The new thrifty
American households are substantially poorer -- and a whole lot thriftier -- than they were when the recession started. Many families are cutting expenses that once seemed hardly worth quibbling over. They're avoiding ATM fees, nixing "extravagances" such as delivery charges and declining to pay extra for more-convenient parking at ballgames and other events.
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MSN Money readers have sounded off on our message boards about the things they now go out of their way to avoid paying for. Click through the slide show to see what the top 15 are.
Oil changes
Readers are doing more of almost everything themselves. Cooking at home instead of going out is one basic change. Another big project we're taking on? Oil changes.
Oil changes run from $15 to more than $40 at a retailer, depending on the package and the oil used. An at-home change can set you back about $10. (Plus, of course, the cost of your time, for all those economics experts out there.)
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The folks who can't do it themselves can keep an eye out for coupons. Chains such as Pep Boys and Jiffy Lube offer coupons for discount oil changes on their Web sites.
From MSN Money's message boards: "(It cost) $42 when I was going cross country, had to get one, never again. I will bring a jack next time," wrote "Wakerider45."
Airport food
Everyone knows that airport food costs extra. It makes sense. Unlike, say, the restaurants in the average food court, which have to compete with each other, nearby restaurants and the food in the average shopper's home pantry, airline retailers are partial monopolists with captive consumers. And they know it.
But what consumers may not realize is that the closer you get to your gate, the more the food generally costs. Daniel Hamermesh, an economist and a writer for The New York Times' Freakonomics blog, noted this in a recent post.
One reason, Hamermesh says, is that dining options tend to decrease farther from the main terminal areas. Another reason is that it's more convenient to eat closer to the attendant who will eventually call passengers for boarding. Convenience costs.
Nowadays, that cost is getting cut. Readers say they are becoming more likely to pack food before flights.
From MSN Money's message boards: "Generally fatty, starchy, full of artificial ingredients and overpriced," wrote reader "Athena53." "I bring my own from home or stores when I can."
Ticketmaster fees
Some MSN Money readers say they would gladly forgo the convenience of ticket sellers and buy directly from box offices if they could avoid the "convenience" fees. The charges vary widely, partly depending upon the venue. Often they amount to more than 20% of ticket prices.
For example, earlier this year a Metallica fan in Nashville could have spent about $69.50 for a concert ticket and $16.35 in fees. That's nearly 24% of the ticket price in fees.
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Those fees threaten to climb even higher now that Ticketmaster is merging with concert promoter and ticket seller Live Nation. Opponents of the deal say the reduced competition will enable Ticketmaster and Live Nation to gouge consumers and hurt artists by making it more difficult for fans to see their shows.
From MSN Money's message boards: "Service charges on concert tickets. I actually go to very few concerts because of this," wrote "burghmom," adding that she will pay the charges for Bruce Springsteen and Harry Connick Jr. performances.
ATM fees
Blame a backlash against the banking bailout, but some readers don't want to pay banks a single penny to withdraw their money. Especially not since many banks have increased their ATM usage fees to generate additional revenue.
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The average ATM fee jumped last year to nearly $2. It is not uncommon to charge noncustomers as much as $3 or more to use ATMs. Many banks also charge their customers additionally when they use ATMs outside their network.
From MSN Money's message boards: "ATM fees, anyone? I refuse," wrote "DontGetStung."
401k management fees
It's understandable, given the performance of most investors' portfolios last year, that readers would be angry about paying money-management fees on their retirement savings. The average 401k balance shrank 27% last year, according to Fidelity Investments. In retrospect, many investors were undoubtedly thinking they would have done better had they tucked their money under a mattress.
Management fees are typically less than 1% of the assets in the 401k. If you're paying more, make sure it's for good reason.
From MSN Money's message boards: "I hate paying 401k management fees," wrote "Deregulate This." "They steal the paltry gains (if there are any) and they still charge . . . even when they lose a ton of money."
Airline baggage fees
When it comes to flying, readers say they're getting less but paying more. The free food is gone. Legroom costs extra. Some airlines charge for blankets and pillows.
But no fee has rankled readers as much as baggage fees. It just doesn't make sense to some readers. If airlines are assessing the fee because of the fuel cost associated with the added weight of a bag, then they should weigh everyone's luggage and charge by weight, readers say. As they stand, the rules seem to force folks with, say, a couple of small bags to subsidize those with larger ones.
Some readers have taken their weight complaints even further, arguing -- mostly tongue-in-cheek -- that tickets should vary based on the weight of the flier, too.
From MSN Money's message boards: "They say (the fee) is due to the extra weight that luggage requires. Well, my wife weighs 115 lbs and she gets charged for checking a 20 lb bag . . . The dude behind us weighs like 280 and gets charged the same," wrote "DontGetStung." "I say put both the passenger and the bag on scale and charge accordingly! Under 200 lbs total, your bag is free."
Hot dogs at baseball games
"Take me out to the ballgame. Take me out to the crowd. Buy me some . . ."
Stop right there, readers say. Many maintain they will never buy ballpark food because of the high prices.
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The prices have risen steadily in recent years. On average, baseball fans will pay $3.70 for a hot dog and an additional $3.44 for a soft drink this year, according to ISM Media's annual fan cost index. In fact, despite the recession, fans will pay an average of 3.2% more on ticket and concession prices this year than in 2008. (New York Yankees fans will pay a whopping 49.4% more, due largely to increased ticket prices. That increase is, by far, the highest in the sport.)
From MSN Money's message boards: "Baseball park snack prices: Come on, people, quit ripping off the public like that," wrote "Spotmefive."
What do you think?
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HI america, how ya doin? tired of being ripped off for everything you enjoy? Well quit enjoying so much?? atm- go to bank withdraw yo money, movie tickets- 1.00 theatres or wait for video. movie popcorn- sneak candy in. drinks at restaurants- carry a flask u lush. Starbucks coffee- if you shop here you deserve 2 b ripped off. oil changes- cmon it takes 20 minutes to change oil, drop used oil off at night when store is closed ,they have to recycle it. airport food - stop on way to airport at fastfood. event parking and ticket master!!! Dont go!!! they charge 100.00 because u r willing to pay it, buy the cd or watch game at home on bigscreen?? water is free at any tap u morons!! atm fees honestly people I havnt had a bank account or credit card for 14 years, I make $70,000 a year own 4 houses, travel the world as often as i can, What does a bank do for your money that u cant??? If you dont have a credit card you will learn to spend only what you have. people who go in debt with credit cards are alwys blaming someone else for their debt?? the bank forced me to purchase that item??? its greed people.RE: ATM fees
An ATM is basically nothing more than somebody else's safe. Because you have a little plastic card in your pocket, you have the combination to that safe. You can walk up to an ATM at a bank where you don't have an account, or at a location where no one knows who you are, open that safe and take out cash (say, $100) with no questions asked. The owner of that safe charges you a dollar or two for the convenience and everybody is up in arms. But when you turn around and spend that $100, the state, county and/or locality charges you sales tax of as much as $9 for the privilege, and no one says boo about that? Wake up, people! Fight the real enemy! Many of us pay more in sales tax in one year than we'll pay in ATM fees in our lives. Number one on this list of things we hate to pay for should be tax on money that we spend, since we paid tax on it when we earned it in the first place.
Communications is the most overpriced. Cell Phone service, internet access, and cable. I pay appx 200 for these three things added up. Almost a car payment, and for what?
Fees are everywhere, and they arent going away. I bought a greyhound bus ticket online once. I was given two options; I could print out the ticket myself or print it out at will-call. If i chose will-call, there was a 1.50 materials fee (cust service said to cover the cost of ink, paper, etc). If i chose Online Printout, there was a 1.50 CONVENIENCE fee.
My questions is, why not just add a 1.50 to the price if you really need that extra cash. Fees are just a sneaky way for big business to advertise a price lower than what it actually charges.
A leading credit card company is now charging a $15 less than 48 hour internet processing fee. I can not believe this.....soon it will sadly be lass than 24.......I am especially riled at one of the worlds largest airport retailers who coach their employees to suggest a bottle of their overpriced water as an add on to each sale Airport souvenier ts....avoid buying em and for that matter airport candy too. I have even seen books priced higher than national chain bookstores. If u are lucky enough to have a $1 or reduced movie theatre take full advantage.....Only see the movies at higher price theatre chains who so often only pay most employees only minimum wage that u most. In many cases now the flicks are at the cheap theatres less than two month release...and the same big screen! Telephone plans especially local and established are absurd. and have i mentioned the high airport retail stores......avoid them unless it is an emergency purchase. (And if you are an employee, just see if they care to always take the doctors notes as valid. It will not always happen.)
everything belongs here except oil changes. So what if you have to spend 10 or 15 more than it would cost. Think about your time, getting under the car, getting greasy, probably leaking oil and having to dispose of used oil and filter etc,etc.... I will and can fix most anything on my car and an oil change is a bargain
what bugs me the most is (and this almost never happens to me)is paying an overdraft fee of 33 bucks. I once took out twenty to eat,and it put me in the red. They gave me the twenty and charged me 33 bucks extra, CROOKS!
Damn Ticketmaster charges the "convenience" fee, but my question is "What convenience?" Can I still go down to the venue and buy my tickets at the box office directly? I've seen that even the box office will charge you a "convenience" fee if you purchase the tickets online versus physically going to the box office, but a lot of times I've seen that the only way to get a ticket is through Ticketmaster and that's when I ask "what convenience?" since they are the only ones selling tickets.
Published August 11, 2009
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