HOW TO BEAT PRICES TO MEET EXPENSES The prices of all the items are increasing everyday. The income is not increasing in the same proportion. The average middle class family is finding difficult to meet the expenses. Any body who is an honest person and does not take bribe, has to find out some ways to reduce the expenses.
Flea Market or weekly Bazaar is one of the best answer. In India Every city has a system of weekly bazzar. It is known by the name of the weekday bazzar. For example the market on Tuesday is known as Mangal Bazzar. This can be seen in almost every city. But in the big cities it is organised in different colonies.
Those small businessmen who can not afford a shop of their own take part in these Flea markets. They contact the producers of different products of daily use . They get all the items at a much lower cost. Because they do not pay any taxes on the produce. They do not have to pay transport, sales tax, VAT. They have no expense of hiring the place. There is no cost of electricity, water, security, maintenance etc.
When you buy any household item , fruit, vegetable, plastic item, cloth, garment, furnishings, utensil, furniture, gift item, they may not have an expensive packaging. You can see and examine the product. moreover their is no middle man .
M y personal experience of these markets, bazaars is that I pay 40 to 60 percent less for all my daily needs .So if my monthly household expense is Rs 4000pm ,I save Rs1500 by shopping at the flea market or bazaar.
The most interesting part of these markets is that you can land up with rare, antique items
in the market. That too at a throwaway price. I found a copy of a book costing Rs1150 for Rs75 only. I found some rare music LP records of my favorite classical singer. You can age old coins etc. also. So shopping at the flea Markets is a very beneficial financially.