Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University Week 8

If you are just tuning in I’m currently taking the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University classes and reviewing them each week. If you missed any you can catch them here;

The Class

This week’s Financial Peace University is called “That’s Not Good Enough” and is about bargain hunting. Or more specifically it’s about negotiating a deal.

The real trick to getting good deals by negotiating is by getting in the habit of asking. Which means you have to ask ask ask everywhere you go. I asked for a cash discount at the dentist awhile back and got 5% off. That might not sound like much but so far it’s saved me $100 and I stand to save much more over time. But shoot, that’s just the beginning when it comes to asking for deals. I’ll admit that I have a lot of work to do in this area.

Dave’s Lucky Seven Rules of Negotiating

    1. Always tell the absolute truth.
    2. Use the power of cash.
    3. Understand and use “walk away power”.
    4. Shut up.
    5. “That’s not good enough”.
    6. Good guy, bad guy.
    7. The “If I” take away technique.

Walk away power is, obviously, the power to walk away. It means not getting so caught up in the object that you lose your mind. If it’s a mass produced consumer good, which 99.9999% of everything we buy is, then you can always get it later or get it someplace else. If you have the power to walk away you stand a much better chance of being able to negotiate a good deal.

Shut up is a funny one but it is something to keep in mind when negotiating. If the other party makes an offer stay quiet for a few seconds. Sometimes you can actually get them to negotiate with themselves. And never ever negotiate with yourself! If you put out an offer and they stay quiet then you stay quiet. Don’t assume their quietness to be rejection. Just wait and see what they say.

Another great point about negotiating that Dave made was looking for the win-win. A key part of getting a win-win deal is listening to what the other person wants. Let’s say you were buying a house, if you know the seller is looking for a quick closing then you could offer less on the purchase price but with a quick closing. If you know they are selling because they need money to move over seas maybe offer full asking but ask for furniture and appliances, since they probably are going to have trouble shipping the large stuff. It’s about finding out what the other party needs and giving them as much of it as you can while getting what you want as well.

The Sharing

Last week (the insurance class) there was a new lady who was in the class. Turns out she sells insurance. Apparently after my husband and I left she hung out and talked to The Pinks and The Blues (our “traditional” Dave Ramsey couples) and they got some insurance quotes from her. This week she was talking in hushed tones with them before class. I’m curious to see if she shows up again or if she just schmoozes in for the class about insurance.

We didn’t get to talk as a group too much because we got a late start this week. Mostly everyone shared good deals they have found. One lady talked about an end table she found at Goodwill for $9. Someone else said her husband bought a timeshare in Maui for $500 on Ebay. One of the hosts talked about how Home Depot will price match plus 10% so when he needed some plywood he called around to dealers all over the state for the sole purpose of getting the extra 10% off at Home Depot.

Next Week: Of Mice and Mutual Funds

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One Response to “Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University Week 8”

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  1. Sun says:

    Cash definitely works. My new wife and I got a big discount on wedding flowers when I started counting the $100 bills in front of the flower lady. It also helps to build rapport beforehand so the negotiation has a better chance of a ‘win-win’.

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