------------------- Edited & Added To List June 25, 2012 --------------------------

35) Negotiate Your Bills – Make the Call

35a) Call Cable/Satellite
If this is not something you can give up at least consider giving your local provider a call and ask for a better deal. “Do you have any deals or promotions at a better rate?” – Linda Sherry

35b) Call Disconnection Department
Call your phone, internet, TV service provider and tell them you’re considering closing your account. Ask to speak to the cancellation department. I did this for our internet provider, AT&T, and saved over half the bill for 6 months. Never hurts to ask.

35c) Call Your Insurance Company
When was the last time you got a quote? Call and ask for a better rate on your insurance. Consolidate from two car (assuming multiple vehicles in your family) insurance providers to one.

35d) Call and Demand Better Service from Your Bank
Sometimes you can get better interest from your bank just by asking. Also, ask about getting interest on your checking account. Remember the bank is getting your money and lending it out to people for 3-20% interest to other customers. It’s all about perspective.

35e) Call and Ask For A Fee To Be Waved
If you’re not a regular offender this can save money. I had a check someone wrote me bounce a few months back. I called and spoke to the branch manager. I explained my account never went below $X thousand dollars and requested the favor that the fee be waived. He was happy to comply.

Got these ideas from personal experience and from this artice - 5 Telephone Calls That Can Save Lots of Money .

Do you own a home?

Not yet. I'm saving up to pay cash for one. But I see your point.

Update - Internet Bill: I called and negotiated with AT&T a 50% discount ($22.50) on our internet bill after it went up from a promotional monthly payment of $25 a month to $50 a month. Details: Called and told them we were considering closing our account so we were transferred from the Customer Service department to the Customer Retention department. We got a discount for having a cell phone plan through AT&T ($5 a month) and they knocked off another $22.5 (50%) a month on top of that for six months. Bill came in and was less than $25! If they don't give us another promo at the end of the 6 months we'll just close the account and go elsewhere. No way am I paying $50 a month for internet.

Also this past week:

Cell Phone Bill: Added a line (we had 4 and now have 5) to our AT&T family talk plan this past month. Come to find out they switched our plan from 850 anytime minutes to 700 anytime minutes for the same price $60 without the AT&T “sales” associate discclosing this little piece of information. Apparently we couldn’t upgrade/add another line with the old plan. I called AT&T customer care and they innitially offered a $200 credit. I negotiated and they rep finally gave in to a $240 credit. Next month’s bill August (and a little off of September) is free! On top of that I asked for the 1000 rollover and additional rollover anytime minutes we had lost on the original 850 plan. Due to the lack of communication I also asked for 5000 rollover anytime minutes (good for a year or July 2013) which they gave us. They also waved the $36 activation fee on the new line. Savings: $240+36 = $276. Plus the 5000 (originally had about 1000) anytime minutes...

All for less than 30 minutes of my time.

Cha Ching!

Never hurts to ask I guess

I think you could turn around and re-sell them on craislist or ebay for more than 80% of their face value. Profit!

I wanted to share a great deal on a used car I just recently bought. I had a hard time finding decently priced cars, I know its a big issue right now. My buddy told me about Hertz, they have a division that sells previously used rental cars. Here's the site: Hertz Car Sales I was able to test drive the car for a few days and take it to my mechanic. Just had an overall really good experience with the whole process and wanted to share it as an option for those looking for ideas.

Around here, any place that sells oil has to accept used oil for disposal. So when I go to buy new oil for an oil change, I just bring old oil with me.

There are many reasons I prefer to change my own oil, even though some of the "Quik-Lube" places might be just as cheap.

• If they're able to do it so cheaply, what corners are they cutting? Am I getting the right oil for my car? Does the 17-year-old underneath even know/care?
• Are they using a good, quality oil filter, or a cheap knock-off they buy in bulk?
• I don't like the "hard sell" they use while they're changing my oil. "Looks like your wiper blades are a little worn down. When's the last time you changed your cabin air filter? Your manufacturer recommends this fuel detergent every 20,000 miles." Just change the oil, kid.
• The bargain-basement places just want to get me out of their as fast as possible, so they're not looking at my brakes, exhaust system, struts, or any other "under" parts that could wear out. By doing it myself, I can take a minute and look at those other systems while I'm under there anyway, and catch any imminent problems before they become catastrophes.
• I don't trust the grease monkeys not to damage my car. My first car was a VW Jetta, and it had a plastic "splash shield" underneath the front, to protect the engine from getting splashed with water. To get to the oil filter, you had to unscrew 6 plastic screws and remove it. The "Quik-Lube" guys decided that would take too long, so they just cut a big 12" notch in the plastic shield so they could get to the filter without having to waste 2 minutes removing/replacing the shield.

I could come up with more, but I think that's enough.

If one of them did that to my car, they'd have an arse whoopin' coming!

I have nothing against buying used cars but I would never buy from a rental car place. Lots of different drivers, mostly short trips and worst of all, most of those drivers drive the car as if they don't own the car. Oh wait. They don't.

That's probably a much smaller risk than most people think. The SAE rating listed on the oil is usually the only thing you really need to worry about. Manufacturers make deals with oil companies to recommend a specific brand but that's about money not suitability. I once had to do some in-depth research on oil for my job and even worked with the specialty division of a major oil company to get a custom oil blend made for a special purpose. Beyond a few technical parameters that are mostly captured by the SAE specs, all natural motor oils are the same. Synthetics are only slightly different and mostly are the same as each other. So your biggest decision is regular or synthetic unless you have a very special car or a drive in a very special environment.


My wife once had an interior panel replaced under warranty on a car that was a few years old. In the process the "grease monkey" put a screwdriver through the windshield. The dealer tried to convince her that she had to pay for it because it was not covered by the warranty, then offered to split the cost...NO! Then they fixed it for "no charge" but apparently submitted it under the warranty. We found out when we got a bill from the manufacturer for the non-covered repair. The problem went away when she called the dealer and gave them 48 hours before we filed a criminal warranty fraud complaint with the state police...which we were prepared to do. Let's just say that they knew they had screwed up and tried to mess with the wrong people.

My #1 tip is buying reduced price gift cards.

As far as online sites, plastic jungle http://www.plasticjungle.com is great.

Timing wise, the best is the week after christmas and around January 15 (when december credit card bills come in the mail.) I buy those that I know I will need or anticipate needing in bulk.

For instance, in January I bought 5 old navy gift cards at 50 for 30 ($150 for $250 worth of cards). I just bought school clothes for two kids at 30% off, no shipping costs, with those cards and still have $23 left for the inevitable "I have to have a white shirt without stains on it for choir" moment. Even at sale prices, that was $50 saved.

I also keep about $200 on hand of home depot cards (hd is the only decent local hardware store, sadly.)

Other stores I will snap up are Target, Trader Joe's, Walmart, and gas cards.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Did you buy these on eBay/Amazon? That sounds like a great deal! Why do you think people sell them online out of curiosity?

I craigslisted some gift cards I got last christmas from a coworker/good friend that were well meaning.

See, she knows that I have a great love of fabulous lingerie, so she got me $50 to Victoria's Secret. What she didn't realize is that nothing in that store fits me correctly.

So, I sold my $50, got $45 and used it towards a store that DOES sell my size.

I'm pretty sure that's why people sell gift cards. You do the discount because why would someone buy it otherwise? The more reputable the site, the less of a discount you get. I like plastic jungle because they guarantee the cards will have the value stated. Craigslist is a little more iffy - I usually check the value of the card with my phone before I will pay for cards. I usually only use craigslist if it's a great deal OR if people are extremely conveniently located.

Learn to shave with a double edged safety razor. I got a razor and 100 blades for about $30. MUCH MUCH cheaper than the multiple blade disposables. Replacement blades can be bought for about $0.10 each.

It takes a little bit to learn the proper form, but now it has become second nature.

I used to get horrible razor burn on my neck, right where my collar rubs. I discovered this researching ways to reduce it. Now I don't have the razor burn, get a much better shave, and save tons of money compared to the disposables.

the best part about buying discounted gift cards is you can stack other discounts/coupons on top of them. For example, the Lowe's GC I bought a month or so back came with an instant 20% off. I can run it through plastic jungle online for another 6.5% off. And when I show up 20 mins after placing my order online, I can usually get a Gift Card of $20 or so b/c they hardly ever have it together for their 20 min guarantee. So, that is 26.5% off right there plus maybe a gift card. Or, when we get that upright freezer we've wanted for a while, I'll cruise the ads of other stores, find a model that is cheaper than Lowe's and go in for them to meet the price plus take another 10% off. Then, I'll have my in laws meet there (they are retired military) and we'll take another 10% off. Then, I'll use my gift cards I bought for 20% off. If it's not at least 50% off new, I ain't buyin' it!

it's actually better to go through giftcardgranny.com to see who has the best price for the card you want. And as always, availability is an issue.

As someone who churns gift cards for a profit (usually), another tip with plasticjungle is to run through topcashback.com which gives you another 4% or so back. They are slow, but the money eventually makes its way to you (month to 2 month's time).