Hopefully, if you listen to this Tim Ferriss podcast with Ramit Sethi, you won’t have this reaction as you start saving money on your everyday expenses:

• Start the podcast at 7:52: Ramit Sethi shares tactics to negotiate common bills including credit cards (late fees and APR), cable, gym memberships and cell phone companies.
  • Have your students take notes on the scripts and use the advice to save their families some money.
• At 14:50: Role play where one participant negotiates late fee with credit card company
• At 18:50: Are there items that are more difficult to negotiate? Three factors to consider whether or not to negotiate.
• At 21:30: What if you can’t find lower prices but still want to negotiate?
• At 22:35: What if you are not in a strong position to negotiate (i.e. you have been a problematic customer)?

I haven’t listened beyond 23:30 as he moved to discuss business negotiations.

Now what? Have your students practice their scripts with a classmate to get the cable company to lower their monthly bill using the tactics that Ramit mentioned. Have the listener provide feedback and then reverse roles.

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Interested in how to negotiate everyday expenses, check out this NGPF Blog post: What Common Bills Are Negotiable

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.