Whether you’re trying to stay one step ahead of rising prices or you just want to ensure that you’re never spending more than you need to, it pays to be savvy with where and how you spend. Instead of blindly entering every purchase on an impulse, a few seconds of research beforehand could help you to get a lot more than expected from that same transaction. With that in mind, here are five tried-and-tested ways to get more for less.
Tell them you’ve found a cheaper option
Whether you’re buying a new cell phone plan or booking flights, there is one simple phone call you can make to potentially get more bang for your buck. Simply calling the seller company and telling them you have found the exact same product or service for less will result in a price match or even a cheaper price a surprising amount of the time. Even if it doesn’t work, the worst they can say is no.
Solicit rewards for your loyalty
If you’re signing up for a new platform or service, you’ll want to know your loyalty will be rewarded. Luckily, more and more sites will throw in some freebies and bonuses to keep you on board, For example, online gamblers can shop around for the best online casino welcome bonus, with a site like The Hippodrome offering to double your first deposit with up to £50 of free credit. No effort is needed from you. All you need to do is choose a casino site that offers you a freebie, as opposed to one that doesn’t.
Always use a cashback card
One of the true hidden gems of the current consumer economy is the cashback card. All of the major providers offer these, and they can ensure that every single purchase you make goes further. With a cashback credit card, a small portion (usually 2-3%) of all of your purchases will be given back to you the following month by your provider. This means that, as long as you use this card, almost everything is cheaper. With most new programs, you can even use an app to see the combined value of your cashback savings over the course of the year.
No points, no purchase
If you want to get more for less, you should start considering the long-term benefits of your purchases. Within just about every sector of the economy, you can find a points program. With these, every purchase will give you points that you can later use to get stuff for free. You can get points for books with the Barnes & Noble program. You can get points for flights with just about every major airline (although some are much more generous than others). You can get points for your meal purchases via loyalty programs such as those offered by Papa John’s, Chipotle, or Domino’s. The list goes on.
With these simple spending hacks, you get more for your money, no matter what you plan to spend it on.
