Today is Part II of my tips regarding
THE POWER OF ASKING.
As discussed in my first post, it's important to ask questions. The first "ask" tip we talked about was asking the cost of things. The second "ask" tip we will discuss today is:
Ask for deals.
This tip can certainly be a hard one, but is probably the best way to get a good deal on things! My husband and I try this all the time. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Even if it only works 1 time out of 100 it's worth it because A) it doesn't cost you anything B) It takes no time or effort to simply ask for something and C) You get a deal on something that you wouldn't have gotten a deal on!!
Here are some recent examples of how my husband and I got deals on things simply by asking:
- We went to a baseball game recently. Here are some examples of how we asked for things at this one event:
- Since our team won, they handed out coupons at the exit gates for a free taco. My husband and I both simply asked for extra coupons and the guy gave us a big stack. We now have enough free tacos to feed us lunch for about 15 days!
- A tender walked by selling pre-made shave ice cups. Most of them were really melted. I thought to myself, "I would never buy one from him because they're all melted already." I turned to him and asked, "Your icees are all really melted. I'll buy one from you for a discount, I have cash right now." He said no, but after contemplating for a while. His response was "I totally would but I'd get in big trouble. I don't even get a discount on these things." Oh well!
- After the game we walked by a snack stand and asked if they had any old churros they were going to throw out. They didn't have any, but this has worked for me before at basketball games!
- I was at a restaurant with my mom and a friend. The manager walked by and asked us how we were liking our meal. We told him we absolutely loved the service and the bread that came with our meals. I asked, "this bread is amazing, but it was hard to decide which one to try since you have so many options. Do you think we could get a side of each kind of bread so we can at least try each one?" Low and behold, he brought us out an entire tray of every kind of bread in the restaurant. We were so full on bread we packed our meals and took them home for the next day!
- My husband and I went through the taco bell drive-through recently. I had a coupon for a free limeaide drink, and a coupon for a "buy any item get a free limeaide drink". While ordering I asked if I could use both coupons, she said no. Once I pulled up to the window, however, I said "Will you please let me use both coupons? If I can only use one then I'm only going to use the 'free limeaide' coupon. If you let me use both, I will at least buy something because the 2nd coupon is 'buy anything get a free limeaide'. You'll at least make some money this way!" She had to run the second coupon on a second transaction, but she let us use both.
- Here are some examples that a friend of mine sent me:
- "I was talking to my youngest brother about his summer and he was saying he got so many things for free…just by asking. It doesn’t always work, but a lot of the times it does. He was at 7-11 and he asked the clerk if he was going to throw the pizza out (it was the end of the day) and the clerk said he was, so my brother asked if he could have it and the clerk gave it to him.
"Another time, my bro was at the beach and there was a raffle to give away a pair of sunglasses and my brother went up to the guy and asked if he could have the sunglasses because he didn’t have a pair and the guy said yes.
"My brother has gotten free frozen yogurt, employee discounts and so many other things just by asking. It goes along with your post about the immunizations. It doesn’t hurt to ask.
"Earlier this summer I went home to see my brother who had just gotten off his mission (the one who gets stuff for free) and I ended up making some last minute changes to my itinerary and the airline was going to charge a hefty fee. As I was on the phone making the changes, I asked the girl if there was any way she could waive the fee and she said only if there was a catastrophic event (death, etc.). I told her my brother had been out of the country and I was going home to see him…she asked if he had been serving a mission and she ended up waiving the fee because she was LDS!J It was awesome!" - Recently I needed to cancel two checks that got lost in the mail. The bank was going to charge me $39 EACH CHECK to cancel them, but after asking nicely they cut the fees in half.
These are only a few examples; there are TONS of other ways to ask for things! It's not always easy, but here are a few tips that help.
- Get creative. In any situation ANYWHERE at ANY TIME there is an opportunity to ask for a deal. See examples.
- Don't be shy. Say this to yourself over and over and over and over...."The worst they can do is say NO." It may ding the pride a bit, but otherwise it's harmless! Nothing will happen to you, so might as well!
- Never be embarrassed. My favorite quote is "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" by Wayne Gretzky. This totally works when it comes to asking for stuff!
- Be firm and persistent. Be confident in your way of asking. Say, "Will you give me 10% off my purchase since I'm buying two pairs of pants? That would help me afford this and be able to buy both" rather than "do you think I'd maybe be able to get a little discount? If it's ok with you?" Be firm!
- As for persistent, if they say "no" the first time, think of another solution. Example: "Can I have that icee since it's already melted?" (no) "Well, how about this. Why don't you sell it to me for a discount. It's melted already so no one will buy it. This way it's a win-win; you can make money off of an icee that no one else will buy, and I get an icee that I can afford!"
- Negotiate. If they keep saying no, ask something like "what do I need to do to get this to $___?" Let them lay the rules and it just may work!
Give it a try! Just remember:
THE WORST THEY CAN DO IS SAY NO.
Good luck, and happy savings to you!
