Here are two quick tips that I find useful for my

Amazon Prime Credits

If you:

• are an Amazon Prime member
• have a delivery that comes in late

Then you can contact Amazon customer service to get free Amazon credits / membership extensions.

For example, an item that I ordered came later than expected recently, so I simply reached out to the customer service and asked for a free month of prime as a compensation, which they were happy to give.

It only takes 15 minutes, max. Not a bad trade.

If you aren’t interested in extending your prime membership, you can ask for Amazon credits as well. Just ask.

Bank Savings Account Promotions

If you:

• hold your savings at the banks that give you promotional interest rates for that extra free
• the promotion at your bank is going to be ending soon

Then you can call your bank to see if they are willing to elongate the promotion just for you, in turn for them to keep your money for longer.

Various banks can have different promotional interest rates on their savings accounts at any given time.

It’s great, because you get to make some interest off of your emergency fund, but it’s a hassle to move your money from one bank to another whenever the promotion ends.

Fortunately, you could actually call your bank, explain your situation by telling them that you are planning to move your money somewhere else that has a promotion going on, but that you would keep your money with them if they were to extend their promotional period for you.

Sometimes, they will be happy to do so and give you a (sometimes lengthy) extension to keep your money.

It’s rare for them to raise their rates, so if you find another with a higher rate, then just go for the higher bank.

But if you:

• can’t find another bank that has a higher promotional interest rate, or
• found another bank with the same rate, but don’t want to go through the hassle of opening a new account (
  • I mean, new accounts = credit inquiry, and credit inquiries = lower credit score)

Then try calling your bank.