BusinessWeek has put together one of those accursed slideshows of 25 ways to save money, and while a lot of them are things you’ve heard before (use credit cards wisely! buy generic or used!), there are a few less common tips that you might not have considered. Here are four that caught our attention.
3. Cut out investment charges and fees
BusinessWeek notes that “many investors end up paying 2% to 3% off the top each year for investing costs. Lower-cost mutual funds and index funds can slash that bill, savings that compound over several decades of investing.”
7. Make sure you don’t have too much insurance
Don’t have dependents? Cut back on life insurance. Are your auto and home deductibles very low? Look for cheaper coverage with higher deductibles. They also recommend shopping around for new insurance every 2 to 3 years.
13. Lay down the law with your free-spending friends
It’s harder to save if you hang out with big spenders. “Some financial planners advise cash-strapped clients to seek out social companions with similar budgets. However, if you’re honest about your spending limits, true friends should be willing to adjust their plans by, for example, choosing a less pricey restaurant.”
“Realizing how much things cost over the course of a year can really help put things in perspective,” says Bob Nusbaum of Middle America Planning in Pittsburgh. For example, if you spend $10 for snacks and lunch each weekday, that adds up to $2,500 in a year.
“Let’s Get Cheap” [BusinessWeek]
(Photo: Getty)
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Separate checks are awkward but sometimes necessary. My wife has friends who drink and drink and drink and then the try for the “credit card roulette” (credit cards in a hat, drawn by the server, losing card pays it all). When that offer fails to gain acceptance, they want to split. My wife knows when we go out with her friends, a separate check is needed.
I also recently was about to go out with a few people to lunch. When I was asked, it was 3 others going to Daphne’s (a fast foodish greek restaurant, where you order and pay at the register and then they bring you the food). I said yes. I was then told that the plans had changed to add a 5th person and they wanted to go to “M Cafe”. A quick internet check on the restaurant showed that this would be at LEAST a $20 meal. I passed. I felt not at all bad about passing after my initial yes. I always ask ‘where are we going’ before saying yes. It’s just common sense.
Man.. I need to start selling $500 Toilet paper to clean up the back end of those $500 meals! hehehe
Actually, fine dining is quite a treat when done right and when the expectation is there.
Which the whole meal question falls in to, social skills and social expectations.
Etiquette states that the person or persons that offer the meal invitation get to choose the restaurant and by etiquette, must pay the entire bill as well.
Etiquette also states that the person that calls a large group to meet and dine is to pick up the tab as well.
In cases where the group meets mutually, an agreement must be made prior to ordering on the arrangements for paying the check.
The most common, and acceptable method is split the check up for each person or couple, based on what they individually ordered, each paying the gratuity.
I agree that splitting the bill evenly sucks. However, if you go out to eat often and with the same people one day you’ll order a hamburger and the next you’ll order lobster. One way or another it always comes back to you. If you can’t spend an extra 5 or 10 dollars for the sake of hanging out with friends, Stay home.
Nobody wants you to subsidize their meals. It’s just easier to split the bill with a large group of people. Nitpicking over a couple of dollars is a sure way to ruin a great evening.
If the restaraunt you’re eating in does not offer separate checks, don’t go. We have not invited a friend on occasion because he pulls this kind of crap. It’s easier to go out with people who don’t mind the few extra dollars just to have a great time.
I’ve been retired since 2001. However, when I was last working my colleagues and I seldom went out for lunch or dinner because the company cafeteria was better, and cheaper (the evening meal was always free) than any of the commercial establishments around.
Similarly, after work we never went out for a drink. Our tradition was that on Friday afternoons we’d commandeer a conference room. Everyone brought his own single malt and we’d share a beverage and stories of the week’s work. Even the T-totalers often showed up with soda pop or the like because we always had a pleasant time. The meetings, and the booze, were ok with management on the presumption that we were all adults and were responsible for managing our own consumption.
Much, much cheaper that way.
My solution: have less friends =)
Seriously, if they offer to split it, I just say “Ok because you thought of this place, I’ll pay the whole thing this time, but next time, I choose and YOU pay.”
Usually that gets them in line.
And to a previous poster, sometimes the difference isn’t $10, what if it’s $100? $200? I had a friend who liked wine. I don’t drink. If you’re not going to raise a ruckus about $100 for a good you didn’t consume, then I don’t think you need this blog.
@Zimorodok: I’m always the tab-splitter when my department goes out to lunch. We typically all order meals within $2 of each other, so I add tip and split evenly or n-1 (if it’s a birthday). But when I see that one of the plates is significantly cheaper — someone had just soup or something, I’ll say “Joan just had a salad, so call hers $x, and everyone else $y.” It really isn’t that hard to figure it, and everyone appreciates it.
I must speak up for GEICO.
My wife had an accident, a little on the costly side, and GEICO handled it superbly. They were EXCELLENT. Handled everything nicely.
As a result, I feel very comfortable with them and will likely stay with them forever.
I’m not a suckup. I did have an issue with their goofy adjuster for a situation when someone damaged my car trying to steal it years ago. It was a minor hassle.
Anyway, nothing pays like peace of mind. So credit where credit is due.
@Mikebrown: “…the day they leave the circle of friends.” Well, give them a second chance to pay you back in some way, but yea.
When my friends and I go out, we always pay for our own meals, plus a certain amount for tax and tip. We usually calculate and evenly split the tax & tip, since that’s just easier and it’s usually a dollar or two difference anyways from if it was calculated separately.
If I’m out with acquaintances, I”ll do the same thing – calculate my food, plus evenly split tax + tip. If someone says something, “oh you owe more, we’re splitting evenly,” I have no shame in saying that I’m a poor student, and I didn’t order the expensive items or a drink. I say this with a laugh, and I don’t get bothered about it.
@mrgenius: i don’t think the “$10 difference” is the common problem. i know personally, i’d much rather divide a check evenly just so the math is easier if the problem was $10, but it’s usually not.
it’s the shenanigans you encounter – like 6 people go to dinner & 2 are a couple, so the check gets split 5 ways instead of 6 (“but he’s paying for both of us” <-actual quote), or padding the bill so a guest can pocket some cash (has happened more than once), or the guy who pulled up in the porsche conveniently forgets his wallet AGAIN (ok, it wasn’t a porsche, it was a new honda accord – but we were all poor college kids & he did it every time, so it’s relative).
why do people feel the need to take advantage of people they know? that’s my question. i’ll gladly foot the bill for someone that wouldn’t come out otherwise, or chip in more for someone that legitimately made a calculation error when they hit the atm, but i’m no fool. i know when i’m being conned.
Ugh, I hate bill-splitting with a passion. Many times if it’s within my price range I will pick up the entire tab, or the (shared) appetizer or whatever, if I can. But really, if I’m wanting to pay only my share, it’s because that’s all I can afford and I’ve budgeted my meal to fit into what I can handle.
If I have $10 for dinner, that’s a $6 entree, water, and a $2 tip, with $2 reserved to cover tax.
I think my friends can tell when I’m broke by what I order. If I’m getting alcoholic drinks, sodas, appetizers, etc. – I’m probably doing fine. But if I’m drinking water…
@mac-phisto:
I’m totally with you here… I think the worst is when a “friend of a friend” tags along and pulls this stuff. I think a lot of these money things could be avoided if people used common courtesy. For instance, if you aren’t invited, don’t invite yourself! I tend to be old school, but I think if you invite someone for drinks, the host pays, though the guest should offer to pay. I guess my friends are more egalitarian when it comes to this stuff because I’ve definitely eaten/drank for free, and I’ve definitely covered a fair amount of whole checks. Again, with quality people, I think it will always even out.
I just hate cheapskates, however one chooses to phrase it.
@meefer:
Of course I need this blog; how else will I learn which places have unacceptably high levels of rat excrement in their food!
On a more serious note, I too wouldn’t like to pay an extra $100 or $200 all the time. I was just saying that good friends shouldn’t put you in that position. I happen to be a vegetarian and I go out with carnivores frequently, and one friend in particular likes to drink bottles of Veuve every time. He also knows to put in fair share at a minimum (and more often, he will just pay the bill).
I guess my main thesis here is that its probably easier to find less jerkoff friends than it is to make a cheapskate pay his fair share.
@pinkpuppet:
I was saying not only should you not spend $500 on dinner out if that’s all you have; I am saying you shouldn’t spend $1 on eating out if that’s all the money you have. It just seems irresponsible to me to spend money on frivolities if one doesn’t even have emergency savings.
@mrgenius: Ah, I see. It was, perhaps, phrased oddly. I completely agree that one shouldn’t spend outside their means.
I think if you and your group decide before you order your drinks and meal that you are going to split the bill 6 ways, then that is fine.
However when I order and choose items that are within the budget that I have set for myself, I refuse to then split the bill 6 ways. I’m not paying for someones Filet Mignon and King Crab Legs, its just not going to happen. Especially when after I ordered I planned on paying for just my husbands and my own meal not someone elses.
@corinthos:
Man, if I ever ended up ordering more than my fair share, I’m sure that they would refuse to split. Anything that comes out ending up with the person who suggests the split getting a bad roll of the dice means that they won’t suggest it.
The absolute worst is when couples think of themselves as one person and ask you to split. Not only are they asking for you to foot part of their bill, but they’re forgetting that they’re two people, not just one.
People can be so lame most of the time, it’s pretty sad how often this happens.
@mrgenius:
Agreed. If your friends are constantly asking you to hurt your bottom line to help theirs but they never get you back, then how good of a friend are they?