The Money Mustache Community
General Discussion => Throw Down the Gauntlet => Topic started by: HaloAurelio on May 16, 2022, 03:23:04 PM
-
A motivational thread to encourage us all to tackle what I like to call BBB… Boring Buck-saving Busywork! These are those tasks that we just KNOW will result in major financial payoffs… But they can feel so onerous or overwhelming that sometimes it seems impossible to even start.
Need to spend an hour on hold to cancel a subscription? Stuck slogging through endless reimbursement paperwork? Crying while comparison-shopping your car insurance? THIS IS THE CHALLENGE FOR YOU!
Post your successes, commiserate about your struggles, and cheer each other on!
-
Slog work for the past couple months has partially involved checking with all of my late spouse's former employers. Found a 10K policy which no one knew about, so that was helpful. Still waiting to hear back on several items. Additional
nagging follow up may be needed on some.
Another boring busywork item which I did recently was a more complete US Social Security estimate for myself. Will be claiming spousal survivor benefit at 60, & the SS estimate for claiming at 70 assumes working until 70 and thus isn't correct.
Found the proper math tables and formulas to do a more accurate estimate for if I'm class of 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026 or 2027. (Definitely retiring by April 2027 at the latest, probably not pulling the trigger in 2023.)
For those interested, waiting an extra year to retire appears to add an extra $100 per month to my SS at 70 check for each of the possible 1-4 more years. Less added for 2027 because by then I will have already dropped all 4 figure years from my top 35.
-
I applied for the affordable connectivity program today. Should save $20/ month on home internet. I also switched some auto pays to a new cc I got for the bonus, and activated my new (cheaper) mvno plan (I did the legwork last month but waited to activate until a few days before my old one renews).
Next up is another bank bonus to earn something on my cash.
-
I disputed a charge with my credit card. I tried several times with the banking app but it wouldn't go through. Tonight I fired up the laptop and got my request for $40 in.
Also made a note to call during business hours to get a refund for $8 for a product I never received and have since gotten for free from DP.
-
Awesome job, everyone!
There's a ton of variance in food prices where I live, so I'm doing a catalog of the local grocery stores, snapping pictures of the prices of all our most common purchases to do a big price comparison and figure out which places have the best default prices for certain items! (My old info is WAY out of date.) Done with three of six!
Also spent an hour on the phone this week doing price comparisons for some medical scans… phew!!!
-
I'm glad this thread is here so that I can get a virtual pat on the back for doing the dull, dry, time sucking tasks that make life better later.
I logged into my company's health portal to read articles and track exercise, etc. If I do enough of these things, I'll get a $75 bonus!
Got my new voter registration card in the mail today. Exchanged the new one for the old one and destroyed the latter. Made note of my new polling place. Maybe not buck-saving, but definitely time saving.
-
This is definitely the thread I need. I hate spending money to do something I know I can do (or learn to do) myself, but I’m also pretty busy and have a hard time getting through the list.
A couple wins semi-recently were when last fall my car (16 year old Hyundai) had a bunch of small things that needed fixing, but also some larger preventative maintenance that should be done, I put it off for a while but finally got to it and fixed a small power steering leak, replaced some belts and tensioners and did the timing belt for the first time myself. Saved multiple thousands over what it would have cost to bring it to a shop.
Also did a complete disassembly of my old digital piano to replace worn out rubber contacts, and finally made it play correctly again, which allowed me to sell it since we upgraded to a nicer one anyway. Parts were only $25, and I got $350 for it, which otherwise it would have had to be given away for free the way it was, so the 6-8 hours I spent fixing it was definitely worth it.
I still have an extremely long list of things to work through though
-
This thread's existence makes me happy! Today was already a day dedicated to this so here goes:
Unsubscribed from a ton of emails
Made plans for DH to call and cancel (or get a retention offer for) a really expensive travel card
Reminded everyone of which streaming service needs to be canceled before the trial is over so that all the things can be watched
Tried to cancel an online news subscription but got a 4 month free credit so I'll keep it for 4 months...
-
Returns and sales.
I have had a ladder stabilizer from Lowes for probably 10 years. Still in the box. Back to Lowes and got a Lowes gift card for $40 for my trouble.
Looking around, I had and have all kinds of stuff I no longer use. One bicycle went to my son (it's his) to get out of my shed. He forgot it was there, so it went on his car bike rack and off it went.
College refrigerator that's been in the shed for 4 years. Onto craigslist for a near giveaway price.
Ladder I won't ever use again on craigslist and gone for $80.
Chainsaw I rebuilt 3 years ago and it's never been right. Sold with a bar that I don't have a chain for and a box of parts on craigslist for $75.
We had our garage doors replaced along with all the rails, openers, everything. I asked the garage door people to price them without trashing the old one. Saved $150 by doing that and it's on craigslist now for $50.
-
My wife reviewed all the CC balances of old cards. The balances were not what we owe but what THEY owe us on rewards. Going through multiple cards at once has added about $500 to this months income. And we used one to make a charitable donation higher than expected since it was other peoples money anyway.
My responsibilities include most car maintenance and expected to need struts on a 99k mile Honda. If I order by the 24th, I will get a $150 gift card. So that is on today's chores.
Also working on moving a closeout water heater under the house. By installing it, we get to claim a closet for cloths rather than the heater location.
-
Last month my wife and I spent a whole day finding stuff to sell at a community wide tag sale and marking them for sale. We made almost $300. It was worth the tedium.
-
Great idea for a post!
What we are doing:
-created a shared file to track all of our random credits (Gift cards, rebates, refunds) While it isn’t a lot, there is a great feeling closing out an open issue while getting something for free. $15 from a recent blood donation went to replacing small home electronics for example
-finally got around to cancelling life insurance from our Hong Kong days
-will continue looking about for dumb money wasting open loops
-
I did a survey that paid $15 before it expired. Used the money promptly to buy groceries.
-
Got the numbers from my yearly physical entered into work's fitness tracker site. Now I'm eligible for a $75 bonus next month!
-
I have contested some mistakes on medical bills recently. Ugh such a pain--it's horrifying how bad some of these billing departments are!
-
Cancelled marketplace insurance since I'm finally eligible for my job's health coverage. I got a rebate of $77 since I cancelled before the end of the coverage period.
-
Cancelled my Kobo Plus subscription today and started my taxes.
-
Called my cable company to complain about how high the bill was, knowing there’d be almost nothing they’d do since I only get internet.
Got $40 off.
-
Oh yeah - we need a challenge like that!:)
Could not sign into my health insurance carrier's website even though I know my PW was correct, wouldn't let me update no matter what and I got no response on e-mail either. Finally tackled it and set up a new account.
That didn't earn me any money, but now I have peace of mind and access to the claims/bills rolling in from my recent hospital stay so that I can stay ontop of everything.
Same health insurance carrier contracts out the Medicare reimbursement that they offer for my High Option plan. Turns out it was much easier to do the claim form and scan in my proof this year since I'm still in their system and remembered how to go about it.
... "score" the reimbursement went up from $600 to $800 a yr for reimbursement of my Part B medicare insurance premium.
Took only fifteen minutes - did it last Friday - got approval this Monday, yay!
...Realized I can still send in proof to get $75 for the covid shots etc I got last year. Added that to my ever-growing long list!
Apparently, I've been slacking off big time while I spent my days gardening in fall and spring and enjoyed baking and nesting over the holidays.
Note to self - review what perks, monies, or reimbursements I am eligible for this year.
-
I saw this thread and remembered to drop out Netflix back down to the lowest membership. Thank you! I really cannot stand the idea of paying more to have Paw Patrol on 2 devices at once.
-
Good thread.
Ongoing:
1. Cash out my Fidelity 2% Visa points to my Fidelity HSA. These get me the full value of the points and count as contributions, so I can take the deduction or do an essentially tax-free Roth conversion for the same amount.
2. Report my ongoing gym membership to my health insurance. They give me $20 in gift cards every month I do this. Gym membership is $10.60 a month.
3. Every December, I do tax planning for me, my Dad, and my three kids. Frequently there are tax moves one can make before 12/31 that are not available after the year is closed.
Today:
1. Sold an unwanted item on FB marketplace for $30 cash. FB person showed up 10 minutes early, paid asking price, and hauled it off. Restored a bit of my faith in humanity (lots of FB flakes).
2. Bought a reusable house air filter via Amazon. Cost $42.39, with free shipping via an Amazon prime trial membership that I already canceled. Saves me from spending about $31.75 on non-reusable air filters. Also reduces my trash output because used house air filters are not (easily) recyclable. Did this as a direct result of inspiration from this thread, so thanks.
-
Cars... They seem to be the topic at my house right now.
TLDR: repair to the teenager's car, maintenance on the "good" car, and a couple of optional things repaired on the ancient daily driver DW and I share 99% of the time. Feels good to make everything last longer.
Lots of homework figuring out the places to get the best value for our money for parts. DIY-ing all the repairs and maintenance.
Next up: locating a fiduciary to see if we can optimize our finances any better. Will compare that conversation to the free financial advisor my employer offers.
-
A small one, I converted the low balance of points from my second (emergency) credit card to $20 worth of gift cards for groceries. The points balance had been sitting there for >5 years so it was past time to do something.
Did my annual detailing of the car.
Dragged my 10 year old catio and cat tree to the curb (cat died two weeks ago), and within 15 minutes they were both gone, saved me the fees of disposing them at the tip. I love the magic disappearing junk curb.
-
Currently talking with my Superannuation provider to follow-up on them processing a form that will significantly decrease my taxable income for the last financial year. So tedious. Still doing it.
Last month I cancelled my KoboPlus membership.
-
I had been putting off filing these health insurance forms for reimbursement for like a year. Every week I would say I'd get to it Monday and the week would fly by and nothing done. I finally got them all filed and got back $6K in the mail a few weeks later.
Now for taxes. Yes, I know it's August.
-
Recently worked through the process for doing tax loss harvesting. It was very Boring and should be $x00 Buck-saving at tax time next winter.
Today logged into the brokerage to find out when I can resume investing in my chosen funds. Set a reminder on the calendar for more Busywork in a couple weeks, switching standing investment orders back to the original funds.
Also opened a new bank account in order to have a branch nearby. They also offered a bonus, so keeping track of meeting those requirements is more busywork. This will be $300 if I do it right!
-
Waited on hold for 30 minutes to cancel a credit card with an annual fee. Ugh waiting on hold is awful. But feels good to have that done!
-
Waited on hold for 30 minutes to cancel a credit card with an annual fee. Ugh waiting on hold is awful. But feels good to have that done!
Good work!
-
Waited on hold for 30 minutes to cancel a credit card with an annual fee. Ugh waiting on hold is awful. But feels good to have that done!
Just went through the same with an insurance issue. Whether it's the credit card company or the insurance company, you can always be certain that you will have to "listen carefully because our menu selection has changed".
-
Waited on hold for 30 minutes to cancel a credit card with an annual fee. Ugh waiting on hold is awful. But feels good to have that done!
Just went through the same with an insurance issue. Whether it's the credit card company or the insurance company, you can always be certain that you will have to "listen carefully because our menu selection has changed".
Snort. StoaX, your phrasing tickled my funny bone.
This implies the caller was familiar with the old menu selections. How presumptuous.
FrugalShrew's hold task reminds me that I spent time "holding" on chat with a store credit card company today. Changed the bank account for autopay and could not figure out from the documentation if it would still autopay this statement cycle, or if it would not kick in until next time. Late fee is up to $40, so making sure this happens correctly is important. Despite what the CSR told me, I'll still watch this one carefully to be sure it works out. If not, I'll have more Boring Busywork to try to get the late fee reversed. AND will have to jump through some extra hoops to get autopay to work again (I've been through this with this card before).
-
Thanks, @mspym! :)
Oh my goodness, @stoaX-- too true and too funny!
Great job, @oneday! Hope it autopays for you this cycle, but if not, we are here to support you in the BBB.
-
Figured out how to pay a bill directly from my HSA. It involved inputting the payee information as a new account, etc. It is set to pay on the first, right after the next paycheck deduction.
-
FrugalShrew's hold task reminds me that I spent time "holding" on chat with a store credit card company today. Changed the bank account for autopay and could not figure out from the documentation if it would still autopay this statement cycle, or if it would not kick in until next time. Late fee is up to $40, so making sure this happens correctly is important. Despite what the CSR told me, I'll still watch this one carefully to be sure it works out. If not, I'll have more Boring Busywork to try to get the late fee reversed. AND will have to jump through some extra hoops to get autopay to work again (I've been through this with this card before).
lol, I kinda forgot I had done this. Went ahead & paid the card off. Then attempted to set up a new autopay. There was something about a 48-hour waiting period? IDK, but this card burned me before. I'm going to revisit mid week next week.
But, got almost all other things changed over. There is one institution that wants a paper form, ugh. So that is being put off because procrastination. But not too long. I want to put a big ✅ on this task! With no late fees.
-
I set the kids up with Fidelity accounts and Fidelity made the first deposit… $50. While I I still have to go through the work of creating Roth IRA accounts, I couldn’t pass up opening a brokerage for them to get the $50.
-
Cancelled the death and TPD insurance I had through my superannuation fund. It's not necessary and the amount it would generate is not a significant sum compared to what each of us hold in our own names.
-
Called a utility company whose website is confusing because the autopay didn't happen. Turns out they are updating the website next week, so have a calendar item to try to set up autopay then. Hopefully the new site will not be confusing.
In the mean time, paid the bill to avoid late fees.
-
Went by the SS office during a break today and finally put in for spouses death benefit. Turns out it will require a phone appointment, with soonest available in November. $255 eventually. Won't know the payment timeframe until that appointment.
I was able to leverage the in person visit to be able to discuss and get a print out of spousal survivor payment options.
Would rather still have my spouse here and healthy, of course, but reality must be faced.
Starting right at 60 gives the most total payments, given that I will be switching to my own benefit at 70.
-
Went by the SS office during a break today and finally put in for spouses death benefit. Turns out it will require a phone appointment, with soonest available in November. $255 eventually. Won't know the payment timeframe until that appointment.
I was able to leverage the in person visit to be able to discuss and get a print out of spousal survivor payment options.
Would rather still have my spouse here and healthy, of course, but reality must be faced.
Starting right at 60 gives the most total payments, given that I will be switching to my own benefit at 70.
Condolences on the loss of your spouse. I had to do something similar with Social Security when my mother passed away and my father was too overwhelmed with grief to do things like file spousal survivor benefits. I was grieving too, but also acknowledged that we had to get it done.
-
I had to buy covid tests outright rather than having insurance billed. So now I need to do the insurance paperwork to get reimbursed. Do you think they make these forms easy? NO. Ugh. I'll get it done.
-
I'm so sorry for the loss of your spouse, @Turtle. That's hard. <3
Good job doing the work for your Social Security benefit. Death seems to create a lot of paperwork, which is also hard.
-
Went by the SS office during a break today and finally put in for spouses death benefit. Turns out it will require a phone appointment, with soonest available in November. $255 eventually. Won't know the payment timeframe until that appointment.
I was able to leverage the in person visit to be able to discuss and get a print out of spousal survivor payment options.
Would rather still have my spouse here and healthy, of course, but reality must be faced.
Starting right at 60 gives the most total payments, given that I will be switching to my own benefit at 70.
Condolences on the loss of your spouse. I had to do something similar with Social Security when my mother passed away and my father was too overwhelmed with grief to do things like file spousal survivor benefits. I was grieving too, but also acknowledged that we had to get it done.
Thank you, and my condolences to you for the loss of your mother at such a young age. That must have been hard.
-
I'm so sorry for the loss of your spouse, @Turtle. That's hard. <3
Good job doing the work for your Social Security benefit. Death seems to create a lot of paperwork, which is also hard.
Thank you. I have days when I feel up to paperwork and days when I don't, so I try to take advantage when possible and prioritize by whether there are time constraints.
-
I'm so sorry for the loss of your spouse, @Turtle. That's hard. <3
Good job doing the work for your Social Security benefit. Death seems to create a lot of paperwork, which is also hard.
Thank you. I have days when I feel up to paperwork and days when I don't, so I try to take advantage when possible and prioritize by whether there are time constraints.
I think that's more than understandable that you have days where you don't feel up to dealing with paperwork. Your strategy is an excellent one.
-
I made all the calls and filled out all the paperwork to switch my 401(k) from my old job to the current job. I had to go to the Fidelity office in my town to get a Medallion signature guarantee (like a notarized seal but much harder to find and takes a lot longer to process, groan). Then I had to wait for the paperwork from the old company to come in (7-10 business days) and then mail it all off to the new company.
But I got it done and one major checkmark off the adulting list.
-
Haven't done it yet, but adding here for accountability.
-I have two teenagers, each on separate Fi accounts. If I combine them, we will save about $30/month. Why is it a hassle? The teens receive all billing info via their emails, so I don't have anything to go off of. I need to get the bills from them, & then figure out how to combine accounts.
-Switch my 16 y.o. to Kindle Unlimited, vs buying books individually. (Our library has basically zero options for him, we've explored). Kindle Unlimited would be much cheaper than paying outright for books/month. Likely to save between $15-20/month. Again, all billing is under his email, & this is a giant PITA. I've tried before, and given up.
-
The vision insurance attached to my health insurance is crummy but not worthless ($15 towards frames! $35 towards my $300 lenses! $30 for an eye exam!), so I rummaged through the 90s-style website and found the form you have to mail in and attached the receipts and got my 80 bucks back. Thought about not bothering a couple of times but remembered this thread and sucked up the admin hassle!
-
Got the numbers from my yearly physical entered into work's fitness tracker site. Now I'm eligible for a $75 bonus next month!
I'm SUPER glad that I took care of this particular task as it turns out the company gives us $50 in addition to the $75 bonus I earned by tracking healthy actions. $125 in my HSA that covered two medical bills!!
-
The vision insurance attached to my health insurance is crummy but not worthless ($15 towards frames! $35 towards my $300 lenses! $30 for an eye exam!), so I rummaged through the 90s-style website and found the form you have to mail in and attached the receipts and got my 80 bucks back. Thought about not bothering a couple of times but remembered this thread and sucked up the admin hassle!
For $80 you can get a couple of very nice glasses from Zenni Optical. That's where I got my prescription glasses last year.
-
Very true and I did for many years (figuring if I hated them on me and re-ordered less than six times I was still coming out ahead) but as I have aged my prescription has gotten complicated, and even the mail order folks prices are a lot higher. The gap is not nearly as big when only the frames are steeply discounted and they are not the bulk of the cost anyhow.
-
Haven't done it yet, but adding here for accountability.
-I have two teenagers, each on separate Fi accounts. If I combine them, we will save about $30/month. Why is it a hassle? The teens receive all billing info via their emails, so I don't have anything to go off of. I need to get the bills from them, & then figure out how to combine accounts.
-Switch my 16 y.o. to Kindle Unlimited, vs buying books individually. (Our library has basically zero options for him, we've explored). Kindle Unlimited would be much cheaper than paying outright for books/month. Likely to save between $15-20/month. Again, all billing is under his email, & this is a giant PITA. I've tried before, and given up.
If there are other libraries in the area, it might be worth signing him up for a card and then using their e-book services. I have library cards from neighboring counties and their e-book collections (from the same streaming companies) can vary quite significantly.
-
Called a utility company whose website is confusing because the autopay didn't happen. Turns out they are updating the website next week, so have a calendar item to try to set up autopay then. Hopefully the new site will not be confusing.
In the mean time, paid the bill to avoid late fees.
Turns out, they are updating their website*next* week. So, pushing off the boring chore for another bit, woo hoo!
-
Added rewards card to several online accounts so auto-pays will generate points.
-
Had an online order that qualified for free shipping. Got half the order, and then they cancelled the rest of my order. OK, no big deal. I take a look at my credit card statement, and they had tacked a shipping fee on the minute they cancelled because now I didn't meet the threshold for free shipping. Not my problem they let an order go through they shouldn't have. Took a few minutes on the phone dealing with corporate B.S., but they finally reversed the charges. Not a fortune, but I wonder how many other people they do that to who never notice?
-
It’s coming up on the three week window where I can ask my deregulated energy supplier to refund me for my commodity gas costs for any month of the last twelve! My guess is that less than five percent of customers manage this but I am determined to do it (the lock in two year price was a good deal anyhow, especially now with gas markets in chaos mode).
-
- Cancelled the Apple Music subscription before the free six months finished and they charged me.
- Activated the three free months of Spotify I got for using Bing three days in a row and set a reminder in my calendar to cancel that before I get charged.
-
On a roll: cancelled another annual subscription in the tiny window between them reminding you they will renew and the charge hitting the card. Had to work through like six screens of "please hit the big brightly lit button not the sad small out of the way one" to do it.
-
We are selling stuff that we do not use. The kids digital piano, ukulele and recorder got sold. We sold it for $250 in less than 24 hours. We figured that was a fair price because we bought it 7 years ago for less than $400 when DD wanted to learn how to play. Who knew that they are going for $800 now. But the best part of this was the Dad bought it for his cute 6 year old daughter. He was in complete awe that we threw in the ukulele and recorder.
Our attitude is go explore music kid.
-
tonight's thing sold is a Wii and all of its things. it never got played during the pandemic so we sold the whole thing for $100 to a few college kids to have fun this weekend. They told us it was the whole point of their party.
One more thing out of my house...and it goes to a good cause.
-
tonight's thing sold is a Wii and all of its things. it never got played during the pandemic so we sold the whole thing for $100 to a few college kids to have fun this weekend. They told us it was the whole point of their party.
One more thing out of my house...and it goes to a good cause.
Love that they sound like budding mustachians!
-
Opened a new bank account. Came home right away to set up transfers in and direct deposit. All done!
-
Called & dealt with erroneous gym charge, for my teens. I've been putting this off forever, as their emails kept bouncing, & they don't answer their phones (no voice mail). Finally just called 2x back to back, which is apparently the secret sauce.
-
Fixed a couple of screens myself instead of taking them to the hardware store or letting the landlord charge me for them. My least favorite diy task. Probably saved about $40.
-
Yesterday was chock full of house-related busywork: arranging a new lawn guy, sending I’m Concerned emails to the roofers, organising power and gas reconnections. So boring but all so necessary.
-
Washed, photographed and posted lots of old winter gear for sale. Wanted to clear space and pass things along at a decent price as we have enough.
Once the dust settles, looks like we might have $650 towards the ol’ travel fund.
-
Washed, photographed and posted lots of old winter gear for sale. Wanted to clear space and pass things along at a decent price as we have enough.
Once the dust settles, looks like we might have $650 towards the ol’ travel fund.
Nice! I might have to start getting on that.
-
Used a free Chase IHG Rewards night to pay for a hotel room for my [estranged] sister last August. I looked at my CC statements recently and noticed two charges from the hotel, one for 12.00 and one for 52.20. Checked IHG website. It showed one charge of $19.20 and said "No receipt available." Huh? Called and questioned charges. After a long time on hold, I was told the 12.00 was for parking (as expected) and the 52.20 was an "error" aund would be refunded within 48 hours. Glad I followed up.
-
Used a free Chase IHG Rewards night to pay for a hotel room for my [estranged] sister last August. I looked at my CC statements recently and noticed two charges from the hotel, one for 12.00 and one for 52.20. Checked IHG website. It showed one charge of $19.20 and said "No receipt available." Huh? Called and questioned charges. After a long time on hold, I was told the 12.00 was for parking (as expected) and the 52.20 was an "error" aund would be refunded within 48 hours. Glad I followed up.
I had a hotel "accidentally" add a charge to my bill as well. It pays to pay attention!
-
I followed up with the insurance company and received two $60 credits for wellness/dental visits.
-
Got a second bill with a different balance than the first bill from my doctor's office. I had written a check for the first amount and it never cleared my bank. Before I paid the second bill, I checked the website. It says there's no balance. I called the office to see what was going on. I left a voicemail on Monday and still haven't heard back. Posting to be sure to follow up.
-
Got an email from the gas company that the rebate I applied for has been accepted and I should have a check in a few business days. The busy work paid off to the tune of $100!
-
I sent an appeal to my health insurance carrier regarding a denied claim and will follow up in a few days. I also disputed a charge from a medical provider. If I prevail in both endeavors I will be $459 richer.
Also I cancelled Netflix - just not getting much value out of it anymore.
-
Started a chat with the NZ power & gas company about my contract start date of 1/12 since we are not actually getting reconnected until 23/12. They updated the start date with no fuss saying, "We certainly wouldn't want you paying line charges prior to your reconnection dates." So that’s about $50 in daily connection charges avoided.
I’m also getting a random rebate from my health insurance company for $130 since so many people couldn’t use their services during our various lockdowns.
-
Got an email that a recurring order I no longer need is coming up. Couldn't get logged in to the site, tried to reset the password, finally caved and called. I was prepared to be on hold forever, go through a menu, spend lots of time explaining. I was pleasantly surprised to get a live person who cancelled my upcoming order even though it was due to come out today and cancelled all future orders WITHOUT ASKY WHY or trying to talk me into delaying or otherwise modifying the order. I was on the phone for less than two minutes and saved $175. So refreshing!
-
I had purchased a kitchen's worth of new appliances for a new home building job. Turns out there was a sales promotion going on.
I put off finishing the online application because I needed the model # and serial # of each appliance and a copy of the receipt to upload.
I finally got all the serial numbers (I had to take a macro phone pic for some, the labels were so small!) and got up on a Monday and decided to finish the application and it was the last day to apply!
About $1,400.00 back.
-
Finally filled out the paperwork to move from a roboadvisor to a self-directed IRA. I've not been happy with the RA's performance or cash drag for awhile. But, of course, there's not an easy way to get out of it online.
-
Got a second bill with a different balance than the first bill from my doctor's office. I had written a check for the first amount and it never cleared my bank. Before I paid the second bill, I checked the website. It says there's no balance. I called the office to see what was going on. I left a voicemail on Monday and still haven't heard back. Posting to be sure to follow up.
They left me a voicemail saying they don't know what I'm talking about, my balance is zero. So I left another voicemail to please call me back because the check has still not cleared my bank account after 10 weeks...yet my balance is paid according to their records. That's $250 I would love to have back, but not to the detriment of this bill if they have an error in their system.
-
Found out that my smaller old HSA from a previous employer wasn't automatically consolidated into my current HSA despite being told that was standard policy during onboarding. Called two different 800 numbers for the same HSA vendor to get info and find out how to consolidate. Paperwork for that is being mailed today.
-
Verified account details and garaging address for auto insurance at renewal time. Still happy with their prices (essentially unchanged after a year).
-
I recently completed paperwork for my flexible spending account, returned an expensive item that involved going in person to the post office and filling in international shipping forms, and paid a bill using a physical check that I mailed using various odd, low-denomination stamps to use them up and declutter my mailing supplies.
-
I sent an appeal to my health insurance carrier regarding a denied claim and will follow up in a few days. I also disputed a charge from a medical provider. If I prevail in both endeavors I will be $459 richer.
Also I cancelled Netflix - just not getting much value out of it anymore.
My appeals were denied so all my efforts just turned into boring busywork without the "buck-saving" part. Bummer.
-
Here's hoping this thread helps me, I have a significant list of "impossible" tasks stressing me out.
Today: set up this year's automated retirement contributions.
Soon: legal paperwork to finalize closure of a deceased relative's account I've put off for years, tax paperwork to prevent withholding on a new account, fixing my employer's stupid default retirement allocation. At least that's the stuff that seems manageable right now.
-
I really, really need to call around for a better car/home insurance quote. I knew ours was no longer competitive, but adding a teen driver just about killed us. And, we have another one getting added in March, so I really need to get on this. Tracking here for motivation!
-
I sent an appeal to my health insurance carrier regarding a denied claim and will follow up in a few days. I also disputed a charge from a medical provider. If I prevail in both endeavors I will be $459 richer.
Also I cancelled Netflix - just not getting much value out of it anymore.
My appeals were denied so all my efforts just turned into boring busywork without the "buck-saving" part. Bummer.
Anecdotally, I hear many claims are denied on the first appeal, then eventually covered. Might it be worth another try?
-
I really, really need to call around for a better car/home insurance quote. I knew ours was no longer competitive, but adding a teen driver just about killed us. And, we have another one getting added in March, so I really need to get on this. Tracking here for motivation!
Do it!
-
Some of my tax paperwork came in the mail. Instead of opening the paperwork and stacking it on a surface somewhere, I logged in to the website I use and entered the information. Then I filed the paperwork away and put the envelope in the recycling bin. Task finished, no piles.
-
I applied for and was approved for Medicare. I then completed the necessary paperwork and turned it in to my husband's former employer so we can be on their retiree health program. I really struggled with this. When I was 21, I had a rare cancer that had a "propensity to recur". I am so happy to have grown old enough to qualify for Medicare with no recurrance, but it still felt weird.
-
Congrats, @Dicey! That sounds like more-than-boring busywork that will definitely pay off.
I've been inputting tax forms as they come in (both electronically and snail mail). In looking through tax stuff I found that I did pay the doctor's bill I was calling them repeatedly about. Forcefully struck off the list!
We got a COL raise at work. As soon as it was announced, I did the math and split the raise between my HSA and my IRA. First paycheck since the raise came in and I was only off by $8. I'm going to leave it and try not to get too hedonistically adapted :)
Finally called an electrician and got the ceiling fan installed. Now the heat from the fireplace and the central heat is pushed down. It will save me money in the long run and I used holiday gift money, so no OOP to save money.
-
While I haven't sorted at our insurance policies (DH agreed to pick up that task), I did call today & sent in a copy of our son's report card, which will save us $166/year for a good student discount. If we change policies, fine, but in the mean time, no need to be wasting money.
-
While doing my '22 taxes, I realized that I didn't include my property taxes when I filed in '21. I went back and did an amendment, $400 refund for about 15 min of work and a stamp on an envelope.
-
No direct money saved from this, but I filled out a form to change the registration of my bank account to be in the trust I set up recently. It was a lot of writing my own name and address over & over again! (settelor, trustee, beneficiary). In the long run, avoiding probate should save $$.
-
No direct money saved from this, but I filled out a form to change the registration of my bank account to be in the trust I set up recently. It was a lot of writing my own name and address over & over again! (settelor, trustee, beneficiary). In the long run, avoiding probate should save $$.
That deserves a gold star on your calendar!
-
No direct money saved from this, but I filled out a form to change the registration of my bank account to be in the trust I set up recently. It was a lot of writing my own name and address over & over again! (settelor, trustee, beneficiary). In the long run, avoiding probate should save $$.
That deserves a gold star on your calendar!
lol!
I need another calendar! ;)
-
I applied for and was approved for Medicare. I then completed the necessary paperwork and turned it in to my husband's former employer so we can be on their retiree health program. I really struggled with this. When I was 21, I had a rare cancer that had a "propensity to recur". I am so happy to have grown old enough to qualify for Medicare with no recurrence, but it still felt weird.
You're not going to believe this: Apparently I may have some retirement benefits* due to me from a previous employer. IIRC, I wasn't there long enough to be fully vested and I rolled over my 401k when I separated. However, by applying for Medicare, it triggered something and I just received a notice that I have an account valued at $12,410 with the previous employer, payable in a lump sum. Not going to hold my breath, but dang, wouldn't that be something? We shall see.
*Specifically "401k Profit Sharing Plan"
-
@Dicey, I hope it comes through for you! That wins the thread :)
-
No direct money saved from this, but I filled out a form to change the registration of my bank account to be in the trust I set up recently. It was a lot of writing my own name and address over & over again! (settelor, trustee, beneficiary). In the long run, avoiding probate should save $$.
Actually turned in the form over the weekend. First account successfully retitled to the trust!
Three other accounts from the list the lawyer gave me have been closed since October. I'm gonna stop churning accounts, I swear!
Next up: Vanguard.
-
Followed up with the NZ power company because we have yet to receive a bill from them and I was afraid fear that the meter reader was leaving little notes in the mailbox that we weren't getting because we aren't there and then our power would be disconnected.
Part A) I've confirmed we are ok to pay from an estimated billing until we can provide a reading, they know we are overseas and I have confirmation that they won't disconnect the supply. Yay for chat services.
Part B) Then I realised that while the gas meter is outside, the power meter is inside the back door. I double-checked the contract and they won't use a key they have without permission. I called and they are going to check to see if they have the key from the previous owner, I've given permission to use this if they have it, and if not then we have a lockbox with keys for this situation. Either way, I'll get an email. Yay for calling.
Let's call this BBB because oh boy is it expensive to get power/gas disconnected/reconnected.
-
I need to do more of this.
What I have done:
I used someone's promo code and went from straight talk to Mint mobile, saved 1/2 of phone bill.
Tracking here for motivation the things I still need to deal with are:
-insurance (house and car)
-internet (fairly certain there is a lower rate)
-may get rid of netflix, have to look into it
-check my accounts for any yearly auto payments to make sure I'm not being charged for something dumb
-
I applied for and was approved for Medicare. I then completed the necessary paperwork and turned it in to my husband's former employer so we can be on their retiree health program. I really struggled with this. When I was 21, I had a rare cancer that had a "propensity to recur". I am so happy to have grown old enough to qualify for Medicare with no recurrence, but it still felt weird.
You're not going to believe this: Apparently I may have some retirement benefits* due to me from a previous employer. IIRC, I wasn't there long enough to be fully vested and I rolled over my 401k when I separated. However, by applying for Medicare, it triggered something and I just received a notice that I have an account valued at $12,410 with the previous employer, payable in a lump sum. Not going to hold my breath, but dang, wouldn't that be something? We shall see.
*Specifically "401k Profit Sharing Plan"
Former employer called back and said the account in question has a zero balance. Whomp, whomp. I was expecting this answer, because past me would never have lost track of that much money. When I get home, I'll dig into the archives. I suspect the amount refers to the unvested portion of my account, which I knew I was leaving behind. Shrug.
-
Noticed that our home insurance went up 50% (!). Called and got it knocked down a little, and paid car insurance in a lump sum to save 10% on that. $120 saved, but I really should call around for quotes on both.
Harris Teeter keeps having fuel points bonuses on buying gift cards, and they keep failing to post the bonus points. I'm very annoyed, but I put in the effort to get the points because it saves us (me, mom, sister) about $35 when we use the points. Which reminds me, I need to follow up on yesterday's points fiasco.
-
I applied for and was approved for Medicare. I then completed the necessary paperwork and turned it in to my husband's former employer so we can be on their retiree health program. I really struggled with this. When I was 21, I had a rare cancer that had a "propensity to recur". I am so happy to have grown old enough to qualify for Medicare with no recurrence, but it still felt weird.
You're not going to believe this: Apparently I may have some retirement benefits* due to me from a previous employer. IIRC, I wasn't there long enough to be fully vested and I rolled over my 401k when I separated. However, by applying for Medicare, it triggered something and I just received a notice that I have an account valued at $12,410 with the previous employer, payable in a lump sum. Not going to hold my breath, but dang, wouldn't that be something? We shall see.
*Specifically "401k Profit Sharing Plan"
Former employer called back and said the account in question has a zero balance. Whomp, whomp. I was expecting this answer, because past me would never have lost track of that much money. When I get home, I'll dig into the archives. I suspect the amount refers to the unvested portion of my account, which I knew I was leaving behind. Shrug.
Disappointed in the administrator set up that false flag.
-
I applied for and was approved for Medicare. I then completed the necessary paperwork and turned it in to my husband's former employer so we can be on their retiree health program. I really struggled with this. When I was 21, I had a rare cancer that had a "propensity to recur". I am so happy to have grown old enough to qualify for Medicare with no recurrence, but it still felt weird.
You're not going to believe this: Apparently I may have some retirement benefits* due to me from a previous employer. IIRC, I wasn't there long enough to be fully vested and I rolled over my 401k when I separated. However, by applying for Medicare, it triggered something and I just received a notice that I have an account valued at $12,410 with the previous employer, payable in a lump sum. Not going to hold my breath, but dang, wouldn't that be something? We shall see.
*Specifically "401k Profit Sharing Plan"
Former employer called back and said the account in question has a zero balance. Whomp, whomp. I was expecting this answer, because past me would never have lost track of that much money. When I get home, I'll dig into the archives. I suspect the amount refers to the unvested portion of my account, which I knew I was leaving behind. Shrug.
Disappointed in the administrator set up that false flag.
It's Medicare, I was expecting something along these lines. Their capacity to disappoint is limitless, no doubt. I'll dig through some old files when I get home. (Psst: Mr. Dicey and I spent the day exploring Joshua Tree - amazeballs!)
-
Changed Payroll Providers a few weeks ago and saving $400 / year for my one person shop going forward. Probably wouldn't have even crossed my mind as a thing to look into if my W2 had not been wrong again and having to pull teeth to get that fixed (actually still isn't right but they have passed along my bug report and say they're going to change it soon).
-
I finally sucked it up & created two TurboTax accounts, so we can file Married/Separately. We're in a unique tax situation, due to California high income, and it will save over $3k to do it this way. TurboTax is totally not set up for Married filing Separately, so I've been putting it off. We have one more tax form each to upload, and then we should be in pretty good shape.
-
I finally sucked it up & created two TurboTax accounts, so we can file Married/Separately. We're in a unique tax situation, due to California high income, and it will save over $3k to do it this way. TurboTax is totally not set up for Married filing Separately, so I've been putting it off. We have one more tax form each to upload, and then we should be in pretty good shape.
I bought Turbo Tax Deluxe for Mac/PC for $34.99 recently (sale on Amazon). You can file both returns, as different accounts, with the same software. It does everything including Schedule C, Schedule D/8949 etc. And you can file state return for free if you print it from the software and mail it in yourself. I remember paying $180 for a turbotax online account one year.. figured I'd mentioned it in case you are spending close to $300 for the both of you using Turbo Tax Online as opposed to just $34.99 for Turbo Tax Deluxe on Mac/PC.
-
I finally sucked it up & created two TurboTax accounts, so we can file Married/Separately. We're in a unique tax situation, due to California high income, and it will save over $3k to do it this way. TurboTax is totally not set up for Married filing Separately, so I've been putting it off. We have one more tax form each to upload, and then we should be in pretty good shape.
I bought Turbo Tax Deluxe for Mac/PC for $34.99 recently (sale on Amazon). You can file both returns, as different accounts, with the same software. It does everything including Schedule C, Schedule D/8949 etc. And you can file state return for free if you print it from the software and mail it in yourself. I remember paying $180 for a turbotax online account one year.. figured I'd mentioned it in case you are spending close to $300 for the both of you using Turbo Tax Online as opposed to just $34.99 for Turbo Tax Deluxe on Mac/PC.
This is a great suggestion for next year. Too late for this year, but thank you!
-
I have had an old tiny IRA stuck at Victory Capital after USAA tossed investors to this terrible provider years ago. You have to jump through a lot of hoops to transfer it out, and so the 3k or so has idled there earning little and paying fees for all this time. Finally converted it all to money market and went to the post office with the paperwork to consolidate it with the big Fidelity account.
-
We had a car repair that was expensive but a result of getting hit by a small semi, so thankfully our financial outlay was nothing. Still, I took the time to read through the paperwork and be in touch with our claim center, because the collision center had insisted we pay a 500 deductible. Two days later, they are mailing us a check for the over charge.
-
A motivational thread to encourage us all to tackle what I like to call BBB… Boring Buck-saving Busywork! These are those tasks that we just KNOW will result in major financial payoffs… But they can feel so onerous or overwhelming that sometimes it seems impossible to even start.
Need to spend an hour on hold to cancel a subscription? Stuck slogging through endless reimbursement paperwork? Crying while comparison-shopping your car insurance? THIS IS THE CHALLENGE FOR YOU!
Post your successes, commiserate about your struggles, and cheer each other on!
what a cool idea for a thread!
I need to do my flex reimbursements......wish me luck!
I am notoriously bad at these....like - spend 1k new years eve to get the flex money used up.....and then miss the reimbursement date!
In my defense! they are always moving it up! Used to be april 15th with taxes....so I did that. Nope, it was Mar 15th! So i was keeping my eye on that and a spammy email came through but luckily I read it and it is Feb 28th this year!
-
How am I just noticing the OP on this thread has the same name as my dad and nephew?
-
Dealt with my insurance company again (it's a saga), & saved $800 by making a few policy adjustments.
-
Filed my taxes earlier than ever this year. I started an e-filing account as soon as the first paperwork was available and hit 'submit' as soon as the last paperwork came in.
-
A motivational thread to encourage us all to tackle what I like to call BBB… Boring Buck-saving Busywork! These are those tasks that we just KNOW will result in major financial payoffs… But they can feel so onerous or overwhelming that sometimes it seems impossible to even start.
Need to spend an hour on hold to cancel a subscription? Stuck slogging through endless reimbursement paperwork? Crying while comparison-shopping your car insurance? THIS IS THE CHALLENGE FOR YOU!
Post your successes, commiserate about your struggles, and cheer each other on!
ok - submitted my 2022 vision expenses....need to dig up all my dental expenses......8 days to go til deadline!
what a cool idea for a thread!
I need to do my flex reimbursements......wish me luck!
I am notoriously bad at these....like - spend 1k new years eve to get the flex money used up.....and then miss the reimbursement date!
In my defense! they are always moving it up! Used to be april 15th with taxes....so I did that. Nope, it was Mar 15th! So i was keeping my eye on that and a spammy email came through but luckily I read it and it is Feb 28th this year!
-
I posted this in my journal and someone said I should repost here, so here it goes:
Another Mustachian win:
-Nearly two years ago my car was broken into and my registration was stolen. I was concerned about identity theft so signed up for Equifax's credit/personal information monitoring service at $22.54 CDN per month and just let that ride until now when I finally got around to cancelling.
A sure sign that I should have cancelled earlier was that Equifax is one of those silly companies that makes you phone in to cancel your subscription. I had to go through two customer service agents and a bunch of unnecessary hoops and sale retention tactics, but after about 20 minutes, I got it cancelled, so that is another $22.54 CDN in the bank per month.
I am going through YNAB to see my monthly expenses and identify other potential subscriptions that can either be downsized or cancelled all together.
-
Seeing this thread off and on is definitely motivational.
Just got a notification about $57... owed me from a bankrupt company - long story. It will be mine if I fill out a few pages.
Not a big deal, I'll do it today.
But it reminds me that I still got nowhere with my health insurance reimbursements. It should be so simple yet they make it so frustrating.
Tackling that once again Monday and every day from then on until it is resolved. I've had it!
-
I went to a missing property page and found several listings with my uncommon name. It only listed name and state, so I applied to each one. They each sent a separate email with the particulars.
Turns out none of them were for me. Womp womp. I did the boring busywork, though, so at least I tried.
-
Followed up on a toll that we were over charged by $12. What a hassle, but dutifully sent my email, and filled out the form to get our money back.
-
Called to check about seat selection on a flight with my mom (who has mobility and other health issues) managed to get some good seats with no additional charges.
-
Slow afternoon at work meant I could log into the inherited 401k and compare fund fees/allocations with my company ones.
I had been doing some periodic dollar cost averaging out of a Target Date Fund in there, but no real deep dive because that particular 401k doesn't have a nice, clear fee chart available the way that both of my own 401k accounts do.
Annoyingly, their "passive" index funds, which are through State Street, don't even list their fees on their details.
I can tell it would behoove me to take a deeper dive on Asset Allocation and put together the big picture across all my accounts so I can adjust accordingly. Doing some preliminary work for that now.
-
We're going to Dubai in a month or so, to meet up with my husband's family. For a variety of reasons, we're booking the hotel rooms, and covering the costs. (They don't have international credit cards.)
I had to add another room, and noticed the price was slightly cheaper per night. Not enough that I would do anything with the other reservations if I just had one room, but since I have five rooms, and we're staying six nights, it was worth it. Spent about a half hour rebooking all of the rooms under the cheaper rate. Saved $380.
-
I have had an old tiny IRA stuck at Victory Capital after USAA tossed investors to this terrible provider years ago. You have to jump through a lot of hoops to transfer it out, and so the 3k or so has idled there earning little and paying fees for all this time. Finally converted it all to money market and went to the post office with the paperwork to consolidate it with the big Fidelity account.
And almost a month later it has made it through the wires! A little money saved, and things simplified for either me when I'm a little old person or whoever has to handle my estate :-)
-
Over the years, I've accumulate 4 different transit parking accounts, with varying amounts of funds on each. Today I went through the process of resetting passwords for all of them (since my password manager is out of commission currently), updating payment card, then requesting accounts to be closed. $394.50 coming back my way in 5-7 business days. Woot!
-
Just finally checked on how my mobile data usage has been lately, and got a US Mobile eSIM. After the 100 day free trial which will already save me a couple hundred bucks, my cell phone bill should drop from $85/month to ~$25/month. Don't know why I put it off so long!
-
Followed up on a toll that we were over charged by $12. What a hassle, but dutifully sent my email, and filled out the form to get our money back.
Never ended up getting our money back, so had to call, but now correctly resolved.
Also, it took numerous calls & emails, but got a one night credit ($225+) for a condo reservation that went wayyyyyyyy awry. I'm also hoping that my escalation will lead them to actually repairing the unit, before it gets rented out again. Bathrooms are not optional!
-
Submitted for a refund on a credit card I don't often use for $1.59.
-
Over the years, I've accumulate 4 different transit parking accounts, with varying amounts of funds on each. Today I went through the process of resetting passwords for all of them (since my password manager is out of commission currently), updating payment card, then requesting accounts to be closed. $394.50 coming back my way in 5-7 business days. Woot!
Have you received the money yet?
-
We are moving so my life is paperwork right now.
- Moved the tiny amounts of money from various transit cards onto the one that is in my wallet, cancelled the auto-top-up so it doesn’t refill itself before we leave and found out how I can get any remaining money off it once we leave Sydney.
- Opened a personal savings account in NZ and moved some cash that was over the interest-earning limit for my Au savings account to it.
- Emailed the money transfer service about exchange rates for large sums of money but haven’t heard back so that’s a task for this coming week.
-
Over the years, I've accumulate 4 different transit parking accounts, with varying amounts of funds on each. Today I went through the process of resetting passwords for all of them (since my password manager is out of commission currently), updating payment card, then requesting accounts to be closed. $394.50 coming back my way in 5-7 business days. Woot!
Have you received the money yet?
Oh, yes. It arrived on time back in March.
-
I like this thread! It's motivating. I moved to a new apartment, and sold 4 Ikea Kallax shelving units for $310 - about 35% from the original price. However, the Kallax units didn't fit in the new apartment, so I was glad to see them go.
-
Another tip (for US residents): In a previous job, I dealt with the escheatment process. Escheatment is usually handled through the Office of the State Controller. Search for Escheatment or Unclaimed Property and your state name on Google, and you may find some funds! It's super easy.
-
Canceled my travel rewards card. After 5 years of churning, I am finally fee-free when to comes to my credit cards; I probably won't try churning again until after I get a mortgage.
-
While doing my '22 taxes, I realized that I didn't include my property taxes when I filed in '21. I went back and did an amendment, $400 refund for about 15 min of work and a stamp on an envelope.
Just about gave up on this ever showing up, and then a check arrived in the mail a couple of weeks ago. Coincidentally, it paid for a plane ticket that I had just purchased to the dollar.
-
While doing my '22 taxes, I realized that I didn't include my property taxes when I filed in '21. I went back and did an amendment, $400 refund for about 15 min of work and a stamp on an envelope.
Just about gave up on this ever showing up, and then a check arrived in the mail a couple of weeks ago. Coincidentally, it paid for a plane ticket that I had just purchased to the dollar.
On - why does this take so long!? I just received another "we need another 60 days to decide" letter on a request for abatement on penalties for late filing of a form 5500-EZ for 2021 for my (now terminated) soloK. My case is dead simple "Hey I tried - I filled the form out on time, even signed it on your website, but missed the very last, separate step of submitting". I sent the original request for abatement in November.
If they do abate the penalty, that will have proven to be some serious BBB for me - $19,500 racked up before I realized the error (and compounded by filing the form immediately instead of researching what to do). Seems like at the rate this is moving I might die of old age before they make any decision.
-
Filled out and sent the required paperwork to receive a refund on a car service. Got the check today - Yay!
-
Setup three meetings with different financial advisors today. Been putting this off for months. One is our employer's retirement advisor. One is our employer's 401K agent (Empower) who sends emails to everyone offering to meet with folks. Last one is an independent financial advisor who has an office here in town.
Wondering if we will come away knowing anything new and whether the information between the three will be consistent.
Also, reviewing our home and car insurance policies next week. Teen #2 has a newer used car this week (car is still older than they are). Want to make sure we are getting the best prices. Car might see them through college. MPG isn't great but the cost for the vehicle is so low that it should still work out in our favor. Nice older car previously owned by a relative so the price was very good too.
Old car is sold already. Teen is supposed to finish up cleaning it so the new owner gets a clean car (friend). That car still has alot of miles in it too but lack a/c and has some paint issues.
With the family discount on the "new" used car and the sale of the old car - it is a $250 upgrade to something that was top of the line back then and still fully functional.
-
Boring busywork item finally checked off the list -- needed some PII on one of my stepkids before I could update beneficiaries to be split directly 5 ways instead of going to the trust. Once I had the final piece I needed, I've now got all of the accounts which can have direct beneficiaries set up that way.
Wouldn't make a difference to me one way or the other, but gives the 5 kids more flexibility and lower tax bill than having the 401k accounts going into a trust.
-
I'm glad this thread is back! I'm doing a ton of tasks for my special needs aunt (my sister & I are taking over financial management from our parents). Lots of wins there, as no previous negotiation on packages for cable, phone, and she qualifies for a variety of low income discounts that we've now set her up for.
For myself:
-Paused DS16's gym membership for four months, given he's playing 2 sports
-Canceled my separate Netflix membership, used basically just when I travel. (It screws up the rest of the family's Netflix when I travel, and it's really the only time I use it.) Now that I'm laid off, won't be doing that international travel again!
-
Boy, do I need this thread.
Earlier this week:
-Returned/exchanged a shower head that failed within a week or two of being installed when some little gasket broke inside. Got it all the way back to the hardware store within the regular return period. Saved ~$20.
Earlier this year:
-Raised the deductible on my home insurance. Saved ~$75 per year, but I wouldn't make a claim for that low an amount, anyway, lest I raise my premium for the rest of time. Also, $75 is $75.
-Cancelled an extended warranty thing that did not want to be cancelled (of course). $25/month.
-Requested and received the smaller trash bin. $10/month.
-Signed up for an even cheaper phone plan, saving $10/month. I don't use a lot of minutes or data, and I can add some a la carte if the time comes when I'm doing something that requires it.
So $635 saved for the year so far, and at that rate, worth the time on the phone, in line, and online. Also worth it for the reduction in guilt that would otherwise accrue from not getting around to those things.
-
I finally got started consolidating an old HSA into a current HSA. The destination account will let me invest what's in it. I was dreading having to call both institutions during their business hours (invariably in some other timezone) and generally hassle with bureaucracy, but there was a web form to initiate this transaction, and so far it appears to work.
I will need to follow up to empty and close an accompanying placeholder checking account, which just started charging a monthly inactivity fee. They assure me I agreed to this when I signed up.
-
Submitted a few medical claims. Got about $1000 back.
-
-Got all of special needs aunt's bills set up for auto pay, & called her insurance agent & sorted out a bunch of stuff to save her money
-I needed a cell phone plan for the first time in forever (laid off, I was previously on an employer plan). Created a family Fi account, and added myself, & DS17 & DS18. It was actually $10/month cheaper than the amount I was paying for DS17 & DS18, which means my account was "free", and I saved $10 on top of that.
-
We still need to actually pay, but the hard parts of taxes are done. The bank inactivity thing is going to have to wait one more day.
-
I just booked long-term parking for while we are overseas, which is roughly $100 less than getting taxis or not booking it in advance. I also took advantage of a very empty bank to close down a couple of empty accounts.
-
I used to travel a lot for work, internationally. Over the years, the unused banknotes from different countries (always handy to have some cash...) just accumulated. Also quite some coins, foreign as well as for my own currency, Euros. Sorted it all, exchanged what could be exchanged, donated what was too far out of date. Deposited all my Euro loose change in an ATM that accepted Euro coins. Used my UK loose change at the supermarket self scanner that accepted coins and turned it into vintage Cheddar. Cleared out 6 old UK transit cards (Oyster) and put the proceeds on 2 cards. It was quite a lot of busy work but in the end this gave me approximately 1000 euros, which had just been lingering in drawers, cups and boxes. Way more than I thought!
-
I used to travel a lot for work, internationally. Over the years, the unused banknotes from different countries (always handy to have some cash...) just accumulated. Also quite some coins, foreign as well as for my own currency, Euros. Sorted it all, exchanged what could be exchanged, donated what was too far out of date. Deposited all my Euro loose change in an ATM that accepted Euro coins. Used my UK loose change at the supermarket self scanner that accepted coins and turned it into vintage Cheddar. Cleared out 6 old UK transit cards (Oyster) and put the proceeds on 2 cards. It was quite a lot of busy work but in the end this gave me approximately 1000 euros, which had just been lingering in drawers, cups and boxes. Way more than I thought!
I was just cleaning my desk and found 2 oyster cards that I used in 2017. Is there any way to check the balance remaining? I will mail them to someone who can use them if it is worthwhile.
-
Yes @By the River , you can create an online account with Oyster and add them to that, you can then see the balance on the cards. That how I have done it in the past.
-
Stumbled upon the fact that Microsoft Rewards pays you for searching the web using Bing. I have no idea how I accumulated over 45k points and that equated to a $40 Amazon gift card. Now that I know, I go to the site daily to accumulate more points and in about a month I got $10 more in Amazon gift cards. It only takes a minute a day to do so.
-
Stumbled upon the fact that Microsoft Rewards pays you for searching the web using Bing. I have no idea how I accumulated over 45k points and that equated to a $40 Amazon gift card. Now that I know, I go to the site daily to accumulate more points and in about a month I got $10 more in Amazon gift cards. It only takes a minute a day to do so.
I'm lazy. I let Ecosia collect my Bing bucks and use them for their responsible reforestation efforts. They seem to have rearranged the personal counter off the website, but mine was up to about 90 trees. Neither the world nor I need me to get a bunch more stuff from Amazon, anyway.
-
Walked to Aldi with my eldest this weekend for most of our groceries. Saw pretzels were on sale (DH eats a handful almost daily for lunch.) Grabbed two bags.
Later, unloading the groceries, DH goes "Oh, I don't like those." They're pretzels? Except they were the garlic-covered pretzels - WOOPS. Two bags of pretzels that would not be eaten by any of us. So DH walked back over to Aldi to return them. Could we have given them away? Sure. But $4 is $4, and it was a beautiful day for a walk.
So not only did we get $4 back, but also apparently Aldi has a return policy where you get your money back AND get the correct replacement item for free? I was sure this was crazy, but DH assured me the cashier told him to get the two bags of (more expensive) regular pretzels that he wanted at no cost - for the inconvenience of having to make a return I guess?
I dunno, seems like a not-great policy and one that could be very easily gamed, but I was glad we took the time to make the return for pretzels we would not eat (and the surprise replacement pretzels)!
-
I spent 30 minutes "chatting " with a combo of AI and a real customer service rep in order to get a refund of a $25 charge on ny cell phone bill. We had to change our financial information and the direct billing got impacted. It was a hassle, but I was able to do other computer work at the same time, so redeemable.
-
Do taxes count? Because until one knows if there is a refund or amount due, one might be on the hook for late filing penalty. Schrödinger's penalty.
So, yeah. Taxes done.
-
Do taxes count? Because until one knows if there is a refund or amount due, one might be on the hook for late filing penalty. Schrödinger's penalty.
So, yeah. Taxes done.
Same here.
-
Semi-annual increase of our Internet bill (basically expiring off the promo rate).spoke with a retention specialist got it cut back in half.
ROR: ~$250 for about 5 minutes of work.
-
I plan to apply for low-income utilities today, now that I know our AGI for our household size qualifies.
-
I finally got started consolidating an old HSA into a current HSA. The destination account will let me invest what's in it. I was dreading having to call both institutions during their business hours (invariably in some other timezone) and generally hassle with bureaucracy, but there was a web form to initiate this transaction, and so far it appears to work.
I will need to follow up to empty and close an accompanying placeholder checking account, which just started charging a monthly inactivity fee. They assure me I agreed to this when I signed up.
Finding this post reminded me to try again to generate some activity in the account that charged the fee, and I think I managed it this time. That should give me time to close both the HSA (still in process) and the placeholder checking account.
-
Filled out paperwork to get a partials reimbursement for childcare from my employer. They give a small stipend for care related to school closings but life has been busy and I have not filled out the paperwork until today.