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Budget Travel - How to Get a Free Seat Upgrade

Jun 7th, 2009
by admin.
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Getting a free seat upgrade from Coach/Economy to Business class seams like a dream scenario unlikely to happen, but in reality it’s easy using one simple technique.

It takes a simple white lie. You should note that throughout this you need to maintain the most friendly, warm, understanding and empathetic body language and tone possible. It’s well known throughout the airline industry that losing “bad” or complaining customers isn’t a big deal - there is so much turnover that if a customer is complaining it’s better just to have them fly with someone else.

This works as long as your plane has screens on the seatbacks, which makes this ideal for long-haul flights. Simply ring for an attendant, and politely let them know that the headphones on your seat/screen don’t work.

They’ll bring you another set of headphones. “Try them out” and politely let them know this pair doesn’t work either. It helps to act a little and be understanding - “I’m really sorry for bugging you about this”, etc. It’s like waiters in a restaurant - they’re so used to assholes that when someone strangely polite comes along they’ll bend over backwards to help you.

At this point one of two things will happen. Most likely you’ll be taken up to an empty seat in business class, or if it’s not a full flight (unlikely for trans-oceanic) offered to relocate somewhere else in the economy cabin. If it’s the latter, tell them that you prefer the emergency exit row/window seat/aisle seat you currently have. At this point they’ll move you up to business, or feed you free drinks for the rest of the night. Not bad for 5 minutes of dialogue

Posted in: Budget Travel.

Cheap Meal Ideas - How to Eat Well on a Budget

Jun 6th, 2009
by admin.
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There are hundreds of ways to make meals that cost less than a dollar or two per serving. Before we share some recipes, here are some basic grocery store staples:

Rice
Beans
Canned Tomatoes
Lentils
Tortillas
Spinach (frozen or fresh, whatever is cheaper)
Bananas
Milk
Oatmeal (cheaper in large drums rather than packets)
Cheese (Cheaper when purchased in blocks and shred at home)
Bread
Pasta
Pasta sauces
Butter
Peanut butter
Garlic
Onion
Vegetables on sale
Vegetable bullion

You can make:
rice and beans
garlic spinach and rice
pasta
mac and cheese
grilled cheese
peanut butter and banana sandwiches
oatmeal with banana pieces
quesadillas
bean enchiladas
vegetarian bean chili
spinach lentil stew

And much much more.

Here are some simple, ultra-cheap recipes:

Home-made egg noodles

1 cup flour
1 large egg
1/2 eggshell full of milk (use the 1/2 of the eggshell as a measuring cup)

Mix, knead. roll thin, cut with a sharp knife. Throw in some boiling water with a chicken bullion cube. Total cost is like 20 cents and tastes better then any store bought.

Potato soup (crockpot recommended)

$2.00 bag potatoes
$1.50 can condensed milk
$.65 cent block of butter
salt, pepper

This is enough for 4-5 portions.
Dice up the potatoes, cover them with water, and let cook for an hour.
when you get back add butter/milk/salt and pepper to taste.

Share your unique opinion and get paid for it! Product Developers are willing to pay reviewers between $5 and $75 per completed survey.

Vegetarian Chili

2 cans black beans (or, if you want to do the work, you can always get dry beans and soak them yourself for about half the price)
2 cans red beans (or chili beans)
2 cans of diced tomatoes (don’t drain)
1 large onion
1/2 lb frozen corn
1/2 stick butter or margarine
1 bag of generic Chili seasoning
And you can always experiment with ingredients and seasoning
Cook in a big pot on low-med heat for at least 2 hours.

It makes about 8-10 bowls.

Mostachiolli

Mostachiolli noodles
Spaghetti sauce
Mozzarella cheese
1 lb ground beef

brown beef while boiling noodles
add together in a large pot
add sauce and put in a large baking dish
sprinkle cheese on top
bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted

Posted in: Cheap Food Eating and Meals.

Cheap Landscaping - How to Save 80% on Your Property

Jun 5th, 2009
by admin.
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The status quo for landscaping points to 10% of the value of your home as a budget for landscaping. This can amount to easily tens of thousands of dollars on the low end. However, if you’re smart about it and put in a little extra work, it can be done for as little as a fraction of that.

Get the biggest effect for the lowest amount of money

Most landscape design consultants will urge you to improve soil quality and adding trees. No matter how many plants you add to your yard, they’re not going to grow well or at all in poor soil conditions. With that being said:

Compost appropriate garbage as well as fall leaves

Soil can cost as much as 27 dollars per yard on average, without taking into account delivery charges.

Look beyond home improvement stores for bricks and stones

Demolition sites, abandoned buildings, and construction excess may yield hundreds to thousands of dollars in free pavers and other functional and decorative pieces. Make sure you do it in a safe fashion with permission, however.

Trade cutting and seeds with neighbors

This is a great way to diversify and increase the size of your garden and plant arrangements. Cuttings dipped in cloning gel (buy it at any nursery) can turn into fully mature plants much faster than seedlings, and free seeds can easily be germinated and sprouted within weeks.

Avoid expensive mistakes

Think in the long term when you’re going to plant. Is the noise of a water feature going to bother you? Is a pond dangerous for your children? Is a tree going to grow too close to your house and disrupt it? Simply brainstorming about the possible consequences of every decision will help avoid frustrating pitfalls.

Work for yourself

Try your best to set aside time to do the planting yourself. Hiring a professional landscaper to plant will oftentimes triple the cost of adding the plant to your garden or yard. You’ll typically save 20 dollars per hour of labor you do yourself

Buy smaller plants

Smaller plants can double or triple in size in months, and oftentimes cost 50-80% less than larger varieties. In many cases, it makes much more sense to buy 5 small plants for the price of 1 larger plant that simply has a head start.

Protect driveways and foundations

To avoid a costly or aesthetic error, plant trees 30 feet away from driveways or sensitive foundations. Roots can easily cause upheaval and will lead to a major headache down the road.

Consider drought-resistant plants

Yards and gardens can account for 20% or more of your water usage. Using plants that don’t require an excess amount of water can save you big on your water bill every month

A good way to finance the cost of your landscaping project

A good way to offset a significant portion of landscape costs with a few minutes of effort daily is to fill out surveys online. Big corporations need input from consumers and they’re willing to pay for it - each relatively quick survey pays between 5-75 dollars.

My two favorites:

Vindale Research - Share your unique opinion and get paid for it! Product Developers are willing to pay reviewers between $5 and $75 per completed survey.

Your Free Surveys - Join YourFreeSurveys and get $4 just for registering. Get paid up to $50 for taking online Surveys.

Posted in: Budget Gardening/Landscaping.

Cheap Gardening - How to Plant on a Budget

Jun 4th, 2009
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Cheap is good - but FREE is better! Join FreeFly’s and get FREE samples of name-brand products!

Gardening is an awesome hobby that is not only fun and relaxing, but can potentially save you hundreds of dollars a year from vegetable and fruit yields. Here are some tips on how to cultivate a garden on a cheap budget.

Save seeds from fruits and vegetables from the grocery store

You can easily dry them out and store them to plant, or plant immediately if the time is right. Not only is this free, but you’ll get more of what you already enjoy and cut down on your grocery bill.

Make your own soil/mulch

By fencing in a compost heap in a shaded corner of your yard, you can make soil for free that’s very high in nutrients and plants will love.

Effectively control weeds for free

Laying down a 10-sheet thick layer of newspaper with a hole cut to fit your plant through is an effective way to terminate weeds around your plants. Simply cover the newspaper in mulch and they’ll remain underneath for up to a year until they biodegrade

Attract birds to your garden

Not only are they a pleasant presence, but they will kill unwanted pests and insects that harm plants. Simply place a bird feeder and/or bird bath in your yard nearby.

Trade plants with neighbors

You can easily swap bulbs, cuttings, trimmings, and seeds with neighbors to diversify and grow your garden for free.

Compost fall leaves

It’s easy to come up with several, sometimes dozens of bags full of fall leaves that are otherwise a nuisance. They will compost through the fall and by mid spring you’ll have a good volume of amazing soil.

Use seed packets

Buying seedlings, bulbs, and young plants is a dozen times more expensive and totally unecessary. To germinate seeds simply place in a damp, folded paper towel in a ziplock bag over a mild heat source, such as the top of a refridgerator. After the seeds have germinated, place into peat moss or other gentle soil

Most hardy vegetables and fruits for a beginning gardener:

Herbs:

Mint, Lemon Balm

Vegetables:

Potatoes, Kale, Radishes, Tomatoes

Fruits:

Strawberries, Currant, Gooseberries

A good way to finance the cost of your garden

A good way that I either offset or make the expenses of my garden totally free with a few minutes of effort daily is to fill out surveys online. Big corporations need input from consumers and they’re willing to pay for it - each quick survey pays between 5-75 dollars.

My two favorites:

Vindale Research - Share your unique opinion and get paid for it! Product Developers are willing to pay reviewers between $5 and $75 per completed survey.

Your Free Surveys - Join YourFreeSurveys and get $4 just for registering. Get paid up to $50 for taking online Surveys.

Plant Perennials

This one is obvious, but flowers that come back year after year require less maintenance and cost

Posted in: Budget Gardening/Landscaping.

How to Make Cheap Non-Toxic Cleaning Products For Your Home

May 20th, 2009
by admin.
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Most people purchase cleaning products for around the house from stores. Even though they last a while, the money still adds up. You can make some safer, effective cleaning agents for all sorts of applications, using ingredients and supplies you can find around the kitchen or home. Here are some great examples:

All-around glass cleaner:
Mix 1 gallon of water with:
Half cup White vinegar
One Half tbsp dishwashing liquid

Alternatively:
1 cup water
1 cup rubbing alcohol
1 tbsp white vinegar

Wood Floor Cleaner:
Half Cup White Vinegar
Half Cup Vegetable Oil

Furniture Polish/Shine: (mixed in a spray bottle)
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup lemon juice

Posted in: Utilities/Home Budget.

Cheap Airfare Tickets: How To Get a Rock Bottom Price

Apr 3rd, 2009
by admin.
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When you book flights, are you dead sure you’re getting the cheapest ticket possible? Contrary to what you think, most people end up purchasing tickets for well above the price they need to pay to get to their destination. Independently booking your tickets online is definitely the way to go, so lets look at 3 great methods you need to follow to bottom out your price:

Step One: Website selection. You can rest assured that most of the “big name” sites scour the same database, and have roughly similar prices. You should give these sites a shot:

(.com)
Travelocity
Priceline
Expedia
Orbitz

And make absolutely sure you visit the “king” of ticket searchers, Kayak (.com)

Checking your dates on each site for your trip will honestly take no more than five to ten minutes. In this 5 minutes you can save hundreds of dollars.

Step 2: Consider your dates.

It’s pretty much a no-brainer to book as far ahead as you can. The closer you get to your departure the more expensive the ticket, but you probably already knew that. However, you strongly need to think about what day of the week you’re flying out and in on. Monday through thursday will definitely be the cheapest dates - If you can slide the schedule of your flights back and forth even a day, it can be the difference between a 500 dollar and an 800 dollar ticket. No joke.

Also, are you traveling internationally? Make sure you look up local and national holidays of the country you’re visiting! If you’re flying in on a local holiday when everyone and their mother is going to have tickets booked, prices will be sky high.

Step 3: This will save you at least 10 dollars, and most people don’t even know about it. The big airline discounters you searched on usually ALWAYS tack on a 10 dollar “service” fee to beef up their revenues. Once you find the right flight with them, simply visit the .com website of the airline that’s scheduling that route, and book through their website. Instant Savings for 45 seconds of effort. Not bad huh?

Posted in: Budget Travel.

Budget Meal Plan: How to Eat For Less Than 20 Dollars Per Week

Apr 1st, 2009
by admin.
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Cheap groceries, and more importantly cooking more meals, is the easiest way to save money and has the largest immediate impact upon your budget. Even eating out as cheap as possible, it’s easy to spend over 15 dollars a day on horrible over the counter food. By preparing your own meals and packing lunch, you can eat for a few dollars a day, and not sacrifice anything but a few minutes of time. When you make the switch, you can save over 300 dollars per month without even noticing a difference in lifestyle. Here are some things you need to pick up, as well as some simple recipe ideas:

Eggs:
Dozens of possibilities. Beyond scrambled, over-easy, and poached, you can put almost anything in an omelette
Bread:
Useful for sandwiches and more, a basic staple
Beans (canned):
Can be combined with most sauces for high protein, high fiber meals. You can easily dump out some canned beans in a pan and add diced veggies and tomato sauce to make a vegetarian chili within minutes
Rice:
Hundreds of possibilities for combination with meat, bakes, stir-fries, sauces, curry and spices, etc
Pasta:
Like rice, can be combined with a vast amount of sauces and meats
Tomato/pasta sauces:
For pasta and rice
Spices of various varieties:
A one-time purchase of 5 or so spices will last a long time and make sure you don’t get sick of any particular flavors/styles of cooking
Vegetables that are on sale/special:
Low calorie, high fiber, good variety of flavor/texture for dishes
Chicken or beef that’s on sale/special:
Protein and variety of flavor

The important thing here isn’t just that these things often result in fulfilling, delicious, nutritious meals that can cost less than a dollar, you can make thousands of combinations of food. Pasta and chicken combined with various spices and sauces can yield more combinations of food than you’ll ever get sick of eating (or making). Rice is a staple world-wide with obviously can be prepared hundreds of ways, and most people in the western world cast it aside.

Share your unique opinion and get paid for it! Product Developers are willing to pay reviewers between $5 and $75 per completed survey.

When shopping for any of the above, make a list and stick to it. Avoid full price vegetables and meat, they can make or break your budget. Many grocery stores have a weekly newspaper that you can pick up near the entrance, and glancing over it can let you know where the amazing deals currently are. Also, make sure to take your time when looking up and down the aisle. Cheap groceries are mostly found up high or at your feet - additionally, look at the unit price (per ounce, liter, gram, etc). This does all the calculation for you and should be in smaller print under or next to the price on the aisle shelves.

Anyway start cooking now! In a few months you can save up the difference it costs to go on a vacation!

Posted in: Cheap Food Eating and Meals.

Cheap Trendy Clothes: A High Fashion How-To

Apr 1st, 2009
by admin.
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Putting together cheap trendy clothes without spending a ton of money is hard. Before I got involved with fashion and traveled to New York, Paris, London, and Milan during a long internship, I was pretty clueless. But now I’ve learned the best ways to get amazing looking and up to date stylish clothing for dirt cheap! When you see people in these fashion cities walking all over the place, you’ve gotta wonder how they can afford it. Here are 4 ways I’ve learned!

You need to know some basic big fashion city styles. Your own personal style might be ok, but the trends in these fashion meccas are pretty timeless - You don’t want to look like you just stepped out of a High School in Kansas. Most of the clothes aren’t super flashy or covered in massive labels, like they are on fake designer and cheap mall clothing. Go for solid colors or simple patterns in a well-fitting silhouette, and you’re already a step ahead of everyone. Where does one find such things for cheap?

A way to get high-fashion designer looks for cheaper than even sale price is sample sales. It’s kinda tough finding these unless you already live in a big city, but if you know where to look you can find them online! There are several organizations online that absorb designer’s samples before they even get to these frenzied sales, and offer them to you via an online inventory. Simply google “online sample sales”, you’ll find several good results (such as gilt group, based out of NYC)

Share your unique opinion and get paid for it! Product Developers are willing to pay reviewers between $5 and $75 per completed survey.

Although sample sales offer deep discounts, even this may be too pricey for many. Another great way to get amazing and cheap trendy clothes (without spending hundreds per piece) is simply picking the right retailers. These retailers offer high fashion designs made by very talented design teams (based in the major fashion cities) manufactured in places other than Italy, letting you buy the same patterns and silhouettes for literally 1/10th of the price. These stores are H&M, Zara, and Uniqlo (occasionally Urban Outfitters). If you don’t have any in your city, check them out online. Additionally, American Apparel offers a lot of timeless, well-proportioned, solid pieces that are by definition cheap trendy clothes.

Some hazards:

Avoid the mall! Most mall brand clothing is tacky and the fits are several sizes too big (unless you’re really chunky) and just downright unflattering. Not only that, the clothing is manufactured in the worst places possible and prone to falling apart the fastest. Also, avoid ebay. Most high fashion clothing and accessories are fake - Even if the labels are attached, with hologram and all, they’re bound to be fake. If the place making the stuff can fake the clothing, making a few decent tags is cake.

If all else fails, go to the thrift store. Check out fashion blogs and runway reports and try to match up the style with garments found here. This method takes some time and patience, but you’d be surprised at how many people in New York frequent these to complete looks.

Posted in: Clothing and Fashion.

How to Easily Create a Personal Budget Within Minutes

Apr 1st, 2009
by admin.
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Do you find yourself making a decent amount of money, but never really figure out where it all goes? Do you ever wonder exactly how much you spend on food or booze? During grim economic times, ignorance really isn’t bliss. You can save a ton of cash making a personal budget and every month eliminate things that you don’t even really think about. Here is how:

Firstly, you need to consider your base cost. These are things that are essential to survival, or things you simply will not budge on. A lot of savings advisers will tell you to drop your phone plan, high speed internet, and move into a cheaper apartment. Complete upheaval of your personal foundation isn’t necessary whatsoever, but to create a decent personal budget, organization is.

Things to consider for your base costs:
Rent & Utilities
Phone Bill
Car Insurance
Credit Card Minimum

These are inflexible. Unless you’re living in an apartment way beyond your means by yourself, or have a 150 dollar data plan, move on

Share your unique opinion and get paid for it! Product Developers are willing to pay reviewers between $5 and $75 per completed survey.

Now come secondary costs. These things are essential but can be easily adjusted:
Food
Gas
Entertainment (including the bar, partying)
Clothing

Now, compare this total with your income. Be liberal in your estimate to account for the most spendy months. How does it shape up, and how can you change it?

Assuming you’re reasonable with clothing and don’t drink more than two-three nights a week, the biggest budget killer is food. Most either don’t cook, or cook rarely. You may be surprised to find out what seem like three cheap fast food meals can equal three to five days of grocery.

Here are some staples that can create a massive variety of dishes, and can cost around 50 cents per meal:

Eggs (Scrambled, over-easy, ((either on toast)), poached, fried, etc)
Beans (In sauce, or with veggies, you can easily make a vegetarian chili)
Pasta (Unlimited possibilities to combine with various sauces, veggies, meats)
Chicken (Fried, pan-sauteed, poached, baked, thousands of possibilities and marinades)
Rice (As many, if not more possibilities than pasta. This is a staple across the whole world but an afterthought here. Obviously there are thousands of ways to prepare it)
Bread (to be combined with the above, obviously you can go the spread route or pile on chicken or cold-cuts to be taken with you for lunch)

And make sure to save the plastic grocery bags! They can be used for a variety of things, like trash liners, picking up after pets, lunch-bags, etc.

So many people spend between 15 to 30 dollars daily on food and things like coffee without realizing it. One trip to Starbucks can buy you a day and half of groceries. If you can wake up 15 minutes earlier to eat breakfast, and possibly pack your lunch, you can save enough to make a car payment, a rent payment, or at least take massive chunks out of credit card debt, all the while teaching oneself how to cook and live healthier.

Posted in: Budgeting Advice.

Cheap Booze: How to get Wasted Without Spending Much

Apr 1st, 2009
by admin.
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If you enjoy going out and getting hammered but don’t really dig spending 50 bucks getting drunk at some random bar, there are many options available to you

First off, this is new secret to most people, but pre-gaming is crucial. If you live in a major city, cheap booze is impossible to find at bars. A beer can cost 5 dollars and mixed drinks more. Even at a cheap college bar, shots can cost 5bucks. What this translates into is dropping serious cash just go get a buzz going. Pre-gaming successfully is all about finding a balance of getting as drunk as possible off your own alcohol before you leave, while still being functional enough to make it out without trouble.

Secondly, bring a flask. Yeah, I know, that may seem somewhat shady or cheap to be drinking from a flask at a bar, but guess what - everyone there is drunk. Obviously if you’re going out for drinks and on a date, you’re going to look like an asshole, but this definitely isn’t the case here. I’ve done it a few times, and anyone that’s noticed has simply showered me in praise for the idea, slurring out promises that they’re going to do the same next weekend. If you can hold 5 or 6 shots in one flask, you instantly save 30 dollars. Carrying one between bars to maintain your level is also key, and it’s likely you’re going to have your drunk buddies begging you to get a sip on the way back.

A third and ultimate way of getting cheap booze is simply to make it yourself. A simple home-made wine can be made for around a dollar per gallon, and will get anyone drunk. The process is fairly simple, and the ingredients can be either bought at a grocery store or found around the house. All it involves is combing a fruit juice with yeast and sugar in a clean, sterilized container, and waiting.

Posted in: Cheap Entertainment.

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