Save a TON of Money with an Alternative Shopping List!
- Image via Wikipedia
Want to save a ton of money on things you like buying? I mean A TON OF MONEY! The secret is to create an alternative shopping list. What is an alternative shopping list you ask? Well, it is a list for when you do your alternative shopping of course!
These are the type of things I have on my alternative shopping list:
How-to Books
Cook Books
Children’s Books
Toys
Kids Bicycles
Tools
Cooking Supplies
Then when I’m out doing my alternative shopping, I keep my eyes open for any of this stuff.
Alternative shopping is any shopping that is done outside of the conventional store, or more modernly, the ecommerce websites. So garage sales, thrift stores, craigslist, freecycle, dumpster diving all fit into the category of alternative shopping. Your alternative shopping list has items on it that are not emergency or must have items. These are things that you can keep your eyes open for when you are out doing your alternative shopping.
What if I need something right now!
Well, this can work for those important, immediate (or relatively immediate) needs too. For example, I’ve been getting a lot of requests to fax or scan information and send it. I don’t have a fax machine or scanner and was having to borrow and pay to do so. I started to look at the cost of printer/scanner/fax machines and found that they were anywhere from $100 - $300 dollars for the type I needed. While it would be tax deductable as a business expense, money is still pretty tight. I looked online at Craigslist.org and found a pretty decent machine for $25. Not bad! Then I decided to post my request on Freecycle.org. I scored a perfect printer/scanner/fax machine for free! I saved over $100.
Killer Savings!
Shopping alternatively saves you pennies on the dollar! My girls love to go shopping this way because we give them a dollar to buy whatever they want and they typically can buy a few things. As a bonus, this decreases environment consumption and lessons your carbon footprint… if you are into that.
My favorite find… I have bought several hardback books on living frugally for about $.25 each! Saving me at least $100 and providing me with a wealth of knowledge… of which I will pass on to you 
What is your favorite alternative shopping find?
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=b5461370-8005-4bd8-bc43-9dd4c72e34d4)
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
One of my favourite alternative shopping experiences was “shopping” from a dumpster outside a cafe that was closing or renovating.
I got some French cups, salt-and pepper shakers, and a mirror ball!
I still have the mirror ball! I love that thing!
Op shops/charity shops have yielded inexpensive high-end and other makeupbags. (Garments too but they’re not as much fun).
Many of my chairs have come from abandoned piles of stuff on the street. So has my extremely well-designed coffee table.
One more find - my library has a “free” shelf. On it I found a book I had been dying to read. VERY pleased at the price!;)
I have found some great books and magazines on the “book sale” shelves of libraries. My work as a storyteller takes me to dozens of libraries each year. I had always wanted a copy of the “Phantom of the Opera” production book with behind-the-scenes photos and production notes, but I balked at the hard-back price. It was not a “necessity”! Last year I found a copy of it in a library book sale for $1. I can afford that!
There are often magazines that folks turn in for the book sales, and though they may be a year or two old the info and pictures are still pertinent and useful. I often find particular hobby magazines that you would find nowhere else, like copies of the Wood Carvers Journal.