Happy Earth Day 2010

It's been a while since I've posted. For those of you reading this, Thank you for your continued readership and support!

I chose Earth Day to get back from my absence for a reason. Without the little blue planet we live on, nothing we experience would be possible. I believe it is all of our responsibilities to do what we can to extend our stay on this fragile planet.

I'll make this post very brief. Frugality to me means we take as little from this planet as possible, and put back as much as we can. If we each put back more than we take, our world can drastically change for the better.

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Simple Ideas To Help Our Earth

1. Consume less food - you'll lose weight and save money.
2. Buy fewer electronics - you can get that iPad if you really want it. Just don't buy 10 other gadgets because others have them.
3. Use less fuel - Drive less. Use public transportation. Car pool.
4. Use less water - NYC is lucky to have one of, if not the best, water supply in the world. Don't waste it. Take shorter showers, use water saving devices to help save water.
5. Use less plastic - less bottled water, more tap. Use less disposable utensil, buy good quality utensils you can use over and over.
6. Reuse and recycle paper, aluminum and plastic.
7. Print less - save your information to pdf files instead of printing.
8. Use the library or rent instead of buying books or DVDs.
9. Plant a tree, learn to garden and grow your own fruits or veggies.

What ever you are consuming, you can use less. You'll save money and the planet in the process.

You don't have to do much to make a difference. The ideas I listed above are very small steps you can take today. Start today, continue everyday to make our Earth a better place for you, me and all our children.


What about you, what ideas do you have to help save our Earth?


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12 Frugal Ways To Burglarproof Your Home

Technology is not the the only way to protect yourself from burglars and would be thieves.  Sure you can spend thousands of dollars on a security system, but you can have peace of mind for less.  Jeff Cambron wrote a post about ways to burglar proof your home without breaking the bank at mrfreestuff.com called 16 Ways to Burglarproof your house for Free.  I took his list and cut out a few items, making it more relevant for urban city dwellers.

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12 Frugal Ways To Burglarproof Your Home

1. Take your name off your mailbox - No name equals no target.
2. Watch what you put in the trash - Shred important documents and cut up boxes to big purchase items like computers and big screen TVs
3. Ringing telephone - A ringing phone equals nobody home.  Silence your home phone when you are not home for long periods.
4. Lock-up when you go out - Common sense, lockup when you are out.
5. Don’t hide a spare key - Don't invite a thief by leaving your door fully open, which is what a hidden spare key is.
6. Light up your house - Leave a light or two on when going out.  Not energy efficient, but is a theft deterrant.
7. Be careful with voice mail messages - Don't tell would be thieves when you are on vacation.  Leave your voicemail simple, ask for a quick message - and check in.
8. Leave the radio or TV on - Leave a low power radio or tv on for sounds that make it seem like someone is home.
9. Use a house-sitter - Having someone actually in the house is the best way to deter a burglar.
10. Start a neighborhood watch program - Get a group friendly neighbors together and help each other out.
11. Pause mail and newspaper deliveries - A full mailbox or unread papers are a sure sign no one is home.
12. Stock up on some cardboard cutouts - If you've watched Home Alone, you know how to use cardboard cutouts.

What other frugal and cheap methods do you have to burglarproof your home?  Share your ideas in the comments.

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Six Everyday Items You Should Reuse

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We in NYC  throw out enough trash every single day to fill the space of The Empire State building.  If enough of us reuse some of those things one extra time, I think we can reduce that by a good amount.

Here are some everyday things that we can reuse, thus delaying it from filling up the landfills by a few days.

1. Paper - Reuse the back of single sided printed paper.  Use it for notes, doodling, etc...
2. Plastic cups - Reuse it to drink another cup of coffee, water, soda etc...  It can be a pencil/pen holder.  Use it to plant a seedling.
3. Plastic bottles - We are told not to reuse plastic bottles due to contamination.  How about reusing it to hold water to water your plants?  Throw a refilled botted in the freezer and use as and ice pack.  I'm sure you can think of other ideas to reuse a plastic bottle.
4. Toothbrushes - Who says you have to use it only for brushing your teeth?  After it no longer does the job for your teeth, use it to scrub blemishes from shoes, hard to reach corners or any other small surface.
5. Batteries - If you are still using regular alkaline AA batteries, you can put it to use after it no longer works in your camera or other high draining devices.  Put it in your hallway clock, it takes very little power to get that clock going.  You can also use the batteries in low draining remote controls for TVs, DVD players, etc....
6. Paper bags - Use it to make popcorn.  Brown bag your lunch.  Help bananas ripen faster.  There are numerous ways to use a paperbag.  When you are done, recycle it!

I have a challenge to all you readers.  Name something that you have and list ways how you can reuse it.  If you don't know, perhaps someone else does!  Share your ideas in the comments or just spread the message in your own way!

Whatever you do, spread the message to reuse and recycle.  Every little bit helps keep our little blue globe going one day longer, and you can start today.  What do you reuse to help keep the landfills from filling up?

Elsewhere:

• Check out our weekly post on The405Club.  This week, you can find some downloadable freebies!
• Enter to win a copy of How To Be An Everyday Philanthropist book - figure out more ways to help our world and communities.

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Photo: country_boy_shane

7 Tips To Living A Healthy Frugal Life

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Keeping healthy can make living your life much more satisfying.  I'm sure you've all heard others say that health comes first.  Despite knowing this, many of us forget that and get too busy to keep ourselves healthy physically, mentally, financially and spiritually.

Here are some tips to living a healthy Frugal life.  These tips do not cost you anything except your time and a little dedication to living a healthy frugal life.  Over time, the benefits can compound in ways you can't imagine.

Eat Healthy - Eating a balanced diet is better for you than any fad diet around.  Eat less meat, eat more vegetables and grains.

Excercise Regularly - If you think you are out of shape, start excercising.  Start small, walk around the block.  It costs nothing but a few minutes of your time.  Do this for a week and then add and extra block every week.  You'll be walking for miles at the end of the year.

Do Things By Hand - We all have gadgets and machines for all kinds of things in our lives.  Dishwashers, laundry machines, lawn mowers, roombas, etc..  Take the time to do dishes by hand, or wash a t-shirt by hand after you excercise.  You don't have to do this all the time, but doing it once or a few times a week can reduce the use of electricity and other fuels we depend on so much.  Most of the time, I find doing dishes by hand to be a good time to think.  No one bothers me during this time and I can clear my head.

Enjoy Nature - Get rid of that MP3 player and just listen to the birds and the wind blowing through the leaves.  Taking a few minutes to just walk in a park or visit a State Park can do wonders for you.  It's free, the air is better and it can help you lead a healthier life.

Give - Giving to others, whether by listening to someone who needs an ear or donating your time and money to a cause you can identify with is GOOD FOR YOU.  Doing good pays dividends in many ways.  Find a problem in your life or in your neighborhood and give to this great cause!  Start with your family, take time to play with your kids, or take time to really listen to your significant other.  In time, your life will change in ways you can't imagine.

Declutter - I have too much clutter, it just never seems to go away.  Clutter distracts you from doing what you want to do.  Clutter can take a physical form or it can be digital, such as too much email.  Get rid of your clutter.  The easiest way to live a clutter free life is to consume less.  Junk could be anything that you don't need, buy less of it.  Give it away or sell it to someone who does need it.  I've been selling items I don't need on craigslist.  Live minimally.

Enjoy Life - Figure out what makes you tick.  Engage yourself in doing things you love.  Whether it's writing, blogging, photography, running, working out, helping others etc... No matter what you like to do, make sure you make time and schedule it in.  Put first things first and enjoy your life.  You can live only today, but always plan for a better future!

I hope you have enjoyed reading this post.  Do you have tips to live a Healthy Frugal life?  Please share your tips in the comments.

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"Lowcostume" hunting in NYC

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I recently received an email from David Bukszpan regarding a Low-Cost Costume Swap Event organized by Goodwill Industries of Greater New York and Northern New Jersey, Inc.  He says "folks are encouraged to bring a bag of about $5 worth of slightly used clothes and hunt through what comes in to put together a low-cost costume (I prefer "lowcostume") of their own."

Here's some more info:

Goodwill Industries of Greater New York and Northern New Jersey is holding a Low-Cost Costume design competition online. To help people in the city get what they need for cheap, creative costumes, Goodwill is also throwing a Low-Cost Costume design/clothing swap at Boxcar Lounge Sunday, Oct 25th from 3pm-7pm, complete with crafters on-hand to help out with ideas. There'll be drink specials, good music, and tons of clothes for anyone and everyone to sort through - admission is either one bag of lightly-used, freshly-laundered clothes, or, if you don't have that, a $5 donation to Goodwill (and our community outreach services, work training programs, and recycling initiatives) - and you can leave with any clothes or crafts you want.

The Low-Cost Costume competition and swap is Goodwill's attempt to help to put creativity over consumerism one holiday a year. Why add to landfills with a generic plastic costume made by kids in sweatshops when you can come together with neighbors, learn a few crafting skills, and make a one-of-a-kind costume from stuff no one was wearing anymore anyways? The swap gives us all more options of just what lightly-used clothes to base our costumes from, and encourages people in the neighborhood to share their skills and fashion.

There is also an Online Low-Cost Costume Design Competition on their Facebook Page running from Friday, Oct 16 through Saturday, Oct 24.  Participants can put up photos of their own Low-Cost Costumes from years' past and the site will show off the most popular - and offer them a chance to guest blog as a Low-Cost Costume expert on the Goodwill Industries of Greater New York and Northern New Jersey, Inc. sites as Halloween nears.


EVENT: Online Low-Cost Costume Design Competition and Real-Life Costume Design Clothing Swap

WHERE:

• For Online Low-Cost Costume Design Competition details: http://goodwillnynj.wordpress.com
• Real-Life Costume Design Clothing Swap will be held at BOXCAR LOUNGE (168 Avenue B, between East 10 and East 11 Street, NYC)

WHEN:

• Online Low-Cost Costume Design Competition runs Friday, Oct 16 - Saturday, Oct 24
• Real-Life Costume Design Clothing Swap will be held Sunday, Oct 25 from 3pm-7pm

Thanks for sharing this helpful frugal information with us David.

Do you have frugal tips for FrugalNYC readers?  If so, contact us with your ideas or guest posts!

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Turning Off Lights Really Saves

Have you been curious to whether turning off lights really do save electricity? Common sense says it does, but if you consider the cost of replacing a burnt out bulb and other factors, it may not be such a simple decision.  What about the mercury contained in Compact Florescent light bulbs?  Is it really better for the environment when people just toss used light bulbs in the garbage?  By the way, you are not supposed to toss that CFL bulb in the garbage due to the mercury contained in these bulbs.  Some state and local governments allow disposal with trash, but make sure you put it in several bags to keep it from breaking and hurting anyone who handles it.  Find out how CFLs work and how to dispose of CFLs (PDF file).

Save Money - The Proof

Enter the mythbusters to help us determine the cost of turning off lights in a "scientific manner". I watched this video on Sustain Lane called Mythbusters take on lightbulb energy myths and it put my concerns to rest.  You see, I've heard about health concerns for florescent bulbs and still use regular incandescent bulbs in some places.  Incandescent bulbs cost the least, from the startup perspective.  It uses the least energy to start, but keeping them on tend to be more expensive than CFLs and the newer LED bulbs.

Florescent tubes on the other hand, use the most amount of electricity to "start up".  As you learn from the video, even with this "start up" cost taken into account, it is still more cost effective for you to turn off that light when leaving a room.  Just watch the video and you will see for yourself.

The Conclusion

It's cheaper to turn off the lights when you leave a room.  Even if it is for one single minute!  Knowing this will definitely change my habits.  I can now definitely tell and "show" those who tell me otherwise.  What about you?

Did this video put any concerns to rest for you?  Did you end up with more questions than answers than lighting?  Did you get a look at that LED bulb or that bulb that's been burning for over 100 years!?  Share your comments.

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Check Tracfone Voicemail From Your Landline

If you want to check your Tracfone voicemail, but don't want to use up your precious minutes, there is an easy way to do it. Doing this will keep your tracfone minutes in use longer.

Make sure you have set up your voicemail password. You can do this by using the following instructions:

To Change Voice Mail Password

• From your wireless phone
• Press and hold the "1" key.
• Press the number "4" to access the personal Options menu.
• Press the number "2" to access the Administrative Options menu.
• Press the number "1" to access the Password Options menu.
• Press the number "1" to change your password.
• Enter your new password (4 digits) and press the "#" key which is under the number 9.

Once you have setup your voicemail password, check to see what your Tracfone dials to pick up voicemail. Dial that number to get to your voicemail system. Put in your phone number and then password, after the appropriate prompts.

If you can't get this working, check this link on Tracfone's site for possible alternate instructions for your own phone model. You will need your phone's serial number to get the appropriate instructions.

If you own a Tracfone, I hope this has been a helpful post.

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Photo by Refracted Moments

Online Deals

This is an attempt to put the best online deal sites all in one post. This will be updated often. Please help contribute to this list! Let us know what you use to get the best deals online and off.

Sites that save you $$

• Yahoo just launched Yahoo Deals
• Woot - Daily deals on all kinds of goodies
• Techbargains - Tech finds
• FatWallet - Get cash back, find codes and get all kinds of great deals.
• Dealtaker - as the name says, it's a place for coupons and Deals.
• RetailMeNot - Why pay retail when you can get discounts? I've found some useful coupon codes from here, including ones for Tracfone. This is one of my current favorites to find codes.
  
• Dealnews
• Coupon Cabin

Additional sites to be added soon...

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Free Summer Movies In NYC

Even in this crazy economy, you can find some great deals and freebies in NYC! That's why NYC remains one of the greatest cities in the world! Today, I bring you a link to some free Summer movies!

Many of you may know about the free movies at Bryant Park, but that is just the tip of the iceberg! Head on over to movies under the skyline and you can find movies all through the summer!

These movies range from classics, family oriented to some of the latest blockbusters. So head on out and enjoy a movie, on NYC!

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Growing Closer In Tighter Budgets

I just read an article about how tighter budgets can bring families closer together.

I would have to agree and have definitely seen some of what's described myself. When so many people you know are getting laid off, things change very quickly. People who were once too busy with work are now free. People who used to have a full schedule, trying to squeeze all the extra activities in, now actually have free time.

Since everyone seems to be cutting back, I thought it would be interesting to find out what you have cut back and what happy surprises you've found along the way.

I have enjoyed doing a bit of baking and shopping at the supermarket with the family. What about you?

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Photo by Refracted Moments

Go Frugal In New York City

The "Go Frugal" blog on freeshipping.org is starting a year long series of posts all titled "Go Frugal in..." along with the chosen US destinations. I'll be one to follow this series of posts myself, and I think my audience may be interested in this as well.

To get started, they began the series with NYC! What better city to begin such a series right? I'm glad they started with NYC and I'm glad they have included yours truly in the links section. So go check out the Go Frugal in New York City article for yourself. It includes tips for tourists, residents and everyone in between. I've even found some useful tips that I'll be checking out in the near future!

I hope you have all found this post helpful. Let us know via comments or email.

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Another Tracfone

I wrote about Tracfone in my post about prepaid wireless. Recently I have seen many Tracfone ads on my Yahoo account, which reminded me that my recently order for another Tracfone is about to arrive soon. I purchased another Tracfone, for business related use this time. Why did I buy a Tracfone? The primary reason is because I had a good experience with it before. Another reason is, it meets my needs very well.

I don't use that many minutes on a monthly basis. With the one year card, I have only used about 50 minutes in the last two months. At this rate, this card and phone plan will cost me only about $103 for an entire year. Yes, I might run out of minutes before then, and I can always buy another card to fill it up again.

Bottom line, I had a good experience with the service and I can't find anything that will fit my needs both financially and service wise as well as Tracfone has.

UPDATE: I just discovered Dan's site for big discounts on Tracfone prepaid plans so I thought I'd update this post. His site has some great deals listed - free phones, free airtime minutes, bonus codes and more. I'm hoping this becomes a great resource for Tracfone related information.

What about you? Do you use prepaid cell phones? What service and plans do you use?

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Photo by Refracted Moments

Frugal Digital Swiss Army Knife

Part of frugal living is all about making the most of what you already have. Besides taking photos and videos for the fun of it there are many uses for your digital camera. Here are nine things that you can do with your digital camera that you may or may not have utilized before.


9 Uses For Your Digital Camera

1. Locate Your Car - Take a photo of where you left your car parked and never worry about finding your car again.
2. Voice Notes - If you don't have a voice recorder handy and have a thought you need to record, use your camera's movie feature to capture a quick voice note.
3. Tracking prices - If want to compare prices for items you are shopping for, take a shot of the item and price and then compare them. The photos will have a date and time stamp for your reference.
4. Keeping Inventory - Take photos of the things you own. It's a great way to keep track and even useful for your insurance policy documentation if needed.
5. Learn photography - Whether you want to learn photography to find a creative side of yourself or you are doing it just because you enjoy it, learning something new is always great. I've started a photo a day blog at vgaphotos blog and haven't looked back. There is so much to learn in photography and so many directions you can take, it can become a life long pursuit.
6. Make computer wallpaper - One reason I started taking photos was to make
7. my own computer wallpaper.
8. Time Piece - During my recent travels, I did not have a wristwatch handy, but I did usually have my digital camera with me. I just turned it on and it gave me the current date and time I needed.
9. Flash Light - I don't usually carry a flash light with me. My digital camera's LCD came in very handy when I needed to find the bathroom in the middle of the night during my recent travels.

What additional uses do you have for your digital camera? Do you use your digital camera for any of these uses?

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Do It Yourself

I was reading an article titled How to do everything yourself on March 23rd and came to the conclusion that this is probably the biggest growing field right now. I've asked on Twitter what people's favorite How-To sites were and have gotten a couple of general sites. If you know of any specialized or less known sites, please send them my way.

According to the article, the biggest selling book on Amazon is a book called Grow Your Own Drugs: Easy Recipes for Natural Remedies and Beauty Fixes by James Wong. It's a back to basics and using herbs for remedies book, for all kinds of ailments.

I'm a fan of doing things myself. Partly because I like to learn new things and partly for frugal and environmental reasons. You want an example? It will cost a family of four approximately $25 to have a decent meal at IHOP. If you made those pancakes at home, from scratch, it will cost you about $2. Big difference right? Ever since I learned how to make pancakes from scratch, it has been a favorite in our family. Even better, I can put less butter, less oil, and anything I deem not necessary. I control exactly what we put into our bodies. It's cheaper and it's better for us.

There are obvious things that I will not be doing myself, such as working on my car's engine. I don't have expertise in that and will gladly pay someone who knows what they are doing for that. What about you? What do you do yourself? Do you find yourself learning more and doing more yourself?

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Photo courtesy of D'Arcy Norman

Frugal Entenmanns Baked Goods

If you live in Woodside or Elmhurst neighborhoods in Queens, and you want to save a few dollars on bread and other baked goods, you will find this post very helpful. Even if you don't live in the area, if you drive by Queens Blvd and 72nd Street, you can take advantage of the savings you can get from the Entenmanns Bakery Outlet.

I remember going to a Hostess bakery outlet years ago, in Woodside Queens, but it has since closed. I used to buy twinkies and other Hostess snack cakes from there. What can I say, I had a sweet tooth as a teenager, and to an extent I still do. So after I discovered the Entenmanns outlet, I've been meaning to drop by and see what kind of deals they had. That was about 2 years ago, and I finally had a chance to visit and buy something recently.

So what kind of deals can you find there? On my visit, I noticed they had a deal on bread loaves, three loaves for three dollars. It's $1.50 each loaf but buying more saves you more. I ended up purchasing three boxes of donuts and cakes. My daughter wanted the doughnuts and my wife wanted the cake. OK, I also wanted the donuts! We bought three boxes for five dollars. Retail price for each ranges around $4.89 to $5.49 each box, so I did save a good deal of change! I noticed a good number of customers coming in and out while we were there.

So what's the catch you ask? They usually expire within a week, in my case they expire in about 3 days. But as most people know, those expiration dates are usually sell by dates, so the goods are still "good" for several days after expiration. So if you eat a lot of bread or just feel like some Entenmanns baked goods like I did, drop by and save a few bucks! Your wallet will thank you. But your waist line probably won't!

The Entenmanns Bakery Outlet is located at Queens Blvd and 72nd street. They have ample parking and the store hours are below. You can call them if you are not sure how to get there or forget the hours: 718-446-3200.

Hours
Sun 8 AM - 4 PM
Mon 8 AM - 5 PM
Tue - Sat 8 AM - 6 PM

Update: Chris (see comments) informed me of another outlet in Astoria, Queens, NYC. It is located at 34th Avenue & Steinway. It is a half a block away from the Steinway subway R & V stop. I'll have to check out this outlet in the near future.

Do you like Entenmanns cakes and donuts? Do you pay too much for your bread? Why not visit this outlet and see what you can save. Let me know if you know of other NYC bakery outlets and I'll add them to this post. Hope you've found this frugal tip helpful! If you don't live in the area, do you have a similar bakery outlet where you live?

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5 Household Dust Busters

Its Spring! Time to get a new start and do some cleaning around the house. After, or during, your decluttering, you'll probably find a layer or two of dust. If you hate clutter and dust, here are five common things you may have around the house that are a great help for helping to get rid of that dust problem.

Socks

Socks are both convenient and easy to use. Just slip one over your hand and wipe over any surface you can get your hands on. Dust will melt before your eyes.

Fabric softener sheets

I've mentioned in an earlier post that softener sheets can be used mutiple times. After that I usually put them to use picking up dust on TVs, computer screens and any dusty surface I can find.

Coffe filters

I don't drink coffee, but coffee filters can come in very handy for cleaning mirrors and windows and getting that lint-free shine!

Toothbrushes

I don't know about you, but I tend to put toothbrushes to all kinds of use after their day jobs are over. You can use old toothbrushes to tackle hard to reach crevices and small behind the scene areas that other things cannot reach.

Hair Dryers

Hair dryers are ideal for narrow spots such as in the corners of rooms and in the crevices of furniture. It is powerful enough to blow out most dust bunnies and a great complement to that handheld vacuum.

Do you have any additional tips to share with us about dust busting? It's time for Spring Cleaning, so get those ideas together and get organizing.

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Photo: country_boy_shane

Upside To Our Economy

I read an article called The upside to the down economy on Monday and it talks about businesses that are profiting in this down economy. Jim Cramer had a saying, "There's always a bull market somewhere.", and this is the bull market for repair shops, used clothing stores, fast-food restaurants and Web sites. This proves that there is an upside to the down economy. Too bad I can't say the same thing for Jim Cramer.

This article reminded me of a post I wrote some time back about Healthier Eating with Fast Food. Since so many people are eating fast food now, perhaps you can find ways to eat healthier, even with fast food. I try to limit fast food to once or twice a week, but when I do eat it, I try to eat smaller portions. Not to mention I drink more Water rather than soda.

I think those who are willing to work and don't mind getting their hands wet, will come out of this better off. Now is the perfect chance to do those things you've always wanted to do, but never had the time for. I've taken it upon myself to take photos daily, something I find I enjoy doing, as I mentioned in my Frugal Kaizen blog.

What about you? Are you shopping at used clothing stores? Eating at fast food restaurants more often? Getting things repaired instead of buying a replacement?

For additional links to frugal tips and tricks follow me on Twitter. If you would like to contribute to FrugalNYC in any way feel free to contact me via email. Click here to add FrugalNYC to your RSS reader or Subscribe to FrugalNYC by Email.

Photo by FrugalNYC

9 Quick Money Saving Tips

Today I'm sharing a few Money Saving tips that I use. This will be the beginning of some quick posts I'll be doing from here on.

1. Use Coupons - No need to hunt them down, if you have them, use them.
   
2. Reuse Dryer sheets - Continue to use dryer sheets, after using three times, use it to remove dust from your furniture or other surfaces. They literally attract dust. Use them to wipe your TV or Computer monitor screens.
   
3. Reuse Paper Towels - If you clean a water spill and the towel is in good shape, let it dry and reuse it. Save trees and the environment.
   
4. Reuse Plastic Utensils - I've reused plastic forks and spoons time and again. I have about 5 forks that I have been using for well over several months now. I wash them with my dishes.
   
5. Visit Dollar stores - every so often I find great deals. Not everything is a great deal, so if you are the shopping type, don't visit too often. I recently picked up a pack of Dora the Explorer playing cards, great for young kids to learn numbers with as well.
   
6. Use Baking Soda as an all purpose cleaner. I've cleaned greasy pans successfully with this multi purpose cleanser. You can find 75 uses for it here.
   
7. Freeze your over ripe bananas and make your own Banana bread. Some great banana bread recipes here.
   
8. Buy Used - Most things depreciate very quickly, especially technology. If you can buy used, do so. You will save a lot of money this way.
   
9. Bring Your Own Lunch - If your job has the right facilities, bringing your lunch can save you a lot of money. Assuming you spend about $7 a lunch on average, after 300 days you will have saved over $2000. You can buy a nice TV with that money.

I hope you have found these tips helpful. What quick money saving tips do you have? Please share them in the comments.

For additional links to frugal tips and tricks follow me on Twitter. If you would like to contribute to FrugalNYC in any way (guest posts, articles, ideas, interesting links, advice, financial assistance, or anything else), feel free to contact me via email. Click here to add FrugalNYC to your RSS reader or Subscribe to FrugalNYC by Email.

Photo by Refracted Moments

Save Money By Using Prepaid Wireless

I've been meaning to write an article on prepaid wireless service and the benefits, but have not had the proper motivation until now. I was reading this article about people giving up cell phone contracts on the NYTimes Technology section and decided to put my thoughts on the matter.

There are many reasons why someone would opt for a prepaid service, instead of the standard contract that most people have on their cell phone service today. Visitors from other countries may want a temporary phone during the stay in the US, you may want a backup phone for emergencies, you don't want to pay overages anymore, you're sick of hidden fees, the list goes on.

I started looking into prepaid cell phone services when I had a need for a secondary cell phone that will not be used very often. It did not make any financial sense to obtain a one or two year contract when all I wanted to do was a phone that is used primarily as a backup or for emergency calls. So I opted to look into prepaid wireless services.

First I asked around in stores, and started off with Verizon's prepaid service. I read some information on their "plans" and decided it was not exactly what I was looking for. There seems to be some kind of service commitment attached to it as well. So I did a bit more hunting around and then found other carriers. After a bit of research, I decided I will go with either T-Mobile or Tracfone. My advice on looking for a prepaid plan is to know these three items:

Know your calling patterns - if you only use about 200 minutes a month, why pay for 500? If you continue to have overage monthly, then switch to a plan with more minutes. When it comes to prepaid, its the same thing, but what you need. If you really will be making hundreds of minutes worth of calls monthly, go with one of the new unlimited plans.

Buy the right plan for you - This is basically comes down to knowing your calling patterns. Don't buy more than you need and don't buy less than what you need. Learn a lesson from Goldilocks, and get it just right!

Getting the phone you want - Not all prepaid plans will have the phone you need. Much of the cost of phones are usually absorbed by the carrier when you sign up for a monthly contract. So by going the prepaid route, you will most likely pay more for the phone you want. In my case, I just needed a phone, and I got a free one to boot!

Services and available Carriers
I've listed those I looked at and a few more. Also reasons why I didn't choose it.

Verizon Wireless Prepaid - The Goliath in the North East US. They have enough business, no wonder their prepaid service isn't that enticing. You pay 99 cents for everyday that you do use it, AND pay for the minutes you use.
Sprint Nextel - I didn't go for this due to network coverage. Plus monthly plans didn't make sense for my current needs.
ATT (Cingular) - Also comes with a daily access fee, like Verizon. I didn't go for the GoPhone.
T-Mobile - This seems to require a contract for what I was looking at, so I didn't go for it.
Tracfone - Uses the ATT networks. You can buy a "tracfone" in many stores including
CVS, RiteAid, etc..
Jitterbug - Simple cell phones Minimal minutes. Check out their plans here. This seems like a good plan for those needing very few minutes, but I would still go for something else.
MetroPCS - This came to NYC very recently and looks promising. At $40 / month I may use this in the future.

So what did I choose? I went with Tracfone. If you follow me on Twitter, you may have seen some tweets about it. Tracfone had the flexibility and cost model that I was looking for. Plus the fact that I ended up with more bonus minutes than I purchase didn't hurt! I basically bought a used phone (free) along with the 400 minute card for $100 plus tax. I ended up with over 1100 minutes of calls. I think that is a bargain. What about you? Do you use prepaid phones? What service did you choose and why? Share your thoughts in the comments.

For additional links to frugal tips and tricks follow me on Twitter. If you would like to contribute to FrugalNYC in any way (guest posts, articles, ideas, interesting links, advice, financial assistance, or anything else), feel free to contact me via email. Click here to add FrugalNYC to your RSS reader or Subscribe to FrugalNYC by Email.

Photo by Refracted Moments

Winter Jam NYC 2009 - Free Skiing!

This year Winter Jam NYC will be held on Saturday February 7, 2009 from 11 am - 4 pm at East River Park! Last year this event took place in Central Park. This event gives New York City's residents a chance to enjoy winter sports and other activities for FREE! So bring your kids and enjoy a day of free winter sports and other activities!

Activities include:

• Sledding
• A snowboarding competition
• Snowshoeing and cross-country skiing
• A snowman making contest
• Live music and many other activities

You can find out some additional details here.

Directions by Subway:

• Take the F or V to 2nd Avenue – Lower East Side, walk East on Houston, and cross the pedestrian bridge into East River Park.
• Or you can take the F, J, M, Z to Essex Street – Delancey Street, walk North on Essex, walk East on Houston, and cross pedestrian bridge into East River Park.

Hope you see you all there! If you were at last year's event, please share your experience in the comments. For additional links to frugal tips and tricks follow me on Twitter. If you would like to contribute to FrugalNYC in any way (guest posts, articles, ideas, interesting links, advice, financial assistance, or anything else), feel free to contact me via email. Click here to add FrugalNYC to your RSS reader or Subscribe to FrugalNYC by Email.

Photo by Jenny Downing