How to Save Money on Travel

As gas prices continue to climb and the overall costs for travel soar, many think that travel is out of reach and shelve plans for their dream vacation for “someday.” Retirees may give up on the notion completely, thinking that a big trip just isn’t possible on a limited income. 

However, there are many ways that you can save money and make travel a reality. Here are just a few ways you can make just about any trip fit your budget: 

Travel Off-Season 

Everybody wants to go to Paris in springtime. Unfortunately, that means that lines will be longer, your options will be limited, and you will pay more for everything. While traveling in the dead of winter when it’s cold and snowy most places may not seem appealing, that’s exactly how you can travel for a fraction of the cost. 

Talk with a travel agent about what constitutes “off-season” for the place you want to travel. You may be able to travel in the fall or spring when temperatures and conditions aren’t ideal but are still bearable. Just put on a warm jacket or a packable rain jacket if it rains, the Eiffel Tower won’t seem any less amazing!

Save on Flights 

There are many ways you can save on airfare if you’re willing to do a little research or be flexible in your dates of travel. Start by researching the lowest fares on comparison sites such as Travelocity or Orbitz. You can find out what airlines are offering the lowest fares, then try to bid for lower prices on a service like Priceline. 


If you’re flexible with your travel dates, this can lower your fares significantly. Do a search that includes flexible dates and find the lowest fares. Even being flexible enough to fly Tuesday through Thursday can drop a lot off your ticket prices. Of course, last-minute fares – just a few weeks or less before travel – will also be significantly cheaper.

Choose Low-Cost Lodging 

Low-cost lodging doesn’t mean 3-star hotels. You need to think outside the hotel. One popular option includes a hostel, which puts you in a room with a few other strangers but can cost as little as $10 a night. You can get a private room in a hostel, but the cost is a little higher (though still potentially cheaper than many hotels). 

A couple other options include renting an apartment for the week (usually less than the cost of a hotel), volunteering on a farm or non-profit organization (which usually offers lodging in exchange for the help), or couch surfing (in which you connect with good travel Samaritans who offer you their spare couch or room for a night or two for free). 

Skip Restaurants 

Eating out at home can be expensive, and it’s even worse when you travel. Don’t eat at restaurants, and you’ll save a lot of money. If there’s a kitchen in your hostel or your hotel room, you can purchase groceries from the local market and make meals there. If there isn’t, you can purchase ready-made items from local markets and grocery stores. 

Even if you don’t want to get your meals this way, at least grabbing snacks such as granola bars, nuts, and fruit can help you reduce the number of meals you have to buy out. 

Travel doesn’t have to be a distant dream for when you win the lottery or one of your investments finally pays off. By brainstorming ways to save, you can make just about any trip a reality. 

How do you save money when you travel? Share your tips in the comments! 

Charissa Newark is a writer and manager for Accountingdegree.net, where she has recently been researching requirements for an accounting degree. In her spare time, Charissa enjoys gardening and volunteering at animal shelters.

Are You Responsible for Your Spouse's Tax Bill?

Income tax (Photo credit: Alan Cleaver)

When you say "I do" you are not only merging your lives together you are also merging your tax responsibility. Unlike, your individual debt responsibilities, which are wholly an individual problem. Your tax responsibilities, when you file joint returns, can affect the other spouse.These liabilities include back federal and/or state taxes, child support, and unpaid student loans.

The IRS wants all couples to know that:

1. Tax, interest and penalties are a joint responsibility — even after divorce or death.
2. A divorce decree, written in stone, that your ex is responsible for your joint taxes, does not mean the IRS won’t hold you liable.
3. Even if none of the income on your joint tax return is yours, the IRS can still come after you.For example, in 2010, you were a W-2 employee and your spouse was self-employed, and you filed a joint tax return. In 2011 you divorced, and your spouse left for parts unknown. Several months ago, the IRS audited your 2010 joint tax return and determined that not all of the income from your spouse’s business was reported.
The IRS agent is going to say that you are responsible for the tax plus interest and penalties, and your wages are going to be levied to pay this debt.

There can be relief, however, if you can prove that you are an “innocent spouse.”

1. If the understatement of tax was due to cheating, or what the IRS calls “erroneous” items, and
2. When you signed the return, you didn’t know, or have reason to know, of the under reported income, and
3. You did not benefit from that income, and
4. It would be unfair to hold you liable.The IRS considers an erroneous item to be unreported income, or incorrect deductions. These include unreported cash income, as well as unsupported deductions like claiming expenses that were never incurred.

Not knowing, or not having reason to know, refers to:

1. The nature of the item. This means that if your spouse had unreported gambling income, and those records were totally maintained by your spouse;
2. Your educational and business background. In other words, should you have known or should you have questioned.Did you benefit? Are you living in a $1,000,000 house with reported income of only $100,000? Being unfair to hold you liable includes whether you received a significant benefit from the understatement, whether your spouse deserted you, and whether you are divorced or separated. There are two other types of relief — separation of liability and equitable relief. Under separation of liability relief, you divide the understatement, including penalty and interest, between the two of you. This relief covers unpaid liabilities due to tax understatements. The requirements are that you are legally separated or divorced, including widowed, and you did not live with your spouse for the past twelve months.

Equitable relief is provided if you do not qualify for either of the other two, and require, amongst other things, that you did not intend to commit fraud, and were not involved in a fraudulent scheme to defraud the IRS, a creditor, business partner, or ex-spouse, that it would be unfair to hold you accountable, and the income was not yours.

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Basic Money Management Advice

Finance (Photo credit: Tax Credits)

In the era of technologies and mass media there are some people left who think of their financial life as they are able to see a distinct connection with this aspect of life with a well-being of others. Most people do not understand that finances are an inseparable part of our lives and they will not just get rid of it by their wish. If you are ignorant about how to control your money, you should better learn to as you will just lose money you have been working so hard for. Managing money is a learnable thing. So why do so many people stay away from money management? Just begin to learn and get to know all kinds of information for becoming stronger in this sphere of life and you will soon notice how life changes for better. 

Though the process of learning may seem difficult and perplexed, it does not mean that it is the same way in reality. Indeed, the basic two criteria are the most momentous: self-control and a plan. 

Probably many times in your life you have heard such a word: budget. Try to learn it and use it as a golden book. Set up a budget and plan everything, all your expenses, incomes, bill payments, track literally everything, even the sum of money which you spend on coffee. The best variant is to jot down all your spending at once, for not to forget anything. It will be easier for you to control your money in that case. 

Self-control and discipline are the same terms. Remember all the deadlines and terms of the bill payments. If your money is tight for the moment, then do not buy anything that you don’t really need. Think and take care of your future. Nevertheless, there is plenty of advice for money management and the previous two were just the basic ones. If you want to improve your financial life completely, to turn it upside-down, then try to follow some other pieces of advice below. 

Organize your expenses 

If you spend too much money on something where you can save, then why won’t you do that? If you buy coffee at Starbucks or any other cafeteria, then make coffee at home and that will help you to save even more money than you expect. 

Savings account is a must 

Put some money away for a rainy day. The perfect option is to use a bank for opening a savings account. The point of such account is that you are getting an interest rate and the more money you have there, the higher your interest rate is becoming. 

Learn how to deal with emergencies 

The urgent situations are usually unforeseen and nobody may predict them, that is why be prepared towards anything. Save some money from every your salary for an emergency case and you will not fall behind when any situation occurs. 

Still if you do not have any money for a rainy day, neither for an emergency case, then you may use such a convenient option like immediate loans till payday. They intended for people who are not able to pay for some service or bill in time. Money will be sent and withdrawn from the customer’s personal bank account automatically. There is not need to collect the papers on the personal data as the service is faxless. 

As far as you can see, you have a lot of advice for working out your financial life. Nonetheless the most momentous point is your willing. Without it you will never climb on the top.

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Loan Approval Rates Post Drop in July

In recent property news, home loan approvals have declined by their highest rate in five months in July because of inflated interest rates in other developed economies, dissuading home shoppers from the Australian market. The decline in loan approvals equates to 1% for July after the 1% increase for the month of June, according to the statistics bureau which reported the news from Sydney on September 9th. Bloomberg News had conducted a survey among 16 economists and the general consensus was that the rate for borrowers taking out home loans would remain unchanged for the month of July. 

The news has been taken as an indication of a weakening economy in the aftermath of a recent decrease in retail sales, the loss of 8,800 jobs and the realisation of the seventh consecutive monthly trade deficit. The data has also prompted speculation that Glenn Stevens, RBA’s Governor would be looking at dropping interest rates in November after the cuts in May and June left the national cash rate at 3.5%. Analysts have been speculating about whether 2012 would hold further rate cuts but the last three months have not seen any changes coming from the Reserve Bank of Australia with regard to the national cash rate.

The decrease in home loan approvals has also been taken as yet another sign of consumer conservatism and analysts warn that until consumer behaviour trends can do a turn around, the property market growth rate may continue to disappoint forecasters. The recent credit shock, which highlighted how much debt Aussies have accrued in credit card debt, coupled with the an increasing urgency to increase their savings coffers seems to have had its effect on the property market with consumers not being taken in by low interest rates, preferring to invest their energies into paying debts off and coping better with the rising cost of living which hit a high when the government launched its carbon taxes, sending household utility costs skyrocketing.

The sum total of mortgages dropped to $20.1-billion, a decline of 18 %, for the month, while lending to owners decreased by 1.4% compared to figures released for June. Investor home loans for resale and letting decreased by 2.7%, further highlighting investor conservatism and a slowdown on property developments. However, the market is still optimistic in this respect, with property investment loans on offer at http://www.bankwest.com.au/personal/home-loans/home-loans-overview#investing-in-property.

On a more positive note, the number of loan approvals granted to first time homebuyers increased from 18.5% in June to 19.2% in July. Even more impressive was the year on year increase of 16.5% to first time buyers and indicating that there is potential for growth from the younger generations.

The economic slow down has been attributed to the rising cost of imports and weaker housing markets even though the gross domestic product increased by 0.6% from the three months through to June when it saw a 1.4% improvement.

The country’s two biggest lenders, Westpac Banking Corp (WBC) and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) have announced that fixed mortgage rates have been reduced in an effort to lower borrowing costs for consumers and stimulate more activity in the housing sector. By contrast, an August report revealed that house prices had risen in the second quarter after five consecutive quarters of lowering prices. In addition, while analysts seem to concur that the downward spiral has come to its highly anticipated end, the last three to four months have only reflected what has been considered as flat line activity. It’s not all bad news though, as a spike could cause further market volatility and the flat lining could be giving home buyers more time to ease into the property market.

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3 Ways to Keep Learning in Retirement without Paying for an Expensive Degree

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Having talked to many friends and family members approaching retirement, one common goal among many of them is to go back to school. Of course, most of these aspiring learners don’t necessarily need the credential of a degree. Rather, they just want to keep on learning, and they’re interested in becoming an expert in a specific field of study that’s different from the one they chose when they were in college. If this is you, consider the benefits of learning outside a traditional degree program. Here are a few options: 

1. Research continuing education centers in your community. 

Almost all universities and/or major cities offer continuing (also called “adult) education centers. These programs don’t necessarily grant degrees, but they do offer courses that are specifically tailored to your interests and passions. What’s more, most continuing education centers offer courses with very flexible times and dates. This is especially important for those in retirement, who may have many other projects and activities they’re pursuing. For an example of what a continuing education center may look like, check out Rice University’s Glasscock School of Continuing Studies in Houston. 

2. Enroll in a Massive Open Online Course. 

Massive Open Online Course, also known as a MOOC, is the latest trend in education technology. A MOOC is essentially a free course, usually offered through an established university that encourages the participation of students from around the world and has virtually no cap on the number of students who can participate. The most successful MOOC to date was an artificial intelligence course offered through Stanford. 160,000 students enrolled including several Stanford students, and 23,000 students ended up completing the course. The professor who taught the course gave a certificate to each student who completed the class as well as a grade. 248 students received a grade of 100 percent, and none of these students were from Stanford. MOOCS provide retired, lifelong learners the opportunity to learn in a collaborative environment for free, all the while being taught by world-class professors and improving their computer skills. 

3. Join a club or organization. 

Sometimes being self-taught is the best way to go if you want to learn a new skill. It’s also the cheapest way. At the same time, learning in a group setting can spur motivation and help you learn more efficiently from those who are more skilled. One way I learned to speak Russian fairly fluently was by teaching myself using different books, coupled by joining a Russian language MeetUp group. MeetUp.com is a great way to find a local learning group that focuses on whatever skill you endeavor to pick up. 

Of course, none of the above ideas is necessarily comparable to enrolling in a full degree program. At the same time, if the learning is what you're looking for, and not the credential, the above all great options for learning without having to pay an arm and a leg. Good luck! 

Katheryn Rivas is a freelance writer and former educator. She enjoys writing about trends in higher education, college life, and lifelong learning. Check out more of her advice and reporting at OnlineUniversities.com. Feel free to share your comments and questions below!

How to Avoid Extra Costs at the End of Your Car Lease

Car Lease (Photo credit: NobMouse)

$250 to dispose of your vehicle, $1000 for extra miles you put on the clock and $200 to replace the light bulb and the worn tires—lease agents constantly nickel-and-dime consumers when their lease runs out. 

Here’s a rundown of what can trigger those fees, and some steps to take in self-defense.

Disposition fee: Leasing companies charge you if you choose not to buy the vehicle at the end of your lease. This fee is set as compensation for the expenses of selling, or otherwise disposing of the vehicle. It typically includes administrative charges; the dealer’s cost to prepare the car for resale and any other penalties. Make sure this fee is stated clearly in the contract and is agreeable by you before signing on the dotted line. At lease-end, you are left in no position to negotiate as the dealer can apply your refundable security deposit towards this fee. 

Excess mileage charges: Almost all leasing companies will charge a premium for each mile over the agreed upon mileage stated in your contract. This penalty can be as high as 25 cents per mile and can add up quickly. To avoid the risk of running thousands of dollars in excess mileage penalties at the end of your lease, always check the “per mile” charges in your contract and be realistic about your mileage before you sign any contract. If you think the limit is unrealistic given your commutation needs, then negotiate with the dealer to get a higher mileage or contract for additional miles. 

Excess tear-and-wear charges: Another potential cost at the end of the lease is any incidental damage done to the car during the lease. This is deemed any excessive damage done to the normal tear and wear of the vehicle. Notice the use of the terms “deemed”, “excessive” and “normal”. There is no standard formula to define what’s “excessive” and “normal” and it’s up to the leasing company to assess – or deem – the damage and determine what they are going to charge. This leaves you at the mercy of unscrupulous leasing agents who set stringent tear-and-wear standards. 

Make sure you read the description of these standards, understand them and agree to them. If your leased vehicle is damaged prior to the end of the lease, you may find it cheaper to repair the damage yourself than pay the excessive charges of the leasing agent. In the event of a dispute over the charges at the end of your lease, get an independent third party to do a professional appraisal detailing the amount required to repair any damaged parts or the amount by which tear-and-wear reduces the value of the vehicle.

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