Tips for Negotiating Your Household Costs
When it comes to expenses on amenities and utilities for your home, you might feel like spending is unavoidable, but there are a ton of ways to save cash and put money back into your pocket. Simple negotiation tactics and strategies can help you save money when it comes to home expenses, so use these tips to try negotiating your way to better savings.
How can I negotiate?
Negotiating is a very important skill, especially when you need to speak up about your financial affairs. Although negotiating with a friend, colleague, or even a stranger might seem intimidating, it can lead to beneficial changes in your life. Whether you are negotiating your cable bill or your new salary, you can improve your financial situation and be equipped for future bargaining situations with a few of these techniques.
- The Foot-In-The-Door Technique: To increase the chances of someone complying with a large request, you can start by making a small one. For example, if you are looking to buy a secondhand lamp for $20, you might negotiate the price down to $15. You could then follow up by asking if you could purchase two lamps for $30. This allows you to leverage the small, initial discount to get an even better discount.
- Door-In-The-Face Tactic: This technique uses the opposite approach to the Foot-In-The-Door tactic. Initially, you make an unreasonable request to get turned down. After your first request is shot down, you follow up with a smaller request. This will make the person you are negotiating with feel obligated to agree to a more reasonable ask.
- Take It or Leave it Method: This tactic is a hard bargaining method. You may list a price for an item you are interested in and instead of negotiating the price, you respond by explaining that the price you offered is the only price you are willing to pay or you will walk away. This puts pressure on the seller or vendor to make a quick decision.
Try negotiating your rent
Whether you are looking to settle down in an apartment or your landlord is raising the price, you may not have known that you can negotiate your rent. Here are a few possible strategies that may work for you.
- Politely ask your landlord if the rent price is open to discussion
- Express your track history as a good tenant
- Inquire about a possible lease extension
- Compare their rent ask with market prices and negotiate based on data
Lower your utility bills
We all know how expensive utilities can be because they add up over time. If you’re paying for cable, lawn services, cell phone bills, electricity, trash pickup, and many other costs, these tactics could be super helpful to cut down on your monthly bills.
- Assume that your regular costs can be negotiable by researching discounts
- Avoid contracts that may impose costly fees
- Shop around and compare utility prices for different vendors
- Call to inquire about quotes and ask a company to match a lower rate you found somewhere else
Negotiating is a great way to cut down on your expenses and funnel your money back into your bank account. For more great negotiation inspiration, check out the infographic below from Mint for conversation starters and additional tips.
