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Simplicity is the whole secret of well being.

01/14 by The Frug 2 Comments

I said more cowbell, not more cowbells.

The holidays are hard for the Frug.  Christmas shopping gives everyone a fantastic excuse for buying more stuff. You know the whole gifts and holiday traditions thing going on.  Our friends, family, and our extended family fully embrace the holidays. Multiple family get-togethers and other holiday parties take their toll on the wallet. There are also 9 plastic tubs of holiday stuff that emerge from the deepest corners of the storage room shortly after Thanksgiving.  Lots of festive pinecones, cowbells, singing Santas, ornaments and knickknacks.

I said more cowbell, not more cowbells!

I can just feel the surge of stuff rolling into the house from all directions.  Just thinking about my required half day of frantic holiday shopping also gives me hives.

This holiday season we made an effort as a family to see more stuff instead of buy more stuff.

So here’s the idea. SuperK and I hatched a plan in June to join some other family members on a trip to Mexico for Christmas. This would require some saving, airfare hacks, and creative scheduling as far as the traditional holiday get-togethers are concerned.  We also had a goal of scaling back on gifts and having a more traditional utilitarian (I love that word) Christmas celebration.

We would make this holiday season all about family experiences versus stuff. Sure the kids would be disappointed but to be honest they are generally disappointed with most gifts. You can see SuperK’s thoughts on this here.  Plus, it would be hard for them to complain while sitting on a beach in Mexico hearing about the icy temperatures at home.  So, instead of making the trip a surprise we let them in on it early on. We built excitement with countdown calendars, savings thermometers and photos. We also talked about some of the adventures we would have in Mexico with friends and family.

I am also always playing up the idea that less stuff equals more. Less stuff to shop for, put together, store, repair get rid of, equals more time for adventure.   In a year, I’d like to say we are traveling light not just on our adventures but at home, lightening the load that excess stuff puts on you.

 Okay so this was a big experiment. Did it work?  Here is some of the stuff we saw this holiday season in Mexico.

  • Family and friends from Baltimore MD, Amherst MA, Minneapolis MN, Los Angeles CA, Brooklyn NY.

  • A school of gray whales about 30 yards from a boat that was significantly smaller than  each of the whales.

  • Went to Spanish Christmas Mass in a small neighborhood church in Puerto Vallarta.

  • The Greatest Mariachi Band in the World, as touted by family and friends that had seen them before. I must agree.

  • Several beach towns including Yelapa Mexico, only accessible by boat.

  • A taste of some small village life in Mexico by hiking up a trail of crumbling rocks and ancient steps.

  • Peluchelandia.

  • Six fantastic sunsets.

  • A dose of reality for the boys, seeing many kids working selling trinkets on Christmas Day

  • The famous pie ladies of Yelapa, and some coconut pecan pie on the beach, why not.

  • Some of the best food Mexico has to offer including a great Fish and Chips place Joe Jacks

So here are a few tips for lightening the load so you can see more stuff next holiday season.

  • Use the stuff in, stuff out formula. For every new item that comes in the house two items need to leave. This can include toys your kids no longer play with, clothing they’ve outgrown (or I’ve outgrown),  items you no longer use, knickknacks you’re just tired of looking at.

  • Start planning your adventures now. To make this happen, it really does require some thinking in February once you’ve recovered from your holiday $ hangover.

  • Add up everything you spent this holiday season and take a hard look at what you can move out of the category labeled stuff.

  • Give things away,  It’s easier to part with anything when you believe someone may get some use out of it. We keep a large donation box in the hallway to always remind us of this. Last year we filled about 20 of these.

  • Keep a record of what you give away, Goodwill, Purple Heart receipts etc. you may be able to write off $500 or more on your taxes.

  • Make sure you’re using a credit card that produces from 2 to 5 points for each dollar spent. Check out the Chase Sapphire Preferred or the Fidelity American Express that include 2% cash back or points on every purchase.

I’ll be working on the stuff out formula and who knows we may end up in Mexico again next  Christmas.

 

Filed Under: Live Lean, Travel Lean Tagged With: donate, family of four spending, Frequent-flier families, frug apps, Frugal Travel, less equals more, live lean, Saving time, Travel lean, war on stuff

How to create your own personal search engine and remember everything.

01/14 by The Frug Leave a Comment

– Brad Beckstrom- Thefrug.com.

Have you ever scribbled a quick note, found something on your smartphone or online and bookmarked it, only to never find it again?  Sure, the bookmark in your browser worked fine, it’s just you’re having trouble remembering some of the details, like what it was you thought was so great about the company, idea, article, gadget or piece of information in the first place.  If the thought comes to you again this certainly makes it hard to find.

This can be especially frustrating at work. What was the name of that company that makes that free widget? Wazzle, Ziplot, Xplant.  Search even becomes more difficult with all of the similar sounding Web 2.0 names out there.  There’s just not enough information in most domain names or descriptions to make bookmarks very useful.

I have hundreds of bookmarks, dating back years. They are basically useless broken links from companies I don’t recall much about. I’ve found a better way.

On May 9, 2009 at 10:07 AM, I discovered Evernote. A free note taking, smartphone, web and desktop app linked to the cloud. I remember this because every note is automatically annotated with a date time and location. I took a picture of a place I wanted to stay at the beach. The photo automatically included a map and was now searchable by the address, name of the property, date time month location etc. Even the text in the photo of the sign was automatically synced and searchable. This included text in logos like Sunspot below.

I was just getting started. I also added the free Evernote App to my iPad , Google Chrome, and the desktop version for my Mac.  All of these sync with one free Evernote account.  This is where the personal search elements really come in handy. Once you add Evernote to your browser, you can clip and quickly tag information on any webpage. Evernote then saves all kinds of information to help you find that page in the future. You can add your own tags like “Taxes” or “Vacation“ or “To Do.” This browser plug-in / extension is available for most modern browsers and is super convenient for quickly saving a simplified version of any article, stripping away all of the extraneous screaming headlines and other unrelated information like banner ads with dancing monkeys.

 For traveling, I like to add the airport code as a tag or note to make things easier to find. like PDX for an upcoming trip to Portland. The Frug likes to make reservations way in advance and this comes in handy when trying to instantly pull up flight, hotel and event details I lined up four months ago.  It’s also helpful when you visit a city several years later and want to pull up your old info, like a cool restaurant or hotel you found. You can also clip any type of information and attach it to a to do or reminder in Evernote. Example: book this hotel next May.

The greatest feature of Evernote is the search function.  You can obviously search in the app or in your Evernote account but the most useful feature is the search plug-in for your browser that displays all of your past related notes directly in your Google search results. So, if I search Dewey Beach  not only do I get that note I created back in 2009, but also some important info related to a client program and a hotel reservation.  

After a very short time, you will find yourself remembering everything and being of great assistance to friends, clients and family members who can’t remember the name of that thing we found or place we stayed. Because you’re primarily searching just your results, there’s much less muck to dig through to find what you’re looking for.

Here are my five quick steps to creating your own personal search engine with Evernote:

  1. Go to Evernote.com and create a free account.

  2. Download the desktop app and browser plug-in available for most computers.

  3. Activate the browser plug-in or extension, Evernote calls this web clipper.

  4. Get the smartphone app.

  5. Start clipping, snapping, tagging and sharing anything that interest you. You’ll be glad you did later.

You’ll also be able to get rid of all those notes and scraps of paper that pile up on your desk and in your wallet.

Filed Under: The Frug Recommends, Travel Lean, Work Lean Tagged With: declutter, Frug Hacks, The Frug recommends, travel hacks, work lean

Foil Speedcams, Avoid Traffic Jams, and Save $0.30 per gallon on gas with the updated WAZE app

12/13 by The Frug Leave a Comment

Screen Shot 2013-12-12 at 6.36.04 PM

My wife and I are not speeders. Unless you call driving 8 to 10 miles per hour above the posted speed limit, just to keep up with traffic, – speeding. In the DC Metro area driving at the speed limit can be dangerous. We have both also been “unfairly” nailed by speed cams in DC.

To solve this problem, we recently installed the WAZE app. Wayz in addition to being a solid GPS app also allows users to share speedcam, speed trap and driving hazard info. These alerts then show up as icons with warnings. This also comes in real handy for avoiding accidents and bad road conditions. You can look at traffic  reports along your specific route which makes spotting and avoiding bad traffic a lot easier.

After you’ve been using WAZE  for a bit you can create your own icon which shows up on the map. The icons are a lot of fun, but in busy metro areas like ours  the screen can get a bit crowded. These can easily be turned off in settings.

One additional feature I’ve recently discovered It is the gas option. To be honest, I don’t look at gas prices very often because I don’t drive very much. Playing with this app I’ve been amazed at the difference in gas prices, just on one main drag near our home. It’s not uncommon to find .30. .40 and even $.50 variances per gallon nearby.  It’s like getting a free lunch with every fill up.  Just don’t buy any of that gas station sushi.

Screen Shot 2013-12-12 at 6.35.49 PM

If you’re planning a trip you can take a quick look at the live map in your browser before you head out. https://www.waze.com/livemap

Waze was recently bought by Google for just over $1 billion dollars, so I think they may be onto something. Google paid 1 billion but you can get it for free here 

Filed Under: The Frug Recommends, Travel Lean Tagged With: frug apps, live lean, saving money, Saving time, The Frug recommends, Travel lean

Dial up adventure, Dial costs down with TripTuner

09/13 by The Frug Leave a Comment

Triptuner2

Dial your vacation costs down, and crank adventure all the way up, with this great new travel tool. Recently I’ve been sharing some of my favorite travel hacks like kayak/explore. I have found a new travel tool that’s a lot of fun to use.

On Tuesday night, I met Ted Devers at a DC Lean Startup Circle event in Arlington, VA.  Ted used his experience as a DJ, and in the online travel industry, to create an equalizer for your travel experience. It’s called Triptuner. Old guys from the 80s like me are very familiar with equalizers. Every boom box and home theater system had to sport one. You can still find them on iTunes and with most music software.

equalizzzer

This equalizer is different. I call it an “experience equalizer.”  So, instead of cranking up the bass, like I used to, I can crank up “active”, or “beach” or “urban” so this great tool can help me find the location I am in the mood for.

TTequalizer

Of course, the Frug wants to push things to the limit by turning the “high end” button all the way down to the “thrifty” setting and the “active” button all the way up.  Once I did that, a lot of my favorite destinations started to show up, including Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic, Playa Del Carmen, Mexico and great cities like Barcelona, Spain and Corfu, Greece.

Based on your Triptuner Equalizer settings, you get a quick match percentage on your ideal destination. For the Frug, The Dominican Republic came up as a 98% match. This could explain why we’ve vacationed there three of the last four years.

Let me know where it takes you. Enjoy.

 

Filed Under: The Frug Recommends, Travel Lean Tagged With: Frugal Travel, saving money, Saving time, The Frug recommends, travel hacks, Travel lean

21 Things My iPhone Replaced

08/13 by The Frug 2 Comments

The Frugs iPhoneMost people would  think one of the worst money-saving tips I could offer would be to purchase an iPhone. We constantly hear about expensive Apple products, overpriced data plans, unnecessary upgrades, monthly overages, wasteful app store purchases and how overpriced smartphone plans are in the US versus Europe and Asia.

Yes, the Frug family has 4 Apple devices on an AT&T family plan, three iPhones and an iPad. True, the bill does make me cringe, especially the three different types of telecom tax. The phone and the taxes add up to about $55 per device per month. That’s not really what this post is about.

I was recently trying out Listly and created a list of all the things my iPhone replaced. I have dropped in the list below. Basically the iPhone since its introduction in 2007 has allowed me to get rid of a lot of stuff including some of the worst kind of stuff that has monthly recurring fees.

You’ll be able to tell from the list that I’ve always been a bit of a gadget addict. The iPhone is really helping me with that, replacing 20+ gadgets with just one and using free apps to do all the work. I mention a few of these apps below.

Here are some big items right off the bat.

  • Landlines –  I was going through some old files the other day and came across some of our old phone bills. $65, $120, $85. This was back in 2006 when we were still using a landline and then later digital on Comcast, Vonage etc. My home number is now my iPhone and I give out a Google voice number to solicitors, websites, banks, etc. My wife does the same and we list each other as emergency contacts. If someone leaves a message on our Google voice number we get a nice transcribed email we can delete. We used to get calls at 6 PM every evening like everyone else.  Now silence.

  • International long distance –  We travel a good amount and I remember international long distance charges anywhere from $120-$350 per trip. That quickly added up to over $1000 per year. True, some of this was business-related, but as a business owner it was still my expense. I now use the Skype app or Facetime via hotel or restaurant Wi-Fi. It’s gotten a lot easier since I first tried this out in a Starbucks in Mexico.  On a recent trip to Barcelona, I had daily FaceTime calls with the family, total international long distance cost $0.00.  Only problem with FaceTime is that even my youngest can tell when I’ve had a few beers.

  • SiriusXM Satellite Radio –  Satellite radio had ratcheted up to about 19 bucks a month before I discovered Pandora on my iPhone. Now can I can listen to truly commercial free music via Bluetooth. The iPhone automatically connects when I get in the car and any calls that come through pause the music. The music and calls are delivered via Bluetooth over the cars sound system. I just needed an adapter installed for my radio.  The quality of Pandora and iTunes over Bluetooth to my car stereo really surprised me. I find it to be better than CDs or HD FM radio.  Savings of about $200 a year after the annual  pandora fee is subtracted.

  • Garmin GPS –  The iPhone replaced my handheld GPS unit. I really enjoyed it for hiking, finding my way around strange cities, even on the water. Problem was it required CDs, expensive downloads that only worked on a PC, international city packs etc. etc. I understand that some GPS units even had a monthly fee. That’s all gone now. Not only is the iPhone a fantastic GPS device, it’s apps integrate information sharing like  speeding cam locations on WAZE. WAZE should save even the most conservative driver a ticket every few years or find you a great local diner with low prices. Google maps free GPS is the best I found and, most importantly, covers walking and cycling directions that the others don’t. For hiking the everytrail app is awesome as you can share and discover great walks.There are a ton of options for hiking and running these are just a few.

When I add all this up and multiply it by several family members, I really believe the iPhone allows us to get rid of a lot of stuff. See the full list below and save a lot of money on unnecessary monthly fees that creep onto your credit card bill every month.

As I look at the list below I also realized all the time that was necessary to deal with all this stuff, racks of CDs, busted digital cameras and video recorders (now we just bust the iPhones)  annual BS increases in satellite radio fees, and landline or digital long-distance fees.  Lots of extra crap to pack when traveling like headphones, books, magazines, cameras extra batteries, etc.  All replaced by an iPhone.

The message here was that the iPhone is worth every penny of the costs as it is something I use every day.  And as a bonus it actually saves me time and money every month.

Live Lean. Work Lean. Travel Lean.

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Brad Beckstrom Brad Beckstrom
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20+ Things my iPhone Replaced

Listly by Brad Beckstrom

I've been using iPhones since 2008. At first I thought it was just a cool smartphone until I look back at all the stuff it's replaced. The Frug
https://www.thefrug.com/

1

Treo 600

Aug 01, 2013
Treo 600

This was a great phone, But it was four years old when the iPhone came out. It was the first smart phone that I had that used apps. It had replaced a palm pilot so it made a lot of sense to have a phone integrated with calendars and other apps.

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2

Digital Cameras - Canon PowerShot SD450 Digital ELPH Digital Camera Review, Information, Specifications

Aug 01, 2013
Digital Cameras - Canon PowerShot SD450 Digital ELPH Digital Camera Review, Information, Specifications

I purchased this camera as it was easy to carry in my pocket. It became redundant once the camera arrived on the iPhone. It became even more redundant when Instagram launched.

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3

GPSMAP 60CS

Aug 01, 2013
GPSMAP 60CS

My iPhone replaced this handheld extremely versatile color GPS unit .I was able to use it for both marine navigation, hiking and driving directions. The iPhone handles all of that nicely. With lots of hiking apps, GPS driving directions and navigation options.

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4

Sony DCR-TRV10

Aug 01, 2013
Sony DCR-TRV10

This camera was pre-flip, pre-iPhone. Used to be required equipment for a new dad. I think this one was $1100 bucks back in the day. Ouch.

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5

iPod Photo

Aug 01, 2013
iPod Photo

The iPod Photo was my first iPod. It had a color screen and 60 gigs of storage for photos. I still haven't finished burning all my old CDs into iTunes. But now with Pandora on my iPhone I don't really need to. This was a great iPod really added music back into my workouts.

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6

Daytimer

Aug 01, 2013
Daytimer

I was a big daytimer user. Always had one open on my desk or in the car for quick notes and to do lists. Later switched to a digital version. I would print out the pages and then put them in the binder. Seems sort of funny looking back on that now. The iPhone is great for calendars and to do lists and completely syncs with my laptop.

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7

Programmable Remote Controls

Aug 01, 2013
Programmable Remote Controls

As a music nut I always had hi-fi equipment around the house and I would constantly try to operate all of the different hi-fi components with one programmable remote control. These things were a pain in the ass and we seem to be dying or running down batteries. I'd usually end up with a carousel of the original remotes rather than dealing with these. The iPhone has a great remote for both Apple TV and a Roku app which may eventually replace all remote controls not just programmables.

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8

SiriusXM Satellite Radio

Aug 01, 2013
SiriusXM Satellite Radio

I think satellite radio got up to about 19 bucks a month before I discovered Pandora on my iPhone. Now can I can listen to truly commercial free radio via Bluetooth. The iPhone automatically connects when I get in the car and any calls that come through pause the music. The calls are also delivered via Bluetooth. Just needed an adapter installed for my radio.

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9

Home Phone Number

Aug 01, 2013
Home Phone Number

I was going through some old files the other day and came across some of our old landline phone bills. $65, $120, $85. And this was back in 2006 when we were still using a landline. My home number is my iPhone and I give out a Google voice number to solicitors etc. my wife does the same and we list each other as emergency contacts.

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10

Digital tape recorder

Aug 01, 2013
Digital tape recorder

Can't really say I used this much, but I had one for those momentous brainstorms that would hit me driving down the highway. Now I use voice recorder on the iPhone. Most of time just to remember where I parked.

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11

Books on cassette tape

Aug 01, 2013
Books on cassette tape

Remember these? Books on cassette I would play them in the car and had a whole box of them in the back seat. They were usually much more interesting than any talk radio. I feel like I got a lot of my business education behind the wheel of my car. I listened to these for years right up to the time they stop putting cassette players in cars. Audiobooks are still popular and they load right into my iPhone which I can play via Bluetooth on my car radio or just listen on a walk.

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12

Car Cassette Player

Aug 01, 2013
Car Cassette Player

I remember installing a pioneer stereo cassette player in my first car. Later I even installed one in my company car telling my boss it was for books on tape. I was more likely blasting U2, The Who or The Clash. I can tap into all these bands now via Bluetooth and Pandora on my iPhone. I also have access to all of my music from iTunes and my old iPod about 800 songs more than enough for a nice drive.

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13

Flip Video

Aug 01, 2013
Flip Video

This camera was a blast. My son probably posted 50 videos on YouTube with it. Those videos will probably be floating around when his grandchildren come across them. Once video came to the iPhone I didn't have much use for it but it was fun while it lasted.

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14

Portable Headphones

Aug 01, 2013
Portable Headphones

I think this one counts. earbuds replaced my old headphones. A lot of people didn't like the original white earbuds that came with the iPhone. But they've always fit and sounded great to me. The new ones fit even better. If they could just figure out a way to keep the cords from tangling.

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15

Mini Breathalizer

Aug 01, 2013
Mini Breathalizer

These were popular a few years back. Funny though I was always lighting up the yellow light borderline drunk. But not over the limit red. I use a great app now that is much more accurate and takes all kinds of data into account including types of drinks time consumed , weight etc. The app is called intellidrink.

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16

Hotel Wake Up Calls

Aug 01, 2013
Hotel Wake Up Calls

Remember these. Since I usually wake up at early anyway the iPhone is more than sufficient to avoid having that robotic hotel wake-up call interrupt any morning peace and quiet.

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17

Music CDs

Aug 01, 2013
Music CDs

I'm including these here as I was still buying CDs when I got my first iPod in 2004. I would dump them into iTunes and move the best music onto the iPod. Once wireless was added to the equation and apps like itunes, Pandora, LastFM, Spotlfy came along. I found no need for CDs at all. the crazy thing is that iTunes or the iPhone over Wi-Fi sounds better than the CDs.

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18

USB Thumb Drives

Aug 01, 2013
USB Thumb Drives

I present a lot and always would carry a thumb drive around with a backup copy of presentations. Now the presentations are available on dropbox or in iTunes and I have an adapter so I can play them right for my iPhone. One less thing to carry around

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19

mini flashlights

Aug 01, 2013
mini flashlights

You have one of these I know it. there's probably a few laying around their house but I got rid of the one I carried around in my car. The iPhone even has a dance strobe you can light up a whole room with. For flashlight I like the app called Light.

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20

PC Games

Aug 01, 2013
PC Games

I was never a huge PC gamer but I must say I am an iPhone gamer. I love the quick access to games like jet pack, pinball HD, asphalt 4 very handy if am stuck waiting somewhere. . Definitely replaced PC games for me or any games on my Mac laptop.

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21

Panoramic Camera

Aug 01, 2013 - flickr.com - 270
Panoramic Camera

This camera took great panoramic shots. But used traditional film which sometimes I rarely got around to ever getting processed. I love photography and the idea of film but I found the best camera is the one you always have with you. iPhone. And I can also get a great panoramic shot as well.

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If the full list doesn’t show up in this post you can see it here. http://goo.gl/65hced

Let me know if I missed anything. What has your smartphone replaced lately?  Please add your comments here.

Filed Under: Travel Lean, Work Lean Tagged With: family of four spending, family of four stats, Frugal Travel, get rid of stuff, The Frug recommends, Travel lean

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