October 25th 2007
We’re all suckers for stuff, whether it’s fancy shoes or video games. When you’re broke, it’s hard to just curb that desire, even though you know you should. I have seven ways to shop smart so you can afford to spoil yourself sometimes.
1. Dealio is your source for the best deals on anything, anywhere. It’s a community that allows you to search for items to find the best deal, whether it’s in a store or on Ebay. They also have coupons for weapons for websites like overstock.com, which is already cheaper than buying retail, which means you save more.
2. Shop around. I can’t stress this enough. Just because you finally found whatever you’re looking for doesn’t guarantee a good price. Sometimes waiting means you find a better deal, or realizing that you don’t actually need the item.
3. Pro Bargain Hunter is a blog full of bargain news, tips and resources. They offer an Amazon discount table, as well as other free tools to find great prices.
4. Retail Me Not is a great website, one of my favorites for bargain hunting. It is a collaborative website offering coupons for thousands of websites. I’ve saved nearly $70 through Amazon with their coupons when I was shopping for textbooks.
5. Use Google Products to help compare between their giant list of stores to find the best price, and then compare with Amazon, Ebay and Craigslist.
6. Always try Craigslist. If you can find it locally, it cuts out the shipping cost.
7. Last but not least, FatWallet.
Posted in Money with 1 comment
October 22nd 2007
Gearfire is publishing an article about his favorite academic programs for Windows and I’m posting a sister article for Mac users. Personally, I don’t use academic-based software that much. I do have these three applications on my computer and use them sometimes, but so far this semester, I haven’t had too many assignments or a difficult class. I use NeoOffice the most out of any program, for word processing and spreadsheets, but I also use Skim. There are other programs out there, but with my experience, these are great for students. Note taking is usually done in a text editor/word processing program anyway.
Genius is a flashcard-based application to help you memorize things. I use this, especially for political science in memorizing hoards of vocab words. It organizes info using the “Leitner “learning cardfile” system, and it quizzes you using a spaced repetition method.” Based on performance, it repeats certain words.
Schoolhouse is the homework manager for Mac. It sorts and organizes assignments, tests and projects. The smart notebook feature introduced in other Apple software is there, as well as classcasts so you can publish subscribable assignments on the web. My favorite thing about this software is the grade calculations. You can input all of your grades for each class and it keeps track of your average. It’s much better than trying to do it myself. Schoolhouse integrates a calendar/GTD program with keeping track of school work as well, which makes this an excellent tool for students.
Skim is a PDF reader (yes, I know, Preview is wonderful!) that lets you write on them so you don’t have to print out notes to take notes. I use this for my political science class (well, when I actually went to his class, I haven’t in over a month.) The professor gives us a copy of the powerpoint in pdf format and I use Skim to write all over it. It saves me from the cost of ink and paper.
Posted in Academic, Productivity, Software with 1 comment
October 20th 2007
Websites like Facebook and Myspace allow people to connect with their friends and stay current on old ones, especially high school and college friends when you’ve already moved on. Unfortunately, Myspace and now Facebook are teeming with members that are inappropriate for professional people trying to keep up with college alumni.
Websites like Classmates.com and Only Alumni are ways to find friends, but not have to interact with thirteen year-olds and creepy old men. Only Alumni has a college alumni forum, which makes it easy to meet new friends and talk freely. It’s as simple as registering on any forum to be an active user. Not all universities have an active community, but some do, like Union College Schenectady Alumni, but that’s the same as everywhere else.
When you’ve got a well-known social network, it increases the chances of finding classmates, but unfortunately, it also attracts idiots. Since the internet is increasing in popularity with just about everyone and their mother becoming active, it gets harder to keep your online and offline lives separate, which is why I prefer smaller communities like Only Alumni. Even Classmates.com, which is a much older community, has immature people that have forgotten they’ve graduated high school ages ago.
Posted in Misc with 1 comment
October 17th 2007
In Comp I we’re currently writing a research paper. (Mine is over the PATRIOT Act and how it violates our civil rights - go Libertarians!) A girl in my group, who is not a very strong writer, recently made some changes to her draft and later found she she had deleted a large chunk of her paper. Because she had been using Word, she was essentially screwed. So I told her, use Google Docs and this won’t ever happen again.
I’m not sure how many of you have ever heard of or used Google Docs, but it’s a very wonderful word processing application. Besides the fact that your documents would be available anywhere, it saves all revisions. When you click on a document, you can choose to see all the revisions you’ve made to it, which would allow you to fix anything you accidentally did.
The interface is very similar to Gmail and allows folders and starred documents. Although not entirely a replacement for MS Office, it does allow for spreadsheets and presentations at this point. The word processing feature allows for formatting, but some of the more complicated formatting isn’t available. It is great for a simple paper and especially to keep all copies of drafts. Some professors like to see the changes you’ve made and if you simply write over everything, it’ll hurt.
Posted in Tricks with 13 comments
October 13th 2007
Last night I opened up an ING Orange Savings Account. It’s about time, too, because this entire semester’s financial aid has been sitting in my Bank of America checking account, earning me nothing. I finally decided to make the switch because Bank of America holds onto my money for unknown amounts of time and doesn’t tell me why or when I will get it.
I had already switched my October money over to USAA because Don finally had his debit card for that account and I got my free checks.
The only reason I’m actually going to keep my Bank of America accounts open is because I have an automatic payment for my car that I haven’t gotten around to switching. I didn’t want to sign up for EFT in the first place, but the credit union that’s financing my car required it.
My favorite thing about USAA is the Deposit@Home feature. I simply scan a check and it gets deposited and is available for spending the next day. No having to deal with tellers and then not seeing the $200 cash I put in for three days (unless it’s over a weekend and then it’s more like five days.)
I’m still waiting for ING to verify that my USAA account is mine so I can deposit the rest of the money and start earning interest. It’s 4.3% APY, which is fairly high for an online savings account. I also haven’t heard any negative comments about ING, unlike WaMu and Capital One.
Anyone have any experience with ING? I wanted to get an Electric Orange checking account, but my credit isn’t good enough.
Posted in Money with 5 comments
October 12th 2007
While I was going through Typo Trawler a few weeks ago, I found a Nintendo 64 for auction on Ebay for $10. It was in perfect working condition, well, as perfect as those consoles could be, so I bought it. I also bought two games, Super Mario and Mortal Kombat for $3 each. With shipping, I got the console and two games for $25.
I know that Nintendo 64 is actually a crappy system. If you’re lucky enough to find a console that does work, half the time the games won’t play. I also had to clean mine really well before it finally played either games. But that’s not the only reason I decided to get one. This along with the Dreamcast was the only video game system I’m familiar with. I remember when I was eight and playing Super Mario with my friends.
Regular Nintendos and Super Nintendos are a lot more expensive. Original Playstations are cheap, but I’m not familiar with any of the games. I’m still not very good with video games, but I’m working on it. While my boyfriend is at work today, I’m practicing my moves so I can finally beat him in Mortal Kombat. He found me the codes to do moves with my favorite characters (the two Asian ladies and the one with the silver hair) and I practice while he’s gone.
Posted in Misc with 3 comments
October 10th 2007
Student loans are the answer to money problems these days, especially because you can defer payments until after graduation, unlike other loans. But if you aren’t careful, you can end up owing a lot more than you borrowed. I was able to get $4000 in scholarships, but the rest of my expenses are covered by loans. I was able to get a subsidized Stafford loan through Wells Fargo (the government pays the interest while I’m in school) for $3500, but all the rest is in a Parent PLUS loan, which has a high interest rate and although payments are differed, it accrues interest now. If you can get Stafford loans, even if it’s unsubsidized, I’d take advantage, even if you need another loan as well. Stafford loans are a great deal.
I didn’t have to get any private student loans, but for some people, this is what they choose to do for whatever reason. Think Financial offers student loans as well as financial advice and resources and a comparison chart. Think Financial is a well-known student loan provider in cooperation with Charter One Bank and their website is very helpful. They don’t require collateral, and you can apply and get an answer in fifteen minutes and you can use the money for all expenses, unlike some providers. Private loans also give you your money much faster than going through a university.
The biggest reason people choose to go this route is because the amount you can borrow is up to $40,000 for one year, which is a lot more than financial aid offices award students. There are other loan companies, such as Sallie Mae and My Rich Uncle, although I personally like Think Financial or Chase.
If you’re going to go this route, I definitely suggest doing a lot of research into the company and the rates. Be sure to read the fine print and make sure you’re getting a fixed rate. Some companies, such as Sallie Mae have allegations against them so beware of that. Also, private loans usually require good credit to be approved so it helps to have a parent or older family member that’s willing to help. But if they’re going to put their name on it, sometimes it’s better to take out a second mortgage or do a home equity loan with a better rate.
Posted in Financial Aid, Money with 2 comments
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