Three things I'm going to try:
- Twitter, Twitter, Twitter. Meghan Udell of shoestringmag.com, suggests following feeds that alert you to great sales. Two faves: @cheapcheapcheap and @bearabledeals. P.S.: Their Twitter is @shoestring.
- BYO! Booze is always half the bill, says Post food writer Carla Spartos, so go to restaurants that let you bring your own, and remember how yummy $4 Boone's Farm is -- very yummy.
- Call and complain to a cellphone supervisor. If anything on your bill riles you up, call to bitch, but here's the key: Ask to talk to a supervisor, or even better a "customer retention specialist." They want to keep you, and most companies are willing to play ball. Spartos did this with T-Mobile on increased text messages, and the higher cost was reduced immediately.
(*NOTE - this works on credit card providers too - if you're looking to lower your interest rate, call and emphasize that you love the company and have been with them for years but a 15% interest rate is way too high . Emphasize that you're a faithful customer who'd hate to leave, but you're just going to HAVE TO if nothing can be done about the interest. You may need to talk to a supervisor but remember, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar, so play nice!)
Another thing that I've found helpful is to look at everything you might buy in terms of hours worked. If you make $10, how many hours will you need to work to afford those $80 shoes? 8 hours?!? That's a whole day of work! Do you really need them? Or, if you can't NOT have those shoes...try the Ramen diet!
2 comments:
Thanks for republishing our tips and tricks from Shoestring Magazine and our recent interview with the New York Post. Sign up for our free newsletter at ShoestringMag.com or check out some our recent articles for more great tips on saving money and the planet: Free Tools for Money Management, Shop Your Closet, Goodbye Gym, Hello On Demand, and The New Swap Meets Are Online All the best ~ Melissa, Shoestring founder & editor in chief
Melissa - thanks for taking time to check out our blog. I'm a huge fan of your newsletter and follow you on twitter.
Keep up the tips!
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