Squeeze more from your budget
If you think you have wrung every last dollar from your budget, these tips, courtesy of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, will help you squeeze out a few more pennies.
+Raise the deductibles on your insurance policies and switch from monthly payouts to one yearly bill.
+Use coupons for everything, not just groceries. Get them from the paper, at online coupon sites, and directly from the manufacturer.
+Sign up for e-newsletters from the stores you frequent. The dispatches often contain coupons or let you know when a sale is going on.
+Sign up for rebate sites like eBates.com or Cashbaq.com, both of which give back a cut of your total purchase.
+Ask for a discount. Call your credit card company and ask for a lower interest rate if you carry a balance month to month (the Fed just lowered rates again). Same goes for your cable company and other vendors. Often asking nicely and pointing out that you are a longtime, loyal customer will persuade them to shave off a few dollars.
+Take advantage of merchant bonus offers when you cash your government stimulus check at their store. Many grocery chains are offering a 10% boost! If you give them your $600 check, they give you a gift card worth $660. That kind of short-term return is hard to match.
Comments
Are Vons/Ralphs/Albertsons doing the 10% thing ? I have not seen any promotions for this.
Posted by: scott kelley | May 7, 2008 1:00 PM
Ralphs and Albertsons are, I'm not sure about Vons. ~Julia
Posted by: Julia Scott | May 7, 2008 1:17 PM