It’s definitely harder to score big savings in a small town. Tearpad coupons and inserts aren’t as easily accessible and price matching is certainly not an option! Joe’s Hardware on one corner has no idea what a price match is and plus, what would you even price match? The only other store in your town is Fran’s Foods. I say that in humour. Chances are, it’s not THAT bad. You probably do have at least one well known store such as Sobeys, Extra Foods or CO-OP. So how can a small town couponer still make significant savings? Living in a small town does have it’s advantages.
- Perishable items are discounted more often. When well known stores (Sobeys, Extra Foods, CO-OP, etc.) receive shipments of perishable items they usually don’t sell quick enough. Buy meat when it’s on sale. Buy the 50% off bananas and make delicious banana bread.
- You have special sales that big cities don’t . Our Extra Foods here has “Family Days”. The event happens once a month you save a certain percentage when you spend $25, $50 or $100. I always go for the $15 when you spend $100. Another sale we have is a yearly sale where everyone brings their unwanted baby/kids items to our town arena and we have a huge ‘garage sale’ in one place.
- You save on gas . You can probably walk to do most of your errands such as checking the mail, going to the bank, returning library books and etc. If you think about it, it’s like a .50c coupon because you just saved gas!
- Buying from locals is less expensive and supports families . There’s a lovely lady at our once-a-week farmers market who sells a dozen eggs for $1.50. I can’t get that price even with a sale and a coupon.
- You probably have an awesome thrift store . I’ve lived in two small towns in the past 5 years and both times the thrift store was awesome! No joke, you could seriously buy a skirt for .25c in one town. In my current town, I pay about $1.50-$3.00 for clothing items. And I’m not talking about worn out clothing, these items are brand name and many times, brand new!
I hope this post encouraged you. Did you realize how much you can save and are saving without coupons? How do you save money in your small town?
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