Developing Critical Life Skills: Smart Shopping for 99c
Monthly Column30 November 2010
By Daniel A. Barnes
What can you buy for 99 cents? If you are in Lafayette, the answer is this: Not a lot. In my view, we owe it to our kids, to practice frugality because it is a critical life skill (and even forms the basis for wealth accumulation). And guess what, finding bargains is fun as well!
Last week my Dad took us to the 99 Cents Only store by his house. We had a blast. The bargains excited my perennially broke 14 year-old daughter just as much as any 4-year old in the candy store. At the 99 Cents Only store (www.99only.com), everything is 99.999 cents or less.
Let me give you some examples: we bought a family pack of six good toothbrushes hair product stuff, sunblock, mouthwash, lint rollers, postage supplies and holiday cards and gift wrap; all just 99c. Many of these items run from $4 to $8 at your local Safeway or Target.
A cost-conscious household should look at shopping as a hierarchy, starting at the most frugal possible venue and moving up once having confirmed that the previous level doesn’t have what you need. To shop frugally and semi-efficiently, go to the deep value stores first, beginning with the 99 Cents Only store, then work your way up to higher end stores, which carry products not available at the deep discount stores.
In California, the hierarchy of stores looks something like this:
Ultra Frugal 99 Cents Only store
Big Lots/Grocery Outlet (formerly “Pic N Save” & “MacFrugals”)
Twice as Nice, etc
Deep Value Walmart, Costco, Trader Joe’s
Value Target
Selective Safeway, other mainstream stores
Higher End Nordstrom, Whole Foods
This isn’t a comprehensive list, but you get the idea. A typical affluent family can certainly intelligently buy 10% of the stuff they need (groceries and sundries) at the ultra-frugal stores once every 3 or 4 months or so.
Deep Value stores, depending on your preference (personally, I’m not particularly fond of Walmart), can be frequented quarterly, bi-monthly or monthly or weekly, depending on your budget and your family size. Value stores can fill in for items not carried by Deep Value. Selective just means, that in general, there is no great value, just good selection and ubiquitous locations. And higher-end stores are great because they provide some of what we really love, even though they frequently charge a huge mark-up on just about everything they carry. Even higher-end stores can offer some value, if you are really smart about it. For instance, I recently discovered some pants I really like that only Nordstrom carries. I investigated and found that Nordstrom’s Winter sale starts December 18th, and the Summer sale is mid-June. You can even select what you want, before the sale starts, and you will get the sale price (often 50%, you just have to buy it before the sale starts — within a few weeks or so).
A caveat: what if you hate to shop? Well guess what, I hate to shop too. So going to multiple places might sound a bit inefficient. But it’s not too inefficient, since most people don’t need to shop at the ultra-frugal or higher end stores so often. So while inconvenience is a major problem for those of us tucked away in the enclaves of the affluent suburbia, we do have some options. For instance, the produce markets in Pleasant Hill and Concord offer outstanding value: the produce is often just as good as what you find at Whole Foods — at a fraction of the price.
Sadly (and hypocritically) I seldom make the special trips required to get some of these deals. That may be true for you too. Every family needs to adjust their needs and weigh the convenience issues. But the issue is bigger than just convenience, its an issue of modeling to our kids.
Most adults already know about lots of ultra-frugal places, but do their kids know? My 13 and 14 year old didn’t. And they were astounded, and delighted, to discover all they can buy for less than a one $.
Learning frugality is a critical life skill. It is the basis of behavior which promotes wealth accumulation and it is empowering. As our children are empowered economically, I believe they will become more independent, pay their own way sooner, and be able to contribute to society, on their own accord, in greater numbers and effect. Life skills include smart buying.
We owe it to our kids, to teach them the skills of “ultra frugality,” the same skills perfected by our kid’s great-grandparents during the last economic tsunami, the Great Depression.
Barnes Capital LLC is a Registered Investment Advisor located at in downtown Lafayette in the Bay Area. We protect client capital using municipal bonds, high-quality dividend-increasing companies and precious metals which have protected wealth in every epoch spanning five millenia of bankruptcies, inflation and other forms of attrition. Together with our partner, RB Capital Management, Barnes Capital manages trusts and retirement income portfolios. Financial planning in an integral part of our process. Call 925-284-3503 and visit www.barnescapital.com.
December 10th, 2010 at 7:28 am
Don’t forget garage sales, thrift stores, and consignment shops: sources of interesting, high-quality household and personal items. I really like good fabrics and good workmanship, and I can have them guilt-free by buying second-hand. There’s nothing quite like the thrill of finding a pair of nearly new Mephisto shoes for $5 or an exquisitely tailored wool Prada jacket for $8.
February 22nd, 2011 at 1:16 pm
Thanks Meredith, I very much concur with your remarks. Unfortunately, for too many in our culture, I believe that most people have “too much” stuff in the low-quality category. I really don’t quite know where to come down on this issue. Remember my writings about “Clearing Clutter”, and getting rid of stuff, which can be more empowering than accumulating stuff at “value prices”. Admittedly, this is very much from the ‘affluent vantage point’. Perhaps we will soon simply need to write two separate versions, one for the affluent, and one for the rest, as this trend, sees no sign of abating. DB