Comments

Episode-667- Modern Survival Ways to Save Money Part Three — 33 Comments

  1. Love the idea of another show and the ways to save money during hte intro. The more I save the more I have to prep. Thanks for all you do and congrats on he move.

  2. @Jack,

    I love the idea of having a daily money saving tip at Intro-time. Nice link to go with it, and its a fantastic special-section of the daily podcast.

  3. Jack:

    There is an “o” preceeding the “http://” portion of the icemaker link above, so it is currently not working. I thought that you and the other folks would want to know.

    Curt

  4. As a point of clarification regarding the making your own butter tip. The “buttermilk” that is leftover after making butter is not the same cultured buttermilk you buy in the store. It’s essentially a buttery 1% milk. If you use it in baked goods, make sure you use baking powder instead of baking soda. The baking powder contains both a base (baking soda) and the acid, while baking soda alone relies on the culture in the store bought buttermilk to act as the acid. Just wanted to pass on a lesson we learn after the first time we made biscuits they came out flat and hard.

  5. Hi Jack,

    These have been great shows, and coincide well with a website and free weekly newsletter of money saving tips, that I am working on (thepatriotgarden.com). You and the TSP community were certainly a big part of the inspiration behind it.

    As a longtime listener and MSB member, I think the newsletter could be useful to the TSP community. Tips can be submitted to mark@thepatriotgarden.com and folks can check out newsletter details and sign up on the website – http://www.thepatriotgarden.com

    Thanks for your consideration, and please let me know if this is an inappropriate plug request, because I do not want to offend your audience, just throwing out a resource I think could become very useful for them and spread their knowledge to a wider community – it’s free and newsletter subscribers can possibly win $25 just for signing up.

    Thanks Jack,
    Mark in Colorado

  6. I stumbled upon and started listening to your show a few weeks ago and really like your format.

    I just listened to your first podcast from your car and think that was an AWESOME idea to get started. A friend and I used to do a weekly podcast and it was a ton of work. Just that idea alone has kind of inspired me to try doing something like that myself while sitting in traffic.

    ANYWAY,

    Along the lines of suggestions for SAVING money, I think it would be prudent to spend some time on the lost art of NEGOTIATION. At first I thought β€”Β β€œWhy not talk about getting a raise at work?β€œ since I have been at a job for over a year without so much as a performance review in this “be thankful you have a job no go f-off” economy.

    The more I think about it, the art of negotiation has really been lost in our culture as a whole. Those of us who go to flea markets, craigslist addicts, and who are used to wheeling and dealing on a regular basis still have the ability but how many “zombies” do you see in our culture who won’t even negotiate at a CAR DEALERSHIP and just accept the sticker price at face value?

    This is all part of the pussification (whoops, spelling error β€”Β I mean PACIFICATION) of AmericaΒ β€”Β basically the powers from above telling us to just sit down and shut up.

    I can’t tell you how much money I have saved over time by negotiating everything from my RENT after living in a house for a year and talking my landlord down almost $150/mo AFTER having lived in the house for a year… Trading in a broken car for a solid old Jeep Cherokee and paying cash vs haggling for a car payment you can afford… Haggling people on craigslist when both buying and selling… I could go on but you get my point.

    The moral of the story is that you won’t get anything you want without asking and the worst that can happen is to get a “no” response.

    The art of negotiation is not just randomly throwing numbers around but also involves knowing where you stand in terms of value (to your company, the value of your item for sale, etc).

    How many people do you see on these Porn Shop (er… Pawn Shop) TV shows where some idiot throws out a really lowball number as his starting price and the pawn shop steamrolls over the guy after the fact.

    I can’t believe when people start out at the number they should have negotiated down to.

    Also, it would not hurt to talk about the opposite end of the spectrum, and how it can backfire on you in a job situation where you ask for too much money and they hire someone else leaving you still unemployed, or you take it too far and make a threat to your current employer that finds you out on your ass with no job vs. getting a raise.

    I think that topic could be deserving of an entire show. Making MORE money for the same amount of labor is just as important as SAVING money on the things you need!

    THANKS!

    AWESOME SHOW!

  7. One more note about haggling… When SELLING something on a site like craigslist β€”Β I have even gone to the extent of REMOVING a listing without selling the item if my inbox gets flooded with numerous responses.

    Then, about a week or two later I will re-list the item at double the price and see how many people bite, and contiune that tactic.

    I have sold old computers for 5X what I thought they were worth and last winter when I moved I made over $2,000 selling old junk out of my basement which almost covered all our moving costs. Without tactics like that I probably would have ended up with half the amount.

    Food for thought.

  8. OK last post… I swear…

    One of the biggest things you need to keep in mind when negotiating something is the willingness to WALK AWAY…

    I cannot count the number of times I have literally gotten up to walk away from a deal only to end up getting what I had originally asked for because the person wanted to make a sale.

    If a salesperson KNOWS you really want something and are almost definitely going to make a buy they are not going to be willing to bend as much as if they are convinced that you do not care one way or another.

    Things like never going to a car dealership wearing a suit or an expensive watch, or showing up in a NICE vehicle or anything they can use to peg your worth…

    Like I said you could spend at least a whole show on this topic.

  9. Regarding coffee… I’ve been roasting and brewing my own. The espresso I brew is better than any Starbucks (which tastes like drain water to me now in comparison) and I think it works out to less than 50 cents a cup (if my math is still correct).

    I normally get my green beans here: http://www.greencoffeebuyingclub.com or here: http://www.greenbeanery.ca

    This is the modified machine I purchased from a friend who was upgrading: http://gaggiaespresso.blogspot.com/2008/07/classic-pic.html

    If you’re a coffee aficionado, it’s well worth it.

  10. Jack – I want to hear the money saving tips at the intro of the episodes.

    Thanks for the awesome shows.
    Brian

  11. I like the idea of making the money saving tips part of the intro. As always Jack thanks for doing the show.

  12. I think it’s a great idea to have money saving tips at the start of the show.

  13. Jack,
    I like the Money Saving shows as well.
    IMHO I would rather you do one show a month instead of one each episode. I like the focus on the main topic. You could also just post the ideas people send as a blog post.

    Thanks for the shows,

    Josh from the PRK

  14. I saw the recipes for salad dressings and was surprised a basic vinaigrette recipce wasn’t included. Measurements approximate as I just pour and mix to taste each time.
    Start with good quality extra virgin olive oil – approx 1/4 cup
    basalmic vinegar, about 1/8 – 1/4 cup
    a few grinds of freshly ground black pepper and a pinch of salt. Add other spices in your spice rack to experiment on variations of the above.
    whisk that together and that’s the whole thing!
    Delish!

  15. Anyone catch the Coffee mix for Maxwell House and Starbucks (did not get variety or amount) Thanks!

  16. I like the intro idea. I think the money saving ideas are helping to get my wife on board with preparedness. Thanks for all you do Jack.

  17. Intro money saving tip is an awesome idea. If the backlog gets too big, you could always do another whole show to thin out the folder a little.

  18. I like the idea of having money savers in each show, But I think that with the folks listening and contributing you will end up with an ass load of tips and therefore I would also like a show based on tips every now and again. Honestly look at all the tips relayed to you in just a week with more flooding in.

    Keep up the good work brother

    Shorty

  19. I just got to the part where the guy said he is saving $9,000 a year by quitting smoking????

    SERIOUSLY???

    Simple math dictates this guy must have been smoking 2 CARTONS a day to be spending that much on cigarettes!

    20 packs a day????

    I’m calling bullshit on that one. Could someone actually survive by breathing straight tobacco 24hrs a day?

  20. Hi Jack,

    I would love to hear some money saving tips near the beginning of each show.

    RM

  21. If there are so many of these, what about possibly making it a regular segment? Maybe once a week or once a month. Alternately, maybe just do one money-saver in the housekeeping on every show? Just a thought.

  22. Jack,

    Would love to hear a tip or two at the beginning of each show. As always AWESOME show and congrats on your move!

  23. I don’t understand how paying an extra .08 cents for cash at the pump is saving money? Can someone explain this again?

    What I heard was he pays $20 cash, fills to $9.92 and gets a $10 bill back. What the heck is money saving about this one? I’ve listened to this 4 times and I can’t wrap my head around how paying an extra .08 cents is going to save money. ??? What did I not understand?

  24. What they meant was that they pump $10.08 and pay with a $20 so there would be $9.92 in change. Instead of counting that out they give them $10 in change, an $.08 bonus.

    As for the $9000 savings in smokes, Depending on the state Cigarettes can cause $7 or more a pack these days ($11 in New York I hear). That would be about 4 packs a day. Yes, that’s crazy but 2 packs a day is not unheard of and if there were two people in the house smoking this much it is easy.

  25. @AdamB RE: Smoking

    I’ll be happy to do the math on that one. In NY state, a name brand pack of smokes comes to $9.85 at the register after all the taxes. 365 days a year.

    So a pack a day smoker would spend just shy of $3,600 per year. Two and three pack a day smokers are not uncommon. Some areas have higher taxes still (as unbelievable as that sounds).

    Obviously, $9,000 a year is on the extreme high end of what one would spend, a statistical out-layer, but still possible. I personally know at least 2 people who pay as much.

    Clearly quitting smoking is the most effective money saver, but most people who do smoke recognize the expense and do something to lower it. Around here, I can buy cigarettes from the indian reservation at $1.90/pack. That’s a huge savings. Also consider brain chemistry. After about 10 cigarettes in a day (spread out by a few hours) all physical cravings are satisfied. At that point, nicotine doesn’t have any real effect on brain chemistry. Everything after that is purely psychological. Of course that depends on the nicotine content of the cigarettes, how often you smoke etc, but for the most part a 3-4 pack per day smoker can cut back to half a pack and still satisfy the physical addiction just the same as if they had never cut down. So those same smokers who are paying 9-10 thousand dollars a year could, with just a bit of will power and change in routine, cut down their spending to about $1 per day. Compared to nearly $30 per day, that’s pretty significant.

  26. Tip on Restaurant.com

    Sign up for an account before using it. They are ALWAYS having a special where you get 70-80% off with a promo code that they email out weekly.

    For example. Type in the word PLATE today or tomorrow in the promo code box at check out and it will bring that $25 certificate from $10 down to $3!!!!!

  27. Loved the show(s) on saving money, but one thing left out of the equation (often) is using your time efficiently (remember time is money). When I hear people talking about saving money on cable, and movies, I’m betting there is time in there to make extra money, or put in more vegetables in the garden, or learn a trade or skill. Make your hobbies make money. Start a side business. Worried about family time? Start a gardening route with your kids, grow the business and the kids, till they can run it themselves. I wished I had learned these lessons when I was a teenager. To think of all the spare time I had then and largely wasted it hanging out.

  28. Great show as always, and I like the idea of one of these tips every show or a couple times a week. Suggestion: make it on a different day than the email or call-in shows, since those are already varied in topics and often contain a lot of information to digest and remember.

    To clarify on my email about the POS vehicle being held together with duct tape: I do change the oil often and otherwise maintain it, but it had some body damage. I bought it for an excellent price and paid cash, but it is not pretty to look at. A while ago, one of my rear fenders started to flap in the wind while I was in the middle of a 5 hour trip, so I whipped out the duct tape from my truck and secured it. Since then, I had to purchase some “better” duct tape, but it prevents the fender from flapping in the wind. One of these days I might secure it in a more permanent way, but once my debt is paid off I will probably purchase a slightly less POS vehicle πŸ˜‰

    Final thoughts: I need to quit smoking or at least make my own more often. And, I am definitely going to try the coffee ice cube thing!