Simple Savings: Don't Buy It

The best way to save money is not to buy something.  Many blogs show you ways to save money, but are you really saving money?

1.  When they offer a product for a few dollars less than regular price, and you buy it, they make money off the sale.  You end up buying something that you probably don't need, even though it was a good price, and you spend money to buy it.  If you hadn't bought it, you would have more money regardless of if you saved 50 percent off the regular price.

2.  When you go to websites that have ways to save with coupons, do you really save that much money?  Are they products you would buy anyway?  If you regularly buy it, then you do save money if you buy it for less and put the money saved into the bank.  But, how about all of those things that add up that you get because they are a good deal?  What if you just saved yourself the time and money and didn't buy it?  I tried couponing several years ago, and got lots of stuff.  I still spent the same amount of money that I do now, but I got lots more stuff for my money.  Guess what?  I didn't eat the stuff and my family didn't like it either.  Why would someone choose Hamburger Helper over a home cooked meal?  I ended up donating most of the stuff to the food bank, which is a good thing, because we just didn't eat it.  What a waste of time.  Now I make a menu, buy the food I need, and spend the same amount of money for good healthy food and fill our pantry with ingredients that we will eat.

3.  If you are getting more for your money, you aren't really saving money but just getting more for your money.  If you were saving money, the money would go into the bank to be saved.  You wouldn't just have more stuff.

4.  If you are really making an accurate account of what you save, compare what the lowest price around compared to what your cost is.  For example, if you get a $5.00 box of cold cereal for $2.89, and the store brand costs $2.99 you have only saved ten cents, not $2.01.

5.  If you do find ways to spend less than you usually do, and put the savings in the bank, then you truly save money.