Friday, October 7, 2011

The Hidden Cost of Cheap Redbox Kiosk Video Rentals

One of the best entertainment deals around is the cheap video rental available at Redbox video kiosks. These red kiosks are sprouting up at supermarkets everywhere. The kiosks allow you to rent popular and new release videos for the super low price of a day. 

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If you use the internet you can easily locate coupon codes that allow you to obtain free video rentals. Easier yet, sign up at the Redbox website and Redbox will text message you with coupon codes for free Monday and Wednesday video rentals.  

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I have to admit that I've become a Redbox addict. Who can resist free videos? Yet behind the super low prices for video rentals, there lies a hidden cost that few of us are aware of. 

When you rent a video from a Redbox kiosk you have to return it. Sounds quite obvious - but here's the trap.   Since Redbox kiosks are located at supermarkets, returning your video requires a return trip to the grocery store.

Financial experts know that the first rule to dramatically cutting your grocery costs is reducing the number of trips you make to the supermarket. Each and every time you set foot in the supermarket you're at the mercy of the multitude of budget traps designed by supermarkets after decades of studying our shopping behavior.  

Supermarkets are so effective that studies indicate between 40% to 60% of our grocery store purchases are impulse buys - things we had no intention of buying when we set foot inside the store. This explains why you can never go into a grocery store to buy a few items without coming out with a cart full of groceries.  The more trips you make to the supermarket, the more impulse purchases you're likely to make - and the more your grocery budget is likely to suffer. 

The supermarket's goal, therefore, is to get you into their store as much as possible. They rely on a multitude of tactics to accomplish this including actively promoting "loss leaders" - these are common household grocery items offered at a super low price. The "loss leader" lures you into the store where you'll buy more expensive impulse purchases. 

In this way, cheap Redbox videos have become a new "loss leader" - these cheap video rentals get you into the supermarket.  When you return your Redbox video the temptation to pick up a few more things in the grocery store is great and the supermarket once again has a golden opportunity to entice you with impulse purchases. 

So should you give up your cheap or free Redbox video rental for the sake of keeping your grocery budget intact? Absolutely not.  Remember the supermarket wants you to hang around and shop for a while. Go ahead enjoy your cheap video entertainment but just resist the temptation to do extra shopping after you've returned your video.  

For more information on how to save at your local grocery store and avoid supermarket traps, visit our blog at www.paylessforfood.com.

The Hidden Cost of Cheap Redbox Kiosk Video Rentals

Charlie Peters is a blogger at PayLessForFood.com where you can learn easy ways to dramatically cut your grocery bill.

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