Rich Student, Poor Student – Post #4
Step 4: Be thrifty
Let’s get this out there right away, being thrifty does not mean being cheap. A cheap person will sit at the bar with friends all night and avoid their turn to buy a round. A thrifty person will do their best to make sure they buy their round during power hour, but they will still buy the round. There is a fine line between saving money and losing friends.
It’s difficult to tell people how to be thrifty because everyone has different ways of saving money. The most important thing is that you are aware of what you are spending and of what that money is worth. The best way to do this is to make comparisons when you buy things. Ex. If you see a pair of shoes that you want to buy and they are $100, ask yourself what else you could buy with that $100. If you don’t really need the shoes then you might realize that you would be better off using the $100 to buy groceries or save for a vacation. Some people save money by making their own clothes, bringing lunches from home, shopping at thrift stores or not buying text books (the last one isn’t recommended), but it all comes down to what you are capable of doing and how much energy you put into it.
Some places you should know about if you are trying to save money:
Value Village – Bayer’s Lake/Dartmouth
This is not only a good place to get clothes but also good for furniture. There are a couple of bus routes that will take you right to Value Village but there is also the possibility of getting the Student Union to rent a bus if enough students want to go.
The Grawood – Student Union Building
I don’t know if you have realized this yet but from 9-10 and 11-12 Wed. – Fri. The Grawood is the thriftiest place in town.
Winners – Halifax Shopping Center Annex/Bayer’s Lake
Hop on the #1 or #14 buses and they will take you right to Winners. If you like to save money when you shop but don’t like wearing clothes that were owned by other people then this is your Value Village.
XS Cargo – Bayer’s Lake
If you’re a shopaholic that that likes to buy things you will never use (autobiographical sentence), but only if it’s on sale, then you should head to XS Cargo.
Walmart – Halifax Shopping Center Annex/Bayer’s Lake
Once again the #1 or #14 will get you there. This is the cheapest place to get stuff for the home (with the occasional exception for Canadian Tire), and it’s not all bad quality. You can’t beat buying an iron for $5.
Of course this doesn’t even come close to mentioning all the great thrift stores, and other places that you can go to get stuff on sale. It also doesn’t give even a fraction of the ways to save money. The one thing that you will hopefully get out of this though is that you should be conscious of how much you are spending and what that is worth, and you should always look for a bargain. If you have any good places to shop for deals then please post them for people to see.
Let’s get this out there right away, being thrifty does not mean being cheap. A cheap person will sit at the bar with friends all night and avoid their turn to buy a round. A thrifty person will do their best to make sure they buy their round during power hour, but they will still buy the round. There is a fine line between saving money and losing friends.
It’s difficult to tell people how to be thrifty because everyone has different ways of saving money. The most important thing is that you are aware of what you are spending and of what that money is worth. The best way to do this is to make comparisons when you buy things. Ex. If you see a pair of shoes that you want to buy and they are $100, ask yourself what else you could buy with that $100. If you don’t really need the shoes then you might realize that you would be better off using the $100 to buy groceries or save for a vacation. Some people save money by making their own clothes, bringing lunches from home, shopping at thrift stores or not buying text books (the last one isn’t recommended), but it all comes down to what you are capable of doing and how much energy you put into it.
Some places you should know about if you are trying to save money:
Value Village – Bayer’s Lake/Dartmouth
This is not only a good place to get clothes but also good for furniture. There are a couple of bus routes that will take you right to Value Village but there is also the possibility of getting the Student Union to rent a bus if enough students want to go.
The Grawood – Student Union Building
I don’t know if you have realized this yet but from 9-10 and 11-12 Wed. – Fri. The Grawood is the thriftiest place in town.
Winners – Halifax Shopping Center Annex/Bayer’s Lake
Hop on the #1 or #14 buses and they will take you right to Winners. If you like to save money when you shop but don’t like wearing clothes that were owned by other people then this is your Value Village.
XS Cargo – Bayer’s Lake
If you’re a shopaholic that that likes to buy things you will never use (autobiographical sentence), but only if it’s on sale, then you should head to XS Cargo.
Walmart – Halifax Shopping Center Annex/Bayer’s Lake
Once again the #1 or #14 will get you there. This is the cheapest place to get stuff for the home (with the occasional exception for Canadian Tire), and it’s not all bad quality. You can’t beat buying an iron for $5.
Of course this doesn’t even come close to mentioning all the great thrift stores, and other places that you can go to get stuff on sale. It also doesn’t give even a fraction of the ways to save money. The one thing that you will hopefully get out of this though is that you should be conscious of how much you are spending and what that is worth, and you should always look for a bargain. If you have any good places to shop for deals then please post them for people to see.
posted by Chad LeClair at 11:49 a.m.
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