How to Shop Smarter: Find the Best Deals with Trae Bodge

https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/t8vf2e/Trae_final_-_4_27_21_943_AM7j7l4.mp3

EPISODE SUMMARY:

When it comes to shopping, saving money and finding the right products can be a challenging and often daunting experience. To help make the process easy and officiant, Trae Bodge, a lifestyle journalist, TV commentator, and specialist in smart shopping, uses her expertise to guide consumers towards discounts, deals, and the right purchases. In today’s episode, we sat down with Trae to discuss her business, tips and tricks for shopping. First, we asked Trae how she became a smart shopper, and she told us that originally, she actually owned a beauty company. After leaving the company, she began writing budget-friendly content for various websites before eventually working on her own. When asked how Trae personally finds the best deals when shopping, she said that her most useful tools have been constantly looking for coupons and sales and using websites and browser applications that offer deals. Along with knowing the best products to buy, Trae also knows what NOT to purchase. We asked her how she figures out what products should and should not be bought, and she said it is based on what time of year a person is shopping. For example, she suggests avoiding purchasing jewelry in April because it is likely to be on sale in May. Large appliances and mattresses should not be purchased before May, since they’ll be on sale for Memorial Day, and during the summer, electronics should not be purchased until July, for there are more sales on Amazon Prime Day.

We then asked Trae about how shopping has shifted online during the pandemic, and she told us that while more people are shopping online, she does not think in-person shopping is going to disappear. She has also not noticed a drastic shift in pricing with online shopping vs. in-store shopping. As an expert smart shopper, Trae knows the best, most efficient ways to shop. For grocery shopping, Trae suggested not to ever go grocery shopping when you’re hungry, to make a list of what foods you want before you buy them, and to try grocery shopping phone applications as tools. For shopping in general, she said that everyone should use at least one shopping tool before buying anything. She also mentioned that when buying big appliances, timing is important, and it is better to wait for deals than to buy something impulsively. When asked about the sales during Black Friday, Trae told us that Black Friday really does have some good sales, and that the best categories to shop in during Black Friday are electronics, beauty and apparel. We then asked about tips for purchasing appliances, and Trae said that for kitchen appliances, buying ones that are multi-purpose is a great way to save money. Another way to save money is buy purchasing appliances that are refurbished.

When asked about the concept of open-box, Trae explained that open-box is a system where products that have either been opened for displays or opened and then returned can be resold in good condition for a better, lower price. With summer coming up, April is a big time for shopping, and Trae mentioned that the best products to purchase during the month of April are camping gear, patio furniture, toys and games, and eco-friendly products. Finally, we asked Trae about her media coaching business, One Take Media. Trae told us that the company was started by her and her friend Andrea Woroch after they realized there was a lack of media coaches who were currently on television. Through her coaching, Trae teaches and gives advice for a variety of skills, including setting up home sets for zoom, what anchors are looking for, hair and makeup, and more.

Trae Bodge

Trae Bodge is an accomplished lifestyle journalist and TV commentator who specializes in smart shopping, personal finance, parenting, and retail.

She has appeared on TV hundreds of times, including Good Morning America’s GMA3, NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, Inside Edition, CNBC, and local network affiliates nationwide.

Trae has been named a Top Voice in Retail by LinkedIn and a top personal finance expert by GoBankingRates and Flexjobs. She is a contributor at MSN.com and Millie Magazine for Synchrony, and her writing and expert commentary have appeared in Newsweek, Woman’s Day, Forbes, USNews.com, Kiplinger, Marketwatch, Yahoo Finance, and numerous others.

Trae is co-founder of the media coaching firm, One Take, and the cult cosmetic brand, Three Custom Color Specialists.