Top Ten Ways to Save Money
For Pet Bird Owners
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DIY Toys
- You don't have to be an expert craftsman or good with tools to make your own toys. Some DIY projects require no tools and can save you big bucks. Spending $1.00 on a DIY toy to make a toy that you would spend $10.00 on is not unheard of.
In fact, the savings are so great, there are online classes and web sites dedicated to making your own toys. Here are two of Kibibi's favorite resources for DIY toys.
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Shop Around For Toys
- Shop around for toys online. You'll be amazed at how much the prices vary for parrot toys. One of Kibibi's favorite toys is the Large Spiked Pinatas Bird Toy which can be found at just about any store. Here's what I found during my search today [Aug 24, 2008].
Of course this is a sample taken on one day but do some comparison shopping on your own and you'll find the same variation.
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Purchase Large Quantities
- Nearly all online stores offer free shipping if you spend more than a defined limit. This limit varies from store to store and is usually between $50 and $100.
Make sure you take advantage of this even if you have to save your money for several months. Toys don't go bad so purchasing several months in advance will save you a lot of shipping charges.
And if you're thinking, "I can't afford to do that!" then you would be incorrect. In the long run you'll actually SAVE money. The only hard part is saving the money for the initial purchase.
After you make a purchase just start a Toy Money Jar and put money in it each week. Then continue saving until you've saved enough to make a large purchase to earn free shipping. Here's how you save.
If you purchase toys twice a month for three months and spend $5.00 shipping each time then that adds up to $30.00 in just shipping costs for that three months. But, if you save up the money for three months, buy one large shipment then you'll pay NOTHING for shipping and save $30.00!
That's three or four more toys that you could have purchased.
If your store doesn't offer free shipping then ask for it. Most stores will be willing to offer you free shipping on a large order if you ask. Take advantage of No Shipping Costs deals and your pocket book will thank you and your pet bird will thank you!
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Shop Around for Food Online
- The cost of food for pet birds may not add up to more than the cost of toys but it quickly adds up. Kibibi's favorite pellet food is Harrison's Adult Lifetime Coarse 5 Lb which is one of the more expensive pellet foods.
I've found that considerable savings can be found by shopping around online. Here's what a quick search found today [Aug 24, 2008].
If you don't mind spending an additional $6.49 then don't bother to shop around. But Kibibi would much rather spend these savings on another toy instead of over paying for food.
"But Wait! Those must be specials of the day prices!" you say. Nope, all of these are regular prices but they do change periodically. So just because one store is the cheapest this time you purchase food, don't expect it the next time.
Do a quick search each time you purchase food to ensure that you're getting the best price available.
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Purchase Food in Larger Quantities
- Purchasing food in larger quantities can save you big money too! I'm not talking about buying 25 lbs of food either! I'm talking about buying 5 lbs instead of 1 lb bags. Let's take another look at Kibibi's favorite food - Harrison's Adult Lifetime Coarse.
How much would she save if she bought a 5 lb bag instead of five 1 lb bags? Here are the savings using the same search results from the sites above (08-24-2008).
THOSE ARE SAVINGS! Of course buying larger quantities may not be possible depending on how much your bird eats, how long the bird food stays fresh, wether it can be preserved (frozen), etc etc. But if you can take advantage of this savings, then you can't afford not to!
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Learn From Others
- Join online forums to learn how others are saving money. Online forums are full of experienced people eager to share their methods for saving money. Some of these experienced bird owners have been saving money for a long time and have it down to a science! Here are five of Kibibi's Favorite Forums that are full of helpful people and a lot of helpful hints and tips for saving you money on pet bird supplies!
What are you waiting for? Join up and let the savings begin! Who knows? You might even meet some interesting and fun people while you're at it!
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Purchase Toys Online
- Don't get tricked into buying toys at your local retail store. Their prices are way too high! "Brick and Mortar" stores are typically more expensive than your online stores. They have additional costs and overhead that online stores don't have so they HAVE to charge your more! "But they're so convenient!", you say. Actually they're not as convenient as ordering online. Order online, and it's delivered to your door! It doesn't get easier than that! And if you've read the other ways to save (listed above) then you already know that shipping is FREE!
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Make Your Own Food and Treats
- You don't have to be an Iron Chef to make your own pet bird food and treats. Heck, your parrot is less likely to complain about your bad cooking skills than your friends and family. In fact, your parrot will probably thank you. There are plenty of sites on the internet to get ideas for recipes. Here's are a couple of Kibibi's favorite pet bird recipe resources.
And don't forget to use the online forums listed above to also get recipes. You did join them right? No? What are you waiting on? Most of them have entire sections dedicated just to recipes.
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Avoid the Gimmicks
- There is always a new gimmick or product that hits the market. Some of them sound fantastic. But if you think about them, they're not all they're pumped up to be. Here's an example for a product that's been around for a while. It's called many things such as Bird Cage Liners or Bird Cage Paper.
Don't get fooled into spending way too much money for something that you can do without.
Regular recycled newspaper works just as well as these products and it costs you nothing! Even if you don't receive a daily newspaper, all you have to do is stop at the local grocery store or newstand for free papers. There are always free local newspapers at these stands!
Or you can ask others to save their newspapers for you. That way, not only are you saving yourself money, you're also recycling paper which saves the environment.
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Recycle Old Toy Parts
- Some toys have a lifetime of mere minutes. If your parrot is anything like Kibibi, she'll destroy a toy in record time. But one thing I've noticed, she'll get bored with the toy before it's completely shredded. This gives me another opportunity to save. I'll remove a toy after she's bored with it, clean it, let it dry and toss it into a large box.
Eventually I'll have a collection of toy parts that are ready to be resurrected A lot of the parts can be reused such as the rope, leather, beads, etc. It just takes a few recycled toys to make a completely new toy. Your parrot will think it's a completely new toy and it cost you absolutely NOTHING! I won't tell if you don't.
Saving money on pet parrot food, toys and supplies is a never ending battle for pet bird owners. I hope that you find these tips for saving money useful and hopefully they'll ignite your creative side to come up with even more ways to save money. Let me know if you come up with any other great ideas.
This article may be republished to any media source including webpages, news papers or any other print medium in its unaltered entirety as long as the byline below is included.
This article was originally published on www.InfoSuperFlyway.com. The InfoSuperFlyway website is dedicated to Kibibi the talking African Grey Parrot (Congo African Grey) with sights, sounds, audio, videos, articles, top ten lists, parrot jokes, parrot humor, and Clicker training info! Original Article Source: Top Ten Ways For Pet Bird Owners to Save Money
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