New Computer

 Frugality is all about thinking outside the box. How can I get what I want for less? If you just consume the way an average consumer might, you will get an average price (or perhaps worse). Instead, if you think a bit about what your objectives are and perhaps shop around a little bit, you can get an exceptional deal. 

Some companies basically plan for this. They provide coupons or ad deals to select customers. Ideally they are targeting people who are more price sensitive, allowing them to get their business, as well as the people who are willing to pay full price. The practice is known as price discrimination. 

As a frugal person, this often involves ensuring you are on the right pricing tier. For me, this means I will pretty much never go to McDonald's without picking my items out on the app, as there are deals on there! Likewise, I probably wouldn’t go to a Burger King or something without coupons.

This happens all the time with online retailers too. I sometimes use a service like Honey to help me track prices over time. If I am able to wait, I sometimes like to try to wait until an item is closer to a historic low. Honey will also compare to other online retailers and ensure I’m paying the cheapest price.

This all can plan into the specific good or service you are buying. For example, I bought the laptop I am using to write this post online at Aliexpress (actually I podcasted, or really rambled about it, here.) I found something with the features I was looking for (a mechanical keyboard and a nice screen) and then found the cheapest time to buy it. I watched the pricing move on Aliexpress quite a bit until I finally picked it up for $350. Which is a great deal!

So now I have a fun device with a mechanical keyboard.