Queercents

My first time buying a car was absolute hell. I came on the used car lot to pick up a Toyota and left with a 2000 Dodge Neon, which later became known as the Dodge Death Trap. It was the first car I ever bought with my own credit (such as it was). It was a mostly reliable car, until I finally paid it off by transferring the last of my 14% interest loan to a 0% credit card.

It overheated. Not too badly at first, then just on hot days… or when it rained … or in traffic. The solution was always to pour more coolant into its insatiably hungry engine and keep an eye on the temp. Taking it in to Jiffy Lube for a coolant flush seemed to work for a little while. I put the car in neutral at stop lights and when it got hot vented the heat through floorboards of my car. In the summer.

Finally in 2007, as it was warming up, I’d had enough. Repair was one option but I’d had the car for five years and truthfully hated driving it. Automobile repair is worse than the dentist for me and once a car really starts to break I don’t feel safe driving it. It was time to buy a car. Read the rest of this entry »

Beginning February 17, 2009, full-power television stations are required to switch from analog to digital broadcasting per the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005.

You may need to purchase a digital converter box to receive network channels if:

1) you do not subscribe to cable or satellite programming
2) you have a television made before 2004 (Most televisions made before 2004 do not have a built-in digital tuner.)

To learn more about the digital broadcasting conversion, click here for the FAQ page at the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration site. (Do yourself a favor and expand all FAQ for faster reading.) Read the rest of this entry »

I heard on NPR last week that some financial analysts are officially using the word recession to describe the state of the American economy. Finally, the suits are understanding what those of us in the trenches have been feeling for quite some time!

Recessions are stressful. Massage helps with stress. And for people with chronic pain, massage can feel less like pure indulgence and more like a medical necessity. I know for me, I’m happiest and most productive when I’m receiving regular bodywork.

But the going rate for massage where I live is around $65/hour, with at least one massage therapist I know charging $85/hour. (That’s the discounted rate, if you don’t have workman’s comp insurance to cover her normal cost.) I don’t know about you, but I can’t afford that every week or every other week. If you value massage therapy like I do, it’s still important even if you can’t scrape together the change because you’re too busy buying beans and rice.

Here are some ways you can get free, or extremely inexpensive massage. Read the rest of this entry »

In this series on tipping we’ve covered everything from the tip on outrageously expensive wine to the hair splitting minutia of tipping on tax. I learned that you’re supposed to tip in hotels. And perhaps most importantly we laid to rest the tired stereotype that lesbians are worse tippers (unless they’re in a bar). However there are still some loose ends that need addressing.

Exotic Dancers

Just like servers they are professionals who live off of tips. If you’re going to enjoy the show it’s only polite to bring some singles. Having a lot of money in hand ensures prompt “attention”.

When I was studying to be a sex researcher I taught to have respect for people who worked in “the industry” and not to exploit or objectify anyone. I found myself at a male strip bar when I had no cash and decided the only courteous thing to do was not look in the direction of the entertainers. Ironically this drew more attention than just sitting there and I got rubbed on by one of the dancers– as I protested that I was unable to compensate them. He didn’t seem to mind.

Hair Dressers

Read the rest of this entry »

Giveaway alert: read this entire post for the chance to win a SmartyPig $100 gift card.

SmartyPig reminds me of the days when my grandmother made weekly deposits to her Christmas Club. Remember those? The special savings program offered by local banks to ease the expense of holiday shopping. These were still quite popular when I was growing up as a kid in the 1970’s.

Well, SmartyPig is giving good old-fashioned savings a boost with some social networking.

Here’s how it works. SmartyPig is a savings account that allows you to save for a specific goal and invite others to contribute. There are other perks: including a good interest rate (4.30% APY) and incentives from top retailers like Amazon, Home Depot, Best Buy, etc.

SmartyPig is tilted toward consumer-oriented goals and best suited for people saving for a specific item like a new, expensive crib. Or at least that’s the example Trent at The Simple Dollar gave in his review: Read the rest of this entry »

I love comics and I don’t buy them anymore, but I used to have old X-men, Captain America, Batman, etc. And though I loved to read comic books, to actually own them was a different mentality.

Reading involved a moment of enjoyment and escape for me and I would picture myself in among the characters, but owning comic books was a whole different jungle. I EXPECTED all them to go up in value and I didn’t have the patience to wait 15-20 years to make back double my money or so. I eventually sold them for a loss due to my impatience and stuck to the enjoyment of reading them in the library in Graphic Novel form. (collected issues in a book)

I once owned a particular Captain America comic book. I bought it for about $40 dollars and sold it for about the same a few years later. At the time it was valued around $100 for the condition it was in. Based on the prices now, it would fetch about $250, IF I STILL HAD IT. I’m not sad about it, it was a learning experience. Read the rest of this entry »

“Health care is a ‘luxury good’”. – Charles Wheelan, Ph.D.

Here’s the health care hint of the week: use a pill splitter. This tip and others courtesy of RN Central’s post on how to: Get Better, Cheaper Health Care without Insurance (25 Tips, Tricks and Resources). It’s actually a pretty comprehensive list of ideas and I learned something about doubling up and pill splitting when it comes to medications.

Double up. Medication often comes in a wide variety of dosages to suit the needs of patients, but depending on what you need to take, you may be able to save money by taking more of a lower dosage pills than just one of a higher dosage. While this may not be possible in every case, it’s an option worth checking out if you need to pinch pennies. Read the rest of this entry »

Kimberly and Elizabeth are the co-founders of Go Green Travel Green. As life partners and avid travelers, they’re committed to reducing their environmental impact. In addition to being eco-conscious, they’re budget conscious and have written a guest post that keeps both green and greenbacks in mind when exploring our lonely planet. These are their words…

One common deterrent to “going green” when traveling is the perceived expense. People think that being environmentally friendly will cost them a lot of money. But, in actuality, eco-conscious traveling can save you money.

For the sake of comparison let’s consider a weekend trip (3 days, 2 nights) from Washington, D.C. to New York City.

Transportation (getting there and away):
Regular Travel: Plane
cost: $160 roundtrip
Green Travel: “Chinatown” Bus (far fewer carbon emissions than a plane)
cost: $30 roundtrip

Savings: $130 Read the rest of this entry »