I personally don’t know many, so that’s why I’m asking. The most obvious example would in my opinion be to go to the supermarket at a time when many products are available at 半額.
I also usually buy tickets at the those dedicated ticket vendors or at Mercari.
Recently I bought some nice clothes at an outlet for a good price, but that’s about it. What can you recommend?
Edit:
Thank you for all the amazing answers.
Here is a first summery of your advice (I will probably check again one more time)
– If you know/ work with older people, there is a high chance that you will receive free food someone grew or made themselves (reading that many people make this experience made me really happy and I think it’s a nice part of this society)
– Instead of going to a random supermarket, try to buy your stuff in so called Gyomu Supermarkets (業務スーパー) to get it much cheaper
– Buy gift cards you can use like normal cash again (without any loss) at department stores to be able to use their parking space for free
– Buy stocks from companies which offer discounts for their products in return (Google for “株主優待”
– If you are paying tax, you might be able to get locally produced goods i exchange (Google for ふるさと納税)
– Use second hand shops (I think the second hand culture in Japan is another nice aspect of this society)
– Make use of credit card points. There are many different companies such as Rakuten or Amazon which offer point systems
37 comments
This probably doesn’t apply to the city but the cheapest way to get fresh vegetables is to know /be related to /work with older people. Chances are they know someone who grows stuff, or does so themself and almost always brings their crops in to give away to everyone. I haven’t paid for rice, shallots, renkon, daikon, cabage, or garlic in years. My wife works at a woman’s gym and the old ladies there are also always giving us tons of vegetables. The other week I got about 5 pounds of potatoes.
I always use [https://mvtk.jp/](https://mvtk.jp/) to buy movie tickets ahead of time, save me 400 yen per ticket.
Grow my own onions.
For groceries, change from a normal supermarket to a gyomu super.
Also for veggies and fruits, if you live in inaka, shopping at any of the 直売 shops of JA Group is the key.
For household items in general, Daiso, Seria and Donki will always be your friends.
Recycle shops
If you rarely use public transportation (young kids), there is a way to get free parking, even in Tokyo where a day at most parking lots cost over ¥3,000.
Park at a department store. Of course you can go shopping and get free parking thusly, but you can also buy gift cards there, which spend just like cash. So buy ¥5,000 of gift cards and use them whenever you like. Even better I’d you use a credit card and collect the miles.
Use a greengrocer’s instead of the supermarket. You can cut your fruit and veg bill by a quarter to a half by doing this.
People are giving a lot of good advice. For going out, I always look for good 飲み放題. Can save you some good money if the deal is right.
I’m collecting points and bulk buying when things get into discount. I recommend amazon fresh as well. Some items are really cheap, you can collect a lot of points on point campaigns. ( I collected around 15000¥ from Amazon and 15000¥ from local supermarket) .
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R points from Rakuten. They are affiliated with so many stores and companies in Japan that getting points is so easy. If you have the Rakuten Ichiba app, you can activate bonus point multipliers for using your Rakuten credit card. On top of that, you can “invest” these points to make them grow even more. It’s not saving individually on a product per se, but over time it’s free money.
Otherwise, buying clothes online out of season is a great way to save money if you know what you’re looking for. Many companies have overstock that they price lower to get rid of inventory. If you’re willing to wear anything not black, white, grey, neutral – this kind of overstock is usually discounted even more, especially very bright or “stand out” colours.
I don’t buy stuff I don’t really need
Sometimes there are farm direct markets. Not sure if there is any in your area.
If you live in Osaka, especially the southern part, there’s lots of cheap supermarkets. Around me, I have Yaohiko (I’m close to Nara), Mandai, and Sundy. Food at those places, esepcially Sundy, is waaaayyyyy cheaper than regular supermarkets like Aeon or Life. Life is actually the “fancy” supermarket in my town lol. Went to Sundy yesterday and got a steak big enough for 2 people for around 600 yen and a bag of potatoes for 100 yen. I only go to the regular supermarkets like Life for specialty stuff that I can’t get at the discount grocery stores these days.
Also, in general around here, the more run down and creepy the store looks, the greater the discounts. We have a drugstore like that too.
Buying stock in certain companies will get you discounts or free stuff- most common is probably Aeon, which gives you 3% cashback on everything if you have any stock at all, and then the percentage goes up the more stock you buy.
Many other companies also offer discounts to shareholders. Often the shareholders don’t need them and sell them on Mercari or wherever. So you can get, say, 30% off ¥10k Asics shoes for 1k on Mercari or something. Search 株主優待
I love to buy rice using ふるさと納税, it’s something you usually end up buying anyway. so why not take advantage of the tax credit.
Just get comfy with some old folks. Rice, vegetables, and seasonal fruits galore. Can’t remember the last time I bought rice. My wife just gets refills from her grandmother every time we run out.
Eat less beef and more chicken.
It’s cheaper and with a smaller carbon footprint.
Furusato Nozei for produce and other food items
although the forms can be a bit of a burden
Foreign Luxury cars (NOT SUVS) depreciate like mad in Japan 3-5 year old cars drop 60-70%. Great deals to be had!
I don’t recommend getting hurt/disabled, but if you do become handicapped, get a handicapped card. If you already are handicapped, work with your doctor to get the card. I have met a couple foreigners who live here and have preexisting conditions that would qualify them for it, but didn’t know they could apply/receive it.
Depending on your level of handicap the benefits change, but, for me, reduced taxes, reduction on some utilities, changes in pension plan, free entry to most temples/shrines, reduced entry fee for most amusement parks/zoos/aquariums/museums/gardens/etc, easier access to rides in Disney, reduction in movie ticket prices, choice of free taxi tickets for my prefecture or bus rides, reduction on train fares if traveling with a companion, reduction in hospital/doctor/dental payments, reduction in medicine payment, parking card for car, etc…
On top of the good advice you got for everyday stuff :
– Buying expensive stuff second hand can save you a ton. From baby gear to washing machine to sofa to cars, there are some great deal to have with well-maintained few-years-old items for half price or even less. If buying new, check kakaku.com
– Understanding your taxes and what reductions you can claim (and filling your own tax return), understand why ideco/DC plan/NISA is kind of free money, and most importantly investing your money will make a major difference over time. Head to r/JapanFinance wiki investment page for those topics.
Imho, if you save on your groceries and save every month religiously, but do not do the investment part, on the long term you are wasting away most of your efforts. ‘Penny wise and pound foolish’ as they say.
I browse Amazon now and again for deals.
Always buy toothpaste, drinks, laundry detergent and stuff like that on there.
Not like I save a ton but last month I saved about 10.000 yen compared to buying the stuff I needed in the supermarket.
My wife is into points and campaigns. Seems like in Japan there’s a point card for every letter of the alphabet! She’ll shop on certain days when points are doubled or tripled. It seems like everywhere we go she’s able to pay with points of some kind. I don’t know how she does it. I still find it mysterious.
I steal one out of 10 purchases for an average 10% discount.
I have reduced the quality of my drink from ozeki one cup to the no name stuff that comes in 5L plastic bottles. You can also refill the plastic bottles at your local Eneos using the machine that says “ 灯油”
Want hard-to-find Japanese whiskey but don’t want to pay the 3x markup that they usually go for? Check your supermarkets every time you go and see if they have any in stock. The whiskey is rare so, of course, they usually don’t get them in stock often. But when you’re lucky and they do, they usually sell it for MSRP and not market price so you can save big.
They probably have a one-per-person rule at the store so if you want to buy another bottle go to another location of the same chain and see if they also got their shipment in on the same day.
Just a few weeks ago I got Yamazaki 12 for 9,500 and Hibiki for 5,500 when online they were going for about 30,000 and 15,000 respectively.
Amazing answers…it would be great if the OP could update the post later on with tips from answers for everyone’s benefit. This is a $500 post 😂 (for future saving hacks)
Pay everything with a credit card and get the miles. Without any special campaign or bonus mileage, spending ~140 000 a month in the credit card can get you a free round-trip ticket every year from Tokyo to Okinawa.
Clothing thrift stores do exist, but some of them are brand-focused and quite expensive. In Osaka there’s Kinji, which is cheapest, and 2nd Street.
Thrift electronics stores are nice too. We got our washing machine for about 20,000 yen and the guy delivered it for about 500 yen (I helped him carry it up the 5 flights of stairs).
**Daiso** is amazing for household items like plates, cups, brushes, baskets, cutlery and other miscellaneous stuff. Buy as much as you can over there. You can save a lot of money and usually their stuff is good/decent quality. I legit found similar jars in Nitori and Daiso with the price difference being over ¥500 per piece.
**Mercari** is good if you wanna buy used items and you can haggle prices. Good for electronics like iPhones, used luxury goods etc. You can find some amazing deals on furniture as well, IKEA desk that retails for ¥15000 and I got it almost brand new for ¥3000. Downside is, for pickup you need a car so if you don’t have one then well…
**Craigslist** for free/cheap furniture and sayonara sales. Mostly foreigners on there so selection of items is poorer than other websites but I managed to get some good stuff for free/cheap. Great condition ¥1man IKEA dresser for ¥3000 and a rice cooker for free. Realistically, only available in Tokyo tho
**Recycle shops** for used appliances and luxury goods. Not as cheap as Id like them to be but usually the stuff is good quality and clean plus you can get advice
Okay let me share this long-kept “secret” of mine.
For those who like eating at fine dining restaurants during special occasions, I recommend getting Trust Club Platinum credit card. When you reserve a course for two or more, the bill for one person is free. This is done via their special website with hundreds of restaurants around Japan. Perfect for anniversary nights with my wife as we basically get 50% off. Search 招待日和 for details.
I also enjoy free use of the lounge at the airports, and other perks of “platinum” status.
For a fee of 3,300JPY/year, I think this is a steal.
Really handy summary in the edited top post. Thanks.
Changing the size of your breaker switch is a good one that maybe not many people know about:
https://www.tepco.co.jp/en/customer/guide/ratecalc-e.html
It depends on your house, but some places have pretty high rated fuses, that are not necessary. (depending on what appliances you use of course)
iirc we went from a 50A down to a 30A, and saved a whopping Y600/month.
Beat the shit out of people for the discounted bentos at 7PM every night
When it comes to more expensive items/hobby items, it is vert frequently cheaper to order them from abroad and ship them here. The telescope I wanted two years ago, for example, was 230,000 yen. Or I could pay $699 and $150 for shipping. The Tv I wanted was 170,000 yen. Or, I could pay $599 for the exact same model and ship it here for a few hundred.
Considering the recent exchange rate this isn’t *quite* as amazing as it used to be but it still clearly works in my favor.
I use iherb for hard to find/domestically expensive items or health food supplements etc. It’s free shipping to Japan from the US if you buy over 40 or 60 dollars worth… They have lots of coupon codes plus a reward program. Of course not buying those type of items would be the cheapest way but if you’re going to anyway might as well get them cheaper. I think I’ve spent over 10k USD with them over the last 10 years. It’s ridiculous.
There’s a 22 percent off sale right now. Think the last day is today though. The code at check out is NATSU22.
Some of the items are a bit ridiculously priced right now because of the exchange rate but usually much cheaper than buying in Japan.
This is not a commercial endorsement.