Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Crazy ways to save money

Benny here....

One Postmaster in New York wrote me about a money-saving option she used years ago.

She took the shutters off her Post Office and took them to a local prison, where they stripped, sanded and repainted them as part of their daily duties at no charge to the organization.

I remember the time I had Alexander Hamilton come down and wash my windows at the Post Office. It was all because he lost a bet -- but that's another story

What’s the craziest money-saving thing you’ve ever done for the Postal Service?
Comment here.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am a Postmaster in a small community. Like many others, in the past, I have purchased various items at my own expense for use in my offices.

Unfortunately, there is little appreciation for those types of cost cutting measures. I now purchase items according to policy.

Anonymous said...

Absolutely no appreciation. I worked for 15 months as OIC saving them 35 miles per day by not claiming my mileage during that period. Do you think that my saving them appx. 3,000 dollars made an impression on my PFP? Not one bit, not one thank you or even mention of it. In my opinion if you save money then you have made money. Lesson learned. Last time I will ever give a dime of my time or own money. They would not do the same.

Anonymous said...

I too spent private funds rather then order office suppies. I could pick up pens at the local Office Depot for $2.39 for 10 pens...way below eBuy2 prices..espeically when you added shipping costs. My reward for saving money? They reduced my next year's budget.

Anonymous said...

It appears many of us have donated time and money to the cause. I have driven hundreds of miles of the clock in my own rig. I worked 30 hours in two days and got paid for 20.
So when someone questioned me being a team player..I brought that up and all the "Acting" Plant Manager said was "Well that was your choice".
There is a saying that came to mind after hearing him....
"Remember the Lesson - Not the Disappoinmtment!"

Anonymous said...

Same here.I was working in a DMU across town.A management person from another city came to audit the unit and asked if I was getting paid for the travel.

I said, "No,it's not that far."She replied,"Oh,one of the good guys huh?I take them for every penny I can get!"

Anonymous said...

Isn't it sad. I, like the rest of you, wanted to cut back on expenses for my office. Needless to say I've heard the same responses as the rest of you. The best one was, "It's your choice to be an idiot." That was the LAST time I tried to "save" the post office money. I still look for bargains but there are no more freebees at my expense.