Never Pay Full Price For Anything ~ 16 Easy Tips (that anyone can do!)

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Stop paying more than you have to… Instead, use these easy ways to never pay full price for anything!

Whether you’re a bargain hunter who’s always looking for the best deals or need to save money, finding ways to never pay full price for anything should be top of mind.

Some people may think that finding ways to save money all the time is cheap, but I think it’s a fun and proactive way to improve your finances.

This is why I’m always looking to stretch my money as far as I can. And being mindful of where my money was going became a way of life when we were working on getting out of debt.

Even now that we are debt-free my slogan is still “why would you keep paying full price when you don’t have to?”

Luckily for us, there are so many ways to get good deals, discounts, cashback, price reductions, coupons, and much more to save money on everything from everyday purchases to major acquisitions that you may never pay full price for anything ever again!!

16 ways to never pay full price for anything

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Pay With A Rewards Credit Card To Save On Everything

Using a rewards credit card where you earn cash back or points for your purchases is one of the easiest ways to never pay full price for anything.

Think about it, most people these days already use a credit or debit card to buy things they need and pay the bills, why not take advantage and get rewarded for it? Bet you never thought you could earn cash just for paying your mortgage!

Of course, this is only worth doing if you pay your balance in full every month. Otherwise, it’ll end up costing you more in interest charges in the long run.

The key to getting the most out of using a rewards card is making sure you can use the points you earn. For example, I shop on Amazon all the time because it’s so convenient.

So it only makes sense to use my Amazon Prime Signature card because I earn 5% on everything I buy on Amazon while still earning points on all my other purchases as well.

Use Free Or Discounted Gift Cards To NeverPay Full Price

Whether you are shopping online at home or at your local retailers, using a discounted or free gift card is a great way to never pay full price.

There are many places you can get discounted gift cards online such as Raise, and Cash Card. Typically you’ll buy the gift card for a fraction of what it’s actually worth. For example, you could buy cards valued at $100 for $75 or less which saves you 25% off the regular retail price when used.

You could also earn free gift cards to use at places like Amazon, Target, Walmart, and many other popular retailers just by completing simple tasks, using couponing apps, or even watching short video clips among many other ways.

Check out 31+ Genius Ways To Score Free Amazon Gift Cards (or any other gift cards you choose).

Earn Cashback With Online Shopping Portals

Shopping online is not only convenient but also a great way to never have to pay full price for anything since there are so many opportunities to save money.

One of the easiest ways to score deals online is to earn cashback from online shopping portals such as Rakuten or Ibotta that offer deals and discounts just for using their site.

You could easily shave 3% -20% or more off the regular retail price simply install the Rakuten extension on your browser and you’ll be alerted anytime you are shopping on a site offering deals.

Want to earn even more cashback? Here are 20+ Cash Back Apps That Pay You To Shop!

Check Out Daily Deals Sites For Discounts

Daily deal sites are popping up all over the place and for good reason, people love getting deals so they never have to pay full price!! Some of my favorites are Groupon, Zulilly, and Retail Me Not.

What’s great about this strategy is that you can get some pretty deep discounts on the items of the day or week. The only downside is that there is a sense of urgency to buy which may lead to spending more money because you don’t want to miss out.

So just remember, it’s only a bargain if it’s something that you need and were going to buy anyways.

Buy Second Hand To Save Money 

Buying second-hand stuff is yet another frugal way to make the most of your money since a lot of the time you are paying pennies on the dollar for things.

And oftentimes you can even find brand new items that still have the tags on or in their original packaging at deep discounts so why not take advantage?

You can visit your local thrift stores or even shop online thrift stores to search for treasures to save money on anything from clothing to housewares and much more.

Here is a list of my all-time favorite best online thrift stores.

Ask For Price Match Refunds 

Did you know that many places offer price match refunds that guarantee the lowest price or your money back? This is why it’s a good idea to always keep your receipts because you never know when or if you’ll need them.

How it works is, if you buy something and find it at a lower price somewhere else or even if the exact store you bought it at has a sales a few weeks down the road, you could ask for the lower price and will be refunded the difference.

If you’re not the type of person who likes to deal with these situations or are timid about asking, there’s a great app called Paribus that’ll help you get your money back by negotiating with the stores for you.

They do keep a small portion of your refund as payment for the service but it’s still worth using since you’ll get most of your money refunded to you.

Learn more about how Paribus can save you money.

Negotiate a Better Price To Get Things For Less

Another way to never pay full price for anything is to simply ask for a discount. Now I will admit, doing this does take a bit of getting used to if you’re timid.

I’m fortunate enough to have a husband who isn’t shy to ask for discounts or say what’s on his mind. And let me tell you, we’ve gotten many discounts, free stuff, and add on’s just by wheeling and dealing.

Things to look out for that are no brainers to get a reduced price are item defects, even just the tiniest scratch on something can get you a 50% discount, but only if you are willing to ask.

You can also ask for a cheaper price on a display model if it’s the last of the item you intend to purchase since technically it’s not in “new” condition.

Use Coupons & Apps To Save Money

Whether your shopping at your local grocery store or online, using coupons is just a smart money move to save money on things you have to buy. What’s even better is that coupons could be combined with store sales and promotions to save quite a bit of money.

There are many places to find coupons both for online and in-store purchases. The Sunday paper, and websites like Coupons.com, Redplum, and Proctor & Gamble are great places to get in-store coupons that you clip.

Then there are couponing apps that are super convenient and easy to use like Ibotta, CheckOut51, and Saving Star which pay you to shop and buy specific items by earning free money or gift cards.

Finally, there are online coupons and promo codes which you can find by doing a quick Google search or installing a browser extension like Honey to do the work for you.

The Honey extension will search the internet to find coupon codes for things in your shopping cart and look for coupons for anything from free shipping to a certain percentage off of your purchases. You can even earn Honey Gold and get stuff for free once you accumulate enough points.

Check out my best couponing strategies to save the most money.

Shop Clearance To Get Huge Price Reductions

Shopping clearance is yet another strategy to never pay regular retail sticker prices and get stuff at huge discounts.

Many times you can get anywhere from 50% – 90% off just by checking out the clearance aisles, racks, and areas of your favorite stores so it’s definitely worth it to take a peek to see if there’s anything you may need on sale.

In fact, I shop clearance all the time to stock my gift closet and never pay full price for gifts, as well as seasonal clothing and housewares.

Shop Sales To Never Pay Full Price 

Shopping sales is another really easy way to never pay full price for items you need and want. For everyday essentials, simply scan your store circulars every week to see if there are any sale items that you use on a regular basis.

BOGO, or buy 1 get 1 free sale are especially good since you pay half price for each item when you purchase two. I actually take this a step further and stock up on essentials to last a month or so when I can get them for cheap so it lasts until I come across another great deal.

If you’re in the market for major purchases, whatever they may be, waiting until it comes on sale is always a smart idea. Even if you get the item at just 20% off, you still can save quite a bit of money.

For example, if an item costs $1000, you’d save $200. Of course the bigger discount, the more you’ll save so waiting it out is a smart money move.

You can find a list of what to buy month by month to get the best deals here.

Sign Up For Store Newsletters & Loyalty Programs For Coupons 

Signing up for your favorite store’s loyalty program and/or newsletter is another way to get discounts at shops you visit regularly since you’ll be notified anytime there are special offers and sales going on.

It takes a few seconds to open an email and see if you can save a few bucks on stuff you might need or want so it’s worth it.

If you don’t want to clutter your inbox with promotional emails, you can always set up a new email address just to use just for these promotional emails so you can see if there are any offers whenever you want.

You can even sign up for newsletters from sites like Rakuten, Retail Me Not,  or Groupon instead of individual stores to help control the number of emails you get while still being notified of some great promotions from your favorite retailers.

Shop Discount Retailers To Pay Less for Everything

Shopping at discount retailers will definitely help you pay less for things you need and want regularly. You get discounts on everything from cheap clothing to furniture and home furnishings and decor to jewelry and much more!

You can even get huge discounts on brand name high ticket items like Chanel and Tommy Hilfiger, just to name a few.

Some of the most popular discount stores are T.J. Maxx, Burlington, Ross, and Marshalls but there are also many other places to always get a discount like outlets and liquidation stores.

This idea will save you money off regular retail on many regular expenses that you need too such as discounted prescription drugs to dental plans.

Use Price Comparision Apps To Get The Best Deals

There are tons of shopping comparison apps and sites online that can help you save money by comparing offers from multiple companies and retailers on everything from insurance plans to used vehicles and just about anything in between.

And they’re super simple to use, one example that we use all the time is using these apps to get the best deals when taking trips or vacations.

Companies typically list unreserved hotel rooms, car rentals, and flight availability and offer deeper discounts for last-minute bookings since getting something in exchange for their services is always better than nothing.

So using price comparison sites like Hotels.com or Travelocity can save you a pretty penny and you’ll never pay full price for a hotel room or airline tickets again.

Abandon Your Cart To Score Coupons & Discounts

Many people aren’t aware of this savings tactic but did you know that many online retailers have the functionality to detect when someone places items in their virtual shopping carts but never follow through on the purchase.

They then send an email a few hours to a few days later reminding you that you never checked out and often times offer an incentive such as a coupon code or discount to encourage you to complete your order.

So if you want to score a deal, simply add your items to your cart and wait a day or so to see if you are offered a special promotion.

Plus this tactic is a great way to control impulse spending since it gives you time to think about if you really need those items in the first place.

Buy Refurbished To Never Pay Full Price

Buying refurbished items is another way to never pay regular retail price for anything. Many times the items will be discounted by 25% – 50% off or more.

If an item is labeled as refurbished it should be in just as good of a condition as if it were brand new so it’s worth checking out.

The only caution here is that you need to be smart about where you buy refurbished items and make sure the item is fully refundable if returned… just in case.

Utilize Satisfaction Guarantees (When Appropriate)

Utilizing satisfaction guarantees is just one more way to never pay retail value on things that you buy that didn’t live up to their promise.

For example, most major pizza places have some sort of guarantee that you’ll get your pizza in 30 minutes or less or it’s free so you’ll never pay full price for late pizza again by paying attention to the clock.

This satisfaction guarantee is on just about everything you purchase from shampoo to hotel rooms and everything in between but most people ignore it or just don’t speak up.

Now I’m not saying to complain just to try to get a reduced price or get something for free. But if the item is not living up to the promise, or it ends up costing you more, then there is nothing wrong with taking advantage of it and asking for a refund or lower price.

Never pay full price for anything conclusion

As you can see, there are so many ways to never pay full price and get things for cheap, discounted prices, bargains, and sweet deals on just about anything you need or what.

Now that you are equipped with this information, it’s time to start saving money! Pick a handful of these ideas to get started and before you know it, you’ll start to see your savings grow and expenses dwindle.

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Never Pay Full Price For Anything ~ 16 Easy Tips (that anyone can do!)