Always Compare Prices

If you are anything like me, you have to abide by a strict budget in order to see all of your bills taken care of each month. Most months there aren't extra dollars laying around to be spent freely on anything you want. Sure, you might splurge on an occasional coffee or two, but for the most part the money you earn goes right to keeping you living each month. I have discovered a small but significant way to help curb my expenses and allow for a small amount of 'fun money' each month. Compare prices. It sounds simple and obvious, but my spending habits changed drastically once I began to always compare prices.

One of the biggest areas that I benefited from learning to compare prices is in grocery shopping each week. Rather than just running off to whatever store is closest or more convenient to me, I began to really search the ads and flyers to determine which stores would give me the best deals on the items I needed. I began each week by making a list of all of the grocery items I needed and then I only allowed myself to compare prices for those things. I didn't let myself just go to the store and fill my cart with whatever caught my eye. No, I had a list and I took time to carefully compare prices.