How To Pay Less For Almost Everything #377

reduce some principal amount on what I hope? Please? I would love a discount now there. But there are a lot of areas in our lives where we can ask for a discount. And generally speaking, our hope for this episode is that at the end of it that you're going to still think that we're being frugal here, not cheap, because you know, and we're gonna talk about this more. But that's one of the big strike against asking for a discount is the perception of just coming across looking

like a scrooge. That's true, Yeah, yeah, you don't want to end up in that position. Well, we'll talk to you kind of like how you go about doing it and how to do it well some of the tactics you need to take so you don't come across looking like yeah that guy or gal Yeah yeah. So okay, dude, speaking of being cheaper, frugal, so browed X cicadas right, Like, there's a lot of talk about these bugs. I'm actually disappointed because I literally have not seen a single cicada

here in Atlanta? Have you? Uh no, But I've been on the lookout you, Okay, So I find I'll explain to our listeners because I saw just some headline about cicadas. Okay, cicadas, but yes, okay, so yeah, here's the thing. I'm disappointed you mentioned nutritious. I'm disappointed that we haven't seen a single one because I came across this online cookbook that teaches you how to prepare how to cook cicadas. It

turns out you can actually eat these suckers, man. And so when I when I saw that, I thought, oh my gosh, you better believe I'm gonna try to convinced Kate that this is something that we should do as the family. And so at this point, we have not yet been able to do it because I literally haven't you know, there haven't been these swarms of cicadas like I've seen pictures of online. What are you supposed to like catch these things with a net while they're in there?

What do you like the pictures I've seen, they're like all over trees and just like I mean, just in piles. I have seen places where there are a lot of cicadas, but it turns out that the pan pick them, toss them in the frying pan. Uh yeah, I mean so my mindset was like, Okay, I'll get a bunch of them, throw them in a bag, throw in the freezer until we get enough, and then yeah, there's different ways you can go about preparing them. Uh they are, that's it.

D Yeah, that might be the only way you're gonna that might be quite delicious. But so yeah, that being said, would you actually eat cicadas? Do you think? I mean so deep frying him? You think that's the way to go? All right? So if someone served them to me, I feel like the classy thing to do is to give it a try. Right, So if I'm at your house and you guys lovingly made cicadas for dinner, like I would take a bite, but um, I'm probably not gonna go like cicada gather. It is not a are of

our culture. I meant, in other countries they eat bugs a good bit and you can eat bugs, but it's just not a part of our culture. It's not the American way. They're gonna be a lot of folks out there who are gonna say, no freaking way. You know, are you gonna be able to convince me to eat bugs? I will say, I'll admit I think that's part of my hamburger and uh and apple pie American americanized takes bugs. That's that's the cheddar. Well, I'm on the lookout for cicadas.

And if we actually didn't have together, dude, we're totally gonna do it and make sure to update listeners so they know what's up. And we can link to to that little online recipe book as well that it came across that kind of explains how you can go about cooking these jokers. Okay, sounds good. I gotta say too that they can't be all that different. Um, maybe like they're the flying version of crawfish. That's what they seem like to me. Maybe, And I like crawfish. So maybe

the crawfish of the sky. Now that I've made that correlation, maybe I would like them, because man, I can I can pack away some crawfish. They say that they're supposed to be, you know, kind of nutty, but also very good for you and the best part free, you know, like, why would you not like if there is just a you know, if you see a random strawberry or tomato or something like that, like, would you not eat it?

Of course? Well, the same thing with bugs, in my opinion, but obviously there's a lot of differences between a bug and a vegetables. True. All right, let's let's move on. Matt. Let's mention the beer or having on this episode. This one's called Origins. It's by Crooked Stave out of Colorado. This is a Burgundy sour and they make pretty much only good beer. So so so looking forward to sharing this one with you today. But let let's move on to the subject at hand. To we're talking about how to

pay less for almost everything. Yea, and Matt, have you ever heard anyone say I love paying full price for stuff? No? Nobody, me neither, right, But I think you know, most of us, we never think to do what it takes to pay less on things that we buy. It's it's kind of like maybe seeing dollar bills on the street and then not picking it up. But I guess that kid is like on the trade that you might eat, like what's the food? Yeah, what are you doing? Why? Why aren't

you getting it? But maybe the the dollar bill in the streets not a perfect illustration because you know, they might have like gum stuck to it or something would be like, oh nasty. I'm never not going to pick up a dollar bill or a five or ten or anything. Definitely anything higher than that. If I were to see it out in a parking lot or something. You're picking up a penny. Uh yeah, I pick up all money. If I see money on the ground, I'm picking it up,

even Canadian money. Well, kids think it's interesting, I do. I do take him home. And uh, if it looks extra sketchy um, or if it's like have you ever heard of the poop dollar? No, I don't want to know. It's it's a terrible thing. It's like a practical joke that people do. But if it kind of looks like, you know, a sketchy piece of currency, I'll take it home and wash it and wash my hands and not touch anything else before I do that. But I appreciate

your dedication of savings. I am not above washing a yeah dollar bill I'm missing get when I get home. But let's talk about maybe easier ways to yeah, to save money, right, and I think you know there are there are some really simple ways for all of us to be able to get discounts on lots of things. But we're either just not aware that these discounts exist, or often we're just too self conscious to take advantage

and to ask for a discount when it's readily available. Um. But yeah, that's part of what we want to talk about today. We want to make sure that changes and then people are more aware of the available discounts that are hovering around them, and then also to encourage them to ask more frequently for discounts when you can snack one. Yeah, last week we talked about how basic. I mean, we're spending so much money, dude, We're spending more money on

virtually everything. Again, that's partly because of inflation, but also this has to do with societal and personal lifestyle creep or lifestyle inflation, and nobody in the right mind wants to pay more for something than they actually need to. So the problem is that most people they don't even think about asking for that discount, even when it is

easy pickings. We mentioned a stat recently where almost nine percent of folks who called their credit card company to have a late payment fee waived that they were able to get that money back. So that's that show that you would be overwhelmingly successful were you to ask for a discount there. Those companies are happy to do it just to keep you happy. But we don't get oftentimes because we don't ask. Yes, Like, man, you can get that that interest fee in the late fee waved. All

you gotta do is make the call and ask. That could be like fifty six bucks. But you know you're too shy or too unwilling to make that phone call. So like why don't we ask? I guess is is one of the big questions here right, Like I think in this country, just like maybe we're particularly averse to eating bugs like you mentioned, but that's just not part of our culture. We also to culturally we're not big

in into asking for a discount. It's a commonplace in a whole lot of other countries around the world, Matt. In some of my travels I go into some of these markets, they expect you to haggle if you if you pay the price that they first say that, they don't understand it, like, what are you talking about? You're not gonna negotiate with me. So I think part of the reason that we don't ask for discounts is cultural.

But I don't think that means that we're not going to be able to get discounts when when we do um actually ask for them. I'm totally with you, man. Just like eating bugs in other countries is more acceptable, I think haggling should also be something that is more acceptable. I remember the first time I went to Central America, our guide made a point to tell us that's haggling, Like that is just a part of the process. That is how a transaction occurs. That's a part of going

to a market. Right. So that's one reason that we avoid asking for a discount or haggling. It feels like we're being rude. Also, another reason we often avoid asking for a discount is because we're just not used to it. Right. The decision to ask for a discount can become a habit and since it's not a part of our culture, most folks are are just out of the habit of looking for a discount and asking someone for a better deal when it's necessary. It's kind of like a muscle,

you know. We used to talk about this a lot, but you know, it's a muscle that you can build up by using it over time. But most folks they've got weak muscles in this category because they haven't made it a habit to ask for that discount. They're just underdeveloped. Yeah. Yeah, when you're out of the habit of doing something, it's tough to actually keep it a shot. Right, You just

haven't done in a long time, or maybe ever. Really, I think another reason, Matt, that that folks neglect to ask for a discount sometimes is because they're are afraid of rejection. Right. A lot of folks are scared that when they ask her a discount, they're gonna get shut down cold. And it's important to not let that know. Someone be like, no, no, you can't have a discount on this, to get you down for long. Yeah, I mean that's a natural reaction, right, Like, nobody actually wants

to experience that rejection. They're not shaming you. They're just telling you know, and that's okay. I don't know. I don't know what you Matt. But I remember my single days. I had some friends who, like when they would ask somebody out then they get turned down, they were like Teflon man, they would go out and ask somebody else out like that. I would stay. I would like, I'd be berated myself for like a week or two, and

you're all right, time to go home. Parties over. But I think that's like a better way to react to kind of have that teflon ish response to where you know you're you're able to give back up on the horse and try again and ask again. It's important that maybe, like if you don't get a discount that one time that you ask, not to let that prevent you from asking for more discounts in the future. Yeah, just remember it's just a no. You know, it's not a huge deal.

I feel like we could all stand to to toughen up a little bit. Maybe, Like you said, Teflon, I'm thinking like less teflon and more like cast iron pot, Like that's what I want to be when it comes to rejection. A reason we're talking about this as well, is that it's also important to remove the stigma of getting a discount. Uh. And so on this episode, we're here to convince you that paying less is okay. Just because you're paying less, that doesn't mean it's always going

to be an inferior product. Uh. Deep deals and promotions out there, they exist as a behavioral tactic to get us to to open up our wallets. We'll actually talk more about that and the downsides of discounts a little bit later on. But there's nothing wrong with getting a discount. It's a mostly good thing, and it doesn't mean that

you're this cheap, stingy, miserable person. Uh. And actually how you go about asking for a discount that actually has the most to do with how you're perceived, And we'll also talk about that later on in the episode. But just keep in mind that, you know, just because you might be perceived as cheap, that doesn't mean you necessarily are. You're just looking for a deal, that's right. Yeah, And scoring a discount also doesn't mean you're automaut ripping somebody

else off. I think sometimes people feel that way. They're like, if I ask for this discount, yeah, they feel the guilt. They give it to me, and I'm taking food out of their baby's mouth, Like, you know, that's actually literally you're removing, you know, the cheerios out of that baby. That's what one of my bosses used to say. I worked at a restaurant and like if we would eat too much on breaking, like, you're taking food out of my baby's mouth, and I felt bad about it. I

started to eat less. You know, they're like, oh my gosh, I am, like, now, your baby's fine, buddy, but you see him take the leftovers home. Oh my gosh, you really feed that to your children. But being literal, yeah, I guess so. But unless you know, a business is being forced to sell you a product at a discount against their will. They want to sell you their product,

that's what they're in the business of doing. And so like, as long as they want your money, they did, and you want their products, and so that business can say no, then it's a fair transaction. That's how markets work. It's supplying demand, right And and there might be some folks out there who who feel like they're taking advantage of

other people when they get a better deal. But as long as we're in the context of a free market, everyone really wins, right, absolutely, man, So it makes me think of you know, before starting the podcast with you, I used to be a photographer and folks would often ask for a discount. Was I ever offended? Never you

ever say yes? No? Well, yeah I did say yes because if business was a little bit slow, if we didn't if I didn't have a whole lot of it shoots booked, if my my workload was looking a little bit light, I would rather offer a ten discount versus sitting at home and feeling bad about myself because I wasn't earning enough money. But you know what if I was, if I was busy and someone asked for a discount, I could politely decline to be like, you know what, I would love to be able to work with you

and offer you something. I understand your you know your budget is maybe a little bit smaller, but I am just too busy. I'm sorry, you know I can't work with you. And so yeah, when it comes to asking for a discount, which we'll get to a little later on, but also too, you know, from the standpoint of a business operator, you can be polite on both sides of the transaction. Yeah, I think for either person the person who's asking for the account or the person who's being

asked to give a discount. In neither circumstances, it a reflection of the quality of the good or the kind of person you are, right, I think, um that we need to get past that. We need we need to move past that. That's kind of part of what it looks like to pay less for things and to ask our discount. But Matt met there aren't some downsides two discounts. In some ways, discounts can actually be bad for consumers. We'll talk about that right after this break. We're back.

We're talking how you can pay less for almost everything out there. Uh And Joel, Yes, we simultaneously love discounts, but there is a darker side to them. Let's talk about the downsides two discounts, like jackline hide. You know, Yeah, it's true, man, there's there's a there's always the end and yang too that there's always a balance. You know. We're we're in favor of asking for discounts, but paying

less isn't always a good thing. When we talked back with Michelle Singletary last week, uh, and she said that discounts make us dumb. There can be some truth to that. Man. You know, when we prioritize price over the quality of the item that we're buying, it can lead to buying junk that doesn't last all that long. Getting the lowest price can feel like this game, but oftentimes it's a game that some folks lose because they are a way

too focused on getting a deal. And you know, then we have items that we don't really enjoy or use all that often because they're just made to fall apart. This is an instance where spending a little more on an item can actually cause you to come out ahead in the long run when it comes to your money. Very true, been there. I've talked about that on the

show before. My penchant for deal loving actually came back to bite me in many instances when I was younger, just yeah, buying general crap, uh, stuff that wasn't I didn't hold up as well. And I've learned my lesson over the years, and you know, I'm a reformed deal addict.

I'll say maybe, um, I think yeah, it can cause us to buy too much chunk, right, because like running in tandem with focusing on price over quality, discounts can cause us to buy more stuff like we too much stuff, not just poor quality stuff, but just too much quantity. You become the opposite of a minimalist. Basically, right, yeah, we we we buy stuff way too often in order to score a deal, leading us to buy and own way more than we actually need. And and this is

partly due to what's called anticipatory regret. Right, it leads to this yeah, well you know, we get we get fancy here on that the money. But yeah, it really what that does is it leads to a sense of urgency to pounce before this deal no longer exists. I mean, that's exactly what retailers are trying to get you to do. They're creating this height heightened sense that this deal only

last for so long, you better get it while it's hot. Um. And and that that that's when we end up with an attic or a garage full of wonky items, maybe items that we never used, half broken items from our house addresser full of clothes that we don't really wear. I mean, we just have to keep reminding ourselves that we got a deal, though, because if we don't, we're gonna be heartbroken over all the money we've wasted at

least you got that deal. At least you saved money, and you've got all this stuff that you no longer use or that you don't even like. Uh. And then before you know it, you've you know, you're paying rent to house all your stuff in this place that's called a self storage and then we all know where this goes. Then there you're on a and ees hoarders. You're the subject of other people's entertainment. That's right, someone's buying your whole storage tunit for like a hundred seventy five dollars.

That's when you've really lost out. And also, man studies show that getting a discount it reduces the chance that will shop around. Right when we're presented with an easy coupon at checkout or or just for signing up for their newsletter, we're more apt to quickly pounce on that deal. And again, this is that fancy term anticipatory regret that you mentioned. Internet retailers have caught on to our desire to get a deal, and it makes us feel good

to see that discount. Gives us that hit of dopamine. It makes it feel like that we found a treasure, even when it's just like spoon fed to us. But often those deals that are touted, they're not really deals at all. And you know, we would find that out if we did some shopping around before purchasing, you know, just because there's a coupon code for ten percent and

we make that purchase. But if we did a little bit of shopping around, we'd find out that another door might be selling that same item forf with no code even necessary at all. Yeah. So that's another downside to deals is how do we know when a deal is

actually a deal? Especially in today's atmosphere, right like technology and online shopping has made it easier to be a savvy consumer with like hundreds of retailers at our fingertips, it's easier than ever to compare apples to apples, especially using a plug in like honey Um to be able to tell for sure, like they'll tell you price history on that one website and then you can compare um and then often honey will find Cuban codes for you

or compared to other websites. Capital one shopping Dude, that's another one too, that's gonna come on the scene that's actually really good too. Yeah. So so checking out like both of those can help you know, Okay, this this is being touted as a deal, but maybe it's not. It's not as good as it looks um at least at first plans. But it can be more difficult when

you're shopping for something in person. Right. For example, if you're buying from a car dealership, they talk all about the discounts that they're offering you, but is it really

cheaper than you could get that car forward elsewhere? Especially if you're in person on the deal, A lot chances are you've already made a mistake number one, right, if you're when you're bound by geography, those perceived discounts, I think they come across as even more powerful because oftentimes you know you're not gonna be like, hold on one second and pull out your phone or pull out your laptop and search, you know, carbon a CarMax, see what

someone selling there's for on Craigslist. Most folks are are less likely to do that. Yeah, And so it's often just the energy of the salesperson who's making you feel something as opposed to you know, the facts being legitimately in favor of this car being a deal. And so it's really important to do your due diligence before blindly believing that the discount that you're being offered is worthwhile

and represents the lowest price. So yeah, I think when we talk about that Michelle singletary line, um, don't discounts make us dumb? Yeah, we gotta make sure we don't let discounts make us dumb, because it's far too easy to let that limited discount information set off a light in our brain saying by it, by it now, when ultimately that's a bad decision. Yeah. I think this is probably a good reason too why sites like carvon and

CarMax are doing so well. I mean, obviously they make it easier to buy a car because you can just sit there and you know, do it from your phone, even which is crazy to think that, oh, yeah, I'm just gonna buy a car on my phone, people telling me that fifteen years and ling no, like yeah, there's no way. But it does allow you to take your time,

look at the prices and shop around. And I think folks are realizing the value that they're able to receive through that process, through being able to take their time and do their due diligence, uh not being forced into a sale in person. And it's also important to point out that discounts come in a number of different flavors. Chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, my favorites of all the mint chocolate chip, Uh, Cicada flavored maybe, oh my god, actually it sounds pretty gross.

It might most closely resemble pistachio. Uh. There's a place near us actually that has salted caramel. That's I mean, that's kind of one of the local favorites around here, right, salt camelie. That's my wife's. And so when it comes to how that is translated to discounts, that can often be the typical percentage off that we'll see or bogoes right by when get one free that we're used to seeing.

Or maybe that might even mean more comp located discounts, like you know, a rebate or a free gift with purchase. Either way, it's important to make sure that you're not allowing your consumer behavior to be swayed by these different marketing tactics. Uh. This is when it's important to just to be able to know yourself. So if you know that you like receiving gifts, well, you know that promotion where you get some free goodies that may cause you to pay more when in reality, those aren't items that

you truly need, right, and so stay away. Make sure that you're able to kind of that you're able to parse your way to the bottom line number uh, to know if you're truly getting a deal. Yeah. I feel like one of the discounts that most easily leads people astray is the buy one, get one off. It's like, oh, man,

in reality, sounds great. They're coaxing you into buying something else that you might not have other otherwise, Boy, you buying a second item and you know, well when you when you boil the discount down, it's really not that much off. So I think that is definitely, you know,

one of the more heinous discounts out there. Um, but let's talk to Matt on One of the other downsides is it it's hard to know when haggling is okay and when it is in Sometimes it's obvious you're not likely going to score a discount at a nationwide grocery chain when you're checking out with your growers. Can I get five bucks extra off on on this load? Or you know it charges me two bucks less for the Cicada flavored ice cream, Like they're not. They're not going

to do that. We're really driving home the cicada thing. I love beating the dead horse. But you are likely to get something for less when you're buying on let's say Facebook marketplace. Right, that's a place where haggling or asking for a discount makes sense and you should do it in pretty much every case. Yeah, you're talking here about like the social and the cultural norms when it

comes to negotiating and buying. Yeah, and where you're buying makes all the difference, right, But it's also important to know that it's okay far more often than you think it is. And it's important to at least start going for that initial low hanging fruit, to start paying less on a consistent basis, right, like when you already yard sale or buying some baby gear, let's say on Craigslist. Start small and asking situations where you feel most trouble in order to get used to asking if you can

get get me even better price. It will feel less awkward as you attempted more and more. And Matt, I was selling something recently on Facebook Marketplace and it was basically was some cloth diapers that we no longer need, and I was surprised because they were up there for like six months and nobody bit on these things. And I was like, maybe that's because they're diapers. Yeah, And I was like, but their cloth, you know, they're washed the clean But I was like, pretty soon I'm just

gonna be I'm gonna be giving these away. But somebody reached out and they're like, hey, can I come in and take a look? Like sure? And they paid full price. I mean you gotta read the read the room though, man, because like I would have taken like half prices one time. They've been on there so long, so it's one of those things where zero comments, Yeah, no backups. I'm more than happy to take all the money. But I'm just saying, like that buyer could have gotten a discount far more

easily then than maybe they thought they could. It was

like right for the picking. Yeah, well, and that's you kind of gets another point too, which is when you're negotiating and you're talking online, it's even easier to do that online when you're hiding behind your keyboard, right uh, And sometimes you don't even have to ask, you know, we've already talked about coupons, but just searching for coupons is one way that you can find that discount without even having to have a potentially awkward conversation, uh, either

digitally with somebody or even in real life because right as millennials, we're always trying to avoid those, you know, real life conversations. I feel awkward. Um, but you know, even still though, those online chats, going to Twitter, slide into the d M s, or even sending it an email to a company that you're hoping to buy from are much easier ways to ask for a discount than even being face to face. Yeah, so start with the easy stuff, right, Start with a chat with a company

that you're looking to buy something from. Hey, do you have an extra tempercent off cubon going on right now? Or do you have a sale coming up that I don't know about. That That's like a good way to start, and you don't really have to offend a person. It's like a chat pots from the situation, and they're just an employee. They don't care. Yeah. One of my favorite other places to to get a discount without really any

heavy lifting is on eBay. They have like a make an offer thing that a lot of buyers will will put in their listing, and so you can either like buy it now, or you can bid on it, or you can make an offer. And so if there's the make an offer button available, I always make an offer. So I might get like a pair of shorts that they were selling for twenty bucks, make an offer like fIF fifty. See what happens. Um, that's kind of like, you know, hitting the easy button when it comes to

like testing your discount asking capabilities. Yeah, so clearly we're big fans of everyone trying to get as many discounts as possible. Like I mean, honestly, you can just ask. All they can say is now. And again, the more you do it, the more likely it is that you'll get discounts on the rag. But keep mind that there are going to be some instances where you're not likely going to be able to get a discount, or or even instances where it might be offensive if you're trying

to pay less. Uh. And so that's why the way in which you ask makes all the difference. Going about it in the right way that is crucial, and we'll talk more about that right after this break. Alright, we're back still talking about how to pay less for almost everything, and Matt, what you said before the break is true. Your approach means everything. Uh what do they say you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. I've heard that, yeah,

and I think that's true. I think the way in which you present yourself, the way in which you ask, can make all the difference. If you come in assuming that you're owe to discount and that's not gonna go over well, and I'm sure you felt that too. The way in which the email was written when someone asked for a discount when it came to photography makes all the difference too, and how you respond and whether or not they get one. So you got to make sure

your approach is solid. So let's talk about that and what you should be doing to ensure that you're getting discounts on goods and services that you were already planning on getting. Because again, we don't want discounts to make you dumb and more susceptible to buying stuff that you don't already need. So let's talk about, yeah, the stuff that you would be buying already, how you pay less. Well. The first tip is to be prepared, do your research,

like what's a fair price? And some stores are gonna match or even beat the price that can petitors are selling that item for, and it can be insulting if you're asking for an unrealistic discount. It's like asking a wedding photographer in their extremely busy season for a discount feels like a papa. It's like, how about half price? It's like, well, how about but asking them for a small discount in the off season when they probably have

fewer weddings, maybe on an off day. Even I would even encourage it, dude, I mean seriously, because it was just oh yeah, weekday weddings were the best. And same thing with your shorts, you know, if you're looking at a pair of shorts online and normally you know, twenty bucks and you got you go in there and like, hey, how about two dollar bills? Like two bucks? Yeah, I mean if they could like give you a thumbs down along with that, No, I'm sure they would, but you

know they can't. They probably would. They probably write me a mean little note when they say no, one star for you exactly. But yeah, even asking a question like do you have any discounts right now or coming up in the near future, that that's the kind of question that you can be asking um in order to be prepared. It's a great way of getting that discount conversation started. Yeah, and again, how it is that you ask for a

discount is crucial. You can do it in a way that that makes the business owner or employee ask you to leave the store, or you can do it in a way that makes them far more likely to see what they can do. They might get out of here right now, Yeah, or they might just go out of their way because you've been able to connect with them on a human level. Right You're just your tone of voice and your body language can go a long way

in convincing an employee to to hook you up. You don't want to be domineering, you know, a sense of entitlement like that's not gonna get you very far. But you also want to speak up and you want to stain your ground so that you're not easily ignored. Essentially, I feel like what we're trying to convince you to be here is like likable, Like you want them to

feel like that. You know you are their friend. Because it's easy to want to help out a friend, It's a lot harder to do something nice for someone you don't like. It's very true. Also important to when you're thinking about your approach to asking for a discount is to talk to the right person because you might just be bang your head against the wall. If you're talking

to the wrong one. You might receive a quick note because you're talking to a person that works of this company who doesn't have any already eat to give you that discount, and then you're like, oh, man, didn't work. But that's your fault actually because because you asked, you

asked the wrong person. So I think there is a way, let's say you get that quick note to say I actually, can I speak to a manager or a supervisor, maybe somebody that has some more authority to cut the price for you, And that This reminds me one of the

things I can I consistently do. I buy flowers from my wife at the Kroger nearest our house, because they have really nice tulips, and it feels like every time I go in there they have some that are out of date, right, like they are sell by dates, which I that's the thing on flowers, I guess right and um and look fresh and perky. Yeah, so like they're normally seven dollars, but usually I can get them for close to half price if they're past that sell by date.

But I gotta ask the right person. If I'm asking a checkout, they're gonna be like, I mean, no, we don't have any discounts. But if I ask the person who's like the manager of the floral department, that they've got the little gun right there and they scan it and they give me like a few bucks off, and so yeah, make sure again that you're talking to the right person, the person that can actually help you out,

not just a random employee. And another approach that might help you to get a discount is to offer cash. This is especially I think candy when you're dealing with local small businesses. But credit cards they cost retailers more money and so offer cash instead if you really want to pay less money. Uh, you know, it doesn't feel as bad for the retailer if they've got that cash

in hand for that product. I know, when it comes to making a liquor store run, I'm always crunching the numbers to see if the debit card discount, if it makes up for that lost cash back, because you know there's there's benefits when it comes to using credit cards, and so it might still make sense for you if you're trying to hit a certain spend threshold, if you're trying to achieve a certain number of points, but sometimes either using cash or even using a debit card can

score you that sweet discount. Yeah, and I agree, the local small business owner is likely going to be the most receptive when you ask them if you know they would take a cash discount. Also, to consider asking for something extra instead of just a lower price. Maybe instead of getting ten percent off, you asked for a deal sweetener. That can be just it is valuable for you, but it can make those negotiations go a bit more smoothly, make it feel a little less like you're devaluing the

item that you're trying to purchase. So, yeah, instead of trying to get that extra temper cent off on a bag of coffee from your local coffee shop, maybe see if they'll throw in a freak cup of coffee while you're there along with paying full price for that bag of coffee. That's that's one tactic you can take. Yeah, and that's definitely helpful too. If you know you're already going to make that purchase, it doesn't hurt to us, you know, see if there's something that you can kind

of get thrown in for free. But when it comes to some bigger purchases, we we want folks to also be willing to walk away. Maybe this doesn't apply to a bag of coffee, but the price really doesn't matter when it comes to some of these different purchases that we make, and if the price doesn't match your your

perceived value, we would recommend for folks to to walk away. Uh. And at the same time, don't be a jerk about it, right, Like, you know we're for you back to earlier when we're talking about being nice, you can still say thank you. You can move on about your day without buying the non discounted item, or or at least we would recommend for you to wait until discounts on that item start to appear. And so if what you're king to buy isn't necessary for you to own right now, then wait

until that item is is more likely to be discounted. So, for instance, I'm thinking about like TVs right like, you're always gonna be able to get a better deal on a TV in November or January, and so go with the flow. And hold off until discounts on that type of item until they abound. Yeah, recognizing that seasonality is seasonality. You're paying your head against the wall if you're you're trying to get that discount at a time where the

business just isn't interested in offering discounts. Yeah, you want to go with the flow when it comes to that agreed and and too. In some industries it pays to be patient because they're so incredibly complex. Mad I'm thinking of medical bills right, Like, that's one of those things where it's still always feels like a mystery as to what we're supposed to pay every single time we go

in to see the doctor. Like, I don't know what that whether I'm going to receive a bill or not, and for how much it's going to be for or not. But I do know this, never pay the bill the first time it shows up from the doctor's office. That is a lesson I've definitely learned over the years, because, Yeah, the way that insurance works and medical billing works, there's almost always a discount by the time the next bill comes around. So in that case, you don't even necessarily

have to ask for a discount. You just have to wait, but then also too, Yeah, it doesn't hurt, especially on medical bills. There's so many different ways to ask for a discount. Most people assume they have to pay that final bill in full on their own, and you know, that might be the case, that might be what you're stuck with, but there are a lot of ways to kind of work around that. Talk to a patient advocate that works at the hospital and you know, find out

what kind of financial aid you qualify for. There's a lot of ways to lower the actual cost of that final medical bill um in your life. Yeah, it pays the delay. It's it's one of the only times that

procrastination may becomes in handy a little bit. Yeah, And you know, so when you're looking to spend a little bit less on something that you're looking to buy, buy you stuff, right, this is kind of outside of the realm of haggling and asking for a discount, But when you buy used items, those discounts are just baked in. And when you're buying, you know, something on Craigslist or Facebook, yard sale or marketplace, you can always ask for a

discount there as well. The additional discount on the distance of this kind of exactly, or don't forget Shop Goodwill dot Com. That's another favorite of mine where you can go on there. It's so, you know, set up sort of like eBay, but all of these items are things that have been donated, so oftentimes they're not looking to make a huge profit off these items. They're they're looking to just unload them. But Joe, Man, I love paying

less for something that I've already planned to purchase. But you know, it can be really easy for for all the money nerds out there to say that they're saving money because they think that discounts are always this really good thing, and that can you know, lead to some of this mindless spending and saving less of our money

than we should be. But it's still important to make those spending decisions consciously and to ask for discounts on the items that you're buying more often, and so keep in mind that you really never know if you can get a better deal or not unless you ask, uh, And you might be surprised that it's way less awkward than you think it's going to be. Yeah, I think too, Man.

It's really interesting how you earlier you mentioned it is kind of like this muscle right and that it's atrophied by us our lack essentially of asking for a discount, when we really could get away with it much more easily. We could save some money, and it's good for us. I think some of these tactics to be able to save more, to be able to ask for a discount um well, will yeah, help us pay less now. But I think these tactics will also help us in other

areas of our life too. Our collective increased willingness um to to ask for that discount can give us a confidence to ask for more money in a job interview, right to to negotiate a lower deal on your rent, maybe to ask for a free month extra of rent, or to ask for a lower monthly rent amount, or to get like a nicer hotel room than you actually

paid for. When you're at the front desk just asking for like that sweet upgrade that you otherwise would have been stuck in the room next to the ice machine. But now maybe you got the penthouse suite, which is great. But yeah, since getting over your fears is really the biggest battle here, I think it's getting over some of those cultural norms that have been baked in um and since saving real money is possible if we do this.

We think starting to ask for a discount more frequently in our lives is really important and it's the only way are gonna be able to pay less for almost everything consistently. But all right, Matt, that's enough about discount. Let's get back to beer. Okay, what were your thoughts on this beer that we had on today's episode. This is Origins by Crooked Stave and it's an oak aged Burgundy sour. Yeah, this is a big, a little seven fifty bottle that you and I shared. But it was

dark and velvety. It poured a nice brown color and it was really acidic. I'm not sure what the PAH level is on this, now that I've had a beer by a brewery where they put the PAH levels on the label. Actually, I really wish now you crave it. I crave it. That's a data point that I want to have. Uh, But I will say I enjoyed it, but I kind of wish that it had more fruit flavors going on. It honestly reminded me a lot of malt vinegar. Are you Are you a fan of malt vinegar?

You know, kind of like you go to a diner. Yeah, the fries there and they kind of got that going on. This is honestly what it reminded me of. But imagine if that malt vinegar was aged and nice, uh fancy wooden footers. That definitely added that oak element to it. But I guess I kind of I wish there was something else, like whether it's like maybe a little bit of fruit or maybe like a little bit of funk. One additional note I feel like would have taken this

beer to the next level. But I still really enjoyed it. This was a really solid one. Glad we got to share it on the show. But yeah, what were your thoughts? Yeah, man, this one was incredibly tart. It definitely had like a vinegar profile to me going on, and although it definitely had, you know, a lot of those oak notes at the same time, and I thought I actually did have like

a hint of like a tart cherry vibe. So even though there were no cherries used in the making of this beer, I think you could kind of like almost get that out of it. But I think this was a delicious beer. I agree though maybe it could have used. It was a little one note maybe, but it could have used a little diversity, but still, yeah, really really good. I pretty much love everything I've had by Crooked Stave. Yeah, they make really good stuff. Yeah, I'm i gonna say

this one. Still, I would put up there on like almost excellent level. Nice man. Yeah, for everyone out there, check out Crooked Stave if you have access to their beers. Joel, that's gonna be it for this episode. Listeners can find our show notes up on our website at how the money dot com. Will make sure to link to any of the different resources that we may have mentioned during this episode, like like the honey Engine when you're shopping

online or the Capital one shopping app. Sounds good, Well, that's going to do it for this episode. So until next time, best Friends Out, best Friends Out.