My hack to increase my exercise and reduce my natural gas expense is to turn off my hot water heater. With no hot water at home I have to go to the fitness center to take a shower. Once I’m already at the fitness center I might as well exercise. This solves the problem of getting motivated to exercise and will save me a little money as well.
Andy Hough
When Do You Give Up on a Car?
My car has 223,000 miles and hasn’t had too many problems until recently. I just replaced my clutch yesterday at a cost of $440. This is on a car that is worth maybe $1000. I’m not sure how much I should spend on the car at this point. Before I took the car to the shop I told myself I wouldn’t spend more than $500 on it and the repair came pretty close to that. There comes a point when it is better to quit repairing an old car and get a new(to you) one. I’m not sure what that point is but I do not plan on making any more repairs to my car. I’m hoping to replace it with a van this summer so I’m not even sure that I should have fixed it now. I could get by during school without a car if I had to. I’d just prefer to get a little more use out of my car.
Four Nights Lodging in Cancun for $37.41
That is what I paid for my four night stay in Cancun. My lodging also included a free continental breakfast. I was able to spend so little by staying in a hostel. A hostel is a great way for a solo traveler to save on lodging expenses. I couldn’t have stayed even one night in a hotel for the price I paid for four nights in the hostel. It is also a great way to meet people from other countries and cultures.
The hostel I stayed at on this trip was the Soberanis Hostal. It is a little different than most hostels because it is primarily a hotel with a few rooms set up hostel style. It doesn’t have kitchen facilities that you can use to prepare your own meals llike many hostels but I didn’t consider that a big drawback. It was located downtown but it was only a ten minute 65 cent ride to the beach. If you’re going on a trip I recommend considering a hostel as a lodging option.
Patience and Self-Discipline
These are the personality traits I need to develop if I am going to accomplish my goals. These have always been a problem for me. I am thinking of this now because I probably shouldn’t have taken the trip to Cancun. I was able to go for fairly cheap and it had been a long time since I had traveled internationally but since I’m not actually making much money now I probably should have waited until I could better afford it. I don’t have much patience in delaying things I want to do. I could be semi-retired by now but every time I work and save up some money, I end up quitting and living off my savings until there gone. If I could just change this habit I believe I could be retired in 5 to 10 years and not have a job to quit.
These traits are a problem when it comes to losing weight as well. I want to lose weight but I don’t want to quit eating junk food and I only exercise when I feel like it. When I do manage to eat better and exercise the weight doesn’t seem to come off fast enough and I end up going back to my normal habits. I’ve managed to lose 20 pounds or more 3 times but it was always accomplished by situations that I can’t replicate in my daily life. I just need to keep my future goal in mind and keep after it every day.
Save Money on Airfare
The biggest expense you can save money on when taking a vacation is airfare. One way to cut costs is to fly on a chartered airline. They usually have special fares that are much lower than regularly scheduled airline´s fares. On this trip I was able to purchase my flight to Cancun for $229 including taxes. The next lowest price I could find was $449. That is a significant difference.
To be able to take advantage of these special fares it helps to be flexible on your travel dates and not need to plan too far ahead. I booked my flight two weeks before leaving. The company I used is Worry Free Vacations. They serve seven cities primarily in the Midwest. There are other charter companies that serve other regions. A look through your Sunday Travel section will probably enable you to find what companies are in your region.