Personal Finance Advice

Somewhere along my most recent three-week vacation, I started to compare it to last year’s three-week road trip. I began to make a list of the little things that make a big difference when it comes to the price, cost, or value on vacation. Here are 20 lessons that I have learned. 1. If you [...]

Ah, it’s that time again. Time to begin planning yet another vacation (the sixth for this year). And time for well-meaning (I think) friends and family to ask, “How do you afford to go on so many vacations each year when we can’t even afford one? You must be putting it on credit cards or [...]

Working in the web development industry, I get a chance to go to at least one conference, seminar, or training class every year. This way I can keep up with the latest technologies and our company benefits from my acquired knowledge. However, convincing the company my conference of choice is worthwhile can be a problem. [...]

My husband and I just returned from a 17 day, 5,500-mile road trip westward from our home in South Carolina. Even though 4.5 million visit the Grand Canyon every year, we still felt like bold adventurers because it was all new to us. And, I have learned that as a white person, apparently I can [...]

Not everyone can afford the impromptu vacation, and we couldn’t have done it without having done some basic preparations. Here’s what we did, and what we spent, that made our two days refreshing and allowed us to arrive home relaxed. What an Impromptu Vacation is: The past weekend surprised us with a vacation hidden around [...]

While many travel gadgets will do nothing but drain your wallet and take up valuable space in your luggage, there are a few highly practical items that will give you a lot of bang for your buck. No item on this list costs more than $20, and you can purchase every item here for about [...]

I recently stayed in a bed and breakfast for the first time. I was a little worried about the experience ahead of time because of all the negative stereotypes about bed and breakfasts having horribly tacky decor and forced socialization with bizarre strangers (Gilmore Girls, anyone?) but the experience was wonderful. Maybe it was just [...]

If you are looking to get the best price on airline tickets, it takes more than going to an online comparison site. One area that can help bring down the price you pay is the flexibility you have when making the reservations. Here are some things to consider when trying to get the best deal [...]

If you are going to book a hotel room, where do your think you would you get the best price? A) Online Travel Website (such as Expedia or Travelocity) B) Travel Agent C) Call The Hotel Directly D) Hotel Website I assume that most people would choose the online travel websites, but that may be [...]

By Shannon Christman, special to pfadvice Summer vacation is often a time to splurge, but it doesn’t have to be a time of splurges you’ll regret. If you want to avoid coming home with a suitcase full of t-shirts you’ll never wear or seashell creatures that don’t fit your décor, consider these ten ideas for [...]

With the price of hotels eating up a larger piece of overall travel expenses, finding good accommodations at reasonable prices has become an important factor when planning any vacation. It is no longer unusual to have accommodation expenses amount to more than half of the total cost of a vacation. Not having to pay for [...]

Why spend money buying magazines at the airport for full price when you can get them for free with a little advance planning? Many magazines allow you a free trial of one or more issues. Sign up for a couple of free trials four to six weeks before your next trip, and you’ll have free, [...]

For the vast majority of people, timeshare resort units are a huge waste of money. Here are 10 things that that the timeshare sales rep won’t tell you, but you really should know before you consider buying one: 1. Time Shares Are a Lousy Investment 2. You Can Get the Same Time Share for Half [...]

Frequent flyer miles was a fantastic and simple idea when it began a few decades ago. All you had to do was fly on your favorite airline and you could earn points for every mile you traveled. When you had amassed enough points, you could redeem them for free travel. And “free” is a golden [...]

There is going to be a significant lack of posts this week (probably none) because I am once again heading back to Japan to live. While this wasn’t a planned event, one thing that you should always expect from life is that there are going to be a large number of curve balls thrown your [...]

Why would anyone want to get bumped of a flight? Because there is money to be made in doing so…By doing a small bit of planning, an hour delay at the airport could be worth several hundred dollars off your next trip. While many people were watching all the people stranded in the Denver airport [...]

When it comes to your money, being proactive can end up saving you a lot. If you are planning to make a trip in early 2007 (or willing to go on one if there are some great prices), go and get your passport now if you don’t already have one. A lot of people don’t [...]

I saw a brilliant marketing move as I walked through the San Jose airport today on my way back from Seattle. In the middle of the San Jose airport is a bar/cafe. This is nothing unusual except for the name of the cafe which is “The Expedia.com Cafe” The brilliance of it is that they [...]

One of the most expensive aspects to travel these days is the cost of accommodations. During my recent trip to Victoria, I didn’t spend a dime since I stayed with my sister in their new house (pictured above). As I write this I’m staying with Nate at his apartment in Seattle. During the entire 10 [...]

One of the tips you hear time and again in order to save gas (and which I have given) is to reduce your speed to 55 miles per hour when driving. This will save you about 20% on fuel consumption (a 20% return on your money) compared to driving faster. The question is whether or [...]