More Money-Saving Shopping Tips

Welcome to another installment of handy money-saving shopping tips! This feature has become a series because every now and then, someone introduces me to a new and interesting shopping resource, and I want to share what I've learned with our readers. I haven't used these resources yet, but I'd like to introduce you to them all the same.

Price Cut Review. (Make sure you end up at the U.S. part of the website, if you're in America -- the enterprise has nooks for some other nations, as well.) Click in, and you'll be able to review lots of items on sale at Amazon.com. Big deal, you say? Well, what you'll find is listing after listing of items that Amazon is offering for at least 50% off. For example: 78% off a BlackBerry 8800 phone, 62% off a Celestron FirstScope 90EQ telescope, and 54% off a Garmin StreetPilot c330 Vehicle GPS. Now that is a big deal.

The Dealio DeskBall is a tool you that you download. It pops up when it senses that you're about to purchase a product online and automatically searches through eBay, Amazon.com, and some other shopping sites for that same product and will alert you to better prices.

FruCall is a clever offering. If you're in a store -- a bricks-and-mortar one -- you can call FruCall at 888-DO-FRUCALL (that's 888-363-7822). Enter the bar code of the item you want to buy -- you can usually find it on the packaging -- and you'll be informed whether the item is on sale online for less. Then, even though you won't immediately have the item in hand, you can buy it from the online retailer while you're on the phone.
Then there are a number of shopping-helper sites, such as Jellyfish.com, NexTag.com, and PriceGrabber.com, where you can enter the names of items you'd like to buy and the price you're willing to pay for them. Then the site will email you whenever it detects one of those items for sale at a price acceptable to you.

Also remember how effective it can be to shop around and keep your eyes open. For instance, Whole Foods (Nasdaq: WFMI), pioneering a major trend in natural foods, has made a ton of money as a leading retailer of organic produce. But now that other big players -- including Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) -- have started offering organic fare as well, you're likely to find better deals. You also may be surprised to learn what you can buy at which places. Costco (Nasdaq: COST), for example, sells caskets! And it sells them at a lower price than the typical funeral home would, as you might expect.

It can be helpful to make sure you're not shopping recreationally, out of habit, instead of seeking items you need or really want. If the purchase isn't all that important and you don't need it or seriously crave it, you can save more money by skipping it altogether than by finding a better price.

© 2006 Universal Press Syndicate