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If there’s one thing I love almost as much as my husband, it’s getting a sweet deal on something I was going to buy anyway.

While I’ve always been averse to parting with my paycheck, I’m not the most responsible with my money and I never considered myself frugal until recently. 

But through paying off $78,000 in debt, I know for sure I married the most frugal man I’ve ever met.

There are a lot of ways to save money. Here are some of my favorites:

• Open a high-interest savings account at Axos Bank to get your emergency fund making you money
• Open a Roth IRA at M1 Finance to save a boat-load on taxes in retirement
• Use the free Investment Fee Checker at Personal Capital to make sure you’re not overpaying fees in your IRA and 401(k).
• Shopping through Rakuten when making any purchases online will get you cash-back from virtually any retailer.
• Connect your card to Dosh to get cash back all over the place (no rebate clicking or receipt scanning!)
• Use Blink to save on prescriptions.
• EyeBuyDirect to save on prescription eyewear.
• Energy saving methods like low-flow showerheads to reduce our utility bill.
• ThredUp for nice secondhand clothing at steep discounts from retail.

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But when you’re making big purchases, sometimes you have to pull out the big guns. When Travis introduced me to pawn shops I learned they are the big guns.

Why Should You Choose a Pawn Shop?

I grew up buying everything new. We’d stop at thrift stores every once in a while to look at clothes but I don’t have a long attention span for shopping in the first place so thrift store scavenger hunts were my childhood nightmare.

Pawn shops are different. Everything is easily identifiable, reasonable quality, and negotiable on price. They are the Holy Grail for thrift store averse frugal shoppers.

Some of our favorite things that Travis and I have purchased from Pawn shops are my laptop, an indestructible Bluetooth speaker, a vintage typewriter, workout DVDs, a Chromecast, and dearest to my heart, my engagement ring.

Yes, I did pick out my own engagement ring. I remember it like it was yesterday.

We only went in to look at the styles so I could show him what I liked (because the ideas he was throwing out were reminiscent of bad 80‘s costume jewelry.) When I first laid eyes on it I audibly gasped. It was still too expensive, we had a budget of $800 and it was listed for $1600. So out of my league.

But the jeweler said it’d been in the store for a long time so he took the ring back to the pawnbroker to see what he could do. Minutes later he offered it to us for $800. It was love at first sight, a match made in heaven.

We got it appraised from an independent jeweler when resizing it and he said it was easily worth over $3,000. Now every time someone compliments my ring my response is always “Thank you! I got it at a pawn shop!”

We would’ve never gotten that deal if we hadn’t been strict with our budget. One of the strategies to getting the best deal is to have the power to walk away. Now that I’m an avid pawn shop stopper (stopping for pawn shops whenever I see one) I’m shocked at how few people take advantage of the great deals to be had there.

Pawn shops are a treasure trove for

• Small appliances like KitchenAid stand mixers and fancy blenders
• Household appliances like vacuums, lawnmowers, and electrical hand tools
• Newer model TVs and speakers like Soundbar
• All kinds of jewelry
• Bikes
• Digital cameras
• Musical instruments

Don’t be intimidated by the sketchy reputation of pawn shops. I’ve never felt unsafe in one and I’m usually impressed by the security and organization of their set-ups. So let me demystify this secret weapon for you so you can walk in with those steel-enforced doors with the confidence of a pawn star.

Pick Your Pawn

There are two types of pawn shops: general and specialized.

General pawn shops have a wide variety of general things. Specialized shops have a wide variety of a particular category.

Typically the major types of specializations are gold & jewelry, guns, and electronics. For my ring, we went to a store that specialized in jewelry. They might’ve had some other items but 95% of the shop was jewelry. That meant a way better selection than what we’d seen at any other shop.

If we’re being honest, I wouldn’t buy jewelry or electronics from a shop that didn’t specialize in them. If you’re shopping for small appliances or just browsing then the major pawn retailers like Cash America or Value Pawn are great. For high-value items, you want to make sure you’re getting better quality than a generalized store can offer.

Do a Little Research on the Shop

Google pawn shops in your area and find out their reputations. Read reviews and determine the level of trust you’ll go in there with. A great pawn shop may charge a little more but you’ll feel safer buying high-value items there.

Don’t avoid those seedy little pawn shops though. You can find failsafe items like DVDs and tools there for cheaper than the big guys.

In the same vein, if you know what you want, research new and used prices for the item to make sure you’re getting a good deal or to give you leverage when negotiating. You’ll also want to find out if there are any models that are subpar or prone to defects so you can avoid those.

Since my ring is rose gold, I did a quick search on my phone for rose gold engagement rings. The ring is 10K plated which is common but I learned it was the diamond we were getting the real deal on.

Do Your Homework

Figure out what kind of ring you’re looking for beforehand. There are a lot of things that go into how much a ring costs. 

When pricing diamonds, there are 4 C’s that make up the price. 

Color

The more clear (colorless) the diamond, the more expensive it is. 

Cut

The cut is the shape of the diamond. The most popular cuts are princess, round, cushion, pear, and emerald. The two cheapest cuts of diamonds are asscher and emerald.

Clarity

The clarity is how the light passes through the diamonds. The fewer imperfections, the higher the clarity and therefore the higher the cost. 

Carat

The carat is how big the actual stone is. The bigger the stone, the higher the cost. 

Let’s be real. Unless you’re hanging out with a bunch of jewelry appraisers or diamond experts, no one’s going to get that close to your ring to examine the diamond anyway. So if you want a less expensive color because you want a larger diamond, go for it. 

It’s your ring and you and your partner get to decide what you want. 

You Can Ask for the Appraisal

If you’re going to a pawn shop that specializes in jewelry, they more than likely have an appraiser on staff or at least on standby. 

Ask them for proof of the appraisal. This will tell you exactly how much the ring is worth and that will help you with negotiations. 

Lower Your Out of Pocket Costs

If you have some things lying around the house you no longer use, you can sell them to the pawn shop to lower the out-of-pocket cost of your ring. 

You can use it as an excuse to do a quick declutter and find some things that might be worth some money to the pawn shop. 

If you’re going to a pawn shop that specializes in jewelry and you’re selling other things, you can sell them to another pawn shop or even on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist. 

Pay With Cash

You have more negotiating power when you pay with cash. This doesn’t work at every pawn shop but it works at a lot of them, even the big name shops.

When we got my ring the pawn shop included tax in the $800 if we paid with cash and I was able to get our Bluetooth speaker down $10 when I offered to pay with cash.

When you use your card (either debit or credit) at a store, they have to pay a service fee to their card processor. Using cash saves them money, so they pass on some of that savings to you. 

Don’t be Afraid to Negotiate

In instances where I can’t get them to go down on price with cash, I’ll ask them to throw in something small for free. It’s usually a small tool or lug nut that Travis has been eyeing. Negotiating like this usually works.

Approach them like you’re just going get the smaller item but you’ll get the more expensive item if they throw in the little thing for free. Or if you negotiated and pricier item and they won’t budge, walk away and look for something small then say you’ll take their price if they throw in your new found item for free.

In the case of my ring, we were firm on our budget, we were upfront with them that there was no way we were going to pay more. I didn’t even ask them to come down on the price because I didn’t think they’d take half off but because we were firm and the ring had been there a while we got the deal of the century.

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Be Aware of the Return Policy

Pawn shops may or may not have a return policy. If you’re on the fence about something then a 14-day return policy could make or break your decision to buy. 

Don’t be that person who tries to return a broken TV only to find out the policy excludes electronics. Do your research.

Try Online

I haven’t personally tried online pawnshops yet but, like everything with online shopping, I hear it’s a growing trend. You have the ability to shop and barter just like a real store but you don’t have to drive to the sketchy part of town to do it. I’d love to hear experience from people who’ve tried this.

I never get tired of looking at my engagement ring. It doesn’t bother me one bit that somebody else may have worn it before me because it’s mine now! And best of all, we got a great deal. 😉

More Ways to Save Money

This is just one of the ways we saved money when we were paying off $78K of debt in two years. Some ways you can save include:

• Open a high-interest savings account at Axos Bank to get your emergency fund making you money
• Open a Roth IRA at M1 Finance to save a boat-load on taxes in retirement
• Use the free Investment Fee Checker at Personal Capital to make sure you’re not overpaying fees in your IRA and 401(k).
• Shopping through Rakuten when making any purchases online will get you cash-back from virtually any retailer.
• Connect your card to Dosh to get cash back all over the place (no rebate clicking or receipt scanning!)
• Use Blink to save on prescriptions.
• EyeBuyDirect to save on prescription eyewear.
• Energy saving methods like low-flow showerheads to reduce our utility bill.
• ThredUp for nice secondhand clothing at steep discounts from retail.

There are so many ways to save money on things you need. You just have to get a little creative!