3717: Challenge: Save $1,000 in Just 3 Days by Chris Reining on Money Habits

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[00:00:54] This is Optimal Finance Daily. Challenge. Save $1,000 in just three days. By Chris Reining of chrisreining.com. And I'm your narrator, Justin Malek, reading you articles and essays every single day of the year, including holidays. So with that, let's get right to it as we optimize your life.

[00:01:20] Challenge. Save $1,000 in just three days. By Chris Reining of chrisreining.com. This summer, I'm at a Cubs game and a friend of a friend sees me snap this photo with my phone. He asks me if I have the original iPhone. For a second, I think he's serious, but then I realize it's because it's a 4-inch SE and no one on this planet has a 4-inch phone anymore.

[00:01:47] But I'm okay with that, because I just don't care about phones. I once worked for a company that gave out BlackBerrys. Then they took them away and told everyone to buy their own smartphones or else you'd get a flip phone. I took the flip phone. That was around the time I stopped caring so much about what kind of things I owned. Like what my car said about me. Because who cares? Every person I know who cares about what kind of things they own

[00:02:15] has no control over their life. I read about Johnny Depp being $40 million in debt after making $650 million. He says his solution is to make more movies. You'd like to think after earning a gazillion dollars, you'd have some control over your life. But he doesn't. Because saving money is like a muscle. You have to exercise it. After I retired, I wasn't driving my car anymore.

[00:02:43] So I called up Geico and told them I wasn't driving my car anymore. They asked me how many miles I drove last year. I said, 3,000. They reduced my rate $30. But saving $30 isn't important to me anymore. What's important to me is exercising that muscle. Because having the ability to take action to make a little progress each day means being able to accomplish big goals.

[00:03:11] That's how successful people become successful. And that's why today I want to challenge you to save $1,000 in just three days. Use the money to pay down debt, start investing, or take that trip you've been dreaming about. Day 1, slash your cable and internet bill. First, decide if you still need cable. The average cable bill is $103.10.

[00:03:39] So when you cut the cord, it will save you $1,200 a year. A friend who just ditched cable is saving $1,800 a year. You can always get a cheap antenna to pull in the major networks. If you want to keep cable, then you're going to call your provider to get a better rate. You do this by telling them you want to cancel. Say you can't afford it or something. And trust me, they don't have some big red button in front of them that immediately cuts you off.

[00:04:07] What they're probably going to say is they can't do anything for you. When this happens, ask to speak to someone who can. This is when you're going to start hearing about better rates. But if you want the very best rate, you need to get to their retention department. The retention department knows they're seconds away from losing you as a customer, and they know it's cheaper to keep an existing customer than it is to acquire a new one,

[00:04:34] even if that means you pay them less. Money saved. $240 to $1,200 a year. Day two. Cut your phone bill costs. The average American spends $1,000 a year on their cell phone bill. And you can probably cut that in half. I'm spending $100. These days, there's tools like Whistle Out that compare rates across carriers based on your monthly usage pattern.

[00:05:04] Arm yourself with this information, and then decide if you want to negotiate a lower rate or switch carriers. Negotiating a lower rate is easy. Because what you're going to do is call your provider and ask what better plans they have. Tell them your plan is getting expensive, and you're noticing you can save a good amount if you switch to another carrier. If they don't offer you a cheaper plan, ask to be transferred to the cancellation department.

[00:05:32] Because the retention department is empowered to give you the best plans. Ask them, what can you do to get me a better plan? If you're happy with what they offer you, then take it. But remember, with any negotiation, the strongest position is being willing to walk away and mean it. If you're serious about switching carriers, you'll be able to tease out the best plan.

[00:05:57] Money saved, $480 a year. Day three. Audit and cancel subscriptions. If you've been reading this site, you know I advocate automating and optimizing your life. Because when you automate and optimize your life, you free up valuable resources, like time and money. Subscription services are great tools to accomplish this,

[00:06:23] but it's easy to find yourself subscribed to a handful of services you're not getting value from anymore, or you're just flat out not using. I quit the gym to work out on my own. So here's how to ferret out subscriptions to trim. First, check the last three months of your credit card and bank account statements. You're looking for any and all subscriptions. Gym memberships like Planet Fitness. Credit reporting like Experian and TransUnion.

[00:06:53] Airplane Wi-Fi like GoGo Air. Audiobook services like Audible. And those subscription boxes. Then simply contact the company and cancel. Individually, these typically don't cost much, but in aggregate, you're going to save $512 a year. Money saved. $500 a year. That's it. And the good news is, the money you saved isn't just a one-time thing.

[00:07:22] These are savings that you're going to get month after month and year after year. You just listened to the post titled, Challenge. Save $1,000 in just three days. By Chris Reining of chrisreining.com. And I'll be right back with my commentary. I spend my day reading, recording, and keeping information organized. So the idea of having useful details right in my line of sight caught my attention.

[00:07:53] RayNeo iO smart glasses use the Firefly Nano optical engine with an ultra-transparent display, so you can see information without blocking your view. They weigh just 33 grams, and the battery is designed for up to two days of everyday use. What stood out to me most is the productivity side. You can get live captions with real-time translation across 55 languages and 109 accents. And there's an AI teleprompter with auto-scrolling,

[00:08:22] which, as someone who records for a living, is especially interesting to me. There's also LifeLog, which can capture moments hands-free and turn your day into an organized summary or journal, so you can stay more present instead of constantly reaching for your phone. If that sounds useful to you, check out the Rayneo IO smart glasses at rayneo.com slash OFD. Thinking about refreshing the carpet in your home? Now's the time to do it.

[00:08:51] For a limited time at The Home Depot, get 10% off installed carpet projects on trusted brands like LifeProof, LifeProof with PetProof Technology, Home Decorators Collection, and Traffic Master. Plus, with installation starting at just 49 cents per square foot, upgrading your space is more affordable than ever at The Home Depot. Offer valid September 24th, 2026 through October 4th, 2026. Exclusions apply. For licenses, see HomeDepot.com slash license numbers. Thank you to Chris.

[00:09:18] My favorite idea in here is that saving money is a muscle. When he says the $30 off his car insurance doesn't even matter to him anymore, what he means is doing the exercise mattered more than the reward. He's training himself to be someone who notices, who calls, who takes the action. And that muscle is what actually builds wealth over a lifetime. Any single call is tiny on its own, but do enough of them,

[00:09:48] and you've completely changed your life. And what's great is that these particular cuts are recurring. Cutting your cable or your phone bill once keeps paying you back every single month without you doing anything else. That's very different from a one-time, no-spend day. You do the work once, and it keeps saving you money for years. So even if you only tackle one, one phone call, one cancellation,

[00:10:17] you're getting two wins at the same time. You're pocketing the money, sure, but more importantly, you're building the skill and habit and proving to yourself that you're someone who can take action. And that muscle carries over into every other money decision you make. So thank you to Chris for this one, and thank you for being here. That should do it for today. Have a great rest of your week. Keep exercising that savings muscle, and I'll see you tomorrow

[00:10:47] where your optimal life awaits.