Live Cheap, Save Big

This is a guest post by foXnoMad, who writes on a wide variety of travel-related topics and looks to save you time and money when doing so:

All credit card based purchases made with your checking account ING card (select credit instead of debit) will get you 1% back, placed in your account each month.

If you don’t have ING, get referred by someone who does and have $25 placed in your account. Select credit on all purchases and get 1% on all online purchases made - up to $500. That equals $5.

If you’ll be spending money anyway, get some cash back. Plus you’ll earn 4.25% annual interest on your checking account and savings. Transferring between ING accounts is instant and you can move money from your existing bank account back and forth for no extra charge.

foXnoMad is having a holiday contest with the following prizes - a $75 Apple Gift Card, a $50 Amazon.com Gift Card, 2 Amazon.com $25 Gift Cards, and 2 Amazon.com $15 Gift Cards. Maybe you can win some gift cards to help you out with your holiday shopping.

All you have to do are the following 3 things by December 8, 2007 - gift cards will be emailed on December 10, 2008:

• Submit a 200 word post on a country not in our blog locations - It’s not an essay, just your experiences, personal recommendations, and other advice you have based on your travel to the country. Email your submissions via the contact page.
  • If you simply haven’t been to a country we’ve not written about, contact me and I’ll figure out an alternative.
• Drop At Least 3 Insightful Comments On Past Or Upcoming Posts By The Deadline - One of those comments should go under this post, about anything travel related. Please be creative
• Subscribe To The RSS Feed or Email Subscriptions - Look on the top right corner of each page. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

read the rest

The rules are pretty straightforward and don’t ask you to jump through hoops to enter. Plus your chances of winning are pretty darn good if you put a little thought into your writing. Why not spend a few minutes and try to win some holiday gift money? Or maybe you just want to blow it all on yourself!

Nothing makes Mom happier on Christmas than a framed picture of the family or that special one of the just the two of you. It’s because she knows you went through a considerable bit more time and effort than running into a store last minute and buying her a gift certificate like you usually do. If you have a photo-quality printer then you’re more than half the way there. If you don’t have a photo printer or a scanner, hit up a kiosk at a convenience or camera store and get your picture printed for a few dollars. All you need to do now is go to a department store during a weekend sale and pick up a picture frame for $20 or less. Picture frames are always on sale so chances are likely you can get a nice one for that price which looks like you spent a lot more.

So save yourself some money by spending a little time and effort, and you’ll be sure to come out as the thoughtful son or daughter this Christmas. Trust me, I can tell you from experience that it works!

Via belazier.com:

Eggs - The nice thing about eggs is there are countless ways to cook them and make them more than a Spartan meal if you’ve got accessories. Hard boiling, sunny side up, and scrambled are the most convenient. Add some salt, pepper, and tomatoes to fancy them up, if you can be bothered.

Like the article states, eggs are great because they’re delicious, super quick to make and easy to dress up with cheese, vegetable and a little spice. Plus, eggs are one of the cheapest foods around at just over a $1 for a dozen or $3 if you prefer to buy organic eggs. Either way, they’re super friendly on the wallet. Also making the top 5 list is pasta, which is also extremely easy to make and very cheap.

Cook pasta at home and you can feed 4 people for less than $15 and still have leftovers. You can also grill your own burgers and make sandwiches at home and still have a cheap delicious meal. Just because you’re saving money, doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice on taste.

If you’re addicted to anything that’s not good for you, like cigarettes or fast food, give yourself a financial incentive to quit. Stop indulging in the bad habit and take whatever you spend on that item daily and set it aside. If you’re addicted to cigarettes for example, take $4 a day and put it in a jar. At the end of one month you’re going to have $120 saved up, and you’ll probably also feel a whole lot more healthy. The same thing goes for unhealthy food, if you eat out at a fast food restaurant at least once a day, set that $5 aside you’ll have a nice chunk of change after a couple months. You should reward yourself with the savings by buying yourself something nice. I’m not saying you should go out and blow the whole amount but get yourself something you normally wouldn’t buy or you usually stinge yourself on. Even if you do decide to blow all the money, go ahead because you earned it by being good and its money much better spent!

Via msn money:

A quick-start guide for new graduates looking for their first job and first place of their own. This article outlines important steps you need to follow to get on with that second all-important stage of your life…working. Their advice regarding your first job:

Once you land a job, you’ll breathe easier, but keep a few things in mind:

• You’ll probably earn more money than you’re accustomed to, but Uncle Sam will take a bigger bite, too. Don’t spend your first paycheck before you actually get it. (Get an idea of what your take-home pay will look like here.)

• Your tax return will become more involved as your salary and investments increase. Plan for deductions. (However, the costs you incur landing your first job aren’t deductible.)

• Remember that your career is your most valuable asset. Manage it better than any other investment.

There is also other helpful advice for people new to the working world, including budgeting, saving, and resisting the urge to spend you new-found wealth. We all know that feeling of the first real paycheck we ever got, our first urge is t o go and blow the whole thing since we never really had money like that before. The article urges us to cut back on luxury expenditures and the fact that it’s never too early to start saving. If you’re about to graduate and search for your first job, check out the article for tons of good advice and tips.

Next time you’re thinking about how much you hate where you work, just be thankful your job didn’t make AOL Money’s worst jobs in America list. What really surprised me about the top 10 list was that being a model ranked as the number 8 worst job over number 9 dishwashers. According to them, the concentration of bad jobs in the modeling industry is a startling 79.2%:

Unless you’re a top model or work on “The Price Is Right,” your chances of raking in the cash are nil.

Also making the list were movie theater projectionist, tour guide and lifeguard. So next time you start complaining, thank your lucky stars you have an office job. Being a model and making $11.22 an hour doesn’t sound all that glamorous to me!

PNC Bank is offering a promotion where they will give you $101 free when you open a personal checking account with direct-deposit.  The direct-deposit has to be a minimum of $500 and the $101 will be deposited to your account within 7 days of the first one.  Giving away free money sounds like a great way to drum up some new business.  The nice thing about PNC is that they don’t charge ATM fees regardless of where you withdraw cash.  If the other bank charges a fee, PNC also refunds you the money.  If you decide you don’t like PNC bank, you can close your account before the 180-day probation period and only face a $25 penalty.  That’s still a free $76 in your pocket! After the 180 days the money is yours regardless of what you do.  Slickdeals.net offers a list of other free money deals being offered by banks and credit card companies.  So if you’re in the market for a new checking account, check out some of the promotions being offered by PNC and others and get yourself some free money in the process.

Cooking at home saves you a ton of money in the long run but it’s just not realistic to cook every single day. Whether you’re in the mood for something you can’t make, you’re short on time, or you just don’t feel like exerting the effort it takes to cook a meal, sometimes you just feel like eating out. There are still ways you can save on the bill when you do decide to go to a restaurant. The first thing you should do is order water with your meal. The markup on sodas, tea, beer and liquor is astronomical. You’re there to enjoy the food, water gives you something to wash it down and will not effect the flavor of your food. If you go somewhere known for their generous portions, skip the appetizer or share one. A lot of restaurants also include a soup or salad with the meal, do you really need an appetizer on top of that?  If you’re full after the meal, skip dessert and pick up some ice cream for later on the way home and save yourself some more money.  You can also see what specials they’re offering that day, as those dishes usually come with a better price tag.  Skipping the booze and sodas, appetizer and dessert can save you a hefty chunk off your restaurant bill and you can still enjoy a nice meal out.

A good date is not defined by how much money you spend, but the quality of time spent together. Many people think that to have a great date you have to sit down at a fancy restaurant and spend a bunch of money. But a great date can cost little to nothing if you find a fun outdoor activity to do together including miniature golf, a bike ride through a park , or taking a walk on a nice day. CNN.com offers some cheap and fun date ideas, including cooking a meal together at home. Not only does preparing a meal together serve as a fun bonding experience, but you also save a lot of money by not eating out.

The local paper is also a great resource for finding cheap date ideas. Local art openings are mostly free and usually provide food and beverages. Other free activities include outdoor music festivals, museum exhibits, and flea markets. There’s lots of great ways to have some fun, take in culture and save some money at the same time. All it takes is a little research to find out what’s going on in the area.