Shopping Single Saturday - 07/24/2010

Those of us in single person households have some unique challenges facing us. One of these is storage space, especially when you're an apartment dweller like me! Buying in bulk at places like BJs, Costco and Sam's Club isn't always feasible when buying a case of toilet paper means you'll be sleeping on the living room floor for the next 6 months. (Okay, I'm exaggerating, but you get the idea!:-) Many of us simply don't have the space to fully take advantage of discount club prices. One of our other challenges is... MONEY! We have only one income to rely on - ours. This also applies to other single-income families, but when you combine it with our general lack of storage space, it creates a few challenges unique to us single folks.

So, I have decided to make Saturday "Shopping Single Saturday" here on the Fun with Finances 101 blog. My goal is to share tips, tricks, ideas and suggestions for making the most of your single shopping budget. Without further ado, here is tip number one:

Use coupons to get travel-size and single-serving items FREE (or dirt cheap)! Unless a coupon specifically states that you must use it to purchase a certain size or larger, you can use it to get a travel-size or single-serving size FREE (or dirt cheap). For example, let's say I have a coupon for $1.00 off any Noxzema product, and there is no minimum size requirement mentioned on the coupon. I can head over to my local chain drug store and buy a travel-size Noxzema product priced at $1.00 (or slightly more, depending on where you shop), and use my $1.00 off coupon, thereby getting it for FREE!

The same holds true for food coupons. I have a coupon good for $1.00 off any Skinny Cow product. I can use that to by one Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich - I don't have to buy a whole box in order to use the coupon. Unless the coupon specifically states "$1.00 off any package of 6 or more" or "any 5 oz. or larger bag", etc., you can use it on any size of that item. Pretty cool, huh?:-)

When does this come in handy? 

• When it's the day before payday, and you're down to your spare change and you have nothing in the refrigerator for dinner.
• When you have no room in your cabinets or refrigerator for a larger quantity of the item.
• When you run out of shampoo, soap, shaving cream, etc. between paychecks.
• As a treat when you want to indulge yourself with a more expensive brand of shampoo, soap, moisturizer, etc. but can't afford to pay the higher price on the full-size item.

Next week - Making the most of free samples!