How to Shop Smarter in 2026

Our columnist’s favorite money-saving hacks for the new year

Lisa Lee Freeman,

AARP

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Published January 14, 2026

a woman holds a smartphone while shopping for various coffee machines

Lisa Lee Freeman has reported on hundreds of tips to shop smarter and save money. Here are some of her favorites.

Tara Jacoby

In the more than 50 Live Well for Less columns I’ve written over the past six years, I’ve reported on hundreds of tips to shop smarter and save money. So to kick off the year, I decided to sift through all the tips I’ve shared and compile a greatest-hits list. These are some of my favorites.

1. Ask a chatbot

Need help haggling for a car? Trying to figure out which earbuds are a better value? Check with Gemini, Perplexity or another AI assistant. Or try out Google’s new AI Mode: Ask it a shopping question and get a range of results. Just be sure to verify chatbot info with a trusted source.

2. Take a picture

Use the visual search feature on Google, eBay and Amazon apps to find deals on just about anything you see in a store or anywhere else. On your smartphone, tap on the little camera icon in the app’s search bar and take a photo of an item; up will pop multiple options of where to buy it, along with prices charged. Using visual search, I’ve gotten myself great buys on shoes, furniture and even plants.

3. Buy food before it’s gone

For extreme food savings, it’s tough to beat what’s known as salvage food: cosmetically flawed produce, food with damaged or outdated packaging, products nearing their expiration date, and surplus from local restaurants, markets, bakeries and other retailers that would otherwise get tossed. Find salvage food through apps like Too Good To Go and Flashfood, chains like Grocery Outlet, and sites like Misfits Market and Imperfect Foods. The website buysalvagefood.com has a list of some sellers.

4. Don’t buy new

More and more retailers are offering used products. Almost anything you want can be purchased for a lot less if you shop secondhand, open box and/or refurbished. Just be sure to buy from a reputable seller and opt for certified pre-owned appliances and electronics. I recently bought a refurbished mixer from the manufacturer’s website for less than half the price of a new one. And it looks brand new!

5. Try store brands

Did you know that they can cut prices in half or even more? In a drugstore price check, I found that I could save up to 78 percent with store-brand over-the-counter drugs and toiletries. Doing the math finally helped me break a bad habit of automatically reaching for brand-name pain relievers, body lotion and other drugstore items. A recent price comparison at Aldi and Lidl turned up eye-popping savings on store-brand groceries. In related news, Amazon recently launched a new private-label brand called Amazon Grocery, with most items priced under $5.

6. Shop with reading glasses and a calculator

Comparing unit prices of similar items at a store is often difficult because of hard-to-read tags and inconsistent measurement systems. But last spring, I made some surprising discoveries when I examined labels closely and did the math to find the unit price (simply divide an item’s price by the number of ounces or other unit of measure in the container): Smaller sizes are sometimes cheaper per unit than larger ones, buying bags of produce instead of individual veggies and fruits can save you 50 percent or more, and purchasing whole chickens instead of chicken parts can save you up to 70 percent.

7. Use price-tracking alerts

Sign up for them through browser add-ons like PayPal Honey, the Camelizer and BigBangPrice so you can buy merchandise at the lowest price possible. For travel, get alerts on price drops at Google Flights or on apps like Hopper and Skyscanner.

8. Snap up unique products

Maker marketplaces like Etsy and Amazon Handmade are great places to find inexpensive and unique gifts, clothing and accessories, and they can even save you money on household basics such as glassware, holiday decorations and garden supplies. (You can also find handcrafted items on eBay.) I’ve purchased computer cases, sweaters, gloves, leather goods and a lot more from these sites.

9. Investigate sellers

More and more items on large retail sites are sold by third parties — a trend that raises the chances you’ll encounter shoddy merchandise, counterfeit goods or poor customer service. So check user reviews and return policies. And to avoid difficulties with any returns, favor items shipped from the retailer hosting the marketplace.

10. Get something for nothing

I can’t possibly end a greatest-hits list without mentioning freebies! Sites and apps like Facebook Marketplace (sort by “free stuff”), Buy Nothing, Freecycle, OfferUp and Nextdoor are loaded with them. You can find furniture, firewood, garden tools and all kinds of other goods.

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