More on vehicle rental ...

Again, I can't ascribe motivation but I'm pretty sure there's an accepted gain on the company's behalf when it comes to their vehicle's gas tank upon the vehicle's return.

There are the obvious ones, which you can't knock because they are there in print on your agreement. If you return a vehicle with less gas than you picked it up, they will charge you, it seems, upwards of 175% of the price of a gallon to refuel it. And that is sometimes on top of a service fee. One vehicle rental place starts with a $30 service fee when you don't return the vehicle with the same amount of gas. That's before their severely marked-up price of gas comes into play. It doesn't mean it's not ridiculous. But they tell you that. So? House rules, I guess.

Then there's the art of gas gauge literacy. Does an employee check it and note it before you take the car? Does the gauge read the same level as is noted on the rental agreement?

That wasn't our most recent experience. We agreed to refuel a vehicle ourselves before we returned it and the agreement printed up and given to us at the counter read "8/8 tank" meaning the tank was full upon release and should be returned as such.

We got in the vehicle and, to our surprise, it was only 3/4 full meaning if we had not noticed this, we'd be on the hook for that 1/4 tank, putting us out 12 or 13 bucks for their oversight. We had to bring this up with the lot attendant and get them to vouch with their signature.

And when we returned it, refueled, we were still issued a refueling charge which they admitted was incorrect and refunded. But it still means an unnecessary hold on my credit card.

On gas in rental cars:

-check to see the recorded level of fuel agrees with what you see on your gauge.
-read your receipt upon return to prevent unnecessary charges that you did nothing to incur.
-READ THE FINE PRINT.

Good night everybody.

Rentals

I'm not going to project an attitude or motivation on them but one way that vehicle rental companies take advantage of, intentionally or unwittingly, your carelessness or haste or lack of attention is by not doing the walk around with you (I've seen this more with cars. They still do this with rental moving trucks in my experience). If they and you do not do this, you can return the car (incident and accident free) and find yourself with a damage claim on your hands.

Insist they do and if they won't but you are stuck renting there, insist on a means to agree on existing damage ... because there will likely be exisiting dings or scratches. We ended up writing on a car rental agreement and having it signed by the lot attendant. Get their signature and printed name (first and last). If they don't stand behind their product with their name, complain and/or go somewhere else.

Anyway, I think most people are trying to cover their bumper, so you have to cover yours.

It's like free money . . .

which as we all know does not exist.

However, it's possible that you have some unclaimed money somewhere as a result of oversight on yours or your employer's part.

Look up in the hypertext! It's a link, it's a bookmark . . . it's . . . it's missingmoney.com.

You might have money in :
-Common types of unclaimed property include:
-Bank accounts and safe deposit box contents
-Stocks, mutual funds, bonds, and dividends
-Uncashed checks and wages
-Insurance policies, CD's, trust funds
-Utility deposits, escrow accounts
-A government sock drawer

(the first six are cribbed from missingmoney.com but you never know about the sock drawer.)

Just enter your name and state or province to find out if there's some money of yours somewhere that needs to be returned to it's rightful owner. Or join for free and it will search it's vast provincial and state databases on your behalf and save your search profile to simplify future repeated searches.

I knew that money was hiding here somewhere.

Shelf life

Anything that has an expiry date will eventually have to come off the shelf of the grocery store. And when it gets close to the date, just like a 'going out of business'sale, everything must go.

My wife and I have benefited from close to date meats, picked them up for 30-40% off. I know bread comes down drastically in price when it's approaching the date.

Keep your eyes peeled for expiry dates and ask your local grocer if they mark down on near date items.

If you don't plan to consume immediately, and it's appropriate, put it in the freezer.

The grocery store still moves product, you walk away with a discount. I think everyone might win.

Those tacks aren't just holding up the map.

As long as I have lived in New York, and in Toronto before that, I've lived in relatively central apartments, very often for convenience's sake. The biggest advantage was convenience. The biggest disadvantage, of course, was the high cost of rent. Gosh. Big money, no whammies rent.

Now, of course, you can split rent by having roommates but if you want to compound the savings even more, you might want to look at the outer edges of the map. I hope you're sitting down, that means you got on early enough in the route. In Winnipeg, we called it Transit Tom, in Toronto, it was the Rocket, actually not that one this one, and in New York, it's the MTA. I think you see where I'm going with this. I'm asking you to consider neighborhoods in the outer limits or boroughs of you city.

There are express routes that take you, likely, further than you've ever been before. But out there, there's more for less. Or the same for less. And you might get a patch of grass, or a balcony, or parking. And with monthly transit passes and departures from near the beginning/end of a particular route, you can definitely find a seat and listen to those podcasts I was telling you about.

You can put the money you save in a high interest online savings account.

Here's your homework. Visit a neighborhood somewhere "out there". Who knows? You might like it.

Just something to consider.

Papa Smurf always says; or New Style Book Learning for the listening watching busy crowd

Isn't that how Brainy would open most of his pontifications? Now if the Smurfs were introduced in 1958 and almost all of them were 100 years old, that would make Brainy around 153-ish. If they're like most animated characters and maintain their age without getting older or younger, dude's still 100 and has been for a long time. You have to believe there was (and continues to be) some serious learning in that mushroom house of his. Either the print was really small, he used the local branch of the SPL, or they also eventually got the internet.

At any rate, there are plenty of health benefits to formal and informal learning. It, along with sleep, exercise, a good diet, and manageable stress levels can contribute to stave off the mental effects of aging, dementia, and alzheimer's.

Can't make it to the library, or your favorite book on hold for someone else? Do you have a long commute or like to listen to something while you're working? Don't have the time and money to audit or take classes at a local school? Maybe, just maybe, iTunesU could be for you. You can learn from over 350,000 lectures spread over countless museums, schools, faculties, focii, and learning levels. If you can't find something that peaks your interest, you aren't trying. Yeah, I said it. It hurts a little, doesn't it? To feel like you're not trying.

I used to live in Banff. They have a world-renowned Arts Centre there. We spell it 'centre'. Don't get weirded out. I'm going to go listen to a discussion on Hope and Imagination with an artist of whom I am a fan, and I'm doing this, wait for it, from the comfort of our old office chair.

Just in case you don't have iTunes.

Now go build some synaptic bridges.

Oh, you're from Vegetaria?

Our pastor was making an illustration today about love and asked what people "love about thanksgiving?" I don't know if people were trying to be hotshots or we're just a bunch of weirdos but it was a good minute before we'd gotten through everything else (including Black Friday, family, and sweet potato casserole) and came up with turkey. To which she responded, "if you loved turkey, you wouldn't kill it and eat it." Touche . . . touche. The point was about the nature of love more than turkeys but it was cause to think.

It's true. If you loved turkey, or chicken, or cows, you would not eat them. I still eat them. I like how they taste cooked. I have the occasional brief philosophical dialogue in my head about it from time to time but, I guess, not enough to give it up cold . . . vegetable.

Here's the strange thing. I know you'll be shocked (not). It's cheaper to not eat meat. I will go so far as to say without exception, it is cheaper to not eat meat. My wife tries it sometimes. I'm thinking about giving it a shot. Perhaps do a little more reading. Review my findings, that sort of thing. And whatever my wife tells me of her own experience with that, I'll pass it on to you.

Some of my friends do a great job of cutting out the meat from their diet.

What's one easy way to see the savings? When you eat out, order vegetarian.

Just something to think about.

Talk and talk and talk and talk ...

It's a small world and a global village and the continent ain't as big as it used to be and people like to keep in touch.

I moved to New York back in twenty-ought-four and most of the people I wanted to keep in touch with (if they weren't where I live) were back in Canada. I didn't have a landline but I had a decent cell phone deal with amazing long distance rates to north of the 49th parallel, so sweet that when the provider realized it's sweetness and the work-arounds some people from Canada were attempting, they shipped that package ... well, it wasn't long for this world.

So what kind of deal is there to be had if you live in the US and want to call Canada or any other part of the US for free and other parts of the world for cheap?

Google Voice sets you up with a custom number, and free texting and voicemail to other parts of the US and Canada. You can access it from your Gmail or Google account on your computer but if you don't want to sit in front of your computer to make free calls, plenty of mobile phones allow you to download the app and take it with you.

All you need is a data plan and with so many flat rate data packages for phones and so many areas with free wifi, you don't have to be held to the long distance minutes of your mobile plan. Simply, through the app on your data network or wifi it turns calls from the US to other parts of the US and Canada into local calls.

But maybe they put it better.

Restaurant.com

Even in the midst of making and saving a living, I don't always want to go home and dig into my 20 lb bag of rice.

Sometimes me and the missus want to get out of the house and go for a nice dinner. Prices at restaurants are coming down but we have a way to take even more advantage of restaurant prices.


Restaurant.com

For the time being you can get $25 food coupons for $10. Do the math. That's a 60% savings. Nose around the website, you can even more. You can get a restaurant.com gift card or e-gift card, worth $100, for only $40.

Was just given the heads up about this by my wife and a friend.

You read it correctly. Those of us with restaurant.com profiles can enjoy $25 gift certs for only $2. Go and set up an account, so you can be privy to these kinds of deals.

I mean, c'mon. You can be frugal but still enjoy.

Now . . . enjoy . . . NOW!

You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man.

I think I've been using my razor blade since last July (barring the week we were in Winnipeg where I used my dad's). What's this about? Follow the bread crumbs!

Sooo, a couple of things. I was pleasantly surprised at how funny Gingy (the gingerbread man) was in the Shrek movies. Very funny. Very satisfying. Couldn't ever justify seeing any of that franchise in the theaters. Seeing Shrek the Third (in the theatre), in fact, was the subject of animated discussion between my wife and I prior to our subsequent courtship. I'm certain it was my adamant refusal that planted the seeds of love. So principled.

Anyway, my topic, and I do have one, is running.

My wife and I are non-competitive distance runners. So we do the miles but we ain't breaking any records. We still want to squeeze every last mile out our shoes.

Two ways to save over the long haul with running shoes.

1) Don't be fooled by mild wear on the sole. Just because you see some wear does not mean you have to replace the shoe. Not a big deal. If it's really rainy or icy out, you probably shouldn't be going too quickly anywhere . . . which brings to mind one of my personal chestnuts, "If you're going too fast to control yourself, you're probably going too fast." I think it's true walking, running, driving, or in relationships.

-Sole wear is natural and you don't need to replace your shoes at the first sign of it.

2)Secondly, think about the way you run. Are you a heel striker? Are you a fore foot striker? There are schools of thought that suggest modern running shoe technology has not been good for the mechanics of running. I'm inclined to agree. Instead of running on the balls of our feet, as we're inclined in bare feet or in the shoes you see in old marathon pictures, we have these cushiony heels. These are great for walking but not as necessary or useful for running. If you think of your knee and your ankle as shock absorbers they diffuse the shock of the impact that runs up your leg with each foot strike. If you land on the heel, the impact has one less joint to diffuse through. However, if you land and take off from the forefoot, you're using both the ankle and the knee to absorb shock thereby taking some of the load off of the shoe, which is why you bought the expensive cushioning show in the first place. Anyway, don't answer now, just think about it.

-If you let your body cushion your stride when running, you don't have to spend so much extra money doing it artificially.

If you're thinking of changing anything about the way you run, do it slowly.

Run to the hills.

Everybody neat and pretty? Then on with the show! (with regards to the original Mickey Mouse Club)

Want to save money in the shaving department.

Here are a couple of tips.

Shave every day. Wha? Shouldn't that shorten the life of your razor? My personal experience is that it is easier to remove a day's growth, then multiple days (or, of course, weeks).

Use less shaving cream. Ration. Whether cream or gel, be diligent about spreading the dab on your hands all over your face. When you think you need to put more in your hands, STOP! Try to spread the existing lather over that beautiful canvas of yours.

Home sharpening. I've seen many suggestions on extending the life of your razor. What works for me, in addition to rationing shaving gel and regular shaving, is sharpening the current blade in my safety razor on my arm. If you've used a straight razor or seen one used, you'll see they sharpen those bad boys on a leather strap. Much akin to this, when my blade is dull, I run the razor backwards up my arm (if it's removing your arm hair, YOU'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY). About a dozen firm strokes should dislodge any hair in the blades and do a decent job of cleaning and sharpening them. I've used the same blade for months.

And I guess if you don't have to (LUCKY), don't shave. That'll work too.

Toodle-oo and cheers

Google Shopperson; the Shoppingest Guy in Shoptown

There are so many tasks where using the internet or computer (or BBS!?) used to seem like such a strange idea. We can all think of things we never thought we'd use a computer for that we use it for now.

Shopping online?

It had been the stuff of speculation for decades. Heck, Amazon has been online since 1995. Now it's, well, it's pretty dang common. Which sorting and aggregating option do we like when it comes to online shopping?

Would you believe it's a google tool. Type in your item at Google Shopping and you can sort by price, stipulate if you want to go to the brick and mortar building with "in stock nearby", if you want the search to only return results with free shipping, price range, and more.

Here's a recent search I made where you can tool around and get an idea of your search options.

Handle with care.

on getting fit ...

When you are trying to develop a habit, I have heard and read relentlessly, the most important thing you can do is make the time to do it. The word is it takes 3 weeks of consistent practice to incorporate a new habit into your life. Everybody has varying degrees of free time or some amount upon which they might be able to piggy back things.

So once you've carved out the time, what do you do?

Keep it simple, stupid.

You have enough on your plate without having to become an expert on fitness. You are likely an expert on something (I hope it is useful and it pays well) and there are already plenty of fitness experts.

We wanted something we could do, that we didn't have to design or join something for and, believe it or not, our answer came in an 8 dollar fitness cd.

We've done it 4 or 5 times since we got it two weeks ago. There are 3 different levels of exertion (I'm confident in focusing on the lowest for a few more weeks) and each is only 20 minutes. I really used to think this kind of thing was lame, but I also used to play outside a lot more.

But, most of all get out there. It brings to mind a story my wife told me. She said a friend of hers challenged her to do one complete pushup, all the way down and all the way up. If you don't know how that story ends, try doing one complete pushup. Bet you did two. Because, I mean, since you're down there.

So how about this. Walk 5 minutes from your house and then walk back. The CBC World Report is 10 minutes long. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? I bet you might even walk for 11 minutes. If you want me to find a podcast for you, msg me in the comments.

Do you have any Grey Groupon AKA clipping for the modern age

With the popularization of the internet over the last fifteen years a lot of the different ideas and tools we use in meatspace have had to make their digital transition. The biggest of the last couple of days is this guy.

We all remember our folks clipping and using coupons for different things at the store. And coupons were just one more thing subject to the transitions of this new medium.

I can recall different emails offering savings before but one of the most interesting trends in coupon-like savings have been those deal-of-the-day sites. And the easiest to recall, to my mind is Groupon.

Here's how it works. You set up an account indicating your city (at the very least), you'll be sent an email and once you click the associated link, your account is active. Each day you are sent an email with a deal for your area. The deal is available if enough people buy it, otherwise you are charged nothing. I can't remember a deal not 'tipping' (meaning one that didn't activate on account of not enough interest). Like I said, when you fancy one of the daily deals, buy it, print a copy (or use a compatible mobile device) and take it to the business in questions to receive your deal.

We've had our teeth cleaned, got massages, went to the Ripley's museum ... all for way less than retail.

See if there's a Groupon in your area ... NOW

Oil, you startled me. Man, those floors are shiny. What's your secret?

Looks who's here. It's vegetable oil! Wow, I didn't know you were coming over.

Besides being a crucial ingredient in my grandmother's amazing rice casserole (nostalgia and loyalty aside; hands down the best rice casserole I've ever had the chance to enjoy. perhaps I will share it here one day), vegetable oil can also be used as a cheap natural hardwood floor polish.

As an aside, isn't it strange that hardwood floors took a little break from being in vogue. Well, they're BACK! With a vengeance. Anyone see Bruce Willis in Red? I digress.

All you have to do is mix it in a 1:1 ratio with vinegar, put it in a spray bottle and voila! That's french.

Spray on floor and wipe with a damp cloth. Leave to sit for a short time if floor is particularly scuffed.

We've found vinegar for 1.69 here.

And vegetable oil is probably cheaper there than the $7.99/gallon I saw at Meijer.

Even with those prices, to make a pint of wood polish in a spray bottle:

1 cup of vinegar - .11
1 cup of vegetable oil - .50

That's 61 cents.

You're welcome.

Keep fit and have fun ...

Now, if you're Canadian and reading this, you probably remember the title expression from Canadian fitness stalwarts Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod and their BodyBreak series of tv interstitials beckoning us north of 49ers to get physical even as far back as the eighties. Interestingly, they're still going strong. I'd put a lot of the blame on their health and fitness regimen.

The late great Jack Lalanne said, "Fitness is king, nutrition is queen, put them together and you have a kingdom." Good advice, sir.

If you've never instituted a habit of exercise, it is never too late to start. Anything is more than nothing . . . even a walk around the block. But the important thing is consistency.

Do you need a place to go to solely exercise? Sometimes helps. Live in a small apartment? I'd put money on that if you're in NY.

For those of us in NY who want a place to go exercise, swim, play pick up sports, I can think of no better place than the NYC system of recreation centers.

For adults, it only costs $75 a year to work out and enjoy any city rec center in the 5 boros.

If you're thinking of joining a gym, consider that your gym might cost $75/month (not uncommon in this city) so you'd be alright to pay the year's fee at the rec center and try it out for a month to see if it fits your schedule. If that's not enough, the rec centers are free on the first Monday of every month and they won't bat an eyelash if you want to look around your local one.

Classes more your style? Shape Up NYC offers free classes throughout the city.

NYCe work, my city!!!

No excuse folks. Dismissed. Be careful out there.