Couch Crasher: Getting accommodations on someone's couch is a very low-cost alternative to a hotel stay.
Hotel costs can be the biggest expense of any trip, even trumping airfare based on the length of your trip. One way to eliminate the hotel is to sleep on the couch of a friend or even distant relative. But what if you don’t have a couch connection in the town on your vacation list? Make one.
Sites such as couchsurfing.com are connecting hosts with travelers for a cheap to no-cost alternative to hotels. You simply sleep on the couch of willing hosts, for free. All most hosts expect in return is a gift from your home town or a treat to dinner, and of course respect for their home (i.e. cleanup after yourself).
Couchsurfing.com verifies its members and home addresses through credit card verification and members rate each other and vouch for their credibility. If someone had a bad experience with a host or visitor, you’ll see it posted online, which takes some of the worry out of what type of host you’re getting. Simply opt for those with positive comments and high ratings.
Here are a few sites to consider when you’re looking for a host for international travel, or even within the U.S.:
couchsurfing.com A popular site that aims to “create deep and meaningful connections that cross oceans, continents and cultures.” Members post their photos and a little something about themselves and their home or travels. You can browse member entries without becoming a member.
www.globalfreeloaders.com Is an Australian-based hospitality network connecting people worldwide. You have to become a member before you can the details on hosts. Free membership is renewable in 12-month blocks.
hospitalityclub.org Is one of the first to offer this service on the Web. Each member fills out details on a web form that other members may view. Sample pages are available for viewing before you join. Duration of stay and specifics (such as how food will be shared or not) are set out before your arrival.
stay4free.com A global “free accommodation network” based in Holland allows options that lets members swap their entire home with someone else in another location, or you can opt to just be a guest or just be a host.
Disclaimer: I cannot vouch for the members on any of these sites. For the adventurous who would like a real-town experience versus just a tourist view, I think it’s a great alternative to a hotel stay. However, I still urge you to use your own best judgment before accepting accommodations from someone you don’t know.
Watching your flight take off without you because you were just bumped isn't all bad: With the right negotiating skills you can walk away with free travel.
Have you ever been at the airport waiting for your flight to board when the attendants announced that their are too many passengers booked and some will have to wait for another flight? Well, “getting bumped” to another flight may seem like a bummer, but it is a great way to save on airfare — minus the inconvenience.
Getting bumped happens because airlines allow overbooking for flights, counting on no shows so that they can still take off at full, or near-full capacity. However, if more passengers check-in than they had anticipated, the airline has to ask if their are any volunteers to wait for the next available flight. If there are not enough volunteers, then they will start bumping passengers themselves.
Freebies for being bumped
Here are some things passengers have been offered:
free meal if the wait for the next flight or a delay is 2 hours or more
a free hotel stay that night if the next available flight is for the next day
admission to the VIP club
discounted airfare for your next trip
travel voucher giving you a free flight (note, this doesn’t always cover round-trip, so be prepared to purchase your one-way ticket back)
a discount or refund on your current flight
The latter is particularly a good deal for passengers who do not fly that frequently or have a low likelihood of using that same airline for their next travels if they’re headed to a location the airline doesn’t cover. Also, some of the coupons or travel vouchers have expiration dates. If you don’t use them in time, it’s as if you were never compensated for your inconvenience.
Volunteer to be bumped
A way to save money on your flight and to negotiate better terms is to volunteer to be bumped. Here’s how to do it:
Call the airline the morning of your flight or the night before if it leaves early in the a.m. Ask the airline if the flight is overbooked. If they say yes, arrive at the terminal 90 minutes to 2 hours early for domestic flights and tell the ticket clerk that you are willing to be bumped should the need arise. Volunteers are taking in the order they volunteer, so that earlier you arrive at the airport the better your chances. You still can ask to be put on the volunteer list if you arrive later, but your chances of getting bumped decreases.
You can always back out from the list when the time comes and their airlines are not offering you the best freebie deal. Only take the bump if you’re happy with what you’re being offered. Also, only take the bump if your time is flexible. If you have a connecting flight or are trying to make it to a boat launch for a cruise, you’ll probably be better off if you hold on to your seat.
Regardless of your finances, it never hurts to spend time during your vacation doing low-cost and free activities, or finding other ways to cutback. To learn how to save money while still enjoying your vacation, read below my “What to Do” tips. For other tips, click these links to read “Where to Go” and “Where to Stay.”
What to Do
Regardless of where you go on your vacation, you can also cut costs by what you choose to do while taking time away from home. The more time you spend doing free or low-cost activities, the less time you have to shop or do more expensive activities. Here are just a few ideas:
Biking, hiking, camping, or just taking time to stop at scenic overlooks are great low-cost ways to spend part of your wallet-friendly vacation.
Go Biking: In most cities there are parks, hotels or lake front shops that do bike rentals fairly cheap (or bring your own), allowing you to do a self-guided pedal tour around town, or simply take in the scenery.
View the scenic overlooks: If you’re driving to your destination, allow time to stop at many of the scenic overlooks or historical markers off the Interstate. Too often we drive past these as we’re in a hurry to get to where we’re going, but the views are often a nice no-cost pause to our day.
Take a hike: You don’t have to climb a mountain with granola in your knapsack to enjoy a nice hike. Take a walk through a forest reserve or nature preserve, or along a wooded trail. There’s one in almost every area and if you walk right in, your cost is often free.
Spend a night camping
Pitch a tent: Spend one night of your trip camping outdoors instead of in a hotel and shave $100 or more off your vacation. Even if you’re not a camper, one night under the stars is a nice break from the hustle and bustle. If you don’t want to pitch a tent and sleep in a bag, if the space in your mini-van or SUV allows, just let the seats back for a night, and relax. Bring pillows and a blanket to add to your comfort. You’ll enjoy watching the sun rise after your night of rest.
Looking for a low-cost vacation? Take a trip to the beach. (Photo courtesy of Joaquim Alves Gaspar)
Hit the beach: Feeling the soft sand between your toes, listening to the sounds of the waves crashing and the seagulls cawing can be relaxing and inexpensive, when you choose a public beach instead of a private resort.
Looking for ways to save money on your summer vacation? I have three wallet-friendly tips for you on where to go, where to stay and what to do. Today I present “Where to Stay”:
Save on cab rides by having a shorter stay at a nicer hotel closer to the center of activities than a longer stay at a less expensive hotel farther away. You'll also feel more rested.
Where to Stay If your dream vacation spot seems out of your reach because it is a bit on the pricey side, don’t let that deter you. Sure some people opt to stay at hotels farther away from the beach or center of attraction in order to save money while still hitting their desired location. However, sometimes that option zaps the fun right out of the trip because the schlepping back and forth is tiring you out, or you can’t take a quick refresher in your hotel room so easily. Or, it actually eats up more money than you realize because, say, you forgot your sunglasses back in your hotel room, or the evening became chillier than you thought and you wish you had brought along long sleeves. So, instead of making a trip back to the room, you opt to buy a new pair of sunglasses or a sweater, or you hop in a cab to get make the round trip to your room and back to the festivities more quickly. You don’t want that hassle, so just get a room with a view closer to the activities.
I know some of you may be thinking: “But how can I do that, I can’t afford that, Lynnette.” Well, I’ll tell you how.
Tip: Shorten your trip so you can afford a better hotel. To solve the hotel-stay dilemma, instead of a 7- or 10-night stay at a subpar hotel a distance from the festivities, opt for a 3-day or 5-day vacation in the center of it all. After 3 days relaxing nearby everything, you’ll probably feel more relaxed than you would after 7 days with a lot schlepping back and forth to your room.
Whether you’re wanting to take your first trip, second or third this summer, you do not have to let low funds get in the way of your taking a good, fun summer vacation. Although the often-hyped “staycation” is a great way to enjoy a vacation without necessarily spending so much since you’re staying close to home, there are other ways to take a low-cost vacation and still get away. Over the next few days I will post 3 tips for a wallet-friendly vacation if you need to know where to go, where to stay and what to do. Let’s start with “Where to Go“:
Being flexible in your vacation destinations and departure dates will allow you to take advantage of discount deals.
Where to Go You’re dreaming of a European vacation, or perhaps an island cruise, or backpacking through the wilderness, but the airfare to your preferred destination is a bit steep for your pocketbook. You juggle the dates, hoping to find a better deal, but you’re just not finding one good enough in the narrow window that you have to take the vacation. You’re frustrated and thinking of canceling an away-vacation this year until you can save more money. Well, there are actually other options. Here’s one:
Tip: Be flexible with your location. Instead of letting the destination decide your trip by locking yourself into that dream locale, let the airfare be your guide. Know what it really is you want from the vacation. Is it the hike up a mountain, snorkeling along a coral reef, or enjoying the sea breeze and deck games on a cruise? Once you know, look for discount airfares and hotel rates to destinations that will give you those experiences.
You can check for last-minute deals directly at airline websites, through places such as:
The latter recently listed round-trip flights from Chicago to Rio de Janeiro for $487 roundtrip, Atlanta to Honolulu for $276 roundtrip, and Phoenix to the Bahamas for $219 roundtrip.
Also, check Travelocity’s Low Fare Finder by clicking “my dates are flexible.” It’s a good way to check for lower prices between two cities if you don’t have firm travel dates.
Zillow.com and its competitors offer readers recent sales history and market value estimates. The estimates can vary widely and are not the best way to determine a list price or at what price to make an offer on a home for sale.
The popular Zillow.com and Trulia.com and a slew of other websites, have emerged over the years to reveal sale history of a given home, median averages for the neighborhood, to week-by-week price appreciation, or depreciation. These are fun sites for tracking sales history, but do not rely on the estimates from these sites to determine what you should list a home for or your starting point for an offer. One any given day, their numbers can fluctuate widely from each other, or even from themselves. One site, realestate.com, changed its estimate on one home three times in 5 hours!
A quarter million dollar range of $300,400 to $552,210 was found from the lowest to the highest estimate of a friend’s home, a 5 bedroom, 4 bath home in a Minneapolis suburb, that is currently on the market for $425,000 and last appraised by a certified appraiser in October 2008 for $450,000. Below are the median estimates for this home from four sites.
As you can see, the estimates vary quite a bit and wouldn’t be reliable enough to inform you as to what price you should make an offer. That’s where your agent can help you!
Your First Home: The Smart Way to Get It and Keep It
It's a bad idea to take an early withdrawal, loan or a disbursement from your 401(k). Consider it untouchable until retirement age, as it is not a good financial move to use it to pay off credit cards or remodel your kitchen.
As the U.S. unemployment rate spikes to 9.5% as of June 2009, more and more people are considering taking a distribution from their 401(k) or withdrawing from other retirement accounts to help meet their expenses. This is a move of last resort, and even then it still remains a bad idea.
Any money you withdraw from a 401(k) or take as a distribution after losing your job, is like stuffing 40% of it down your garbage disposal, flipping the on switch and saying goodbye to that money forever.
When you take money from your retirement account before age 59 1/2 you:
Pay a 10% penalty on the withdrawal
Have to report the money as income on your taxes, potentially taking another 28% hit
Lose compounded growth of your retirement account
Have less to live on when you actually do retire
I spoke with the Associated Press about 401(k) withdrawals and loans back in March 2009. Watch this video to learn more.
Payday loans are a horrible way to obtain cash in hand.
If you’ve never taken out a payday loan, great. Please never do. If you have, please don’t ever do it again. If you absolutely need to borrow a small amount of cash, turn to your friends, family or employer, but don’t get a payday loan.
What is a Payday loan?
Payday loans are short-term loans made by financial “institutions” designed to tide people over until they get their next paycheck.
Say a cash-strapped person needs money for gas, a utility bill, car repair, to help cover rent or some emergency or other reason before their next paycheck comes in from their employer. To make ends meet until payday, they go to a “payday lender” who verifies that the borrower has a legitimate job with regular pay, and that they have a bank checking account. The customer then gets an immediate $300 or $500 cash “loan” in exchange for writing a post-dated check for that amount, or authorizing a one-time automatic withdrawal. But instead of getting that full amount in cash, the payday lender will deduct its fees from the amount borrowed, typically between $45 to $55. So, on a $300 loan, the borrower actually receives $255.
Fees rival that of loan sharks
The payday lenders fee, or interest, amounts to about 400% per year, some annualize to nearly 800%. These rates are worse than what most loan sharks charge. If the borrowers check then bounces, or they go back to the payday lender to ask for an extension of their loan, they pay another $45 fee (not to mention an insufficient funds fee to their bank if the payday lender had attempted to cash the check). In the end, some borrowers wind up paying more in fees than the total amount they borrowed. For example, if they get stuck in this vicious cycle they could end up paying $500 in interest for a $300 loan, while still owing the original $300 in principal.
Every year payday lending costs Americans $4.2 billion in “excessive fees,” according to the Center for Responsible Lending.
Congress, states seeks rate caps
Congress, through a bill introduced in the House and the Senate, is attempting to pass legislation that would put a 36 percent cap on annual interest rates for consumer credit. The cap would save $5 billion in abusive fees stripped from working families at no cost to taxpayers. While waiting for federal legislation, 15 states and the District of Columbia has already outlawed triple digit interest rates.
Why borrowers obtain payday loans
Payday loan borrowers resort to these loans for various reasons, but very few do so because it is the only option available to them, according to a February 2009 survey by the Center for American Progress. In the survey, borrowers cite convenience and emergencies as the largest reasons.
Source: Center for American Progress, Feb. 2009 study
The FDIC has stated that providing high-cost, short-time credit on a recurring basis to customers with long-term credit needs is not responsible lending.”
Payday loan industry is a $40 billion business made up of 23,000 lenders, such as Check Into Cash.
$40 billion industry
The payday lending industry has about 23,000 lenders, such as Check ‘n Go, Advance America, Cash America and Check Into Cash, where a typical borrower takes out between eight to 12 loans each year.
Payday loan borrowers have little financial wealth
People who withdraw a payday loan tend to have a lower income, net worth and asset level than people who do not withdraw payday loans. These borrowers also are less likely to be a homeowner or a self-identified saver and were more likely to have previously been delinquent on a loan or have had a loan application denied.
Because payday loans are practically synonymous with high fees, hovering around 400 percent, the use of these types of loans may impede the wealth achievement for many borrowers who already have less wealth to begin with.
So please heed my advice: Don’t do business with payday lenders and subject yourself to their shenanigans.
Zero Debt: The Ultimate Guide to Financial Freedom
An HOA, as a homeowners’ association is known, creates and enforces rules for the community and collects the monthly or annual dues. There are pros and cons to owning a home in a community governed by a HOA, which is often a nonprofit entity that is operated by a board comprised of homeowners, sometimes in conjunction with a management company.
Is a HOA community right for you?
The HOA’s purpose is to help maintain a certain consistency, conformity, capital improvements, and conveniences for the neighborhood, with an eye toward protecting property values. The collected dues are used toward the maintenance of the common areas or community property, or for other services. It is not meant to be a profit-making venture in most cases.
Is living in a community governed by a HOA right for you? Know before you enter in a home purchase agreement, as your decision affects your bottom line. Here are some positives and negatives to consider as you weigh your options.
Pros Below are five ways in which a HOA is helpful and beneficial to a community.
Maintains and pays for the upkeep of common areas, such as swimming pools, tennis courts, play grounds, public gardens, golf courses and club houses. Without an HOA you may not have a community with these amenities within your neighborhood.
May provide services such as driveway snow removal or lawn cutting for each residence, ensuring a clean, well-kept look throughout the neighborhood at all times. You will not have to worry about hiring someone or taking care of these services yourself. It can free up your time.
Mediates disputes between residents. If there is a problem with your neighbor, the HOA should be able to help resolve it quickly and easily with hopefully little animosity left over, as it was the HOA making the final decision, not a complaining neighbor.
Helps maintain or raise property values by regulating things that help keep a neighborhood looking good, such as keeping garage doors closed, no cars left in driveways for longer than certain periods of time, no signs in front yards, etc.
Hosts annual parties, such as block parties and family nights, which helps build camaraderie in the neighborhood.
Cons Here are 5 reasons some people don’t like HOAs.
It feels as if “Big Brother” is always watching you to see if your grass is mowed to the right level, if you planted the right types of flowers in your yard, or don’t have a pet that is oversize or of the wrong breed. For more on this, see this one homeowner’s blog entry, titled “7 Reasons You Should Decline a Home with an HOA.“
Homeowners looking to rent out or sell their residences may need to have the new potential occupant screened and approved by the HOA board, thus hindering your ability to move on within your own time frame. Even how much you charge for rent can be regulated, and one what days or times a year the occupants can move in.
The dues you owe is just another added expense for you to consider when factoring how much home you can afford. And the dues typically will go up over the years, without much warning—this is something that you should budget for in advance.
An HOA can put a lien on your home or force a foreclosure on your property if you do not pay your dues within a set time frame. And if you fight them in court and lose, more than likely you’ll have to also cover the HOAs legal bill.
Some HOAs are poorly managed, in part because board members tend to be volunteers with a paying day job or other personal obligations and there is only so much time they can dedicate to overseeing matters. For this reason a management company is usually hired to also help set and guide the rules, which some worry is giving over control of their properties/community to a company that is managing several others and thus has no personal tie to the community.
Tip: If you are considering buying a home with a HOA, ask to get a copy of the rules, regulations and bylaws before you sign the purchase agreement, or make your offer contingent upon your receipt and acceptance of the rules. (The latter is harder to do). Also look at the budget, financial records and minutes from the board meetings. These will all help give you some indication as to how well run the association is, and if you can live with the rules that are already in place.
Please write in to share your experiences with an HOA or to give other readers tips on this matter.
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