Immediately won, money seems to have the curious faculty of volatilization. The grocery store, the appointment at the massage therapist or the purchase of a pair of jeans cleverly holes for your teenager are undoubtedly for something. Even worse: the quality of the products is not always at the rendezvous against the dollars invested.
However, how can we mitigate our capital flight or make sure that our acquisitions are worth their weight in nickel, steel, and copper? Considering alternative ways to “buy”. Here are just a few.8 smart ways to shop differently in Montreal
1. Directly from the farm
If organic fruits and vegetables are part of your current consumption, you will probably gain registration to the Equiterre Family Farmers network. Choose your farmer from the interactive map, choose the size of the basket that suits you and, each week, and collect your purchase at the designated drop-off point (there are several hundred in Quebec).
To do business directly with the producer, without intermediary, is to ensure the fairest price; your basket is cheaper than if you were buying the same products in the supermarket’s organic section.
2. Follow the garage sales track
Summer is the season of garage sales. You can find just about everything, for a fraction of the cost of the new. Of course, you have to be patient before you hit the coveted item. Be systematic when planning your treasure hunts using online store sales calendars or neighborhood newspaper ads. Optimize your results by adopting these tricks.
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3. The strength of numbers: purchasing groups
By joining, members of a purchasing group can deal directly with wholesalers and producers, and thus benefit from very advantageous prices. Such initiatives can be found in several regions of Quebec, which adopt a variety of formulas: organic bulk purchasing groups, purchasing groups based on the exchange of services, or membership of a cooperative, (insurance, telecommunications, paint, hardware, etc.).
4. Wholesalers open to all
Most wholesalers only open their doors to retailers. A more or less well-kept secret, some of them still accept to offer their goods at the “wholesale price” to the public. This is the case of several food wholesalers, such as the Mayrand Resto-Depot, Sami Fruits or Aubut Food Distribution.
You can also buy cheap Mat & Max hair care products, everything you need for massages (and acupuncture, if you do the art of the needle) to the Lier shop, accessories and electronic components at Addison or items to make the popote at Ares Cuisine.
5. Resale Textbook Platform
Long live education! Yes, but far from being free, it requires many resources – let us just think of the book of lecture books that, at every session, burdens the budget of more than one. We were not going to ignore the Meslivres.ca platform, which facilitates the resale of high school, CEGEP and university books. Brilliant.
6. The trick is bartering
Your Elvis statue could turn into a camping chair thanks to the magic of bartering. To do this, join an existing network – there are several on Facebook, including Troquer c’est grants, for the Montreal region – or participate in an activity organized by Troc Tips. Sports enthusiasts will be able to swap their boards at the Archive Shop swap or their outdoor equipment at the Cordee’s annual event.
7. Group shopping sites
There are many commercial platforms to take advantage of attractive discounts on goods and services through bundling. Using volume as leverage, companies such as Groupon, Tuango or Urban Life (to name a few) negotiate limited-time preferential offers with merchants and then promote them to their members (expect to receive a lot of emails!).
There is everything from massage therapy services to gym subscriptions, to the “perfect” gift for Valentine’s Day for her darling. Be an informed consumer by reading these helpful tips.
8. Packing!
Economical, ecological, the bull market is booming. The offer is varied, ranging from dry foods at Merci Foods to fresh grocery products at Loco Grocery, to SAQ bulk wine, housekeeping products at Maison Econet, or food (and more) to Bulkbarn stores.