Every once in awhile it is good to laugh. To that end I would like to describe 3 silly ways that I have saved the smallest amounts of money in the past. I guess it is as they say, a penny saved is a penny earned.

Here are 3 silly ways to save money.

Wendy’s Chicken Nuggets

While a lot of people love Wendy’s for their frosties, I will always have a special place in my heart for their spicy chicken nuggets, especially dipped in honey mustard.

I noticed something about the pricing of chicken nuggets at many Wendy’s locations that caught me by surprise. Normally as a buyer you expect to be rewarded for buying a larger amount of something in the form of a cheaper price. What was happening at Wendy’s was a different story.

I normally order 12 nuggets, and since they do not offer a 12 nugget pack on the menu it makes sense to order 2 six-counts of nuggets. Careful, what you read next may shock you. Each six-count of nuggets was $1.49 meaning 12 nuggets would cost me $2.98. But wait! Wendy’s also sells four-counts of nuggets for only $0.99! This meant that I could order 3 four-counts, get the same 12 nuggets (and an extra sauce) for $2.97! You can bet that I save that penny every time.

The Starbucks Piggy-Back

While I will never understand people who order a “tall” (12 oz) beverage from Starbucks, I am always ready to pounce on the opportunity that it creates. Here is how to execute the Starbucks Piggy-Back in 3 steps.

First, find someone making the silly financial decision to order a tall (12 oz), $4.25 beverage when the same beverage in venti (20 oz) is roughly $0.50 more. Second, after they inevitably tell you that they only want 12 ounces, offer them $1.00 to upgrade to the venti and tell them you will take the extra 8 ounces off their hands. Third, enjoy 8 ounces of PSL or some other fancy beverage for only $1.00 when you would have had to pay almost $3.00 for the same 8 ounces relative to the 12 ounce price.

Cheeky Cash Back

As I was going through my Bank of America cash back rewards one day I noticed how they handle cash back for fractions of a dollar. Bank of America does not award fractions of a cent, so they round instead. If your purchase ends in 50 cents or less it will be rounded down to the nearest dollar and then rewards will be calculated. If it ends in 51 cents or above, the basis of the rewards amount is rounded up.

Now every time I buy gasoline I always make sure my purchase ends with 51 cents. Since I get 3% cashback on gas I get 3 cents on that last 51 cents, which is almost 6% back. Score.

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Comment below with a silly way you have saved a small amount of money.