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3 Smart, Easy Ways to Save Money When You Shop.

9/20/2015

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Post written and contributed by Lauren McDermott. 
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As the price of living rises and people are given more and more options, spending and budgeting are not easy to keep in check. No one wants to cut the fun out of their lives when they budget, but the budgeting process often makes people think they can’t afford to do the things they enjoy. While often overlooked, there are some easy alternatives to paying full price for items.

1. Do Your Research and Buy In Bulk

First, while it might take a bit of research, you should find which grocery store in your area has the most economical price on the staples (such as bread, milk, and eggs) you buy regularly. It may take some legwork, but it’s worth it when you realize how much money it will save over time. By a conservative estimate, this might save you $15 per week, but over the course of a year, that adds up to $780. Wal-Mart actually has a tool that will guarantee you the lowest price in town, check that out here.

In tandem with price research, buying the things you will regularly use (toilet paper, paper towels, etc.) in bulk often provides buyers with further savings. It’s generally a good idea to never bulk buy an item you haven’t tried before. Imagine buying a particular body wash in bulk, only to find out that it irritates your skin. As a general rule of thumb, here are some things you should always buy in bulk:

1) Toilet paper  
2) Office supplies
3) Vitamins
4) Soap and shampoo
5) Toothbrushes and toothpaste
6) Non-perishable food (canned tuna, soda, cereal)
7) Laundry detergent

After identifying the cost effective grocery stores, having one or two meals prepared and ready to be cooked in your fridge can save you from reaching for the takeout menu at night. You can buy the items needed for this in bulk, often saving on them, and have them ready to replace your takeout urges, for a second round of savings.

2. Join a Customer Rewards Program

For the places you frequently visit, whether for groceries or more expensive buys, enrolling in a valued customer or rewards program often gives you access to coupons and rebates that you otherwise might not have.  As an example, a decent rewards program is Safeway’s “Reward Points” program, which gives 1 point for every dollar spent on groceries. The points can then be converted to get cheaper gasoline. 100 points equals ten cents of per gallon of gas at Safeway and most Mobil stations. All you need to do is punch in your phone number (the one paired with your rewards program) at the pump.

3. Shop Out of Season to Catch Marked-Down Deals

Another easy way to reduce your spending is to shop out of season. The bathing suit you like might be $78 in June, but that same suit is much more likely to be marked down to $30 in December.

Huge savings are also available when you stock up on Christmas or other holiday items (think cards and décor) right after the actual holiday. Holiday-related goods can be marked down 50% or more. With that being said, here are some other items that should always be bought off-season:

  • Real estate – shopping in the winter could save you money because there’s less competition from other buyers.
  • Outdoor/lawn items – buy these in September and October. Stores usually don’t have the storage space to keep grills, lawnmowers and patio furniture, so they slash prices to get rid of their inventory. 
  • Skis and snowboards – get these in March and April. You’ll find huge deals!
  • Vacations – go at non-peak times if you can deal with the weather risk. Europe tends to be cheaper from November to February, as it tends to be cold and rainy.

Cutting spending requires some forethought and the ability to compare costs between items and stores but cutting spending and being more responsible does not require us to live like misers. 


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Wal-Mart is Giving Away Free Money. Here's How To Get Your Share.

9/19/2015

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Wal-Mart is no stranger to crushing competition and offering some of the lowest prices in town. Now it can do both within the Wal-Mart mobile app, with a tool that’s giving customers money.

It’s called the “Savings Catcher” tool, and it’s becoming popular, fast. When it launched, Wal-Mart’s app went from 4 million to 14 million users. Today, Wal-Mart is one of the most successful retail apps, third behind only Amazon and eBay.

Here’s how it works: customers can use the Savings Catcher tool to scan their Wal-Mart receipts. The tool then compares prices they paid at Wal-Mart to advertised prices for the same items elsewhere. If Savings Catcher finds a lower advertised price, the customer gets the amount of the difference in a gift card. The gift card goes directly on the app and you can apply it towards your next Wal-Mart purchase.

This gives a huge psychological benefit to Wal-Mart, because the Savings Catcher can build trust and dependability like never seen before. Instead of checking other store’s prices, consumers will just go straight to Wal-Mart and scan their receipts, trusting the retail giant to always provide the lowest price.

However, it’s important to note that it’s the lowest “advertised” price. Another store could very well have a lower price, but just not advertise it. Wal-Mart can avoid this problem by getting their customers into the habit of ignoring other retailers.

Shoppers can also enter their receipt number into the Savings Catcher website through Wal-Mart.com. It does the same thing, scanning all the purchased items and comparing the prices to ads for other top retailers in the area.

Up to seven receipts can be scanned per week, and Wal-Mart execs state that about half of all receipts qualify for refunds.

Wal-Mart is saying: “Our prices are unbeatable. And we’ll prove it. If a local competitor has a lower advertised price, you can get an eGift card for the difference.” 

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Who Is Donald Trump? 10 Things Donald Trump Taught Me About Success

9/5/2015

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Who Is Donald Trump?Donald Trump
Amassing a billion-dollar fortune isn’t easy, and “The Donald” has done it several times. He’s had best-selling books, an award-winning television show, and now he’s running for office. The man is a business tycoon, a real estate mogul, an inspiration to millions, and a controversial figure. Whether you love him or hate him, here are TEN things you can learn from Donald Trump.

You must find something you’re passionate about.

Money can be a motivator, but if you’re already passionate about something aside from the money, you’ll become an unstoppable force. No matter your current circumstances in life, approach them with passion and watch the magic happen.

Trump only sleeps around four hours each night because of his passion. He can’t wait to get up in the morning because he loves his work so much. Trump loves making deals. He says it’s even better than sex for him. He also loves real estate. He put the two together, and well, the rest is history.

You must be able to handle pressure.

If you can’t handle pressure, you might as well forget about success because you’ll crack like an egg. If you’re building a company, climbing a corporate ladder or changing your life in any major way, you’ll have to deal with a lot of pressure.

Donald Trump handles stress well because he does what he loves. He’s also solution-oriented, not problem-oriented.

You must not take life seriously.

Trump understands that life “is just a game, and we are all here to have a good time while we can.” He understands that life is but a fleeting moment. Tsunamis wipe out hundreds of thousands of people – does your presentation tomorrow really matter in the grand scheme of things? Problems that seem big today won’t seem that way years from now.

You must never give up.

Here’s a quote from Donald himself:

“You can never, ever give up. Now, if you love what you do, you are not going to give up, because you love it. Sometimes you will feel like giving up. It may seem impossible to try again. But that is the most important time, because it is the time when you begin to learn important information about what you are doing – information you need to succeed.”

He also says, “I can tell you many stories about friends of mine who are really, really smart and amazing – the smartest people you can imagine – and yet they never made it, because they quit. I can also tell you stories about friends of mine who were not as smart. If you gave them aptitude tests, they would score 25 percent lower. They are now some of the richest guys in the world because they had something different; they didn’t quit. If you love something, if you really love it, you are less inclined to quit.”

Both of these quotes are from Think Big: Make It Happen In Business and Life. 


You must think positively.

Negative thinking kills your focus and cripples your chances of success. Trump is an avid golfer (as well as a golf course developer) and he’s noticed that the best golfers have the ability to think positively. Since golf is a mental game, world-class golfers must be mentally tough, holding their focus and being optimistic about where the ball will go. 

Donald Trump finds that getting angry and letting it out doesn’t do much good. It’s much more productive to channel that energy into work. He says that constructively using anger is a form of mental toughness needed for success. Trump says, “Learn how to be optimistic even in the face of large and intimidating challenges and it will revolutionize your life.”

You must hit people harder than they hit you.

Donald Trump is a fighter, no doubt about that. His motto is: “Always get even. When somebody screws you, screw them back in spades.”

Remember poor Rosie O’Donnell? Donald Trump ripped her a new you-know-what. Don’t mess with “The Donald” and he won’t mess with you. He’s like a rattlesnake who will strike if provoked.

You must listen to your own counsel.

The media has a field day with Donald Trump. If he says something off-color or something that can be taken out of context, they tear him apart. This type of stuff can mess with a person’s head. Trump doesn’t believe what anyone says about him, good or bad. You should do the same. Draw your own conclusions about yourself, because nobody knows you better than you do.

You must have a prenuptial agreement.

Trump says that if he didn’t have prenups with his former wives, Ivana and Marla, he wouldn’t have anything. While, “I love you, sign this” isn’t very sexy, it’s instrumental in keeping whatever fortune you’ve built. People and businesses are destroyed every day because of divorce, so it’s usually a wise decision to have some protection in place.

Over half of all marriages now end in divorce, but nobody thinks it will happen to them. Trump understands it’s better to play safe. For example, when Paul McCartney and Heather Mills divorced, Mills sued him for $400 million. She got around $60 million, and she was only married to him for three years! It’s not romantic, but you need it.

You must use leverage to get what you want.

You must figure out how you can get what you want, and then amplify it. For example doctors make big bucks because of leverage. Either you pay what they want or you’re left with the health consequences. If you’re making a deal, don’t seem desperate, since it will let the other guy smell blood. You should always deal from a position of strength.

“Leverage is having something the other guy wants.” – Donald Trump (from The Art of the Deal)

You must think big.

Thinking big is Donald Trump’s life work. He lives his life in a “go big or go home” type fashion. In real estate, this makes a lot of sense, because it takes almost the same amount of energy to manage 30 units as it does 300 units, except with 300 units the upside is much larger.
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