Archive for August, 2007
August 24th 2007
Now I’m one of those incredible cheap-o’s who will compare prices online and try to get the best deal I can. For instance, when I had to buy my textbooks this year, I visited the official campus bookstore, the unofficial campus bookstore, and then compared those prices to that of Amazon.com, Half.com, and a google search of the books before finally deciding who to go with. I compared the shipping costs and the delivery date against just buying it instantly in the campus bookstores and went with the cheapest for each individual book. Is this more work? Yes. Is it worth it? Yes. Because of my thrifty shopping, I saved nearly $200.
I just got another inside tip on more ways to save money! Isn’t that great? I found a website that does a lot of the work for you by finding and offering coupons for various stores. Deal Locker has online and printable coupons displayed on its website for the visitor to take at no cost. There’s not a subscription fee or a required membership. Simply visit the website, choose different categories or stores and there’s the current coupons they have. For example, here’s some Papa John’s coupon codes.
Since it’s just a visitor-friendly website, there’s an option to choose whether or not the coupon worked for you and whether it’s worked for others. You are only showed coupons that do work and haven’t expired. Also, you can submit coupon codes that you’ve found. The coupons are also separated by category, such as jewelry coupon codes, outdoor coupons and even Australia coupons. There’s an incredible compiled list of stores and categories even I can find things.
There’s also a great coupon blog, powered by Wordpress, that is very knowledgeable and helpful. I personally found the article on back to school shopping to be a lifesaver. I’m one to go crazy in the school supply section at Wal-Mart, but instead of spending an incredible fortune, I’ve managed to spend only a very small fortune. They even have a post on finding the perfect jeans online. I’m a timid online clothing shopper. Before I buy anything online, I have to know that it fits perfectly. I usually go into a store, find a great pair of jeans I like and then try to find them online somewhere, but I don’t always have the greatest success.
In all, this website is a great resource and I’m glad to give them some publicity. The more people who know about it, in this case, the better.
August 23rd 2007
I know some of you are like me and not necessarily overweight, but do need to start making healthy decisions about what you eat. For about two years my diet consisted of mostly donuts, chips, and jelly beans. Occasionally there was a Snickers bar or some M&Ms thrown in. Now that I’m in college, I have a very limited budget and that’s making my eating habits suffer. One way to keep up with that is to keep track of everything you eat and its nutritional value. And what with this Web 2.0 frenzy of friendly websites to help you with everything from poker to organization, why not take advantage?
In my search of a great nutritional website, I came across My Fitness Pal. The website’s tagline is “Free Calorie Counter, Diet & Exercise Journal.” There’s an easy diet profile that will help you come up with a plan to either maintain or lose weight at your own pace. I find that very helpful. Since I’m not overweight, I just want to maintain my weight and keep up with a journal to track my eating and exercise and the calorie counter does all of it for you.
If you have home cooked meals (lucky you!) or even Lean Cuisines, there’s a simple way to find the nutritional value with their calorie chart. If you look up spaghetti, it gives you possibilities for how exactly it’s made, such as spaghetti and meat (107 calories per 100 grams). It’s also 100% free, which is great since I’m such a poor college student.
August 19th 2007
If you’re interested in making money like the rest of us, one option you might consider is CDs. No, not compact discs. Certificates of deposit. Just in case you’re wondering, a certificate of deposit is money in the bank, literally. It’s almost like a savings account, but they have a specific fixed term (a few months or years) and a high, fixed interest rate. Sounds great, doesn’t it? Well, of course it does. But where to find the best rates?
That’s where this website comes in. Current-CD-Rates.com lists, obviously, the current rates and where to find them for certificates of deposit. Its partner website, Highest-Interest-Rates.com has a wonderful collection of the banks and credit unions that have the highest interest rate for CDs. The author of those two blogs has also created Bank-CD-Rates.org, another incredible resource for online banking.
Among the lists of different banks and their terms, there’s also tips straight from the FDIC to insure that your money is in good hands while it’s multiplying. Why take a chance?
August 10th 2007
1. You’ve always wished for it, and your wish has come true: There’s now a twenty-fifth hour in the day, but you have to spend it the same way every day on something you don’t have enough time for now, and it can’t be for sleep. How will you spend this extra hour every day?
Honestly, I can’t think of anything now because since I don’t have a job, I have plenty of time. Maybe once school starts up and I actually have things to do I’ll be able to answer that.
2. As if that weren’t enough, an extra day has been added to the calendar, and you can insert it anywhere you want, except the day immediately before or after a holiday, and you have to spend it the same way every year. How will you spend this extra day each year, and when on the calendar will it appear?
An extra day at the end of February so it has more days like the rest of the months. So on leap year, February will have the normal 30 days…
3. Someone is giving you an extra twenty dollars per week (or its equivalent, if your country uses a different monetary unit) to spend any way you want, but you have to spend it the same way every week, and it has to be on yourself (no charity or gift-giving, and no investing or saving!). How will you spend this extra twenty dollars per week?
Candy, hands down.
4. Wow! When you woke up this morning, you noticed that someone snuck in and added a new room to your living space! The room is for your exclusive use, and it can serve only one FUN function (and it can’t be used as a bedroom or storage). What fun activity will be reserved for this new room?
Ping pong table, perhaps. Or a trampoline.
5. A magic backpack appears at your doorstep. It will hold any one thing you can normally carry by yourself, it will render that item weightless, and it will collapse to the size of a small pack of gum. What will you carry in it?
Copper
Thank you Friday Five
August 10th 2007
So we moved into the new apartment. It’s 700 square feet, with one bedroom. It’s actually quite spacious. The rent is a little high, but it pays to be in a good complex. Copper even has a little patio off our bedroom that has some grass for him. The grass is high because it hasn’t been mowed since we moved in last week and he loves it. The kitchen is pretty small and so is the bathroom, but it doesn’t even matter to me because it’s ours.
My dad is coming back down this weekend to bring us some armchairs, a few lamps and a wireless router. I don’t like being stuck in this one area with my laptop.
As for this site, I’m going to try to add some more content and post more now that we’re all settled. Maybe an updated layout.
