When I began writing, I’m not quite sure if I had the knowledge of frugality that I do now, but after a year of writing and adapting my frugal lifestyle I think I’m finally able to give a good explaination of what frugality is.

First, in order to give a good view on frugality we need to remember that being frugal is not being cheap.  A cheap person refrains from purchasing until they absolutely have to, even then they might wait to buy.  When they do buy they buy the cheapest thing with no regard for quality.  A frugal person may hold off making a purchase, but it’s usually to make sure they get the best deal (not necessarily the cheapest).  Case in point: Would you rather spend $400 every two or three years on a piece of furniture from Ikea, or would you rather spend $1,000 on a nice good quality piece that will last you a decade or more?

Now we need to analyze the day to day lifestyle of someone who is frugal vs. someone who is cheap.  A cheap person tends to not buy things unless they absolutely have to, a frugal person makes calculated choices about what is important to them.  You may frequently see frugal people at starbucks or going out to dinner.  Cheap people typically don’t like to put money into maintaining what they have, they will use something until it is broken, and then might keep using it.  Frugal people put money into maintnence.  We take care of our vehicles by do regularly scheduled maintnence, and we take care of our bodies by staying fit and going to the doctor for checkups.  We keep our houses nice and frequently do minor improvement projects so that we don’t have to do major ones later.

Being frugal is about controlling your money and making choices so that you can allow yourself to splurge.  It’s about not doing X so that you can do or buy what you love.  In fact, you will frequently see people choose to give up Starbucks so they can afford a nicer car, or give up a nicer car so that they can afford a nicer house.  We all need to splurge, if you don’t you’re letting your money control you, and you will eventually lose.

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• The more you buy, the more of a discount you can get.  Mary and I went shopping for a new TV for her parents at Best Buy, and I allowed them to sell us more stuff because they could discount other items more.  All in all, her parents bought a 46″ LCD, a 26″ LCD, a PS3 (Blue Ray player), a sound bar (If you can’t have wired surround sound, this is the next best thing), and an HDMI cable (DO NOT BUY MONSTER CABLES.  They are a rip off, I don’t care what the salesman tells you.  If you need cables, go to www.monoprice.com or look up blue jean cables).  All in all we saved about $1000 because I was able to haggle and bundle with extras.

• Talk to the manager. Some stores are giving employees the power to knock off 10% or so, especially in the current economy, but it’s still better to haggle with a manager.

• Ask what you might think are stupid questions.  Even if there are no sale signs posted, ask if there is a sale going on, when a sale will be going on, or if there is a sale price they can give you.  It allows a good entry into haggling.  They may tell you that the item will go on sale next week so it might be best to wait, but that gives you leverage to ask them to discount it now.  It also breaches the subject of a discount nonchalantly.  If they discount it or give you a “sale” price, ask them if they can do better!  I asked the manager at Best Buy 3 different times if he could do better, and on the 3rd time he finally said no, he couldn’t, the computer wouldn’t let him discount it any more.

• Look for floor models or imperfections.  Mary and I were at Crate and Barrel looking for things for our new house and we found a lamp we liked that was a floor model and had a scuff.  I asked the questions in the previous step, and she said she could give us 20% off for a ‘damaged’ item.  The item is by no means damaged, and we knew we could get the scuff out, so we said great!

• Ask if there are any discounts or coupons that you could use.  Many stores have mailers that contain coupons, and most have them behind the counter to scan to help entice you into buying.  If you don’t ask you won’t know.

• Let them know that you usually shop there. Customer loyalty is a huge plus!  The woman I haggled with for my running shoes was obviously more willing to talk discounts after I mentioned that my current shoes were purchased from one of their other stores.  She then pulled out a mailer coupon to give me a discount!

• Be likable.  Last summer when Mary and I were working on our current place of residence I needed paint and paint supplies so I went to Sherwin Williams.  The salesman was younger and I was cracking jokes.  When I got up to the counter, I half-jokingly said “are there any: I just graduated from college, moved cross country, don’t have a job, and am about to get married discounts?”  He laughed, and said absolutely.  He gave me 30% off!  Also, don’t be pushy.

• Walk Away.  If you aren’t getting the deal you want, don’t be afraid to walk away.  This advice is particularly good to use on hungry car salesman, but car buying is a whole other beast.

• Offer Cash.  Cash is a huge bargaining tool.  It shows that you are serious and ready to buy, it also means a great deal to smaller shops.  Small shops will be more inclined to discount your product(s) more if they know you will pay cash.  There is nothing worse than discounting a product and then seeing another 2-3% of the purchase price go to credit card processing fees.  Don’t worry about your precious credit card points when you haggle, just worry about price.

• Research.  If you aren’t sure about a product get the salesman’s card go do your research and come back.  Also, see a related post: Secrets of a Bargain Hunter.

These tools will most likely allow you to get some good discounts.  Use these pointers wisely, and always be prepared to buy when you get a discount, if you get your price and decide not to buy, it could discourage the salesperson from coming down in price for the rest of us!

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