Cheapwad Finds--Opposite of Blow That Dough!

[Koolau]

Many of our "attractions" are free or deeply discounted for Kamaaina (residents.) All you need to show is your DL. A few restaurants also give (maybe 10%) discounts for (literally) "Children of the Land." YMMV

 

[CaptTom]

Many of our "attractions" are free or deeply discounted for Kamaaina (residents.) All you need to show is your DL. A few restaurants also give (maybe 10%) discounts for (literally) "Children of the Land." YMMV

I love it! I live in a tourist town. Our businesses should do the same.

 

[GhostofTomJoad]

Senior annual, unlimited bus pass here on Oahu: $45.00. No typo. TRUTH.

 

[Koolau]

I love it! I live in a tourist town. Our businesses should do the same.

We occasionally have kamaaina "staycation" offers from the hotels. For about half to two thirds of what the tourists pay, you get a hotel room (in Waikiki) plus discounted meals at the restaurant and sometimes entertainment. AND you don't pay the ridiculous tourist fees. So far, we've never tried it, but we're occasionally tempted.

 

[CaptTom]

We occasionally have kamaaina "staycation" offers from the hotels...

Nice! I suppose we take advantage of off-season rates and end-of-season sales from time to time, but really only on things we would have done/bought anyway. I have no real need to stay in a local hotel for a vacation.

The one time I did a trip with a "residents only" deal was when they were running the ferry from Portland, ME to Yarmouth, NS. The offer was just too good to turn down. It was kinda fun, and it did motivate me to incorporate the ferry into a longer trip (to Newfoundland by car) another year.

 

[Jerry1]

Just got an offer from HULU for 6 months for $2.99/month. A promotion for American Idol. I jumped on it.

 

[cyber888]

Alright, if you need Under-wears.
Today, we went to a Jockey Underwear outlet store.
DW and I got Jockey under-wears for cheap. Regular tag price was $18.90s per piece. We got 8 pieces for $46 total (excluding taxes). So comes out to $5.75 each before taxes.
From $18.90s to $5.75 - Great bargain on great quality undies.

 

[CaptTom]

I question that whole "factory outlet" thing. I live near a town that's got a whole bunch of them. People drive from all over, rent a hotel room for the weekend, and dine out the whole time, just to shop there. Mostly for name-brand clothing.

Funny thing is, there's sales tax on clothing in this state, but not in the state most of them come from. And they pass through a no-sales-tax state to get there.

And the prices are usually no better than local stores' sale prices. Beyond that, the name brands are usually no better than the same thing (often from the same factory) without the designer label.

Now, I won't say that any specific brand isn't worth the premium to some people. Hey, it's their money, and if they find something they like, they should stick with it. And if you're buying the name brand anyway, then, yeah, try to find it for less.

Still, overall, I think the whole thing is a bit scammy. I'll stop there.

 

[DayDreaming]

Just got an offer from HULU for 6 months for $2.99/month. A promotion for American Idol. I jumped on it.

If you had jumped on their Black Friday deal, you could have had it for $0.99/month! At the same time you could have added Disney+ for another $1.99/month.

 

[Jerry1]

If you had jumped on their Black Friday deal, you could have had it for $0.99/month! At the same time you could have added Disney+ for another $1.99/month.

Yeah, I had cable then and didn’t want it. Since then, I cut the cord. That saves me $65/month. At $2.99, I’m still pretty far ahead. I also got Peacock for $30 for a year. Not .99/month but still a good deal.

 

[wmc1000]

Just got an offer from HULU for 6 months for $2.99/month. A promotion for American Idol. I jumped on it.

In order to keep Disney+ ad free last Nov. I started to cancel until they offered me 6 mos. for $2.99 and we got to keep Disney+ ad free for another $2.99 so until May we are good to go at $5.98 per mo. total. Hopefully, when I cancel in May their computers will again offer a 6 month extension at $2.99

 

[Badger]

I question that whole "factory outlet" thing. I live near a town that's got a whole bunch of them. People drive from all over, rent a hotel room for the weekend, and dine out the whole time, just to shop there. Mostly for name-brand clothing.

Funny thing is, there's sales tax on clothing in this state, but not in the state most of them come from. And they pass through a no-sales-tax state to get there.

And the prices are usually no better than local stores' sale prices. Beyond that, the name brands are usually no better than the same thing (often from the same factory) without the designer label.

Now, I won't say that any specific brand isn't worth the premium to some people. Hey, it's their money, and if they find something they like, they should stick with it. And if you're buying the name brand anyway, then, yeah, try to find it for less.

Still, overall, I think the whole thing is a bit scammy. I'll stop there.

My wife and I came to the same conclusion. Once in a long while we would find something at a lower price but it was so rare we quit going to the one in St Augustine. Many of the stores have closed in the past few years. Most stores that are left sell clothes that are of no interest to us since we have been retired for the past 12 years. I can buy my jeans most anywhere and she looks for sales to buy her tennis outfits. Other than that there is Amazon with free delivery.

 

[Aerides]

I question that whole "factory outlet" thing. I live near a town that's got a whole bunch of them. People drive from all over, rent a hotel room for the weekend, and dine out the whole time, just to shop there. Mostly for name-brand clothing.

A lot of things aren't even really outlet items that we'd think they are anyway, they are items made specifically for those outlet stores. They never sold or were intended to sell for $200 at the real retailer, although the tag saying that, and now $39, makes it sound like a deal.

 

[folivier]

There is a Tanger outlet mall near us. DW goes around Christmas for gifts. I've taken my granddaughter shopping a couple times. In the long ago past I've bought jackets.
Now being retired I like pants from Tractor Supply, usually buy them on sale for $14.00. Shirts usually are from Cabelas for $14.00. Both are good quality and last well and are comfortable.

 

[Route246]

I have a minor portion of my assets in Merrill Edge owned by BofA. I think it was about 7 years ago when they were running a promotion for $700 when they were starting out (I think) for depositing $100K in assets with a 90-day commit. I'm all for free money and this was too good to resist. I transferred $100K in old ESPP shares from a previous company. Rep called me the following week and offered another $700 for $100K more assets. Bingo. $100K more shares transferred. He called me a month later and asked if I had any other assets because he said I could get another $700 for $100K assets. Another $100K went in. Within 3 months I had $2100 for literally no cost and no disadvantage and I gave up nothing in the process as these were static assets just sitting in an old E-Trade brokerage account that is mostly dormant.

I just checked, Merrill Edge is offering a slightly degraded offer. They still offer $600 for $200K but it is free money just the same.

Link: https://www.merrilledge.com/offers/600

If anyone sees any flaw to my thinking please let me know. My Merrill Edge account has grown substantially from the original $300K and I just leave it there as is. They were bugging me every quarter and I told them to stop bugging me and the calls have ceased (from Florida from a registered broker on a recorded line, BTW). I also had a problem with password aging and having to change my password and I told them I would transfer the entire balance to Vanguard if I was asked to change my password again. Amazingly the password aging for my account stopped.

While I want to close the account and transfer the assets to Vanguard I really hesitate due to goodwill. Besides, if Vanguard ever does something I really don't like I can transfer the assets from there to here so it is not necessarily a bad thing.

 

[calmloki]

No flaw there at all. You might consider looking into Wells Fargo or Fidelity - both want to hold your assets for you and are willing to pay for the privilege. (sez the guy who had Merrill, then WF, then Fidelity..). Will say both fidelity and Vanguard seem more like real usable brokerages to me, though I'm no kind of whiz bang stock shuffler. Do like free money though.

 

[CaptTom]

Back in October I transferred some cash I had lying around to a savings account offering a better interest rate, plus an extra $600 if I kept it there until the end of this month.

The only flaw I see is these funds could be working harder for me in the long term, but I have some plans for the cash this spring so the timing worked for me.

 

[Badger]

Because of my experience with them I would bury my money in a tin can in the backyard before I do business with Merrill Lynch or Merrill Edge.

 

[Route246]

Merrill Edge is an attempt to compete with Vanguard and Fidelity. Merrill Lynch did not compete with anyone. There is a difference.

Because of my experience with them I would bury my money in a tin can in the backyard before I do business with Merrill Lynch or Merrill Edge.

 

[Badger]

Merrill Edge is an attempt to compete with Vanguard and Fidelity. Merrill Lynch did not compete with anyone. There is a difference.

There is also a similarity. Edge offers low-cost self-directed or managed accounts while Lynch offers professional managed accounts. Either way I don't trust anyone who tries to convince me to allow them control of my money to invest/reinvest in expensive front-end load or back-end loaded funds. All the while making sure you know that they are your "friend".

 

[Andre1969]

This is more a story of a cheapwad mentality, more than a cheapwad find, but here goes...

I have three recliners, that used to belong to my paternal grandparents. I have no idea how old they are, in my memory, they were always around. Well, after Granddad died, and my uncle was clearing out the house, he told me to take whatever I wanted, and I snagged them. They're sort of a light brown/sandstone color, so fairly conservative, and not something that really dates itself. I've had them since 2017.

Well, just today, my housemate sat in one, that's in the upstairs rumpus room. His back is bugging him, and he made a comment about how it's kind of uncomfortable when your back is hurting.

I replied yeah, I think the springs are starting to go, and its losing some support in the base cushion. I've been thinking about swapping it out with the chair downstairs.

His response? "Or, you could swap it out with one from the STORE!!" I guess old cheapwad habits die hard! My rationale for it though, was that the one downstairs hardly ever gets used, so swapping them just made sense to me.

 

[calmloki]

This is more a story of a cheapwad mentality, more than a cheapwad find, but here goes...

I have three recliners, that used to belong to my paternal grandparents. I have no idea how old they are, in my memory, they were always around. Well, after Granddad died, and my uncle was clearing out the house, he told me to take whatever I wanted, and I snagged them. They're sort of a light brown/sandstone color, so fairly conservative, and not something that really dates itself. I've had them since 2017.

Well, just today, my housemate sat in one, that's in the upstairs rumpus room. His back is bugging him, and he made a comment about how it's kind of uncomfortable when your back is hurting.

I replied yeah, I think the springs are starting to go, and its losing some support in the base cushion. I've been thinking about swapping it out with the chair downstairs.

His response? "Or, you could swap it out with one from the STORE!!" I guess old cheapwad habits die hard! My rationale for it though, was that the one downstairs hardly ever gets used, so swapping them just made sense to me.

Have the same mindset. Drove a lot of used cars with many miles on them. Notice how few cars on the freeway have more than one occupant? My old worn out leather driver's side bottoms got nice as new matching seat bottoms from wrecking yard passenger sides. Worth doing if you like old BMWs that look and feel good. And you are thrifty.

 

[MC Rider]

...............His response? "Or, you could swap it out with one from the STORE!!" I guess old cheapwad habits die hard! My rationale for it though, was that the one downstairs hardly ever gets used, so swapping them just made sense to me.

Tell him to pay for the new chair.

 

[Andre1969]

Have the same mindset. Drove a lot of used cars with many miles on them. Notice how few cars on the freeway have more than one occupant? My old worn out leather driver's side bottoms got nice as new matching seat bottoms from wrecking yard passenger sides. Worth doing if you like old BMWs that look and feel good. And you are thrifty.

That's actually a really good idea! Unfortunately most of my old cars were larger domestics with just a solid bench seat, and not buckets. Or, at best, a 60/40 split bench.

On a bucket seat car though, it never would have occurred to me, on my own, that the actual cushions would probably be interchangeable. But it does make sense.

My 2012 Ram has a 40/20/40 seat. It's holding up fine, but I guess that's something to think about, if the driver's cushion ever starts to fall apart.

 

[Sunset]

My Uncle, in his 90's tells me the button on his electric heater is broke and can I find one in the computer (internet) that would fit.

So I search for switch to fit his De'Longhi oil filled heater. I come across there is a voluntary recall on them.

I phone De'Longhi , and they confirmed the recall , after some photos as proof , they send me a label, and I UPS them for free the old heater and they ship me a brand new one to replace the ~35->40 yr old one for free !

My Uncle was pretty pleased

Then I did it again with his second heater that he doesn't use (no switch broken on this one).

Now he has given me a 3rd heater (again not being used) and told me to keep the replacement