If you were to walk down the aisle of any airplane prior to take off and ask people how much they paid for their ticket, you would be amazed at the varying prices. One person may have paid $89 for a ticket, while the guy sitting next to him might have paid $900. We all know this so we try not to be the guy with the $900 ticket. Over time, if we travel much, we begin to learn the ways to make sure we don’t end up paying the highest price on the airplane. We might buy our ticket long before we need to fly to make sure that we make our purchase while there is still tons of available seats. We might shop the online travel sites to find a last minute deal, or we may try to use our frequent flier miles to get a seat for free, or a discounted price. The airlines average all the revenue from a flight and come up with a per seat revenue rate. Some people bring that figure down, while others (think $900 seat) bring the average up. That’s just the way it is.
Many of the same people that shop around and try different techniques to get on the plane cheaper, fail to use the same level of due diligence when it comes to many other purchases, although it is possible to do so. As a general rule, I try to be the person who gets a purchase below the average cost. I always make sure I’m not buying something above the average price. Here are a few examples:
I am a creature of habit. I eat the same cereal every day. (at least every weekday). There are only a few stores that carry the cereal I eat so I am always watching for a sale. Rather than pay $3.49 per box, I always waited until it went on sale and then I bought them in bulk for $2.50 each. Since Amazon has started selling groceries, I now buy that cereal online. The cereal’s normal price online is $2.79. Just a bit over the store’s sale price, but still much better than $3.49. That’s not good enough for me, even with the free shipping. Before I make a purchase at Amazon, I always search for a coupon. For quite awhile I was able to use their $10 off any grocery purchase over $30 (or was it over $40?). Those haven’t been around for awhile so I’ve had to dig deeper. Fatwallet and Dealnews.com have been great resources to find coupons. For the month of April, Amazon has had a $10 coupon for the manufacturer of my cereal. I have really bought it in bulk this month. The coupon says that you get $10 off any manufacturer purchase of $29.99 or higher. I buy 12 boxes of cereal, which puts me over the minimum just a bit, and then add the $10 coupon. By doing this, I’ve averaged my cost down to $2.10 per box of cereal with free shipping. I’ve also found that there is no reason to speed up the shipping and pay extra because it consistently gets shipped as fast as the upgraded shipping would. Some people might be inclined to just order a whole bunch of boxes on one order and use the $10 coupon. I buy only what it takes to get me over the minimum and then submit several orders. By doing this, I’m able to use the coupon more than once and bring my average cost down as low as possible.
Approximate savings per year: $200
High speed internet access. I’ve previously posted about getting a discount on my broadband access. Same thing applies here. Why pay the retail price for this if you don’t have to. By simply making a phone call, I save myself over $15 per month on broadband. I get my broadband for $180 cheaper each year, just by calling and asking for a lower price.
Approximate savings per year: $180
I’ve also mentioned I use Tivo. I only pay $6.95 per month for full Tivo service. Why pay $12.95 per month when all you’ve got to do is make a quick phone call and ask for a better rate? By simply calling Tivo I have saved $72 per year for exactly the same service as everyone else paying full price.
Approximate savings per year: $72
I use Sprint as my cellular phone carrier. They have a decent signal in my area, but that’s not why I use them. It turns out that they offer me the largest discount off of their standard rates and no other carrier can come close to their price. I will be loyal to Sprint as long as they continue to beat their competitors on price. By using their discount (associated with my employer) I save $15 a month off of my cellular bill. That’s another $180 per year in savings.
Approximate savings per year: $180
By simply applying a little work to what might seem to be simple, inconsequential purchases, I am saving over $630 per year. It would take $12,500 to generate that amount of money per year (@ 5% interest). By applying simple savings techniques to my daily life, I am able to keep that money in my account earning interest for me instead of giving it away by paying full retail price.
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