Tips for Saving Money in Everday Life

Daniel Magix · #1 01-16-2007, 01:19 PM

I know this has probably been done before, but do you guys have any tips on saving money in your everyday life? Here are a few I have used...

1) Pay Cash for auto repairs. I think this works more in privately owned repair shops, but I recently needed new brakes on my car. My mechanic called me up and said my car was ready and it would be $355. I asked if paying in cash would make a difference in the price. He said “yeah, how does $300 sound?”. Sweet.

2) Join the Blimpie BIP Club online and get a free 6" sub with the purchase of another 6" sub of equal or greater value. I did this a couple weeks ago when I was hungry, but had only a couple bucks in my wallet. So far, no spam in my email from them.

3) Return Cans. Sounds simple, but I am amazed at how many people toss cans in the garbage routinely. I don't care if I look like a homeless man carrying a bag of cans into my buddie's liquor store to return every month - it's all about the coin man!

4) Call up your auto insurance and make sure you are getting every discount you are entitled to. I call about every year and see if there is anything they can do to lower the rate. They almost always “discover” something to lower it. Some things that might lower the rate would be, garaged car, multiple cars on the same plan, car alarms, etc.

5) Give old clothes to Goodwill. Tax deductions!

Some of these are obvious, some may not be. I am always looking for other ideas. Feel free to share.

firstyearclay · #2 01-16-2007, 01:28 PM

Write letters and complain about major companies and their products and/or services.

I have done this to Honda, Victornox (Swiss army knife people), Nutrisystem, Continental Airlines, JetBlue, Dell Computers (more then once) etc.etc. Those are just a few off the top of my head.

Most of these companies have dedicated customer service people that will assist you with your claim and most of the time it doesnt take much effort to get their attention. Write a letter about your complaint/question, follow up with it via phone call, and usually within a couple of weeks they will compensate you with money, a free replacement, a free or heavily discounted service, etc. I have been doing this for years and have enjoyed the fruits of my labor.

chesspain · #3 01-16-2007, 03:52 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Write letters and complain about major companies and their products and/or services.

I have done this to Honda, Victornox (Swiss army knife people), Nutrisystem, Continental Airlines, JetBlue, Dell Computers (more then once) etc.etc. Those are just a few off the top of my head.

Most of these companies have dedicated customer service people that will assist you with your claim and most of the time it doesnt take much effort to get their attention. Write a letter about your complaint/question, follow up with it via phone call, and usually within a couple of weeks they will compensate you with money, a free replacement, a free or heavily discounted service, etc. I have been doing this for years and have enjoyed the fruits of my labor.

[/ QUOTE ]

FWIW, most people who "specialize" in being professional complainers are pretty much douchebags who harrass companies for refunds or replacements regardless of their satisfaction with the product or service.

Bicycles_Biatch · #4 01-16-2007, 05:55 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Write letters and complain about major companies and their products and/or services.

I have done this to Honda, Victornox (Swiss army knife people), Nutrisystem, Continental Airlines, JetBlue, Dell Computers (more then once) etc.etc. Those are just a few off the top of my head.

Most of these companies have dedicated customer service people that will assist you with your claim and most of the time it doesnt take much effort to get their attention. Write a letter about your complaint/question, follow up with it via phone call, and usually within a couple of weeks they will compensate you with money, a free replacement, a free or heavily discounted service, etc. I have been doing this for years and have enjoyed the fruits of my labor.

[/ QUOTE ]

FWIW, most people who "specialize" in being professional complainers are pretty much douchebags who harrass companies for refunds or replacements regardless of their satisfaction with the product or service.

[/ QUOTE ]

hence driving up the price for the rest of us... thanks douche-bag

firstyearclay · #5 01-17-2007, 02:17 AM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Write letters and complain about major companies and their products and/or services.

I have done this to Honda, Victornox (Swiss army knife people), Nutrisystem, Continental Airlines, JetBlue, Dell Computers (more then once) etc.etc. Those are just a few off the top of my head.

Most of these companies have dedicated customer service people that will assist you with your claim and most of the time it doesnt take much effort to get their attention. Write a letter about your complaint/question, follow up with it via phone call, and usually within a couple of weeks they will compensate you with money, a free replacement, a free or heavily discounted service, etc. I have been doing this for years and have enjoyed the fruits of my labor.

[/ QUOTE ]

FWIW, most people who "specialize" in being professional complainers are pretty much douchebags who harrass companies for refunds or replacements regardless of their satisfaction with the product or service.

[/ QUOTE ]

FWIW, most of these companies make hundreds of millions of dollars in profits a year and specifically have programs setup to replace, fix, or return products that are broken, malfunctioning, or problematic.

I dont complain. I just expect a reasonable life out of everything I purchase. Most recently, I had problems with a suitcase and I tried to have it fixed. I was told it would cost $80 to fix. I called Victornox to see what they would do. They picked up my busted bag, sent me a loaner to hold me over (a better bag) until they received the busted bag, and then sent me a brand new bag as replacement. They just sent out a call tag to get the loaner back. Instead of me saving $80, I now am a customer for life with Victornox. The cost of repeat customers to major companies is priceless and I assure you that these departments (customer/complaint service) are profitable.

By-Tor · #6 01-16-2007, 01:28 PM

Drinking free coffee at work instead of going to Starbucks saves me $50 per week.

Bicycles_Biatch · #7 01-16-2007, 01:30 PM

dating chics that are into Olive Garden instead of Del Friscos... saves about $200 a date.

samjjones · #8 01-16-2007, 01:34 PM

If you live in a suburban area and eat out a lot, get an Entertainment book. Its $25, but I calculated that I saved over $700 with it last year alone.

oddjob · #9 01-16-2007, 02:20 PM

washing out and reusing condoms will save you a lot of money in the long run.

use ky to relube, use a banana to help roll it back up and then put it back into a zip lock bag.

wadea · #10 01-16-2007, 03:24 PM

[ QUOTE ]
washing out and reusing condoms will save you a lot of money in the long run.

use ky to relube, use a banana to help roll it back up and then put it back into a zip lock bag.

[/ QUOTE ]

I thought this thread was to suggest things that everyone isn't already doing. I think reusing condoms is pretty standard, right? You don't even have to wash them each time if you just treat them like underwear - use it, flip it inside out and reuse it. So elegant, yet so simple. Buying new rubbers would be such a waste of cash.