Flipp Before Your Shopping Trip

Being a student is financially hard.  Being a student and a parent at the same time is financially harder.  I should know, I was one. I did survive (barely), and even moved on to purchasing a home, a car, and there is food in the house.  Since I know from experience that my family and I can survive having me be a student, I have decided to become one again.  You may wonder why I would want to do that.  It's simple really.  The house, the car, the food, and the countless other expenses life bestows upon families is eating up more of our family income than we would like. The only solution is to make more money, and the best way to do that is by upgrading my education. 

This time however I am more prepared.  I am wiser and have more experience handling money and making every dollar stretch to make ends meet.  I will share with you 3 of the ways I save my family money that will be beneficial to other students.

1. Download the Flipp app.  

Flipp is an app that brings up flyers from your local area. As you browse the flyers or search for specific items you can 'clip' (tap) the items you want to save.  Then you head to a price matching store (my favourite is Wal-Mart because they have the best price matching policy). If you see something you want to buy while in the store that you didn’t clip beforehand, search for it on the app to see if anyone has it at a better price. The more you use the app, the better you will be able to recognize a good sale. I easily save my family $40-80 every week using this app.

How much will you pay for blueberries?

2. Sign up for ebates.

Ebates is a no brainer for any online shopper.  Simply go to the app or the website before visiting your favourite online stores (eBay, Amazon, Old Navy, and hundreds more) and get paid a percentage of what you spend.  If you are shopping anyway, you may as well get paid for it.  After my Christmas Shopping I received a cheque back for over $75. 

Spending $100 at Old Navy is $4 back in your pocket.

3. Make cutbacks where you can. 

When we go to the movie theatre we refuse to buy snacks.  Popcorn and Drinks for a family of 4 should not cost more than the movie tickets.  By sacrificing (or saving ourselves from) the junk food, we’re able to go to move movies throughout the year. Students may want to think the same way when it comes to going out for drinks versus staying in and buying your own drinks. Doing that would save you not only on the drinks, but also on the Uber ride home.

Think of how many blueberries you could buy at FreshCo instead.

Students have a lot of expenses and not a lot of income. If you plan ahead and take time to save money on simple everyday items, you will find you have more money in your pocket to enjoy life along the way.  

This essay has been written as an entry for the 2018 Consolidated Credit Counseling Services of Canada Scholarship Program. For more information, visit: https://www.consolidatedcredit.ca