The Scrooge Strategy
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THE SCROOGE STRATEGY
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WELCOME TO THE SCROOGE STRATEGY
Stanford graduate, '04 & '05
A few weeks ago, I got a regular checkup at my doctor. Now, I hardly
ever take medication, but this time, the doctor prescribed me some
normal medicine for dry skin. No big deal -- I took it, went to the
pharmacy, and waited while they filled the prescription.
That's when the pharmacist called me over.
"Sir, this medicine costs $280.00 for your out-of-pocket payment,"
she told me. What? I reminded her to check my insurance. "That's with
the insurance, sir." Even after using a $20 gift certificate that the
doctor had given me, I was still out $260 for this tiny tube of
medicine - and there was no generic version.
That was $260 that I hadn't planned for, hadn't saved for, and I had
to write the check out of my own pocket. That's when I started
wondering how people save money when all these unexpected expenses
keep coming up.
Your car headlight got broken? That will be a couple hundred bucks
(which is equal to about $20 per month if you break it out). Your
heater needs a repair? That will be $350. Christmas gifts? The average
American spent over $850 in 2007.
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NORMALLY I HATE FRUGALITY
I hate frugality because most Americans suck at frugality. We spend
more than we make. We're terrible at deferring our immediate wants and
investing for the long term. We go into debt. And we blame everyone
but ourselves.
But this experience really opened my eyes. If I got slapped with an
unexpected $260 fee, how do others do it? This became even more
important in today's economy, where people are having to do more with
less - including, sometimes, being laid off at work.
I started thinking about frugality. Not the regular, boring tips,
because most of my friends don't want to waste time saving $10/week by
stopping spending money on lattes - it's just not worth it to them.
They didn't want the same old tired tips that you've seen in every
personal-finance column since the beginning of time. "Keep a budget!"
columnists say, writing the kind of tip that makes them feel good.
There's only one problem: NOBODY EVER DOES IT!
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FRUGALITY TIPS THAT DON'T SUCK
I started thinking about that surprise $260 fee. I was lucky enough
to have the cash to pay for it, but what if you didn't? And what if
you absolutely needed the medication?
At these times, I always ask myself one word: WWAID?
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WHAT WOULD AN INDIAN DO?
So I decided to do some research. First, I called my sister, who's a
doctor, and told her what had happened. I was fortunate enough to have
money that I could use for the prescription, but what if I didn't? And
what if the prescription was something I really needed?
She told me a way to get discounted medicine - even if there wasn't
a generic version available - and it was so simple I wondered why I
hadn't thought of it.
Then, I started really looking into savings tips. It wasn't
something that really excited since, frankly, being frugal is like
breathing oxygen to me. With two parents who moved here from India,
you pick up on a couple things.
That's when I started the 30 Day Challenge.
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THE SAVE $1,000 IN 30 DAYS CHALLENGE
There are actually savings tips that can be useful. So instead of
providing the same tired old frugality tips that make me want to vomit
- "Save money on lattes!" & "Sell your car!" - I decided to write up a
series of 30 tips that would _actually_ help people save money -
$1,000 in 30 days. I called it the Save $1,000 in 30 Days Challenge
and launched it November 1st, 2008. I included highly tactical tips
that included not just the tip itself, but the psychology of how to
make it stick. Some examples include:
* How to optimize your cellphone bill
* How to implement the A La Carte Method (to cut your invisible
subscription fees!)
* Little-known tips about the free rewards offered through your car
insurance, credit card, and workplace
* How I'm saving $2,000 eating out in 2009
* How to negotiate your car insurance
These followed the CEO Model: Cut costs, Earn more, and Optimize
your spending.
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RESULT: HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS SAVED
You wouldn't believe how many people got into the Challenge. It was
covered in the Wall Street Journal blog and the MSN Money blog. It was
covered by Lifehacker and over 100 other blogs.
More importantly, in 30 days we covered 30 tips to save $1,000. Tens
of thousands of people participated. Readers left over 1,000 comments.
Together, we all saved more than $500,000. One person saved $14,000 in
one month alone. (More about them below.)
By setting a simple goal - to save $1,000 in 30 days - people were
able to cut costs, earn more, and optimize their spending like never
before. These tips work.
And I finally figured it out: There are more than enough frugality
tips out there. Sadly, most of them are painfully obvious and don't
really apply to us. Think about it: If I told you, "Hey, just turn
your thermostat down!" or "Stop eating out so much," do you really
think it would cause you to save any money?
Of course not. Because that tip is so abstract, I might as well be
singing a lullaby to you.
I realized I could share the tips that I've used to save money and
automate my life: The site that saves people an average of $1,000
while helping them cut their spending on credit cards. Or the site
that automatically analyzes your cellphone bill and recommends a
better plan (that saved me over $500). Or how to negotiate your salary
to make thousands of dollars in a few minutes.
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BUT...NO STUPID FRUGALITY TIPS
You'll notice that I didn't include many of the same old savings
tips you've heard, but focused on picking big wins that could save you
lots of money. It would have been easy to just say, "Stop eating out!"
but I helped people cut their food spending by 20%, 30%, or in one
case, 70%. The key was to make it sustainable so you would lock in
those savings for months and years.
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NOW, THE SCROOGE STRATEGY
THE SCROOGE STRATEGY IS A SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE FOR ONE SAVINGS TIP
PER WEEK. That's it - it's very simple. It's one tip per week that you
promise to commit to use and implement. IF YOU JOIN THE SCROOGE
STRATEGY, I GUARANTEE YOU'LL SAVE MORE THAN THE COST OF THE PROGRAM -
EVERY MONTH.
This is about big savings with a little bit of time. I did a survey
on my site and most people said they'd be willing to spend about 1
hour per day to save $1,000 in 30 days. How about to save $2,000? Or
$5,000?
This isn't just about small savings here or there. Because most
people spend such a large amount over 12 months, if you identify the
problem areas and change your spending, you can get massive savings
over the next 12 months. For example, if you save $40 per month on
your cable, that's $480 per year. If you cut $150 per month off your
food bill, that's $1,800 year. And if you earn $200 more per month
(yes, it can be doneeasily), that's $2,400 per year. Those tips alone
are worth $4,680 per year.
You'll realize that these tips are do-once-save-forever tips: If you
can optimize your energy spending, or your cellphone bill, or even
save money on your basic cable, you'll get those savings for the rest
of your life.
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WHO CAN USE THESE TIPS?
The Scrooge Strategy is perfect if you make a great income, have
some disposable money, but know you could be saving a lot more money.
For about half of my friends, they could save $1,000 in a few days if
they changed some of their spending behavior. If you can afford to cut
some fat, the tips in The Scrooge Strategy will help you on day 1.
It's also perfect if you're already trying to save money, but keep
finding that unexpected expenses keep creeping back into your life,
making it difficult to get ahead. I'll show you how to target the Big
Wins instead of frantically trying to save money on every little
thing.
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WHO THE SCROOGE STRATEGY IS NOT FOR
I want to be really clear that this isn't for everyone. On my 30 Day
Challenge, a small number of people complained that they don't even
make $1,000 per month, so how could I expect them to save that much?
The Scrooge Strategy is not for them. And it's not even because of
how much they earn. It's because they couldn't even imagine saving
$1,000 - or $500, or $100 - so they'd rather complain about how bad
they have it instead of trying to cut costs, earn more, or optimize
their spending.
If you're looking for some magical tips that will save you money,
forget it. This isn't for you. It will take work to save money.
Some people can't imagine paying a few bucks for a good
personal-finance book or a coupon book to save more money. "But
Ramit," they say, "I'm trying to save money! How can you expect me to
buy this _book_ to SAVE money?" If you've never spent a few bucks to
save more, The Scrooge Strategy isn't for you.
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BUT IF YOU WANT TO SAVE MONEY, THE SCROOGE STRATEGY CAN PROBABLY HELP
If you're ready to focus on a small set of tips that can save you
significant amounts of money, The Scrooge Strategy might be for you.
If you want consistent reminders to save money - along with a
repository of savings tips you can access any time - The Scrooge
Strategy might be useful for you.
If you want to get tips on saving money by cutting costs, earning
more, and optimizing your spending - not the same old tips, but
detailed, tactical tips with screenshots and specific how-tos - then
The Scrooge Strategy could be perfect for you.
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DON'T TAKE MY WORD FOR IT. CHECK OUT WHAT OTHER PEOPLE HAVE SAID
ABOUT MY SAVINGS TIPS
"This actually really worked for me! So I will be saving $30 a month
on cable for the entire upcoming year and receiving an upgrade in
service! How fantastic is that!! Love this challenge!! It's the bomb!"
--Cindy T.
"I cut dining out by 70%." --David Fagan, Total savings: $3,800
"You can save well over a couple thousand dollars just with this tip
alone. That's more than some people save in a whole year. I did a
calculation, and I would save somewhere around $2300 a year, just
eating out LESS. I spent $2400 to go on a Carnival Cruise this past
summer with my girlfriend. That would've been a great tool to use to
pay for it, had I implemented this a year ago." --Caleb
The Fuel Hedge Fund inspired me to create multiple savings accounts
to essentially turn all my big, once a year payments (car
registration, contact lens prescription, chimney cleaning, etc.) into
very manageable, once-a-month payments. If my cars cost $400 a year to
register, then I'll save $33 a month toward that and I'm spared the
pain of coming up with $400 on the spot. -- Jarad Petroske, Total
savings: $1,200
First thing I did was to change my cell phone service - that alone
will save over $50 a month. I also stopped all of my auto-renewals
(amazon prime, consumer reports membership, etc.) for a total savings
of $130. But perhaps the most amazing changes I've made are the ones
that I was ignoring.... you know, the really unpleasant ones: Asking
for a refund of bank overdraft fees (bank refunded $99 when I asked),
returning a router for which my old DSL company charged me a whopping
$300, submitting health insurance claims (estimated reimbursement is
around $400). I've also sold two books on amazon.com for $60! Thanks
so much for all of your tips.... I had planned to make "better money
management" my 2009 new year's resolution, but looks like I have
already accomplished that in 2008." --Kristin Stromberg, Total
savings: $2,500
I have been putting off calling my insurance company until i
received my paperwork for taking the defensive driving class. By
switching to one company for my auto and home insurance, I saved
almost $400/yr. --Scott Gresens
"I just wanted to say Thank You for this challenge! So far this
month I've saved $264.49 and it's only the 17th of the month." --Mary
C.
"Wow, I never actually thought of this." --Holly S.
"I thought it was a silly idea to participate in this challenge. I
thought I didn't need anyone to tell me how to save but I was wrong. I
have already saved over three thousand dollars in five days just by
negotiating with different vendors. THANK YOU!" -- Rubina
"I have been working on implementing the tips. Since these are all
monthly charges, $72 X 12 is $864 dollars (in savings) for a year and
that is more than I net in a 2 week pay period. That's not a bad
start!" --Rhonda
"Opened a savings account today. Saving $20 every week. Not badextra
$80 per month not spent on impulse purchases, fast food etc." --Lena
"I called my insurance company (progressive), and asked what kind of
stuff prompted discounts. Apparently, me being a student saves me
about 40$/month! $480/year for a 3 minute phone call. Sweet!" --Brad
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CONTRIBUTORS INCLUDE FAMOUS PERSONAL-FINANCE BLOGGERS, MILLIONAIRES,
AND HARVARD MBAS
There's also something else: I've put together a dazzling panel of
contributors. I'll continue sending my own personal-finance tips, but
by signing up, you'll also receive tips from people like:
J.D. ROTH, THE BLOGGER AT GET RICH SLOWLY, will tell you how he
spend $1,000 to save $18,000 last year. His blog is one of the world's
largest personal-finance blogs (it receives over 1 million pageviews
per month) and was named "most inspiring money blog" by Money
Magazine.
ERICA DOUGLASS, WHO RUNS HTTP://ERICA.BIZ and sold her web hosting
company for $1 million in 2007, will share how she saved $600 per year
on cable.
CHRIS YEH, WHO GRADUATED FROM STANFORD and then, traitorously, went
to Harvard for his MBA, will tell you how he saves $1,000 using his
local library
And there's more. Each week, you'll get a new tip - sometimes from
me, sometimes from a star contributor - that will save you money and
show you exactly how to do it.
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IT'S TIME TO SAVE
I don't really need to highlight how bad the economy is. Not only is
consumer confidence down, but thousands are getting laid off every
week. If you haven't already started saving money for a prolonged
downturn, now is the time. In fact, when people talk about "emergency
funds," they're talking about saving for a rainy day - and it's going
to be raining for a while.
You've got to do more with less. Yes, you're going to have to cut
spending. But you're also spending on things that you can optimize
without having to get rid of much. Think about it: Companies are
losing customers in droves. It costs them hundreds, sometimes
thousands of dollars, to acquire a new customer. When you use my
scripts for calling them to bargain your price down, they'll agree to
lower rates now more than ever.
It's time to save.
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PERFECT IF YOU NEED ONGOING STRATEGIES, TACTICS, AND REMINDERS ABOUT
SAVING MONEY
As a member of The Scrooge Strategy, you'll receive an email with a
new savings tip each week. As with prior tips, it will include a fresh
way of looking at saving money -- not more of the same old boring tips
that nobody listens to. As a member, you'll be able to request a
savings tip in your particular challenge area: Maybe it's eating out,
or shopping, or spending too much on electronics. Using a panel of
expert writers, there's almost certainly a way to help you save money
and conquer that problem area.
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BIG WINS, NOT STUPID ADVICE TO SAVE $3.00 ON APPETIZERS
If you know me from my blog, I Will Teach You To Be Rich, you know I
focus on the Big Wins - the savings tips that will save you hundreds
or thousands of dollars per year. I have no interest in debating how
to save money on toothpaste or grains of rice. Those people can get a
life. But I LOVE showing you how to negotiate with banks, or find ways
to get custom shirts made for 60% off, or show you how I set up
automated savings accounts to plan for my wedding (I'm not even
engaged), my down payment, and my vacation this year.
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USEFUL EVEN IF YOU'RE ALREADY INCREDIBLY FRUGAL
Remember, The Scrooge Strategy operates under the C.E.O. model of
Cutting costs, Earning more, and Optimizing your spending. Even if
you're already incredibly frugal, you can still save money!
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SPECIAL FOCUS: HOW TO NEVER PAY ANY KIND OF FEE AGAIN
With all the trouble going on in the banking industry, you'd think
that the bank executives would be contrite. Instead, they've done
something astonishing: They've _raised nearly all bank fees_. Look
what CNN Money : Average ATM surcharges rose nearly 11% to $1.97, up
from $1.78 last year, while the cost of using an ATM machine that
belongs to another bank rose to an average of $1.46 from $1.25, or
about 17% higher than last year, according to Bankrate.com.
The study also showed that fees for bounced checks rose 2.5% this
year to $28.95 on average.
Look, we all hate getting overdraft fees at our bank. Or hidden
charges at hotels. How about getting a ridiculously expensive bill at
the auto mechanic and not knowing if he's giving us the real price or
overcharging us by a ton. Or, worst of all, getting slapped with late
fees, finance charges, and credit penalties from your credit card. It
drives me nuts.
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IT WON'T BE EASY
Now, I don't want to make it sound like this is going to be easy. If
you think you'll get magical tips from me, forget it - you shouldn't
sign up.
The Scrooge Strategy will work if you can commit to reading each new
tip - once a week - and spending a couple hours implementing it. If
you're serious about saving money, I know the tips will work for you.
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HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
The 30 Day Challenge was free and saved people thousands of dollars.
Membership in the Scrooge Strategies program is $8/MONTH. You'll get a
new savings tip every Monday - some from me, some from contributors
who I carefully vet and work with to send you the best possible tips.
If you want to request a savings tip, I'll make that available, too.
Consider what you spend on lunch twice a week. In exchange for one
lunch, let me send you tips that will save you more than the price of
The Scrooge Strategy. You'll get access to savings tips that will give
you new strategies and tactics to save money -- by cutting costs,
earning more, and optimizing your spending -- and get a weekly
reminder so you stay on track.
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GUARANTEE: THE SCROOGE STRATEGY WILL PAY FOR ITSELF EVERY MONTH - OR
YOUR MONEY BACK
These tips will save you far more than $8 per month. If your
membership fee doesn't pay for itself, you can CANCEL YOUR MEMBERSHIP
AT ANY TIME - YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE. In fact, if you cancel within
the first 60 days, I'll refund 100% of your money. After that, you can
cancel any future payments at any time. There's no catch. I hate
catches. You have nothing to lose by trying it out.
A SPECIAL BONUS GIFT FOR LONG-TIME MEMBERS: If you stay subscribed
for 12 months and continue saving money, I want to thank you for being
a long-term member and saving money using the Scrooge Strategies tips.
I'll be sending you something in the mail -- a real, physical gift. I
haven't finalized the details yet, but I promise it'll be awesome.
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JOIN THE SCROOGE SYSTEM TODAY
You've already checked out my 30 Day Challenge and seen the kind of
tips I submit. Join The Scrooge Strategy and get more detailed tips
from not only me, but the impressive list of contributors I've
assembled - like an extremely frugal Harvard MBA, a millionaire
entrepreneur, and a national personal-finance blogger - to help you
save money. I guarantee you'll save more than the cost of The Scrooge
Strategy every month, so you have nothing to lose. Join The Scrooge
Strategy today.
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(c)2008 The Scrooge Strategy | | |
