One of my favorite Reddit communities is r/YouShouldKnow, which is basically filled to the brim with advice so simple, yet weirdly outside of common knowledge. Recently, u/_she_her posted the tip, "A local jeweler can replicate a luxury jewelry piece at 1–10% of its price in better quality," which got me wondering what other money-saving gems the community had. Here's what I found.
1. "If you're in the USA, look up your name on your state's Comptroller Unclaimed Property website to see if your state is holding money that was never delivered to you — that you can claim."
Editor's note: I have done this before and gotten a $27 check from my state just by looking up my name. My husband, on the other hand, had $305 in unclaimed money they just sent him once he proved his identity. Now, I make it a point to check the unclaimed property websites for my state frequently.
2. "You can save a lot of money while booking hotels with a VPN. It is a lifesaver for people who travels a lot and use Booking.com for their hotels and rooms."
3. "You can share Amazon Prime benefits with one other person for no extra cost!"
4. "If you need a journal article or paper that is behind a paywall, you can email the person who wrote it for a free copy."
5. "There are always plenty of posts saying 'if you make under $73K you can file for free' which isn't entirely true. If you make under $73K you have access to software-guided filing. You get help, basically. But you can always just file your taxes for free, without guidance. There are even instructions. I believe it's problematic to popularize 'free to file under $73K' since many people will then assume their only option >$73K is to pay for a service. This is not true. If you're willing to put the effort into filling out a form or two (depending on how complex your finances are), then you can file your federal taxes for free and retain every dollar of your return."
6. "In the US, hospitals are required to help pay for your medical bills if you make under a certain amount of money (typically 200–300% of the Federal Poverty Level). This could potentially cover the entirety of your hospital bill."
7. "YSK you don't need to always buy multiple items at the grocery store for the discount...Often times stores will have 'buy 3 for X% off' deals on items. You should see if you can get a price check because it could be you get the same X% off just one item."
8. "When going to buy something from a salesperson, don’t tell them your actual job title...If you have any 'fancy' sounding job name, tell them you work for Walmart. Seriously. They’ll do they’re best to make the sale and keep it in your budget. The minute they hear 'engineer,' 'IT,' 'medical field,' or anything if that nature, they’ll try to upsell you the most they can."
9. "US banks are required to allow you to opt out of overdraft fees. If you do, charges that would send you negative are declined instead."
10. "If you want a discount but aren't a member of the store's loyalty program, use Jenny's number (867-5309). Add the local area code and it works everywhere."
11. "If your car lease is ending soon, the residual value in your contract is probably much less than the value of your car. Basically, you will have equity at the end of your lease...The dealership KNOWS this and will try its best to hide this from you and lure you into another lease. Be smart and look up your contract...You have the right to buy it back at the residual value. If you sell it on your own, you can make a nice profit."
12. "You don’t need a Costco or Sam’s Club membership to use their pharmacies."
13. "If you ask someone over the phone for a quote and it's too high, tell them that...I work in a call center, and we are able to give out discounts if a customer says the price is too high, most of the time people just hang up upon hearing the price, but a simple 'Sorry that's too high' is enough to give a discount, if you can give a competitors quote, we may be able to price match that."
14. "Points from hotel chains and airlines are transferable to next of kin upon death and can be worth thousands."
15. "If your internet service provider decreases the price on their internet plans, they're not obligated to inform you or reduce your bill. You have to call to request the lower pricing."
16. Finally, "If you’re an Amazon Prime member, you get a year of Grubhub+ free."
