We all love shopping! It’s right up there with eating and breathing as one of the most important things to do in life. Shopping is much more than an excuse to go crazy and spend all of your hard earned money in one go. For me, it’s a stress reliever and a real mood changer. Going shopping can help me forget about the tough week I just had, or push some troubling thoughts to one side for a few hours. Not only that but treating yourself to new things can make you a lot happier too!
Having said all that, you can’t avoid the fact that shopping costs money. You’re highly unlikely to go on a successful shopping trip without splashing the cash. Sure, you could go window shopping and just have a look around, maybe even pick out some things to buy in the future? Personally, I see this as stage one of a very big shopping spree. One evening I might have a look around and make a note of a few things I like. Then in a week or so when I have enough money, I will go ahead and make my purchases. Regardless, the fact remains that you need money to go shopping. So, what happens when you haven’t got enough cash to spare?
Well, this is where today’s blog post comes into play as I will show you some of the easiest ways you can save up for a big shopping spree. Be warned, some of these ideas are so stupidly easy that you may feel incredibly embarrassed for not thinking of them before! It’s okay, don’t beat yourself up, I was in the same boat as you before I heard about some of these tricks. Either way, sit back in your comfiest chair and check out all these easy and simple ways you can save money, fast:
Cash In Your Coins
These days, I tend to pay for things using my card rather than cash. Why? Because I can’t stand getting given small change that I don’t end up using. We’ve all been there, we get a couple of small coins here and there, and they end up getting shunted aside on our desks or just left anywhere around the home. Now, you can argue that this is a silly thing to do and you can just use this change to pay for things the next time you have to buy something small. To this I say two this; yes and no. Sure, you can do this, but, it’s not as easy as it sounds. There’s the hassle of counting up your change while waiting to buy something, then you have to try and hand it all over without it spilling everywhere – it’s just plain annoying!
Why am I starting my blog post about easy ways to save up for a shopping trip by talking about loose change? Because you can collect all of your loose change and coins, count them all up, organize them neatly in bags, and take them to your bank. Here, you can cash them in and get the amount deposited into your bank. You may think this is a lot of effort for a small gain. However, it will shock you how much money you have lying around the house in small change. When I was a child – and I needed money to buy a new toy – I’d do this trick a lot. In fact, one time I ended up with close to $50 all in loose change! Try it out, and add some money to your shopping spree saving fund.
Trade In Unwanted Gift Cards
Ah, gift cards, it’s every aunt and uncles way of saying “we don’t really know what you like, so to save all the effort of finding a present we got you a gift card instead”. I mean, let’s face it, we only ever give gift cards when we can’t think of any other present to get, or we’ve been caught at the last minute with nothing else in reach. Receiving these cards can often be good – but only when you’ve been given one for a store you regularly buy things from. If you’re anything like me, then you’ve probably been given dozens of gift cards over your lifetime, all of which are for stores you barely go to.
This poses a problem as you could potentially have hundreds of dollars worth of gift cards just lying around your house or padding out your purse. The issue is that you’ll never use them, so it’s a waste of money. Well, did you know you can trade in unwanted gift cards and get cash for them? Yes, there are places like Cards2Cash that let you sell your gift card, no matter what the current balance is. Therefore, if you’re in desperate need of some money for a shopping spree, why don’t you collect all the unwanted and unused cards in your home? You’ll be amazed at how many you have, and how much money you can suddenly get out of them. Now, you have a huge chunk of cash to add to your savings, ready for that massive feel-good shopping trip.
Look After Some Pets
If you’re a dog person, then there’s a very easy way for you to get some cash and save it for your big shopping spree. All you have to do is become a dog walker. People are always looking for other people to come along and walk their dog for them. This is mainly because they’re too busy to do it, and their dog obviously needs the exercise. You can advertise yourself in local Facebook groups and get dozens of messages almost instantly. Especially if you live in a very busy place with a dense population, then there’ll be loads of people keen for your help! It’s such a fun and clever way of saving up some money because you really don’t have to do anything. If you have your own dog, you can walk it at the same time as you do this, killing two birds with one stone!
Naturally, some of you reading this might not like dogs and the thought of walking some scares you to the cor. Have no fear, there are still some other ways you can save up some cash with this pet-fueled idea. Mainly, you can become a pet-sitter. When someone goes on holiday, what do they do with their beloved cat? They can’t take it with them, they have no family/friends nearby, so the only option is to pay to put them in an expensive cattery. Or, you could come along and look after their cat for them. It saves them loads of money and gives you some extra cash for your shopping trip. At the end of the day, you’ll be amazed at how many people need help looking after their pets. So, if you like animals, then both these ideas are a great opportunity to help you save money.
Sell Old & Unwanted Items
Why do most of you choose to go on a nice long shopping trip? It’s partly to release some stress on the weekend, it’s partly just an excuse to go out and do something, but it’s also because you need some new things. Most of the time, we shop for new clothes. Why? So we can have some funky new outfits for the new season, but also because we need to replace our old and unwanted clothes. They no longer fit us, or they might have slight faults, and we won’t wear them anymore. So, replacements have to be brought in, and a shopping trip can commence.
This begs the question; what happens to all the stuff you’re replacing? If you’re anything like me, then you’ll probably just leave everything in your closets and drawers. I can hold my hands up and say I’ve been guilty of keeping loads of things I simply don’t need or use anymore. Instead, you should sell all of these items. Why keep them if they’re never going to be used? Especially if you plan on buying replacements for them! Nowadays we’re blessed with loads of different ways of selling old clothes online. There’s eBay, which is a classic buying/selling website. This is probably the most popular place to sell, but there are other online marketplaces too. Facebook is another popular place that allows you to sell things locally these days as well. I think most people are aware they can sell their stuff but don’t want to go through the effort of doing it. Trust me, it’s worth the effort as you can get money for things you aren’t going to use, and this money can be saved to go towards a better version of what you just sold!
See, I wasn’t lying when I said these ideas were really easy! None of them is particularly challenging or require you to change the way you live your life. Sure, budgeting can help you save money in the long-term, but these ideas are great if you need some extra cash for a big shopping trip.
