Celebrating Diwali on a tight budget? Here are your options

The BSE Sensex hit an all-time high of 21,293.88 today. No better way to celebrate Dhanteras and Diwali. But the fact remains that for more than a year or so now, the economy has been growing at a snail’s pace. Inflation has remained stubbornly high, forcing many to tighten the household budgets. Here are a few tips to celebrate Diwali on a shoestring budget.

Gadgets on budget:

Festival season is the time to buy electronics and gadgets, and why not? There are a zillion discounts on every possible item. But even after discounts, if you cannot afford, there are options out there. And no, we are not talking about the grey markets of Lamington Road in Mumbai or Palika Bazaar in Delhi or Burma Market in Chennai (that too is an option, though). We are talking about websites like Greendust.com and Gobol.in, which offer you refurbished factory seconds, factory seconds, surplus, carton-damaged items and refurbished electronic products.

These are genuine items which have been fixed for minor damages such as scratched screens, lose circuit and the like. They go through a number of quality checks, and are available at discount of as much as 60 percent. Range of discounts really depends on the kind of product you choose as well as the category such as factory seconds, refurbished, carton-damaged etc. For some products you would get a deeper discount and for others you could a little smaller ones. But the range could be on an average 20-35 percent on the maximum retail price of a brand new product on other online shopping websites. At times, the discounts could be more.

The range of items these websites offer is huge - right from mobile handsets, computers, home and kitchen appliances, camera, personal and health care electronic to laptops and gaming. In fact, you can get items from almost every brand, right from Samsung, Sony, Panasonic, Philips and the like.

If you are looking for upgraded technology and lower cost, these sites might work for such buyers. It’s definitely better than going to your local grey market and looking for deals.

Cars on budgets:

Car industry has been in the slump for a while now This means manufactures as well as dealers are offering big discounts. In fact, a number of banks have come with discount interest on car loans for this festival season. But if you are still looking to buy a bigger car on a lower budget there are second-hand dealers. Apart from your local second-hand car dealer, we suggest you also check what is available in the online space as well. Marutitruevalue.com, Mahindrafirstchoice.com, Carwale.com and Cardheko.com to name a few. Keep in mind, some dealers sell only single-brand pre-owned cars, while others sell across car manufacturers. But, keep in mind that you will have to do the basic due diligence before buying the vehicle.

The real essence of celebrating a festival season is with family and friends. It’s really not about buying the most expensive smart phone or spending thousand on fire crackers. If you are on tight budget and still want to indulge, the seconds market have several options. These are a few options form your side, what’s you suggestion for those celebrating Diwali on a tight budget, let us know.

Happy Diwali!!