In case any of you are interested, and interview I did with Tim from “Talk With Tim” was just published this morning. I answered questions ranging from “Why I left corporate America” to “Does personal finance education belong in school”…check it out if you have a few minutes.
Save your moving boxes. That’s it! I have used the same moving boxes for my last 3 moves and will be using them for my move coming up here in a few weeks. While most people can get boxes for free by looking at Freecycle or Craigslist, quite often you end up having to buy some – and they aren’t cheap. Moving a house could cost you hundreds of dollars for the boxes alone! That is why, after each of my moves, I have just unassembled the boxes and stored them somewhere out of the way. Once folded flat, they barely take up any space and they save you from spending yet another fortune on boxes the next time you move. I know I am glad I didn’t throw mine away!
In about 3 weeks, I am moving away from New Mexico to Denver, CO. I will be leaving behind a house that provided virtually free AC and heat (being a passive solar home), pretty cheap “high-speed” internet (for New Mexico), incredibly low taxes and assorted other things that come along with living in one of the poorest states in the country. Colorado, on the other hand, costs more to live in. Way more. My rent, my utilities, my taxes, and my insurance will all be going up come November. I am NOT looking forward to that part of moving, but am looking forward to the opportunities I will be gaining for a new start. (More on that later) But because my expenses will be going up, I started looking into ways to cut my utility/monthly bills in my new home — and came up with way more than even I can use. So I figured I would share them with you guys in case there were any you had missed in your quest to reduce your monthly expenses!
While I mentioned the other day that I gave up flying a few years ago, many of you will be traveling by air for the holidays. And usually, air travel is the most expensive during this time of year – especially since the airlines just added a $10 surcharge for those flying on the busiest days. But there is a free service called Farecast (which now looks to be owned by Microsoft), which can help you decide exactly when you should buy your ticket by using airfare price predictions. I used this back in 2007 and it certainly did help us to get a lower-priced ticket. In what comes across as Greek to me, here is how they explain their system:
Some of you may remember that a while back I wrote an article titled 10 Tips For First-Time Apartment Renters that outlined 10 things I thought were important for when you go apartment hunting. However, I have a new one to add to the list – to ask for a discount or a special on your new place, especially if it is one of those bigger complexes that have a manager on-site. As I mentioned yesterday, I am packing again for a move out of this house and into an apartment, so trust me on this one – I just asked for, and received, a huge deal on my new home. (More on why I am moving in a later post)
