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What are your best lazy man's “free money” tips?

19 points by firebones ↗ HN
Tonight I spent 10 minutes rebalancing my 401(k) and changing my allocations from higher expense funds to equivalent lower expense funds. I estimate that in that 10 minutes, I saved a recurring $500 annually by slicing 0.5% management fees.

That got me thinking--what are your best tips for spending a small amount of time (<15 minutes) that may yield a significant recurring payoff?

16 comments

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ndomin
Make a sandwich to take to work.
jscott2
^^

Learning to cook (admittedly it took >15 mins) is probably the best investment I ever made.

MalcolmDiggs
I withdraw cash a lot (I prefer to pay cash for most things), and those little $1.00 - $3.00 ATM fees add up big time over the course of a year. I recently switched to an online bank which refunds me all ATM fees no matter whose ATMs I use. Took about 15 minutes to sign up for that new checking account, and I think I'll save a few hundred bucks this year.

In case you're wondering, the bank I switched to is Ally, but there are several good options.

tadpoleonenter
I use the supermarket checkouts exclusively as ATMs. Buy a $0.50 bottle of water (unless already grocery shopping) which is good for health and up to $100 cash back. $100.50 saves me $2.50 and may live longer drinking more water and walking a tad more during process. ha
jf22
Why not just go to the bank and fill out a withdraw slip?
RexRollman
Because the store often has better hours?
Someone1234
Use Bing instead of Google. $5/month in Amazon gift cards.
icpmacdo
How do you get the gift cards? Clicking on ads?
Someone1234
You just sign up to "Bing Rewards" then search 30 times/day (15 points). When you reach 475 points you redeem them for a $5 Amazon gift card.

There are other ways to earn points too (aside from the 15/day) which is why it works out closer to every month...

GFischer
Wow, thanks for the tip. Is that US only?

Edit: it looks like it :(

"Bing Rewards isn't available yet in your country or region."

mod
Not worth it.
logn
Check your credit card statements for something like "security protection fee". I was paying $20/mo lumped in to my monthly bill. I initiated a charge back against the credit card company itself and had a few hundred dollars back within minutes.

This is a bogus insurance plan that credit card companies add to protect you against unknown evils. I had no idea how they signed me up.

GFischer
Do not confuse that "security protection fee" with the actual credit life insurance.

That one is slightly less scammy, in that it will save your relatives a hassle in the event of your death.

Part of my work is processing claims for those, and it is one less burden for the insured's relatives.

It is a bit scammy in that the premium is much higher than it should be given the risk, because people don't shop around for that kind of low cost insurance, it often comes bundled with the credit card itself.

I have the "security protection fee" (they got past my guard and I said "yes" over the phone) and I don't have the slightest idea what aditional benefit it gives me.. I should try to fight it, but the idea of spending several hours on the phone to cancel it is not appealing.

logn
It didn't take me several hours. I think I asked to be transferred to the credit dispute department and they resolved it immediately. Explain you never signed up for it, wittingly. That they refunded it so easily made it feel even more scammy.
nickthemagicman
Pre payed phones.

The ohones are less fancy and less selection but still do everything I need.

They cost 70$....

I pay around 50 bucks/mo for full service and I don't need insurance because if it gets stolen or breaks 70 bucks is nothing, also I think the plans are cheaper, and I like the freedom of not being on a contract.