Tag: Discounts

Money Saving: Opening a store credit card to get a discount

Opening a store credit card to get a discountOpening a store credit card to get a discount can save you money immediately after the store offers a 10 or 20% discount to you. They do this simply for opening a new credit card account. There is nothing wrong with this in terms of saving money. Provided that you can always repay the balance of the card when you receive your statement.

The store is hoping you will not be able to repay the balance. They will often begin charging interest on the overdue balance at a rate that is around 30%, which is higher than most credit cards from banks. This is really how the store makes a profit, and a rather large profit at that. Any time you can charge 30% on a balance means high profits. So pay off your credit card as soon as the monthly statement arrives!

Opening a store credit card to get a discount – Will You Use It

One of the issues with these incentives is that many people will buy something that is on sale because it is on sale. They actually do not need the item and would not have purchased it if they had not seen it on sale. You are not saving any money at all if you incur interest charges and you do not actually use the item once you get it home!

Another factor to consider is your credit rating. Adding multiple credit cards to your credit rating will, over time, decrease your credit rating. When this occurs, and you need to borrow money for a loan for a car or perhaps your mortgage, it could mean that you will be unable to secure a loan or mortgage and/or pay higher interest rates which end up costing you money than you should be paying. Any money you saved with the initial purchase will be long gone with high interest rates, paying interest, or not being able to borrow money at low-interest rates.

Opening a store credit card to get a discount can be a good thing, but like everything else in life, it needs to be managed to ensure that it does not cost you money in the long run.

 

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Always Ask for Discounts

Always Ask for DiscountsThe motto of this post is always, “Always Ask for Discounts”. The worst that will happen is that the person will say no, they even may apologize for not being able to offer a discount! But in most situations, if the person you are dealing with can offer a discount or at least something, they will.

Discount for an Oil Change

This morning I took my car in go get the oil changed. This includes the oil change, a full 100 point check of the car and a car wash for $41. This by itself is not a bad deal compared to what I normally have to pay. We pay over $50 in Canada and we do not get the car wash or the 100 point check, so at $41 this is a really good deal.

I asked if there was a discount for seniors or triple A. He said he was sorry, there were no discounts for these but he could offer me $10 off bringing the price down to $31! Now that is what I call good service that inspires loyalty and saves me money at the same time. It also demonstrates another way to save money. Always ask for a discount!

The person I was dealing with did not have to meet my request. He could have said no and although perhaps a bit disappointed, I still would have been satisfied with the service and the price. I get to wait in a nice air conditioned reception area and they also provided free coffee as well. But the fact that he offered a discount was really the icing on the cake, so to speak.

Ask for a Discount at MacDonald’s

Another example and this applies to seniors. If you are a senior, always ask for a senior discount. At MacDonald’s for example, if you are buying a coffee, you can ask for a senior coffee and they will be happy to oblige you. The coffee is a small cup and is always discounted for seniors. They provide free refills on their coffee as well so having coffee is an even better deal. The funny thing about MacDonald’s is that the price varies across provinces and states. I have paid as much as $.98 for a senior coffee and as low as $.38 for a coffee. It is always less than the regular price, but some locations are really inexpensive.

Always Ask for Discounts – How Much Money can you Save

It obviously depends on your spending habits, but let’s say you save $10 a week by always asking for discount when you make a purchase. If you save $10 a week that adds up to $520 a year. What can you do with $540? A lot is the answer and you might just save a great deal more than that on some deals, which pushes your average way up.

Some people suggest that you not worry about the small stuff. Focus on the big deals to save a lot of money. Yes, you can save a lot on large deals, buying a car for example and getting a discount etc on the price. But industry has figured out that it is the small transactions that have really made the cash flow issue for them. The banks nickel and dime you with every transaction. The coffee shops increase their price by a couple of cents and make millions. Same with the restaurants. Any transaction you make a lot of is also where you should focus. Don’t forget the large ones but also focus on the small daily cash flow as well for discounts.

For example at Starbucks, if you have a registered Starbucks card, you can refill your coffee for free. In addition after 12 coffees, you can have any drink of your choice at Starbucks. That’s a good deal and although Starbucks is an expensive place for fancy drinks it is on par with most other places for good coffee. If for example you have a refill 50% of the time and get your free drink, your coffee is working out to less than a dollar on average at Starbucks. Pretty good deal and this is one of the best discounts for coffee next to MacDonald’s.

As we said our motto is “always ask for a discount”?


Look for discounts and coupons

Look for discounts and couponsHave you watched any of these shows lately called, Extreme Couponing”? We have watched a few and are amazed at the amount of money that these people save. Now many people look for discounts and coupons since it can save them a great deal of money. Sometimes they buy a thousand dollars worth of food and end up paying a couple of dollars for the food items they are purchasing because of the coupons they collect and use.

They end up with many items of the same thing, and I guess that is ok as long as it will not spoil. Some even donate what they cannot use to charity which is a really great thing. They need to have lot’s of storage since they are buying many things on special with these coupons.

Look for Discounts and Coupons – Other Peoples Garbage

It has sparked another kind of problem. Apparently because of these shows, there are people now who are rummaging through garbage bins on garbage day and collecting coupons that people are throwing out. Others are collecting coupons by stealing them from the inside of newspapers before they are delivered. This is clearly wrong and we do not condone this method as a means of saving money. There is a lot of money to be saved and there are sufficient coupons for everyone. I am also not sure that the stores really want this type of savings through mass coupons, unless it is good advertising for them as well.

Save your Coupons and Obtain all of the Discounts

Still, if you can collect coupons, it is a great way to save money on things you need. My neighbor recently received a coupon in the mail for Philips fluorescent lights. It had a value on it of $3.27 and he figured that he would get a discount of that amount off the regular price. Instead when he got to the cash register, the $16.00 cost for three lights had been reduced to $3.27 for $12.73 cents savings. Add sales tax to that and it is even higher. What a great deal. On top of getting such a good price, he is also going to save money as well on his electrical usage!

We are not big collectors of coupons, however after watching these shows and seeing what my neighbor saved we are considering saving coupons. It is a lot of work to collect them, sort them and then remember to use them at the grocery store. I used to think that only poor people would use coupons, but when you can save hundreds of dollars , why not use coupons? It really comes down to how much effort you want to put in to saving money.

Where You Live Makes a Difference

Now each country is different. Apparently in the US, coupons have a much greater overall value than they do in Canada. For some reason they are not used as much here and are not as popular. But as my neighbor demonstrated there are still lots that can you save you money. You may not reduce a thousand dollars of groceries to almost zero. Still saving a few hundred dollars is well worth the effort!

Coupons are also moving to online web sites. Consumers are using their smart phones to collect coupons now. At some grocery stores you must sign up as a user and then you will receive all the coupons electronically. Your usage will  be tracked and coupons will be targeted more closely to your buying habits. We still have to explore how this works and plan to try it in the near future on our smart phone. We are going to try out this approach shortly and will add a post about electronic coupons.

If you have coupon stories let us know. I am sure our readers would love to hear about these money-saving deals too. Especially people who are using their smart phones to find deals and use coupons displayed on their smart phones at the register.


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