As many of you know, my husband, Jon, and I recently took a trip to Europe. What most of you don't know is the process I went through to get the best deal I could on this trip. I am reminded of this because of some friends who also took big trips to Europe (you know who you are) were amazed by the constantly reducing price of my trip.
People who know me best, know that I will not pay full price for anything including vacations. With the Internet you can do quick searches to find who has the best deal, that's a given. But how many of you then call the company to see if you can get even a better deal???? I do!!!
We took a 12 day cruise from Venice to Barcelona and booked the trip almost a year in advance. We were part of a larger group although we each booked separately. I searched several websites and compared what was being offered at each site and against a local travel agent. How cruises work is that you put a down payment and then have to be paid in full a few months prior to your cruise. So we found the best deal and put the deposit down. What a lot of people do not realize is that during the time from your deposit to the full payment date, if the price of the cruise goes down, you can get the reduced rate. The catch is that you have to call the agency because it is not automatic. The first time we called, the cruise price dropped $1,000. Needless to say, I did this a couple of times. Even after the cruise was paid for, I called again to see if they are offering any upgrades and what the price would be? We upgraded from an obstructed view room to a veranda (balcony) cabin for a total price of $250. But once again, had I not called, we would not have received the deal.
Now the airfare. Just like the cruise, we booked our airfare well in advance. And like the cruise the prices dropped. Most people's initial response is that the airfare is booked and nothing can be done. WRONG!!! I noticed on the website that the price was lower so I called and discovered that the ticket agent's price was even lower that what the website said. Most airlines will not refund money, but they will give you a voucher for the difference. So we both received a voucher for $350 each which we will be using very soon.
The lesson is that it does not hurt to ask for a discount. This also applies to shopping at a store. For example, we go to Best Buy a lot and will check out their open box items. When we find a OB item we are wanting, we will ask if that is the best price they can do. Many times we'll get another 10% off. A few years ago we purchased a TV that was an OB, not only did we get an additional 10%, they threw in a remote since the original one was missing.
I even applied this to EBAY "buy it now" items. I will contact the seller and see if they will take a less price. What is the worst they can do but say no.
Even my mom applied this. She was looking a a new washer/dryer and went to Lowe's first. After noting the prices and specials she then went to Sears. As it turns out, Sears had a lower price on the units, but Lowe's was offering additional specials on delivery and other components. She returned to Lowe's and explained that Sears had a lower price, not only did Lowe's honor Sears' price, she also got all the other specials being offered. Many retailers have a price match but of course you have to do your homework and make sure you ask for the match.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Eating out while staying in
I have to say that the new movie, Julie and Julia, has inspired me to write this.
With my and my husband's schedules being what they are, finding a date night can be limiting. When we do have that night, we would go out to one of the restaurants around here. After a while it got to the point where we were going to the same places, and ordering the same food and of course the price of going out keeps going up. I came up with an alternative to going out but also be able to enjoy the same quality and uniqueness of food for less the cost. I have to be honest, no one can ever accuse me of being a gourmet chef. For those of you who know me know that a good bowl of pasta will do me fine. Nonetheless, I was determined to be different. So a couple of years ago I purchased some cookbooks from Williams Sonoma and decided to surprise my husband with some fabulous meal.
Not sure if it turned out to be fabulous or not, but it did spark an idea. Instead of going out, we would go through the cookbooks and pick out what we would like to have for dinner and then help out making the dish. I found this to be much more fun that I anticipated and cheaper.
For me, cooking is rather boring; but, as it turns out, that is because of what I was making. You can only do Hamburger Helper so many times before you can't stand looking at the box. By trying new recipes, we got to enjoy unique dishes using ingredients we never though much about in the past. Also, because we did this together, we discovered a new shared interest.
Now when we do go out, we compare the quality of the Prime Rib at the restaurant to our recipe and no one is able to top my Creme Burlee.
The real cost of employment
Many years ago when I starting working, I was so excited to earn a paycheck so I can buy what I wanted when I wanted and not have to depend on anyone. What I did not realize is how quickly my paycheck seemed to disappear even though I did not make any major changes to my life style. I remember my mom giving me $10 a week to pay for lunch when I was in high school and I could make that last the entire week without a problem. So why was it that when I started to earn money, it seemed like I had less money? Here was a lesson I learned about the real cost of employment.
This is not to say that it is better to be unemployed. I know too many people who are looking for work and not finding it. What I am saying is to evaluate how much it costs to go to work and then use that infomation to make sure the job you have or looking at is right for you. What is the cost of actually working. Sure, you get paid for you employment, but do you realize that you pay to be employed? Let's start at the begining of the day. Most employers require some form of dress code. Whether it is a required uniform or just a dress code, you as the employee are required to purchase the clothing and shoes. Of course, you have to keep your clothing clean and if you work in an office, your clothing may require dry cleaning. How much do you think you spend on work related clothing in a year? Women will on average spend more per year then men. So let's say that the average work clothing purchases are $700 per year and another $300 in cleaning those clothes. ( I am sure some of you can think about just one day's spending at the mall being more that this)
Next is your overall appearance. Most people bathe and groom before going into work. This is not to imply that you do not do those things on other days. This is just to get an idea of the cost of the "little" extras you do for work. So let's say $200 per year to just the work cause.
Now how do you get to work. Assuming you drive to work, that means you own a car and put gas in that car and provide insurance and maintance. If the average commute is 30 miles round trip per day and the average gas right now is $2.50 and the average MPG on cars is 19 mpg which means that you spend $3.75 a day or $975 a year in gas getting to and from work. What about insurance and maintance? Let's say $1,000 a year to cover insurance and maintance of which 24% of that is allocated for the working time during a year so $240 a year.
Where are we at so far:
$700
$300
$200
$975
$240
_____
$2,415
Now food. Of course you have to eat regardless of working or not, but if you are working away from your home, you are more likely to eat out for lunch on occasion. Let's say you eat out twice in a week for a meal (this could also include the starbucks you got in the morning or happy hour). If you spend $10 per outing that is $20 per week or $1,040 per year in meals. This puts our total to $3,455. For people without kids, you can stop right her and determine that it cost you $1.66 per hour to be employed and for some that may not seem a lot.
Now consider if you had children who are not of school age. The cost of day care per year is about $8,150. That puts the cost of working to $11,605 or $5.58 per hour.
This is not taking in consideration your morgage/rent, car payment, utilities, personal debt, general living expenses or taxes.
I am lucky enough to have a job that I absolutely love. For those who are not as fortunate as I am, just make sure you are getting paid to work and not paying to work.
This is not to say that it is better to be unemployed. I know too many people who are looking for work and not finding it. What I am saying is to evaluate how much it costs to go to work and then use that infomation to make sure the job you have or looking at is right for you. What is the cost of actually working. Sure, you get paid for you employment, but do you realize that you pay to be employed? Let's start at the begining of the day. Most employers require some form of dress code. Whether it is a required uniform or just a dress code, you as the employee are required to purchase the clothing and shoes. Of course, you have to keep your clothing clean and if you work in an office, your clothing may require dry cleaning. How much do you think you spend on work related clothing in a year? Women will on average spend more per year then men. So let's say that the average work clothing purchases are $700 per year and another $300 in cleaning those clothes. ( I am sure some of you can think about just one day's spending at the mall being more that this)
Next is your overall appearance. Most people bathe and groom before going into work. This is not to imply that you do not do those things on other days. This is just to get an idea of the cost of the "little" extras you do for work. So let's say $200 per year to just the work cause.
Now how do you get to work. Assuming you drive to work, that means you own a car and put gas in that car and provide insurance and maintance. If the average commute is 30 miles round trip per day and the average gas right now is $2.50 and the average MPG on cars is 19 mpg which means that you spend $3.75 a day or $975 a year in gas getting to and from work. What about insurance and maintance? Let's say $1,000 a year to cover insurance and maintance of which 24% of that is allocated for the working time during a year so $240 a year.
Where are we at so far:
$700
$300
$200
$975
$240
_____
$2,415
Now food. Of course you have to eat regardless of working or not, but if you are working away from your home, you are more likely to eat out for lunch on occasion. Let's say you eat out twice in a week for a meal (this could also include the starbucks you got in the morning or happy hour). If you spend $10 per outing that is $20 per week or $1,040 per year in meals. This puts our total to $3,455. For people without kids, you can stop right her and determine that it cost you $1.66 per hour to be employed and for some that may not seem a lot.
Now consider if you had children who are not of school age. The cost of day care per year is about $8,150. That puts the cost of working to $11,605 or $5.58 per hour.
This is not taking in consideration your morgage/rent, car payment, utilities, personal debt, general living expenses or taxes.
I am lucky enough to have a job that I absolutely love. For those who are not as fortunate as I am, just make sure you are getting paid to work and not paying to work.
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