Saving without the sacrifice
I'm sick of stores trying to convince me that the only way to save money is to spend money. Buy-one-get-one-free sales and false discounts sucker consumers into buying crap that they don't need by creating a false impression of savings.
Have you ever been to Kohls? Next time you're in there, take a look at their on-sale items. You'll notice that every item, every day, is on sale.
...let me say that again.
EVERY SINGLE STUPID THING, ON EVERY SINGLE STUPID DAY IS ON SALE.
It's funny to see my family and friends talk about their shopping experiences at Kohls. "Look at what I bought today at Kohls!" they'll say as I am shown the ridiculous impulse purchase. "And I got it on sale!"
If you really want to save money, put your wallet away. You can justify buying just about anything if you think you're getting it cheaper than everyone else. I think that people feel fulfilled and intelligent when they paid a perceived low price for something. Retail stores, by displaying items as "on sale," they're trying to eliminate your desire to shop around. They're trying to convince you that you don't need to shop around because the best deal you're going to find is right in front of you, begging to be placed in your cart.
Geico auto insurance does the same thing in their commercials. Ask anyone on the street " how can you save 15% or more in 15 minutes or less?" They'll answer "by calling Geico."
The gecko is full of crap.
With a ten-minute phone call yesterday, I saved about 50% on my auto insurance by switching from Geico. With my next premium coming due in a month or so, I decided to do some shopping around. With Geico, I was paying $72o twice a year. With my new company, I'll be paying $450 for the same exact coverage. And I'll be able to receive monthly bills without a penalty, too. Geico used to charge $3 per month to do that.
Another reason we pay too much for things is our tendancy to form habits and never question our service providers that we take for granted. I was frustrated when I received yet another trash bill this week that had increased from the previous month. In the past, I had just paid the extra few dollars without question. But this month I decided to shop around. When I closed my account, I was paying $20 per month for weekly trash service. Within a half hour I found a place with the same size can and the same weekly service for $154 per year. By prepaying, I ensured that my rates would never increase (as they often had with my old company) while saving $7 per month.
If you want to start saving more money, you'll probably need to make some sacrifices. But before you do, look to save money in areas where you won't have to sacrifice anything. I saved $540 per year by switching car insurers. I saved $7 per month by switching trash companies. I save $25 per month by having my wife cut my hair at home (easy because I have a buzz cut).
No one likes sacrificing, so try your hardest to save money on the things that don't matter.
Have you ever been to Kohls? Next time you're in there, take a look at their on-sale items. You'll notice that every item, every day, is on sale.
...let me say that again.
EVERY SINGLE STUPID THING, ON EVERY SINGLE STUPID DAY IS ON SALE.
It's funny to see my family and friends talk about their shopping experiences at Kohls. "Look at what I bought today at Kohls!" they'll say as I am shown the ridiculous impulse purchase. "And I got it on sale!"
If you really want to save money, put your wallet away. You can justify buying just about anything if you think you're getting it cheaper than everyone else. I think that people feel fulfilled and intelligent when they paid a perceived low price for something. Retail stores, by displaying items as "on sale," they're trying to eliminate your desire to shop around. They're trying to convince you that you don't need to shop around because the best deal you're going to find is right in front of you, begging to be placed in your cart.
Geico auto insurance does the same thing in their commercials. Ask anyone on the street " how can you save 15% or more in 15 minutes or less?" They'll answer "by calling Geico."
The gecko is full of crap.
With a ten-minute phone call yesterday, I saved about 50% on my auto insurance by switching from Geico. With my next premium coming due in a month or so, I decided to do some shopping around. With Geico, I was paying $72o twice a year. With my new company, I'll be paying $450 for the same exact coverage. And I'll be able to receive monthly bills without a penalty, too. Geico used to charge $3 per month to do that.
Another reason we pay too much for things is our tendancy to form habits and never question our service providers that we take for granted. I was frustrated when I received yet another trash bill this week that had increased from the previous month. In the past, I had just paid the extra few dollars without question. But this month I decided to shop around. When I closed my account, I was paying $20 per month for weekly trash service. Within a half hour I found a place with the same size can and the same weekly service for $154 per year. By prepaying, I ensured that my rates would never increase (as they often had with my old company) while saving $7 per month.
If you want to start saving more money, you'll probably need to make some sacrifices. But before you do, look to save money in areas where you won't have to sacrifice anything. I saved $540 per year by switching car insurers. I saved $7 per month by switching trash companies. I save $25 per month by having my wife cut my hair at home (easy because I have a buzz cut).
No one likes sacrificing, so try your hardest to save money on the things that don't matter.
posted by Scott Bliss @ 2:10 PM
2 Comments:
At September 30, 2008 10:31 AM ,
Steve said...
I shopped around a little for car insurance when I moved to DC - there was negligible difference for me, mostly because my car is worthless and no one charged much. I went with Geico because I liked their web interface better and DC took their printed documents, and I had to get my car registered there ASAP to avoid a huge ticket. Not having to wait for mailed documents was worth it.
Now that I've moved to Virginia, I'll have to look around again when my current coverage gets close to expiring.
My main expenses that need to be brought under control are food and gas. That's hard for me because those are things I'm very willing to spend money on.
The quickest way I can cut down on food cost is changing where I shop - because of the gluten free breads they have, I do most of my shopping at Whole Foods. If I can stop being too lazy to go to Giant or Safeway to get things that are the same quality at cheaper stores, I can save quite a bit. I also need to take advantage of the many ethnic grocery stores near my house - they have excellent food and are very cheap. Luckily, I don't eat out very often unless I am out of town, so my restaurant habits don't need to change, just my expenditure on the food I cook.
Since I moved within a mile of work, my daily gas usage is practically nothing. However, the last 2-3 months I've gone on a road trip of 500+ miles round trip roughly every other weekend. Because most of my close friends and family are spread out over NC, I consider the trips worth the expense. However, I can save some money by carpooling more often when I go down there, and by trying to cut down road trips to one a month. I can also take better advantage of cheap airfare and airline mileage. It is usually a toss up to fly from DCA to RDU or to pay for gas round trip.
My largest single recurring expense is rent. Unfortunately, I am getting a pretty good deal. I will definitely have to look around more seriously in the spring, when my lease runs out.
OK, that was all pointless internal dialog that added nothing to your post. Oh well.
Steve
stevescookingjournal.blogspot.com
At September 30, 2008 10:39 AM ,
Scott Bliss said...
@steve
Thanks for adding nothing to the post! jk :-)
If you were to cut down your road trips or your groceries (because of your special diet), you'd be making a sacrifice.
The point of my post isn't to pick on Geico or my old trash company. I, too, liked Geico's online environment and found it to be super convenient.
What I would like to see is my readers saving money WITHOUT sacrificing. Because you spend so much on gas, it might mean getting a gas rewards card that gives you a certain percent cash back on gas purchases.
Take a look at what you're spending your money on and look, line by line, for ways to save without creating a sacrifice. Try and find those same gluten-free foods at a less expensive store. Or make a rule to do your gluten-free shopping at Whole Foods and everything else at one of those ethnic places.
By the way, thanks for making the long 500+ mile trip to Cooperstown!
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