Cheapwad Finds--Opposite of Blow That Dough!

[daylatedollarshort]

We have garage sales listed on Nextdoor here.

 

[CaptTom]

I was thinking about why I haven't been frequenting Craig's List lately. With prices for everything so crazy I've just been in a wait-and-see mode. Vehicles, boats, building materials, anything I'm interested in has been in such high demand that I'm not really a buyer in the present market.

Driving home today, I noticed more of these types of things for sale along the road. I think we might be coming back into a buyer's market. I'll have to start watching for bargains again.

 

[Buckeye]

My local one has too tight moderation. Someone posted an item they were looking for and I replied that I didn't have one but the local Habitat ReStore had a bunch for almost nothing. My post got pulled and I was admonished. Screw those guys.

That's odd! The moderators of our "For the Love of XX County" review every post before it goes live which helps keep the spammers off. Also, posters are supposed to report no-shows. After a couple of reports, the no-shows will be removed. The mods also keep a 'big items' list in an attempt to get those items to people who have identified a need and have waited (furniture, baby furniture, appliances, etc.). It works well but I'm sure the 3 mods spend a fair amount of time on it.

 

[Buckeye]

I was thinking about why I haven't been frequenting Craig's List lately. With prices for everything so crazy I've just been in a wait-and-see mode. Vehicles, boats, building materials, anything I'm interested in has been in such high demand that I'm not really a buyer in the present market.

Driving home today, I noticed more of these types of things for sale along the road. I think we might be coming back into a buyer's market. I'll have to start watching for bargains again.

Too many fraudsters on CL has been my experience. Moderated and controlled-access of local groups on FB has been much cleaner. Very often FB can be a sewer but with good moderation it can be very helpful.

 

[calmloki]

Spent a whole $8 this morning. Got some needed grill cleaning tools, wood glue, ant killer, scrapers and colored file folders to segregate our files. Gal got a bath mat, a sweatshirt in a desired style and size and a bunch of acrylic paint.
What tickled me the most was a $2 box of old wood handled mostly three tined forks and some knives. 23 forks and 9 knives, 1800's era. Might be two that match. Nice drive, too.

 

[11522914]

Bought a brand new Google Pixel 6a phone from Google's website.

Phone retail is $449.

Received $300 credit for my Pixel 3a XL phone. Would have only cleared $100 if I sold it on eBay.

Cost now minus credit $149.

During this sale you also got a free new pair of Google Series Ear Buds that retail for $99.

Sold them on eBay and cleared $50.

Cost now $99.

Purchased the phone through a Cashback portal and used a Cashback rewards credit card. Total Cashback $15.

Total cost for brand new Pixel 6a $84 + tax.

Funny thing is I bought the Pixel 3a XL with credit card rewards points approximately 3 years ago so that didn't cost me anything.

Absolutely love the Pixel 6a.

 

[travelover]

Reminds me. I used to have a Virgin mobile pay as you go phone plan. Every month I had to pay X dollars to maintain service and any calls were taken out of that amount, the rest was carried forward. I found myself with a lot of credit I'd never use, so I used the credit to buy a phone from Virgin on sale then sold it on eBay once the Virgin sale was over. My net cost for phone service was about zero.

 

[rodi]

Costco STILL has the hot dog and refillable drink for $1.50! That deal is better and better every day - and, likely more in peril.

Add in the $4.99 roast chicken that is huge. Both are loss leaders, but we get the hot dog or the roast chicken on every costco trip.

 

[rodi]

Bought a brand new Google Pixel 6a phone from Google's website.

Phone retail is $449.

Received $300 credit for my Pixel 3a XL phone. Would have only cleared $100 if I sold it on eBay.

Cost now minus credit $149.

During this sale you also got a free new pair of Google Series Ear Buds that retail for $99.

Sold them on eBay and cleared $50.

Cost now $99.

Purchased the phone through a Cashback portal and used a Cashback rewards credit card. Total Cashback $15.

Total cost for brand new Pixel 6a $84 + tax.

Funny thing is I bought the Pixel 3a XL with credit card rewards points approximately 3 years ago so that didn't cost me anything.

Absolutely love the Pixel 6a.

I did almost the same thing - except my pixel 3a wasn't in good enough quality for the trade in. (The case had exploded because the battery overheated - which is why I replacing it.)

 

[BruinBones]

4x

I found a way to quadruple-stack purchases. If ever I need something sooner rather than later, I will check on Lowes.com to see if it is available locally for pickup. If it is available:
1) I go to Rakuten.com to see what rate they are rebating at Lowes that day. Then I click their link to Lowes.com
2) I place the item in the cart on Lowes.com and use my 10% military discount on their list price.
3) I use my United (Airlines) Mileage+ App to see what how many miles per dollar I will get for buying a Lowes gift card in the total purchase amount.
4) I use my credit union's 1.75% cash back credit card to buy the gift card on the United Mileage App, and then pay on Lowes.com with the gift card.
I don't mind driving to Lowes to go pick it up when it's ready.

 

[vafoodie]

I’m no Walmart fan, but a full synthetic oil change that includes vacuuming the car is a full $30 less than anywhere else in my town. $46.99

 

[Koolau]

I’m no Walmart fan, but a full synthetic oil change that includes vacuuming the car is a full $30 less than anywhere else in my town. $49.99

Sadly, neither of our Walmarts has an automotive garage. I guess it's difficult to justify the extra land costs. YMMV

 

[athena53]

I buy 2 pounds of coffee @ Dunkin Donuts for $10.99

I do almost that well at Big Lots and similar places (e.g. TJX)- I like the flavored coffees and they're always cheaper than the grocery store. I generally find other interesting sauces, spice mixes, etc, in the food section.

I learned about Ting for cell phones here years ago- my monthly bill right now is under $20 for unlimited talk and text and 500 mb of data.

Blood Drives - There was a mobile blood center in the Walmart parking lot. This is when we were vacationing in Florida. The bus (AKA mobile blood center) had One Blood written all over it. Anyhow, we gave blood, and in exchange we received the usual snacks, but we also received a T-shirt and points that were redeemable for gift cards. In this case $20, each.
<snip>

We give for the right reasons, but the gift card doesn't hurt.

I've been doing this for years although the rewards haven't been quite as rich. When I accumulate enough points I get a Starbucks gift card. I give for the free Nutter Butter cookies.

 

[Boose]

I enter contests at my public library and have won twice in the adult division. Insider tip: younger adults are too busy working and raising kids to take part in these contests, so the odds of winning are quite good. I took first place for adults in the Peep Show. (Ha ha - not what you were thinking; it's a diorama populated with Peeps candy!) Peeps cost $2.99 on sale, and I scrounged the rest of the material in recycling, winning a $25 gift card to a major retailer. Then I entered the Summer Reading Program, keeping track of the reading I would do anyway and earning prize entries for it. I saved my entries until the prize I really wanted - a $50 gift certificate to a local tearoom - was posted, then put all my tickets on it. Won the prize and will be going with my mother soon, enjoying an outing that we might otherwise forego due to the cost.

 

[Major Tom]

I have not contributed to the BTD thread and, oddly enough, don't completely relate to this one either. Any cheapwadding I do comes as completely second nature. I don't go out of my way to cut coupons, look for bargains, visit yard sales, etc. It's mainly about the recurring expenses for me. I live in a housing co-operative. My monthly rent is low ($775), and one of the missions of the co-op is to keep it affordable. Until 3 years ago, a bicycle was my only form of transport. I bought it on Craigslist for $125, and spent $50 fixing it up. Annual maintenance is low. I use a friend's Netflix subscription, and have my own Hulu subscription for $1/month. I'll cancel it when the 12 month special rate runs out. I also have low introductory rates for the New York Times and Los Angeles Times. Whenever I try to cancel, they offer me another low rate. I use a cheap MVNO phone for all my internet (home and mobile) for $25/month, and another one for an actual phone ($16/month).

My only extravagance was buying an old campervan in 2019 for $16K. The upgrading, maintenance, and running costs have really blown my budget, but it has been fun. When I sell it, my monthly living costs will go down again.

My only cheapwad habit, other than the above, is to keep an eye out for free stuff on the street. There is a lot here. When the well-paid tech kids move out, they leave their barely used furniture and other belongings on the street for us to take. I scored a really nice backpack in new condition yesterday. It's a so-called e-backpack, for laptops and other electronic devices and their accessories. The fact that a lot of people around here can afford to buy and then almost immediately discard good stuff, helps out those of us who are more frugal.

 

[intent]

DW and I got our Covid booster shots at Walgreens yesterday. They are running a promotion in which they give you $10 Walgreens rewards for every vaccination this month - so we ended up with $20 of Walgreens rewards money. You get the $10 for each vaccine, so if someone were to get the flu shot, Shingrix, etc (I'm not really sure how many vaccines a person can get), they'd get $10 for each shot.

Not sure if this is just a local promotion or if it's nationwide.

 

[travelover]

..........Not sure if this is just a local promotion or if it's nationwide.

I jut got my shot at Walgreen in WA and no mention of it.

 

[Trailwalker]

Did the Spectrum internet “I wanna cancel” dance today with a good-natured customer service rep to move my internet back to $49 from $64.

 

[CincyDave]

My garden. I eat for almost nothing all summer.

Me too. Local library even has free seeds. Grew tobacco this year for free cigars.

 

[travelover]

Did the Spectrum internet “I wanna cancel” dance today with a good-natured customer service rep to move my internet back to $49 from $64.

An annual dance between me and Xfinity, as well. It saves hundreds of dollars a year.

 

[CardsFan]

An annual dance between me and Xfinity, as well. It saves hundred of dollars a year.

Yeah. DW just did the "dance" with ATT/DirecTV. DirecTV eliminated our "loyalty" discount and upped the price by $50/month, but "gave" us NFL Sunday ticket Max. Uh, no thanks. We'll take the $50/month discount. She got it.

Can't complain about the Internet charge of $36/month.

 

[MC Rider]

Me too. Local library even has free seeds. Grew tobacco this year for free cigars.

Tobacco. How wacky was it?


A couple months ago I traded in my Ducati Monster for a Suzuki SV650.
Partly because the Duc is pretty dollar intensive when it comes to upkeep, and partly because we are moving a good 150 miles from any /Ducati dealer.

Suzuki should be "bulletproof" and not need a dealer for much of anything.

Anyway, I can spin it as saving money, while still having fun, and "committing my weekly crime" as Rush put it. And being retired, maybe I can up the frequency of my crime spree.

 

[intent]

I jut got my shot at Walgreen in WA and no mention of it.

They didn't mention to us either - I just happened to see a sticky note on which one of the pharmacists had scribbled "$10 for all vaccines this month" and asked them about it.

Just saw an ad for it about halfway down this page on the Walgreens' web site: https://www.walgreens.com/topic/pharmacy/immunization-services-appointments.jsp

 

[CincyDave]

LOL. Not wacky. Don't want to spend retirement in the slammer,

Tobacco. How wacky was it?


A couple months ago I traded in my Ducati Monster for a Suzuki SV650.
Partly because the Duc is pretty dollar intensive when it comes to upkeep, and partly because we are moving a good 150 miles from any /Ducati dealer.

Suzuki should be "bulletproof" and not need a dealer for much of anything.

Anyway, I can spin it as saving money, while still having fun, and "committing my weekly crime" as Rush put it. And being retired, maybe I can up the frequency of my crime spree.

 

[FLSUnFIRE]

Did the Spectrum internet “I wanna cancel” dance today with a good-natured customer service rep to move my internet back to $49 from $64.

Spectrum has customer service?! Ha, I called to do the same two years ago and was super polite, asked for retention etc and the person was SO rude. I asked point blank that the only way to get cheaper service is to leave and then come back and she responded, "There is no guarantee we'll take you back." There is some truth there. I've been with WOW since and my internet service is incredibly more reliable and much cheaper than Spectrum even out of the teaser rate. I'm so happy with them I don't even call to try to get lower than I am ($50) after the teaser ended. Meanwhile, I get 3 (yes, 3) mailings weekly by name trying to get me to switch back. Worst customer service and marketing ever.... just after my T-Mobile G5 fiasco but at least T-Mobile was polite; the Spectrum folks were just rude as hell! </>rant