Kelly at Kelly’s Korner has a blog carnival today featuring money saving tips so I thought I would join in because saving money is so much fun! I always get excited when I get a good deal. (BTW, I am planning on posting the SeaWorld pics but it is taking a long time for them to all load on Flickr :))
First, I’ll start with the fact that I’m not afraid to negotiate. I’ve tried couponing and though it is a great concept, it takes time and I lasted one week. I don’t have the patience. However, the one thing I have find to be most effective in saving lots of money in business and personal life is negotiating. I learned early on from my mom and I have honed my skills at the art of negotiating. You really have to know when it is appropriate and when the time comes, don’t be afraid to ask. I’m rarely told no.
Ways to Negotiate:
1. When we purchased our new lot, we didn’t have an agent because I found the lot myself. We were a day from closing and I decided to ask the seller if we could have the 3% back as a credit to the purchase price since we didn’t bring an agent to the table. The answer was an immediate yes and we saved a TON of money. It was a simple question and I got an easy answer that came through very successfully and that was after we had already negotiated the price on the lot.
2. When calling about phone service, electricity, internet, etc. always play them against each other. For instance, we spend a lot of money on electricity every month, especially during the summer. I called up another company that was advertising low rates and found out the details of their program. I then called up our electric provider and told them we were going to move services unless they could match or beat the other providers rates. They didn’t want to lose our business so they matched them drivng our monthly electric bill down by 30%.
3. Volume Negotiating – With my business, I buy a large quantity of different things and you would be amazed at what you can negotiate when buying in volume. If you can think of something you spend a lot of money on with a particular company, do not hesitate to ask for a discount or if you already get a discount, a better one. I’ve never been turned down on this one.
4. Banking Fees – All of our bank accounts are free. I always negotiate this. It’s really very simple…just ask.
Price Matching
1. Shoes – Nordstrom’s will price match on anything. If you see shoes online on sale, bring in the print out and they will match it.
2. Target has a new price match policy as well which is awesome!
3. Don’t be afraid to ask a company if they will price match. If you are at a particular store and don’t have time to go elsewhere, pull out your iphone, look up the product online and see who has the best price and ask the store if they’ll match the price. Most of the time, they will.
Rewards Points and Rebates
1. Most people don’t use their credit card rewards to their full advantage. If you can pay off your credit card at the end of every month, I highly recommend this. For bookkeeping purposes and rewards points, we put everything we can on credit cards. We pay them off 100% at the end of every month. There are major benefits to this. First, the rewards points. We love to travel and pay for many flights with these points saving us thousands of dollars a year. Secondly, everything is itemized so you can easily see what you spend your money on every month.
2. Ebates – I do use ebates and have received quite a bit of funds back by using this service. It really is a no-brainer.
Coupons – No clipping Involved
If you are purchasing from a store online, always, always go and google “store name coupon”. Many stores have coupons floating around. The internet makes it so easy to save!
I hope these tips help someone save money!
Love This Life 
