Red Is A Flavor

Most of the cruise lines have always offered discounts to active duty military, but discounts for non-retired veterans was basically limited to Carnival.  Apparently that has changed recently.

Most likely in an effort to increase passengers, a few more have opened their discounts to us military one-termers.  I’ve utilized the discounts offered by Carnival for a couple of cruises and they have saved me a substantial amount of money, especially on weeklong family cruises.

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In most cases, the military discounts only apply to certain sailings, So check with your travel agent.  Anyway, here are the current rules (as of this writing) for military benefits on the bigboy cruise lines.

I highly recommend using VacationToGo.com to book your travel.  Their site is always my first stop for deals, and they will credit you if your cruise price decreases after booking.

Image: ccgd [via Flickr]

Big Money blogger Jeremy Schoemaker came across an interesting way to save (possibly) a ton of money on airfare.

He learned, from both experience and airline employee advice  that the airlines typically gouge flight prices when you book your final destination to its hub.

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Shoe typically flies from Lincoln, Nebraska to Minneapolis, Minnesota, which is Northwest Airline's hub.  Round trip flights were costing hundreds and hundreds of dollars.  Yet, if he booked a flight from Lincoln to St. Louis, that connected in Minneapolis, it was less than $200.

I decided to test out this theory from Central Florida and learned that (based on my tests) this appears to only works from the regional airports (e.g. Melbourne, Daytona, Sanford, etc), not from larger, International airports (e.g. Orlando International).

Using Kayak.com I researched both Round Trip and One-way trips from Melbourne, trying to get to Atlanta (Delta's hub).  Here is what I found.

Round-Trip

One-Way

So basically, sometimes it is cheaper to book your flights through your final destination to a more popular place, and simply don't take the connecting flight.

Anyone have any experience doing this?

[via ShoeMoney]

Image: House Of Sims [via Flickr]

I have, like a lot of people, been taking a good hard look at my fuel consumption and cost for my car.  I drive a 2001 Nissan Xterra on my daily 30 mile round-trip commute.  This vehicle also serves as the tow vehicle for my boat.   My current gas mileage in the Nissan is ranging between 15 and 18 MPG.

Over the past couple of months, I've been exploring various options to help reduce costs.  I've looked at swapping cars with my wife (Chevrolet Venture), getting a smaller commuter car, and a motorcycle.

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My wife's commute is slightly shorter than mine, but she encounters much more traffic than I do.  So trading would provide no net gain.  A smaller car would lower fuel costs, but the fact that I need to maintain the Xterra for a tow vehicle, simply adds to overall costs due to insurance.

Lastly is the motorcycle: something I've wanted as a "toy" for many years.  This week I decided to put on my analysis hat, and perform a true Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and Return On Investment(ROI) look at buying one.

When I've considered a bike in the past, I've truly only considered small CC crotch rockets, simply due to their price.  I could easily pick on up for a couple of thousand dollars.   Earlier this week a friend came by to show me a bike that he was considering buying; a Vulcan Classic 800.  This bike can easily be obtained in the $3000 range, and is a large enough bike to be safe in a breeze (or passing truck) and to be used as a true leisure bike for my wife and I.  So I it was used for my analysis.

Here are my constants

• 17 – Current MPG in the Xterra
• 45 – Reported MPG for bike
• 30 – Roundtrip Commuting distance
• $3000 – Cost of Bike
• $99/yr – Cost of Insurance (through Geico)
• $3.50/gal – Fixed price of gas for analysis

Using these figures I ran it through three separate scenarios: 1) full time commuting on bike, 2) half time commuting, and 3) 3/2 commuting (3 days on bike, 2 in Xterra).

Realistically, living in Central Florida's weather, the 3/2 estimate would probably be the most accurate.  It is assuming that I would commute with the bike 60% of the time.  While it may not work out every week, I would estimate it would be an accurate reflection of the year as a whole.

Based solely on the numbers, the business-case can be made, but there are many other considerations that I also taking in to account.

• Safety – My current commute door-to-door consists of three roads, all divided highways, and a total of three stop lights , all are at least 5 miles from the next.  In the past 4 years I've encountered stopped traffic due to a accident two times, and the speed limit never exceeds 55mph.  If it were anything different I would probably not consider a bike.
• Savings vs. Earnings – If I were to simply leave the $3000 in its INGdirect savings account, I will only be making 3% return.  Assuming the bike holds its value and the 3/2  analysis above, I will have a $409.54 gain (savings – potential earnings).
• Environmental – My Xterra has estimated annual CO2 emissions of 9,207lbs, compared to the motorcycle's 3,478lbs.  That is a 62.22% reduction in emissions for my commute.  Every little bit helps lowers my total overall carbon footprint.
  [Carbon Footprint Calculator] via TerraPass.com
• Fun Factor – Both my wife and I have always wanted a bike.  Now that our kids are getting old enough to be self-dependent, we will have time to make use of such a purchase.

So needless to say, a motorcycle is likely in my future.  With it being 15+ years since I've ridden, my first task will be to take the Rider Safety Course.  After talking to friends "in-the-know" to get recommendations on the best course, I will be taking the Rider's Edge program offered by Harley Davidson. 

Obviously, I'm also in the market for a 2000-2003 Vulcan 800 Classic or a similarly prices Suzuki Boulevard C50.

Try the my analysis out yourself by downloading my Motorcycle Cost Analysis Spreadsheet [XLS].

The week of September 22-28, the eight executive directors of the Illinois Food Bank Association, participated in a $25 Challenge to illustrate the difficulty in living off of what the average person on Food Stamps receives from the system.  You can read about their struggles at http://25challenge.blogspot.com/.

After reading about it, I decided to see if I could design a meal plan to stay under the $25 cap.  Since I couldn't convince Jennifer to try it for real, this will just be a exercise on paper.

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So tonight, I did a quick walk through in the local Dollar Tree, just to illustrate how I would do this.

Personal Experience

During my "dark days" in the early 1990s, this $25 challenge was more than a challenge, it was a reality.  It was a daily struggle to find a dinner that would cost less than a dollar or two.  There were even times when toilet paper was out of budget, and I'd have to come up with creative ways of "finding" rolls.  So when I tackled the $25 challenge, I also took that into account and included personal hygiene products.  Most of them on this list will last longer than one week, so those odd weeks are when the other necessities would be purchased.  For instance razors, shaving cream, floss, etc.

My days of suffering through this lifestyle when I was younger was greatly hampered due to my limited cooking knowledge.  Basically, if it didn't come out of a can, packet, or box, it didn't get made.  Since then, and probably due to it, Jennifer and I have actually learned to live on a very frugal food budget. 

If I could pass one secret to my younger self or anyone on a limited food budget, is would be "get rice cooker"!  This single kitchen device can be a life saver when money gets tight.  We have the Aroma 8-cup Cool Touch, that can easily be bought for under $30.  I actually think that a quality rice cooker, like it, should be issued to new food stamp recipients, along with sample meal plans using it.  It would have made a tremendous impact on our meal planning when I was enlisted in the military, if I realized its power and versatility.

Anyway, on to my meal plan. 

Shopping List

Day 1

• Breakfast
  Quick Oats with Cinnamon Sugar and Raisins
• Lunch
  Two Corn Dogs
• Dinner
  Beans and Franks – 1/2 pack of hotdogs and can of 19oz Baked Beans

Day 2

• Breakfast
  Toast and Jelly
• Lunch
  Leftover Beans and Franks
• Dinner
  Rice Baked w/Cream of Chicken Soup, Green Beans

Day 3

• Breakfast
  Quick Oats with Cinnamon Sugar and Raisins
• Lunch
  Leftover Baked Rice Dinner
• Dinner
  Spaghetti w/Meat Sauce

Day 4

• Breakfast
  Toast and Jelly
• Lunch
  Leftover Dinner
• Dinner
  Beef Stew w/rice

Day 5

• Breakfast
  Quick Oats with Cinnamon Sugar and Raisins
• Lunch
  Leftover dinner
• Dinner
  Vigo Yellow Rice w/Black Beans

Day 6

• Breakfast
  Toast and Jelly
• Lunch
  Leftover dinner
• Dinner
  Jenos Pizza

Day 7

• Breakfast
  Quick Oats with Cinnamon Sugar and Raisins
• Lunch
  Two Corn Dogs
• Dinner
  Banquet Pot Pie

I've tried to mix up the dinners, simply to illustrate some variety.  Personally, there would be more rice and bean dishes if I were physically put into a situation like this.  The breakfast and lunches shown in this plan, is basically what I do now, so it wouldn't be painful at all.

Could you do it?  If so how?

Could You Survive Spending Only $25 A Week For Food? [Consumerist]
Hunger Action Month [IFBA]
They tried eating on $25 a week [MSNMoney via Digg]
25 Dollar Challenge Blog

Image: Al Pavangkanan [via Flickr]

With the market taking a nose-dive this week, I'm sure you are tempted to look at your nest egg to see how it is faring.  Don't!  Doing so might make you do something rash.  I looked, and I learned that my my losses exceed all of my contributions and my employer's matching for the past 12 months.

Seeing thousands of dollars just disappear into thin air makes me want to do something about it.  But doing something in the down market might be the worst thing to do.

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Investment vehicles like 401ks are long-haul earners.  Knee jerk reactions to a bear market can hurt your overall return in the end.  To calm my fears, I simply try to keep in mind that as my current investment values go down, my buying power on current contributions goes up.

No matter what, keep investing.
John Rosavear, The Motley Fool

"Assuming" the markets recover, as the professionals say it will, my investments made during the bear market will be the saving grace of the losses during the same period.  It is imperative that investment contributions continue to be made.

If I were only a couple of years from retirement, my inaction would most likely differ.  Since I have another 20 or so years, I'll let it ride.

401(k) Steps to Take Now [The Motley Fool]

What Should I Be Doing With My 401(k) [NPR]

How to handle the crisis in your 401k [The Atlantic]