Food, Home and Style

Work Off Your Costs

These days it might not be easy to find the cash to pay all your monthly expenses, from rent to membership fees.  Yes, you can negotiate for lower rates, but there are also ways to create your own discounts—with a little labor.

According to the Times, many landlords have started shaving hundreds off rent for tenants willing help out with tasks like changing lightbulbs and taking out the building’s trash. But these “super-tenants” aren’t the only ones getting discounts on their monthly costs. Across the country, more and more companies are letting their favorite clients handle work exchange for taking money off the dues and fees they’d otherwise be paying.

And why not? Everyone’s a winner, since the company gets a free service and the customer gets a discount on dues. Wondering what kind of businesses are up for letting you volunteer your time in exchange for a better rate? A few ideas:

Landlords
Whether you volunteer to pick up packages for other tenants or work as a weekend handyman—there’s no limit to the services you can offer to take over for your building’s landlord. For the best chance of success, be upfront about the rent decrease you need and what services you’re willing to help out with. It may also help if you’re known for being handy and responsible, or at least up to date with any overdue rent.

Private Schools
As a way to curb spiraling school tuition costs, it has become perfectly acceptable for many parents to trade a certain number of volunteering hours for a reduction in their kids’ tuition. Volunteer opportunities vary by school, but can include writing the school newsletter, supervising after school activities, coaching a sport, or helping out in the library.

It has become perfectly acceptable for many parents to trade a certain number of volunteering hours for a reduction in their kids’ tuition.

Dance or Yoga Studios
Good instructors are hard to come by, which is why a number of dance studios and yoga centers are willing to discount fees for advanced students willing to help out with teaching a few children’s or adult beginner’s classes each month for free. Just remember, this option requires some serious skill and talent, so anyone still struggling to master the downward dog should probably not apply.

Doggy Daycare
Dog walkers and pet sitters are getting hit especially hard in the recession, which is why so many are willing to negotiate fees in exchange for pretty much any service you can offer. Need ideas? One doggy daycare in Massachusetts began offering discounted pet sitting services to any clients who could help with advertising—from designing a company website to creating pet training videos. Of course it’s impossible to know what your local dog daycare is willing to trade services for unless you go ahead and ask.

Personal Trainers
While chain gyms are unlikely to offer any discounts in exchange for helping out, it may be a different story if you work with a personal trainer. With so many fewer clients able to spring for individual sessions as of late, some trainers are offering as much as half off to longtime clients who sign up their friends. So essentially, if you’re willing to work as your fitness instructor’s publicist to get him or her a few new clients, you may be able to get a discount yourself.

Hair Styling
Like personal trainers and doggy daycares, hair stylists are struggling to find new clients and maintain the ones they already have through the recession. While those working at larger salons may have little or no leeway when it comes to letting clients help out in exchange for free services, there’s no harm in asking. Among the most popular—if not a little scary—options when it comes to working off hair costs: Become a hair model for your stylist. Although the likelihood of actually getting paid for the gig is slim, most stylists are willing to negotiate a deeply discounted rate (and sometimes free) for customers willing to surrender control of their style.

Although pretty much any business is up for bargaining these days if it means retaining loyal clients, there are some things you can do to up your chances of success when asking for the option of working off dues.

For one, make sure you’re a longtime client of the business in question, since offers from fly-by-night bargain seekers probably won’t be entertained. Secondly, focus your energy on asking for favors at non-chain businesses only, since there’s little a sales rep at a chain salon or studio can do to lessen your fees. And finally, be flexible, since even an offer that’s rejected could turn into something more in the future.

Tags: beauty, education, health, new frugal, pets, spending, Spending and Saving