More Moolah Mondays

Jenea at The Sunflower Saver has a weekly feature More Moolah Mondays where she shares tips on how to save money and live a frugal lifestyle.  This week's featured article is entitled "Barter With Your Bills"

The great thing about capitalism is that competition drives business...and we as consumers can benefit by shopping around to get the best price. You might think this is only true for the goods we buy, but did you know that you can negotiate many of the bills that are supposedly "set in stone"? You might think you are getting a great price on a service and then a couple months later, they raise their prices. I suggest comparing prices each year to ensure you are getting the absolute best deal! IT PAYS TO COMPARE PRICES--literally.

We personally have negotiated our trash service, home phone/Internet service, and any work we have done on our house. All you have to do is set up a little bit of time to do some research and make some phone calls (nap times work great for this in our house).

Trash Service

Here's what you do to get the best bang for your buck:

1. Make a list of companies you wish to call. I suggest calling at least 3-4 besides the current company you are using.

2. Call each company and tell them that you are shopping around for trash service. Tell them where you live and ask them to give you their pricing. Make sure it includes the entire price. Some companies now charge an extra fee for fuel (remember the sky-high gas prices a couple years back?), so be sure to get all the information so you are not surprised when your first bill arrives.

3. Once you have the pricing information, call your current company and ask them if they can match the lowest price. Chances are, they will because they don't want to lose your business.

4. If for some reason your current company won't match the lowest price, cancel your current service and begin a new service with the lowest-priced company.

Here are a few numbers of company's to call in the Wichita area. If you're not from Wichita, just open up the phone book or ask around for some reputable companies.

Waste Management: 888-964-9756
Waste Connections: (316) 838-6664
Lies Trash Service: (316) 522-1699
Ballinger Trash Service: (316) 943-7910
Eagle Trash Service (Andover & Rose Hill areas): (316) 796-1505

You can save as much as $10-$15 a month by shopping around for trash service alone...that doesn't seem like a ton of money but it can be $180 more in your pocket each year.
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Home Phone/Internet Service

A few months back, we had been debating whether to cancel our land line, since we get most of our calls on our cell phones. I would still prefer to have a land line, simply because it makes me feel safer to have a home phone (which my husband thinks is crazy). I was somewhat on the fence about the whole situation, so I decided to make a few calls. I called the competition and found out that our current service was actually cheaper than what they could offer. I decided to then call our company just to see if they could give us a better deal. If they could, great; and if they couldn't, I was resigned to just cancel our home phone service. We get the most basic home phone with absolutely no frills (no caller id, call waiting, anything). There wasn't a whole lot they could do to lower the price of that service since we were already the lowest price, but they did offer to give us 3 months of our high-speed Internet service free just for staying with the company--a savings of $75! Like I said...it pays to just ask!

Don't lie and say you want to cancel your service if you really don't, but make a case for yourself by perhaps telling them how many years you have been with the company, etc. Ask for a lower price or for an incentive. The worst thing that will happen is that they will say, "no."

Here are two numbers of home phone and Internet providers--I believe both of these companies are nationwide. Make sure you are comparing apples-to-apples by asking lots of questions. If you are looking for a most basic service, tell the company. If you want certain features, share those with the person you are speaking with. If your current company has the lowest price, you can still get a better deal by just asking!

AT&T: 1-800-ATT-2020
Cox Communications: 866-719-2029

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Follow a similar procedure for other bills. If you hire someone for any services in your home (lawn care, home-improvement projects, etc), make sure you ALWAYS get at least 3 estimates before making your selection. Don't always go with a company just because they are the cheapest...do your homework and make sure they are professionals. If you have a specific company in mind and they aren't the cheapest, ask if they'll match the cheaper price or at least discount their price.

That's it! You're armed with the tools to barter those bills! Happy savings!
Jenae

Guest Post: Saving Money While Traveling Abroad

Summer is right around the corner and will be here before we know it.  If you are planning a trip abroad . . .  or even here in the USA, be sure to check out this article by Raine Parker. 

Saving Money While Traveling Abroad

Once you’ve had practice living frugally at home, saving money becomes almost habitual. But when you’re boarding that plane to Paris or setting off on your dream cruise to Barbados, sometimes budgeting can be the last thing on your mind. Notwithstanding, controlling spending abroad can be even more important than budgeting at home, simply because tourist items, from entertainment to food to gifts, are several times more expensive, regardless of your destination, than similar items at home. The following are some tips for living frugally but still making the most of your vacation.

1. If possible, try to plan your vacation so that you travel during low or off season.

Opting to travel during off-season months, like September, has many benefits, and not all are money-related. For one, you’ll beat the large tourist crowds, which can make the traveling experience a bit claustrophobic. You won’t encounter as many lines at tourist attractions and you won’t have to make a reservation for every single restaurant. Airlines, hotels, and tourist services and attractions all typically slash their prices, sometimes by as much as fifty percent or more, during off-season periods to attract more clients.

When I traveled to Greece in late February last year, I stayed in a very clean, spacious hotel on the island of Paros for a laughably low price. The hotel proprietor offered my friends and I free drinks, and he even personally treated us to dinner at the restaurant next door. I suggested the same hotel to friends who would be going to Greece a couple of weeks later, during the peak spring break season. The room prices were triple the rate I received, and they got none of the freebies.

Smartertravel.com offers some great tips, including pitfalls to avoid, for traveling during off-season .

2. Use public transportation.

As most of us know, taxis are expensive, no matter where you live. As a tourist, you will probably encounter even more exorbitant taxi prices, if only because you’re a tourist, and cab drivers can detect out-of-towners in a second. If you’re visiting a country where cab prices can be negotiated, then bargain hard BEFORE hopping in. If not, then it’s best to make use of public transportation. You’ll beat traffic, save money, and meet interesting, local people along the way.

3. Don’t take your cell phone from home!

This may be a no-brainer to some, but I made this mistake, and, almost a thousand dollars later, I paid dearly for it. Even if your cell phone service provider offers specials on their international rates, there are far cheaper options to keep in touch with friends and family back home. Especially if you’re staying somewhere for more than a week, it may be worth it to purchase a cheap, pre-paid cell phone. You can keep in touch with your travel partners locally basically for free, and you can use a phone card to make calls home for just a few cents a minute.

If you have access to the Internet, then Skype may be your best bet. Skype-to-Skype phone calls are completely free, and if your computer has a camera, then you can even see your loved ones as you speak to them. VoIP-News.com offers some tips to enhance your Skype experience.

4. Hunt for student and other tourist attraction discounts.

Almost all museums around the world have student discount rates, and most allow students in for free. If you’re in school, be sure to bring your student ID with you. Even if you aren’t a student, you can still find great discounts on attractions if you do a little searching online beforehand. Last winter, when I went to Ireland, I purchased the Dublin Pass , which offers free entry to over thirty museums and attractions, additional discounts on shows and restaurants, and unlimited use of Dublin’s public transportation system. I received all of this for around $70, and I calculated that I saved around $250.

So, as you can see, traveling doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. Being smart about your expenses while abroad will make for a much more enjoyable travel experience.

By-line:

This guest post is contributed by Raine Parker, who writes on the topics of accounting degree online . She welcomes your comments at her email Id: raine.parker6@gmail.com .

Be sure to check out another of her great articles entitled 100 Best Blogs For Women In Business

Guest Post on Checkout Chicks

I was recently asked to do a guest post for the Checkout Chicks on Preparation and Organization for Successful Shopping. Check out my post here. While there, check out the rest of this great site. If you are a fellow blogger, be sure to pimp your blog with a link to your latest post.

Why Bother To Coupon

Half Price Full Pantry has a guest post over at The Checkout Chicks place entitled "Why Bother to Coupon". It is a very informative post and I wanted you to have an opportunity to read, it so check it out here.

Just a heads up that I have a guest post at The Checkout Chicks later this month.

Guest Post by Little People Wealth

I continue to find new blogs on frugal living on the blogosphere that remind me of the wealth of information we have at our fingertips. Today, I found "Little People Wealth" and the post entitled "A Penny Saved Is More Than A Penny Earned" . Here is her post:

"I'm sure you've heard the saying "A penny saved is a penny earned", but it is wrong... a penny saved is more than a penny earned! Now for the sake of not splitting hairs, I am going to use $100 instead of a penny - but the premise is the same.

If you EARN $100 then you will have to pay 6.2% in social security tax, lets say that you are in the 25% federal tax bracket, and the average United States state/local tax is 10.1%. This means that for your hard work you will bring home $58.70 of your money.

If you SAVE $100 then you are not "charged" on any of it. Every bit of that savings is yours to keep.

So the next time you save those pennies, smile and remember that a penny saved is ALMOST TWICE a penny earned!"

This makes me want to pay more attention to those pennies in the bottom of my purse.

Guest Post by Erin at Coupon Cravings

I am an avid follower of Erin at Coupon Cravings. She is on the blogroll for All You Magazines Daily Savings AND she is also one of Walmarts Eleven Moms

I saw this great post on her site and had to share it with you. After reading, check out her site for even more great tips.

4 Ways to Use Coupons To Get Free Groceries:

"Want free groceries? Who doesn’t! I’ve put together four ways to use coupons to get free groceries.

1) Use Buy-One-Get-One-Free Coupons: One great way to get free groceries & household items is to use a buy-one-get-one-free (BOGO) coupon when a grocery item is on sale buy-one-get-one-free to get two for free. I've done this many times to get free shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste and more.

2) Use Two Coupons on Buy-One-Get-One-Free Sales: When you have high value coupons you can often get products for free or nearly free this way. A couple of months ago, Pert Plus was on sale at CVS buy-one-get-one-free (two for $3.69). I had two $2-off coupons, which more than paid for both bottles of shampoo.

3) Stack Store & Manufacturer's Coupons: Both Target and CVS have store-specific coupons that can be paired with manufacturer's coupons for extra savings. I recently got 4 boxes of Pop Tarts for free by combining Target web coupons and manufacturer’s coupons.

4) Hit Double & Triple Coupon Days at Your Grocery Store: Harris Teeter triples grocery coupons up to $.99 face value three or four times a year. Many other grocery stores do the same. I recently got over $30 worth of groceries at HT, including Chex cereal, Cascade dishwashing detergent and 4 bottles of Windex for only $2.So what do you think? Do you have any more tips to get free or very cheap groceries with coupons?"