Free Umbrellas

The sunny Chicago sky that first greeted me when I left my apartment had suddenly been replaced by a storm of biblical proportions and I was now stuck at my El stop without an umbrella. I could either wait it out at the station and get to work late or slog through the downpour and get there on time looking like a drowned cat. Neither was appealing. I was about to flip a coin to decide my course of action when a brilliant idea popped into my head. I rushed over to the attendant’s booth and, in less than a minute, walked away with a free umbrella. I soon arrived at work warm, dry and early enough to score a bagel.

What was the brilliant idea that kept me from getting drenched? Paying a visit to Lost & Found! Almost every public location has an L&F and they only hold onto items for a short amount of time (unclaimed stuff is usually donated to charities), so the chance of a real owner reclaiming something is about 0.3 %.* Tell L&F that you left your umbrella on the train or on a counter or in the bathroom or wherever and, if asked, say it’s black and compact. Since this describes 90% of umbrellas, you’ll almost always get a match. When you see one, don’t hesitate! Just grab it and claim it as your own. Sweet score, eh?

And before you start feeling guilty, just remember: Umbrellas are pretty much considered a disposable item.** So find a homeless person, give ’em a dollar and tell your conscience to shut the fuck up.

* From top secret statistical data available only to us.
** From the same top secret statistical data.

Couch Surfing

House exchanges are great for home-owning vacationers but what if you don’t own one? What if the only thing you have to offer is a couch? And what if the only thing you want in exchange is a couch? For the penny-conscious traveler who thinks it’d be more sociable (and less of an ordeal) to crash on a couch rather than camp out (and rough it), CouchSurfing.org is for you.

CouchSurfing.org is a great web site that acts like a social networking tool to bring people and couches together. It’s free to use and prohibits members from charging others to surf their couch. Easy world-wide searches can lead you to amicable couches (the quality of which will vary) almost anywhere you’d like to explore. In return, you offer what you can although if you don’t have a couch to share, you aren’t banned from participating.  It’s idealistic, economical, sociable and exciting but you still need to take precautions. There are some built-in safety features including a verification process (confirmation of identity and physical location), references (experiences with other couch surfers) and vouching (where users vouch for other members that they know are trustworthy). Since the “accommodations” aren’t 100% guaranteed, shit can sometimes fall through the cracks so always have a back-up plan (like an emergency hostel allowance).

Now if you can afford a little bit of money, you can find a for sure place to stay (whether it be a couch, a shared room or a whole apartment) with the help of Airbnb.com. Members post listings of their available space on the site and travelers search these posts to find exactly what suits their needs. Travelers then send a reservation request to the hosts which they (the hosts) either accept or decline. If they accept, the reservation is immediately booked and the travelers pay directly online using a credit card or PayPal account. Both parties receive contact info and that’s it! Airbnb also uses the same type of safety features as CouchSurfing.org, so you don’t have to worry too much about hosts with Ed Gein complexes.

Message boards are also a good way to hook up with sympatico couch situations since users usually share similar interests (like music, spirituality, sports, etc.). Additionally, if you’ve built up a large list of friends, a MySpace bulletin, Facebook post or Twitter tweet might connect you with a place to rest your head. Finally, Craigslist also lists hook-up possibilities, but it is in no way as efficient (or as safe) as the other sites.

Take your chances and you just may be able to afford that trip around the globe!

Gasoline

Although they (hopefully) won’t reach the obscene heights of 2008, gas prices are definitely on the rise and unless you take some drastic steps to change your driving habits (e.g., investing in a horse and buggy), you won’t be able to avoid the impact this will have on your already precarious financial sitch. However, there are a few things that can be done to soften the blow…

The easiest one: Always use cash to pay for gas. Although it’s quicker and more convenient to swipe a card at the pump, you’ll also end up paying more. Gas stations have to pay a fee to their card processing service for each plastic transaction; In order to offset that cost, the stations charge their customers a fee as well. True, it’s generally only 50 cents but it does add up eventually. So pay cash, avoid the added expense and use the money you save to improve the financial stability of this blog’s creators.

Cheap gas finders are another way to save on fuel costs. There are dozens on the internet, the best one being GasBuddy.com. A network of 180+ gas price information websites, the site allows visitors to post gas prices and find the lowest priced fuel in any U.S. state or Canadian province. They also offer fuel saving tips (ie., keeping your tires properly inflated helps save gas), a trip cost calculator and gas finder apps/services for mobile phones.

In case you find yourself in the unenviable position of having to drive a car that’s completely out of gas and you’re beyond broke, you can visit TankonEmpty.com and find out how many miles you can drive on your gas reserve. Depending on the make and model of your car, you may be able to travel a few more miles before getting stuck on the side of the road. My Nissan Altima can go about 38 miles on its reserve – just enough to get me to my parents’ house so I can raid their refrigerator and hit them up for gas money. Note: As the chances of getting stranded before you reach your destination are pretty good, make sure you have at least one of the following before starting your trip:

• a membership with a roadside assistance service.
• a friend who won’t mind driving 30+ miles to pick up your sorry ass.
• comfortable walking shoes.

(See also: Biodiesel)

Yoga

I’d always try to explain to my single guy friends that one of the sure-fire ways to find some cute chicks is to forget the bars and go to a yoga class. Sure, you have some wacky, supermodel-anorexic namaste-heads on one end of the spectrum, and the full-figured couch potatoes working on a personal revolution on the other, but in the middle you can find some healthy, fit and (more importantly) flexible women.

Yoga classes can cost upwards of $17 these days, and that’s a lot of moolah when you’re taking a class or two a week. So first things first (for anyone interested in taking up yoga, for any reason): if you are a beginner, almost all yoga studios offer the first class for free. If you have 10 yoga studios in a 30 mile radius, that’s 10 free classes to get you going. As well, many studios, colleges, community centers offer a sort of “community” class that typically occurs mid-day for around $5 – so check online and make the calls to find out what’s available in your area.

If you don’t care about making friends, have no intention of exercising with people or prefer to do it at home alone or with a few friends, you can fall back on the trusty iTunes and download a whole slew of yoga podcasts (connect it to the TV for a larger display). Two of my favorites are YOGAmazing and YogaJournal. Thing is, doing yoga incorrectly can be worse than not doing it at all (especially with more advanced poses), so best to have some experience first so you can make sure you maintain proper body positioning. Don’t skip levels – start out slow. Invest in a mat, blocks and a strap. (See also: Cheap Dates)

Dieting for Dollars

Seems logical that dieting would save you money if you eat less food – unless said diet entails purchasing expensive bottles of supplements and Superfoods for your Acai smoothies. Simply cutting down on the portions and the amount of food you purchase at the grocery store can quickly add up. By replacing Starbucks with an apple as your mid-day crash solution, your savings will soon be obvious.

Another way to make money by losing weight – besides winning The Biggest Loser – is to bet on your weight loss. A study by the American Medical Association found that by using financial incentives, people were more successful with their weight loss endeavors. So, get a pool going at your work (or among a few financially well-off friends), where you have to match everyone’s bet on whether or not you will succeed; if ten people put in $50, you have a $500 incentive. If you diet the right way and achieve greater health, who knows how much money in doctor’s bills you may be saving in the long run.