Tips for Stretching Your Dollar

Buy Day Old or Soon to Expire Foods Freeze the food and thaw it when you need it Stores like Western Eagle in Temecula sell these foods. The first Saturday of the month everything is half price.

Buy Sale Items Wait for things to go on sale. Shop “out of season” 30% is an average sale. Look for greater bargains. Shop on clearance racks for clothes ($10 shirt rule)

Don’t Be Fooled By All Sales Even at 75% off, you could be paying too much. Zales Jewelers Regular Price $2,000 Costco Regular Price $485 Sales Price at 75% off is $500

Use Coupons Check for coupons online Some stores double the value of the coupons Some websites have coupon codes for online purchases

Send in Rebates less than 50% of rebates are ever sent in.

Buy Generic or Store Brands Generic foods or store brand foods can be the same as brand names.

Lower Your Phone Bill Get a pre-paid phone Use calling cards (99 Cent Store) Use Vonage Skype

Unit Pricing Unit pricing is how much each ounce, pound, or piece costs. Compare with other similar products. Buying in bulk is not always cheaper per ounce 12 ounces Fruit Loops Cereal per ounce 12 ounces Fruit Ring Cereal

Unit Pricing per foot 15 Feet Brawny Paper Towels per foot 20 feet Viva Paper Towels

Unit Pricing per sq ft 75 Square Feet Reynolds Wrap per foot 500 Square Feet Reynolds Wrap

Unit Pricing per oz 6 Ounces Schwartz Cinnamon per oz per lb. Bulk Cinnamon

Use Public Transportation or Car Pool According to AAA, the average cost to operate and own your vehicle is 70.7 cents a mile which totals a whopping $5,925 annual average (if the car is driven 10,000 miles annually).

See Money Differently Money is what you exchange for your time, energy, or effort. Ask yourself: “Is my time worth what I am buying? “Is this item worth five hours of work?” “What won’t I be able to buy if I buy this?”

Sell Things You Don’t Use Garage sale Ebay/Craigslist Sell to friends

Buy Used Buy clothes used at the Salvation Army. Everything is half off the first and third Friday of each month. Once you wash a new piece of clothing, it is used! Which one is used?

Compare Prices From Several Stores Compare prices on common items you actually use. Frequent the store that has the lowest prices on most of these items. Shop more than one store to find bargains. Check prices online. Companies that are out-of-state don’t charge tax. That saves almost 9%

Shop End-Caps In supermarkets, sale items are usually placed on end-caps Find where the store keeps their clearance items

Barter Example: Babysitting for piano lessons Example: Tutoring for jacket

Restaurants Restaurants like Chili’s and TGI Fridays have appetizers for ½ price after 10 pm Taco Tuesday 2 for $20 Buy one get one free Coupons ( clubs, newspaper, online) Entertainment book (coupons)

Table Talk Share your money saving ideas with your table group. Be prepared to share your ideas with the class in 3 minutes.

On Your Own Research and interview others for ways to stretch your dollar. Come up with tips and images for your booklets. Booklets are due on ________.