Welcome to Saving Money with Andrew!
AI is the biggest technological development in recent memory. For some, it has become an essential tool.
I use AI daily, generally ChatGPT and Google Gemini. My favorite feature of each is Deep Research (free in Gemini, requires a $20 subscription for ChatGPT), in which the assistant spends several minutes researching your question, returning a lengthy writeup. I regularly use it for advice and to help understand new topics.
As this is a money-saving newsletter, here are two ways it’s helped us save money in the past few weeks:
Finding The Right Car
As discussed in my last post, we recently leased a car. ChatGPT’s Deep Research mode was very helpful in finding the right car and comparing prices, dimensions, and features.
We started our search by asking for a list of three-row cars in our price range, sorted by price, dimensions, weight, fuel efficiency, and Car and Driver reviews, and ChatGPT gave us a list of several promising models.
As we visited dealerships (just to look at cars and test drive—we did the entire purchasing process via a broker over text message), I gave ChatGPT feedback on what we liked and didn’t like, and had it make additional vehicle suggestions and remove other cars from our list.
Then, once we decided on a car and had a quote from a lease broker, we asked ChatGPT questions about the deal, helping us better understand the key terms. Ultimately, we’re very happy with our car and ChatGPT saved us many hours of work finding the right vehicle and making sure we got a good deal.
Figuring Out The Best Bike Rack Option
Once we got the car, we wanted to add a bike rack. Wirecutter highly recommended a hitch bike rack, and we reached out to local dealerships for quotes to install a hitch receiver and a bike rack.[1]
Once we received our first couple of quotes (well into the thousands of dollars!), we asked ChatGPT about more affordable options. It suggested a much cheaper trunk rack, explaining that heavier-duty solutions were more appropriate if we were taking longer trips with our bikes, but that a trunk rack would be ok since we generally only take our bikes about 30-40 minutes away. We ended up buying a Saris Bones EX 3-Bike Rack on sale for $199.
I’ve started to integrate AI much more into my shopping process, often asking it what it thinks before making a purchase. Let me know if you have found any useful money-saving AI uses!
And now, Andrew’s pick(s) of the week:
And…what happens when an entire town falls for a crypto scam?
I hope this has been helpful. If you liked it, please share it on social media! Also, please send me your feedback, requests, and success stories.
[1] Our lease required us to only install OEM parts at a dealership. Third party options are generally much cheaper, though still often well over $1000 for a hitch receiver and bike rack.
The use of AI is not a net benefit and is not a harmless tool which can save money. There is a hidden cost to these tools which are built on theft and an outrageous energy and water cost. Data centers are driving the cost of energy up for everyone in states right now. AI is not a tool that should be used cavalierly or regularly. Love the stuff, but just can't accept that we should be advocating for AI usage in our daily lives.