Tibs suggested we create a thread on our money-saving skills, so here we are.
Tibby and I have been married for almost two years now. During that time, we learned that we both like to have stuff, but we hate spending too much money on things. We've always been good about researching products we buy and looking at the longevity of things. We've also been fairly good at shopping for sales, but that developed over time. One of the first times we grocery-shopped together, I looked at something and said, "Oh, I love those." He said, "Put them in the cart." Completely serious, I said, "I would never buy that unless it's on sale." I'm cheap. My cheapness has rubbed off on him while his general skill with numbers has helped us tremendously (particularly when he was working for a UK company and we were navigating taxes). We make well enough money, so some of these tips will be the "spend money to save money" variety, so they will not apply if you're struggling. However, there are plenty of tips for those of you who are struggling too.
Negotiating Bills
Okay, this is usually going to come into play before you accrue a bill, but some of it won't. We don't have all the details on things, but you can always turn to Google or even Reddit's personal finance subreddit for more help.
Cell Phones - You can nearly always find at least a little wiggle room on your cell phone bill, especially if you're an existing customer renewing a contract. The trick is to grab yourself a crossword puzzle and a hot cup of tea because you're going to be on the phone for a long time. They try to wear you down. They have to check every change to your contract with a manager, which always means being on hold. Don't plan on being anywhere. Do this when you have time and patience. Oh, and always get the person's name in case you get disconnected. You have to start from scratch if you don't.
Cable Bills - Good fucking luck. There's usually one in any given area, so no competitors. They'll also add a bunch of installation fees and shit after the fact. My only advice is to tell them to give you every item on the first bill before you agree to anything. This way, you know your first bill isn't going to have an extra hundred or more you didn't know about.
Medical Bills - While these bills are the highest and the most difficult to avoid, you can protect your credit with a few tricks. First, (after your insurance has had its way with the bill) respond to the bill in writing asking for an itemized bill for your records. When you get it, go over the bill and make sure you didn't get charged for a penectomy you didn't get. Fine tooth comb that shit. They will fuck you. Second, object to anything that didn't happen and have them remove it from the bill. Once you have a final number, call them and tell them every sad detail about your pitiful existence. Your sick, you lost a ton of money being in the hospital, you simply can't afford the bill, yada, yada. They have tons of room to negotiate because they are ass raping you to begin with. You'll wind up with either one of two deals. They might take a huge chunk off your bill if you agree to pay it at once. I'm talking $500 off of a remaining $1500 on my last hospital bill. (Make sure they DO NOT report it to a credit agency as a non-complete payment. Ask first, then pay. If you don't give a flying fornication about your credit, at this point, who cares? I'd probably just skip the bill if I was that shitty off and let a collection agency give to me for a tiny fraction of the original cost just to stay out of court.) If they're one of those cunting assholes that don't do percentages off, you can negotiate an interest-free payment plan. At least your credit will stay clean and you don't have to tell little Timmy that Christmas ain't coming this year.
You can probably negotiate a ton of other things. These are just things I have experience with.
Rebates
Back when I was a wee dumby, I used to think rebates were a waste of time. My life must have been pretty special if I couldn't take five minutes to fill out an mail a form to get money back. Anyway, these days, you rarely have to actually mail a form. I use a tool called ebates. Right now, I've got close to $100 sitting in my account with them. We share that account and have made hundreds back on our air conditioning, washer/dryer, Christmas presents, etc. All I do is click the rebate link when I go to a site to have the rebate applied. Here's a referral link, if you want to use it. https://www.ebates.com/r/MICHEL63754?eeid=28187 We'll make money off referrals, so don't feel obliged to use the link. You can easily just go to the website. I have the tool installed in my browser. I hear you can attach your account to your credit card and get automatic store rebates when you shop in stores now too, so I'm going to try that out. If I remember, I'll let you know how it goes.
Regular mail-in rebates are worth the trouble too, so do it when you see them. I get loads of shit free with rebates.
Rebate apps are the shit. I use mobisave, ibotta and checkout 51. All I do is add the rebates I want to the app before I shop then upload my receipt to the app after. The money goes straight into my PayPal. Some of them make you accrue $25 before payout. They all work.
Coupons
I love coupons. I work from home, so have time to clip them. I'll often get free and next to free stuff stacking coupons with rebates. Your Sunday paper has a shitload of coupons that will often stack against store coupons and rebates, giving you a shitload of savings. If you have a printer, coupons.com has great stuff.
If you like a certain product or store, join their e-mail list. You'll get lots of coupons this way.
If your local grocery store has a rewards card, there's a chance there is an app connected to it. These apps will usually have coupons you can add to your card and will come off automatically when you scan your card at checkout. These are usually stackable too.
Groceries
There are shitloads of coupons for junk food. Not so much for healthy stuff, meats and produce. Rebate apps will have you covered there sometimes. Be sure to check them. If you like fresh produce, you can get good deals, you just might have to shop more. Go early in the day to get the ripe produce at a discount. You'll have to use it in the next couple of days, but you save a lot. I buy my bananas this way. I also always buy anything I plan on cooking/eating that night from this section because it's ripened. Unripe produce sucks balls. You can also get cheese and meat "ends" at the deli in some supermarkets. If you're say making a sauce with cheese, you don't give a shit if it's the end of the slab. Get that cheap stuff and throw it in your sauce.
Meat departments will put discount stickers on stuff that needs to sell by that day. You can get tonight's dinner cheap that way. You can also get soup meat or tomorrow's dinner that way. Cook whatever you don't eat tonight and have leftovers tomorrow.
Here's a Tibby tip if you can do mental math or don't mind grabbing your phone for some calculations. Usually each product at a grocery store will have a "price per X" value on it, usually alongside the proper price, but smaller. If you don't have a particular brand in mind, and just go for the cheapest option, it may not actually be the cheapest!
For instance, at our grocery store, we can buy 24-pack of water for $2.99, or a 35 pack for $3.99. You might be drawn to the 24 pack simply because it's the cheaper option, however if you do some simple math (dividing the price by the number of bottles) you'll find that the 35 pack of water is actually cheaper...per bottle:
$2.99 / 24 = 12.45 cents per bottle
$3.99 / 35 = 11.4 cents per bottle
Bottle water doesn't go bad quickly, so it's worth paying the extra dollar. The saving might look small, but it adds up, and there are many other examples where buying bigger actually saves you more money. Of course, don't go crazy. If you aren't going to eat / drink all of the product before it expires, you're losing money. This tip best works for products that have long shelf lives or don't ever expire (think toilet paper, lightbulbs, etc.)
Electronics
Rebates and sales are all I have to say about this. It's a smorgasbord, so check eBay, Amazon and big box stores. Make sure you compare prices before you buy.
Home Goods/Crafts
Crafting supplies are easy. Go toward the end of the season and get discounts on all the seasonal crafts supplies. Go after the season and get awesome clearance deals. As for home goods, Black Friday. I know you hate it, but I gotta say it. Unless you're racing to Walmart for a flat screen, the best places to be are at places that sell kitchen appliances large and small or toiletries. This year, between rebates, gift card rebates and sales, I got free: a waffle iron, a crock pot, a bundt pan, an angel cake pan, a muffin tin, a cooling rack, two tubes of toothpaste, eyeliner, soda, chips, light bulbs, mouthwash, feminine hygiene products, Tylenol, etc. I had bags and bags of shit I use everyday and I didn't enter a single busy big box store. I went to pharmacies in the morning and then hit Macy's mid-day for my free appliances. I also got a griddle for $7. Here's the thing, though. Unless you NEED that item, can afford to wait for a rebate or plan to give it to someone for a legitimate event (birthday, Christmas, etc.), you will be wasting your time and tying up your money. The general rule is, if you don't have room for it, don't have a good reason to get it for someone or don't have extra cash, free is still going to cost you. Be smart, but take advantage of these deals whenever it makes sense. Plan ahead too! I check out Black Friday ads well in advance for EVERYDAY items.
Linens
There's a weird thing about linens, towels, sheets and the like. Black Friday is not the best time to buy them. For some reason, they go way down in price during what are known as white sales after New Year. Look for those when you need this kind of thing. Don't forget to stack rebates and coupons if you have them.
If you live in the U.S., subscribe to coupons from KrazyCouponLady. They usually do a daily round up of insane deals.
Credit Cards
Credit cards can fuck you if you don't use them responsibly, but if you treat them like a debit card (i.e. you never buy more with them than money you have in the bank) you can make money using "cashback" cards, which are credit cards that give you a percentage of your money back for making certain purchases. There are some cards which will give you a low percentage (usually 1-1.5%) back on *every* purchase, and others than give you a higher percentage (2-5%) back, but only for certain types of items. It's up to you which card you use, but we personally just have a 1.5% cashback card. When we get the cashback, we just convert it into account credit on our card and use it to help pay off the balance.
If you are an Amazon Prime member and spend a lot of money at Amazon, you can save 5% on every purchase by applying for the Amazon Prime Store Card, a credit card which you can use to purchase products on Amazon, and which automatically credits your card account with 5% in statement credit. You usually get a $20 Amazon gift card when you sign up too.
It goes without saying that when you have a credit card, you should pay off the balance every month, on time, every time. Interest on outstanding credit card balances is no joke.
Tibby and I have been married for almost two years now. During that time, we learned that we both like to have stuff, but we hate spending too much money on things. We've always been good about researching products we buy and looking at the longevity of things. We've also been fairly good at shopping for sales, but that developed over time. One of the first times we grocery-shopped together, I looked at something and said, "Oh, I love those." He said, "Put them in the cart." Completely serious, I said, "I would never buy that unless it's on sale." I'm cheap. My cheapness has rubbed off on him while his general skill with numbers has helped us tremendously (particularly when he was working for a UK company and we were navigating taxes). We make well enough money, so some of these tips will be the "spend money to save money" variety, so they will not apply if you're struggling. However, there are plenty of tips for those of you who are struggling too.
Negotiating Bills
Okay, this is usually going to come into play before you accrue a bill, but some of it won't. We don't have all the details on things, but you can always turn to Google or even Reddit's personal finance subreddit for more help.
Cell Phones - You can nearly always find at least a little wiggle room on your cell phone bill, especially if you're an existing customer renewing a contract. The trick is to grab yourself a crossword puzzle and a hot cup of tea because you're going to be on the phone for a long time. They try to wear you down. They have to check every change to your contract with a manager, which always means being on hold. Don't plan on being anywhere. Do this when you have time and patience. Oh, and always get the person's name in case you get disconnected. You have to start from scratch if you don't.
Cable Bills - Good fucking luck. There's usually one in any given area, so no competitors. They'll also add a bunch of installation fees and shit after the fact. My only advice is to tell them to give you every item on the first bill before you agree to anything. This way, you know your first bill isn't going to have an extra hundred or more you didn't know about.
Medical Bills - While these bills are the highest and the most difficult to avoid, you can protect your credit with a few tricks. First, (after your insurance has had its way with the bill) respond to the bill in writing asking for an itemized bill for your records. When you get it, go over the bill and make sure you didn't get charged for a penectomy you didn't get. Fine tooth comb that shit. They will fuck you. Second, object to anything that didn't happen and have them remove it from the bill. Once you have a final number, call them and tell them every sad detail about your pitiful existence. Your sick, you lost a ton of money being in the hospital, you simply can't afford the bill, yada, yada. They have tons of room to negotiate because they are ass raping you to begin with. You'll wind up with either one of two deals. They might take a huge chunk off your bill if you agree to pay it at once. I'm talking $500 off of a remaining $1500 on my last hospital bill. (Make sure they DO NOT report it to a credit agency as a non-complete payment. Ask first, then pay. If you don't give a flying fornication about your credit, at this point, who cares? I'd probably just skip the bill if I was that shitty off and let a collection agency give to me for a tiny fraction of the original cost just to stay out of court.) If they're one of those cunting assholes that don't do percentages off, you can negotiate an interest-free payment plan. At least your credit will stay clean and you don't have to tell little Timmy that Christmas ain't coming this year.
You can probably negotiate a ton of other things. These are just things I have experience with.
Rebates
Back when I was a wee dumby, I used to think rebates were a waste of time. My life must have been pretty special if I couldn't take five minutes to fill out an mail a form to get money back. Anyway, these days, you rarely have to actually mail a form. I use a tool called ebates. Right now, I've got close to $100 sitting in my account with them. We share that account and have made hundreds back on our air conditioning, washer/dryer, Christmas presents, etc. All I do is click the rebate link when I go to a site to have the rebate applied. Here's a referral link, if you want to use it. https://www.ebates.com/r/MICHEL63754?eeid=28187 We'll make money off referrals, so don't feel obliged to use the link. You can easily just go to the website. I have the tool installed in my browser. I hear you can attach your account to your credit card and get automatic store rebates when you shop in stores now too, so I'm going to try that out. If I remember, I'll let you know how it goes.
Regular mail-in rebates are worth the trouble too, so do it when you see them. I get loads of shit free with rebates.
Rebate apps are the shit. I use mobisave, ibotta and checkout 51. All I do is add the rebates I want to the app before I shop then upload my receipt to the app after. The money goes straight into my PayPal. Some of them make you accrue $25 before payout. They all work.
Coupons
I love coupons. I work from home, so have time to clip them. I'll often get free and next to free stuff stacking coupons with rebates. Your Sunday paper has a shitload of coupons that will often stack against store coupons and rebates, giving you a shitload of savings. If you have a printer, coupons.com has great stuff.
If you like a certain product or store, join their e-mail list. You'll get lots of coupons this way.
If your local grocery store has a rewards card, there's a chance there is an app connected to it. These apps will usually have coupons you can add to your card and will come off automatically when you scan your card at checkout. These are usually stackable too.
Groceries
There are shitloads of coupons for junk food. Not so much for healthy stuff, meats and produce. Rebate apps will have you covered there sometimes. Be sure to check them. If you like fresh produce, you can get good deals, you just might have to shop more. Go early in the day to get the ripe produce at a discount. You'll have to use it in the next couple of days, but you save a lot. I buy my bananas this way. I also always buy anything I plan on cooking/eating that night from this section because it's ripened. Unripe produce sucks balls. You can also get cheese and meat "ends" at the deli in some supermarkets. If you're say making a sauce with cheese, you don't give a shit if it's the end of the slab. Get that cheap stuff and throw it in your sauce.
Meat departments will put discount stickers on stuff that needs to sell by that day. You can get tonight's dinner cheap that way. You can also get soup meat or tomorrow's dinner that way. Cook whatever you don't eat tonight and have leftovers tomorrow.
Here's a Tibby tip if you can do mental math or don't mind grabbing your phone for some calculations. Usually each product at a grocery store will have a "price per X" value on it, usually alongside the proper price, but smaller. If you don't have a particular brand in mind, and just go for the cheapest option, it may not actually be the cheapest!
For instance, at our grocery store, we can buy 24-pack of water for $2.99, or a 35 pack for $3.99. You might be drawn to the 24 pack simply because it's the cheaper option, however if you do some simple math (dividing the price by the number of bottles) you'll find that the 35 pack of water is actually cheaper...per bottle:
$2.99 / 24 = 12.45 cents per bottle
$3.99 / 35 = 11.4 cents per bottle
Bottle water doesn't go bad quickly, so it's worth paying the extra dollar. The saving might look small, but it adds up, and there are many other examples where buying bigger actually saves you more money. Of course, don't go crazy. If you aren't going to eat / drink all of the product before it expires, you're losing money. This tip best works for products that have long shelf lives or don't ever expire (think toilet paper, lightbulbs, etc.)
Electronics
Rebates and sales are all I have to say about this. It's a smorgasbord, so check eBay, Amazon and big box stores. Make sure you compare prices before you buy.
Home Goods/Crafts
Crafting supplies are easy. Go toward the end of the season and get discounts on all the seasonal crafts supplies. Go after the season and get awesome clearance deals. As for home goods, Black Friday. I know you hate it, but I gotta say it. Unless you're racing to Walmart for a flat screen, the best places to be are at places that sell kitchen appliances large and small or toiletries. This year, between rebates, gift card rebates and sales, I got free: a waffle iron, a crock pot, a bundt pan, an angel cake pan, a muffin tin, a cooling rack, two tubes of toothpaste, eyeliner, soda, chips, light bulbs, mouthwash, feminine hygiene products, Tylenol, etc. I had bags and bags of shit I use everyday and I didn't enter a single busy big box store. I went to pharmacies in the morning and then hit Macy's mid-day for my free appliances. I also got a griddle for $7. Here's the thing, though. Unless you NEED that item, can afford to wait for a rebate or plan to give it to someone for a legitimate event (birthday, Christmas, etc.), you will be wasting your time and tying up your money. The general rule is, if you don't have room for it, don't have a good reason to get it for someone or don't have extra cash, free is still going to cost you. Be smart, but take advantage of these deals whenever it makes sense. Plan ahead too! I check out Black Friday ads well in advance for EVERYDAY items.
Linens
There's a weird thing about linens, towels, sheets and the like. Black Friday is not the best time to buy them. For some reason, they go way down in price during what are known as white sales after New Year. Look for those when you need this kind of thing. Don't forget to stack rebates and coupons if you have them.
If you live in the U.S., subscribe to coupons from KrazyCouponLady. They usually do a daily round up of insane deals.
Credit Cards
Credit cards can fuck you if you don't use them responsibly, but if you treat them like a debit card (i.e. you never buy more with them than money you have in the bank) you can make money using "cashback" cards, which are credit cards that give you a percentage of your money back for making certain purchases. There are some cards which will give you a low percentage (usually 1-1.5%) back on *every* purchase, and others than give you a higher percentage (2-5%) back, but only for certain types of items. It's up to you which card you use, but we personally just have a 1.5% cashback card. When we get the cashback, we just convert it into account credit on our card and use it to help pay off the balance.
If you are an Amazon Prime member and spend a lot of money at Amazon, you can save 5% on every purchase by applying for the Amazon Prime Store Card, a credit card which you can use to purchase products on Amazon, and which automatically credits your card account with 5% in statement credit. You usually get a $20 Amazon gift card when you sign up too.
It goes without saying that when you have a credit card, you should pay off the balance every month, on time, every time. Interest on outstanding credit card balances is no joke.
