photo credit: Clevergrrl

Coming out of a grocery store this weekend, I noticed a sign in front of Pet Food Express advertising a $15.00 self service dog washing center. I had to go in and inspect what $15 would buy and was surprised to find a very nice set-up with clean waist high shower areas and blow driers. Having two labrador retrievers, the cost would be $30 to bath my canine friends. I spoke to an employee who told me they were having a special if you purchased 3 dog baths, the 4th was free. Is it really worth $15 to take my dogs to a store and bath them myself?

What’s the time and cost of washing your own dog?

1. Time. It take me approx 20 minutes to rinse, soap, rinse and dry off one of my dogs. If I got in the car and drove the dogs to Pet Food Express, it would add an additional 10 minutes.

2. Dog shampoo. I purchased a fairly inexpensive dog shampoo at the store and it’s lasted for almost a year now. Total cost of shampoo was $9.99.

3. Hair Drying. I use old beach towels that we have set aside specifically to wash our pups. The store did have a large hose hair drying that would not require me to wash and dry my beach towels. This would save a little bit of time and resources. I’ll say $3.00

4. Water. If your dog requires warm water baths, it would add a little additional cost to your home utilities. I would imagine it would cost about the same as a long 20 minute shower. If you did take your dog to a self service dog store, you could bath them as long as you like. I doubt though you would want to make a day out of it. An extra money saving tip: you could jump in the shower with your dog and save time and money by conserving water. Just be sure to use the correct shampoo on your pooch.

5. Extras? No need to clean up. You can leave dog hair, water puddles and just walk out the door. How much is this worth to you?

If you have children at home, maybe you can wash your dog together as a family. That would certainly speed up the process and you probably will share a few smiles and laughs together. If you have several children, you could put one in charge of washing and another in charge of drying. Having a labrador that gets dirty constantly, the price could easily hit $30 during the rainy months.

Maybe you live in an apartment and don’t have a large shower or bathtub to wash your dog. Taking your dog to a self service dog wash or groomer may be your only option. Some breeds also require grooming and trimming, but fortunately that’s not needed with our labs. Although, I do have a neighbor that shaves his dogs each summer to help relieve them of the heat. I think my dogs would just run away if I approached them with a pair of hair clippers. Is it worth $15 dollars to make a mess of your yard and use a few towels?

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photo credit: zieak

It was my first job out of college and I was handing out crisp $5 bills for customers who waited in line for 10 minutes or longer. What’s the catch? You had to be a customer and request the $5 payment. Working as a bank teller after college was one of the most interesting jobs I’ve had in personal finance as I got to deal face to face with customers. The bank had a policy to offer customers who waited in line over 10 minutes a crisp $5 bill for the inconvenience. The best part, it took me about 5 minutes to do the transaction and more customers were lining up for the free $5. It always seemed that payday and 5pm on Friday was the day we needed extra $5 bills in our cage.

Did every bank customer ask for the free $5 bill that waited over 10 minutes? Nope. The bank had proper signage that clearly stated the 10 minute policy that was in front of the line ropes. Do I think some customers would never ask for the free $5? Yes.

Do you feel comfortable asking for your free $5 bill? Maybe it’s not your local bank branch, but it might be a cell phone company or your cable provider. Do you call up and ask for a refund if you have lousy cable reception? I’ve written several posts about my experience with AT&T Uverse service. I finally received a refund for several months of service after complaining about the audio issues.

What is the opportunity cost if you decide not to ask for your $5? In the case of waiting in line, your time and money. You are losing time you could be working or spending quality time with your family. If you didn’t ask for the $5, you’re also missing out on compound interest in your savings account. Yes, $5 seems like a small amount, but it will add up quickly if you look for other opportunities. Did you use a coupon at your supermarket only to find that the cash register did not give you proper credit? Not speaking up could not only cost you the price of the coupon, but could also cost dozens or hundreds of other customers the same fate. Ask to speak to a manger and get the transaction fixed.

Teach your children to look for $5 bills. You’ve probably figured out already that it’s not about finding opportunities to earn $5 as it’s about making sure you keep your $5. If you notice the cashier shorted you $5 or that the coupon wasn’t process correctly, your children will notice your frustrated. If you don’t say something, what will your children do when faced with a similar situation. Maybe you had a recent $5 situation and you told your kids that it was no big deal. What happens if they are faced with a $50 or $500 error? In the AT&T cable example, my bill was lowered by $250.

Do you have a story when you asked for your $5 bill?

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