Saving money on produce @ the supermarket

So I'm at the supermarket the other day and see someone tearing off the stems from their bananas and cherries.  I asked them why they were doing that - they replied back, "why would I pay them for parts of the fruit that I don't need?"  I looked a bit bewildered at them, thinking "that's how it comes, so you have to buy it that way".  But then I quickly replied, "well, why not just take the entire banana out of its peel and put it into the plastic bag that way and not pay for the peel at all?"  Of course I was joking, sort of.  I mean, heck, if you're going to eat the banana on the way home, do you really need the peel anyway?  I'm thinking I'll look for savings somewhere else in my life than to succumb to what that lady was doing - like filling up my gas tank in Jersey instead of New York or buying nearly anything else in Jersey where seemingly everything has lower sales tax than NY!

Best Places to Buy Electronics & Some 6th Avenue Electronics Deals

Where does one go to buy electronics?  With so many choices there who do you trust to get the best deals?

Here's a few "go to" places that I count on regularly when searching for the best deals. 

6th Avenue Electronics - one of my personal favorite electronics stores out there - bought some flat screens there for my office some time ago.

Here's some coupons for them as well.

• Kodak EasyShare M590 14MP Digital Camera - Silver.  Now $83 with coupon: AFLKOD83
  
• Harman Kardon AVR7550HD 7.2 Channel Audio/Video.  Now Only $888 with coupon code: AFLHAR888
  
• Pioneer GM-D7500M Class-D Mono Amplifier.  Now Only $128 with coupon: AFLPIO128
  
• KEF T105 5.1-Channel Ultra Thin Home Theater Speaker System.  Now Only $1096 with coupon AFLKEF1096
  
• KEF T205 5.1 T-Series 5.1-Channel Speaker System. Now Only $1396 with coupon: AFLKEF1396
  
• Mirage Nanosat 5.1 Small High-Performance 5.1 Speaker System.  Now $444 with coupon: AFLMRG444
   
• Mirage Unitheater Premium LCR Flat-Panel Speaker (EA).  Now Only $596 with coupon: AFLMRG596
   
• Sennheiser HD280PRO Professional Headphones.  Now Only $79 with coupon: AFLSNN79
  
• Sennheiser PMX680 Sport Earbuds with Volume Control. Now Only $49 with coupon: AFLSNN49
  
• Sennheiser RS170 Wireless Headphones.  Now Only $232 with coupon AFLSNN232
   
• Dyson DC24 Ball All-Floors Upright Vacuum Cleaner.  Now Only $310 with coupon: AFLDYS310
  
• Shure SRH440 Professional Studio Headphone. Now Only $66 with coupon code: AFLSHU66
   
• LG Electronics 47LX6500 47" Class 3D  1080p 240Hz.  Now Only $1188 with coupon: AFLLGE1188
  
• Viewsonic G-Tablet with 10" Multi-Touch LCD Screen, Android OS 2.2.  Now $299 with coupon: AFLVIE299
  
• Pioneer DEH-3200UB Car CD Receiver.  Now Only $88 with coupon: AFLPIO88  

Another electronics store that I find that regularly has excellent deals is Electronics Expo  The catch is that they only are located in Jersey - but if you're buying $500+ worth of stuff it may be worth the drive between lower sales tax and less expensive gasoline...they also match prices.


Sears, Amazon.com, Newegg.com, Tigerdirect.com, Frys.com, Meritline.com, Staples/Staples.com (especially with coupons), B and H camera on 34th street in NY or their web site, are some of the other sites that I have used for great deals as of late.  As you may or may not know depending who's reading this, I do IT procurement for a living, so I'm constantly searching for the best deals out there for a variety of IT goods.


One of the most amazing deals I scored recently was from Staples... a laser printer that was originally $300, that I paid $25 for - they had a $200 mail in rebate, plus a $50 off when you trade in a used printer, and a $25 off $75 coupon.


Some of the sites that I use to search for excellent deals, particularly when looking for a specific type of item are as follow, in addition to vendor specific sites:


http://slickdeals.net/
http://www.pricegrabber.com/
Google's Shopping Tool

Bottom line: some leg work and looking at the right stores and using online shopping tools can yield some really good deals.  

Coupons.com

Just one of many coupon sites - but a great site to check before going shopping for food, grocery, cosmetics, and a whole host of other items.  Every so often I use it for myself before going shopping. Coupons.com

Plum District "Deals for Savvy Moms and Families - Discounts Daily

Yeah, it's another site that's a knockoff of Groupon, but hey, what's one more - perhaps worth subscribing to and seeing if there's any deals that piquePlum District your interest...

New York State Government Surplus on Ebay!!!

New York State's Office of General Services (NYS OGS) sells its surplus stuff on ebay!  Here's the link: EBay-NYS OGS Surplus - The catch: most of the stuff you need to pick up in person, Monday through Friday, where ever the stuff happens to be located for salvage, often times in Albany, but sometimes NYC, Long Island, or anywhere else there happens to be a NYS government office, which, really is anywhere in NY.  There's been anything including: airplanes, bookcases, cars, doors, elephants - just kidding, a lot of stuff listed for sale on the site, and the prices are always good in general, unless it's a super high demand item, so worthy of adding them to sellers that you follow on ebay.

Real Estate Starting at a $1

There was an article in AM Today advertising real estate starting at a $1 - that's fine and dandy, until you read the article and realize that with certainty, you're not going to be the winning bidder for merely a buck.  So what else is out there that's remotely legit?  Here's a few sites and descriptions of what you may find that may not be a dollar or even close, but still a potentially great bargain if you're looking for perhaps an investment, vacation home or other undervalued relative bargains.  Although I haven't taken advantage of any of these deals, for better or worse - I can only hope you benefit:

http://www.Governmentauctions.com - this site features various items for sale by governments through a third party privately held company.  Essentially from what I can tell governments contract with them to dispose of property and capital assets - an asset disposition via auction company if you will.

USDA Properties for Sale - The US Department of Agriculture offers real estate for sale includes government owned real estate and potential foreclosure sales for single/multi family homes, arm/ranch properties, houses, lots, and buildings.

Commercial / Industrial Office Space  - thus far, this is my personal go-to site, when in the past I've had to search for commercial/industrial office space in the past.  If you're someone who has a need to search for that kind of space, I highly recommend the site.

NJ Affordable Housing - a good site for affordable housing in NJ; "Mt. Laurel Housing" - for those unfamiliar with what Mt. Laurel Housing is, check out

Eventually I'll discuss other housing programs such as Mitchell Llama and HDFC in detail; feel free as always to post any questions.

SALE!!!!

If there's one word that's overused in America, it's the word "Sale"

Often times my friends say they purchased something on sale for 50% off.  50% off of what?  All too often, people see a sale, and see it’s 50% off, and they get excited.   

Ladies and gentlemen, make no mistake, people buy into marketing and get excited when they see a term such as “sale,” “going out of business – everything must go – make us an offer” etc.  Ever see a store that says it is going out of business-lost their lease, and they’re closing December 31^st?  Sure you have, just admit it, that or go out shopping more often.  How many times has that same store been in business come January 2^nd?  Somehow they miraculously extended their lease. 

THE BOTTOM LINE: 

• Know what things are worth before getting excited by a sale.  
• Patience is a virtue: if you don't need the item today, and you've seen it on sale for a lower price than the currently advertised price, more than likely it'll be offered for sale again at the best price you've seen previously, absent inflation, scarcity and other uncontrollable factors.
• If it's not at least 2/3rds off, it's likely not that great of a sale, particularly when it comes to shopping at stores such as Macy's. - Isn't everything half off every day there so it seems?
• Compare prices for big purchases via the Internet, particularly when it comes to electronics and similar items that are brand name items that are easy to compare.
• Ask yourself if you really need it/want it - even if something is 80% off, if you really don't need it, is it worth buying?  You still need to pay the other 20%, which is more expensive than not buying it at all.