For as much money as you’re saving by being a regular daily deal shopper, you could also be losing your hard earned cash by committing common group buying shopping errors. In order to get the most out of your money, you’ll need to buckle down and become a serious daily deal shopper. Here are the top four daily deal buying mistakes most people make and quick fixes to correct common errors.
Mistake #1: You buy everything in sight
Jan Harlan is a professional shopper in Los Angeles, California and she makes her living finding the best buys for her customers. According to Harlan, the secret to being a good shopper is to squeeze the most out of what you have. “I have clients who make $10,000 a year and those who make $500,000 a year, and they all have the same rule: don’t spend more than you earn,” said Harlan. “A good deal becomes a great deal when you can afford it.”
The fix: No matter how much you make, your money can only carry you so far. Use budgeting tools like Mint or Lemon to track your finances and set aside money for daily deal purchases.
Mistake #2: You’re wasting too much time
Time management is every bit as important as money management. Those who spent countless hours surfing daily deal websites and continually checking their email for the latest deals in past years suffered from daily deal fatigue and shopping burnout.
The fix: There are only so many hours in the day, so use them wisely. By using daily deal aggregators, websites that respect your time, all the daily deals you could ever want find you, so you stop aimlessly surfing the Internet all day and being tied down to your email. Subscribe today and free up your schedule and your inbox.
Mistake #3: You don’t read the fine print
Before entering into a mortgage, your lending broker and realtor will go over every single page in your mortgage contract with you to make sure you understand all that’s involved in home ownership. Before buying a car, every single car dealership is responsible for informing you of your contract details so they can be assured you’ll meet them. Those buyers who fail to pay attention often end up without a house or car, or worse, in bankruptcy court.
The fix: Know the details of a deal before you invest. Check specifics like travel blackout times expiration dates. The more informed you are, the better social buying shopper you’ll be.
Mistake #4: You let daily deal vouchers expire
No matter how much of a bargain you got from a daily deal website it becomes worthless if you’re unable to use it. Just as milk sours in the refrigerator after its sell-by date, daily deal vouchers can also go bad when not used in time.
The fix: Keep track of daily deal dates expiration dates and make plans to use every last one.
Daily deal shopping can save the average consumer thousands of dollars each year. By fine tuning your shopping habits and correcting common mistakes, you can make your money go even further in 2012.
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