Money for the Rest of Us

That’s right, I’m in the middle of finals right now (including stats); so there probably won’t be regular posting until the end of next week.

There’s a big pieces in travel news this week:
Skybus- an ultra-low cost ($10 plus taxes) airline opened their website for ticket sales this week. They start flying in May. There’s a really good post about it over at Upgrade Travel, so I’ll defer you to him for the details. But, when it comes down to it, this is truly a no-frills airline. For instance, you pay to check luggage and aren’t allowed to bring ANY food or drink on the plane.

I’m flying to Seattle later this summer for a wedding so I did a quick look into flying there from Richmond (a 2 hour drive from DC, but the closest airport they fly from.) You have to fly through Columbus, OH and buy your tickets separately. To get right to the point, it wouldn’t be worth it to me to save the $120 bucks that I would save by flying with them. Richmond is out of the way, as is the closest Seattle airport they fly to (Bellingham). Plus, based on the flight times, I would have to stay over night in Columbus.

I can see this being a great deal for people who live in Columbus, but that’s about it. Hopefully, though, the low prices will drive other airlines’ prices down.

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I have a wonderful loving old Golden Retriever who has kidney disease.  We discovered this about 2 years ago after she had been peeing on our rug (even if we were gone for just 3 hours) and we took her to the vet.  After a number of blood tests they determined that she has kidney disease and that a special kind of perscription dog food would help.  It does– she doesn’t pee on the rug any more and she still is relatively healthy for a 12-year-old dog.

Here’s the kicker– the biggest and best value bag of the food is $66.  This lasts about a month and a half.  Now, on a small non-profit worker’s/student’s budget, this is a ton of money, but it’s well worth it to be able to have such a loving animal around.  So, yesterday I drove over to the vet to pick it the bag of dog food and I got a parking ticket!  Yes, suddenly that $66 bag of dog food became $116.  I was parked halfway in a legal spot with my flashers on and was only inside for 5 mins.  What are the chances that the parking enforcers would come by right then?

The moral of the story is, watch where you park (especially in DC).  A product’s price can suddenly go through the roof when you start adding additional costs.

We’ve all heard about the gender pay gap– women earn anywhere from 65 cents to 75 cents to men’s $1. But that’s certainly couldn’t be true for our generation– twentysomethings right out of college. There’s no way we can be earning less than men our age at our exact same jobs, is there?

Apparently, there is. According to a recent study by the American Association of University Women women just one year out of college earn only 80 percent as much as males. (That’s 80 cents to the dollar.)

“Wait, wait” you say, “women work lower paying jobs in lower paying fields.”

Yes, this is true, but even accounting for that, women still earn less than men:

In education, a female-dominated major, women earn 95 percent as much as their male colleagues earn. In biological sciences, a mixed-gender major, women earn only 75 percent as much as men earn. Likewise in mathematics—a male- dominated major—women earn only 76 percent as much as men earn.

It seems that no matter what field you choose, as a woman, (on average) you will earn less than your male counterparts.

Say what you want, but discrimination exists. And unfortunately, as these numbers reveal, we are not about to see the end of it anytime soon.
You can read the CNN article about the study here. And you can download the full report here.

The 15 Tips for Cheap Travel series is now over. I really enjoyed writing it and I hope that everyone enjoyed the tips the series offered. For those of you who want an easy to navigate format here it is.

15 Tips for Cheap Travel:

1. Ask What’s Fixed and What’s Flexible
2. a. How to Find Cheap Tickets and b. How to Find Cheap Plane Tickets
3. How to Find Cheap Lodging
4. Consider a Package Deal
5. Creating a Travel Budget
6. Doing Research Before You Go
7. How to Save at Home While You’re Away
8. What to Pack
9. How to Get to (and from) the Airport
10. Enjoy Yourself While You’re There
11. How to Exchange Money
12. How to Get a Cheap Rental Car
13. Getting Around
14. How to Find Cheap Eats
15. Getting Home- VAT Taxes, Ordering Photos, and More

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This is the fifteenth post of the series “15 Tips for Cheap Travel.” You can navigate the rest of the series by going to the 15 Tips for Cheap Travel index.

Once your trip is over, it’s time to return home. Unfortunately, getting back home will cost money too. Here are some things to think about when returning home:

VAT Taxes. A number of countries (including every country in the European Union) charge a form of sales-like tax which is called the Value Added Tax (VAT). (Here’s the Wikipedia article about VAT Taxes if you don’t know much about them.) This tax may be up to 25% and is charged on everything from jewelery to hotel rooms. Luckily, as a foreigner you can get this payment back on major purchases. When you do make a major purchase, ask for the VAT documents. They will give you some paperwork and special stamps and receipts. Once you are back at the airport ready to go home you will go to the VAT reclaim counter to get your money back. I’ve done it before and it’s not as hard as it sounds. The complicated part is finding out the specific VAT rules for each country and finding the VAT reclaim office in the airport. To find out the country’s specific VAT tax rules ask someone who works at your hotel or consult a guidebook as the VAT Tax laws vary from country to country. Then, just get to the airport a 1/2 hour earlier than normal and ask where the VAT reclaim office is. Usually there is a short line. You also have the option of using a VAT reclaim service through the mail, but these services take a lot longer than just showing up at the airport’s office.

Getting home from the airport. Check out the previous tip about getting to and from the airport to ensure that you’re traveling in the cheapest manner.

Filling out your budget. To know that you have traveled within your budget, fill it out within a week of returning home. If you haven’t already downloaded the sample travel budget that I created, you can download it here.

Photos. Remember the days of film cameras? I couldn’t wait to go to Target and get my pictures developed to see how they all turned out. With the advent of the digital camera, we no longer have to wait as long or pay as much. With digital cameras you can just order the photos you want and you don’t have to order the one you accidentally took of your foot. (Unfortunately, with this philosophy, I sometimes take too many pictures because I know I can just delete them later. But, then I don’t want to actually delete the bad ones– because they’re also the fun and funny pictures.)

So, where do you go to get your digital pictures developed? What do you use to post them online? Several years ago after doing a lot of research I decided on Winkflash. They only charge 12 cents a photo and the shipping is a flat rate of $0.99. I had used Snapfish, but hated paying $5 or $10 for shipping. Plus, Winkflash stores your photos indefinitely. (Make sure you still keep your own backup copy.) I’ve been very happy with Winkflash and would definitely recommend them. But, that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t switch if I found a better deal somewhere else.

I would love some comments on this one. What online photo service do you use to get your pictures developed?

The definition of rich is something I often think about and it’s something I’ve previously written about in the post “What does it Mean to Be Rich?” So, whenever I come across someone’s definition I pay close attention.

In Suze Orman’s newest book, Women & Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny she offers an interesting definition of “rich”. Suze is quoting an email she received from a friend who said that Suze didn’t understand what being rich meant to different people:

“‘Rich means different things to different people,’ she wrote ‘Financial security is your [Suze’s] lifeblood. Creative freedom and expression is mine. If you can experience life in all its forms and experience that you are one with it, then you are the richest person in the world.’”

So, for this woman, if she were rich, it would mean that she could be as creative as she wanted without having to worry about money. Tying the definition of rich into your own goals and values is something that’s really worth thinking about.

The question we should ask ourselves becomes: “How are my values and goals reflected in my definition of rich?”

This is the fourteenth post of the series “15 Tips for Cheap Travel.” You can navigate the rest of the series by going to the 15 Tips for Cheap Travel Index.

When you visit a new city you will want to try all the local foods that the city has to offer, but you will also want to keep within your budget. Here are some ways to cut down on costs, while still enjoying tasty foods:

• If your hotel has a fridge:
• Get milk, cereal and yogurt and make breakfast in your room
• Save leftovers from restaurants
• If your hotel has breakfast included:
• Take an extra piece of fruit or bread to eat for a snack at a later point in time
• Eat Dinner for Lunch: Many restaurants offer lunch menus with prices that are significantly cheaper than their dinner menus.
• Have a Picnic Meal: Find a local bakery and cheese shop, make some sandwiches, and relax in the park.
• Check out the stands: Most big cities have street vendors that offer delicious food at very reasonable prices. How do you go about choosing one? Find the stand with the longest line.
• Find the Local University: Cheap food is abundant around colleges and universities. If you’re unsure which restaurant or stand to go to, find the one with the longest line or ask a kid with a backpack. They’ll be happy to recommend something.
• Search Best Cheap Eats: Do an internet search for “Best Cheap Eats” + your destination. You wouldn’t believe the number of cheap eat and bargain lists available on the internet. I did this before a recent trip to Toronto and found several lists with wonderful and cheap food.
• Don’t skimp on your favorites: You are on vacation so remember to enjoy yourself. If you like a particular kind of food (Italian, French, Hamburgers, Ice Cream) search for it on the internet before you go. Make a point to stop and spend an extra dollar or two at these special places.
• Buy snacks: Go to a local grocery store and buy a box of granola bars to carry with you. You’re much more likely to splurge when you’re starving.
• Drink lots of water: Not only will this keep you feeling fuller (thus less splurging) drinking water keeps you healthy when traveling.
• Eats fruits and vegetables: Like with drinking water, fruits and veggies keep you full and healthy. And you can pick up fruit for relatively cheap at the grocery store.

The weather is certainly not pleasant in D.C. today. It’s cold and rainy and windy; but at least we’re not flooded (yet) like the rest of the Northeast. Thanks goodness there is some good reading to start out the week. Take a look at the following posts:

The 96th Carnival of Personal Finance is up at All Financial Matters.  My post on the 5 Best Online Comparison Shopping Tools was featured.  Two posts from the Carnival I particularly enjoyed were: Five Steps to Get Your Home in Shape for Summer and 8 Secrets of the Naturally Slim (Wealthy).

No Limits Ladies has a great post about Single Women and Budgeting Software that may help you choose what software you want to use for your budget.

And for those of you who are pondering what to do with your life, Lifehack’s How to Use Natural Selection to Drive Your Career is thought provoking.

If you buy a Chipotle burrito today (April 14) or tomorrow (April 15) you get a free one on Monday (April 16th) to “EZ Your Tax Day Pain”.

And Tuesday (April 17th) is Free Cone Day at Ben and Jerry’s (as I mentioned in a previous post in how to get free ice cream.)

Mmm, free burritos and ice cream.  Life doesn’t get much better than this!