Day 1: Ask for Your Discounts

Welcome to the first day of our Month of Savings. I hope that you will benefit from some of these ideas and that you will be able to implement some new ones in your home.

When my husband and I were first married, I really didn’t understand the concept of money. To me, it was just paper that floated in and out of my life, but I didn’t appreciate the value of a dollar. We had jobs that paid well, rented an apartment, and we had no children. I had never really thought about how much money we could be saving if I was smarter with the money coming in.

When we moved to the East coast, we found a wonderful congregation to worship in. Unfortunately, there were very few couples our age. When a new young couple joined our church, we were so excited to have another couple to hang out with. We went out to dinner one night with them and they invited us to a local amusement park. We were, of course, interested so we made plans to go the following Saturday.

When we walked up to the booth, to pay for our tickets, the guy that we came with whipped out his wallet. He said a magical phrase that I have never forgot… “How do I get a discount admission?” He proceeded to take out every single card, credit card, and piece of identification he had and was able to score a military discount with one of the cards in his wallet.

Inspired by his demonstration, I walked up and said, “I would like a discount too!” I took out all of our cards and was able to get a discount with our AAA membership.

The moral of the story is that it never hurts to ask for a discount because you might be surprised by the answer. You can extend this further and ask if they are running any promotions or sales. Finally, make sure to ask if they have a mailing list for coupons and future discounts. I have joined many mailing lists, for companies that I frequently shop, and have been able to save a lot of money just by signing up for a mailing list.

Don’t be afraid to disclose information about yourself, if it will help you score that discount. Do you volunteer for an organization? Do you do community service? Disclosing information like this can also lead to discount savings.

In the case of the AAA membership, they have over 147 nationwide listings for savings. Here is an example of some of their best discounts:

Geek Squad: At Geek Squad, AAA Members save 20 percent off in-home service for the following services regardless of where you purchased your computer when you show your membership card: Wireless networking installation, Software installation, Data transfer or data backup, Advanced computer diagnostic with repair, Internet service provider (ISP).

LensCrafters: At LensCrafters, AAA Members save when you show your membership card. Save up to 30 percent off a Comprehensive Eye Exam and/or glasses, sunglasses and eyewear accessories. Save 15 percent off partial eyewear purchases.

Target.com: AAA Members save 10 percent off items for the entire family — items for the home, furniture, toys, sporting goods, designer-name merchandise and gifts.

Potential Savings: My approximate savings for every time I have asked for a discount is around $10 or more. It just takes one question to get the ball rolling on the ways you can be saving with a company. Don’t be shy- ASK!

Sound Off: What discounts have you gotten just by asking for them?

Published August 01, 2007 by:

Amy Allen Clark is the founder of MomAdvice.com. You can read all about her here.

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