15 Tricks That Companies Don’t Want You To Know

1. TV ads, particularly for toothpaste and shampoo, show people using way more than necessary per use. Is there any reason why the manufacturers want us to us their product at an increased rate?

2. It’s not easy, but eating less and exercising more is the most effective way of losing weight. No need for expensive products.

3. It is often cheaper to book a long connecting flight that goes through your destination and simply get off early than to book a flight that ends at your chosen destination.

4. At tax time use IRS form 1040EZ. It takes about 5 minutes to fill out and is no harder than completing a library card application. For tens of millions of Americans there is no need to use expensive tax filing services to complete your submission and get your rebate.

5. At a florist avoid mentioning the word ‘wedding’. Otherwise you could find yourself facing a huge mark-up.

6. Before hiring an expensive IT professional, Google the problem. Ninety-nine time out of a hundred you’ll find the answer free on line.

7. Rather than spend a fortune on disposable razors, invest in a safety razor. $20 of blades will last you for years.

8. There is no practical difference between HDMI cables that cost $5 and those that cost $100. Spend more than $5 for a 2-meter HDMI cable and you are wasting your money.

9. By law you can cancel or change your flight for free within 24 hours of booking, provided it is more than 7 days before your flight date.

10. Gas stations must turn on the air machine for you to inflate your tires if you ask, no need to pay for it.

11. Before calling a plumber to fix your disposal unit, try using an allen wrench on the underside of the unit. It will fix most jams.

12. Clip those coupons. Save them and its entirely possible to get your groceries free of charge, or even for the store to pay you if you have more coupons than your grocery bill.

13. To get the cheapest price on a new car start a bidding war between two dealerships. Send online enquiries to both and present each gives you to the other, they will try and beat it and keep doing so until they really can’t go any lower.

14. If you are called by a telemarketer, don’t hang up immediately. If you do they will put you down as a ‘no answer’ and list you for a call-back. Instead ask to be put on their do not call list.

15. You can order spectacles online for as little as $12 rather than paying $250 in a store.