Post Your Wins

[msomnipotent]

Okay here is one.

The valve on my gas range burned out. I was able to diagnose the problem and fix it myself instead of calling a handyman. The part cost $90. That is pretty expensive, but it would have cost me $150 to pay a handyman to do the work, so big DIY win.

I love being able to fix stuff myself. We just fixed our washing machine last week for $65. It is a shame that I had paid $50 for a repairman to tell me nothing was wrong with it not even a month ago.

[msomnipotent]

I just saved us about $900. An exchange student somehow chipped and or burned a small bit of the double sink in the guest bathroom. I have been trying to remove it for 2 years with filing and buffing with only a tiny effect. I accidentally bought the wrong iodine solution last night and I don't know why, but I decided to scrub the sink with it. It worked. We just got the estimate for the granite sinks this morning, so just in time!

[QuarterMillionMan]

$300 win at the California hotel & casino in Las Vegas.

[QuarterMillionMan]

$300 Buffalo.

[QuarterMillionMan]

[disneysteve]

We joined our local BJ's warehouse club today. We had a membership many years ago but haven't been back since.

What prompted us to join is that there is an OTC medicine that my wife takes. We've been buying it on Amazon as that is the best price we've found. A friend of ours who also takes it mentioned that she gets it at BJ's because their price is the best. Sure enough, one box is $6.24 cheaper at BJ's. She said that alone makes their membership worth it.

We got a coupon in the mail for a free 3-month trial, so we were going to do that, but then we got a Groupon for $25 for a year (half the usual price of $50). We decided to do that instead.

So we joined today for $25, grabbed a cart, and started shopping. As we went through the store, we used our phones to compare prices with Target, Amazon, and Wegmans, the places we normally shop. Sure enough, we found numerous items that were cheaper at BJ's. I haven't added it all up yet, but I'm certain we already saved the $25 membership fee in a single visit. If we do nothing else but stop there when DW needs more medicine, we'll come out way ahead, and I'm sure we'll go there for plenty of other items, too.

[Gailete]

I'd missed seeing this thread! I get some great things for free through the Amazon Vine Program (they send me products, I use them and keep them and then review them). In the fall a woman saw me melting over my grocery cart at a Goodwill as I was in so much pain and said I needed a rolling walker. I agreed but said I wouldn't afford it but decided I would ask my doctor if I could get a script for one. Before I had a chance to see a doctor I was offered one through the Vine program so $86 I didn't have to pay. In mid-March at the thrift store I found a bedside commode/shower chair practically brand new (tags still on) for $10 and then a week or so later found one of those recliner chairs that you press a button and it raises you up to standing and lays you back into a comfy position for $75 at the Goodwill. On the 30th of March, I suffered a terrible fall due to losing my balance and landed with my spine smack dab parallel to the marble landing on our stairs. It resulted in my first ambulance ride to the ER, umpteen terrifically painful x-rays. Thank God nothing was broke, just lots of osteoarthritis. If I had landed any other way, I would have broken my spine or paralyzed myself. I could barely move as the pain was on the level of worse that delivering a 10#+ baby and several kidney stones at once (my only frame of reference). Because of Medicare rules, I couldn't be admitted except for observation which would have meant us paying 80% of the bill, wasn't eligible to go to a nursing home either, so got sent home with hubby who got the joy of helping me at home. The recliner was still in the car and some guys from down the street hauled it upstairs, the bedside commode was beside the bed. Without those excellent deals that I had just gotten I don't know what I would have done that night and several more subsequent ones, to get up and down. 2 months later I am still hurting, but I can now take deep breaths, but hurts at times to laugh or cough or move. Anyhow I think those items showing up in my life just when I needed them all were huge wins . As most of you know, you can't go into a thrift store knowing you will walk out with exactly what you need and are looking for!

As we are on an incredibly limited budget the Vine program has made a tremendous impact for us. We got a snow rake for getting snow off the roof (didn't have to use it much this past winter but most years it stacks up bad and isn't good for the roof), my iron had started spitting out brown water at the worst times and I got a new iron to try out and even ended up with a new chair for my sewing room that with a combo of things has increased my sewing time significantly before I'm in too much pain.

My son was up this past weekend and like me he sells on line and does a much better job of it than I do and so I sat at the feet of the 'master'. He brought in the bags of stuff he had picked up for ~$30 and figured he would sell them for $300+ and showed me what he got and why, so I'm hoping to work smarter with what I'm doing. Instead of doing what I had planned today, I went through some backlogged items that hadn't been listed looking for some things that would bring in higher values and ended up listing a pattern for $20 and several for $15 and still have a lot more to do. On Saturday found a DVD for less than $2 that should resell for at least $16, plus some other things that I took some chances on as well. Other than groceries, I don't buy much for us other than shoes and underwear when needed, clothes comes out of the thrift stores or my sewing machine, we have switched to cloth napkins years ago, and cloth hankies most of the time and rags instead of paper towels. Through Vine I did get a case of facial tissues and one of 8 rolls of Bounty paper towels (they will take me a good 4-5 or more years to use up) so there aren't a lot of things that I get in bulk anymore. I have found that my biggest wins come at CVS with my extra care card, I get around $1K in discounts a year, including a $5 bonus buck for every ten prescriptions that we fill, so about one of those a month. If I wait for their sales I get hubby's coffee there as well. So shopping there is always a win for me. I even found that if I wait for a 40% coupon at their website and free shipping it is the cheapest place to get ink cartridges for my Canon printer.

A lot of wins over the course of the year. But it I were giving a prize for the best one in my mind, that $10 bedside commode wins hands down in the decrease of the pain it didn't cause me!

I'll have to remember to report back with other wins as they come along.

[Gailete]

I got the first issue of a magazine in the mail on Saturday (6-3-17) that I had subscribed to in January. It came with the official 'Renew Now' card and envelope and showed that my subscription expired Feb. 18. The issue I got was for August. Now I could have just let it go being as the subscription was through AARP points and $9 for BHG Patchwork & Quilting (which is a score to start with as it usually runs $25 for a year). So, I get my facts straight, tried talking to a computer, and then finally on a second call got a live human who extended my subscription for the two issues I had missed. I consider that a savings for maybe 15-20 minutes’ worth of work. It would have been so easy to miss not having gotten those other copies. It was almost too easy to get my subscription fixed as well. Maybe that is how BHG keeps up their reputation? I don't know.

Any of you old enough for AARP, it is worth it to join for the discounts on their website and easy to earn points. You can buy gift cards for 10% off their face value, such as CVS $100 card for $90!

[disneysteve]

Any of you old enough for AARP, it is worth it to join for the discounts on their website and easy to earn points.

We've been members for 3 years and I'll admit we have not taken advantage of any of their online discounts. We have used it for museums and stuff like that, though. Plus I like the magazine and newsletter. I really need to check out the online offers.

[~bs]

I don't think aarp really has an age requirement. I joined once to take advantage of a special they had that saved me hundreds of dollars on something. I didn't renew after that.

[Gailete]

I think the age is 50, not sure anymore. They send me emails at least three times a week that has a code you enter and you can earn 150 points, and other ways to make points. One of my most important magazines to me personally and for keeping up with my business, with points will be about $10 less than any other price I have seen for it so will have to figure out exactly when to buy it so I don't miss any issues like I just had a problem with. But for that magazine and the other one I mention I think it took 900 points for each which can be easily gotten in less than 5 minutes over the course of two weeks. Lots of other things for dining and traveling which we don't take advantage of since we can't travel, but there are other things that we can take advantage of under their Rewards for Good program. All sorts of gift cards with 900 points take $10 off a $100 card.

AARP is one of those places that have so many discounts for so many things, you have to remind yourself to go look for them!

[QuarterMillionMan]

Stayed 2 free nights at Sands Regency in Reno, with $25 in dining, and $40 in free play. Checking out today. Got this $200 win at Silver Legacy and some smaller wins. My overall tally is even Steven. Pretty good deal and I got to eat good too (ie, prime rib, omelette, pastas, pizza, Reuben sandwich, chicken, fruits, desserts, etc.)

[disneysteve]

I suppose this is sort of a win.

We are currently on vacation in Arizona. Our plan was to stay at the Grand Canyon hotel for 4 nights then drive back to Phoenix for our flight home. Partway through the trip, however, I realized that wasn't going to work. Our flight home was too early (around noon). To get to the airport at 9am, we'd have to leave the Grand Canyon around 5am. No way we were doing that.

So I modified the reservation to only stay 3 nights and booked one night back in Phoenix. That saved us $280 for the 4th night. We're using Marriott points for the night in Phoenix so no out of pocket cost and free breakfast. Plus, it gave us the time to stop in Sedona for a couple of hours on the way back.

[Gailete]

Have a fun time!

[disneysteve]

Have a fun time!

Thanks. It's been a fun trip. This is our last night. We fly out tomorrow. This was our first time in Arizona. What beautiful country.

The Grand Canyon is amazing. Having seen pictures and film of it my whole life, seeing it in person was really special. Definitely a "bucket list" sort of item.

The drive into Sedona through the red rock canyons is gorgeous. And Sedona itself is really neat, though we definitely felt like we had been transported back to the 1970s with mood rings, crystal shops, and psychics lining the street.