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The tricky ways that stores make us buy MORE

Last Updated: July 14, 2017 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 3 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Learnvest recently had an article titled 9 Secret Ways Stores Seduce Us into Buying.

“When you go to your favorite grocery store, do you choose a cart instead of a basket? Hum along to the tune that’s playing? Or accept a sample of the new gouda cheese or pine nut hummus on offer?  If you answered yes to any of the above, you were likely seduced into spending more than you intended. And insidious ploys to get you to open your wallet are also going on at malls, in dressing rooms and on shopping websites across America.”

It’s hard not to be tempted by things at the store, but stores usually create this temptations also.  Stores have huge marketing and research teams to create these temptations, and they usually work.

  1. Supersized Carts
    • Bigger carts make shoppers spend 37% more when they shop. Try grabbing a basket instead if you can.  Whenever I shop, if I grab a basket, I ALWAYS spend less.  Because the basket gets heavy quickly, so then I really start to think about what I’m buying, because I don’t feel like carrying it.  This has also helped me watch what I eat.
  2. Nostalgic Music
    • With holiday music playing, shoppers tend to spend 17% more then when normal music is playing.  The solution to this is to bring your iPod if the store music tempts you to buy more.
  3. Denomination Effect
    •   “A study showed that breaking a $100 bill to make a purchase is 48% harder than spending exactly the same amount using smaller notes.That’s why we don’t mind spending spare change on gum or magazines at the cash register, but won’t necessarily break a $20 to do so: We tell ourselves that we’re spending less when only forking over singles.”
    • I’m exactly like this.  I will not break a $100 bill to save my life.
  4. Mirror Manipulation
    • Have you ever bought something at the store and brought it home, only to realize that it looks horrible on you? Chance is that this has happened numerous times.  Many stores use lighting and slimming mirrors to tempt you to buy items.
    • A study showed we spend 19% more if we think we look better in the mirror. Solution – be aware of which stores do this, and try to look at the clothes on you in the open if you can.
  5.  Speed Bumps while Shopping
    • I didn’t know this until I read this article, but some retailers have shopping speed bumps.  This causes us to slow down and look around. These speed bumps create around a 15 second delay, which leads to as much as 17% in extra spending.
  6. Samples
    • “40% of people who accept an in-store sample will begin buying food.” You might not have been hungry before you went shopping, but now you probably are.  Try to resist the temptation of sampling food, if this will then lead you to buying unnecessary items that you did not go shopping for.
  7. Interruptions
    • Many retailers put displays in your way, so that you will notice the item.
  8.  Credit Card Discounts
    • We’ve all experienced this before.  Whether at Macy’s, Target or other places, usually the cashier will end the sale with “Would you like to receive 15% of your purchase today?”
    •  Many people love the fact that they will get a discount, but this is a bad idea. Remember that this sales person gets a bonus for signing you up, and when you have the credit card, you will end up spending 30% more at that retailer.

What tricks do you fall into when you shop?

3 Comments
Filed Under: Budget Tagged With: Dinner, Frugal

My Plan to eat In Everyday

Last Updated: December 19, 2015 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 13 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

I’ve noticed that other bloggers have made a goal to eat in everyday, and I’m going to try the same, except I’m going to modify it a bit.  I can’t control my BF’s Lion’s Choice daily habit, so that little bit will be excluded.  My goal is to make dinner every day.  As some of you know, this is kind of a hard task, as I don’t get out of class some nights until 10pm, and don’t make it home until around an hour after that.  The BF gets off work around the same time though, so it’ll be like it’s dinner time for the both of us.

But at around 10pm, I’m usually very drained from my 16 hour days.  I’ll try and share with everyone what I make everyday, including pictures and recipes.  Last night I made salad, steak, stuffed green peppers and pineapple upside down cake for dessert. The stuffed green peppers were Stephanie’s idea and they turned out great! I wish I would have taken pictures as I am very proud of myself.

The pictures that I take may not be the greatest though.  I am not a great cook and have little patience for cooking! If you have any ideas for dinner for us, let me know!

Also, as I said earlier, I’m changing up the background and the layout of the blog today, sorry about that.  Let me know what you like and don’t like please!

13 Comments
Filed Under: Budget Tagged With: Dinner, Frugal

Coupons

Last Updated: January 28, 2022 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 8 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Do you use coupons?  It seems like there’s coupons everywhere nowadays.  Online, newspapers, magazines Groupon, DailyDeals, text messages, and so on.

I coupon to keep my budget for household items down.  I don’t usually find too many coupons for the food that I eat.  Here’s a link to my latest couponing trip where I saved 51%.  I follow a couple of sites such as Living Well Spending Less for tips.

I try not to use coupons on items that I would not normally buy also.  I also think that extreme couponing is a little too extreme.  No one needs 100 tubes of toothpaste.

Here are some tips:

  • Don’t buy items just because you have a coupon
  • If you do decide to be an extreme couponer, please do not clear the shelves
  • Make sure you read the fine print on the coupon.  Don’t try to “scam” the system
  • Make sure you understand different stores coupon policies

What’s your input on coupons? How far do you go?

8 Comments
Filed Under: Budget Tagged With: Frugal

Saved 51% on Groceries!

Last Updated: December 8, 2014 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 10 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

I didn’t do super great last night, but I did good!  I spent $48.03 and saved 51% altogether! I had $38.00 in coupons (only 6 coupons, I had a $10 off total purchase and free coupons) and saved $9.64 in store savings.  I would have saved more, but I bought dog food and that was $16.77 and I also spent around $15 on meat.

I bought:

  1. Purina Chicken Stew Food
  2. Beneful Dog food
  3. Chesters Hot Fries
  4. Cottonelle Bath Tissue
  5. Libby’s Corn
  6. Dole Pineapple
  7. Cream Corn
  8. Taco Shells
  9. Prego Pasta Sauce
  10. Sara Lee Bread
  11. 3 Tuna pouches
  12. Salsa Chips
  13. Boneless Chicken
  14. 3 pounds of ground beef
  15. Steak
  16. Tomatoes
  17. Sweet Onions
  18. Plantain
  19. Cilantro
  20. Fresh and Express Lettuce
  21. Ice Cream
  22. 3 Microwave Dinners
  23. Kraft Cheese
  24. Cheddar Cheese
  25. American Cheese
  26. Ricotta Cheese
  27. Sour Cream

How has your grocery shopping been?

10 Comments
Filed Under: Budget Tagged With: Dinner, Frugal, Savings

My Frugal Shopping Trip

Last Updated: December 8, 2014 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 16 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Today I went grocery shopping after work.  Usually when I go, I’ll try and randomly grab maybe 3 or 4 coupons (and I usually feel pretty happy with those savings).  Today I decided I would put my couponing skills to the test.

I brought a grand total of 10 coupons and my store had a $10 off day, so I ended up saving 73% off my grocery bill.  My total was only $18.88 for everything!  I’m very proud of the money I saved today.  Especially since we needed all of the stuff I bought.

What’s your monthly grocery budget? Do you use coupons?  Any couponing or grocery saving tips/hints should be posted!

16 Comments
Filed Under: Budget Tagged With: Frugal

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Hello and welcome!
My name is Michelle and I'm the author/owner of Making Sense of Cents. Learning how to save money and make more money changed my life. It allowed me to pay off $40,000 in student loans, start my own business, and I now travel full-time.

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