We learn about the buddy system as children, but as a grownup, I’m learning it’s a great way to lower your budget! Since teaming up with my best friend a few years ago, I’ve been able to do & purchase things that wouldn’t normally fit into my budget. It started with a Costco membership—I could never quite justify the expense for as little as I use it.
But, they allow two adults on every card whether you live in the same household or not. So, we split the cost, each have our own membership card and can shop the warehouse store whenever we want. There are great deals to be found in bulk, but they also sell a lot of things in giant packages my family could never use up before the expiration. This is where shopping with a friend comes in handy.
Awesome savings on a giant tub of hummus? Bring your own container & split it. Amazing prices on a ginormous bag of bananas? We can each take half! They also have the best per cartridge price on printer ink, but I never want to invest in the multipacks. One day, I’ll find someone with an identical printer so we can share the deal.
The idea works well with buy one, get one deals too. For groceries or health & beauty, I use a sale like this to stock up on things we use frequently. Sometimes, though, there’s a BOGO deal that just makes me wonder what they were thinking. Or something that’s still too expensive for me to justify the price. Buy two, split the cost with a friend and everybody wins!
My cousins did just that when the authentic NFL jerseys were buy one, get one free. At $190, it’s a bit steep for even the biggest sports fan. But, break it down to $95 each, and you’ve got a pretty decent deal for each brother! My sister got her jersey in the same sale—her husband had one on his Christmas list, and it only made sense for his mom to buy one for each of them.
I’m finding it makes a lot of sense to shop with a friend on a regular basis—for starters, it’s a lot more fun! Plus, I have a second opinion on difficult decisions. She’s bound to have a coupon I’m missing or vice versa. And, we both save a lot more money when we share the bargains.
What kind of deals would you share with a friend?
Photo Credit: Pink Sherbet Photography
Annette Campbell says
What kind of deals do I share with my friends? Practically everything! We buy our supplies in bulk and split the cost. We split-own durable equipment and even fashion accessories. We split the cost of some services. We get our ideas from online tools like SplitStuff (http://splitstuff.com).