Sprint SERO Meet Everything Plus

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sprint-everything-plus

It was just a little while back that I updated you on my Sprint SERO plan.  Now it seems the Sprint SERO plan is no more.  To recap, the Sprint SERO plan was an employee referral plan that offered great rates and included unlimited data (read internet) and unlimited texts.  For $30/month you got 500 minutes and unlimited data and texts.  All you needed to sign up was an employee’s email address and those were all over the internet!  As I noted in my follow up we are saving at least $10-$20 over our last Verizon plan and the Verizon plan didn’t include data or texts (my wife and I both have a plan).

Sprint SERO meet your successor the Sprint Everything Plus plan.  The new plan is now $59.99 for 500 minutes and $79.99 for 1000 minutes.  For more minutes there’s the Simply Everything plan that’s widely advertised.  So basically the 500 minute plan doubles in price!  This may still be a bargain compared to other plans out there but not nearly the knockout punch it used to be.  The new plans add GPS navigation and Blackberry Internet Services.  The Blackberry inclusion could also still make the plan economical since some carriers charge extra for it.

But wait, there’s more!  Or less really. Even if you think the new plans are still a steal they are much harder to sign up for now.  Rather than just any employees email address you now need an employee’s email AND the last three digits of their employee ID (CID).  So you may actually have to know someone to get into the program.

Don’t sweat it if you were fortunate enough to already be on the Sprint SERO plan.  Existing SERO customers are grandfathered in on the old rates.  Whew!

As I mentioned the plan may still be worth it to you but you really need to check out other plans as well.  Look at all of the features and options and see what works best.

It’s sad to see the SERO plan go but I can understand why.  They really did give a great package at an insanely low rate.  The new Sprint Everything Plus plan puts the prices more inline with their Everything plan.  I’m happy I was able to get in while I could!

Goals Are Great Motivators

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Marathon de New York : Verrazano Bridge

Goals can be great motivators to help you achieve! I find that when I have a specific goal it’s much easier to focus on what I want to accomplish.  For example: For me to save money is one thing but when I have something specific to save for I find that I can save up much quicker.  When I was younger I wanted a new stereo (the hand-me-down I was given still had an 8-track in it).  I made a goal of saving up for a new stereo.  When I sacrificed some expense for savings I knew i was to help me get that stereo.  When I worked extra hours in the supermarket I knew it was for the stereo.  In no time I had enough to go out and buy a new stereo, equipped with not one but two tape decks! (Have I dated myself or what?)

Let me give you some other goals I’ve set for myself and accomplished:

Ran the NYC Marathon – In 2005 I decided I wanted to run the NYC Marathon.  I knew I needed time to train and run enough races (you have to run 9 NYC RoadRunner races for guaranteed entree).  In 2006 I mapped out what races I would run to qualify for the next year’s race.  It was tough to keep up but I ran and finished all nine races for entry.  In 2007 I started a training program to get me in shape for the marathon.  In June I started my longs runs every weekend to get me ready for the distance.  The first Sunday last November I woke up at the crack of dawn and hopped on the Staten Island ferry to get to the start of the marathon.  Later that afternoon I would be able to call myself a marathon runner.  I don’t think I ever would have run the distance without a specific goal of running the marathon.

Paid off my credit cards – Some years ago I finally got fed up with how much I was paying monthly in interest for my credit cards.  I resolved to pay them off.  It started slowly but bit by bit I started to gain ground.  After an incident that led me to move back with the ‘rents I was able to turbo charge my payments and finish off my credit card debt.  I haven’t had more than a month’s charges since then (I pay my cards off in full every month).  Without resolving to pay off my credit cards once and for all I would still be idling along with minimum payments and a ton of debt piling up.

Started a personal finance blog/site – In October of 2007 I had discovered blogging via Zen Habits then Get Rich Slowly.  I was already itching to find something productive to do with my time and had healthy interest in personal finance.  I set a goal of starting up my own blog and making it successful.  I’m still in the middle of this goal but I feel like what I’ve done so far has been a success, especially when I look back at my first month of original posts on my Blogger site.  Without my goal I might be surfing fantasy baseball sites instead of writing this article.

Build up our savings – My wife and I wanted to make sure we had enough in savings for any emergency and then some.  Rather than hope to put some money away with what was left over at the end of every month we calculated a specific amount we could afford to do without and set up our ING savings to automatically withdraw money from our checking every week.  We have since achieved our emergency savings goal and exceeded it.  If we didn’t create a specific plan our savings would be considerably less and we’d be scratching our heads wondering where our money went.

The lesson here is that I was motivated to accomplish different things because I set a goal to achieve!  Having a goal in mind keeps my mind focused.  Without a goal set I would have just floated along in many cases.  My savings would be lower, my credit card debt still existing, my running much less, this site just a thought…

One way to accomplish a goal is to make it SMART – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. (Thanks to Cash Money Life for turning me onto that concept.)

I also like to think in terms of short and long term goals. For example – The goal of saving up for a down payment on a home, while an admirable goal, may seem a bit too big to ever accomplish.  That could be a long-term goal.  To make it more achievable you can create a short-term goal of saving X dollars a month towards a down payment.  This way you see your small goals achieved which helps build up the confidence to achieve your bigger goal.

Check out this article on the science of setting goals.  When you set a goal you are actively engaging your brain to help you with your goal!

What goals have you accomplished?  What are your current goals and how will you achieve them?

Sign up with ING Direct and get a $25 bonus -  Free From Broke.

photo credit: Martineric

Dealing With Financial Problems With A Loved One

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Purity

There may come a time when a financial problem comes up between you and a loved one. Maybe it’s a late payment that runs up some fees.  It could be an old debt that rears it’s ugly head again.  Perhaps someone did a little too much damage with credit card spending?  Whatever it is the issue will have to be addressed so a solution can be figured out.

Here are some things to consider when confronting your loved one about their financial management problems:

Don’t blame or accuse the other person for the problem.  Arguing and blaming doesn’t help.  When you lay blame and argue it’s like telling the other person that you’re right and they are wrong.  It may be that’s the case but nobody likes to hear that.  Start off a discussion like this and you immediately turn your loved one off to what you are saying.  Remember the situation has already happened.  The point now is to figure out how to solve it.

State the facts.  Talk about what has actually happened.  Try not to get your emotions involved.  This means no name calling.  It also means talking about the situation at hand and not bringing up any past discretion.  The facts will help you find a resolution.

Talk to your loved one about how the problem arose.  How did it get to this point?  Ask what they think can be done to solve the problem.  Offer your help.  Suggest some ideas of your own as a solution.  Assure your loved one that you are their for them and that you are in this together.  This leads us to…

Take accountability for the problem with your loved one. “But it wasn’t my fault” you might say.  Maybe not directly but by sharing in the responsibility you let your loved one know that you are there to help them.  The fact that this person is a loved one makes their pain yours as well to some extent.  Take that extra step with the olive branch and assure them that together you’ll figure out a solution.

Remember you want to open the person up to discussion. Getting into a financial mess is embarrassing for most.  Your loved one probably knows they screwed up somehow so they don’t want to be reminded of how bad a blunder it was.  Listen to them.  Work on finding a way to both fix the problem at hand and prevent it from happening in the future.

Hopefully you don’t have many financial problems with loved ones in your life.  If you come across any, these ideas should help you work things out.

photo credit: timsamoff

A CD Ladder Plan For Beginning Savers

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a ladderAre you just starting off building up your savings? I’ve mentioned before that a great way to save is by putting money in a high yield savings account such as Capital One 360 Savings.  A way to make a little more interest is to open a Certificate of Deposit, or CD for short.

What is a CD?

Here’s an excerpt from Wikipedia:

A certificate of deposit or CD is a time deposit, a financial product commonly offered to consumers by banks, thrift institutions, and credit unions.

CDs are similar to savings accounts in that they are insured and thus virtually risk-free; they are “money in the bank” (CDs are insured by the FDIC for banks or by the NCUA for credit unions). They are different from savings accounts in that the CD has a specific, fixed term (often three months, six months, or one to five years), and, usually, a fixed interest rate. It is intended that the CD be held until maturity, at which time the money may be withdrawn together with the accrued interest.

So if you are investing/buying a  CD you want to make sure you don’t need that money for the length of it’s term (otherwise you will have to pay a penalty to cash it in).

Here’s a great way a beginning saver can get started with CD’s:

  • Figure out a monthly amount of money you know you won’t need for 12 months.  Don’t be scared now.  It can be a small amount like $10.
  • Log into your ING account and go to their products page.  Click on CD’s and proceed to open up a $10 CD for a 12-month term.  (If you can afford more by all means do so.  Remember this is money you won’t touch for a year.)
  • Now every month do the same thing for a total of 12 months.
  • At the end of a year you will have 12 CDs worth more than $120 (imagine if you put more in each month?).  If you can, re-invest the CDs as they mature.  See if you can add to the amounts, again even if it’s only a few dollars.

“What have we done?  Anyone can buy CDs!”, you may ask?  Remember this is for a beginner who is starting to build up their savings.  Here is what the beginning saver has accomplished:

  • This builds up a habit of saving.  By putting the money in a CD we’re limiting the ability to take the money out (without a penalty at least).  Once this habit is in place a beginning saver may have the discipline to expand their savings.
  • It creates a great sense of self-esteem for the saver.  You get to see your CDs growing every month.  How great is it to see a year’s worth of savings?  Once a person realizes that saving is an achievable goal they will be more likely to continue!
  • You’re earning interest.  Not only have you saved but you’re savings are growing too!  You’re taking advantage of laddering.

Savings aren’t usually built overnight.  But by saving bit by bit you will see your savings blossom over time!

photo credit: naama

Money Life Network Summer Saving Series Articles

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Real Joy

The Summer Saving Series has come to an end.  In all there were 15 articles from the Money Life Network.  We also had about 15 articles from other writers who wrote about Summer savings on their sites!  Check the Money Life Network site for the contest winner announcement.

I hope we were able to provide a lot of info on how to save in the Summer!  We’re thinking up some new contests/series so let us know what you thought of this one.

Here are the great articles written by the Money Life Network:

Monday 6/9: Summer Savings Series #1: Food is a big expense. How can you save?

Tuesday 6/10: Summer Savings Series #2: 9 Money Saving Ways to Prepare For a Vacation

Wednesday 6/11: Summer Savings Series #3: Everyone Can Save Money This Way In The Heat!

Thursday 6/12: Summer Savings Series #4: Fun Frugal Ices With Your Child

Friday 6/13: Summer Savings Series #5: Make Summer Activities Affordable

Monday 6/16: Summer Savings Series #6: Save like you’re paying off a high interest debt

Tuesday 6/17: Summer Savings Series #7 – Send Your Kid to Summer Camp Without Blowing the Budget

Wednesday 6/18: Summer Savings Series Tip #8 – Watch Movies And Play Video Games For Free!

Thursday 6/19: Summer Savings Series #9 – Our Disney World Vacation

Friday 6/20: Summer Savings Series #10 – What is a staycation?

Monday 6/23: Summer Savings Series #11 – Saving at the movies this summer

Tuesday 6/24: Summer Savings Series #12: Save Money and Get Fit with These Summertime Activities and Programs

Wednesday 6/25: Summer Savings Series #13 – Don’t Drive 10 Miles Out Of Your Way To Save $0.20 On Gas! Use GasBuddy!

Thursday 6/26: Summer Saving Series #14: New York State Empire Passport

Friday 6/27: Summer Savings Series #15: The art of Hypermiling

And these amazing articles were submitted to us from other sites:

8 cheap summer fun ideas @ Broke Grad Student

Military Discounts @ Military Finance Network

Summer Savings – What I did @ OneGirlsQuest

You Know What I Did This Summer – Save Money! @ Are You Going To Be This Way The Rest of The Time I Know You?

7 Ways to save money this summer @ Dreamline Savings

10 Money Saving Vacation Tips @ Think your way to wealth

Summer Savings Series: My Game Plan @ Kingdom First Mom

Freeze Your Air Conditioning Costs @ CashMoneyLife.com

How I Plan to Save Money This Summer @ Amelia’s Healthy Life

How I Will Save Money on My Summer Vacation @ The Dangling Conversation

Saving Money This Summer @ Keep it Simple

Here are some of the comment tips:

The Happy Rock “Get your air conditioning unit checked and tuned up to help save on energy costs.”

otherdeb (Deb Wunder)“Know that bicycle that’s been moldering against your back porch/in your attic/in your garage, etc? Get it out, get it checked over, and start using it for local errands!

If you are anything like me, as you build up a bit of endurance, you will also want to start using it to do some local sightseeing!”

Rachel“Summer Money Saving Tip: For a cheap sun burn treatment that won’t require an extra trip to the pharmacy, freeze some of the lotion you already have on hand on a piece of tin foil. Once it’s frozen, it cools and soothes the burn and also moisturizers to ease peeling and blistering. Works great too for those who are allergic to Aloe Vera like me! :-)”

Sam”Turn you thermostat up to 80 and use your ceiling fans or box fans.

We also turn off the AC at night and just use our ceiling fans.”

That One Caveman “Vacation in or near your hometown. There are often a lot of cheap or free ways to entertain yourself – you just have to look for them. We’ll be visiting a few local museums (free entrance + free air conditioning), the zoo, the lake, and a few parks this summer – all for free!”

Mercedes”This summer I have decided to quit driving my kids around for activities and stay local. I have been lucky to have found things to do in the small town that I live. So far I love this simple summer life. I am kicking back and enjoying the nice weather without a hectic lifestyle.”

There are a bunch of other great tips as well.  Make sure to check out the comments section of the original article!

Without you, the reader, the Summer Saving Series would not be possible.  It’s great to see all of the articles and comments that were submitted!

photo credit: Todd Baker << technowannabe

New York State Empire Passport – Summer Saving

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Beach Chair

Summer’s here!  How are you going to spend your time? Will you go to the beach?  Maybe a pool or a lake is more your speed?  Maybe go to the park for a picnic?  How about camping?  Perhaps you’ll go for a bike ride or maybe a nice hike through the woods on a historic trail?

If you live in or near New York State then you have access to all of these activities and more in New York’s State Parks!

A great way to take advantage of all that NY State Parks have to offer is to purchase the NYS Empire Passport. For $65 you get access to most of NY State’s parks and facilities.  Consider this: parking is easily $8 for Jones beach.  That means the pass pays for itself with about 7 visits to the beach!  But what’s great is the pass can be used for so much more.  In fact it’s good from April 1st until March 30th of next year.  Using it 7 times over the year is easy!

My wife has the summer off as she works in education.  This gives her all summer to go to beaches such as Jones Beach or Robert Moses State Park.  We worked it out a couple of years ago and the Empire Passport easily saves us money!  You can also use the passport to pay for parking for concerts at the Jones Beach Theater (park in an adjacent lot and walk over, it will also be easier to leave after the concert)

Outside of summer beaches we’ve also gone to Harriman State Park, Bear Mountain State Park, Fahnestock State Park, and Valley Stream State Park.  Harriman and Bear Mountain aren’t too far from the Woodbury Commons shopping center where you can find some frugal deals.

I’ve gotta say, in putting this article together I’m seeing how much we can do and what we’ve been missing out on!  I can’t wait to get out with the family again!

You can order an Empire Passport online.  The site says it could arrive in 3-4 weeks but we got ours in a week.  You can also visit a state park office and buy it direct.  Check online to see which parks sell the pass directly.  The quicker you get yous the sooner you can enjoy all that NYS Parks have to offer!

How will you use your NYS Empire Passport?

This article is #14 of the Summer Savings Series from the Money Life Network. Check out the article on the MLN site to see how you can participate in the Summer Savings Series and possibly win a $100 Amazon gift certificate! You can see tip #13 at My Investing Blog. Article #10 will be at Milk Your Money tomorrow!

 

One Hundred Pushups For A Healthy Fit Frugal Summer

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One Hundred Pushups

Ok, I’m in! I’ve been seeing a lot about the site One Hundred Pushups around the blogosphere lately.  I first heard about it from Pete at Bible Money Matters via Twitter.  Then Pete posted about starting on the program.  Then I saw Pinyo at Moolanomy mentioned it.  And also JD at Get Rich/Fit Slowly fame.  And Wazzy on Twitter.  And I’m sure many others I don’t know about yet…

So what is One Hundred Pushups? It’s a site that lists out a six week program for increasing your strength to the point where, in the final test, you do one hundred pushups!

Why Pushups? From the site:

Push ups are one of the basic and most common exercises for the human body. Push ups are not only great for your chest, but do a tremendous job of defining your abs, triceps, shoulders and torso.

Push ups can be performed no matter where you are, and best of all, they are completely free – no expensive equipment or annual gym fees required! If you’re looking to develop a great chest and shoulders, you could do much worse than follow along with the hundred push ups plan. Your core strength will also go through the roof too!

Check out that second paragraph…”they are completely free.”  How much is the average gym membership? I would guess you’re paying anywhere from $250 a year to $1200 a year.  Free is a whole lot better.

And a pushup is a great measure of your overall fitness.

I’ve been looking for a good workout program for a couple of months now.  I have some free weights but I haven’t been able to commit to a consistent plan.  I’ll workout for two weeks then stop for two weeks; I don’t keep up with it.  I even almost joined a gym about a month ago.  That would have cost me about $500 for the year.  I didn’t join since I wasn’t sure I’d use it enough to justify the cost.

But with all of the bloggers already on the One Hundred Pushup band-wagon I thought I’d give it a try.  Not only is there a framework to follow for the plan (which I need) but by putting it out here on Free From Broke I’m making myself accountable for following the plan (I hope).

I’ve already done the initial test and the first day of week one (already feeling it in my chest).  I set up a spreadsheet on Google Docs so I can track my performance.  You can follow my One Hundred Pushup progress here.  I hope you check it out and help root me on!  If fact join in and we can go through this together!

Make sure you have clearance from your doctor before you start any fitness program.

So are you up to the one hundred push up training program?

Disney World Vacation Tips and How We Saved Money

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Disney Bucks

Last Summer we needed to figure out where we wanted to go on vacation.

It would be my wife, our 7-year-old daughter, our 7-month-old son, and myself.  Since our son was so young we wanted to keep the flights short.

We decided now would be a great time to go to Disney world!

Why Disney World?

Our daughter grew up on everything Disney.  There was a point a few years back when there would always be some Disney princess on the TV.  We knew she would have a great time and she was old enough to truly appreciate Disney World.

With our son we figured he was old enough to take on vacation but young enough still that he would spend most of his time in the stroller and not want to run around on his own.  Maybe that sounds strange but toddlers have varying moods of staying quietly in a stroller and being fiercely independent.  No, he wouldn’t really remember the trip but we didn’t think he’d appreciate it until he was older anyway.  The Summer of ’07 was our best window of opportunity to go to Disney World (at least until the little guy was older).

We knew Disney World could be expensive so we needed to do some research. 

Ok, a LOT of research.  I spent many hours checking various sites for info on where was good to stay and what was the best deal.

We started off with a recommendation from a friend: The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World with Kids.

I checked it out on Amazon as well as at the local bookstore.  The book gives a nice detailed review of each park and their rides in DW and provides itineraries that you can use based on your children’s age.  It also gives suggestions on what rides to go on, when to see attractions, and general tips for having a good time in Orlando.

What I also liked was the reviews of all the local hotels, Disney and otherwise. (There are a lot of hotels in the area to choose from!)  We compared the guide to similar books and liked this one the best (they also have The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World that doesn’t focus on kids).

We bought the book and I went into devouring all of the information. 

A big decision to make for a Disney World trip is whether to stay in a Disney resort or stay off site. I had an idea of a couple of places where I wanted to stay.  Now to find rates!

I have to jump in for a second and tell you about a great resource site I found: Mousesavers.com! 

This site really gave us great info for Disney.  They tell you all about the different parks, hotels, vacation packages, various discount codes, freebies, specials, ride closings, etc…

If you plan on going on a Disney trip you should check out the site and sign up for their newsletter which has exclusive discounts.  The site really helped me get my head around all of the choices in a Disney World vacation.

We used three main sources for our flight and hotel. 

First we went to Liberty Travel agency to see what deals they have.  I like starting with them since some of their sales people are real knowledgeable on different vacations and occasionally they get really good packages.

Unfortunately the person we dealt with didn’t know a lot about Disney and couldn’t really tell us much.  Too bad for them.  (And travel agents wonder why their services are dying.)

Next was to look online.  We flipped back and forth between Expedia, the official Walt Disney World site, and Jet Blue.

Would the official Disney site be more expensive?

Not always.  And at least you can get an idea of what they are charging versus what other travel sites charge.

Originally we planned on Expedia for the hotel and Jet Blue for the flight (we heard so many good things about them, we wanted to try them).  I actually found a good deal for one of the Disney resort hotels on Expedia.  We were trying to book it but there was a computer glitch that wouldn’t let the reservation book.  Disappointed I poked around the Jet Blue site looking at flights.

I noticed that Jet Blue also had vacation packages!

I never knew that before (we never even flew them previously).  I started looking up the hotel I found on Expedia.  They had a similar deal but I actually found one that was better!  I found a great deal for the Hyatt Regency Grand Cyprus.  This is a four star hotel with a ridiculous amount of things to do including a giant pool with two waterslides (this will be important later on).  We jumped on the package which was 6 nights at the hotel and flights for the four of us on Jet Blue.  (When I checked into the hotel the clerk was actually surprised at the price we got the room for).

The hotel was in the Lake Buena Vista area.  They had some transportation to Disney parks but our best bet would be to rent a car.  Believe it or not the four main Disney parks aren’t all connected and next to each other.  A car would help us get around as well as give us more choices for eating. The area we stayed had a number of other hotels and lots of food choices not Disney.  We actually went to Dunkin Donuts a few times to cut down on breakfast costs.  A car would also give us the opportunity to go to Target or Wal-Mart a few times to buy water and snacks (rather than buy them at the parks for much more).

So where to get a car?

We actually found some great discount codes on the Mousesavers site.  The one we ended up using was a flat fee for a mini-van at Dollar car rental for American Express card holders.  We paid less for a mini-van than we would have for many smaller cars.  Now we wouldn’t have to worry about installing our car seat (no climbing into a compact to figure it out) and we knew we would have enough room for our luggage and stroller.

This was really the best deal for us out there.

If you ever use Dollar I would suggest signing up for their Dollar Express program.  It can save you time at the rental counter as you get your own line (very important with two kids in tow)!

Let’s recap: Hotel – check; Flights – check; Car – check…what’s missing? 

Disney tickets!

Disney World is made up of four major theme parks (Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Epcot, and Animal Kingdom), two water parks, and a lot of other stuff!  We wanted to see the four main parks and we were considering the water parks.  Since our hotel had such a great pool with water slides we decided we could do without the water parks (wise decision since we would have seen less of the main parks if we went to the water parks).

So we needed tickets for the main parks.

There’s a lot of ticket options that I won’t go through here.  The option we did pick was the Park Hopper option which allowed us to go to more than one park a day (definite plus for us).  Again Mousesavers was a great help for ticket advice and discounts.  Through their newsletter you can get a code for a discount on the site Undercover Tourist which sells tickets to many diffferent attractions.  We saved a lot through Undercover Tourist.  Their great price included taxes and were shipped free.

Did we have fun at Disney World?

Growing up I was never a Disney person.  I always preferred Bugs Bunny to Mickey Mouse.  I figured we were going to Disney World mostly for our princess.

But you know what?  It was a blast!

Our daughter wants to go back there this year (maybe in a few years honey) and I wouldn’t mind going back either.  We went on roller coasters, rides, attractions, ate, swam…we really had a great time!

If I were going back I would cut out Epcot (was kind of boring; the international food was interesting but not enough to carry the park) and Animal Kingdom (if you have a good zoo in your area, like the Bronx Zoo, then you aren’t going to see too much new).

We would have spent more time at Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios (maybe my favorite – Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Muppets, stunt show).  We would have also spent more time at the hotel.  We didn’t even get a chance to take advantage of all of the activities in our hotel.

Was it the most frugal vacation we could have gone on?

No.  But it was well worth the money for the experiences we had (like my daughter saying “I lived!” after coming off of Space Mountain) and we found ways to save along the way.

Things to consider/to do if you’re planning a Disney World trip:

  • Check hotel/flight/car prices in a number of different places for the best price/package.
  • Check out Mousesavers.com – They really helped save money and they have great advice.
  • Get yourself a guide for the parks – There’s so much to do you really want to make sure you spend your time in the right places.
  • Consider renting a car and staying off the Disnet resorts – You can get some great hotel deals and having a car gives you a lot of flexibility on food and supplies.  You can even add in attractions like Sea World and Universal if you have a car.
  • If your child still uses a stroller bring along one that folds and rolls easily We borrowed one from a neighbor).  Even with a car you’re still going to have to use Disney transportation to get from the parking lot to the park.  If your child is old enough for an umbrella stroller consider buying one in Orlando at Target or Wal-Mart.  You can rent a stroller in the Disney parks but I think it’s better to have your own.
  • Buy water and snacks at Target or Wal-Mart and bring it with you to the parks.  It gets hot fast in Orlando and you need to keep hydrated.
  • Plan your day ahead/build an itinerary – Know where you want to go and what rides you want to go on for each day.  Some shows only play at certain times and some parks have later hours on different days.
  • With a Park Hopper pass you can split your day up and see one park in the morning, go back to your hotel and rest a bit, then see another park in the evening.

Do you have any Disney World tips?

photo by idogcow

Murphy’s Law Of The Workplace

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Work

Murphy’s Law – If anything can go wrong, it will.

How many times at work have you had a Murphy’s Law experience?  Just when it’s important that things go right something goes wrong.  Here are some of my workplace Murphy’s Law observations:

  • When you don’t check your email – That will be the time when the VP needs a report from you ASAP!
  • The day you don’t dress your best is the day you have a surprise meeting first thing in the morning.
  • And those meetings that start the day?  You’re going to be late for one through no fault of your own.  When you walk in everyone will stop for a second and look at you like you’ve missed the birth of your child.
  • That one time you “trust” a subordinate with a project and don’t go over it with a fine-tooth comb it ends up being wrong.  And your bosses see it.
  • You  make sure to do any web surfing during your lunch hour because your boss is a stickler for that.  The one time you don’t?  Your boss sneaks up behind you asking what you’re working on (or your boss’ boss sees you and tells your boss and you don’t even realize you got caught until you’re sitting in your boss’ office getting reamed).
  • That project that’s making you tear your hair out that you just can’t get your head around comes right before your performance review.
  • And that project that you absolutely aced; getting it done before the deadline and making your boss look great?  Right after your performance review.
  • Your child’s recital?  Same day as your huge presentation at work that you cannot miss.
  • The one time you click on that link that your buddy sent in an email?  Crash and burn!  You whole computer starts whacking out and less-than-appropriate sites start popping up on your screen (bonus is when your speakers are turned on).
  • The great vacation deal you found that’s only good for one week (or the family function you need to travel to) ends up being the same week your boss already planned to take off but didn’t mention to the staff.
  • Those personal copies you made or that fax you sent?  You left a few pages behind incriminating you.  Of course it was sensitive material like tax info or medical documents (or worse that resume you’ve been sending out).

So what do you do about it?

First – Accept that there will be a Murphy’s Law moment.  It’s inevitable.  Something will go wrong when you need it to go right.  When it does happen, regardless of the situation, look at it in a positive light.  Don’t throw around blame.  See if you can take the situation in a positive direction.  I once had a situation at work where a big screwup blew up and involved VP’s yelling at each other.  Rather than taking sides, my stance was to say “It’s great that this happened.  It exposed a big hole that we didn’t know was there.  We can now put a process into place so this doesn’t happen again.”  That attitude helped ease things over.

Second – The ‘ole Boy Scout Motto: Be Prepared.  If something important is coming up, run through your head all of the things that can go wrong.  Trying to understand what can go wrong can help you build contingencies should Murphy’s Law strike.

How do you handle Murphy’s Law at work?  What’s happened to you?

photo by Yo Spiff

Running – Frugal Or Not

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Runner

Last week I went on my first run in a long time.

I ran about 2.3 miles at a leisurely pace.  It was good to run again though my body felt it the next day!

As I was running I thought about how simple it is to run!

Here is this wonderful exercise that just about anyone can do.  People pay hundreds in gym memberships and buy expensive machines for home to workout when a simple run may be all they need.  What’s it take to run?  Go out and move faster than a walk!

But then I thought about it and I realized running can be expensive as well.  Is running frugal or not?

What you need to run/Equipment:

  • Not Expensive – Sneakers, t-shirt, shorts.  That’s pretty much the basics.  I’m pretty sure most of us have that in the house and could go out and run today!
  • Expensive – Specialty running shoes, performance shirt, sport shorts, running socks, hydrating pack, energy gels, Body Glide, training watch…I could go on.
  • What I’ve done – When I started to seriously run I researched running shoes (sites such as Runner’s World) to see what was rated well.  I wanted a good pair for fear of doing damage to my feet with improper shoes.  There are stores that will help you check your running style and can help you choose the right kind of shoe.  Shoes don’t have to be expensive ( I went to DSW, a discount shoe store to buy mine) but can easily cost over $100 for some types.  For shorts and shirts I tried to buy piece by piece when I could find items on sale.  I’ve shopped Target (they have pretty good workout clothes by Champion) as well as specialty shops.  I always bought on sale!  When I committed to run a marathon I decided to buy running socks.  If I was going to be on my feet for 26 miles I needed all of the help I could get!

Training materials/How to:

  • Not Expensive – Just go out and run!  Watch other runners and if you can ask their advice.  Watch TV for sports programs that deal with running.  There are a number of websites out there, like Active.com, that are full of professional advice.  You also can go to the library to take out books on running form.  Also check out local running groups and stores in your area.  Many offer free groups runs where you can train with others that have similar goals as you.
  • Expensive – Personal trainers, how-to books, DVD’s, gym memberships.  A person can really go all out if they want to learn to run well.  Personal trainers are a quick way of making the exercise expensive.  I’m not saying it’s not useful, just expensive.  It’s also easy to get caught up in all of the instructional books and videos that are out there, many with different training methods.  Though I don’t think you need a gym member ship to run, some people supplement their running with alternate workouts or use the gym’s treadmills and other equipment for bad-weather situations.
  • What I’ve done – I bought a few magazines to get some tips like when they have advice on a first 5K run.  The only book I bought was ChiRunning.  It was recommended to me and I liked the running philosophy.  I scoured online articles for running advice and took in whatever I thought was useful.

Where to run/Races:

  • Not expensive – Did I already say “Just go out and run?”  Tie on your sneaks and head out.  Check out your local park to see if they have a trail.  Run around the block.  One of the beauties of running is that you can basically do it anywhere (though I imagine a hilly city like San Francisco could be tough).  Check out this great page from USA Track & Field.  You can zoom into your area code and look for trails or just mark off a route that you plan on running to see the distance.  In Central Park, here in NYC, you can run routes that are used for actual races (including the finish for the NYC marathon).
  • Expensive – Joining Running clubs (such as Road Runners Club of America or New York Road Runners).  Traveling to races.  Running official races.  Do you plan on running an official race?  You may have to join some sort of running organization or risk paying a premium for the race.  For a NYRR member a race can cost $15.  Non-members would pay $25.  Either is not too bad if you’re only running one race but if you plan on doing more it can add up quickly (even with membership).  One benefit of races is the motivation to finish and the excitement of running with the other runners in a timed event.  There will also usually be support there in the form of water/hydration stations and first aid. P remium races, like a marathon, can easily cost $100 if not more.  And you may have to pay extra for transportation to and from the event.  Some even travel to other cities for races (travel, room and board, food, etc…)
  • What I’ve done – I’m a member of the NYRR association.  I had a goal of running the NYC marathon.  One of the ways to get in was to run nine qualified/scored races the year before.  For that I needed to become a member.  Costs added up between the races and the marathon but for me it was well worth it!  Most times I’m not running a race though.  I usually take advantage of local park trails or I’ll use the USATF map to track a route to run.  I’ve discovered beautiful areas near me that I wouldn’t have gone to otherwise and got to explore my city up close (Queens Botanical Garden, Flushing Meadow Park, Kissena Park, Arthur Ashe stadium, Shea stadium, Citi Field – just to name a few sites).

Is Running Frugal or Not?

It really depends on what your goals are.

You don’t have to go crazy buying all of the latest gear and doodads if you want to run a few miles a week to keep fit.  If you plan to get more serious then you can upgrade equipment as you see fit.  Keep an eye out for sales and only buy what you need.  It’s easy to get caught up in all the latest gadgets but you don’t need most of them.

Just go out and fun and see where it takes you! (Make sure you have clearance from your doctor before starting a new workout).

What do you think?

photo by mikebaird