. And with no extra costs to you. Some have minimal fees, so pick the one
that you think you have the most benefits.
Second, you don't pay any interest if you pay all the balance before the due date.
You either put the money in your money market account or invest them in some safe
instruments that will generate extra savings for you. And to add another benefits
to this, is that you have a purchase insurance for free and a record of all your
monthly purchases in form of a statement.
Who's paying for all of these, of course those businesses who accept the credit cards.
The credit card companies charge them a percentage of the sales up to 5 to 6 % in
some cases. This is capitalism at its best.
There is a new way of paying or giving money to far away relatives instead of sending
check or paying those remittance company a fee. Paypal.com will do this for free. Don't
be scared as your account is insured - read the section about insurance to make sure
you're covered.
FREE TRIAL OFFERS
This is great. They give you free product to use or for trial. A good concept and a
win-win situation for all parties concern. Usually this promotion is used by the
publishing and musical record companies.
This is how it works. First you sign up on the Internet or by sending the postage paid
offer acceptance card. After they received the card they start sending you the issues
and the CDs for a certain period of time, say 2 - 3 months, and after several issues
they will start sending the bills. However, as per agreement, you may choose to cancel
the trial subscription at any time during the introductory offer. If you like what you
see, buy them by all means but if not just send the card with a note CANCEL.
Why this offer? First they have a circulation number that needed to entice advertisers
and secondly, they want you to read them rather than having them at the bookstores that
people will not being bother to read - the wrong customers and you having shown interest
to the articles and the nature of the publication by sending the card back, is definitely
a much better consumer target than just anybody.
Check Free2try.com for free trial offers.
