Who doesn't love a good bargain? Getting a good deal always feels great, and there are some things you can almost always get at a discount. Here are 10 things you can avoid ever paying full price for.
Of course, with the right timing, coupons, and haggling skills, you can pretty much go through life never paying full price for anything—and that's awesome. But there are some things that are so easy to get cheaply that it's silly to pay full price. This is a list of those things.
10. Furniture
New furniture is almost always more expensive than it needs to be. You can easily get cheaper furniture without sacrificing quality—it's all about knowing where to look. Places like Craigslist, thrift stores, and consignment shops are great bets, but if you want something a little fresher, you can still save money by waiting until furniture goes on sale—most often in January and July. If it's office furniture you're looking for, you'll probably have even better luck searching Craigslist for lightly used items, but you can also find sales in-store in May and August. Photo by Frank Jania.
9. Clothing
Whether you need a new wardrobe for your job or you're just trying to dress a little better, we all need new clothes from time to time. But if you're willing to wait a bit and monitor the stuff you want, you can almost always get it for much cheaper. At almost any store, clothing will go on sale at the end of a given season—sometimes as much as 60 or 70% off. Find what you like and monitor it until you get closer to the end of the season—just make sure they still have your size in stock (outlet malls are great for this, too). Of course, you can also shop for used clothes, which is particularly handy for kids' clothing. Kids grow so fast that they only end up wearing things a few times before they grow out of them, so it's a good idea to shop thrift or consignment stores. Photo by Gabriela Pinto.
8. Appliances
Appliances follow many of the same rules as the other items on this list. Buy them at the right time, when new models come out and the old models get discounted. Haggle if you can, and skip the extended warranty (or see if you can get one for free). Wise Bread also has a bunch of other tips for saving, like watching out for scratch-and-dent discounts. Often, you can get a huge discount if something has a cosmetic flaw, even if you wouldn't be able to see that flaw once you installed it in your home. Plus, lots of stores price match, so do your research before heading out and you should be able to get a pretty good deal. Photo by KOMUnews.
7. Books and Magazines
Books and magazines aren't particularly expensive items, but they're things you can almost always get cheaper than you find them new on the shelves. Used books are a great buy because books can withstand a lot, and you can buy almost any book used on Amazon. Alternatively, you can go digital and find ebooks for free or cheap too. If you read any magazines, it's often significantly cheaper to subscribe, even if you only read two or three issues a year! And no matter what you're reading—books or magazines—you can often find them for free or cheap from your local library (among many, many other things). Photo by Johanna Billingskog.
6. Video Games
Unless you're getting a game on launch day because you absolutely have to play it right now—a feeling we're very familiar with—there's no reason to get a video game at full price. You can often find used console games at nice discounts. Certain places like Amazon have sales every once in awhile too. PC games are even easier—if you've ever shopped during the Steam Summer Sale, you've probably stopped paying full price entirely, because you can load up on games once or twice a year for pennies on the dollar and play those games for the next few months. Just remember there are other places to get deals besides Steam, too. Of course, you can also save money by just playing five year old games, too. Photo by Matt.
5. Groceries
Saving money on groceries is easier than you think—you don't have to become a crazy coupon clipper that tries to eat on $1 a day. Almost any grocery store you visit will have a loyalty card that gets you coupons and discounts every time you shop, so you should absolutely sign up for those at every store you shop at. From there, it's just a matter of planning your meals around the deals. Being flexible in what you buy can help too—especially when it comes to buying generic brands (and there are certain things you should always buy generic). Photo by greggavedon.com.
4. Cars
You've probably already heard that you should never pay sticker price for a car, and it's entirely true. Haggling helps, though you should also know which fees to avoid, what a dealer pays for the car, and—of course—the best time to buy (which is at the end of the month, anytime during the fall after new models have come out). You might also consider buying used, since most cars lose a ton of value as soon as you drive them off the lot—even a barely used car will net you serious savings. Photo by Alden Jewell.
3. Restaurants
Dining out can get expensive, but it's really easy to save money. Obviously you can search the newspaper or coupon books for discounts, but daily deal sites like Restaurants.com, Groupon, and others are also great ways to get cheaper meals. Some restaurants even have loyalty programs that can save you money. Check out our guide to saving money on restaurants for more (and make sure you eat healthily while you're there). Photo by Steven Depolo.
2. Vacations
It's amazing how much you can save on a vacation with a little research. You probably already know a lot of tips, like searching for airfare and hotels on travel booking sites like Kayak or Hipmunk or using travel-based rewards credit cards. You can do a lot of other things, too—like we mentioned in #3, daily deal sites like Groupon are great for restaurants and activities. You can also save a ton of money by volunteering on your trip—which is actually a lot more fun than it sounds. If you really want a taste of what you can do, check out Matthew Kepnes' guide to pulling off a 10-day overseas vacation for $700. You'd be shocked at what you can do. Photo by Moyan Brenn.
1. Technology
Being a technophile gets expensive after awhile—those gadgets aren't cheap! Luckily, it's actually really easy to save money if you know what you're doing. Buying refurbished is the easiest way to instantly save money, and knowing what you actually need can go a long way too. We also recommend skipping the extended warranty and selling your old gadgets for as much as possible. Check out our top 10 money-saving tech tips for more info on how to squeeze every dollar out of your gadget habit.
Title image remixed from OZaiachin (Shutterstock), Eje Gustafsson, Rob Boudon,OpenClips, and v2vinayak.