Why we Always ASK

Tips on saving money at retail stores and grocery stores and why we always ask at the register to get coupons and deals that the employees know about.

We are sure we are like most mothers, in a hurry! We want the best for our kids, try to save money, sometimes find it hard to speak up when we want something. That is why we always ask. Over the years we learned that our husband was right about one thing. (we know Gasp!). He says you don't G-E-T unless you A-S-K.

It always worked well for him in his line of business, and should for us too he said.

Well, after hearing this over and over when we complained about something not being fair, overpaying, or not getting what we wanted at the end of the day we gave it a try. Years later we give the same advice to others..”you don't G-E-T unless you A-S-K!” Here is what we mean..

When you are at a retail store do you always have a coupon before walking in??? You might, but maybe not. Most of the time we don't walk into a retail location whether it be a Kohl's, Target, or somewhere in the mall if we don't have a coupon.

There are times when new socks and essentials are needed and we do go in empty handed (Gasp! again). We always start shopping in the clearance section. Then we move on to the other aisles if we don't find what we need.

Once you reach the register ALWAYS A-S-K for a coupon….seriously!! Here is how it goes generally: “Hello, how are you today?” Me: “Well thank you” (rings up all items) Me: “we couldn't find a coupon today, do you have one for us to use today?” (usually is taken back a bit, sure most people don't ask)

• “Well yes we have this ……% off coupon you could use” Me: “That would be great thank you!” THAT is how it is done! We would say that 90% of the time we've done this we have received a coupon of some sort to save us a % off our entire bill for that transaction. Now we can get more of our favorite things.

The same holds true at grocery stores, yet in a slightly different way. The way to save money at the grocery store by asking is at the register. The key is to Pay Attention to the screen! My biggest suggestion is to shop without your kids, if possible, use coupon tipsand always buy items on sale on top of that (post here about that).

The next biggest component to saving money at the grocery store is to pay attention to the prices while you're shopping and verify that the correct price comes up on the register screen. If your vitamins differ from what you remember then A-S-K the clerk to check.

• MANY times we have caught big errors when they are scanning our items. Once we had bacon come up as $6.49 when it was in a bin clearly marked on sale for $1.99 & we grabbed 3. If we hadn't caught that error we would have overpaid by almost $15.00 on our total bill!

Sometimes it is a sale item that isn't coming up with the sale price. Sometimes it is an item that looked like it was on sale but the item next to it was the one on sale. Either way it takes you to catch the error and speak up.

This is why we always ask! * TRY IT * Hopefully this will be a smart way to save money for you too! If you do this with your kids, they will learn to do it too. Have discussions with them about the money saving apps you use and how saving pennies will help them when they're older.