How we saved in 2010, part 4

These last three are in no way cohesive, so I'm not even going to try.

3. Complaining effectively. I heard somewhere (okay, on an episode of The Office) that it costs a company ten times more to get a new customer than it does to keep an existing one. Anyone who's ever dealt with a cell phone/internet/cable service provider knows they have retention departments committed to doing whatever they can to keep your business. So when I'm not happy with a product or service, I contact the company in question. I prefer to send a letter, since that speaks volumes in our digital age (someone found paper, a pen, an envelope, an address, a stamp AND put it in the mailbox?), but more and more often, I have to resort to email, as there is no address or phone number. Sometimes all they have is a phone number, and even though I hate being on the phone, I'll hang in there to get my point across. The main thing to keep in mind when complaining effectively is to rehearse what you want to say ahead of time, remind them how long you've been a customer, have a solution in mind, and stay cool. Here are just two examples of what I've received as a result:
-Food Basics: I bought some produce that went bad within a day of purchase; the store manager returned my call within three days of my complaint, and notified his cashiers to give me store credit for the amount I spent, on my next visit.
-Air Canada: before a recent trip, I had to go to the Air Canada counter at the airport to have paper tickets re-printed; the agent serving me took forever, and more importantly, asked me if all I did was stay home and stare at my baby (who was with me, and getting properly impatient). I was offended and let them know it. Within a week, I was contacted by Air Canada and got what I asked for: access to their Maple Leaf lounges on both of our layovers. As you now have to pay for food on shorter flights, it was a tremendous relief to have free food at our disposal.

2. Using available time or skills to bring in more money. This would be my French tutoring and child care twice a week. It's not a ton of cash, but it pays for groceries, allowing my savings to accumulate. I've heard of people doing extra shifts, basic bookkeeping, data entry, even delivering papers to increase their budgets.

1. Watching patterns, waiting for sales. We did this with things as small as cheese (never pay more than 5$ for 500g), and as big as the DSLR camera that was Hubby's combined birthday/Christmas present, purchased in August because that was when it was cheapest. These things go in cycles, so if you have a major or recurring purchase to make, check the flyers (they're all online anyway) and make a note of how often they go on sale. Side note: the first and last pages of most flyers are the loss leaders; these are what get you in the door, and the intent is to have you buy more than you otherwise would. There is no need to buy anything other than the crazy low sales. So scoop up four bricks of cheese, pay the man, and be on your way!