Not Another Green Movie

Well, this budgeting thing might just be easier than I thought.  For some pointers, check out this video, How to Live on a Budget, at Howcast.com.  For those of you who don't know, Howcast.com is a cool site that offers how-to videos for a variety of topics from "How to Train a Cat" to "How to Make Sushi".  I've found that a few of them have actually been pretty useful.

As for "How to Live on a Budget", well, the pointers may be a little on the basic side (one bulleted point being "Instead of buying napkins, use your sleeve"), but the video is fairly funny.  There are a few more videos in their personal finance section which might come in handy in case this first one isn't exactly effective: How to Get Paid for Donating Plasma, and How to Successfully Beg for Money.  Hopefully, I won't be needing that last one anytime soon...

Roamin' Holiday

Spring is finally here, and though it's beautiful in the bay, we all know that this is the time when a young man's heart turns to flights...well, maybe just flights.  

I don't know about you, but I love to travel.  Given my financial situation right now, it doesn't look like a trip will be in the works for a little while, but one can dream.  For those of you who aren't completely broke, I just noticed this AOL slideshow about cheap luxury hotels.

I can tell you from first-hand experience that some of the best location spots are off the usual tourist track.  Vacationing to a country with a developing, growing economy can mean lower prices and fewer other tourists (ick).  I was lucky enough to travel to Thailand in 2006, and it was definitely one of my favorite vacations.  The architecture was different, the people were inviting, and the dollar was strong.

This AOL slideshow features some hotels in other locations I would like to visit.  Though Prague has blown up in popularity recently, they point out that the Czech Republic is still not yet on the Euro (is this still true?), so hotels can be found cheaper.  In addition, they point out hotel deals in island destinations like Bali or St. Lucia.  Lying on a beach right now doesn't sound all too bad, does it?

Cheap Luxury Hotels

Know of any other hot, budget vacation destinations?  Post them in the comments for other readers.

The Rose & Crown Affair

One of the hardest things to do when you're broke in the bay is finding evening activities that won't break your budget.  Anything from a movie with a date to a night out at a bar can easily end up costing you over $30.

Try Trivia Night at the Rose & Crown in Palo Alto.  Every Tuesday, from 9-12 pm, teams cram into the tiny bar on Emerson St to compete against each other in a 7-round trivia battle with some fun theme rounds thrown in to shake things up.

No doubt, the questions can be hard.  If your team is prepared to brush up on your knowledge of 19th century professional bicycle racing or German physicists, you might best some of the regulars like "Steel Tortoise", "Four Fat Indians", and "Hexapus".  If you do win a round, you'll get free beers for the table.  Win the night and you'll get a free dinner the next week (which I've heard is pretty good).

I went last night, and I got three hours of entertainment with friends without paying a cent.  Win or lose, that sounds like a good deal.

The Feed Hunter

Hey everyone - just wanted to let you know that there's a new way to tap into the non-stop action happening on my blog.  Subscribe to my feed and you'll automatically be notified

Hey everyone - just wanted to let you know that there's a new way to tap into the non-stop action happening on my blog.  Subscribe to my feed and you'll automatically be notified when I put up a new post.  Just click the link on the right side that says "Subscribe to a Reader" and you can add me to your Google/Yahoo/Whatever reader.

I believe it was Seneca who said, "Feed your mind, and the rest will follow."  Wait, maybe that was En Vogue.  I'll get back to you on that.

The Day the Line Stood Still

I just came back from another glorious trip to CostCo.  

Like many of you savers, I have a love/hate relationship with the place.  Because it's more fun, I'm going to start with a couple of reasons why I hate it:

1) Ridiculous Lines - No matter what time of day I go, the checkout line is never less than 15 minutes long.  Ridiculous also is the fact that most people walk down the main aisle and just get into the checkout line directly in front of them despite the fact that if you attempted to turn your head to the left or right, you would see that 5 extra feet of walking would bring you to a line that was half as long.  Unfortunately, the people who don't employ this option will also prevent you from doing so for one of two reasons.  Either their command of the English language/intuitive hand gestures/running into their cart is insufficient to allow you to communicate that you want to get through, or they are so unbelievably large that moving out of the way just isn't an option.

2) Stupid People - Stepping into an aisle at CostCo is like being transported to a magical land where the population is comprised of round little creatures that move randomly in slow motion and don't respond to any stimuli whatsoever.  Once they start moving, they don't stop, no matter what they happen to plow into (you, a child, a forklift, etc.).  Today, I came down an aisle to find four people deadlocked in an intersection.  After a few seconds of waiting, I doubled back down the aisle to go around them.  Weeks from now, I am sure I will return to that intersection to see their 4 skeletons slumped over their carts as a free-sample woman mournfully cries into the distance, "ooooOOOORGANIC RAISIN BRAAAAAAAANnnnn..."

Negatives aside - CostCo is a must for those of us trying to save on food.  Even if the prices aren't the lowest you can find, they are almost always competitive.  Many people have discovered that they will make back the $50 spent on a Gold Star Membership in only a few trips.  

However, I have noticed that very few people spring the $100 for the Executive Membership.  For the uninitiated, the Executive Membership (or E.M. as we say at the Club Meetings) gets you 2% back on your purchases in the form of a refund coupon at the end of the year.  At this point, most people respond - "Well, to make back that extra $50, I'd have to spend at least $2500 at CostCo in a year.  I'll never spend that much."

My helpful fact of the day is this: When I signed up for my CostCo card a couple of months ago, I learned that if you finish the year with a refund check of under $50, they pay you the difference.  Thus, if you spend $1500 in a year, you can bring your $30 refund check in and they will give you $20 more to make up the difference.  Thus, you can't lose with the Executive Membership.  And, if you happen to develop a severe addiction to Jalapeno Poppers or Ling Ling Dumplings, you could perhaps make back even more.

Anyways, it doesn't say this on the CostCo website for some reason, but if you are interested, I encourage you to ask about it in person.

The Bear Ditch Project

Obviously, this late in the day, the news about Bear Stearns isn't new to anyone, but in case you've somehow managed to miss all of it, here's a short recap:

Bear Stearns, the 5th-largest investment bank in the country, was in financial trouble last Friday, and was bailed out of trouble by JPMorgan and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.  However, last night, it was announced that JPMorgan was buying Bear Stearns at just $2 a share (down over $25) or for a total of $236 million.  For a sense of how ridiculously low that is, the Bear Stearns building alone is worth about $1.2 billion.

That's right - Bear Stearns - the ages-old investment bank where some of your friends probably went off to work after college suddenly doesn't exist anymore after being bought for the amount of winnings of a lucky powerball ticket.  How is that possible?  

I will be the first person to admit that I am clueless about the economy, but I am smart enough to know that when companies which survived The Great Depression suddenly fold, we are in trouble.  If you understand what is going on with the economy, feel free to post your insights in the comments.  

In short, I'm looking for someone to tell me whether or not I should start lining up for government cheese soon.  

In the meantime, here are some articles I am reading to educate myself/freak myself out:

International Herald Tribune - Which Investment Bank is Next?

New York Times - Bear's Downfall May Spread

Kiplinger - Bear Stearns: Tip of the Iceberg

Fare Game

My parents have been asking me to come visit New York recently, so I was dismayed to notice this article on the SFGate site about United Airlines raising their prices.  As San Francisco is a hub for United, they have been my primary airline in the past couple of years (that's where my credit card miles go), and I fly them often. 

United's never been all too cheap, but it never seemed to bother me last year when I could expense my flights.  However, with fare increases of up to $50 on round-trip continental flights (due to rising oil prices), I started to worry.  For those of you who fly other airlines, you may be aware that other carriers have been slowly increasing fares recently as well, but for Continental customers, note that Continental is matching United's massive increase.

The article did say that the fare increases would be tempered by competition in certain markets - so to satisfy my own curiosity, I priced out flights from SFO to New York City on a random weekend in April (April 17th - April 21st).  Here are the lowest fares I got on each airline (taxes and fees included):

American: $299

Delta: $299

United: $299

Virgin America: $304

Northwest: $306

US Airways: $308

Continental: $309

JetBlue: $359

Anyways, it looks like these hikes don't seem to apply to SFO-NYC flights, as competition with the "low-fare" (not that low) airlines seems to be keeping a handle on prices.  Good news for those of us flying to NY - how have fares changed on your flights?