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#1
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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. |
#2
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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. |
#3
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Drinking free coffee at work instead of going to Starbucks saves me $50 per week.
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#4
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dating chics that are into Olive Garden instead of Del Friscos... saves about $200 a date.
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#5
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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.
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#6
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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. |
#7
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[ 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. |
#8
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Overall, I think people generally try to think too hard about the little things.
In my opinion, focus on the big purchase decisions, and you'll be ok. Examples: - Buy cars used, and drive them as long as possible - Keep your credit in great shape. For example, on a 400k mortgage, at 6% interest rate vs. a 7% interest rate, you'll save almost $100,000 over 30 years. - Use your IRA and 401k every year. Example: If you start your Roth IRA at age 27 instead of age 25, by age 65 you'll have made $167,000 less if you assume 8% interest and a $4000 annual contribution Those are the biggies. |
#9
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Drinking free coffee at work instead of going to Starbucks saves me $50 per week. [/ QUOTE ] What in the world are you drinking there? |
#10
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[ QUOTE ]
Overall, I think people generally try to think too hard about the little things. In my opinion, focus on the big purchase decisions, and you'll be ok. Examples: - Buy cars used, and drive them as long as possible - Keep your credit in great shape. For example, on a 400k mortgage, at 6% interest rate vs. a 7% interest rate, you'll save almost $100,000 over 30 years. - Use your IRA and 401k every year. Example: If you start your Roth IRA at age 27 instead of age 25, by age 65 you'll have made $167,000 less if you assume 8% interest and a $4000 annual contribution Those are the biggies. [/ QUOTE ] Incorrect. While the examples you provide are definitely good ones, most people tend to worry about the big purchases (like getting a better mortgage rate) and not the small ones (like going on vacation using a credit card and then paying it off slowly over the year, losing $$ to crazy interest). If people learned to save on the small stuff (make your own coffee at home instead of buying one on the way to the office; bring your own lunch to work; buy non-perishable stuff like paper goods in bulk), they would be better off. Edited to add: "Shop in stores with concrete floors" - this is a good general guideline for saving monies. |
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