What you should never pay full price for?

These days it seems that everyone is looking for the lowest price and looking for a way to save a dollar or two. People don’t have a finite supply of money so they need to be sure they’re getting quality when they make a purchase and sure that they’re spending their money wisely. If you don’t spend your money wisely there can be consequences. One such consequence is that by trying to get a bargain you end up paying more in the long run, this is especially the case if you buy an item cheaply but you have to replace it more often and end up paying more than if you’d simply spent the full amount in the first place.

So what should you spend and splurge on?

You should never splurge on magazines. Don’t pay the monthly or weekly cover charge. Instead get a subscription and save yourself some money. You can often save yourself a large portion of the cover charge. Shop around for the best deal as well. Just because the price is high at one place doesn’t mean it will be at another and let’s be honest, that money is better in your pocket than someone else’s.

Most people don’t buy their books in the store anymore and you shouldn’t either. When you pay full price you might as well be giving your money away. You shouldn’t pay full price for books because in all honesty, you’re only likely to read them once or twice before they’ll be sold on. So why not by them cheaply and sell them later anyway?

Clothes are another category you should never pay full price for. There are so many discounts available. You can either take advantage of two for one deal or simply wait until the end of the season and get the same item on sale for half the price. I know this is what I do. I never pay full price for my clothes, well that’s not strictly true. I do, but only when I really can’t wait for the item and it’s high quality. If the item is seasonal then you definitely should not be paying full price as you won’t get all the wear out of it that you need to. You can also utilise the specials you can get when you use coupons.

There are so many discount grocery stores around, both online and offline. The key is to buy in bulk. When you buy in bulk you get discounts that you wouldn’t get if you were to just buy one or two items at once. It’s best to buy in bulk, especially if you are buying an item you regularly buy, for example, don’t pay full price for bread, but make sure you can store it in a freezer or it will go off and you’ll lose the benefit of the discount. You don’t want to end up spending more money in the long run.

Appliances come in and out of fashion every couple of years. The reason for this is because technology is constantly evolving. As a result, you should never pay full price for electronic appliances because you could end up losing the money and having less in your pocket. This is especially the case for technology such as mobile phones. There is a new smash hit phone every couple of years. Speaking of smash hit phone, most people drop their iPhone or Android phone at least once and end up with a cracked screen. That can be pretty costly if you do it on a regular basis.

It can be really difficult to spot a bargain online but there are a few things you need to ask yourself and you’ll be able to.

If you ask yourself how long the item you’re purchasing will last you and then the number of times you will use it, or how long you expect it to last you can identify if it’s a bargain or not. The greater the use you get out of something, the more of a bargain it is if it was reasonably priced. Let’s be honest though. What we deem “reasonable” differs between us greatly. Some of us would think a $350 leather jacket is a bargain while others would think that’s a splurge. Some, on the other hand, would be happy paying $30 for a book but others would deem that a rip-off. It’s all about what you value and there is no set formula to what we place value on. There is, however, a formula to “cost per use” or “cost per wear”.

There are of course occasions when you should pay full price but again, that’s definitely up to the individual and what they value. If you are conscious of what you’re spending though then make the most of discounts and coupons. That way you’ll have more of your own money in your pocket rather than giving it to retailers and help them go on an expensive trip to Fiji.

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