What’s the most economical trip you’ve ever taken? I have to brag a little here. I just took a 3-night trip to New York and spent only $410. Here’s how the costs broke down:

Flight (DFW to LGA): $213

There’s no doubt about it. I lucked out on airfare. To my credit, I booked a few days before the 21-day window. And I was flexible in terms of airline, layovers, and arrival times. But, in general, fares dropped significantly in August for some reason. And I just lucked out. I don’t think I’ve flown this close to $200 in 5 years. Chalk this one up as a positive sign we’re still in a bit of a recession.
Edit: By the way, I booked direct through AA.com.

Room (3 Nights through Airbnb.com): $170

Having stayed in NYC before, I knew frugal travel to New York City wasn’t going to be easy. The biggest cost of the trip was going to be hotel. I had to find a way to make this less expensive. About a month ago I stumbled upon a blog post by Monevator regarding a site called CrashPadder. It’s a social travel website that connects frugal travelers with hosts that want to make extra money by renting out a room. Sort of a more capitalist version of couch-surfing.

NYC rooms were few and far between on CrashPadder, but I stumbled upon the U.S. equivalent, Airbnb.com, and found tons of places to stay in NYC. After some trial and error, and getting comfortable with the fact that I’d be staying in someone’s spare room (you can rent shared rooms, private rooms, or the entire place), I booked a place. $66.67 a night, plus $20 for Airbnb.com’s cut. After I booked I was offered $50 off of my stay if I listed my own place on Airbnb.com. I quickly took advantage of this promotion. So my total ended up being $170.

Metro Card (7 Days): $27

I love traveling in the city because you can take advantage of public transportation. The NYC subways are the best. Since I was there for 4 days, I knew I’d need the 7-day, all-you-can-ride card, which costs a mere $27. I was able to take the bus from LaGuardia Airport to the subway metro line and from there I could go anywhere in the city I wanted. Taxis are the quickest way to kill your efforts towards frugal travel to new york city. Since I live in Texas and in the burbs I welcome the chance to “live in the city” for a few days and do the subway thing. Part of the joy in the trip for me is experiencing this.

That brings my total to around $410 ($27 + $170 + $213). But I forgot to mention that I just started using my new cash back small business credit card. So I will receive another $5 back on my spending. Making my trip $405.

Frugal Can Be Fun

Okay. It’s clear that I saved some money. But did I have any fun? Yes. I was there for a conference and got to spend some much needed time with other finance bloggers. We spent most of our time talking about finance and blogging (what else?) there in the conference hotel (bonus: free wifi included). This is what I love doing so it was well worth the expense. But even if I’d been there for sight-seeing, NYC has plenty of frugal options for a visit. So my expenses wouldn’t balloon up that much, and frugal travel to new york city isn’t impossible. Two of my personal favorites are the Staten Island Ferry (free) and the Central Park Zoo (only $8).

Share your frugal traveler story in the comments below.

Frugal Travel to New York: My $400 3-Night Trip is a post from: PT Money: Personal Finance by PT.

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As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I have a lifetime of experience in thrifty grocery shopping and cooking. But I also pointed out that as my income has increased over the years, I’ve become lackadaisical about “the little things”. It takes time (a little) to be a frugal grocery shopper. Coupons, price books, lists, collecting various ads from every store in town….blah. Who has time for this, right?

Well, as also previously mentioned, I’ve had to re-think my spending since becoming a single mom. But saving time is as important to me as saving money. A colleague recently reminded me about a savings opportunity that really doesn’t take that much time: Competitive Ad Price Matching.

Wal-Mart will match the ads of any store in their “local trade territory”. If you live in a metropolitan area, you should be able to work this so that you’re getting rock bottom price on every grocery item you purchase.

The Wal-Mart policy specifically states:

“Store managers make the final decision in always taking care of our customers, but we do have guidelines for matching our competition.”
We do honor “Preferred Shopping Card” advertised prices. Must be like items, be advertised and require a competitor’s shopping card, for the discount to apply.
We do not honor advertisements that require a purchase in order to receive the advertised price or free product.
We do not honor “Buy One / Get One Free” advertisements.
We do not honor double or triple coupons or percent off advertisements.
We do not honor other retailers’ “Misprinted” advertised prices.
We do not honor Internet Pricing.
We do not honor competitor advertisements from outside of the store’s or Club’s local trade territory.

Some tips for making the most out of competitive ad price matching:

1) Collect all of your sales flyers. In some areas, you’ll get them in the mail on certain days of the week (usually Wednesdays). You can also see if the ads come in a newspaper, usually on Wednesday. You CAN print them from the grocery store websites, but be aware that most Wal-Mart stores will only honor prices shown on the actual store ad.

2) Remember that you have to take your ads with you. Save time by circling (permanent market, highlighter, etc….) the items that you’ll be buying. This will help you to avoid having a line of grumbling people behind you as you shuffle through papers at the checkout.

3) Have a printed copy of the store policy and have it with you when you shop. I’ve only had to “whip it out” once, but it’s useful to have it handy just in case.

Competitive Ad Price Matching: makes the Target lady very happy!

4) Meat, produce, bakery, and dairy items usually have to be worded exactly. Store brand items are matched with Wal-Mart’s store brand items (doesn’t have to be the exact name). You can’t get use the .50 cent store brand price on a can of corn to get Green Giant Corn, for example.

Note that packaging doesn’t have to be exact. This particularly helps me. If lean ground beef is priced at my local market at $1.99 per pound, it’s usually in a package of 2+ pounds (not handy for me). But I can take my ad to Wal-Mart and get my ground beef for that price in a one-pound package.

5) When you’re checking out, separate your price match items from your regular price items. I usually load my regular priced items on the conveyor belt first, and then load my price match items. If I have time, I’ll even organize them by store. Be prepared with your ads so that you can show the cashier each item as she scans it.

6) Save even more if you’re a coupon user. You can use coupons when price matching!

Finally, it’s important to note that competitive ad price matching is NOT exclusive to groceries. You can use electronics store ads, clothing store ads, discount store ads, and more. Imagine the savings if you use this practice on every single thing you buy!

Does anyone know if other stores have a competitive ad matching policy? Have you ever encountered any problems when you do price matching?

Competitive Ad Price Matching: How to Save Even More on Your Grocery Bill is a post from: PT Money: Personal Finance by PT.

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2. Six Ways to Save on Food
3. 7 Ways to Ensure You Never Pay Full Price For Anything Again

Back when I posted my list of 104 Ways to Save Extra Money, I received quite a few emails with more ideas for saving. One of the better emails, from a reader named Amy, contained 7 more ways to save extra money. I thought it was a pretty solid list, so I thought I would share it here for you guys and invite you to list your best way to save money in the comments below.

1. Pay your bills on time. You’ll avoid late fees and finance charges and a better credit score means you’ll be offered better rates on other things.

What makes your piggy bank smile?

2. Make gifts. Utilize an existing skill, learn a new one, or compile your own gift baskets. The person who has everything still needs tasty food.

3. Cancel subscriptions. Read newspaper or magazines for free online or at the library.

4. Buy generic or store brands. Sometimes we end up paying more just for the label.

5. Lower the thermostat. Your family probably won’t notice if you turn down the heat by one degree (unless you tell them what you did).

6. Shop thrift stores. Inexpensive dishes, utensils, pots, pans, glassware, picture frames, tools, books, furniture……I could go on.

7. DIY cleaning supplies. Find recipes online to make your own glass cleaner and tub scrub using simple, cheap ingredients like white vinegar, baking soda, and dish soap.

So what are your ideas? How are you saving extra money right now?

photo by alancleaver_2000

What’s Your Best Way to Save Money? is a post from: PT Money: Personal Finance by PT.

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I was having a tough day yesterday, but one thing made me smile: my car hit the 100,000 mile mark. I actually missed seeing the odometer turn over by 4 miles, so no cool video or picture to show you. None the less, we’ve owned the car since early 2005. It’s a 2003 Honda we purchased used with about 40,000 miles on it. And it’s nice to see it last this long.

I know this is chump change for some of you. But this is the first car that I’ve owned free and clear for some time and also seen go past the 100K mark. What’s even more exciting is that I don’t really feel like the car is old or that it will need much in repair anytime soon. In fact, I just spoke with my brother-in-law (mechanic) and he said he sees this model in his shop all the time with 200k (even 300K) miles on it.

Here’s something really impressive. A man in Wisconsin was able to get his 1989 Saab to over 1 million miles:

“Gilbert bought the Saab for $29,000. It was his treat after a divorce, and he took meticulous care of it. He used premium, synthetic oil in oil changes, changed the tires every 45,000 miles and strictly followed the maintenance schedule.”

Just think about how much money this has saved Gilbert. No car payment for at least 15 years. I’ve kept decent care of our Honda, with timely oil changes and maintenance. One thing I could do a better job of is rotating the tires and keeping them properly inflated. Here’s ten tips from MSN to make your car last longer:

• Regularly Change the Air Filter
• Maintain Proper Coolant Levels
• Keep Tires Inflated Properly
• Pay Attention to Dashboard Warning Lights
• Find a Reliable, Regular Mechanic (easier said than done, right?)
• Look for Warning Signs
• Set a Maintenance Schedule
• Be a Good Driver
• Keep it Clean Inside and Out
• Keep it Covered Up

I’ll add one: make sure you maintain affordable auto insurance and an adequately funded emergency fund. Having a good policy and cash on hand to handle your deductible will allow you to take care of your car properly when something goes wrong.

How many miles do you have on your vehicle(s)? Did you do anything special when you hit 100K?

photo by Danilo Prates

Maintaining a Car Past 100,000 Miles is a post from: PT Money: Personal Finance by PT.

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This guest post comes from Ann Smarty. She’s got some surprising stats about the differences between men and women when it comes to spending money online. Do you agree with the data?

Some would argue that men and women are too different to coexist. Take any aspect of our life. We behave and perceive a lot of things differently, including shopping. But what about online shopping and spending? Let’s discuss some of the differences between men and women and how they shop online.

Is Perception the Reality?

To start the topic, let’s take a look at something really basic: men and women are likely to see the world differently (which inevitably reflects their browsing and hence online shopping behavior).

Although findings are ambiguous, many investigations have found that men and women see both colors and images differently. Women are likely to know (and to be able to name) more colors, their color preferences are more diverse:

Who Has Better Focus?

Men tend to stick to their mission, while women expand their mission. Like with shopping in “real life”, while shopping online men tend to be more focused. They stick to their initial aim religiously, while women forget why they started shopping easily switching between products and categories. A woman may start her shopping journey wanting to buy a mobile phone, and the next thing you know she is browsing some clothes for her kids.

Also, women tend to scan, while men dig. Men research the product page thoroughly viewing all the images, product details, etc; while women scan the product page and go to the next product they see. Here are some common e-commerce tricks that take advantage of this behavior:

• Online stores targeting women usually have a list of recently viewed items (for the “browsing” woman to know what she has viewed already and return to that any time).
• A female web store also allows women shoppers to move easily between product and category (featuring related categories, most popular products, etc).

Lastly, while men are product conscious, women are brand conscious. According to hitwise.com, men search for product names, while women search for brand names.

• 18-24 year old females are more brand-conscious than males. 85% of top shopping searches by females were for brand names only, compared to 82% for males.
• 18-24 year old males are more product-oriented in their searches than females. Product terms accounted for 16% of searches by males compared to 12% for females

Who's the Better Online Shopper?

Who’s More Likely to Bargain Hunt?

Men have been found to search for and use promo codes. Most bargain hunters are men. Men = bargain hunters; women = last-resort, hurried and holiday shoppers. Other related differences here:

• Men prefer coupons, women prefer sales. Besides that, men are likely to get depressed by holiday shopping because they prefer keep shopping under control (which is impossible during the shopping period)
• Men are doing a lot of research, jumping to different sites, comparison shopping, reading reviews, etc. With men, store sales influenced by online research are three times higher than e-commerce sales.
• Women age 18-24 are also more receptive to online advertising in various formats than the overall population, particularly more interested in localized information, surveys, social media formats and down-loadable content.

What’s your take? Do you follow your gender tendencies? Does one spending style more naturally translate into better spending habits for your finances?

Sources: Men, Women, and E-Commerce (2006), Women versus men online: shopping habits (2008), Web Usability: Are Men Hunters & Women Browsers? (2009); Photo by pescatello

Do Men and Women Shop and Spend Online Differently? is a post from: PT Money: Personal Finance by PT.

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Getting bad service and feeling like you didn’t get your money’s worth stinks. On top of that, you have to go complain about the situation to someone who’s heard a thousand complaints before and go through this whole process to make things right again. That barrier is enough to keep most people from ever complaining about anything. Especially those who just don’t like conflict at all.

Quit Your Belly Aching!

How I Complained and Got Half Off a Hotel Stay

I recently took a last minute trip to New Orleans with some friends. It was the weekend of JazzFest and the hotels were mostly booked. We ended finding a room at a large hotel chain. The room’s A/C didn’t work effectively and we were told on one occasion that we couldn’t get more towels delivered to our room because the hotel cleaning staff had left for the day. Both of these things, combined with the fact that we basically paid a premium for the room on a busy weekend, left me ready to complain.

I decided against discussing the issues with the hotel staff as it appeared there was no manager in sight. Being the Internet nerd that I am, I immediately hit up Twitter to find the hotel chain’s Twitter account. I tweeted about my bad experience and was careful to included the “@hotelname”. I also went to their website and used their feedback form to report my displeasure with the experience. Long story short, within a couple of days the manager of the hotel called me and asked what he could do to make it right. We agreed that half off was about right. He thanked me for my feedback and said to call him next time I was in New Orleans.

Tips for Effective Complaints: How to Complain and Win

Assuming you’ve got a legitimate complaint and you’re not just being nit picky, here are some tips for getting your money’s worth:

Give immediate feedback. As soon as you experience the issue at hand, stop to complain. One of the mistakes I made in hotel stay is that I didn’t complain soon enough. We knew the A/C wasn’t up to par within the first couple of hours. We could have informed the hotel soon and they could have possibly moved us to a better room.

Have the end in mind. Before you complain, be able to articulate what the problem is and what you want done to correct the situation. If there is a contract or policy involved with the transaction, be sure to be knowledgeable about that before proceeding.

Don’t be rude. There’s no reason to be rude or yell when complaining. It only makes you look bad and delays the process. If you need to wait a couple of days to make your complaint that’s fine. Take action when you know you won’t blow up. I really struggle with this one.

Talk with someone who can help you. Don’t waste your time making complaints with people who can’t do anything about it. Go directly to management.

Use social media. Most companies have a social media presence these days. These channels can quickly put you in touch with the people who can help you resolve your issue. The companies that handle issues effectively like this in the online social space are the one’s who will rise to the top.

Read these other tips for complaining from Liz Weston.

What are your best tips for effective complaints when you don’t get what you pay for?

photo by db*Photography

How to Complain and Get Your Money’s Worth is a post from: PT Money: Personal Finance by PT.

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I got dinged for an overdraft fee in my checking account 2 months ago. I was being lazy and made a transfer when I shouldn’t have. My account was charged $37. My first reaction was: “Eh, who cares? I make $37,000 a year; $37 is nothing.”

But I found myself making this excuse a lot. Using the large number of my year’s salary to justify tiny and unnecessary double-digit purchases (I know my salary’s not large, but 5-digits is larger than 2).

It’s difficult to fully grasp exactly how much a large amount of money is. That’s why you often hear personal finance tips for savings like, “save $15 per day” or “have 3 no-spend days a week.” It’s easy to wrap our heads around these small numbers, thus making them easier to accomplish.

That’s why you should find your day’s salary.

This is an effective way to combat unnecessary purchases and a way to make your income tangible so you can truly understand your income.

What Your Daily Salary Does For Your Money

Brings perspective to your income and spending. Your day’s salary is small – 2 or 3 digits – and easy to compare to other items. For example, every day I make $95 – simple. My daily salary is the price of an expensive night out or 3 nice dress shirts. Therefore, if I have a large expense in front of me – maybe a new laptop, I know it’ll take 7 days of to pay for the item. It makes you think about the purchase a little differently.

Makes you understand the true cost of bills. Just because your day’s salary is $112 doesn’t mean you can spend that much and put your feet up at the end of the day with a job well done grin on your face. You can’t forget about your bills and how quickly they knock out day’s of your salary. A month of student loan payments costs me almost 3 days of salary. My rent deletes another 4 days. Finding your daily salary humbles your spending and shows you how quickly your money disappears.

Cuts out lazy and unnecessary purchases. I got my overdraft fee refunded, but a lot of people just shrug it off and forget about it. Would they do that if they knew that a $40 overdraft fee was 40% of their $100 a day salary? I really doubt they would when they comprehended that 4 hours of their day’s work will be done to pay for that overdraft.

Reminds you to save. I suggest taking it a step further. A good savings goal is 20% of your take home salary. If you make $100 a day, this means $20 is going straight to savings. Cut your daily number down to $80 and don’t even think about that other 20%. You don’t need it and will be better off saving it for a house, car, or vacation. The small number makes it easy to comprehend saving – just $20 a day – so you won’t put it off for another day that may not come.

Personal finance can be really confusing sometimes, but breaking it down to 1 day makes it easy to understand your income and will allow you to avoid dumb money mistakes or purchases.

How to Find Your Day’s Salary

If you’re a salary worker…

Find your last paycheck. Look at the after-tax income and divide it by 14 if you’re paid bi-weekly, or 30 if you’re paid monthly. For example, if your after-tax income for a bi-weekly paycheck is $1,500 (a salary of about $40,000) then your daily salary is $107.

If you’re an hourly worker or freelancer…

It’s a little trickier, but remember that the math doesn’t have to be perfect. If you’re $6 off with your daily salary it doesn’t matter. You just need a number to call your own.

Find your last 2-3 months pay stubs or income numbers. Add all of them together and divide it by the number of days in the months of your sample.

::::

I look at my money differently since I found my daily salary. I feel like I understand my income better and can make more educated purchases. I cut out the junk purchases because I don’t want them to cut in to my $95.

Try it out for a week and see how it affects the perception of your money.

Photo by donut p. Carnivals from last week: money stories, frugality, economy and finances, personal finance.

Do You Know Your Daily Salary? Use it to Better Understand Your Money is a post from: PT Money: Personal Finance by PT.

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Chalk one up for the cheap-o. A friend just let me know that there is now free, one-click, unlimited Wi-Fi in all Starbucks locations. And they’re even developing their own digital network to provide content suited for all you coffee snobs.

[See The Ultimate Guide to Saving Money on Coffee...]

For years I’ve avoided all Starbucks because (1) I don’t drink coffee, and (2) you had to be on some special, paid Wi-Fi plan to enjoy the Internet there. Call me cheap or anti-capitalist, but I just have this idea that the Internet should be free, in every respect.

[See 15 more things you should never pay for...]

Now that I’m working from home for myself (without a true office), I roam the streets of my hometown looking for a free connection and some free office space. Slightly kidding here. But I do like to work outside of my house several days a week. So I’m always on the look out for new places to camp out and enjoy some free Wi-Fi to do some blogging, email, etc. I recommend the free iPhone App Wi-Fi Finder to track down good spots in your area. However, there are some national chains, besides Starbucks, that provide the free stuff:

Popular Free Wi-Fi Locations

Other Places to Get Free Wi-Fi

• McDonalds
• Einstein’s Bros Bagels
• Corner Bakery
• Hooters
• Borders
• Barnes and Noble
• Panera Bread
• Staples and Office Depot

One of my absolute favorite spots for free Wi-Fi is my local library. Quiet, cool, and no pressure to buy anything. I also spend time at other local coffee shops who have for a long time provided the free Wi-Fi. I will likely continue o support those local establishments when I’m working around town. But when I’m on the road, it will be nice to know there are a million Starbucks locations waiting on me with free Wi-Fi.

What about you? Do you take advantage of free Wi-Fi? Where is your favorite spot?

Starbucks Now Offers Free Wi-Fi | Plus 10 Other Places to Get Online for Free is a post from: PT Money: Personal Finance by PT.

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As the weather heats up for me here in Texas, my electric bill tends to rise as well. The culprit is obviously my A/C. The air conditioner uses a massive amount of electricity to do it’s thing. I’m glad I have it, but the costs can be surprising, especially in older homes. But saving money on the electric bill isn’t hard when you take the right steps. Here are a few:

Install a Programmable Thermostat – Set your air conditioner up on an automatic timer and have it raise the temperature when you are gone during the day (work, school, etc.) and lower it when you plan on being in the house. I go with 75 or 76 at night. Too hot?

Do More Outside the Home – If you’re stuck at home during the Summer months, try to get outside as much as possible. Use the A/C at the library, the mall, or visit the pool.

Protect Your Windows – Focus your efforts on the south facing side of the home. Keep the windows covered with blinds and curtains. Also make sure you aren’t leaking cool air. Check your window insulation for leaks. Grab some caulk and get to work.

Change Your Filter – Change your filter every month in the Summer.

Use Fans Properly – Use fans to cycle warm air out and bring the cool air in. Keep in mind that unless you are trying to cycle the air, fans only work if you are under them. Don’t leave fans on in empty rooms.

Shop Around for Cheaper Electricity Providers – Finally, if you can, shop around for different electricity providers and see if you can get a better rate elsewhere.

What tips do you have for staying cool in the Summer and keeping the electricity bill low?

Photo by macinate

Stay Cool When Saving Money on the Electric Bill is a post from: PT Money: Personal Finance by PT.

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I just purchased P90X from someone off of Craigslist. I was able to get it for $60. It’s still in the box and sealed. I feel pretty good about the purchase. If I can get 90 days of workouts from it, it will definitely be worth it. Here are some more ideas for getting fit this summer for less money:

Walk in the Park – Take advantage of the parks in your community. Make it a daily ritual to go to the park and make a couple of loops.

Mountain Bike Trails – Check out your local off road bike association and search for all the trails in your area. These are usually all free. Or, try a State park in your area. You’ll pay a small fee to enter, but you’ll have some nice trails to ride.

Walk the Mall – This is the coolest place in town to go walking for free. Most will even let walkers in early in the morning. Just don’t bring your wallet.

Community Fitness Center – If your community has a group fitness center for you to use, take advantage of this freebie and get in shape for free. It’s likely that your HOA dues are paying for it anyway. I once trained for a half marathon using nothing but a treadmill in my apartment fitness center.

Free Workout Programs – Try out the couch to 5k running program. Or test yourself in the one hundred push-up challenge.

How do you stay fit for less?

Carnivals: money hackers, debt reduction, personal finance, festival of frugality

Get Fit this Summer for Less is a post from: PT Money: Personal Finance by PT.

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