Speaker 1: Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I'm Matt,
Speaker 1: and today we're discussing how to pay less for almost
Speaker 1: everything that's right, how to pay less for almost everything
Speaker 1: in life. There are some things that we can't or
Speaker 1: that we shouldn't ask for discounts, Angel or you're not
Speaker 1: gonna get a discount from the I R S on
Speaker 1: the taxes you all, you know, like you can't don't
Speaker 1: even bother asking. I'm not going to be able to
Speaker 1: get my mortgage reduced by the loan holder. Can you
Speaker 1: reduce some principal amount on what I hope? Please? I
Speaker 1: would love a discount now there. But there are a
Speaker 1: lot of areas in our lives where we can ask
Speaker 1: for a discount. And generally speaking, our hope for this
Speaker 1: episode is that at the end of it that you're
Speaker 1: going to still think that we're being frugal here, not cheap,
Speaker 1: because you know, and we're gonna talk about this more.
Speaker 1: But that's one of the big strike against asking for
Speaker 1: a discount is the perception of just coming across looking
Speaker 1: like a scrooge. That's true, Yeah, yeah, you don't want
Speaker 1: to end up in that position. Well, we'll talk to
Speaker 1: you kind of like how you go about doing it
Speaker 1: and how to do it well some of the tactics
Speaker 1: you need to take so you don't come across looking
Speaker 1: like yeah that guy or gal Yeah yeah. So okay, dude,
Speaker 1: speaking of being cheaper, frugal, so browed X cicadas right, Like,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of talk about these bugs. I'm actually
Speaker 1: disappointed because I literally have not seen a single cicada
Speaker 1: here in Atlanta? Have you? Uh no, But I've been
Speaker 1: on the lookout you, Okay, So I find I'll explain
Speaker 1: to our listeners because I saw just some headline about cicadas. Okay, cicadas,
Speaker 1: but yes, okay, so yeah, here's the thing. I'm disappointed
Speaker 1: you mentioned nutritious. I'm disappointed that we haven't seen a
Speaker 1: single one because I came across this online cookbook that
Speaker 1: teaches you how to prepare how to cook cicadas. It
Speaker 1: turns out you can actually eat these suckers, man. And
Speaker 1: so when I when I saw that, I thought, oh
Speaker 1: my gosh, you better believe I'm gonna try to convinced
Speaker 1: Kate that this is something that we should do as
Speaker 1: the family. And so at this point, we have not
Speaker 1: yet been able to do it because I literally haven't
Speaker 1: you know, there haven't been these swarms of cicadas like
Speaker 1: I've seen pictures of online. What are you supposed to
Speaker 1: like catch these things with a net while they're in there?
Speaker 1: What do you like the pictures I've seen, they're like
Speaker 1: all over trees and just like I mean, just in piles.
Speaker 1: I have seen places where there are a lot of cicadas,
Speaker 1: but it turns out that the pan pick them, toss
Speaker 1: them in the frying pan. Uh yeah, I mean so
Speaker 1: my mindset was like, Okay, I'll get a bunch of them,
Speaker 1: throw them in a bag, throw in the freezer until
Speaker 1: we get enough, and then yeah, there's different ways you
Speaker 1: can go about preparing them. Uh they are, that's it.
Speaker 1: D Yeah, that might be the only way you're gonna
Speaker 1: that might be quite delicious. But so yeah, that being said,
Speaker 1: would you actually eat cicadas? Do you think? I mean
Speaker 1: so deep frying him? You think that's the way to go?
Speaker 1: All right? So if someone served them to me, I
Speaker 1: feel like the classy thing to do is to give
Speaker 1: it a try. Right, So if I'm at your house
Speaker 1: and you guys lovingly made cicadas for dinner, like I
Speaker 1: would take a bite, but um, I'm probably not gonna
Speaker 1: go like cicada gather. It is not a are of
Speaker 1: our culture. I meant, in other countries they eat bugs
Speaker 1: a good bit and you can eat bugs, but it's
Speaker 1: just not a part of our culture. It's not the
Speaker 1: American way. They're gonna be a lot of folks out
Speaker 1: there who are gonna say, no freaking way. You know,
Speaker 1: are you gonna be able to convince me to eat bugs?
Speaker 1: I will say, I'll admit I think that's part of
Speaker 1: my hamburger and uh and apple pie American americanized takes bugs.
Speaker 1: That's that's the cheddar. Well, I'm on the lookout for cicadas.
Speaker 1: And if we actually didn't have together, dude, we're totally
Speaker 1: gonna do it and make sure to update listeners so
Speaker 1: they know what's up. And we can link to to
Speaker 1: that little online recipe book as well that it came
Speaker 1: across that kind of explains how you can go about
Speaker 1: cooking these jokers. Okay, sounds good. I gotta say too
Speaker 1: that they can't be all that different. Um, maybe like
Speaker 1: they're the flying version of crawfish. That's what they seem
Speaker 1: like to me. Maybe, And I like crawfish. So maybe
Speaker 1: the crawfish of the sky. Now that I've made that correlation,
Speaker 1: maybe I would like them, because man, I can I
Speaker 1: can pack away some crawfish. They say that they're supposed
Speaker 1: to be, you know, kind of nutty, but also very
Speaker 1: good for you and the best part free, you know, like,
Speaker 1: why would you not like if there is just a
Speaker 1: you know, if you see a random strawberry or tomato
Speaker 1: or something like that, like, would you not eat it?
Speaker 1: Of course? Well, the same thing with bugs, in my opinion,
Speaker 1: but obviously there's a lot of differences between a bug
Speaker 1: and a vegetables. True. All right, let's let's move on. Matt.
Speaker 1: Let's mention the beer or having on this episode. This
Speaker 1: one's called Origins. It's by Crooked Stave out of Colorado.
Speaker 1: This is a Burgundy sour and they make pretty much
Speaker 1: only good beer. So so so looking forward to sharing this
Speaker 1: one with you today. But let let's move on to
Speaker 1: the subject at hand. To we're talking about how to
Speaker 1: pay less for almost everything. Yea, and Matt, have you
Speaker 1: ever heard anyone say I love paying full price for stuff? No? Nobody,
Speaker 1: me neither, right, But I think you know, most of us,
Speaker 1: we never think to do what it takes to pay
Speaker 1: less on things that we buy. It's it's kind of
Speaker 1: like maybe seeing dollar bills on the street and then
Speaker 1: not picking it up. But I guess that kid is
Speaker 1: like on the trade that you might eat, like what's
Speaker 1: the food? Yeah, what are you doing? Why? Why aren't
Speaker 1: you getting it? But maybe the the dollar bill in
Speaker 1: the streets not a perfect illustration because you know, they
Speaker 1: might have like gum stuck to it or something would
Speaker 1: be like, oh nasty. I'm never not going to pick
Speaker 1: up a dollar bill or a five or ten or anything.
Speaker 1: Definitely anything higher than that. If I were to see
Speaker 1: it out in a parking lot or something. You're picking
Speaker 1: up a penny. Uh yeah, I pick up all money.
Speaker 1: If I see money on the ground, I'm picking it up,
Speaker 1: even Canadian money. Well, kids think it's interesting, I do.
Speaker 1: I do take him home. And uh, if it looks
Speaker 1: extra sketchy um, or if it's like have you ever
Speaker 1: heard of the poop dollar? No, I don't want to know.
Speaker 1: It's it's a terrible thing. It's like a practical joke
Speaker 1: that people do. But if it kind of looks like,
Speaker 1: you know, a sketchy piece of currency, I'll take it
Speaker 1: home and wash it and wash my hands and not
Speaker 1: touch anything else before I do that. But I appreciate
Speaker 1: your dedication of savings. I am not above washing a
Speaker 1: yeah dollar bill I'm missing get when I get home.
Speaker 1: But let's talk about maybe easier ways to yeah, to
Speaker 1: save money, right, and I think you know there are
Speaker 1: there are some really simple ways for all of us
Speaker 1: to be able to get discounts on lots of things.
Speaker 1: But we're either just not aware that these discounts exist,
Speaker 1: or often we're just too self conscious to take advantage
Speaker 1: and to ask for a discount when it's readily available. Um.
Speaker 1: But yeah, that's part of what we want to talk
Speaker 1: about today. We want to make sure that changes and
Speaker 1: then people are more aware of the available discounts that
Speaker 1: are hovering around them, and then also to encourage them
Speaker 1: to ask more frequently for discounts when you can snack one. Yeah,
Speaker 1: last week we talked about how basic. I mean, we're
Speaker 1: spending so much money, dude, We're spending more money on
Speaker 1: virtually everything. Again, that's partly because of inflation, but also
Speaker 1: this has to do with societal and personal lifestyle creep
Speaker 1: or lifestyle inflation, and nobody in the right mind wants
Speaker 1: to pay more for something than they actually need to.
Speaker 1: So the problem is that most people they don't even
Speaker 1: think about asking for that discount, even when it is
Speaker 1: easy pickings. We mentioned a stat recently where almost nine
Speaker 1: percent of folks who called their credit card company to
Speaker 1: have a late payment fee waived that they were able
Speaker 1: to get that money back. So that's that show that
Speaker 1: you would be overwhelmingly successful were you to ask for
Speaker 1: a discount there. Those companies are happy to do it
Speaker 1: just to keep you happy. But we don't get oftentimes
Speaker 1: because we don't ask. Yes, Like, man, you can get
Speaker 1: that that interest fee in the late fee waved. All
Speaker 1: you gotta do is make the call and ask. That
Speaker 1: could be like fifty six bucks. But you know you're
Speaker 1: too shy or too unwilling to make that phone call.
Speaker 1: So like why don't we ask? I guess is is
Speaker 1: one of the big questions here right, Like I think
Speaker 1: in this country, just like maybe we're particularly averse to
Speaker 1: eating bugs like you mentioned, but that's just not part
Speaker 1: of our culture. We also to culturally we're not big
Speaker 1: in into asking for a discount. It's a commonplace in
Speaker 1: a whole lot of other countries around the world, Matt.
Speaker 1: In some of my travels I go into some of
Speaker 1: these markets, they expect you to haggle if you if
Speaker 1: you pay the price that they first say that, they
Speaker 1: don't understand it, like, what are you talking about? You're
Speaker 1: not gonna negotiate with me. So I think part of
Speaker 1: the reason that we don't ask for discounts is cultural.
Speaker 1: But I don't think that means that we're not going
Speaker 1: to be able to get discounts when when we do
Speaker 1: um actually ask for them. I'm totally with you, man.
Speaker 1: Just like eating bugs in other countries is more acceptable,
Speaker 1: I think haggling should also be something that is more acceptable.
Speaker 1: I remember the first time I went to Central America,
Speaker 1: our guide made a point to tell us that's haggling,
Speaker 1: Like that is just a part of the process. That
Speaker 1: is how a transaction occurs. That's a part of going
Speaker 1: to a market. Right. So that's one reason that we
Speaker 1: avoid asking for a discount or haggling. It feels like
Speaker 1: we're being rude. Also, another reason we often avoid asking
Speaker 1: for a discount is because we're just not used to it. Right.
Speaker 1: The decision to ask for a discount can become a
Speaker 1: habit and since it's not a part of our culture,
Speaker 1: most folks are are just out of the habit of
Speaker 1: looking for a discount and asking someone for a better
Speaker 1: deal when it's necessary. It's kind of like a muscle,
Speaker 1: you know. We used to talk about this a lot,
Speaker 1: but you know, it's a muscle that you can build
Speaker 1: up by using it over time. But most folks they've
Speaker 1: got weak muscles in this category because they haven't made
Speaker 1: it a habit to ask for that discount. They're just underdeveloped. Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 1: when you're out of the habit of doing something, it's
Speaker 1: tough to actually keep it a shot. Right, You just
Speaker 1: haven't done in a long time, or maybe ever. Really,
Speaker 1: I think another reason, Matt, that that folks neglect to
Speaker 1: ask for a discount sometimes is because they're are afraid
Speaker 1: of rejection. Right. A lot of folks are scared that
Speaker 1: when they ask her a discount, they're gonna get shut
Speaker 1: down cold. And it's important to not let that know.
Speaker 1: Someone be like, no, no, you can't have a discount
Speaker 1: on this, to get you down for long. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean that's a natural reaction, right, Like, nobody actually wants
Speaker 1: to experience that rejection. They're not shaming you. They're just
Speaker 1: telling you know, and that's okay. I don't know. I
Speaker 1: don't know what you Matt. But I remember my single days.
Speaker 1: I had some friends who, like when they would ask
Speaker 1: somebody out then they get turned down, they were like
Speaker 1: Teflon man, they would go out and ask somebody else
Speaker 1: out like that. I would stay. I would like, I'd
Speaker 1: be berated myself for like a week or two, and
Speaker 1: you're all right, time to go home. Parties over. But
Speaker 1: I think that's like a better way to react to
Speaker 1: kind of have that teflon ish response to where you
Speaker 1: know you're you're able to give back up on the
Speaker 1: horse and try again and ask again. It's important that maybe,
Speaker 1: like if you don't get a discount that one time
Speaker 1: that you ask, not to let that prevent you from
Speaker 1: asking for more discounts in the future. Yeah, just remember
Speaker 1: it's just a no. You know, it's not a huge deal.
Speaker 1: I feel like we could all stand to to toughen
Speaker 1: up a little bit. Maybe, Like you said, Teflon, I'm
Speaker 1: thinking like less teflon and more like cast iron pot,
Speaker 1: Like that's what I want to be when it comes
Speaker 1: to rejection. A reason we're talking about this as well,
Speaker 1: is that it's also important to remove the stigma of
Speaker 1: getting a discount. Uh. And so on this episode, we're
Speaker 1: here to convince you that paying less is okay. Just
Speaker 1: because you're paying less, that doesn't mean it's always going
Speaker 1: to be an inferior product. Uh. Deep deals and promotions
Speaker 1: out there, they exist as a behavioral tactic to get
Speaker 1: us to to open up our wallets. We'll actually talk
Speaker 1: more about that and the downsides of discounts a little
Speaker 1: bit later on. But there's nothing wrong with getting a discount.
Speaker 1: It's a mostly good thing, and it doesn't mean that
Speaker 1: you're this cheap, stingy, miserable person. Uh. And actually how
Speaker 1: you go about asking for a discount that actually has
Speaker 1: the most to do with how you're perceived, And we'll
Speaker 1: also talk about that later on in the episode. But
Speaker 1: just keep in mind that, you know, just because you
Speaker 1: might be perceived as cheap, that doesn't mean you necessarily are.
Speaker 1: You're just looking for a deal, that's right. Yeah, And
Speaker 1: scoring a discount also doesn't mean you're automaut ripping somebody
Speaker 1: else off. I think sometimes people feel that way. They're like,
Speaker 1: if I ask for this discount, yeah, they feel the guilt.
Speaker 1: They give it to me, and I'm taking food out
Speaker 1: of their baby's mouth, Like, you know, that's actually literally
Speaker 1: you're removing, you know, the cheerios out of that baby.
Speaker 1: That's what one of my bosses used to say. I
Speaker 1: worked at a restaurant and like if we would eat
Speaker 1: too much on breaking, like, you're taking food out of
Speaker 1: my baby's mouth, and I felt bad about it. I
Speaker 1: started to eat less. You know, they're like, oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: I am, like, now, your baby's fine, buddy, but you
Speaker 1: see him take the leftovers home. Oh my gosh, you
Speaker 1: really feed that to your children. But being literal, yeah,
Speaker 1: I guess so. But unless you know, a business is
Speaker 1: being forced to sell you a product at a discount
Speaker 1: against their will. They want to sell you their product,
Speaker 1: that's what they're in the business of doing. And so like,
Speaker 1: as long as they want your money, they did, and
Speaker 1: you want their products, and so that business can say no,
Speaker 1: then it's a fair transaction. That's how markets work. It's
Speaker 1: supplying demand, right And and there might be some folks
Speaker 1: out there who who feel like they're taking advantage of
Speaker 1: other people when they get a better deal. But as
Speaker 1: long as we're in the context of a free market,
Speaker 1: everyone really wins, right, absolutely, man, So it makes me
Speaker 1: think of you know, before starting the podcast with you,
Speaker 1: I used to be a photographer and folks would often
Speaker 1: ask for a discount. Was I ever offended? Never you
Speaker 1: ever say yes? No? Well, yeah I did say yes
Speaker 1: because if business was a little bit slow, if we
Speaker 1: didn't if I didn't have a whole lot of it
Speaker 1: shoots booked, if my my workload was looking a little
Speaker 1: bit light, I would rather offer a ten discount versus
Speaker 1: sitting at home and feeling bad about myself because I
Speaker 1: wasn't earning enough money. But you know what if I was,
Speaker 1: if I was busy and someone asked for a discount,
Speaker 1: I could politely decline to be like, you know what,
Speaker 1: I would love to be able to work with you
Speaker 1: and offer you something. I understand your you know your
Speaker 1: budget is maybe a little bit smaller, but I am
Speaker 1: just too busy. I'm sorry, you know I can't work
Speaker 1: with you. And so yeah, when it comes to asking
Speaker 1: for a discount, which we'll get to a little later on,
Speaker 1: but also too, you know, from the standpoint of a
Speaker 1: business operator, you can be polite on both sides of
Speaker 1: the transaction. Yeah, I think for either person the person
Speaker 1: who's asking for the account or the person who's being
Speaker 1: asked to give a discount. In neither circumstances, it a
Speaker 1: reflection of the quality of the good or the kind
Speaker 1: of person you are, right, I think, um that we
Speaker 1: need to get past that. We need we need to
Speaker 1: move past that. That's kind of part of what it
Speaker 1: looks like to pay less for things and to ask
Speaker 1: our discount. But Matt met there aren't some downsides two discounts.
Speaker 1: In some ways, discounts can actually be bad for consumers.
Speaker 1: We'll talk about that right after this break. We're back.
Speaker 1: We're talking how you can pay less for almost everything
Speaker 1: out there. Uh And Joel, Yes, we simultaneously love discounts,
Speaker 1: but there is a darker side to them. Let's talk
Speaker 1: about the downsides two discounts, like jackline hide. You know, Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's true, man, there's there's a there's always the end
Speaker 1: and yang too that there's always a balance. You know.
Speaker 1: We're we're in favor of asking for discounts, but paying
Speaker 1: less isn't always a good thing. When we talked back
Speaker 1: with Michelle Singletary last week, uh, and she said that
Speaker 1: discounts make us dumb. There can be some truth to that. Man.
Speaker 1: You know, when we prioritize price over the quality of
Speaker 1: the item that we're buying, it can lead to buying
Speaker 1: junk that doesn't last all that long. Getting the lowest
Speaker 1: price can feel like this game, but oftentimes it's a
Speaker 1: game that some folks lose because they are a way
Speaker 1: too focused on getting a deal. And you know, then
Speaker 1: we have items that we don't really enjoy or use
Speaker 1: all that often because they're just made to fall apart.
Speaker 1: This is an instance where spending a little more on
Speaker 1: an item can actually cause you to come out ahead
Speaker 1: in the long run when it comes to your money.
Speaker 1: Very true, been there. I've talked about that on the
Speaker 1: show before. My penchant for deal loving actually came back
Speaker 1: to bite me in many instances when I was younger,
Speaker 1: just yeah, buying general crap, uh, stuff that wasn't I
Speaker 1: didn't hold up as well. And I've learned my lesson
Speaker 1: over the years, and you know, I'm a reformed deal addict.
Speaker 1: I'll say maybe, um, I think yeah, it can cause
Speaker 1: us to buy too much chunk, right, because like running
Speaker 1: in tandem with focusing on price over quality, discounts can
Speaker 1: cause us to buy more stuff like we too much stuff,
Speaker 1: not just poor quality stuff, but just too much quantity.
Speaker 1: You become the opposite of a minimalist. Basically, right, yeah,
Speaker 1: we we we buy stuff way too often in order
Speaker 1: to score a deal, leading us to buy and own
Speaker 1: way more than we actually need. And and this is
Speaker 1: partly due to what's called anticipatory regret. Right, it leads
Speaker 1: to this yeah, well you know, we get we get
Speaker 1: fancy here on that the money. But yeah, it really
Speaker 1: what that does is it leads to a sense of
Speaker 1: urgency to pounce before this deal no longer exists. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's exactly what retailers are trying to get you to do.
Speaker 1: They're creating this height heightened sense that this deal only
Speaker 1: last for so long, you better get it while it's hot. Um.
Speaker 1: And and that that that's when we end up with
Speaker 1: an attic or a garage full of wonky items, maybe
Speaker 1: items that we never used, half broken items from our
Speaker 1: house addresser full of clothes that we don't really wear.
Speaker 1: I mean, we just have to keep reminding ourselves that
Speaker 1: we got a deal, though, because if we don't, we're
Speaker 1: gonna be heartbroken over all the money we've wasted at
Speaker 1: least you got that deal. At least you saved money,
Speaker 1: and you've got all this stuff that you no longer
Speaker 1: use or that you don't even like. Uh. And then
Speaker 1: before you know it, you've you know, you're paying rent
Speaker 1: to house all your stuff in this place that's called
Speaker 1: a self storage and then we all know where this goes.
Speaker 1: Then there you're on a and ees hoarders. You're the
Speaker 1: subject of other people's entertainment. That's right, someone's buying your
Speaker 1: whole storage tunit for like a hundred seventy five dollars.
Speaker 1: That's when you've really lost out. And also, man studies
Speaker 1: show that getting a discount it reduces the chance that
Speaker 1: will shop around. Right when we're presented with an easy
Speaker 1: coupon at checkout or or just for signing up for
Speaker 1: their newsletter, we're more apt to quickly pounce on that deal.
Speaker 1: And again, this is that fancy term anticipatory regret that
Speaker 1: you mentioned. Internet retailers have caught on to our desire
Speaker 1: to get a deal, and it makes us feel good
Speaker 1: to see that discount. Gives us that hit of dopamine.
Speaker 1: It makes it feel like that we found a treasure,
Speaker 1: even when it's just like spoon fed to us. But
Speaker 1: often those deals that are touted, they're not really deals
Speaker 1: at all. And you know, we would find that out
Speaker 1: if we did some shopping around before purchasing, you know,
Speaker 1: just because there's a coupon code for ten percent and
Speaker 1: we make that purchase. But if we did a little
Speaker 1: bit of shopping around, we'd find out that another door
Speaker 1: might be selling that same item forf with no code
Speaker 1: even necessary at all. Yeah. So that's another downside to
Speaker 1: deals is how do we know when a deal is
Speaker 1: actually a deal? Especially in today's atmosphere, right like technology
Speaker 1: and online shopping has made it easier to be a
Speaker 1: savvy consumer with like hundreds of retailers at our fingertips,
Speaker 1: it's easier than ever to compare apples to apples, especially
Speaker 1: using a plug in like honey Um to be able
Speaker 1: to tell for sure, like they'll tell you price history
Speaker 1: on that one website and then you can compare um
Speaker 1: and then often honey will find Cuban codes for you
Speaker 1: or compared to other websites. Capital one shopping Dude, that's
Speaker 1: another one too, that's gonna come on the scene that's
Speaker 1: actually really good too. Yeah. So so checking out like
Speaker 1: both of those can help you know, Okay, this this
Speaker 1: is being touted as a deal, but maybe it's not.
Speaker 1: It's not as good as it looks um at least
Speaker 1: at first plans. But it can be more difficult when
Speaker 1: you're shopping for something in person. Right. For example, if
Speaker 1: you're buying from a car dealership, they talk all about
Speaker 1: the discounts that they're offering you, but is it really
Speaker 1: cheaper than you could get that car forward elsewhere? Especially
Speaker 1: if you're in person on the deal, A lot chances
Speaker 1: are you've already made a mistake number one, right, if
Speaker 1: you're when you're bound by geography, those perceived discounts, I
Speaker 1: think they come across as even more powerful because oftentimes
Speaker 1: you know you're not gonna be like, hold on one
Speaker 1: second and pull out your phone or pull out your
Speaker 1: laptop and search, you know, carbon a CarMax, see what
Speaker 1: someone selling there's for on Craigslist. Most folks are are
Speaker 1: less likely to do that. Yeah, And so it's often
Speaker 1: just the energy of the salesperson who's making you feel
Speaker 1: something as opposed to you know, the facts being legitimately
Speaker 1: in favor of this car being a deal. And so
Speaker 1: it's really important to do your due diligence before blindly
Speaker 1: believing that the discount that you're being offered is worthwhile
Speaker 1: and represents the lowest price. So yeah, I think when
Speaker 1: we talk about that Michelle singletary line, um, don't discounts
Speaker 1: make us dumb? Yeah, we gotta make sure we don't
Speaker 1: let discounts make us dumb, because it's far too easy
Speaker 1: to let that limited discount information set off a light
Speaker 1: in our brain saying by it, by it now, when
Speaker 1: ultimately that's a bad decision. Yeah. I think this is
Speaker 1: probably a good reason too why sites like carvon and
Speaker 1: CarMax are doing so well. I mean, obviously they make
Speaker 1: it easier to buy a car because you can just
Speaker 1: sit there and you know, do it from your phone,
Speaker 1: even which is crazy to think that, oh, yeah, I'm
Speaker 1: just gonna buy a car on my phone, people telling
Speaker 1: me that fifteen years and ling no, like yeah, there's
Speaker 1: no way. But it does allow you to take your time,
Speaker 1: look at the prices and shop around. And I think
Speaker 1: folks are realizing the value that they're able to receive
Speaker 1: through that process, through being able to take their time
Speaker 1: and do their due diligence, uh not being forced into
Speaker 1: a sale in person. And it's also important to point
Speaker 1: out that discounts come in a number of different flavors. Chocolate, vanilla, strawberry,
Speaker 1: my favorites of all the mint chocolate chip, Uh, Cicada
Speaker 1: flavored maybe, oh my god, actually it sounds pretty gross.
Speaker 1: It might most closely resemble pistachio. Uh. There's a place
Speaker 1: near us actually that has salted caramel. That's I mean,
Speaker 1: that's kind of one of the local favorites around here, right,
Speaker 1: salt camelie. That's my wife's. And so when it comes
Speaker 1: to how that is translated to discounts, that can often
Speaker 1: be the typical percentage off that we'll see or bogoes
Speaker 1: right by when get one free that we're used to seeing.
Speaker 1: Or maybe that might even mean more comp located discounts,
Speaker 1: like you know, a rebate or a free gift with purchase.
Speaker 1: Either way, it's important to make sure that you're not
Speaker 1: allowing your consumer behavior to be swayed by these different
Speaker 1: marketing tactics. Uh. This is when it's important to just
Speaker 1: to be able to know yourself. So if you know
Speaker 1: that you like receiving gifts, well, you know that promotion
Speaker 1: where you get some free goodies that may cause you
Speaker 1: to pay more when in reality, those aren't items that
Speaker 1: you truly need, right, and so stay away. Make sure
Speaker 1: that you're able to kind of that you're able to
Speaker 1: parse your way to the bottom line number uh, to
Speaker 1: know if you're truly getting a deal. Yeah. I feel
Speaker 1: like one of the discounts that most easily leads people
Speaker 1: astray is the buy one, get one off. It's like, oh, man,
Speaker 1: in reality, sounds great. They're coaxing you into buying something
Speaker 1: else that you might not have other otherwise, Boy, you
Speaker 1: buying a second item and you know, well when you
Speaker 1: when you boil the discount down, it's really not that
Speaker 1: much off. So I think that is definitely, you know,
Speaker 1: one of the more heinous discounts out there. Um, but
Speaker 1: let's talk to Matt on One of the other downsides
Speaker 1: is it it's hard to know when haggling is okay
Speaker 1: and when it is in Sometimes it's obvious you're not
Speaker 1: likely going to score a discount at a nationwide grocery
Speaker 1: chain when you're checking out with your growers. Can I
Speaker 1: get five bucks extra off on on this load? Or
Speaker 1: you know it charges me two bucks less for the
Speaker 1: Cicada flavored ice cream, Like they're not. They're not going
Speaker 1: to do that. We're really driving home the cicada thing.
Speaker 1: I love beating the dead horse. But you are likely
Speaker 1: to get something for less when you're buying on let's
Speaker 1: say Facebook marketplace. Right, that's a place where haggling or
Speaker 1: asking for a discount makes sense and you should do
Speaker 1: it in pretty much every case. Yeah, you're talking here
Speaker 1: about like the social and the cultural norms when it
Speaker 1: comes to negotiating and buying. Yeah, and where you're buying
Speaker 1: makes all the difference, right, But it's also important to
Speaker 1: know that it's okay far more often than you think
Speaker 1: it is. And it's important to at least start going
Speaker 1: for that initial low hanging fruit, to start paying less
Speaker 1: on a consistent basis, right, like when you already yard
Speaker 1: sale or buying some baby gear, let's say on Craigslist.
Speaker 1: Start small and asking situations where you feel most trouble
Speaker 1: in order to get used to asking if you can
Speaker 1: get get me even better price. It will feel less
Speaker 1: awkward as you attempted more and more. And Matt, I
Speaker 1: was selling something recently on Facebook Marketplace and it was
Speaker 1: basically was some cloth diapers that we no longer need,
Speaker 1: and I was surprised because they were up there for
Speaker 1: like six months and nobody bit on these things. And
Speaker 1: I was like, maybe that's because they're diapers. Yeah, And
Speaker 1: I was like, but their cloth, you know, they're washed
Speaker 1: the clean But I was like, pretty soon I'm just
Speaker 1: gonna be I'm gonna be giving these away. But somebody
Speaker 1: reached out and they're like, hey, can I come in
Speaker 1: and take a look? Like sure? And they paid full price.
Speaker 1: I mean you gotta read the read the room though, man,
Speaker 1: because like I would have taken like half prices one time.
Speaker 1: They've been on there so long, so it's one of
Speaker 1: those things where zero comments, Yeah, no backups. I'm more
Speaker 1: than happy to take all the money. But I'm just saying,
Speaker 1: like that buyer could have gotten a discount far more
Speaker 1: easily then than maybe they thought they could. It was
Speaker 1: like right for the picking. Yeah, well, and that's you
Speaker 1: kind of gets another point too, which is when you're
Speaker 1: negotiating and you're talking online, it's even easier to do
Speaker 1: that online when you're hiding behind your keyboard, right uh,
Speaker 1: And sometimes you don't even have to ask, you know,
Speaker 1: we've already talked about coupons, but just searching for coupons
Speaker 1: is one way that you can find that discount without
Speaker 1: even having to have a potentially awkward conversation, uh, either
Speaker 1: digitally with somebody or even in real life because right
Speaker 1: as millennials, we're always trying to avoid those, you know,
Speaker 1: real life conversations. I feel awkward. Um, but you know,
Speaker 1: even still though, those online chats, going to Twitter, slide
Speaker 1: into the d M s, or even sending it an
Speaker 1: email to a company that you're hoping to buy from
Speaker 1: are much easier ways to ask for a discount than
Speaker 1: even being face to face. Yeah, so start with the
Speaker 1: easy stuff, right, Start with a chat with a company
Speaker 1: that you're looking to buy something from. Hey, do you
Speaker 1: have an extra tempercent off cubon going on right now?
Speaker 1: Or do you have a sale coming up that I
Speaker 1: don't know about. That That's like a good way to start,
Speaker 1: and you don't really have to offend a person. It's
Speaker 1: like a chat pots from the situation, and they're just
Speaker 1: an employee. They don't care. Yeah. One of my favorite
Speaker 1: other places to to get a discount without really any
Speaker 1: heavy lifting is on eBay. They have like a make
Speaker 1: an offer thing that a lot of buyers will will
Speaker 1: put in their listing, and so you can either like
Speaker 1: buy it now, or you can bid on it, or
Speaker 1: you can make an offer. And so if there's the
Speaker 1: make an offer button available, I always make an offer.
Speaker 1: So I might get like a pair of shorts that
Speaker 1: they were selling for twenty bucks, make an offer like
Speaker 1: fIF fifty. See what happens. Um, that's kind of like,
Speaker 1: you know, hitting the easy button when it comes to
Speaker 1: like testing your discount asking capabilities. Yeah, so clearly we're
Speaker 1: big fans of everyone trying to get as many discounts
Speaker 1: as possible. Like I mean, honestly, you can just ask.
Speaker 1: All they can say is now. And again, the more
Speaker 1: you do it, the more likely it is that you'll
Speaker 1: get discounts on the rag. But keep mind that there
Speaker 1: are going to be some instances where you're not likely
Speaker 1: going to be able to get a discount, or or
Speaker 1: even instances where it might be offensive if you're trying
Speaker 1: to pay less. Uh. And so that's why the way
Speaker 1: in which you ask makes all the difference. Going about
Speaker 1: it in the right way that is crucial, and we'll
Speaker 1: talk more about that right after this break. Alright, we're
Speaker 1: back still talking about how to pay less for almost everything,
Speaker 1: and Matt, what you said before the break is true.
Speaker 1: Your approach means everything. Uh what do they say you
Speaker 1: catch more flies with honey than vinegar. I've heard that, yeah,
Speaker 1: and I think that's true. I think the way in
Speaker 1: which you present yourself, the way in which you ask,
Speaker 1: can make all the difference. If you come in assuming
Speaker 1: that you're owe to discount and that's not gonna go
Speaker 1: over well, and I'm sure you felt that too. The
Speaker 1: way in which the email was written when someone asked
Speaker 1: for a discount when it came to photography makes all
Speaker 1: the difference too, and how you respond and whether or
Speaker 1: not they get one. So you got to make sure
Speaker 1: your approach is solid. So let's talk about that and
Speaker 1: what you should be doing to ensure that you're getting
Speaker 1: discounts on goods and services that you were already planning
Speaker 1: on getting. Because again, we don't want discounts to make
Speaker 1: you dumb and more susceptible to buying stuff that you
Speaker 1: don't already need. So let's talk about, yeah, the stuff
Speaker 1: that you would be buying already, how you pay less. Well.
Speaker 1: The first tip is to be prepared, do your research,
Speaker 1: like what's a fair price? And some stores are gonna
Speaker 1: match or even beat the price that can petitors are
Speaker 1: selling that item for, and it can be insulting if
Speaker 1: you're asking for an unrealistic discount. It's like asking a
Speaker 1: wedding photographer in their extremely busy season for a discount
Speaker 1: feels like a papa. It's like, how about half price?
Speaker 1: It's like, well, how about but asking them for a
Speaker 1: small discount in the off season when they probably have
Speaker 1: fewer weddings, maybe on an off day. Even I would
Speaker 1: even encourage it, dude, I mean seriously, because it was
Speaker 1: just oh yeah, weekday weddings were the best. And same
Speaker 1: thing with your shorts, you know, if you're looking at
Speaker 1: a pair of shorts online and normally you know, twenty
Speaker 1: bucks and you got you go in there and like, hey,
Speaker 1: how about two dollar bills? Like two bucks? Yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean if they could like give you a thumbs down
Speaker 1: along with that, No, I'm sure they would, but you
Speaker 1: know they can't. They probably would. They probably write me
Speaker 1: a mean little note when they say no, one star
Speaker 1: for you exactly. But yeah, even asking a question like
Speaker 1: do you have any discounts right now or coming up
Speaker 1: in the near future, that that's the kind of question
Speaker 1: that you can be asking um in order to be prepared.
Speaker 1: It's a great way of getting that discount conversation started. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and again, how it is that you ask for a
Speaker 1: discount is crucial. You can do it in a way
Speaker 1: that that makes the business owner or employee ask you
Speaker 1: to leave the store, or you can do it in
Speaker 1: a way that makes them far more likely to see
Speaker 1: what they can do. They might get out of here
Speaker 1: right now, Yeah, or they might just go out of
Speaker 1: their way because you've been able to connect with them
Speaker 1: on a human level. Right You're just your tone of
Speaker 1: voice and your body language can go a long way
Speaker 1: in convincing an employee to to hook you up. You
Speaker 1: don't want to be domineering, you know, a sense of
Speaker 1: entitlement like that's not gonna get you very far. But
Speaker 1: you also want to speak up and you want to
Speaker 1: stain your ground so that you're not easily ignored. Essentially,
Speaker 1: I feel like what we're trying to convince you to
Speaker 1: be here is like likable, Like you want them to
Speaker 1: feel like that. You know you are their friend. Because
Speaker 1: it's easy to want to help out a friend, It's
Speaker 1: a lot harder to do something nice for someone you
Speaker 1: don't like. It's very true. Also important to when you're
Speaker 1: thinking about your approach to asking for a discount is
Speaker 1: to talk to the right person because you might just
Speaker 1: be bang your head against the wall. If you're talking
Speaker 1: to the wrong one. You might receive a quick note
Speaker 1: because you're talking to a person that works of this
Speaker 1: company who doesn't have any already eat to give you
Speaker 1: that discount, and then you're like, oh, man, didn't work.
Speaker 1: But that's your fault actually because because you asked, you
Speaker 1: asked the wrong person. So I think there is a way,
Speaker 1: let's say you get that quick note to say I actually,
Speaker 1: can I speak to a manager or a supervisor, maybe
Speaker 1: somebody that has some more authority to cut the price
Speaker 1: for you, And that This reminds me one of the
Speaker 1: things I can I consistently do. I buy flowers from
Speaker 1: my wife at the Kroger nearest our house, because they
Speaker 1: have really nice tulips, and it feels like every time
Speaker 1: I go in there they have some that are out
Speaker 1: of date, right, like they are sell by dates, which
Speaker 1: I that's the thing on flowers, I guess right and
Speaker 1: um and look fresh and perky. Yeah, so like they're
Speaker 1: normally seven dollars, but usually I can get them for
Speaker 1: close to half price if they're past that sell by date.
Speaker 1: But I gotta ask the right person. If I'm asking
Speaker 1: a checkout, they're gonna be like, I mean, no, we
Speaker 1: don't have any discounts. But if I ask the person
Speaker 1: who's like the manager of the floral department, that they've
Speaker 1: got the little gun right there and they scan it
Speaker 1: and they give me like a few bucks off, and
Speaker 1: so yeah, make sure again that you're talking to the
Speaker 1: right person, the person that can actually help you out,
Speaker 1: not just a random employee. And another approach that might
Speaker 1: help you to get a discount is to offer cash.
Speaker 1: This is especially I think candy when you're dealing with
Speaker 1: local small businesses. But credit cards they cost retailers more
Speaker 1: money and so offer cash instead if you really want
Speaker 1: to pay less money. Uh, you know, it doesn't feel
Speaker 1: as bad for the retailer if they've got that cash
Speaker 1: in hand for that product. I know, when it comes
Speaker 1: to making a liquor store run, I'm always crunching the
Speaker 1: numbers to see if the debit card discount, if it
Speaker 1: makes up for that lost cash back, because you know
Speaker 1: there's there's benefits when it comes to using credit cards,
Speaker 1: and so it might still make sense for you if
Speaker 1: you're trying to hit a certain spend threshold, if you're
Speaker 1: trying to achieve a certain number of points, but sometimes
Speaker 1: either using cash or even using a debit card can
Speaker 1: score you that sweet discount. Yeah, and I agree, the
Speaker 1: local small business owner is likely going to be the
Speaker 1: most receptive when you ask them if you know they
Speaker 1: would take a cash discount. Also, to consider asking for
Speaker 1: something extra instead of just a lower price. Maybe instead
Speaker 1: of getting ten percent off, you asked for a deal sweetener.
Speaker 1: That can be just it is valuable for you, but
Speaker 1: it can make those negotiations go a bit more smoothly,
Speaker 1: make it feel a little less like you're devaluing the
Speaker 1: item that you're trying to purchase. So, yeah, instead of
Speaker 1: trying to get that extra temper cent off on a
Speaker 1: bag of coffee from your local coffee shop, maybe see
Speaker 1: if they'll throw in a freak cup of coffee while
Speaker 1: you're there along with paying full price for that bag
Speaker 1: of coffee. That's that's one tactic you can take. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and that's definitely helpful too. If you know you're already
Speaker 1: going to make that purchase, it doesn't hurt to us,
Speaker 1: you know, see if there's something that you can kind
Speaker 1: of get thrown in for free. But when it comes
Speaker 1: to some bigger purchases, we we want folks to also
Speaker 1: be willing to walk away. Maybe this doesn't apply to
Speaker 1: a bag of coffee, but the price really doesn't matter
Speaker 1: when it comes to some of these different purchases that
Speaker 1: we make, and if the price doesn't match your your
Speaker 1: perceived value, we would recommend for folks to to walk away. Uh.
Speaker 1: And at the same time, don't be a jerk about it, right, Like,
Speaker 1: you know we're for you back to earlier when we're
Speaker 1: talking about being nice, you can still say thank you.
Speaker 1: You can move on about your day without buying the
Speaker 1: non discounted item, or or at least we would recommend
Speaker 1: for you to wait until discounts on that item start
Speaker 1: to appear. And so if what you're king to buy
Speaker 1: isn't necessary for you to own right now, then wait
Speaker 1: until that item is is more likely to be discounted. So,
Speaker 1: for instance, I'm thinking about like TVs right like, you're
Speaker 1: always gonna be able to get a better deal on
Speaker 1: a TV in November or January, and so go with
Speaker 1: the flow. And hold off until discounts on that type
Speaker 1: of item until they abound. Yeah, recognizing that seasonality is seasonality.
Speaker 1: You're paying your head against the wall if you're you're
Speaker 1: trying to get that discount at a time where the
Speaker 1: business just isn't interested in offering discounts. Yeah, you want
Speaker 1: to go with the flow when it comes to that
Speaker 1: agreed and and too. In some industries it pays to
Speaker 1: be patient because they're so incredibly complex. Mad I'm thinking
Speaker 1: of medical bills right, Like, that's one of those things
Speaker 1: where it's still always feels like a mystery as to
Speaker 1: what we're supposed to pay every single time we go
Speaker 1: in to see the doctor. Like, I don't know what
Speaker 1: that whether I'm going to receive a bill or not,
Speaker 1: and for how much it's going to be for or not.
Speaker 1: But I do know this, never pay the bill the
Speaker 1: first time it shows up from the doctor's office. That
Speaker 1: is a lesson I've definitely learned over the years, because, Yeah,
Speaker 1: the way that insurance works and medical billing works, there's
Speaker 1: almost always a discount by the time the next bill
Speaker 1: comes around. So in that case, you don't even necessarily
Speaker 1: have to ask for a discount. You just have to wait,
Speaker 1: but then also too, Yeah, it doesn't hurt, especially on
Speaker 1: medical bills. There's so many different ways to ask for
Speaker 1: a discount. Most people assume they have to pay that
Speaker 1: final bill in full on their own, and you know,
Speaker 1: that might be the case, that might be what you're
Speaker 1: stuck with, but there are a lot of ways to
Speaker 1: kind of work around that. Talk to a patient advocate
Speaker 1: that works at the hospital and you know, find out
Speaker 1: what kind of financial aid you qualify for. There's a
Speaker 1: lot of ways to lower the actual cost of that
Speaker 1: final medical bill um in your life. Yeah, it pays
Speaker 1: the delay. It's it's one of the only times that
Speaker 1: procrastination may becomes in handy a little bit. Yeah, And
Speaker 1: you know, so when you're looking to spend a little
Speaker 1: bit less on something that you're looking to buy, buy
Speaker 1: you stuff, right, this is kind of outside of the
Speaker 1: realm of haggling and asking for a discount, But when
Speaker 1: you buy used items, those discounts are just baked in.
Speaker 1: And when you're buying, you know, something on Craigslist or Facebook,
Speaker 1: yard sale or marketplace, you can always ask for a
Speaker 1: discount there as well. The additional discount on the distance
Speaker 1: of this kind of exactly, or don't forget Shop Goodwill
Speaker 1: dot Com. That's another favorite of mine where you can
Speaker 1: go on there. It's so, you know, set up sort
Speaker 1: of like eBay, but all of these items are things
Speaker 1: that have been donated, so oftentimes they're not looking to
Speaker 1: make a huge profit off these items. They're they're looking
Speaker 1: to just unload them. But Joe, Man, I love paying
Speaker 1: less for something that I've already planned to purchase. But
Speaker 1: you know, it can be really easy for for all
Speaker 1: the money nerds out there to say that they're saving
Speaker 1: money because they think that discounts are always this really
Speaker 1: good thing, and that can you know, lead to some
Speaker 1: of this mindless spending and saving less of our money
Speaker 1: than we should be. But it's still important to make
Speaker 1: those spending decisions consciously and to ask for discounts on
Speaker 1: the items that you're buying more often, and so keep
Speaker 1: in mind that you really never know if you can
Speaker 1: get a better deal or not unless you ask, uh,
Speaker 1: And you might be surprised that it's way less awkward
Speaker 1: than you think it's going to be. Yeah, I think too, Man.
Speaker 1: It's really interesting how you earlier you mentioned it is
Speaker 1: kind of like this muscle right and that it's atrophied
Speaker 1: by us our lack essentially of asking for a discount,
Speaker 1: when we really could get away with it much more easily.
Speaker 1: We could save some money, and it's good for us.
Speaker 1: I think some of these tactics to be able to
Speaker 1: save more, to be able to ask for a discount
Speaker 1: um well, will yeah, help us pay less now. But
Speaker 1: I think these tactics will also help us in other
Speaker 1: areas of our life too. Our collective increased willingness um
Speaker 1: to to ask for that discount can give us a
Speaker 1: confidence to ask for more money in a job interview,
Speaker 1: right to to negotiate a lower deal on your rent,
Speaker 1: maybe to ask for a free month extra of rent,
Speaker 1: or to ask for a lower monthly rent amount, or
Speaker 1: to get like a nicer hotel room than you actually
Speaker 1: paid for. When you're at the front desk just asking
Speaker 1: for like that sweet upgrade that you otherwise would have
Speaker 1: been stuck in the room next to the ice machine.
Speaker 1: But now maybe you got the penthouse suite, which is great.
Speaker 1: But yeah, since getting over your fears is really the
Speaker 1: biggest battle here, I think it's getting over some of
Speaker 1: those cultural norms that have been baked in um and
Speaker 1: since saving real money is possible if we do this.
Speaker 1: We think starting to ask for a discount more frequently
Speaker 1: in our lives is really important and it's the only
Speaker 1: way are gonna be able to pay less for almost
Speaker 1: everything consistently. But all right, Matt, that's enough about discount.
Speaker 1: Let's get back to beer. Okay, what were your thoughts
Speaker 1: on this beer that we had on today's episode. This
Speaker 1: is Origins by Crooked Stave and it's an oak aged
Speaker 1: Burgundy sour. Yeah, this is a big, a little seven
Speaker 1: fifty bottle that you and I shared. But it was
Speaker 1: dark and velvety. It poured a nice brown color and
Speaker 1: it was really acidic. I'm not sure what the PAH
Speaker 1: level is on this, now that I've had a beer
Speaker 1: by a brewery where they put the PAH levels on
Speaker 1: the label. Actually, I really wish now you crave it.
Speaker 1: I crave it. That's a data point that I want
Speaker 1: to have. Uh, But I will say I enjoyed it,
Speaker 1: but I kind of wish that it had more fruit
Speaker 1: flavors going on. It honestly reminded me a lot of
Speaker 1: malt vinegar. Are you Are you a fan of malt vinegar?
Speaker 1: You know, kind of like you go to a diner. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the fries there and they kind of got that going on.
Speaker 1: This is honestly what it reminded me of. But imagine
Speaker 1: if that malt vinegar was aged and nice, uh fancy
Speaker 1: wooden footers. That definitely added that oak element to it.
Speaker 1: But I guess I kind of I wish there was
Speaker 1: something else, like whether it's like maybe a little bit
Speaker 1: of fruit or maybe like a little bit of funk.
Speaker 1: One additional note I feel like would have taken this
Speaker 1: beer to the next level. But I still really enjoyed it.
Speaker 1: This was a really solid one. Glad we got to
Speaker 1: share it on the show. But yeah, what were your thoughts? Yeah, man,
Speaker 1: this one was incredibly tart. It definitely had like a
Speaker 1: vinegar profile to me going on, and although it definitely had,
Speaker 1: you know, a lot of those oak notes at the
Speaker 1: same time, and I thought I actually did have like
Speaker 1: a hint of like a tart cherry vibe. So even
Speaker 1: though there were no cherries used in the making of
Speaker 1: this beer, I think you could kind of like almost
Speaker 1: get that out of it. But I think this was
Speaker 1: a delicious beer. I agree though maybe it could have used.
Speaker 1: It was a little one note maybe, but it could
Speaker 1: have used a little diversity, but still, yeah, really really good.
Speaker 1: I pretty much love everything I've had by Crooked Stave. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they make really good stuff. Yeah, I'm i gonna say
Speaker 1: this one. Still, I would put up there on like
Speaker 1: almost excellent level. Nice man. Yeah, for everyone out there,
Speaker 1: check out Crooked Stave if you have access to their beers. Joel,
Speaker 1: that's gonna be it for this episode. Listeners can find
Speaker 1: our show notes up on our website at how the
Speaker 1: money dot com. Will make sure to link to any
Speaker 1: of the different resources that we may have mentioned during
Speaker 1: this episode, like like the honey Engine when you're shopping
Speaker 1: online or the Capital one shopping app. Sounds good, Well,
Speaker 1: that's going to do it for this episode. So until
Speaker 1: next time, best Friends Out, best Friends Out.