I almost forgot to check my credit card statements this month. Whoops! I don't normally use them when I'm in NZ--the transfer of NZD to USD is time-consuming and painful, even with the high conversion rate as of late. Instead, I use my NZ debit card.
The only downfall of that debit card is that I don't get rewards points for what I spend. In the US, it was de riguer to buy everything with credit to get the points. I always loved getting that $50 gift card to Target--as much as once per 3-4 months with 5% cashback--just for buying stuff I had to buy anyway, like groceries and gas. That $50 gift card was essentially costing nothing ($1000 in unavoidable, normal spending).
Those were the days...
I noticed when checking my credit cards for any suspicious activity (everything was at $0 as expected) that Chase Sapphire had rewarded me my 50,000 airmiles for spending the planned $3,500 USD on my trip last month.
That 50,000 airmiles puts me at 126K and change for United/Continental. A round-trip flight to my parents' house is 80K. Hurrah! One of my 2011 goals is done:
Goal 10: Play the credit card game, amass enough air points to travel home for free next year.
Current market rate for a flight home next summer is $2200 USD. Now in free flavor.
So I just have to say to myself: Absolutely fabulous planning, my dear.
Why, thank you!
Showing posts with label free. Show all posts
Showing posts with label free. Show all posts
Friday, November 04, 2011
Sunday, October 03, 2010
All the Free Stuff
You guys just saw what I did on my trip in the pictorial, but I haven't talked about what everything cost. In particular, I was able to do this trip very cheaply while also feeling like I was doing a lot because I got a bunch of free things during my 50 nights away. So much stuff!! Let me count the ways:
Michigan: stayed with my aunt and uncle in their humongous, gorgeous lakeside house for 5 days. All of the food and boat rides, etc. were paid for by my mom and her siblings (I tried very, very hard to pay my share--they wouldn't have it).
Home: quite obviously, I stayed with my parents while there, for 22 nights of the 50 I was away. Most of my food was paid for by my parents, but I did a lot of grocery shopping and errand running for them in return. They had a car I could borrow.
Boston: stayed with my friend who lives there, for 3 nights. I gave them $40 and a card in return. I was granted free admission to a museum that my friend works at. I attended a wedding while in the northeast, and stayed at the house that the wedding took place at. Free dinners and breakfasts, etc., although I paid for my lunches and treats (Boston Chowda! Cannolis!)
San Diego: Stayed 4 nights at a friends' house. They also fed me breakfast and lunch each day. I bought them several dinners out. I got to see the Zoo for free because my friend works there.
Las Vegas: This was the Holy Grail of 'free!' My friend works for Cirque de Soleil, so my friends and I were able to get free tickets to view a show from the lighting booth--normally this costs $100 per person!! Also, my friend gave us a backstage tour of the show after the show was over. SO AWESOME! It was very cool to see where they train and the set and the acrobats up close and learn all the tricks behind-scenes. (I bought my friend a very nice buffet dinner in return--$30 value). Stayed in the Excalibur for ~$25/night for a total of 4 nights.
Las Vegas, cont: If you have the number of a promoter (easy to get), you text him and ask if there is anything going on that night. They'll text you back with the list of clubs you can get onto the lists for, and mention if there are any free specials going on (free alcohol from 11 - 12, for example). So I texted this guy that my cousin gave me the number of, and he put us on the lists for Tao, Tao Beach, Pure, and Lavo. We were instructed to go to Lavo by 10:30 pm, where there would be free alcohol until 11:30. Then we were given VIP bracelets to sit in the roped off area of Lavo, and the bracelets gave us free alcohol at the bar until 12:30, and then after that, the alcohol was free at our roped off booth for the rest of the night. We couldn't believe our luck. I mean, club admission is usually $30, and individual drinks run about $10 or more! We also had our own platforms to dance on, a place to sit whenever we got tired or wanted to sit and drink, and didn't have to deal with all of the sweaty, grabby people on the dance floor. It was IDEAL. And all we had to do was text a guy and show up at the right time! (There are unwritten 'rules' associated with the deal, though--a) if the promoter puts you on a list, you HAVE to show up at some point or when instructed, otherwise it makes the promoter look bad because they are promising numbers of girls to the club, b) NEVER EVER call a promoter, unless they ask--only text!, c) don't bring guys, d) look cute and get drunk and have fun! They don't want to see sloppy people moping around.)
I don't know how these promoter guys know that we weren't 50 year old grandmas wanting to get in...as long as you're a young(ish) girl, though, the Vegas is FREE!
around the Southwest: my friend's family gave her their gas card and a car to use for the trip, FREE! This cut down on costs considerably. we stayed in Bakersfield with my friends' friend one night and Fresno with my aunt and uncle another night. The friends' friend works for an oil company and makes MEGA-bucks, so he took us out to dinner. My aunt and uncle were happy to feed us for a couple of days and get us drunk (they are awesome), and they have a plane, so my uncle took us up for a free ride! Other than that, we camped cheaply ($15/night or less), stayed in a Vegas hotel ($30/night or less), ate groceries, and did free stuff around the national parks (hiking, climbing, etc.). We also bought a National Parks Pass for $80 and definitely got our money's worth with it--we would have paid twice as much for park fees without it. Plus, my friends' family can use it for the whole year (September 2010 - September 2011)!
When I look back at all the free stuff I was given, all I can say is that I'm the luckiest girl in the world to have such awesome family and friends. :) My life is so great! It makes me all the more excited to give back to the world via my Charity Challenge (see upcoming post!).
Michigan: stayed with my aunt and uncle in their humongous, gorgeous lakeside house for 5 days. All of the food and boat rides, etc. were paid for by my mom and her siblings (I tried very, very hard to pay my share--they wouldn't have it).
Home: quite obviously, I stayed with my parents while there, for 22 nights of the 50 I was away. Most of my food was paid for by my parents, but I did a lot of grocery shopping and errand running for them in return. They had a car I could borrow.
Boston: stayed with my friend who lives there, for 3 nights. I gave them $40 and a card in return. I was granted free admission to a museum that my friend works at. I attended a wedding while in the northeast, and stayed at the house that the wedding took place at. Free dinners and breakfasts, etc., although I paid for my lunches and treats (Boston Chowda! Cannolis!)
San Diego: Stayed 4 nights at a friends' house. They also fed me breakfast and lunch each day. I bought them several dinners out. I got to see the Zoo for free because my friend works there.
Las Vegas: This was the Holy Grail of 'free!' My friend works for Cirque de Soleil, so my friends and I were able to get free tickets to view a show from the lighting booth--normally this costs $100 per person!! Also, my friend gave us a backstage tour of the show after the show was over. SO AWESOME! It was very cool to see where they train and the set and the acrobats up close and learn all the tricks behind-scenes. (I bought my friend a very nice buffet dinner in return--$30 value). Stayed in the Excalibur for ~$25/night for a total of 4 nights.
Las Vegas, cont: If you have the number of a promoter (easy to get), you text him and ask if there is anything going on that night. They'll text you back with the list of clubs you can get onto the lists for, and mention if there are any free specials going on (free alcohol from 11 - 12, for example). So I texted this guy that my cousin gave me the number of, and he put us on the lists for Tao, Tao Beach, Pure, and Lavo. We were instructed to go to Lavo by 10:30 pm, where there would be free alcohol until 11:30. Then we were given VIP bracelets to sit in the roped off area of Lavo, and the bracelets gave us free alcohol at the bar until 12:30, and then after that, the alcohol was free at our roped off booth for the rest of the night. We couldn't believe our luck. I mean, club admission is usually $30, and individual drinks run about $10 or more! We also had our own platforms to dance on, a place to sit whenever we got tired or wanted to sit and drink, and didn't have to deal with all of the sweaty, grabby people on the dance floor. It was IDEAL. And all we had to do was text a guy and show up at the right time! (There are unwritten 'rules' associated with the deal, though--a) if the promoter puts you on a list, you HAVE to show up at some point or when instructed, otherwise it makes the promoter look bad because they are promising numbers of girls to the club, b) NEVER EVER call a promoter, unless they ask--only text!, c) don't bring guys, d) look cute and get drunk and have fun! They don't want to see sloppy people moping around.)
I don't know how these promoter guys know that we weren't 50 year old grandmas wanting to get in...as long as you're a young(ish) girl, though, the Vegas is FREE!
around the Southwest: my friend's family gave her their gas card and a car to use for the trip, FREE! This cut down on costs considerably. we stayed in Bakersfield with my friends' friend one night and Fresno with my aunt and uncle another night. The friends' friend works for an oil company and makes MEGA-bucks, so he took us out to dinner. My aunt and uncle were happy to feed us for a couple of days and get us drunk (they are awesome), and they have a plane, so my uncle took us up for a free ride! Other than that, we camped cheaply ($15/night or less), stayed in a Vegas hotel ($30/night or less), ate groceries, and did free stuff around the national parks (hiking, climbing, etc.). We also bought a National Parks Pass for $80 and definitely got our money's worth with it--we would have paid twice as much for park fees without it. Plus, my friends' family can use it for the whole year (September 2010 - September 2011)!
When I look back at all the free stuff I was given, all I can say is that I'm the luckiest girl in the world to have such awesome family and friends. :) My life is so great! It makes me all the more excited to give back to the world via my Charity Challenge (see upcoming post!).
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Maxing Out Benefits
My Kiwisaver is at $1,705 NZD currently (losing money due to the market...of course). When I move back to the US, I can pull that out after one year of living elsewhere, with no penalties or extra taxes to pay. I'm considering doing this to turn right around and put it in my Roth IRA.
In July, I'm eligible to receive the annual tax credit* into my Kiwisaver, up to $1,042.86 per year. How much we get depends on a) the amount we contributed and b) how long we were enrolled in the Kiwisaver that year. I joined the Kiwisaver in mid-December 2009, so I am eligible for up to 7/12 of the credit (~$608)...I'm being conservative just in case. I can't figure out how much exactly I've contributed, because my Kiwisaver scheme provider is very late with posting payments to my account, and I received a raise in April that was supposedly back-dated to Jan 1. It is confusing.
In any case, you receive a match for your contributions only (i.e. not your employer's). I did the math and figured out that at the very most, I should have to contribute an extra $7 in order to get the full 7 month's worth of match. I'll do this in June, just in case. Hurrah for taking advantage of free money!
*Just as an aside, the tax credit cannot be pulled out if you move overseas...that stays with the NZ gov't. However, I can keep the earnings made on that money. Come on, stock market!
Saturday, May 22, 2010
I Don't Need One, But...
I've been thinking very seriously lately about buying a new laptop. My old one works just fine, you see, but there are little things that I want that it doesn't have:
One, I can't store any of my music or pictures on it now--the memory is completely full of other programs and documents. I've wiped it as clean as I can get it, but bottom line, I need more space! The external hard drive I have is great, but it's just two more wires and two USB ports taking up space that I desperately need. It is very annoying to have all of my devices take turns being plugged into my laptop.
Two, I want to get a laptop with a built-in microphone and webcam. Hooking up everything is a nuisance, and now my Skype headphones only have the microphone working, so I have to wear it for the microphone, and put on a second pair of headphones to be able to hear the person I'm talking to. I look and feel ridiculous, and it is annoying.
Three, I'd love to be able to hook this computer up to the TV while I work on other stuff with the new laptop at home. That would be pure luxury!
Four, I want this laptop to be for media (pictures, facebook, music, watching movies and TV shows) and my other laptop to be for work...or vice versa. There is less chance of me downloading something crazy and wiping out my entire hard drive that way.
Five, my battery may as well not be inserted into my laptop. It lasts for 3 minutes unplugged. I am tied to my power cord.
Anyway, you can see that all of these things add up to being annoyed, but no real need for a new laptop yet. Should I wait until this one dies to get a new one? Probably not...a) I will be pretty upset when that happens, and b) I will be desperate and so will not care too much about price. My plan is to look for a laptop while I am in the US this summer. If I find one in my price range with everything that I want...I'm getting it!
Laptops are infinitely cheaper in the US. I looked up the least expensive laptop in NZ I could find: $899 NZD--that's $630 USD. At Best Buy, the exact same computer is $330 (plus tax) USD!! Crazy talk! I've saved up $1100 NZD for a new laptop already (see sidebar), so I could spend up to ~$770 USD. I should definitely reach that amount: I will also need the Office Suite installed in my computer because I constantly work on Excel and Word documents, and the EndNote bibliographic programs I have only work with Word. I'd also want to get a warranty on the new computer in case of any damages.
Here are a few handy links to free and nearly equivalent programs (consider these instead of shelling out $$$ to install necessary programs to your new laptop). I've only included the ones I personally use, but see Trent's list, he did something similar a while ago.
MS Office Suite: Open Office
Norton Anti-Virus: Avast!
Parental Block: InternetFilter I use this to track my internet usage, bandwidth used, and to make sure I am not on the internet at 3 am on a school night. :) In NZ, they charge by the bandwidth, so I find it very handy to see how much I've used up at any point during the month.
MS Internet Explorer: Google Chrome Firefox is also handy, and used to be my 'go-to'--but I've started having problems with it and find Chrome to be extremely user-friendly and the format saves me tons of time. there have only been 2 pages that Chrome hasn't been able to open for me since starting to use it 3 months ago. I have heard Opera is excellent, but I didn't like the format when I first started using it, so I abandoned it for Chrome.
Alternatively, if you are a student and have an .edu email address, go here for Microsoft products for cheap: http://www.microsoft.com/student/discounts/theultimatesteal-us/default.aspx
(See also: http://good-software.blogspot.com/ Search for 'free' and some interesting results pop up.)
One, I can't store any of my music or pictures on it now--the memory is completely full of other programs and documents. I've wiped it as clean as I can get it, but bottom line, I need more space! The external hard drive I have is great, but it's just two more wires and two USB ports taking up space that I desperately need. It is very annoying to have all of my devices take turns being plugged into my laptop.
Two, I want to get a laptop with a built-in microphone and webcam. Hooking up everything is a nuisance, and now my Skype headphones only have the microphone working, so I have to wear it for the microphone, and put on a second pair of headphones to be able to hear the person I'm talking to. I look and feel ridiculous, and it is annoying.
Three, I'd love to be able to hook this computer up to the TV while I work on other stuff with the new laptop at home. That would be pure luxury!
Four, I want this laptop to be for media (pictures, facebook, music, watching movies and TV shows) and my other laptop to be for work...or vice versa. There is less chance of me downloading something crazy and wiping out my entire hard drive that way.
Five, my battery may as well not be inserted into my laptop. It lasts for 3 minutes unplugged. I am tied to my power cord.
Anyway, you can see that all of these things add up to being annoyed, but no real need for a new laptop yet. Should I wait until this one dies to get a new one? Probably not...a) I will be pretty upset when that happens, and b) I will be desperate and so will not care too much about price. My plan is to look for a laptop while I am in the US this summer. If I find one in my price range with everything that I want...I'm getting it!
Laptops are infinitely cheaper in the US. I looked up the least expensive laptop in NZ I could find: $899 NZD--that's $630 USD. At Best Buy, the exact same computer is $330 (plus tax) USD!! Crazy talk! I've saved up $1100 NZD for a new laptop already (see sidebar), so I could spend up to ~$770 USD. I should definitely reach that amount: I will also need the Office Suite installed in my computer because I constantly work on Excel and Word documents, and the EndNote bibliographic programs I have only work with Word. I'd also want to get a warranty on the new computer in case of any damages.
Here are a few handy links to free and nearly equivalent programs (consider these instead of shelling out $$$ to install necessary programs to your new laptop). I've only included the ones I personally use, but see Trent's list, he did something similar a while ago.
MS Office Suite: Open Office
Norton Anti-Virus: Avast!
Parental Block: InternetFilter I use this to track my internet usage, bandwidth used, and to make sure I am not on the internet at 3 am on a school night. :) In NZ, they charge by the bandwidth, so I find it very handy to see how much I've used up at any point during the month.
MS Internet Explorer: Google Chrome Firefox is also handy, and used to be my 'go-to'--but I've started having problems with it and find Chrome to be extremely user-friendly and the format saves me tons of time. there have only been 2 pages that Chrome hasn't been able to open for me since starting to use it 3 months ago. I have heard Opera is excellent, but I didn't like the format when I first started using it, so I abandoned it for Chrome.
Alternatively, if you are a student and have an .edu email address, go here for Microsoft products for cheap: http://www.microsoft.com/student/discounts/theultimatesteal-us/default.aspx
(See also: http://good-software.blogspot.com/ Search for 'free' and some interesting results pop up.)
Monday, January 04, 2010
Free Book for 1 Day!
Go to http://www.walletpop.com/ to download the free "Start Over, Finish Rich" book by David Bach, ONLY on January 4, 2010.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Taking the 'Pay' Out of Painful
Surgery went fine, it took like 15 minutes. I'm so happy it's over with and that it wasn't as bad as they said it would be (I researched it online and people said it was VERY VERY PAINFUL). Doc is 99.9% sure that it's NOT malignant from its appearance, but they are doing some lab tests to be sure. Whew.
Again, so lucky this is free here (aside from the initial premium of ~$400), there are no co-payments, no nothing as long as I go to the student health center on campus. If I'd had to pay, it definitely would have made the surgery more painful!! It is still seriously weird to breeze by the front desk after the appointment, not having to stop and pay.
Dentistry costs mucho moolah, though! In that way it is the total opposite of the US (I'm not talking root canals here; the 6-month regular cleanings and annual Xrays are usually free or pretty cheap in the US, at least with all the insurances I've had). My eye exam was also expensive here compared to the US, even with work covering for most of the exam and $200 allowance for new glasses--and that was only because I use a computer for >50% of my work. Glasses here can easily run over $400. I got the cheapest lenses and frames that they offered (that I could use the $200 allowance with) and I still had to pay $135 out of pocket. Crazy!
I guess I need US insurance for dental and vision, and NZ insurance for my main medical. Then I'd be set!
My XBF-linked health insurance ends next Feb, though. I could pay to have it renewed but I don't think he likes that I'm still linked to him like that. I'd be down with keeping it if he'd let me for all the awesome perks, but I have a feeling that I'll have to find my own insurance. Heh. Probably with Southern Cross, since everyone seems to like it, and since I supposedly get a discount through work.
I get basic health care as a right as a permanent resident (THAT IS SO WEIRD AND AWESOME!), but the copayment would be $60 at the student health center that I go to. And I'm still hesitant to go completely without insurance, because I have heard stories about how the US insurance companies treat people who have a gap in insurance coverage. If I ever want to go back to the US, I need proof of coverage. I don't want to mess with that!
Again, so lucky this is free here (aside from the initial premium of ~$400), there are no co-payments, no nothing as long as I go to the student health center on campus. If I'd had to pay, it definitely would have made the surgery more painful!! It is still seriously weird to breeze by the front desk after the appointment, not having to stop and pay.
Dentistry costs mucho moolah, though! In that way it is the total opposite of the US (I'm not talking root canals here; the 6-month regular cleanings and annual Xrays are usually free or pretty cheap in the US, at least with all the insurances I've had). My eye exam was also expensive here compared to the US, even with work covering for most of the exam and $200 allowance for new glasses--and that was only because I use a computer for >50% of my work. Glasses here can easily run over $400. I got the cheapest lenses and frames that they offered (that I could use the $200 allowance with) and I still had to pay $135 out of pocket. Crazy!
I guess I need US insurance for dental and vision, and NZ insurance for my main medical. Then I'd be set!
My XBF-linked health insurance ends next Feb, though. I could pay to have it renewed but I don't think he likes that I'm still linked to him like that. I'd be down with keeping it if he'd let me for all the awesome perks, but I have a feeling that I'll have to find my own insurance. Heh. Probably with Southern Cross, since everyone seems to like it, and since I supposedly get a discount through work.
I get basic health care as a right as a permanent resident (THAT IS SO WEIRD AND AWESOME!), but the copayment would be $60 at the student health center that I go to. And I'm still hesitant to go completely without insurance, because I have heard stories about how the US insurance companies treat people who have a gap in insurance coverage. If I ever want to go back to the US, I need proof of coverage. I don't want to mess with that!
Friday, October 16, 2009
GREAT Customer Service!
One of the tools of my trade is a waterproof notebook for note taking in the field. In them, I write down pertinent observations and sketches. The data collected in the field goes into databases and reports. If it rains or the notebook falls into a stream, the notebooks HAVE to hold together and my writing still be legible.
Thank God for Rite In The Rain notebooks--they are waterproof and come in all different sizes and adapted for all sorts of professions. If it is important to my profession and can be written down on paper, my notebook has it in the handy reference section in the back.
This company is known as the top of the line of fieldgear for my occupation, and for many other professions in which some work takes place outside. They are...the Prada of fieldwork. In all honesty, I'd rather have REI hiking boots than Prada high heels, anyway.
Recently I went out in the field with my 2 year old field notebook. It rained for three days straight, and I was filthy, muddy, and waterlogged. I dropped my field notebook in the mud, and it held up just fine. After one day, though, water started to seep into the edges of the pages in my Rite in the Rain notebook. I decided to complain about this, since that is NOT supposed to happen. I simply went to their website, clicked on the email link to complain, and sent my letter.
The next day, I got a very courteous reply asking for the batch number. I sent that in, and the same guy that answered my original complaint letter decided to send me a free notebook to replace my half-used, waterlogged one! (Yay!)
Anyway, this all happened in less than a week. Personal, immediate replies and a happy resolution to a complaint. Kudos to Rite in the Rain!
Thank God for Rite In The Rain notebooks--they are waterproof and come in all different sizes and adapted for all sorts of professions. If it is important to my profession and can be written down on paper, my notebook has it in the handy reference section in the back.
This company is known as the top of the line of fieldgear for my occupation, and for many other professions in which some work takes place outside. They are...the Prada of fieldwork. In all honesty, I'd rather have REI hiking boots than Prada high heels, anyway.
Recently I went out in the field with my 2 year old field notebook. It rained for three days straight, and I was filthy, muddy, and waterlogged. I dropped my field notebook in the mud, and it held up just fine. After one day, though, water started to seep into the edges of the pages in my Rite in the Rain notebook. I decided to complain about this, since that is NOT supposed to happen. I simply went to their website, clicked on the email link to complain, and sent my letter.
The next day, I got a very courteous reply asking for the batch number. I sent that in, and the same guy that answered my original complaint letter decided to send me a free notebook to replace my half-used, waterlogged one! (Yay!)
Anyway, this all happened in less than a week. Personal, immediate replies and a happy resolution to a complaint. Kudos to Rite in the Rain!
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Another Trip
Tomorrow I leave (yet again) for a trip associated with this field study abroad class my coworker owns. I'm helping this week with a groundwater sampling module.
It won't be as fun as traipsing around volcanoes, but it will be pretty interesting, I think.
So today I'm going to run around packing, getting snacks, and a battery for my field watch. I'm still hungover, but luckily it's rainy and gray in Auckland today, so it matches my mood/needs.
I really want to see Slumdog Millionaire, and a coworker has a copy of the DVD, so I'm going to see if she wants to watch it tonight. FREE!
That's my day!
I will be out of commission this week again--no cell reception, no electricity, no laptop access in the remote part of NZ I'm going to.
Sorry guys--I know I've been lax lately. For my emotional health's sake, I am glad I am keeping busy, but I don't like ignoring my blog/spending habits/etc. so much.
It won't be as fun as traipsing around volcanoes, but it will be pretty interesting, I think.
So today I'm going to run around packing, getting snacks, and a battery for my field watch. I'm still hungover, but luckily it's rainy and gray in Auckland today, so it matches my mood/needs.
I really want to see Slumdog Millionaire, and a coworker has a copy of the DVD, so I'm going to see if she wants to watch it tonight. FREE!
That's my day!
I will be out of commission this week again--no cell reception, no electricity, no laptop access in the remote part of NZ I'm going to.
Sorry guys--I know I've been lax lately. For my emotional health's sake, I am glad I am keeping busy, but I don't like ignoring my blog/spending habits/etc. so much.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Free Fun with Friends
Last night we brought over a bottle of wine to a friends' house and played with his wii all night. Wait, that sounds dirty. We played VIDEO GAMES all night. The wine was a present from a neighbor for Christmas, so we only spent gas to get over there and back...not bad!
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