10 Free Meals & Beverages on your Birthday: The Birthday Glutton Marathon Challenge!

10 Free Birthday Coupons for Meals & Drinks

It’s your birthday. And damn it, you deserve to eat and drink for free – and lots of it! Depending on your tastes and how recently you had a coronary, you can pretty much eat your way through your special day without paying a cent.

Remember when you simply had to walk in to a restaurant and tell them it was your birthday? No need for a license, and certainly no need to sign up for anything with your email address.

Those days are over, but you can still get disgustingly sick on your birthday from over-indulging on free food and drinks. And that’s an American past-time that will never go away. What I’m introducing to you today is the Birthday Glutton Marathon Challenge! Armed with a spam email address you can make a damn pig of yourself for free (and take another year off your lifespan in the process). Here’s how to do it.

7:00 AM – You have to start off your big day with a free birthday breakfast right?

• Denny’s: Denny’s is offering up a free Grand Slam breakfast on your birthday. It appears that no email signup is necessary. Just show up with your license at hand.

8:30 AM – Breakfast was food. Now, why not enjoy a free birthday beverage (or two) to finish it off?

• Starbucks: Join Starbucks rewards and get a free complimentary beverage on your birthday.
• Dunkin Donuts: Sign up for Dunkin’ Perks and get a free medium beverage, plus another on your birthday.

9:30 AM – Time for a pit stop and a breather.

12:00 PM – Time to hit the road again. It’s free birthday lunch time!

• Red Robin: Join e-club and get a free burger on your birthday.
• Ruby Tuesday: Join the birthday club and get a free burger on your birthday

Burgers don’t meet your fancy? How about Mexican?

• QDoba: Join the E-Club and get a free burrito on your birthday. Additionally, you get free chips and salsa, just for signing up.

2:00 PM – Not feeling so good. It’s time for a nap.

3:00 – 7:00 PM – Wake up and feel regret.

7:00 PM – It’s free birthday dinner time!

• Houlihans: Sign-up and get a free appetizer for joining plus a free entree on your birthday. Not bad!

Just one dinner on your birthday is for the weak.

• Benihana: Sign up for the Chef’s table email club and get a $30 birthday certificate every year.

9:00 PM – What would a birthday be without a free heart suffocating dessert!

• Coldstone Creamery: Join the birthday club and get free ice cream on your birthday.

But one dessert on your birthday is never enough!

• Baskin Robbins: Get a free scoop of ice cream when you join the birthday club.

Are you tough enough for the the Birthday Glutton Marathon Challenge? Challenge your friends and family who have upcoming birthdays!

Related Posts:

• 10 Food Rules to Save you Money & Improve your Health
• Save on Groceries? Don’t Sacrifice these 6 Food Characteristics
• 4 Tips to Saving Money on Groceries
• 4 Best Grocery Store Chains

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Chase Freedom Card Review

Chase Freedom Card: Unlimited 1% Rewards, 5% Seasonal Rewards, No Annual Fee, & $100 Cash Back Bonus

The Chase Freedom® Visa wasn’t really on my radar as a go-to credit card until a reader commented on my Chase Sapphire review that it was the better of the two Chase credit rewards cards for consumers (the Chase Slate doesn’t offer rewards). I’ll cover the main differences between the Sapphire and Freedom cards in a bit, but to sum up the Chase Freedom card, it offers:

• $100 bonus cash back after you make $799 in purchases in your first three months
• No Annual Fee
• 0% intro APR for 6 months on new purchases
• 0% intro APR for 12 months on balance transfers
• 5% cash back offers in popular categories like gas, home improvement and department stores
• Up to 10% cash back on purchases through select Chase partner merchants
• Full 1% Cash Back on everything else with no spending tiers
• Cash back rewards don’t expire

Bonus Signup & No Annual Fee Benefits

Chase Freedom is offering a $100 cash back bonus when you make $799 in purchases in your first three months. The Sapphire bonus is easier to obtain, as it is $100 after your first purchase. Fortunately, this is another card that offers no annual fee, at a time when a number of other rewards cards are increasing or creating annual fees for their cards.

Chase Freedom Cash Back Rewards Program

Much like Sapphire, Chase Freedom offers an unlimited 1% cash back minimum on all purchases. Also, like Sapphire, Freedom has no expiration date on rewards. They never expire. Where the two cards vary the most is in their bonus categories. Where the Sapphire is focused on airline miles – you get 2-for-1 points on flights booked through Chase – the Freedom focuses on seasonal bonus categories, where you can get an additional 4% (for a total of 5%) cash back.

Chase Freedom 5% Bonus Categories

To give you an idea of categories where the Freedom card gives you the 5% cash back bonus, let’s look at the 2010 calendar:

• January – March: dining, utilities, education/child care
• April – June: home improvement & furnishings, lawn & garden, drugstores
• July – September: gas, airlines, auto rentals, hotels
• October – December: department stores, movies, grocery stores

Although, I’d personally rather have consistent bonus categories, like I get with the Costco American Express card, it’s a very nice benefit that the bonus is as high as 5% in these popular categories and that the categories are in line with seasonal purchases that many of us make. If you’re disciplined and make strategic timely buys, you can really play this to your advantage.

Chase also touts as much as a 10% cash back bonus on purchases made through selected partner merchants on their site.

0% Intro APR & Balance Transfer

The Chase Freedom offers a 0% balance transfer APR for 12 months on transfers made within 30 days of opening the account. This is another big differentiator between the Freedom and Sapphire. On the Sapphire, your intro APR on transfers is the same as your standard APR, vs. 0%. However, the Sapphire offers a 3% transfer fee vs. the Freedom’s 5%. There is also a 0% intro APR on purchases for the first 6 months with Freedom (Sapphire is at standard APR.

The Downsides to Chase Freedom & All Credit Cards

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – only use credit cards if you pay off your balance every month and your purchase behavior is not altered by the ease of use of credit cards. If you don’t, you should not be using a credit card, and credit card rewards programs are pointless.

Chase Freedom Review Final Thoughts

The Chase Freedom is definitely one of the top five consumer credit cards out there. Depending on whether you fly a lot and want to book through Chase’s site, the Chase Sapphire might be the better card for rewards. If you don’t fly extensively, I’d give the nod to the Chase Freedom for a more lucrative cash back rewards program. The 0%  intro APR and balance transfer rates are also a huge bonus. Note that the $100 bonus cash back offer is a limited-time offer.

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Highlights, Favorites, Deals, & Oddities – Week of 8-30-10

Let us all rejoice. The greatest competitive sport ever has returned – college football. Hallelujah.

20SomethingFinance Highlights:

- 5 Ways to Recession Proof Yourself: This post was a response to a reader question about how you can find a career or develop skills that make your employment qualifications rock-solid, even during the worst of times.

- Couchsurfing 101: 10 Tips for First-Time Couch Surfers: I recently couch surfed for the first time. This is a follow up to my original couchsurfing post on the topic and was written with the goal of helping first-timers get over the initial jitters of trying it out.

- What Are Closed End Funds?: A look at what closed-end funds are, how they are priced, and how they are different from the more popular open-end funds that most of us commonly know as mutual funds.

- I wrote a post on WiseBread this week titled “How to Win the Lottery” (Without Paying a Penny for the Ticket). It’s basically commentary on what most people’s non-materialistic lottery winning goal is and why you don’t really need to spend the money on the ticket to get there.

Other Personal Finance Highlights & Oddities:

- Pooponomics: The Economy of Human Waste (mint): An interesting and funny infographic look at the industry driven by dropping bombs.

- Are FSA’s Right for you? (genxfinance): Considered an FSA, but aren’t sure if it’s worth it? This post should help clarify.

- Lost Cities Every Man Should Know (art of manliness): Another fun ‘man’ post – however, the ladies shouldn’t find this any less interesting than the men.

- 10 Back to School iPhone apps (wisebread): If you’re taking classes and have an iPhone, you should check out this post.

Deals of the Week:

- Online discount stock and options broker, Optionsxpress, is now offering up a $100 bonus when you fund a new account with a minimum of $500.

- Open a new account with online bank, Everbank, and get up to $75 bonus cash.

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What are Closed End Funds?

Closed End Funds: what the Heck are they?

Closed end funds are not the easiest concept to pick up by amateur investors. They are a little bit like stocks and a little bit like open-ended mutual funds (what most people commonly think of when they think of ‘mutual funds’). As such, they are a little off the beaten path for most investors. To understand what they are and how they are priced, you first have to understand how mutual funds work. Once you understand, you might be tempted to invest in them since they often trade at premiums or discounts to their values. If you’re an amateur investor, it could be a risky game to get into. They can also provide unique opportunities.

Closed End Funds vs. Open End Funds

Open-ended funds rule the mutual fund world. Most funds in your employer’s 401K fall into the open end category. When comparing open-end funds to closed-end funds there are two main factors to consider:

1. How many shares there are.
2. How they are priced.

How Many Shares

The first difference between the two is how many shares there are. Closed-end mutual funds are offered up in an IPO. This means that there is a set number of shares which are offered on a stock market. The number of shares does not change as a result of new investors putting money in the fund. If you buy shares, it’s because an investor was selling theirs. With open-end funds, on the other hand, there is a limitless number of shares. You do not need an investor to sell you their shares. You buy new shares, and new shares are created for you. There is no exchange of shares from one investor to another.

How Open Ended Mutual Funds are Priced

You may be wondering how the share price of open-end funds is calculated. Open-end fund share prices are bases solely on the net asset value (NAV). This is basically how much the total value of all its investments are worth, divided by the number of total outstanding shares. The NAV is the price you buy or sell a share at. This NAV is calculated at the end of each trading day.

How Closed End mutual funds are Priced

Much like with open-end funds, closed-end funds have a calculated NAV (total value of underlying investments divided by number of shares). However, this is often not what the shares are priced at. Since shares are traded on the open market, the shares can trade at a discount or premium to the actual NAV, based on perceived value of the investor.

Closed End Funds Trading at Discounts to NAV or Premium?

Common sense would lead you to believe that a closed end fund trading at a discount to its NAV would be a good buy. And especially one trading at a 5, 10, or 15% discount. Similarly, it would intuitively make sense that one selling at a 10% premium to its NAV would be ripe for selling.

So why do closed end fund prices vary so much from the NAV? That’s one of the true mysteries behind them – and probably a good reason why amateur investors should be careful in getting into that game. Who’s to say that a closed ended fund trading at a 5% discount to its NAV won’t end up trading at a 15% discount to its NAV? Not me.

Related Posts:

• Index Funds Vs. Mutual Funds
• ETF’s vs. Index Funds
• Zecco Review
• TradeKing Review

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CouchSurfing 101: 10 Tips for First-Time Surfers

CouchSurfing: 10 Tips for First-Time Surfers to Overcome Initial Hesitations via Proper Etiquette

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post on the basics of CouchSurfing – how to sign up, safety considerations, the benefits, and basically what it’s all about. What I didn’t do was highlight my first experience ‘couch surfing’ at CouchSurfing.org and some of the written/unwritten rules of etiquette for those interested in giving it a shot.

These rules are just my suggestions based on a combination of my experience and recommendations from the community, and are not meant to scare anyone off from the CouchSurfing experience. A lot of these suggestions are coming partly from the perspective of how I would want to be treated if someone ‘surfs’ at my house. You can also check out CouchSurfing.org’s surfer tips here.

1. Give your Host as Much Advance Notice as Possible

I let my first host know a month ahead of time when we were interested in surfing. If you ask the day or week of, odds are that someone is going to have to change their schedule in some way to accommodate your visit. And then you’ve already put your host in an awkward and inconvenient situation. Plus, you have to deal with the guilt of know that’s the case. Be considerate by planning in advance, especially since this person is welcoming you into their home.

2. A Small Gift or Act of Kindness

By rule, hosters cannot charge surfers for their stay. However, it is recommended that you give a small gift, which could be an act of kindness. I knew that my host was a wine lover, so my wife and I bought her a bottle of wine from a local winery. Couchsurfers have detailed profiles of their interests. If you’re staying with a host who loves thai food, for example, buying the ingredients and cooking up a thai dish for dinner would be an excellent way to show your appreciation.

3. Reimburse for Goods Consumed

The only thing my wife and I consumed from our host was a tea bag or two. However, I could see the circumstance where you eat a few meals or drinks. In that case, it would be kind to at least offer reimbursement, however, I’m guessing that in many cases, your host will politely decline. You should at least offer.

4. Work Around your Hosts Schedule

My biggest CouchSurfing surprise was that our host basically said “here’s a house key, come and go as you please”. That was a huge convenience for us, obviously, and there’s a huge amount of trust (or blind faith) involved there. I’m not sure if this is the standard in couch surfing or not. In the case of my host, it almost had to be, as she had social plans most of the time we were in town.

Despite this attitude from our host, it’s probably best if you at least give your host an idea of when you think you’ll be coming and going so that they can plan accordingly.

It’s important for you to be flexible with your hosts schedule, not force them to be flexible to yours.

5. Make an Effort to Build a Friendship

As I said in my previous CouchSurfing post, it’s not, nor should it be all about the ‘free ride’. If you’re just CouchSurfing to save a buck or two on your travels, you’re doing your host and yourself a disservice. This is a great way to meet and make friends with like-minded individuals around the world. We spent a few hours on multiple occasions chatting with our host about CouchSurfing experiences and our personal lives, learned a lot from each other, and made a new friend in the process.

6. Choose a Host that you Anticipate has Similar Goals

Right or wrong, I have a perception that there are two kinds of CouchSurfers, based on browsing through a ton of user profiles to find the best possible host:

• young drifters: college age easy-goers who may or may not have an actual couch for you to sleep on (and if they do you’ll have to move the pizza box elsewhere). Nice people, for sure, but if you’re a middle-aged couple, it might not be a good fit for you to host or be hosted by them. They are probably interested in partying in their hometown or yours and are more likely in it b/c they don’t have the money and want to give or take a free ride to others like them. Great for some people, not a good match for others.
• travelers/social butterfly’s: these are the people, mostly beyond the college years who want to travel the world, expand their social network, and want to provide the best experience possible for those they are hosting or surfing with. These people have the money to stay in hotels, but choose to surf or host for the experience instead (and see the ‘free’ aspect as a nice added bonus).

My wife and I fit into the second category and sought a host that we felt fit in that category as well. We were correct in our pick, and it turned out to be a great match.

You should also make an effort to include as much info. about yourself in your profile before asking anyone to host you. This way the host feels like they know you a bit better and will feel more comfortable in hosting you.

7. Leave no Trace Behind

This is all about being considerate. Make your bed, clean your dishes, throw out any trash, vacuum up any dirt you dragged in, etc. Treat others as your grandparents would want to be treated. It’s just the right thing to do. Plus you don’t want to develop a reputation as being an inconsiderate couch surfer.

8. Offer up your Place to your Host

If you live in Paris, Indiana and your host is in Paris, France, odds are they may never take you up on your offer to host them back, however, you should at least make the offer (and mean it) if your host provided a good experience for you.

9. Leave Good Feedback

There is an element of ‘review’ credibility on both sides on the CouchSurfing site. If you had a good experience with your host, make sure that you recommend them and talk about your experience in the CouchSurfing interface. Your host will appreciate and most likely reciprocate.

10.Your First CouchSurfing Experience may be Best with an Experienced Host

A tip here, if you’re a CouchSurfing newbie, is to find someone who has both hosted and surfed a number of times. They were in your shoes once and had the same questions/hesitations as you – and can get you up-to-speed by sharing their CouchSurfing experiences with you. Because we stayed with an experienced host, there were no awkward moments (i.e. where should we leave the key?). You want your first experience to be a good one, so pick a good host.

CouchSurfing Discussion:

• What funny/crazy hosting or surfing stories do you have?
• Have you ever had a bad CouchSurfing match? Or a great one?
• What other CouchSurfing etiquette would you recommend?

Related Posts:

• How to Avoid Theft When Traveling Abroad
• Using an ISIC International Student Identity Card for Travel Savings
• How to Find the Cheapest Flights

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5 Ways to Recession-Proof Yourself

With duration of unemployment becoming the longest during any recession on record, the continued decline in the housing market, and the threat of a double-dip recession, people are justified in their concerns about their employment and their investments.  After all, you can’t really control what is going to happen with the economy or whether the market will soar or plummet.

On my recent economy rant post, I went into some uncertainty about the stock market and economy as a whole and concluded with three recommendations on things that you can control:

1. Live frugally within your means

2. Save your money and have a big position in cash for emergencies and tough times

3. Build your skills and career to be economy-proof

The last recommendation prompted a 20somethingfinance reader, Jesse, to ask the following question:

“I would like to hear more about how you think one should economy proof your skills and career. I’m currently in a turbulent field, (marketing communications) and thinking about how to either make my job economy proof or changing careers. What are your suggestions?”

It’s a great question, and one that definitely deserves some focus. It’s true, you can’t control the economy as a whole, but what you can do is control how you economy-proof you are. So I put together 5 recommendations. What you’ll find in these recommendations is that many of them feed into each other. If you’re strong in all five areas, your fears about the economy should drift away and you’ll find yourself to be a much more well-rounded employee and human being.

1. Find a Career that is Indispensable, Even in Recessions

This will undoubtedly be the hardest one to come to grips with and take action on, but some professions are much harder hit in recessions than others. And your profession might just be one of them.

Looking for a recession-proof career? Find a profession that is indispensable to the public. If you’re an auto mechanic, a plumber, or a nurse – a recession should have little to no impact on you. People will always need your services, and demand in a recession might actually go up for people with these skills. If you’re in finance, retail, or home construction, the demand for your services will plummet in a recession. It doesn’t matter if you’re an all-star performer or not, in many cases. If your job is easy to replace by cheaper labor or when the economy rebounds, you will be one of the first to go and you will also have a harder time finding a new job.

As a real-life example that hits close to home, my wife is a landscape architect, and back in January of 2009, right after the beginning of the financial sector collapse, she and a good number of her co-workers were immediately laid off. Why? For starters, in a recession, nobody is building anything. Her second problem was the way engineering firms bill hours. If they have people on payroll whose hours can’t be billed towards a project, that worker becomes red ink. Her profession is the first to let people go in a recession. And that’s not a fun place to be.

2. Start Getting Paid to do the Things you Love Outside of Work

This suggestion is much easier to implement than the last, and the two combined will leave you in great shape.

There are lots of things that you love doing (I hope). And the odds are that there are a lot of people out there willing to pay you for doing those exact same things for them – just remember that prostitution is only legal in Nevada. I kid, I kid.

Here’s a list of 55 marketable hobbies that you can get paid for. What does getting paid to do things outside of work do for you?

• Multiple Income Streams: It goes without saying (but I will anyway), that added income streams outside of your day job are going to help as a safeguard in the event that you lose that day job. Huge benefit.
• When you have that added cushion and know that you can get paid for doing things you like doing, it starts to shift your perspective. Odds are that you won’t be as stressed out about losing your day job, and if things go really well, you might even voluntarily leave your day job, regardless of the economy.
• You start growing skills in areas that are in demand, which could lead you into your next career.
• It helps you build a network in those same areas.

3. Network Like Crazy

If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, start one today. Find anyone and everyone that you’ve ever worked or been friends with, and connect to them. Keep your profile up-to-date and add new connections as you make them. You never know when your social network will come in handy and if you wait until you get laid off to start putting one together, you’re at a big disadvantage. Focus on having genuine, positive interactions with other professionals, connect with them, and don’t feel shy about reaching out to them when needed.

4. Volunteer

Whether you have a job at the moment or not, start volunteering. I used to work in non-profit and two of the volunteers I worked with while there are now full-time staff. If you believe in a particular cause and work hard, that will be noticed by the organization and it will also be noticed by other volunteers you encounter. You’ll also often find that these volunteers are a very well connected bunch who might just be able to help you get your next job.

5. Perform

If you love what you do, are passionate about it, and make calculated risks, you’re going to stand out amongst your peers as a top performer. You want to make it hard for your employer to let you go, not easy. As I mentioned earlier, some careers are indispensable. Some employees are considered indispensable as well, even if their role is easily filled by others. If you hate your job and are not passionate about it, you might be in the wrong career or working at the wrong employer.

And the last thing you can do is just relax and not stress out. Until something bad happens, nothing bad has happened. Do the 5 things I mentioned not out of fear, but because they will make you a more well-rounded, happier, connected, and relaxed person.

Recession-Proofing Discussion:

• What steps have you taken to recession-proof your career?
• What careers do you think are indispensable?

Related Posts:

• Stop Dreaming & Start Retiring
• Get Paid to do what you Love
• 7 Lessons Learned After One Week of Unemployment
• Unemployment Benefits Extension

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Highlights, Favorites, Deals, & Oddities – Week of 8-23-10

For college football lovers, rejoice in this fact: This will be the final Saturday without college football until December. My prediction, on my beloved Michigan State Spartans: 10-2. Go green!

20SomethingFinance Highlights:

• Lawnmower Class Action Lawsuit: Get up to $75 cash back from lawnmower manufacturers if you bought a new lawnmower from 1994 to 2010. Must sign up by August 31st. Read all the details.
• 10 Cheap Summer Fun Activities: Don’t feel like you have to spend a ton of money to have fun over the quickly disappearing summer weekends.
• Zappos Free Overnight Shipping Membership: Unfortunately, this one day offer ended Tuesday.
• Mark Cuban, Tony Robbins, & My Personal Rants on the Economy: A few entertaining takes on the economy and stock market.
• I also wrote a post on WiseBread about how to do what the identity protection companies do for free.

Other Personal Finance Highlights & Oddities:

• Graduating from IOU (Mint): An infographic on student loan debt per student by state.
• Why the World is Running Out of Helium (Independent): We’ve heard a lot about running out of fossil fuels and what that might mean, but not much about things like helium. Surprisingly, the world will run out of helium within 25 years. So, you might want to think twice about filling up those party balloons next time, as that helium will be lost into the atmosphere forever.
• Worst Traffic Jam Ever (MSNBC): A traffic jam in China spans 60 miles and lasts 9 days. And you thought your commute was bad?

Deals of the Week:

• Just three more days to sign up for a new TradeKing account to get $50 cash back (ends August 31).

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Mark Cuban, Tony Robbins, & My Personal Rants on the Economy

A couple of big name people with a lot of money and friends with money, Mark Cuban and Tony Robbins, basically say that now is not the time to be putting money into the market. At the least, they bring up some interesting points that you might want to consider. And I have a slightly different take than either of them. But let’s start with Cuban.

Cuban’s Take on the Market

Back in May, I highlighted Cuban’s commentary on why the market is becoming harder and harder to make money in by investing in fundamentally strong companies.

This week, Cuban wrote a new post, poetically titled “The Stock Market is Still for Suckers & Why you Should Put your Money in the Bank“. Geez, Mark, could you be a little more direct, please?

The basic premise of his post is that ‘capital is no longer expensive and it is no longer scarce’, and until it becomes scarce, it’s going to be hard to make money in the market, or elsewhere, so you should hold on to your money.’

I think the points in his ‘what business is Wall Street in‘ post were a lot more spot on, but this one brings up some interesting points as well. Cuban thinks that the stock market is no longer for him or for any average investor. It’s too risky, too panicky, and too manipulated. Over the last few years, it’s hard to argue with that.

Tony Robbins Economy Rant

The next is Tony Robbins. Now, I’m not a big Tony Robbins fan, in the least, but his 23 minute rant is entertaining and he brings up some good points (unfortunately he rambles quite a bit).

Here’s the first of two videos:

If you don’t have the time to sit through all 15 minutes and 8 minutes in the sequel, here’s a summary:

• He has a lot of friends with a lot of money who correctly predicted back in early 2008 that the market was headed for a big crash. They are now saying the same thing again and getting out of the market.
• This is the longest period of unemployment (time it takes to get a job) in modern history.
• The housing market is absolutely horrible now that the stimulus money is gone, and it’s getting worse.
• The baby boom generation is no longer spending and they were the reason why we had such huge economic growth (financed by debt). Without them spending, there will not be a recovery in the near future and many companies will struggle.

I don’t take much stock in his first point, but the next two are true and backed up by statistical data. The last point is opinion mixed with some fact, but I think it’s a good point. When a generation fundamentally changes their consumption habits and over 70% of the economy is based on the previous consumption habits…. you’re in for some hurt from an economic standpoint, even if the fundamental switch to saving has its benefits. And we are seeing that happen.

And Here’s my Own Bigger Picture Rant…

I agree with some of Cuban and Robbin’s points, but I have a slightly different big picture take on what we’ve seen happen to the market over the last 10+ years now (where absolutely zero capital gains have resulted from the market as a whole) and where it might be headed.

The market gains over the last century have been driven by productivity increases. First it was the industrial revolution, airplanes and cars, advancements in health and medicine, then the computer and other electronic technologies, and finally the Internet and data/information advancements. And all of those things were driven by harnessing energy from cheap fossil fuels and the globalization of economies from around the world.

There’s still room for some gains in the market driven by improvements in all of these areas, and particularly at the micro level with individual companies, but I think we’re at a point in history where the gains are going to be minimal from the market as a whole. We’ve solved health. We’ve solved transportation. We’ve solved cheap energy. We’ve solved taking from the planet to create buildings and products that we can sell. We’ve solved data exchange. And we’ve financed it all with debt and played that game out.

We’re not going to see huge gains (as a whole) in equity markets until we see the next big thing that completely changes human life as we know it. When or what could that be? I have no idea. What should you do with your money? I can’t tell you that (because I have no idea). But what I can tell you is that living frugally within your means, saving your money and having a big position in cash for emergencies and tough times, and building your skills and career to be economy-proof are all things that you can’t go wrong with. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

What’s your take?

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Zappos Offers Free Overnight Shipping Membership (Ends Today)

As part of a back-to-school promotion, Zappos.com is offering up free VIP memberships, which gets you free overnight shipping. All you have to do is visit the Zappos VIP site and register. The deadline for signing up for this promotion is end of day today (August 24). And you don’t even have to buy anything right now.

It doesn’t seem like there is a catch to this, and Zappos is world-renown for their great customer service, so I doubt that would be the case. You sign up, you get free overnight shipping “until the cows come home”, as they put it. Of course, Zappos already offered free shipping both ways, now you can just snatch up overnight shipping for free on top of that.

It looks like students, or anyone can sign up for this. Not a bad deal, if you ever buy shoes or clothing online.

Just wanted to give everyone a heads up!

Related Posts:

• REI Membership Review
• Beginner’s Guide to Backpacking Gear
• Choosing the Right Backpacking Food and Clothing

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10 Fun Summer Activities for Under $10 that you May Have Forgot About

Summer Fun Can be Cheap

August is almost over, and that means there’s about two good months of summer left if you’re in a northern climate. Live it up before the cold and snow rolls in, and the regret that comes with it for not getting outside and having some fun while you had the chance.

Unfortunately, a lot of traditional outdoor summer activities can really cut into your entertainment budget. A round of golf, day at the amusement park, the ballpark, and outdoor concerts can run between $50-$100 per person. And other than going for a walk or sitting on your porch, there aren’t really any truly ‘free’ things to do when you factor in transportation costs.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t have some fun.

Here’s a list of 10 outdoor summer activities that will cost you no more than $10. Many of which, you’ve probably done at some point, but may have forgotten how cheap and fun they really were.

1. Pick Berries

U-Pick berry farms are awesome. You get ripe berries right off of the vine for 25-50% of what you’d pay in the store, you support a local farm, and you can have fun doing it. Two tips: Wear a mosquito net or bring bug spray (I got eaten alive the last time I did this), and try to find a local farm that does not spray insecticide on their berries.

Total Cost: $9 for 3 quarts

2. Dog Park!

If you have a dog (and even if you don’t) the dog park can bring hours of cheap entertainment and socializing – with humans AND dogs. Unless you have a super-submissive dog that is always getting beat up or an agressive dog that is always beating up others, it’s hard to leave the dog park without having a good time. Just make sure to bring plenty of cold water to keep your dog hydrated and cool, plus a poop bag (or three).

Total Cost: Free

3. Potluck BBQ

Invite your friends or neighbors over for a backyard BBQ. If you’re the host, buy $10 worth of hot dogs and burgers and use Google Docs to create a collaborative sign-up sheet with a list of stuff that people can choose to bring so that you have everything covered.

Total Cost: $10

4. Fly a Kite

If you’re a jaded, bitter adult, this may sound ridiculous. If you’re not, there’s something that brings the kid out in you when you get that cheap $7 kite you bought from Meijer or Wal-Mart up in the air for the first time.

Total Cost: $7 for a cheapie

5. Bike Ride

Mapping out a good bike ride to places you haven’t biked before is never time poorly spent. I have recently re-discovered by love for bike riding as a means of transportation to and from work. Going new places, getting that exercise, and building up a good sweat is a great way to spend a weekend afternoon in the summer.

Total Cost: Free,  minus the wear and tear on your bike

6. High School Football Game

High school football will be starting up soon and whether you recently graduated or not, it’s pretty good Friday night entertainment at a cheap price (if you like the game of football). Be careful though, those $4 cups of soda will really get ya.

Total Cost: $10/pair of tickets

7. Take a Dip in the Community Pool

Not every community has one, but those that do can provide a day of fun. My city has a 50 meter lap pool with a water slide. Admission for adults is $4/each and kids 3 and under are free. Don’t forget your towel, sunglasses, and sunscreen!

Total Cost: $8/pair

8. Walk a Dog or Comfort Cats at your Local Humane Society

Before we brought home our wonderful duck tolling retriever from our local Humane Society, my wife and I would volunteer dog walk every weekend for about a year. It was a great way to stay-in-shape, feel good about yourself, and give the animals a temporary reprieve from their stressful shelter environment. Most shelters also have ‘cat comforting’ as well (imagine being a cat in a shelter full of hungry, barking, stressed out dogs).

Total Cost: Free

9. Bottle of Wine at Sunset

I’m not advocating getting busted for public open alcohol container, but if you don’t have a view from your yard, you’ve got to go somewhere, right? Just make sure you have a way to get home safely.

Total Cost: $6-$10 for a decent bottle

10. Build a House

Habitat for Humanity is always looking for additional volunteers to help build houses. In doing so, you are demonstrating good will in your community, getting outdoors and meeting other like-minded folks, and learning or refining some pretty handy skills.

Total Cost: $3 for a good pair of work gloves

What cheap fun summer activities have you done this summer?

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