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5 Steps on How to Save Money on Consumer Electronics

For salaried people, one of the major challenges facing spending decisions concerns consumer electronics. This includes highly desirable electronic products such as cellphones, tablets, laptops, LCD TV and others. 

They are so highly sought after that buying decisions are more emotional than logical. That’s why it’s so important to know how we can save from spending on them. These items are pretty expensive and buying them without much thinking can lead to budget shortfalls. 

We Are Victims without Knowing It

It’s not hard to imagine why this is the case. Ours is a society that encourages spending through a constant barrage of advertising materials that lures us to buy the latest gadgets. Everyone covets the latest products from Apple or Samsung. Many think that having the best smartphone will make them really happy. They see the advertised features of the product. They are amazed by the amount of tricks it can do. They salivate when they see one and wished with all their hearts that they can have one too.

It’s therefore not an easy task to save money from consumer electronics. Most of the time, they are the reason we lose money. We spend without realizing it wasn’t the best deal or that we didn’t really need the item. Wanting something is a lot different from needing it.

Step#1: Influence Your Own Behavior

The first step to save money on consumer electronics therefore is just a deep self-examination. Analyze your spending behavior with regards these things so that you may be able to effectively change it for the better. We should realize situations where we are more inclined to make wrong buying decisions and do something to counter them. 

For example, if having money in your savings account always tricks you into thinking that you have money to buy a new gadget, put your money somewhere else. Some place where you can’t immediately withdraw them even if you wanted to.

Acknowledging our weakness in this regard enables us to act so that we can protect our finances from ourselves.

Step#2: Create a Budget and Stick to it

The second thing is to plan your spending wisely by doing a budget that includes expenses on consumer electronics. Stick to this budget as much as possible. Avoid going to the mall during a sale to look at gadgets that might be on discount if you don’t need them. 

Same is true for group buying sites. If you don’t have a need, don’t tempt yourself into buying by browsing every deal there is. It will trick you into thinking you saved money when you didn’t even need to spend in the first place. 

Step#3: Research

Thirdly, if you really have planned an expense to buy electronic items, be sure to do the appropriate amount of research to make sure you’re buying at the best price available. The internet is a rich world of information that can help you with this. There’s no excuse. 

Step#4: Be a Late Adopter

Fourth, you will save a lot of money by shedding the desire to always own the latest gadgets. We all know that these devices are really expensive when they come out but their price quickly goes down afterwards. People who buy the latest and greatest models are the ones who pay the premium. 

If you’re not rich, it’s not the way to behave. Buy a model that does the job even if it came out a year ago. It’s guaranteed to give you a lot of savings without sacrificing functionality. If it was a cellphone or a laptop you need, I’m sure a previous model will still be as functional as the newer versions.

Step#5: Buy Second Hand

Lastly, hunt for good second hand consumer electronics. We always want to have a brand new device but we don’t always need to. Even one that’s a couple of months old is considerably cheaper that you will save a lot from it. 

There are sites such as sulit.com.ph, ebay.ph and ayosdito.ph that you can use to seek good second hand consumer electronics. Just make sure you deal with good sellers by looking at their reviews and always take care when transacting with them to protect yourself from scammers.