Ever wonder why some frugality tips get recommended over and over? Here’s why: Because they work.
A handful of hacks helped DF and me save four hundred simoleons in just three days.
The biggest-ticket item was our stove, which has been faltering. Since the appliance is at least 30 years old, DF was disinclined to call a technician. Since both of us are disinclined to pay retail, I sent away for $550 in discounted gift cards to a certain home improvement center (which I bought through a cash-back shopping site) and we started watching for sales.
He’d figured that $550 would be enough for the stove he wanted. But then we got lucky.
The same home improvement center sent us a coupon good for 15 percent off, just before appliances went on sale. That plus the other two hacks meant a $799 stove was ours for about $492, with free delivery.
Bonus: There’s no sales tax here, which helps make up for what we call the “Alaska gouge.”
And: I paid for the discounted gift cards with my Chase Freedom rewards credit card, which added about 500 points toward my next cash-in.
The advice: Buy on sale; pay with discounted gift cards; use cash-back shopping sites; use rewards credit cards; stack as many discounts as you can.
Of coifs and co-pays
I get a cut and color every six or seven weeks. Discounted gift cards help me here, too, saving me up to 15 percent. Yesterday a Regis card popped up at 12 percent off; not ideal, but not bad, either.
About $304 worth of Regis scrip is on the way, enough to cover my next few salon appointments. On the days of those visits I’ll check the salon’s Facebook page to see if any specials are being offered.
Although I’d vowed to keep expenses low for a while due to some upcoming travel, it made sense for me to spring for this card. In the long run it will save me more than $36.
The advice: Get discounted gift cards for everyday purchases, too; watch for any coupons or special deals.
Yesterday I was about to pay a post-insurance-claim medical bill when I realized it was unclear what the service had been. So I called to ask.
“That was for your mammogram,” the employee said.
Um…I believe that’s covered under the Affordable Care Act?
Pause. “You’re right.” Pause. “Actually, this has been re-billed because [insurance company] has had some issues with incorrect payments lately. Don’t pay this.”
Yay! I got to keep $65.24! Sure, the medical center eventually would have reimbursed me. But why give them money that I don’t owe?
The advice: Read your bills and question anything you don’t understand/recognize. That goes for credit card and utility bills, too. You may find you’re still being charged for something you canceled (e.g., a magazine subscription) or that you’ve been signed up for something you never ordered (a few years back I discovered I was paying for custom ringtones).
Worst-case scenario: Someone has gotten hold of your card info and has made a small purchase to see if you’d notice, after which you can expect a big purchase.
Noticing things is a frugalist’s superpower. We notice coupons, billing discrepancies, clearance tables, budget leaks, garage-sale signs, First Friday events, the funny little sound in the engine (catch it early or pay more later).
We’re not joyless misers. We’re just chary about waste and intensely interested in getting the most bang for the buck. In the last three days DF and I kept a little over $400 in our pockets without breaking a sweat.
Readers: Got any frugal wins to share?
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I use the gift card hack, too. Our local grocery store has a deal this week where you but 50$ in gift cards and get 10$ knocked off the total. Needless to say, i bought a few. My husband is going out of town, so he’ll be eating out at 20% off! Pre-paid! Love this! I always feel like i’m getting away with something; and, i guess i am! Too bad we can’t do this for everything!
The prepaid gift card hack may not work for everything, but it works for a lot: pet care, restaurant meals, entertainment, clothing, coffee, hotels, flowers, airlines, gasoline, groceries, furniture….
My suggestion to everyone: Think about the things you buy regularly (cat litter, movie tickets, gardening products, lattes, whatever) and things you’ll eventually need to buy (new shoes, a haircut, flowers on someone’s birthday) and go to GiftCardGranny.com to find the best deal on cards for those items. I’ve always got a handful of cards ready for use, and the savings really do add up; for example, I’ve been getting 20 percent off movie tickets for years.
My sister and her husband are in process of major remodeling, and I passed your tips on to her today. The idea of getting discounted gift cards to buy what you were going to anyway at a home improvement chain, then stacking sales and additional discounts is so smart! Getting the gift cards through GiftCardGranny, then shopping online via Ebates could save a bunch, I’d think, and they’re doing it all as they can afford to. No debt.
They should also go to RetailMeNot.com and see if any coupons for the home improvement store are available. Good luck to them in their project.
Hubby’s insurance rewards him for working out with rewards points. He got me a fitbit HR, normally $150, with those points, shipping included! Now I’m signed up and earning points for the replacement, and it’s getting me to exercise more!
Niiice.
Wow, waiting really paid off! I am a terrible strategist and so is my husband. In the past, when we needed an appliance, we went out and bouaght the model with the features we valued. Recently however, we moved and purchased a new dishwasher on sale a few weeks before moving in. The store kept it in storage for us and we saved about $500 on the appliance. I have mixed feelings about the concept of purchasing products and services based on best price only. I know it is an absolute necessity for many. I’m simply concerned that smaller businesses will eventually go out of business if most clients are not paying a fair price for products and services.
Awesome frugality there! Your final point is where we fail chez moi — checking stuff carefully and monitoring all bills always , especially medical bills. You can pretty much assume that there will be mistakes and double-pays in there. Husband has had so many complicated things going on in the last couple years that it would take a financial Houdini to figure it out. His neck surgery of 2014 is still being wrangled over by the docs and the insurance company. But great that you caught the mammo scammo. (Just wanted to rhyme there, not really accusing anyone 😉 Great reminders, as always.
Are you familiar with patient advocates and medical billing advocates? Hope you don’t need one again, but here’s an article on who they are, what they do and how much they charge:
https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/health/patient-advocates-medical-billing-advocates/
Thanks for reading, and for leaving a comment.
Oh, thank you for that info — I have never heard of them — good to know!
Clap, clap-Good save my dear woman!!!
To paraphrase Cheech and Chong: “Thanks for the clap, ma’am.”
Nice savings on the stove. I needed a stove for a rental a while ago and I’m a bit “frugal”. So I looked on Craigslist and found a stove…a lightly used nice GE… about 10 years old…for $40 WITH the cord which retails for around $15 and the range hood. The plastic handles were a bit discolored, so I removed them and spray painted them white. Reinstalled the handles and installed the stove. Looked great and that stove is still in service today.
You are, in fact, the frugal man.
The crazy thing is the oven portion had NEVER been used. The previous owners were a couple of professionals with no kids and preferred using the micro-wave. Seriously the paper work was still inside the oven. The used the top four burners BUT that was it. They had decided to change out the appliances to go with black and a more modern look for their kitchen. I was stunned to hear that you have no sales tax in Alaska….that is a significant savings in appliances..
Yep. That plus the Alaska Permanent Fund helps make up for the Alaska Gouge.
You got a heck of a price, there. Keep working those Craigslist deals!
Just before Christmas a local restaurant chain that I go to regularly had a “buy $50 in gift cards, and get a free $10 gift card for yourself”. I took advantage of that because I knew I would use it over time.
More recently, my microwave started getting an error – it is 5 years old, and the warranty was (of course) only for 1 year. I looked online and it is apparently a common issue with this model – so I called Samsung anyway, even though I am long out of warranty.
Lo and behold, Samsung rep says “we will cover this” – and so I am crossing my fingers to get it sorted – so far, it hasn’t been fixed yet, but I am told they WILL get someone out and it WILL be covered.
Good job on calling Samsung! I always say it doesn’t hurt to ask for something you want, just in case they say “Yes!”. You don’t get what you don’t ask for.
I love the phrase “Noticing things is a frugalist’s superpower.” That is awesome and so true!
Every so often our local grocery store gives out a coupon for “$XX off $XXX,” and it does not exclude gift cards. My family loves gift cards for Christmas, so it’s an easy way to save a bit while getting the Christmas shopping done ahead of time.
Go you! Bonus frugal points if you pay with a rewards credit card.
I always double and triple check bills for medical services. A couple years ago I received a bill for over $300 related to some surgical procedures I’d had done. I called the surgeon’s office and once they checked on it, told me it had been erroneously billed to me instead of the insurance company. I did not have to pay it!
What I’m saying: Question authority.
Thanks for reading, and for leaving a comment.
What is the Alaska Gouge?
It’s the higher price of things up here, due to distance.
How does one do this frugal hack for airlines gift cards???
You can buy airline gift cards on the secondary market, too.
Just found this great site of yours Donna & will definitely be following you! I’m a frugalist at heart too. I always tell people that saving money using gift cards on sale, buying them with a rewards credit card, watching for errors on bills & receipts, etc. is like getting a 2nd job to earn more money, only it’s tax-free money AND you can work when it works for you! Last month, I got a promo email from Cox (our TV & internet provider) that said they would give people $20 off their next bill if they had someone show up late for a service call. I remembered the email when I received our next bill, printed off the email & took it into the store ’cause that happened to us. The person behind the counter didn’t know anything about the promo but said it looked legit and took $20 off our monthly bill before I paid it. Boom! Like finding $20 in your email. Love it! P.S. Thanks so much for posting the Swagbucks promo codes you find too!
I agree that money you save is like a tax-free side hustle. As I said in my first piece for MSN Money, it’s not what you earn but how much of it you get to keep — and frugality helps you keep more.
Thanks for reading, Leona, and for leaving a comment. I always like to hear from fellow frugalists.