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| The Basics | 6 ways to make bargain-hunting pay off
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Draining time and energy
California Concierge runs errands, shops for gifts and serves as a personal assistant for anything time-consuming. Hamersky's customers are people whose time is very precious, whether they are CEOs or new mothers bonding with babies.
"They can be at work working with their clients, making a sale, or spending time with their family or their leisure activities that only they can do," she says. "It's about prioritizing."
The key, in the case of hiring out the errands, is to be in a certain income bracket. It may not make sense to pay someone $39 an hour when you clearly can't afford it, but that doesn't mean your time doesn't have a dollar value.
It's easy to look at the world as a balance sheet of expenses, says Rosemary Senjem, a business development consultant in Minnesota. She says people need to learn to look at their energy as a resource just as finite as their bank account.
When people look at the list of things they have to do, whether it is setting up a business or planning the weekend, they tend to only see parts that are highlighted by money. Senjem, owner of the company Hand Spun Digital, says she works with entrepreneurs to help them assign values to tasks based on the toll it takes on their energy, not just the dollar drain.
"The sorting and purging process is very important," she says. "We get confused because we think money is the only measure."
Yvonne Mancini lives in southern Washington, but she regularly crosses into the sales-tax-free state of Oregon to buy clothing or to make a big monthly trip to Costco. Because she lives close to the border and works in Portland, Ore., the trip is short. But sometimes, so are the savings.
"I guess sometimes it's a trade-off of gas for sales tax," she says.
She will get "twisted up about it" and go to 15 different stores to be sure she is getting the best deal possible. Her husband, Jim Moody, says he just doesn't understand it. He heads straight for the place he knows will have the part, shoes or food he is looking for and doesn't look back.
"If it's 50 cents more or 50 cents less, I am not going to get in my car and go all over," he says.
Mancini is willing to invest the time, but if she is busy with work or if a gift-giving event comes up, she often falls back on what is most convenient.
The best time-savings comes in the form of heading to stores she knows will have the best deals. Nordstrom Rack and Ross Dress for Less are her stores of choice.
"I know I don't have to go hunting for a bargain. I know it's a good deal," she says.
Would you rather spend your time elsewhere?
The caveats about bargain-shopping don't apply to everyone: Some people enjoy the thrill of the hunt.
Hamersky says there are bargain-hunters that love getting a deal and don't mind the time involved. "It's a kind of leisure activity," she says.
Mancini is one of those people. She enjoys estate sales and talking with friends about the bargains she found. "That's trophy hunting," she says.
For most people, though, time spent hunting the aisles with clipped coupons and four newspaper advertisements is time that could be spent elsewhere.
"In the overall scheme of life," Hamersky says. "What's better? To spend time with your family or do something you really enjoy doing -- or to save two bucks?"
By Gretchen Macchiarella
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MSN Money's editorial goal is to provide a forum for personal finance and investment ideas. Our articles, columns, message board posts and other features should not be construed as investment advice, nor does their appearance imply an endorsement by Microsoft of any specific security or trading strategy. An investor's best course of action must be based on individual circumstances.
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