Whats your best money saving tip??

[NateandAva]

-Find out sale patterns used by your favorite stores (ask sales reps!)...for example, I love Gymboree. Every July for the last 2 weeks they have an end of summer sale. This sale includes clear-out bins at the front of the store (most items cost me under $4.00). These bins are loaded every morning so if you go in more than one morning you get great deals.

-Find out if stores you like have a Factory Direct warehouse sale annually. Many of them do. I love Hallmark and used to fight boxing day crowds for Hallmark deals until I discovered their Warehouse sale at less than a fraction of the price.
-cook things yourself..don't buy pre-prepared stuff
-shop around for low car insurance rates
-take public transit where it is possible/cost effective/time effective
-use libraries and internet for movie downloads, books, music
-use blogs, info from websites/tweets etc. on deals
-don't pay for TV, there are many ways to watch favorite shows for free
-use voice over IP or Magic Phone for savings on phones
-never sign a phone contract for cell phone...use low rate cell plans
-use a digital thermostat and set to peak savings mode
-use energy efficient appliances, low flow toilets
-I make plants as gifts to friends for events like housewarmings etc.! Jade plants, african violets etc. can be re-produced by just pinching off a piece of the leaf and putting it into soil (garage sales, dollar stores great for pots). Same goes for herbs that multiply and grow freely in garden..great for herb planter gifts
-Buy fruits and veggies in season and blanch/freeze in batches for meals
-Make your own soups...costs next to nothing, totally healthy and cheap
-Use loyalty programs for places you shop at that have them
-Buy gifts with loyalty points as well as gas/groceries etc.
-Scope out the dollar stores in your neighbourhood that are great
-Go to garage sales in upper class neighbourhoods for the best deals
-Don't be afraid to do a curb-side scout on big garbage days in those neighbourhoods (I have a DVD player, kitchen table set, etc. from this!)
-Use Kijiji, Craigslist, I Need a Deal, Freecycle websites, thrift stores, consignment stores
-stock up on items for gifts after major Holidays like Easter, Christmas, Father's Day...look several weeks later when the stores just start to clear out items and buy those items that don't appear specific to that Holiday. E.g. Chocolates after Christmas are often great for Valentine's Day, Coffee gift sets work for any time of year, Post Father's Day items at a store like Winners are great for birthday gifts for Men etc.
-use coupons and watch out for freebies and when you find freebies, stock up if you can
-Trade kids clothes with other mom's you know/clothing exchange-same with books, movies, CD's etc. that we all get tired of after using!
-Go to events like Anniversary Events, Birthday Events where they have free kids activities, food/drink, prizes etc. Great way to entertain the family for no cost
-Get free movie passes via other deals (M&M deal example) for night out

Many more, but that's all I can think of for now!!!

Oooh! GREAT tips! Can you tell me more about the Hallmark factory direct sale? I would love to be able to get gift wrap/items for a fabulous price!

Thanks!

[cjunk]

Hello There,

Here is the link to info and a phone number for the Hallmark sale. People have also posted sample prices of things they have bought there!

http://forum.smartcanucks.ca/155669-...oronto-canada/

[cjunk]

-Go to events like Anniversary Events, Birthday Events where they have free kids activities, food/drink, prizes etc. Great way to entertain the family for no cost

Just wanted to clarify when I posted this, I meant store anniversaries/b-day celebrations. Businesses have them all of the time! We go to a farm store sometimes in K-W area that sets up bouncy castles and BBQ every now and again just for customer appreciation!

[CouponCacher]

Combine, combine, combine! Get the "loss leader" groceries (that you will use) at SDM on a 20X points day. Redeem when you have coupons for something else that you want on sale. Use coupons to get things like the Stouffers on sale for a fraction of the cost, then redeem for the free rewards. I'm lucky to be able to stack at my LD, so i get a lot of "lux" items that I wouldn't normally buy like those $16 venus razors by pricematching and stacking. Stockpile as many copies of the coupons as you can so that you can get many when the item is on sale. Work together: get friends and family interested in using coupons and you can share/trade those less frequent coupons like brandsaver.ca and save.ca.

[freefreed]

This website!!! I just found this (a few weeks ago), and I am in love!! I have received more free stuff, and amazing deals then I can every explain! And I am having a blast.

[kschott]

Figure out when your "Hippie Christmas" date is... By this I mean the day that most university students change residence. It seems to be the first week of September here in Edmonton for the U of A. Since many students move between furnished and unfurnished rooms or move far away they often curb furniture and other things between moves.

[lekate]

Figure out when your "Hippie Christmas" date is... By this I mean the day that most university students change residence. It seems to be the first week of September here in Edmonton for the U of A. Since many students move between furnished and unfurnished rooms or move far away they often curb furniture and other things between moves.

End of April and May are also good months for is!

[jaxflower]

There are tonnes of great ideas here and I don't want to repeat the same things but my DH and I only ever use credit cards (no debit) because we get SDM points for every dollar we spend on it. We are very disciplined - we always pay our balance but we get tonnes of points.
jax

[pankaj]

I keep my eyes peeled for those pink stickers at RCSS - - I got yogurt this morning that had pink stickers on it, but the Best Before date isn't until Hallowe'en. Somebody screwed up there! It's even better when you have coupons to go with those products.

[vsaint]

If you have view of CN Tower, buy Antenna, and you can get TV Channels for free.

[Midnightly]

i refil hand soap pumps with dish soap, that way i don't have to buy all sorts of different soaps, i've been doing it for years and with coupons you can get them for practically nothing!

[mulock]

TFSA! I use mine through Questrade as a tax free investment account.....all the profits I made on my stocks are tax free! Gotta love it considering we just came out of a recession so stock prices were deflated but are now making great returns

Other than that, put your savings into a high interest account.....current 2.1% at Peoples Trust. No minimum.

Plus apply for all the freebies, then you won't have to spend money on shampoo, rasors, etc for a while.

[What's the deal-e-o]

I live very close the US border. There are lots and lots of shipping and receiving companies in the US towns with border crossings into Canada (I use TBS Shipping Plus in Point Roberts, Washington...it's closest). These shipping companies enable Canadians to order anything on-line that needs to be shipped within the US...in fact it's their bread and butter.


For instance, I recently purchased a Jura-Capresso ENA Superautomatic Espresso Machine through a US website that doesn't ship to Canada. I paid $550 US and like a lot of US sites, no tax, no shipping charge(I also got some gourmet beans for FREE!). The absolute best price I could find in Canada was $999 CND+tax...and believe me I left no stone unturned! So even with duties(hst+8%) I saved a ton of money. I also buy a lot of vitamins and supplements from the US. They can be quite a bit cheaper, and as long as they're made in the USA you don't have to pay duty on them. A friend of mine just ordered a fancy mountain bike and saved a ton of cash too(she used Ship Happens in Sumas, Washington).


Before having anything shipped to one of these companies you have to sign up on their website. This is so they have your contact information when your package arrives. The company I use emails me when anything comes in with my name on it. Depending on the size and weight, they charge $3 to $7 handling fee per package (most things are $3).


When placing an order through a US website you would fill out your proper Canadian billing address. Then when filling out the shipping address use your own name with the shipping company's US street address. That's how it works...easy!


I recommend doing this for big ticket items since US prices are often much lower. Basically this just allows you to cross-border shop on US websites...and save a ton of money!

[ummali]

This is how we get our biggest savings:

sale hunting for groceries, price matching and coupons. I always write the price of an item I am price matching so when I am shopping it stays organized and if by chance WM has a better price than my PM (like clearance) I am able to mark is down on my list so I am not price matching a higher price. I always put a little star next to coupon items so I dont forget.

for our credit card debt: balance transfers. we never use the card that has a transfer on it and never pay interest. we use the zero balance card to pay bills, groceries, gas and eating out and as soon as we get home we make a payment in the amount we would have paid in cash...we earn points/cash back etc on our cards and keep one zero at all times.

we buy clothes out of season...when winter is comming to an end..I buy my kids snowsuits, mitts, hats, boots for next year. I didnt have to buy anything this year since 2 years ago I spent about 20.00 per complete outfit (suit, hat mitts and boots) so I bought about 8 full winter outfits in various sizes. this year when winter came there was one that would have been too small so sold it at a profit. same goes for summer gear etc this really lowers our spending on clothes. we are always under budget for these items.

when you shop around dont forget to shop around online too. especially for electronics, or anything else. you never know what kind of deal you will find!

Make a budget and stick to it.
Our budget includes everything from gas, pocket money, even utilities. If I get a utility bill that is higher one month than I expected I usually take it off the following month from my meal menu to include more meals made from my stockpile so I can reduce the grocery bill that month.

I am a little bit of an impulse shopper so I actually have a budget for that too. I have learned discipline but sometimes a good deal pulls me in. so if I dont spend my impulse money this month, I carry it over and when I find something I really want and maybe even need I can buy it without hurting the budget!

finally as someone else mentioned leave the DH and the kids for that matter at home!

[Gohabsgo]

dont go shopping!! If I want to save money, I just don't go into a store.