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Thrift Meister Strategies

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Money & Finance

Long Distance Strategy

The Thrift Meister bought his long distance through an on line service that will let you put in your home phone number and their cost calculator will tell you how much your long distance service will be if you use different carriers for your long distance service.These are dirt cheap long distance rates and so far the TM has not had any trouble with either the on line billing (which is now just automatically billed to a credit card) or the quality of the long distance service.

See the Rate Calculator to determine what long distance would cost in your specific case for a specific plan. Rates available as low as 3.45 cents a minute.

Credit Card Strategy

There are numerous programs associated with various credit cards to earn you bonus dollars, points, or credits of some kind toward purchases. Check out what some of the major retailers offer and get a credit card that benefits your situation. Be SURE to pay off the credit card balance each month so you are not paying interest.

If you put as many purchases as possible on such cards and always pay off the balance each month you can get some great side benefits for doing what you normally do anyway and there is no extra cost to you.

One of the TM's favorites is the GM card which gives you credit towards the purchase of any new GM product--saved $1500 on the last auto purchased with that one--just like found money.

Once you get $500 in a year on the GM card you can't get any more credit till your anniversary date so you need to have another credit card that rewards you. The Discover card is accepted at Sam's Club so you can save money and and build up your cash back balance.

Discover® Platinum Card

No fee (of course) and up to 2% cash back!

Chase CashbuilderSM

No annual fee and up to $500 in cash rewards every year!

TM likes to make as many purchases as possible with a credit card to reap as many benefits as possible--and they can add up if done on a regular basis. Just look at the ways smart buying can add up for you.

Consider the possibilities all on one transaction--first get a good buy which means you are getting good value for your money--buy it on sale or at a discount--below the normal retail price. Next try to find a discount coupon for the purchase. Then pay with a credit card (pay off the balance when the statement comes). Even Ebay purchases can be done with a credit card or fund Paypal purchases with a credit card. If done with a credit card this means that your cash is staying in your bank account longer earning interest for you. Further, make sure you are getting a premium of some kind with the credit card purchase such as GM points or cash back or whatever fits your needs. And, some purchases can even be two-fers such as getting cash back while at the same time getting credit on the purchase for an Upromise account towards funding a college education for a little one.

Thus five things happen 1-value, 2-discount coupon, 3-interest on funds in bank, 4-credit card premium, 5-Upromise premium. (If you don't know what Upromise is then see the TM Bonus at the end of the coupons & freebie page).

Some purchases even get a sixth bonus if the purchase is a product which you own stock in the company and share in their profits by getting dividends on your stock--then a tiny fraction of the purchase will come back to you in dividends. There can even be two-fers here such as buying a product made by a company you own stock in from a store you own stock in. Get dividends back form both. That would be a seventh-fer. (You could add another benefit here if you own stock in the REIT which owns the real estate and leases it to the retail chain which sales the product you bought and collected dividends on all three companies--REIT, retail chain, and manufacturer. Now if the retail chain hires a trucking company to deliver stock to stores and doesn't use its own trucks--well you get the picture. Of course the retail chain could pay local taxes which benefit you as well--but I'm not even going there.)

The TM can't think of a single purchase where he has gotten all seven on one purchase, but oftens get three or four and sometimes gets up to five or six. If you have a business and its tax deductible then you could add saving on your taxes as well. Make it an eight-fer.

Seven or eight personal benefits from a single purchase--let the TM know if anybody has a way to get more than that from one transaction!

Amazon.com Strategy

Next time you want to buy a book or music CD Amazon has a great little feature that will often let you purchase it at a substantial savings off the regular retail price. Check the "Buy from used" area. The TM has often saved 25% or more on his purchases this way and got a book that was in excellent condition. In fact I've seen used books offered for as much as over 90% off the new price on Amazon.

If you are not already registered as an Amazon user, sign up here:

Power Personal Finance Tips from the TM

Money & Finance Tips

* Here's one of the Thrift Meister's little goodies to get a higher rate on a CD.

Let's assume your financial institution has 1 year CD rates of 2% and 5 year rates of 5%.
You have enough money to meet the minimum purchase requirements for either time period, but you can't tie your money up for five years. You can tie your money up for three years.
Purchase the 5 year CD to get the higher interest rate and just take the 90 day interest penalty at the end of the third year. You would still earn more interest doing this than you would if you bought the 1 year CD yielding only 2%.
In this example (for the sake of simplicity let's assume 1 year CD rates don't change in the three year period and compouding is done on a monthly basis) on a $1,000 CD you earn $61.78 in three years verses $161.47 on the five year CD at the end of the third year.
Subtract from the $161.47 approximately $12.50 for the 90 day interest penalty to leave $148.97 as your interest earned. Therefore you come out $87.19 ahead. ($148.97 - $61.78).

* Setup Boxes at your church, work place, etc. to put Christmas or other cards to each other instead of mailing them.

* Most supermarkets that let you pay with debit cards will give you at least $50 cash in addition to your order at no charge—save on ATM fees this way.

* Don’t buy checks from your bank. You can buy them cheaper through the mail. Take advantage of first time customer prices from several companies.

It is good to sign up for a survey program so when you are sitting around some day wondering what can I do to make some extra money today--just spend a few minutes on a survey. Easy way to consistently make a few bucks.

* Avoid using postage stamps. Pay bills on line. Over the course of a year the Thrift Meister figures this saves him over $60 a year and that was before the most recent price increases.

* Buy prescription drugs through a discount mail order company

* Buy in bulk. If it is an on going presciption ask the doctor to give you a prescription for more than 30 days which may be cheaper per capsule or pill than a smaller quantity.

* Network with friends and family to leverage your ability to save on sales--if you know a family member needs diapers and you run into a good buy--call them on the cell and see if they want you to pick up a few packs for them and have them do the same for you with items you need--this way you are able to take advantage of sales you don't even go to personally.

* Check the web site of the store you buy your prescriptions from--some of them sell medications cheaper on line than they do over the counter.

* Ask for a senior citizens discount on medications if you are not already getting one and are old enough to qualify.

* Ask your prescription filler to match prices of competitors.

* Ask your doctor or pharmacist if there is a generic brand for your medication.

* Ebay restaurant coupons. Sometimes these can be bought for around $5 apiece for a $25 coupon to your local restaurants.

* Save hot water: Only turn your breaker for the hot water heater on a few hours a day to shower, wash dishes or clothes.

* Shop around for the low cost insurance provider and bundle your needs (auto, home, life, etc) to get discounts for multiple policies with the same company.

* Make long distance calls during off peak hours.

* Free video tapes: Take advantage of free promotional videos (vacations, cars, whatever—they are erasable and can be used to record whatever you want for your own use. If the notch is broken on the back just put a piece of tape on it and you can record over whatever is on it.

* Always make payments on time to avoid late charges and increased interest fees. Pay more than the minimum payment required and pay off charge card balances as quick as possible. Don’t carry balances on credit cards—pay off the balance every month.

* If you carry a credit card balance look around for a card which charges a lower interest rate. Look for a card with no annual fee.

Take this link to the TM Tax Tips

Bankrate.com--Mortgage Calculator: Calculate your payment and more

Click here to calculate how much you can save on your mortgage by making bi-weekly payments.

Now here is a deal the Thrift Meister loves--at MagsforLess you can get 12 issues of Smart Money magazine for only $5.81 (prices subject to change) a year. It is $3.50 an issue off the rack. Thrift Meister reads it and you can get good financial info, tips, and other good stuff every month for a steal of a price. Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine is only $7.40 a year. (prices subject to change). You don't need both, but at these prices TM thinks everybody should be getting one or the other and the financial info they provide.

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