Cheaper Than Cheap Tip Of The Week #5 : Save Money On Gas The Creative Way
Posted on May 15, 2008
“Cheaper Than Cheap” is a recurring tip series about frugality. The idea is to provide potentially helpful frugality tips that border on fanaticaor fictitious to the point of being humorous. Love them or hate them, let’s hear what you think. Tip #4 was on Earn Free Money By Reusing Bags At Grocery Stores.
This tip is all about getting creative. Consider the picture. This car’s single owner a got serious about cutting down her car’s weight. You could also consider removing extra weight from the trunk, removing extra seats, and even the extra cds and chapsticks you don’t use. Less weight equals higher gas mileage.
Filling your tires with nitrogen is creative, but the jury is out whether it makes fiscal sense. I head to Costco, and they put nitrogen in your tires for rotation and new purchases.
The final tip is to be creative with how you time and plan your travel. Traveling at non peak traffic hours saves gas, but that isn’t very creative. I am talking more about planning ahead and stopping at the grocery store and the bank at the same time rather than making two trips. You could even consider timing you trips with neighbors, so that you can pick a few small things up for each other and avoid the quick trips for one or two things.
I’ll give one final example of how I was creative. The Happy Rockette usually travels home(1.5 hours away) every other Thursday and this particular Thursday we had planned a surprise birthday party. I was going to leave for work early and drive up separately and surprise her. Instead, I left for work as usual and stowed myself in the trunk of the Murano. Presto $20 in gas saved, cramped legs, but boy was my wife surprised!
Poll:
What do you think of tip #5 - being creative to save on gas?
» Filed Under Frugality, Money Savers
Just Ordered My $15 Entertainment Book
Posted on April 14, 2008
Just $15 for a plethora of great coupons. For those that don’t know, the Entertainment book is a local book of coupons for everything from fast food to casual dining to theme parks and golf courses. It is $35 dollars when it first comes out, but gradually drops throughout the year. The current $15 and free shipping deal is set to expire on 4/30/2008. We normally buy the book early in the year, but figured we don’t really need it in the winter and would get better value later.
The book contains more than enough great coupons to be well worth it, but only if you remember to use the coupons and you don’t spend more money because of the coupons. We have bought the book for the last few years, and gotten more than our share of great discounts from it. Here are a few of the highlights for the South Jersey book. Our local mechanic has a 20% up to $25 coupon that usually covers the price of the book. Buy one get one free(BOGO) Papa John’s, Cold Stone Creamery, and Rita’s Water Ice. $2.00 off coupons for the Camden Adventure Aquarium and $4.00 Six Flags Great Adventure. That is about $75 in coupons I know I will use for $15, plus a handful of others that will get used as needed. You can search on their website to makes sure there are some good local deals before you buy.
One little tip that The Happy Rockette has done the last few years is to buy a small inexpensive photo album. Cut out the coupons of interest, fill the photo album, and throw the coupon album in the car. It helps serve as a great reminder and provide quick access to help us extract even more value out of the book.
Anyone have other good tips, or great experiences with the Entertainment Book?
» Filed Under Favorite Books, Frugality, Money Savers
Frugality Gone Wild : Home Contents Stolen In A Craigslist Hoax
Posted on March 26, 2008
I have seen people on Slick Deals do things that skirt the line of honesty and legality in order to get a great deal. I can even relate to getting caught up in the hype of certain deal or the possibility of free stuff. I have even contemplated doing something that I wouldn’t have regretted in the midst self created frugality hysteria. But when I read about a Craigslist hoax gone wrong, I couldn’t even believe it without reading the original article.
Robert Salisbury of Oregon came home one day to find 30 people rummaging through his house and filing there vehicles with his stuff. When he confronted the looters, they repeatedly dismissed him by referring to a printout of a Craigslist ad. Somehow a computer printout from a classified listing site gave people the right to take stuff that wasn’t theirs. By the time that the police arrived, many of his possessions were already gone. He was smart enough to grab some license plates, but the police will have to try and track down the rest and the person who initiated the hoax.
What started the whole outrageous situations was someone who made a craigslist post that said Mr. Salisbury had to leave town quickly and that he was giving away all his stuff for free.
Has anyone heard of anything so ridiculous in the name of saving a few bucks?
» Filed Under Frugality, Materialism
Frugal Tool Chest Tip #1: Get Money Back On Your Purchases With Price Protectr
Posted on March 15, 2008
The Frugal Tool Chest is a recurring series covering practical tips and tools that will arm you to save even more money on your online purchases. I
The first frugal tips involves a website that will notify you when the price drops on any of your recent purchases. How does this help? Well, most stores have a price protection policy that allow you to receive a refund if the price of the item you purchased dropped before X number of days post purchase.
For example Amazon’s policy is currently this
Post-Order Price Guarantee
Amazon.com’s prices for released items will change from time to time based on a variety of factors. If Amazon.com’s price for an already-released item decreases within 30 days after we ship the item to you, we’ll be glad to refund the difference in price if you contact us. Please click the Customer Service button on the right side of this page, and be sure to have your order number handy so we can assist you.
So how do you protect your purchases. Going back to the item listing for the next 30 days is just not feasible, so you let a site like Price Protectr do it for you. Here is my review…
All you do is supply the link to the item you purchased, verify the when you purchased it, verify the purchase price, supply your email, and click submit. That’s it! Price Protectr will snotify you that the item is being protected and then send another email if the price drops before the price protection policy expires for the site. It really is that easy. The have a large list of sellers that they support, but they don’t support every site.
Since I was reminded of the site a week ago by a co-worker, Ray of Taco Man and Burrito Boy fame, I have saved about$5. One item dropped on Amazon twice for a total of about $4.35.
A sample Price Protectr alert email looks like this :
Price Protectr saw a price drop on the Pinzon 400-Thread-Count 100% Egyptian Cotton Hemstitch Queen Sheet Set, Sand you submitted for price protection at www.priceprotectr.com.
You purchased the item for $42.34 and it’s now $39.99! The item URL is:
Pinzon 400-Thread-Count 100% Egyptian Cotton Hemstitch Queen Sheet Set, Sand
Please verify the item and price, and review the retailer’s price protection policy before requesting a refund.
To claim your refund: Visit their contact page, click the ‘e-mail’ tab, and choose ‘Refund Inquiry’ from the dropdown list. Or contact their customer service department at 1-800-201-7575. Hitting 7 should get you to a customer service rep right away.
If you collect your refund (or try to), don’t forget to log into your My Stuff account and leave a retailer review!
To change your notification settings, go to the account setting of your My Stuff account.
Thanks for using Price Protectr!
Following the instructions in the email, I sent a brief two sentence email to Amazon and had a refund back on my card in about 24-48 hours. The email doesn’t have to be anything special either…here is what I put in the email contact page :
The price of the sheets i recently purchased dropped a $2.35 cents since I bought them, I would like a refund for the difference as the price protection policy states.
Thank you for the great service and products.
Done! It is really quite gratifying to receive a Price Protectr alert! Give a try, you bank account will probably notice.
» Filed Under Frugal Tool Chest, Frugality, Money Savers, Personal Finance Systems, Spending
Cheaper Than Cheap Tip Of The Week #4 : Earn Free Money By Reusing Bags At Grocery Stores
Posted on March 5, 2008
“Cheaper Than Cheap” is a recurring tip series about frugality. The idea is to provide helpful frugality tips that border on fanatical to the point of being humorous. Love them or hate them, let’s hear what you think. Tip #3 was on separate your two ply toilet paper.
Cheaper Than Cheap Tip Of The Week #4 : Earn Free Money By Reusing Bags At Grocery Stores
That’s right as the title suggests you can earn more than 10 times your investment with this one green earth friendly frugal tip. Bring your own bags to the grocery store. Most grocery stores will provide a refund that comes directly off your bill for each bag that reuse. I have seen the refund amount vary from 2 to 5 cents a bag. My regular grocery stores offer 5 cents a bag. Over the years we have built up quite a collection of canvas bags, so at this point all the refund money is pure profit.
Usually you can get decent quality bags for 1.00, so every trip after the first twenty would actually earn you free money!! It is a little more hassle and a behavioral change to remember the bags each time you go, but the idea of free money is definitely worth. If you by 5 bags for a $5.00 investment, those bags are paid off after just 20 trips. If the bags last another 5 years you could earn about $62.50 assuming you go to the store 50 times a year. That is a return of 1150% on your initial dollar investment in 5 years! We all wish we could get that kind of performance on any investment. If you reuse some of the thousands of plastic bags you already have laying around the house, you could be earning completely free money.
So do the earth a solid and save money at the same time, use reusable bags at grocery stores.
What do you think of tip #4 - earn free money with reusable bags at groceries stores?
» Filed Under Frugality, Money Savers
Save Money By Always Asking For The Fees To Be Removed
Posted on February 18, 2008
It wasn’t long ago that I can remember just complaining whenever I got charged fees by a company not knowing that I could do anything about it. Now I know that the consumer does have power. Every fee or even purchase prices that I come across now get questioned. The old adage of ‘what’s the worst that can happen’ is very appropriate. The company can say ‘NO’, but most likely they won’t.
Here are a few examples from the very recent past :
NJ Division of Taxation – I mentioned that I had a problem with my 2006 NJ taxes and they wanted to charge me over $300 dollars in penalties and interest. Well, a quick email and then a follow up letter reduced the bill about 72% to under $100 dollars.
Comcast – Installation fees and monthly services costs slashed through one phone call and a threat of cancellation. Call Comcast and save money.
Verizon Late Fee – One quick phone call got a $5.00 late fee removed with no arguing.
Those are just a few examples from the last month or two, but the list includes endless fees that you thought you couldn’t get away from paying including bank charges and credit card fees. Often just asking the clerk at stores if there are any available coupons will get you discounts. The moral of the story is….JUST ASK!!! Don’t be afraid that they may laugh(sometimes they do), but try it, make it habit and you will be pleasantly surprised.
» Filed Under Frugality, Money Savers
Free Download : Suze Orman Book Women & Money From Oprah
Posted on February 13, 2008
For those readers like Suze Orman or those who want a free electronic copy of here book Women & Money
» Filed Under Frugality, Women
Does TurboTax, TaxCut And Other DIY Tax Software Really Save You Money?
Posted on January 13, 2008
The obvious answer is…….Yes! The not so obvious answer is that it might cost me well over $300 dollars this year.
First, the software can usually be purchased for next to nothing after rebates or through other programs. SlickDeals is a great way to scour the net for a deal on the software you want.
The other factor to take into account is your time and stress in having to deal with taxes yourself. The time and stress will be extremely personal decisions that we each must measure for ourselves. The only thing I will say is that the software tends to be fairly straightforward and not as scary of some people might think.
Finally, the last thing to take into account is the risk and cost of mistakes. I can tell you from first hand experience that making one honest mistake can quickly destroy years of frugality. I am currently fighting to lessen the fines from not realizing that I had to pay state taxes by April 15th, even when you file for extension.
We were waiting on the social security number for our son after his adoption was finalized, so I filed extensions for both sets of taxes. Everything was fine until a few months ago the NJ Division of Taxation sends me a bill for over $300 dollars in interest and late penalties. This is over 30% penalty considering that the bill was about $900 dollars. Silly honest mistake that I really should have known better, but hopefully NJ will remove the late penalties and the bill will be under $100 dollars. A severe mistake could increase your risk of getting audited which would most likely cost you much more in stress and fees for representation.
I am not here to get everyone to their local CPA, but I want everyone to consider all the sides when deciding between tax software and using a professional. I may still do my own taxes again this year, but I will make sure I am a bit more careful if I don’t use a professional. More and more I am learning the effeciencies that come from focusing on your own area of expertise and letting other focus on theirs. That is great in theory until you have to shell out $200 to get your taxes done. I will follow up our decision as it gets closer to tax time.
» Filed Under Finance Software, Frugality, Money Savers
Call Comcast and Save On Your Cable Bill
Posted on December 14, 2007
I wanted to share an abridged version my most recent cost cutting conversation with Comcast customer service. The dialogue is specific to my current situation, which was canceling cable, but it is representative of responses I have gotten in the past. They are willing to cut your bill.
First, I dialed the Comcast customer service phone number from my latest bill, and follow the menu to the ‘Cancel’ services option. You then proceed to wait on hold for enough time that you consider hanging up, and then a service rep finally greets you:
Comcast Rep: My name is Sandra, how can I help you today?
The Happy Rock: I would like to cancel cable.
Comcast Rep: May I ask why?
The Happy Rock: Because it is to expensive and I don’t want to watch it.
Comcast Rep: Oh, how about if I could get you a cheaper monthly bill?
The Happy Rock: No, I would like to cancel cable.
Comcast Rep: I suggest keeping basic cable, since it will keep your bill lower.
The Happy Rock: Actually, my phone bill expensive I would consider switching to Comcast for phone is the deal was good enough.
Comcast Rep: Well, I can offer you a deal on internet and phone.
The Happy Rock: Ok
Comcast Rep: I can offer you our unlimited phone deal for $24.99 for six months.
The Happy Rock: Sounds good.
Comcast Rep: I can also upgrade your internet from 6 megabits per second to 8 for the same price.
The Happy Rock: I don’t really need faster internet.
Comcast Rep: Ok, I can offer you internet for $19.99 for six months.
The Happy Rock: That sounds good, I will take it.
Comcast Rep: The earliest I can have someone out to hook everything up is next Monday from 2-4.
The Happy Rock: That’s fine.
Comcast Rep: There will be a $47 installation fee for hooking up the phone and canceling your existing account with Verizon.
The Happy Rock: I am not interested in paying for stuff that I can do myself.
Comcast Rep: I can’t do anything about that fee.
The Happy Rock: (Silence)…ok, how much was basic cable again?
Comcast Rep: (Silence)… hold on please.
Comcast Rep:(After a 30 second wait)… Ok, we can waive that fee.
The Happy Rock: Sounds, good thank for you the help.
Bill before = $124(cable and internet) + 60$(phone) = $184
Bill after = ~$47 (phone + internet)
Following a similar pattern, I have no doubt that most customers will have similar results. It is worth a try, they can only say NO…….and they probably won’t.
» Filed Under Frugality, Money Savers
Skip The Baby Carrots. Cheaper, healthier, and better.
Posted on December 7, 2007
Recently we started buying regular carrots instead of the organic baby variety that we have loved for many years. I must admit the idea wasn’t mine; it was something I became willing to experiment with after reading this wonderful article from Andrea Dickson over at Wise Bread. The article gives a really interesting history of the baby carrots and than shares her experiences. I won’t share too much, because the article is worth the read.
What I will do is relay our experiences with regular carrots. This is what we have noticed :
- Savings. The price is about half the cost of baby carrots.
- Taste. Regular carrots taste better.
- Texture. I actually find the dry raw qualities of the regular carrot more enjoyable.
- Last longer. Instead of getting slimy and gross after only a few days, regular carrots stay dry and crisp for a lot longer. The carrots seems to last even longer if you buy carrots with the leaves still on.
- Not as much work cutting and peeling as I thought. It takes only a minute or two to make a whole batch of crunchy sticks.
- Healthier. More beta carotene. Source
Don’t be scared, give them a try next time you are at the store. You will get more carrot for your money, and better product to boot.
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