I don’t like spending more than I have to. There are a few things I rarely, if ever, buy in the shops because I can almost always get the same thing cheaper elsewhere. Here are a few of the things that I find it most worthwhile to avoid getting over the counter.
Accessories for Electronics
This holds true for a lot of things, but for me there are two examples that leap to mind: removable storage and phone cases. Supposing you have just bought a new phone. The shop offers you a nice case to go with it and protect it from bumps, scratches and scrapes. Sounds like a good idea doesn’t it? Or suppose you have just bought a new camera, media player, or indeed a phone – anything that you may want to buy an SD card for. The shop offers you one there and then, and since you’ll need it anyway there’s no reason not to buy it. Right?
Well if you really need that accessory right away then it’s fair enough. But if you can wait a day or two, you will find that the prices for the same items or equivalent quality are much, much lower online. The shops know that most people will decide they need the item, so they mark up the prices a lot because they know most people will pay them. One word of warning about SD cards though; buy from reliable retailers such as Amazon to avoid low-quality or even counterfeit cards.
Hayfever Tablets
I suffer from terrible hayfever. I wouldn’t make it through the summer without a daily dose of allergy medicine. But I gave up buying hayfever tablets from chemists and supermarkets long ago. This one might surprise you, but I have found it much, much cheaper to get this medicine online. I usually manage to pay less for a month’s supply than most shops charge for a week’s worth of tablets.
A lot of people might be reluctant to buy medicine online. This is understandable, and it is certainly wise to exercise a bit of caution. But, as they are an over-the-counter, non-prescribed medicine it is entirely legal to buy hayfever pills over the internet – though some sellers may require a few very basic details to be reviewed by a pharmacist before they dispatch the pills. What’s more as long as you use a trustworthy seller it is entirely safe. There are a few reputable online pharmacies, with some even able to fill prescriptions. When hayfever season starts, six-month or one-year supplies of hayfever tablets also tend to pop up at bargain prices on daily deal sites like Groupon and Wowcher.
