My Two Dollars

How to Save Money on Road Trips Using Inexpensive Hotels & Cheap Lodging

David — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 14:00:53 +0000

A couple of weeks ago I returned home from a 5,500 mile cross country road trip. Living in Colorado, with the rest of my family living in Massachusetts and Florida, it always takes a big trip in order to see everyone. And since I gave up flying 3 years ago, I now only travel by car or by train – and this summer’s trip was via my Mini Cooper. I drove from CO down to Florida via all back roads (no major highways) so I could see some great parts of the country rarely seen, then I drove up to Boston for a visit and to attend a wedding, and then I drove all the way back to Colorado. I was gone for just about a month, and I had a fantastic time both visiting people and just spending some of the summer on a road trip.

However, taking a long road trip like this can cost a pretty penny if you are not careful. Between the food, drinks, gasoline, tolls, and hotel stays, a trip can empty your wallet in no time flat. One of the biggest expenses I have found on these trips is the 6 some-odd hours I pay to sleep in a hotel… I drive really long days, pull into a hotel at night, and wake up early the next morning and get back on the road. “You want $109 for a 6-hour stay in your hotel?” Yikes! Well, after making these treks for a few years now, I have come up with a few ways to save on hotel stays while on the road, and figured that maybe some of you could benefit from them as well – so here we go!

Stay at hotels in the middle of nowhere. Rural hotels far away from city centers or big suburbs are cheaper than those approaching and/or leaving a major city. I usually wait at least an hour, if not longer, after leaving a city to find a place to sleep for the night. Unless you are planning on playing tourist the next morning, avoid renting a room near a city.

Using your smartphone (if you have one), look up the numbers and call all the hotels at an off-ramp. I do this all the time, in order to find the cheapest one. It saves me from having to go into each lobby and ask the clerks individually.

Pull in to the hotel late at night. The later you get there, the more apt the person behind the counter will be to give you a discount. If the hotel isn’t full yet, and it’s already 11pm, you can probably get a much better price than the rack rate. That being said…

Always ask for a discount. The clerk will ask if you have AAA card or something else like it in order to process a discount, but that doesn’t mean you need a card to get one – be nice and ask if there is anything they can do about the price. Some will, and some won’t, but it never hurts to ask.

Find hotels with free breakfasts and free wi-fi. Granted, the breakfast they give you may only be coffee and a donut, but that’s $10 less dollars you have to spend in the morning.

Sleep in your car. On my return trip to Colorado from Massachusetts, I slept in my car in a rest area in Missouri. I slept for almost 5 hours, got up, and got right back on the road. Was it the most comfortable place I have ever slept? Nope – but I have done it many times and am getting used to the idiosyncrasies of sleeping in one’s car. I find a safe, patrolled, rest area, full of other “sleepers” and trucks, vent the sunroof, lean the seat back, and voila – a free bed for the night. This is my new preferred sleeping method on long drives, as nothing beats not spending a dime on a hotel bed that you only need for a few hours.

Do you take long road trips? What tips would you offer up for saving money on hotels and/or traveling by car? I usually bring my own cooler full of drinks and snacks to save me even more money. What would you add to a list of money-saving road trip tips?

Photo by Bruce Berrien

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Best US Cities and Places to Live in 2010

David — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 14:00:36 +0000

It’s that time again – time for Money Magazine’s 100 Best Places To Live In America. Every year I cover their findings, as I think it’s really interesting to read about where people are living “the good life” in this country. Their findings are based on data about job opportunities, education, crime rates, health care, extracurricular activities, and a bunch of other factors that can make or break a town’s livability. They start with towns and cities with populations between 50,000 and 300,000, then they exclude places where median income is more than 200% of the state median, then they screen out retirement communities, towns with high unemployment, etc., then they factor in additional data on the economy, followed by visits to the towns and interviews with local residents. It’s quite an exhaustive process!

I have traveled to almost every state in the country, and there are always plenty of places that I could see myself living, and discovering a few new ones in this annual list is quite interesting – it makes me want to take more road trips!

As I normally do, I will list the Top 10 places to live out of the Top 100 that they cover, and include a little info on each. Also, I live pretty close to Fort Collins, CO, and I have to tell you – it’s a very cool town, with clean air, nice people, and plenty of outdoor activities to keep you busy year round. I highly recommend you check it out if you are ever in Colorado.

1. Eden Prairie, MN – 64,000 residents, $295,000 average home price, and average annual property taxes of $3,600
2. Columbia/Ellicott City, MD – 155,000 residents, $435,000 average home price, taxes of $6,500
3. Newton, MA – 82,000 residents, $575,000 average home price, and taxes of $5,500 (I love Newton, I grew up in that area. Fantastic city only a few miles from Boston)
4. Bellevue, WA – 124,000 residents, $542,000 average home price, and taxes of $3,700
5. McKinney, TX – 125,000 residents, $156,000 average home price, with taxes of $3,800 (What a great average home price)
6. Fort Collins, CO – 141,000 residents, $239,000 average home price, taxes of $1,400 (Incredibly low property taxes)
7. Overland Park, KS – 175,000 residents, $240,000 home price, and $2,900 in taxes
8. Fishers, IN – 69,000 residents, $140,000 average home price, and only $1,400 in property taxes
9. Ames, IA – 60,000 residents, $175,000 average home price, and taxes of $2,400
10. Rogers, AR – 57,000 residents, $171,000 average home price, and average annual property taxes of $1,800

I never would have guessed that a relatively small town in Minnesota would come out as the best place to live in America, but hey – that’s what these lists are for! I know my hometown in Massachusetts came in 16th place last year on the small town list, and I totally agreed with their finding. Is your city or town on this year’s Top 100 list? Should it be? Let us know where you live and why it should or shouldn’t be on the list!

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How To Make Estimated Tax Payments – For the Self Employed

David — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 18:00:16 +0000

If you don’t have your taxes taken out of a paycheck, guess what – you have to pay estimated taxes to the IRS and your home state every quarter of the year. And even if you have taxes taken out of your paycheck, but you don’t have enough taken out to cover your paycheck or any extra income from self-employment work, interest, dividends, alimony, etc., well, you also need to pay estimated taxes. If you don’t make the quarterly estimated payments or pay enough taxes through regular withholdings, you also may be charged a monetary penalty – even if you don’t owe anything when you file your return for the year. Hooray for the tax code! I have been paying estimated taxes for the past 5 years, as I have been mostly self-employed, and it’s not as bad as it seems to be – you just have to make sure you set aside enough money to make those quarterly payments. That to me was the most difficult thing to get used to; it takes discipline to take out a percentage of each and every dollar that comes your way and sock it away for quarterly estimated payments. I set up a separate account inside my ING Direct account labeled “Taxes”, and it eventually became habit that I no longer really think of.

How Much In Estimated Taxes Should I Pay?

Don’t know how much in estimated taxes you are supposed to pay each year? The easiest way to make sure you are on the side of the law is to pay at least 90% of what you owe for the current year or to pay 100% of what you owed for last year. Sounds confusing, I know. In reality, though, you just need to make sure you cover 90% of what you may owe this year, spread out over 4 quarters. I add up each three months of whatever I made and multiply it by my tax rate from last year, and voila – how much I owe for that quarter. Pretty simple, yes?

Do I Ever Not Have To Pay Estimated Taxes?

Sure – if you have enough taken out of your paycheck and/or you meet all three of the following conditions as laid out by the IRS:

- You have no tax liability for the previous year

and

- You were a US citizen or resident for the whole year

and

- Your previous tax year covered a 12 month period

Remember, you must meet all three of those items on the list in order to not have to pay estimated taxes. There are a few ways you can pay your estimated taxes, either by mail or over the internet.

Pay By Mail

You would need to use form 1040-ES, Estimated Tax for Individuals (PDF Downloads), to figure out and pay your Federal taxes. For your home state, you would need to visit the Department of Taxation website for the correct forms and mailing addresses.

Pay Over The Internet

To pay Federal taxes online, visit EFTPS, the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System. Using your social security number and a credit card, you can use EFTPS to make all your federal tax payments, including income, employment, estimated and excise taxes. Some states also offer online payments, so be sure to check the taxation website of your home state if you want to pay online.

The due dates for estimated payments are as follows:

January 15 – Fourth quarter previous year estimated tax payment due
April 15 – First quarter estimated tax payment due
June 15 – Second quarter estimated tax payment due
September 15 – Third quarter estimated tax payment due

If you still need a little more information, you can head over to the IRS website and check out Publication 505, Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax. Good luck, and don’t forget to pay on time!

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No Health Insurance? Save Money On Doctor Visits Using These New Health Clinics

David — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 21:42:16 +0000

As many of my long-time readers may remember, I no longer have health insurance. Since my divorce was finalized back in November, I have been unable to get private health insurance due to dealing with cancer back in 2008. Not a single insurance company will take me on as a customer, even though I am seemingly healthy today.

Starting in August I will hopefully have access to a new “pre-existing condition” insurance plan that will be provided either by an overall plan through the government or companies in individual states (here in CO it is by the state/private company). Since November I have been doing my best to keep my costs down while still being able to see a doctor when I needed to – and I needed to a few weeks ago. After traveling to Massachusetts for a wedding, I started feeling severe headaches on one side of my head, accompanied by a loss of hearing in my left ear. Sounds serious, right? I thought so too! But without insurance, I couldn’t just walk into any doctor’s office or hospital without leaving with an overwhelming bill to pay. So I did what I did when I had the flu a few months ago – I walked into a health clinic in CVS called Minute Clinic. A $69 medical bill later, an issue in my inner ear was taken care of and I was back to normal.

These small health clinics are popping up all over the place – CVS, Walgreens, Target, Walmart, etc. and for good reason. More and more people are without health insurance (either because they cannot afford it or they cannot get it), and these clinics offer a lot of different services for a relatively small amount money. While they do take insurance as well, they are really great for those of us who are without insurance, enabling us to still get healthcare at reasonable rates when we need it. In fact, I had a doctor in California that didn’t take anyone without insurance, so these clinics should be able to find plenty of customers if that trend continues. The clinics see people for things like vaccinations, minor injury exams, allergies, earaches, flu-like symptoms, pink eye, physicals, lacerations, sprains, suture removal, acne, sunburn, rashes, etc. – ranging in price from $19 – $102. They are open 7 days a week and I never waited more than 10 minutes to see the practitioner at the one I went to at CVS.

OK, so when I had two small surgeries on my back last month, I went to a local doctor since the clinics don’t do surgery. But without insurance, I was required to give them a 50% downpayment before the doctor would even start cutting. I felt like a deadbeat! They are so used to getting paid by insurance companies that they are wary of those of us without insurance. That’s why these clinics are so useful for smaller medical issues – they are affordable, take people without health insurance, and can usually see you in just a few minutes. Just don’t go in looking for cheaper surgery at your local CVS!

Here are the websites of the Top 4 most common health clinics in business right now that can be found in most towns or at least nearby to your town:

The issue I was having back east took THREE visits to the clinic to clear up – but they only charged me the $69 fee once. If I had gone to a doctor 3 times, without insurance, it would have cost me a fortune! I am very glad that these clinics are showing up in communities around the country, and I highly recommend you check one out if you either don’t have insurance or have an urgent issue your doctor can’t see you right away for. Even when (if) I am finally able to get health insurance again, I will still use these clinics for less urgent medical issues.

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10 Ways To Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch

David — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 17:58:59 +0000

You know that expression, right? This pretty famous saying is in the fable “The Milkmaid and Her Pail” where Patty, a farmer’s daughter, is daydreaming as she walks to town with a pail of milk balanced on her head. “The milk in this pail will provide me with cream, which I will make into butter, which I will sell in the market, and buy a dozen eggs, which will hatch into chickens, which will lay more eggs, and soon I shall have a large poultry yard. I’ll sell some of the fowls and buy myself a handsome new gown and go to the fair, and when the young fellows try to make love to me, I’ll toss my head and pass them by.” At that moment, Patty tossed her head and lost the pailful of milk. Her mother said, “Do not count your chickens before they are hatched.” The same expression fits perfectly here in the world of personal finances, where many of us spend our money either before we have it or above and beyond our means. Well, here are 10 ways that some people do count their chickens before they hatch, putting their financial security at risk.

1. Get yourself either an interest-only or a variable interest mortgage. Sure, everyone had them a few years back when the housing market started collapsing, but that was then – this is now! There is nothing like getting a mortgage you can definitely only afford for 5 years and hope that you make more money later on.

2. Buy yourself a car – and spread those affordable monthly payments out over an 84 month period. While there is no way you could afford the monthly payments on a new BMW with your $20,000 per year job if you got a 4 year loan, you could most surely afford it over 7 years or longer!

3. Take cash advances on your credit cards to buy random unnecessary crap with. Nothing says “I will be able to pay that back eventually” like borrowing money from your credit card at 11% interest (or more) plus applicable fees.

4. Go out to eat at expensive restaurants every night of the week because “you deserve it”. Someday, when you finally have a lot of money, you will be known as a regular… or you will just be in debt. It could go either way, really.

5. Throw away your perfectly good iPhone that you got 4 months ago. Sure, you will have to pay the full upgrade price on the brand new one ($600, I think?) but you might be getting a bonus in 6 months, and that would more than pay for it. Right?

6. Buy your fiancee an engagement ring that is way out of your comfortable price range. Nothing says LOVE like giving a ring to a woman you went into debt for and will eventually make your wife help pay for.

7. Live paycheck to paycheck, with hopes that eventually you will be paid so much that you can finally save a few bucks. I mean, someone has to recognize just how great you really are eventually, right?

8. Go on yearly “all expenses paid” vacations that you can’t afford. Head to exotic countries that you charge to your credit card, accrue interest on all year, and then take another trip the following year while still paying off the trips from all previous years.

9. Pay an investment advisor to manage your $5,000 retirement portfolio that you contribute $25 a month to. Service fees and percentages will eliminate any chance of making any gains, but since you plan on eventually having a lot of money, you need an advisor today.

10. Care too damn much about what other people think of you, and spend enough to change their minds. Self-confidence doesn’t come from inside, it comes from just how cool you can make yourself feel by spending all your money on things you cannot afford today. Monthly payments on a balance that never goes down is a small price to pay to boost your own ego.

Ever count your own chickens before they hatch? I know I certainly have over the years, whether it be for a car I couldn’t afford or a girl I dated who wanted to live way out of my price range. Please share if you have your own stories!

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How To Get Out Of Jury Duty Summons – 16 Fool-Proof Excuses

David — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 14:00:16 +0000

You will be called for jury duty one day – I guarantee it. If the state, city, or county knows that you exist, you will get a summons to appear for jury duty at least several times in your life. And while we really should all be willing to do our civic duty when called upon, sometimes the timing or location of said duty doesn’t work for us at all. So instead of just ignoring the summons as inconvenient and throwing it in the trash (which can land you in contempt of court), you should try to reschedule or get out of jury duty this time, and hope it’s a while before you are asked again. But how do you get out of your civic duty of being a jury for one of your peers? Try on some of these excuses for size. While some are entirely legal and legit, and some are just plain silly (and possibly illegal), it may be worth the effort to give some of them a try if the timing of your jury duty doesn’t fit in your schedule.

1. Request a date change – You can probably safely get a date of service change just by asking the court.

2. Dress horribly inappropriate for your age/gender – I want you to think “Mid-80’s Madonna Attending A Circus” for this. The other jurors will be scared of you, the lawyers will be afraid to ask you any questions, and the judge won’t want Madonna or a circus in his courtroom.

3. Mention you are a felon – Of course, you have to actually be one to do this, but if you get selected for jury duty and they didn’t know you were a felon, make sure to tell them.

4. Have a baby or an elderly person at home – The primary caregiver for either a baby or an elderly person can usually get out of jury duty pretty easily.

5. Sold your car AND your bike? – Back when I lived in California, I got my jury duty summons moved to both a closer court and a different date because I had no way of getting to the courthouse they wanted me to come to. I didn’t own a car and public transportation didn’t go where I would have needed it to go!

6. Be away from home – If you aren’t home and on an extended vacation in Europe or even the next state over, they can’t expect you to cut short a trip just for jury duty. Ask for a date change.

7. Talk in circles when questioned by lawyers – Believe me, if I was on trial for something, the last thing I would want was a crazy person on the jury deciding my fate… and your defense attorney wouldn’t want it either.

8. Get a note from your doctor – Notes from your doctor can get you out of all sorts of appointments and commitments. You pay for insurance or doctor visits, so be sure to use them to your advantage.

9. Is your long-lost Uncle a cop? – Be sure to somehow slip that in when being questioned. Some lawyers may not want someone close to law enforcement to sit on their jury.

10. Get drunk before you show up – Risky? Yep. But alcoholics who are drunk at 8am will probably be sent home early.

11. Be biased – Be biased against the crime, the location, the race of the perp, the color of the rug in the courtroom. Admittedly biased people have no place on a jury.

12. Spill your darkest secrets to the lawyers – Ever been the victim of a crime that could sway your opinion of the case at hand? Be sure to let them know about it.

13. Buddhists get off jury duty – My friend, a Buddhist, has gotten off jury duty 3 times just by being Buddhists. It’s against his religion to pass judgement on others. I am sure there are clauses in other religions that could also be used.

14. Be a student – If jury duty could affect your grades or your chance at graduation, you can probably get out of serving just by asking. Although, now that I think about it, my college professor didn’t care that I missed a mid-term because my dad died, so maybe some judges don’t care either.

15. Moved out of the county asking you to serve lately? – Let them know – Instant removal from service.

16. And finally, a last ditch effort? – Use a George Carlin line and tell the judge you can tell if someone is guilty just by looking at them. That should do the trick if all else fails.

Have you gotten out of jury duty before? Care to share? While we should all be willing to do our duty and serve if we can, sometimes you just need a way out.

*Disclaimer – I am not responsible if you end up in jail and on trial by a jury of your peers should you attempt any and/or all of the items listed above and get busted!

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2010 Federal Income Tax Brackets & IRS Tax Rates

David — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 14:00:42 +0000

Since we are half way through 2010, I figured now was a good time to check out what the 2010 Federal tax rates were so you still had 6 months to make any changes to your withholdings if necessary. Every year there are always small changes to the absurdly wordy tax code, and 2010 is no different. (Good thing I have my brother, an accountant, to keep track of this stuff for me!) So if you were wondering, here are the marginal Federal tax rates for 2010, along with some other small changes that you may not have even noticed.

2010 Federal Income Tax Brackets

Singles:

10% Tax Bracket – $0-$8,375
15% Tax Bracket – $8,375-$34,000
25% Tax Bracket – $34,000-$82,400
28% Tax Bracket – $82,400-$171,850
33% Tax Bracket – $171,850-$373,650
35% Tax Bracket – $373,650+

Married Filing Jointly:

10% Tax Bracket – $0-$16,750
15% Tax Bracket – $16,750-$68,000
25% Tax Bracket – $68,000-$137,300
28% Tax Bracket – $137,300-$209,250
33% Tax Bracket – $209,250-$373,650
35% Tax Bracket – $373,650+

Married Filing Separately:

10% Tax Bracket – $0-$8,375
15% Tax Bracket – $8,375-$34,000
25% Tax Bracket – $34,000-$68,650
28% Tax Bracket – $68,650-$104,625
33% Tax Bracket – $104,625-$186,825
35% Tax Bracket – $186,825+

Head Of Household:

10% Tax Bracket – $0-$11,950
15% Tax Bracket – $11,950-$45,550
25% Tax Bracket – $45,550-$117,650
28% Tax Bracket – $117,650-$190,550
33% Tax Bracket – $190,550-$373,650
35% Tax Bracket – $373,650+

Please keep in mind that you don’t just pay the tax rate that matches your income. If you single file and your income is $40,000 per year (falling in the 25% tax bracket), you pay a 10% tax on the first $8,375 of income, 15% on $8,375-$34,000, and 25% on the final $34,000 – $40,000. You do not pay 25% on the entire $40,000 of income, a mistake many people make.

And here are a few more important pieces of information to keep in mind as we move forward in 2010:

Standard Deductions

$5,700 for single filers
$8,400 for head of household
$11,400 for married filers
$950 for dependents

Amount You Can Save In Your 401K Retirement Account

Under 50? You can contribute $16,500 each year.
Over 50? You can contribute $22,000 each year.

Amount You Can Save In A Traditional Or Roth IRA Account

Under 50? You can contribute $5,000 each year.
Over 50? You can contribute $6,000 each year.

The Mileage Deduction Has Decreased.

In 2009 you were able to deduct $.55 per mile, but in 2010 this is now $.50 per mile. Medical travel is at $.165 per mile, and charitable travel is $.14 per mile.

Gift Tax Exclusion

The gift tax exclusion stays the same at $13,000.This means you can give up to $13,000 tax free to anyone else, up to a maximum of $1 million in your life.

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Best Companies to Work for in the US – Top Employers & Their Benefits

David — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 20:05:57 +0000

Think you have it good at your job? You might, but maybe not as good as some of these employees have it. (Then again, even having a job in this economy can be considered good – but I digress.) Fortune Magazine has released their annual Top 100 Employers To Work For List for 2010, and some of the companies on the list may surprise you (they did me, for sure). I remember back when I worked in the movie business and worked at Universal Studios in California, we were near the top of this list because of the solid perks, pay, and job security we had. Things have certainly changed due to different industries taking off and others faltering, but if you have a job at one of these Top 100 you probably have it pretty good right about now. So what kinds of things can put a company on this list? Let’s take a look at some of the perks that companies can provide which certainly help:

Paid healthcare for your family. I miss this one, for sure! Having a company pay for the majority of your health insurance takes a big burden off your shoulders.
On-site childcare center. Many families are dual-income earners, so they need childcare during the day. Being able to bring your kids with you to your place of work and visit them during the day can go a long way to making your time away from them more manageable.
Encouragement of a work/life balance. If you work for a company that actually tells you to “go home you are working too much”, you are in a good place.
Telecommuting is allowed. This would be a biggie for me, if I were to ever go back to a corporate day job. I cannot imagine myself having to commute to my job again!
Fully paid sabbaticals. A friend of mine gets a full month off paid for every 5 years he works at the company, which is in addition to his month of paid vacation he now gets each year.
Extra perks like gym memberships, referral bonuses, home-buying assistance, tuition reimbursement, same-sex partner benefits. These are a few of the things that made Universal Studios such a great place to work back in the 90’s. (Sadly, they are no longer on the list)

Sometimes, good perks make up for any bad stuff that may come alone with reporting to work every day. Here is the Top 10 companies from the full list of 100, and while I always knew Google was a great place to work, who knew Edward Jones or Qualcomm was? Seems some of the best companies to work for are often never mentioned in the same breath as Google when discussing the major perks, but that’s where lists like this come in handy – they can give you a new place to start looking for a job that you may not have thought of before!

1. SAS
2. Edward Jones
3. Wegmans Food Markets
4. Google
5. Nugget Market
6. DreamWorks Animation SKG
7. NetApp
8. Boston Consulting Group
9. Qualcomm
10. Camden Property Trust

What about where you work? Do you have any of these kind of perks/bonuses at your day job? Where do you work? Would you leave your job for a company providing perks like these? Please let us know in the comments!

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Tipping Etiquette Guidelines – How Much to Tip Hairdressers, Movers, Hotel Staff, Valet, Cab Drivers, Food Delivery, Waiters and More

David — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 13:30:18 +0000

Ever wonder who you should tip, when you should tip, or how much you should tip? Don’t worry, you aren’t alone – not even close. Most of us take a guess at the amount and hope for the best; hoping we left enough to be remembered in a good way rather than a bad way! And while most of us tip for service in restaurants and bars, there are a lot of other places where tips are a way of life. Like them or not, tips can make or break the service you get for your money or even more importantly, help people make ends meet due to the low pay at their jobs. I am of the mind to tip most of the places we are “supposed” to tip, out of courtesy and thanks to those I am tipping, while some friends of mine only tip if service is exceptional. These opposite ends of the spectrum on tipping seems to account for the majority of people, so who really knows what the “right” way of doing things is? For me, that means tipping well for many different services. So for those of you looking for advice on when/who/how much to tip, I went and did some research and found out a bunch of info that I hope is helpful to you next time you are out and about. Let’s take a look…

For waiters at a restaurant (not fast food) a standard tip is 15%-20% of the final bill.
Buying a drink at a bar? $1 a drink is pretty standard.
Staying in a hotel? I leave between $3-$5 per night for the housekeeping crew.
If you are checking your bags curbside at the airport, $1-$2 per bag is fair.
Getting your car washed at one of those “top to bottom” car washes? $3-$5 is a good tip for the main guy working on your car.
While I rarely see this anymore (although that could be because I don’t hang out anywhere “nice” anymore!), an attendant in a coatroom should be tipped $1 per coat.
Seeing a massage therapist to work out the knots from the day job? Between 15%-20% of the massage cost is standard.
I tipped my tattoo guy 20% of the cost for his work because, well, if I go back I want him to spell everything correctly!
Get your hair cut at a salon? Tipping 15%-20% of the haircut cost is good, and maybe a little more around the holidays.
If I ever have to valet my car, I usually tip $2 to the valet driver when he or she brings my car back around.
When in need of wheelchair service at the airport, a tip of $5-$10 would be nice to give to the “driver”.
Pizza delivery drivers, on average, get between $2-$5 depending on weather, your neighborhood, and distance driven to get there.
When taking the shuttle from the rental car place to the airport, most people tip the drive $1 per bag (if they help you with it).
For movers, I always tip $20 per guy. This comes in especially handy if you are like me and move often using the same company!
If you use a hotel concierge, you should probably tip them at least $5 for getting you tickets or reservations to a show. Give more if they help more, as you never know when you may need them.
For taxis, a pretty standard tip is 15% of the final bill.
For limo drivers, 20% of the bill is fair.
Ever travel overnight on Amtrak? I have, many times – and the sleeping car attendants can make or break your trip. A tip of $3-$5 per day/per passenger can make all the difference.
While I am not a gambler, most blackjack players will tip a $5 chip upon leaving the table – more if at a high stakes table or you won a ton of money.
The ladies at the nail salon would truly appreciate a 15% tip for cleaning up your fingernails.
When getting your shoes shined, a good tip (on top of the bill) would be $2 per pair of shoes.
Got a young kid in school? While you don’t need to tip, per se, a small token of appreciation is nice at the end of the school year. That being said, as someone who was married to a teacher, please avoid giving personal pictures of your child, home decorations, or body lotion. A gift card to a bookstore or Starbucks is a much better gift… trust me.

A few other things to keep in mind that I just thought of that may be useful:

If you purchase goods/services with a coupon of any sort, tip on the full amount of the bill – not the discounted price. Otherwise you just look like a cheap bastard and it’s not fair to the server, who has no control over the prices of the restaurant or the value of the coupon.

And lastly, if you are traveling abroad, pretty much throw this entire list out the window. When people from other countries come visit the US, they don’t understand why we tip everyone so much money. In France (the only country I have spent any amount of time in), tipping was generally frowned upon, especially in professional jobs like being a waiter or a taxi driver. We Americans still tipped a little, but locals tended not to tip because they know that these jobs are paid professional wages, and tipping can be seen as insulting by some.

Got any more tips about tipping? Do you tip often or rarely? How much do you tip? Please let us know in the comments!

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How to Get Rid of Roaches – Cockroach Control

David — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 13:30:53 +0000

Ever had a problem with cockroaches in your home? I have, and it’s not fun.

Back in college (which feels like 1000 years ago at this point) I lived with another guy in an old duplex we shared with another couple of guys (parties were great!) that had bullet holes in the back door. And yes, you could still see through them to the outside… good times.

But anyway, we had a serious roach problem in that place in that if you either came home when it was dark and/or got up in the middle of the night and turned on the kitchen light, a flurry of activity would take place on the floor as about a billion roaches scattered for the comfort of darkness under the appliances or behind the walls. It was thoroughly disgusting and we tried everything we could to get rid of them – to no avail. We found out later that the guys next door had rotting food left out, water leaks under the cabinets, and several other problems which only encourage roaches to stay, so by the time we moved out we still had the extra roommates living in our kitchen which we never wanted in the first place.

In the spirit of thinking back about those crazy days, and knowing that people still have trouble with roaches in their house, I figured a post about getting rid of cockroaches could come in handy for some.

Did you know that cockroaches have remained literally unchanged for more than 300 million years now? I didn’t – but it just shows you how resilient they really are. They hung around with dinosaurs just the same as they are hanging around with us humans! Thus, they can be difficult to kill or get rid of at your house, but there are certainly different ways that you can try to get them to leave for good.

The first thing you want to do is to try to figure out where they are coming from. Cracks in your foundation, holes in the drywall or behind appliances, drains that don’t have mechanisms to block critters from the outside from coming in – these are the types of things you should be checking for. Cockroaches will use almost any entrance into your home to look for water and/or food, so you need to make sure that the only entrances are the doors and windows that the humans use! One you find out the where, if you can, you may want to try a few of these ideas:

Coffee grounds. These can do a good job of repelling roaches, but it will not kill or keep them away for good.
Bay leaves. Cockroaches hate the taste of bay leaves, so crumble some up and sprinkle them near any openings.
Spray soapy water on them. Not sure how well this works, but I did read somewhere that roaches breathe through their skin and this can stop them from breathing… at least for a while. Dispose of them before they “wake up” again.
Make your own roach food that you can feed them. Combine boric acid and sugar together, and put it around the house (be VERY careful though if you have kids, you don’t want them eating it!) where you think the roaches are coming in. The sugar should attract them and the boric acid should kill them. Hopefully.
Buy some cockroach traps. Pretty self-explanatory, but you won’t catch or deter all of them this way.
Pick up cockroach spray. Spray it everywhere they could be hanging out, inside and outside of your house.

However, even better than trying to kill a horde of cockroaches is to keep them from entering your house in the first place. It can be difficult if you live in an area prone to a thriving world of roaches, but there are some steps you can take to try to stop them from getting in your house:

Stop any and all water leaks. Roaches can go a very long time without food, but not more than a day without water. Stop offering them a free drinking fountain.
Keep your house clean of all clutter and messiness. I know, this is hard for some people, but clutter and dirt gives cockroaches a place to hide and hang out until you go to bed.
Move all firewood or anything else stored next to your house, away from your house. Don’t provide free housing for the cockroaches while they try to figure out a way inside.
Don’t leave any open food laying around. Cockroaches love a free meal.

Cockroaches are a major nuisance and can even carry diseases that your family could get from them. And above all that, they are pretty gross creatures which are unnerving to watch scattering for cover when switching on a light in your house. If you are having problems at your place, hopefully some of these tips will help you get rid of the cockroaches forever!

(photo credit: Spider.Dog)

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