What do you think of when you first hear the word haggling? Do you imagine yourself at a flea market browsing the aisles for antiques? Or do you picture a garage sale with people looking through old boxes and milk crates full of odds and ends?

Most of my haggling has been done overseas while on vacation in a foreign country.

I absolutely love going to their local markets or even vendors on the side of the road and checking out their handicrafts. Locals know you’re a tourist and assume you have lots of money. In my experience, when I ask how much, I find they’ll often offer me a price which is pretty high (It helps to know the conversion rate to see if you’re being ripped off, as well as a bit of the language so you can ask how much and say things like too expensive).  And so begins the battle of bargaining, naming prices back and forth until either you’re satisfied or you walk away in search of a better bargain.

Sometimes I feel bad for walking away, but at the same time  I feel I have the upper hand. They just lost a potential sale. I feel even worse when they try to call me back, but sometimes you just have to walk away and move on.

I’ve had a few experiences haggling or if you prefer a better word, bargaining back home. One instance was when I was just about to purchase a pair of shorts that were already on sale. I noticed there was a button missing and asked politely if it was possible to have a further reduction on the price. The salesperson asked her manager and I ended up paying only $10 + tax for those shorts, which are in still decent condition.

The second instance with clothing was when I was going to purchase a winter jacket (again on sale) and noticed a rip in the inner lining (barely noticeable).  I mentioned it to the salesperson and that since it was the only one left in my size and the colour I wanted, I would be willing to purchase it if  he could apply a small discount. Again, he asked permission from his manager and I walked away with a nice jacket for a much cheaper price.

I don’t normally go looking around for already damaged clothing, nor do I intentionally try to damage the clothing just to get a discount. Like many people, I’ll do a quick check of the clothing to see if there are any holes, rips or buttons missing. If I can’t find one in better shape and if the damage seems repairable, then I have no problems in asking for a discount. I don’t see anything wrong with asking for a discount and being reasonable about the amount, such as an extra 5-15% off. All you have to do is ask politely.  The worse that could happen is that they say no. Stores want to get rid of last season’s clothing or clothes that aren’t selling well to make room for the new stuff.

I even consider price matching at the grocery stores or electronic stores as a guaranteed successful haggle. There’s nothing more satisfying than knowing you found a better deal and it’s given to you.

Kijiji is also a great place to haggle. It’s like one online giant garage sale. Although there is no rule set in stone in terms of setting a price, I personally think that all sellers should say on their ad that prices are negotiable within reason. It’s such a huge turnoff for me when I see that the seller says that this price is firm. Really??!?! You honestly couldn’t take off $10-$20? Next!

Do you consider yourself a haggler? What have some of your haggling experiences been like?

Although I can be quite a picky eater, one thing I love about going to my family dinners or large family functions is taking home leftovers.

My parents have quite a large amount of Tupperware and fill them up with leftovers from a party. Like many cultures, including my own, having an abundance of food and eating with the family is a big deal. At each party, all the food is laid out buffet style, with several different kinds of main dishes, salads, sides and desserts. Everyone is expected to have almost two full servings of food. The remaining food almost never goes to waste. If the gathering is just the immediate family, my sister and I will each take home several plastic containers (often empty yogurt, margarine and sour cream containers) of food. If the gathering is larger, my parents will bust out the large Ziploc freezer bags, fill them with food and give them to them guests before they leave. I guess you could say they give out food loot bags or doggy bags.

Although my parents could just easily keep the food for themselves, they would rather re-distribute them to the guests. It’s way too much food to eat for just the two of them and I’m sure they’d rather not have to eat that ham for the next five days. If you ask me, it’s a win-win situation. They get rid of the excess food and I don’t have to cook or grocery shop for the next few days. I save some time and money and I get have another helping of a certain dish I enjoyed eating so much at the party.

While taking home leftovers from family events is quite common, taking home leftovers from catered events such as weddings is not. Some people may even consider it tacky. I certainly wouldn’t. Most of the weddings I have been to, have served way more food than I can eat, plus the seafood buffet, plus the dessert buffet.

I know that because a wedding a very special occasion, most of the times, especially if it is in a banquet hall, there is an abundance of food. The couple wants the guests to enjoy themselves and be well fed. There have only been a few weddings I’ve attended that have had actually great tasting food. Most of the times, the meat was dry and the pasta tasted like something out of my high school cafeteria.

Bad tasting food aside, some banquet halls and catering businesses may have some policies about preventing guests from taking food home if it is served buffet style, due to food safety concerns or liability concerns. However, I wouldn’t see a problem with guests taking home some desserts if take out containers were provided. I had recently attended a baptism reception in a restaurant where the grandparents provided takeout containers for us to take home some desserts.

I have only worked at a banquet hall serving food to guests at a wedding one time in my life. We weren’t allowed to take food home, however we were allowed to eat the leftovers after it had been served to the guests. If the food was not served buffet style and the leftovers were put in the fridge soon after, I don’t see why the employees, guests or even the bride and groom can’t bring the food home. After all, people bring home food from restaurants all the time. Sure it may create more work for the employees, having to put the food into containers, but it prevents perfectly edible food from being thrown into the garbage!

I know this is not true for all banquet halls or catering companies, but I often hear about how some of them throw out all the uneaten food after the wedding. That’s SO MUCH food going to waste! Imagine how many hungry people it could feed. I often wonder why they don’t make arrangements to either deliver the food or have someone pick up the food to take it to a local shelter. Surely, the added cost if there was any wouldn’t be too much. I’m sure the people there would appreciate the extra free food. I know I would.

Would you ever take leftover food home from a wedding or shower? Why or why not?

(In all honesty, I’d rather take home the food than the sometimes useless gift you get for attending the wedding).

It seems so easy, live by a budget and work towards your goals. But is it? It can be very difficult for some people to implement a proper budget. We don’t like to be restricted and told we can’t have something but the fact is, if you need to be living on a budget to reach your financial goals you need to stop spending so much money!

My sister is notorious for justifying purchases she didn’t need to make. ”It was only $5.00”, ”It was on sale”…blah, blah, blah. I tell her it doesn’t matter that it was on sale or X amount of dollars, if it was something she didn’t need then it was a waste of money. She has no concept of really thinking about a purchase before making it. She decides she wants something and usually buys it. When she asked me how she can stop wasting her money I laid it out simply for her. I told her to do the same things I do.

1) Stop going into the stores

This is hands down the easiest way to stop spending money. You don’t realize how much money you spend just because you see something. My weakness is grocery stores. I have the food I need in the  house for my two week meal plan but sometimes will pop in just to see what’s on sale and end up spending $50 on food we didn’t necessarily need. I work on one of Canada’s busiest retail streets, it can be tempting to wonder the stores during my lunch but I know it will either cause me to spend money I don’t have to waste or at the very least add to my ”want” list, neither of which I need. So, I do my best to stay out of stores. When I do go into a store I stick to a list and but only items I intended to buy.

2) Unsubscribe from all email listings

We all get those emails with crazy offers. One day online only sales! More than once I’ve been caught with a virtual cart full of crap I normally would not have gone to a store to buy just because of an email. It’s brilliant marketing really, but just doesn’t work for my budget right now. This is another example of ”out of sight out of mind”. If you never know about the email it won’t hurt you. If there is an item you’re looking to buy (for me, it was a new coat this winter) search for deals only after you have a list. Before we went shopping a quick Google search provided me with a $10 off voucher for the store I was aiming for and I declined to sign up for their emails upon purchase.

3) Shop consciously

This is a refined skill. I used to buy anything without really thinking about it. Today I’m on the total opposite end of the spectrum and probably overthink each purchase too much, but I’d rather be here then there. When you make a list of ”wants/needs” really think about each item. Going back to my winter coat purchase I knew I needed a coat but had other things to consider before going to the stores. I decided to get a sportier, yet non frumpy style jacket (think North Face style) over a dressier wool pea coat style. Since this would be my only coat purchase for a few years I needed something more versatile, still within budget, wouldn’t look silly while wearing to work in scrubs but still be OK on weekends with jeans and sweater.

I searched the online inventory of almost every store I thought we may head to before narrowing it down to two stores. I ended up buy a coat I had already seen online and it’s worked out perfectly. This saved me time shopping as well since I had done the leg work. Shopping consciously helps your time management and budget.

4) Don’t totally deprive yourself

I really think total deprivation will cause a budget to fail too. You’ll start to resent the restrictions on your lifestyle. Budget for a little fun just remembering to be realistic and think about what you’re spending your money on!

What do you do to stop spending so much money?