The BudgeX Blog

If you haven’t read The Secrets of Bargain Hunting Part 1, do it before continuing on.

In part 1 you learned to treat every buying opportunity as a pricing challenge, and the very basics of online search as your friend in comparison shopping.  In this post you will learn a skill that will become your primary weapon in distinguishing a good deal from a great one.  It saves you loads of time and money, and you can continually fine tune it as you shop.

Rule #3: Develop a Price Index for the Items that Interest you

As you look for deals, keep an eye out for deals on other items that might interest you—even if you won’t need them for awhile.  What you are doing is developing what I call a “price index” for them.  You are training yourself to better judge what constitutes a good price for that item so that you’ll be able to quickly identify when a great price comes along.

So, young grasshopper, let’s look at a real-life example.  While looking for a new digital camera I stumbled across some deals on memory cards.  I didn’t need them now, but I was going to if I ended up buying the camera.  The online prices I saw for the memory card online ranged from $20-$50, and I did end up getting the camera at my local Fry’s Electronics store.  Fry’s had the same memory card for $50.  It was sleek, flashy, and said it would make the perfect bundle with the stylish camera I just bought.  If I hadn’t spent those extra 2 minutes establishing a price index for the memory card I would be $30 in the  hole on that transaction.  And you’ll soon learn that $30 can go a long way.

Rule #4: The Deal Seeker’s Favorite R-Word — Rebates!

Rebates are another hidden treasure in the world of deal hunting.  You may have come across a few while shopping online (here’s an example).  They come in several flavors, but generally speaking a rebate can be offered by a store (e.g. Staples), or by the product’s manufacturer (e.g. Logitech).  Either way it means money back to you–  the rebate provider will literally mail you a check with your name on it (and in some cases you will see the savings instantly upon purchase).

When comparison shopping, look out for these rebate promotions, and factor this in when calculating the final cost of the product when determining where to buy from.

Finally, we have the treasure within this hidden treasure:  Check the store restrictions of the rebate to see if you can use it at a store with the cheaper base price!  Not many people ever think to do this.  If you did, well done!  Here’s an example: you are buying a Sony computer monitor, and you narrowed down the vendors to Office Depot: $119.99, and Best Buy: $149.99 with a $50 rebate.  Hmm, Best Buy seems to have the monitor for $99 after rebate, but wait!  The rebate on the monitor is directly from Sony the manufacturer, and has no restriction on where you buy it from!  Print that puppy from Best Buy’s website, order from Office Depot, and celebrate having paid only $69.99!  That’s a hefty wad of cash back in your hands!

In the final chapter of this trilogy I’ll teach you how to optimize your search techniques, and introduce you to my favorite websites to find deals on.

And here it is, your BudgeX Bargain: A Super mini Bluetooth 2.0 USB dongle for $2.64, with free shipping too!

Sometimes you can change the past.  I’m not talking about making things right with your ex so that somehow you can be together again; this is a financial blog, remember?  I’m talking about re-negotiating those long-term contracts that you currently have with companies.  In this post I’ll discuss the specifics behind savings hundreds of dollars per year on your cable or satellite TV bill.  This strategy has worked for several people, including myself, so listen up!

Saving on your Cable or Satellite Bill

Full instructions on how to cash in on this deal can be found in this SlickDeals thread, and all credit belongs to the original poster there.  It is specifically for Comcast customers, but the process is essentially the same for any provider, be it for cable or satellite.  Obviously, your results may vary.  Here is a quick summary of how it goes down:

1. Call or enter a chat conversation with your TV company (see below for reference numbers)
2. Tell them you are thinking of canceling your service, citing the competitor’s cheaper prices as the reason behind your decision
3. Never ask directly for promotions; their chats are monitored and they will get in trouble if they offer something to you for free
4. Talk about the economy and the high price of your bill
5. Don’t be overly aggressive; they will help you if they see you are in danger of switching to a competitor

According to the Slickdeals thread above, the representatives take a hit on their record when they do a cancellation, so they will do whatever it takes to keep you as a customer.  I myself originally had a promotional price for my Cable & Internet bundle with Comcast that would last for 12 months.  I spoke to a rep, plead my case, and he made that promotional price permanent.  That adds up to $30 of savings per month— $360 per year— that I capitalized on from a 15 minute chat conversation.  It sounds like something right out of a Geico commercial, but it’s true.

You might get away with free HBO, a free DVR, or you might walk away empty handed, but there is no risk in trying!  If they call your bluff, just say you’re still thinking about it and you’ll get back to them.  It’s fast, quick, and easy.  Seriously, give it a try.  Feel free to leave a comment about your own success story afterwards!

Reference Information for the Largest Cable & Satellite TV Providers:

To help save you time, I have compiled a list of the largest cable & satellite TV providers’ contact information.  Hopefully you fall into one of these buckets.

Cable

• Comcast Cable Communications: Live Chat / Phone: 1-800-COMCAST (1-800-266-2278)
• Time Warner Cable: No chat / Phone: Go to Time Warner’s Contact Page and enter your region to get specific phone numbers
• Cox Communications: Live Chat / Phone: G to the Cox Contact Page and enter your region to get specific phone numbers

Satellite

• Dish Network: In order to get to their Live Chat, you must first go through the Dish Network portal and use the “ASKDISH now” option / Phone: 1-888-284-7116
• DirecTV: No chat / 1-800-494-4388

Good Luck!  Don’t forget to post your success story in the comments section!

And here it is, your BudgeX Bargain: FREE Essential Cotton Panty from Express.  Look sexy while you save!

Finding deals on things has been an addiction of mine since I was a teenager.  In middle school I used to have so much free stuff mailed to my house that my parents forced me to stop.  Several years later I still hold the same ideals I did back then, only now I am more experienced.  I have found deals on computers, leather chairs, televisions, and even cars among other things.  When I say “deals”, I’m talking 80%, 90%, and  sometimes even over 100% off the retail price for new items, purchased at normal stores.  The most recent deal I scored: Brand New Logitech Z-5500 5.1 Surround Sound speakers for $2.86. That’s two dollars and 86 cents.  People regularly ask me to find them a good deal on a certain product for them, and I’m always happy to do it.  How, you might ask?  It’s a combination of several sources, strategies, and skills which took me several years to master, and I’m going to teach you how.

Rule #1: Don’t Ever be Satisfied with the First Price you See

Bargain hunting is like accepting a challenge.  Whether you’re shopping online or in a store, browsing for hats or hard drives, always check the price of the item you are interested in at competing stores.  That’s what they’re there for.  There are a few other skills that you can practice to better judge what constitutes a good price which I’ll talk about later, but the general concept is to always challenge yourself to find a better deal than what’s in front of you.  Tell yourself that you can do better.  All in all it’s not that difficult– in many cases it is a lot of fun– and the best part about comparison shopping is that you never even have to leave your seat.

Rule #2: Always Check Online Before you Buy

I could write a book about how to utilize the Internet’s capabilities to find the holy grails of ridiculously good deals.  Instead, we’ll begin with the basics, then ease into advanced techniques.  Check search engine sites like Google and  Google Products (formerly Froogle) to see if other stores are selling the product you’re interested in for cheaper.  I tend to stay away from some comparison shopping sites like NexTag and BizRate, mainly because they sucked in the past and I never looked back.

The online research step takes the most amount of time, and realistically you can never truly “complete” this step.  You either get really tired of searching or decide that you can’t wait any longer to buy the product, and that’s how you continue.  It all depends on how much time you are willing and able to spend on your research, and as we saw in my previous post on the value of your time,  that’s worth exactly $0.  But not to worry, because I will soon teach you better techniques to streamline your online research to find the best price on the products you want, fast.

Today’s money-saving offer: HP USB Laser Mouse for FREE (After rebate).  We’ll start with small fish, then move up to bigger game.

I’ll tell you right now: $0.  You may be familiar with the concept of putting a price tag on your leisure time.  MSN even has a calculator that will tell you how much your free time is worth.  Some people claim that based on this number, you might be better off paying someone else to do work for you instead of doing it yourself.  Don’t listen to them! Are you currently making $25/hr while you sit at home on a weekend and watch TV?  No.  And if you are, you don’t need to read this blog.  Go turn on the television and watch Heroes or something.  The fact is that you are not getting paid for your free time.  But that doesn’t have to be a bad thing.

Use as Much of your Free Time you Want on Anything you Please

Here’s another example for why I don’t put a price on personal labor costs.  A friend of mine constantly factors in a $30/hr value of her time when shopping for the best price on a product.  Her theory is that she could be working and earning that much money to help pay for it.  I tell her to go to work!  Especially if you have a salaried position, you won’t be getting any more money for working longer.  The only thing that ends up happening with my friend is she ends up paying too much for the item because of insufficient research.

Take the time to search for better deals when shopping!  Don’t ever be satisfied with the first price you see, unless you know it’s a really, really good deal.

You’ve spent some time reading this post, and although your free time is technically worth nothing, here’s an offer to make up for it:

Today’s money-saving offer: A FREE Sample of Crest Whitestrips and $7 coupon.  Keep your money and your smile!

Welcome to the BudgeX Blog.  I’m Alif Khalfan, a recent graduate of Stanford and the founder of BudgeX.  I founded BudgeX to challenge the belief that gaining control of and managing your personal finances is a daunting task.  The software helps you create a budget in less than 15 minutes and has built-in expense tracking functionality as well.

In this blog I will show you how to save money and learn the art of financial discipline by providing you with proven strategies to reduce costs in several aspects of your life.  This blog will be a resource  to those who are seeking advice and those who wish to offer it as well.

Finally, I will make an effort to find a deal for something that’s either free or a very good deal and post it at the end of every article.  I’m not talking about those insignificant items, like a free kleenex sample, but something worthwhile.

Today’s money-saving offer: Free Total Cranberry Crunch cereal.