The Non-Monetary Costs of Commuting

Sorry for the lack of updates! I've had one day off this past week and haven't had much time for anything else but working, commuting, and sleeping. I'll try to post a more substantial update when I actually have more than one day off.

In the meantime, I'm going to use this post to talk about commuting. Currently, I commute between 25-50 miles one way each day to get to a given hospital. This allows me to continue to live at home and save some money. However, I've concluded that there are a number of non-monetary expenses associated with long commutes. These include the following:

-Time: I spend roughly 2-4 hours each day commuting. By the time I get home, I don't have much time to do anything other than eat, shower, watch baseball/exercise/blog/surf the net/work on hobbies/talk to my boyfriend online (more or less simultaneously depending on my energy level), and sleep.

-Sleep: I try to get about 8 hours of sleep a night, but normally I only manage 7 hours or less because there's simply too much I want to do once I get home. Typically, I have about 4 hours of time after getting home before having to be asleep. Either I have to rush to get everything done, neglect a few items off my "to do" list, or stay up a few extra hours. Depending on how little sleep I get during the week, I spend a good portion of the weekend sleeping.

-Housekeeping: My room is a mess. My bathroom is certainly not as clean as I want it to be. While I probably should prioritize housework, I'd rather spend my free time after work doing something fun and/or relaxing.

-Exhaustion: Long commutes are tiring. Most days, I'm too tired to do anything once I get home from work. In fact, my typical routine is to get home, change my clothes, eat some dinner, and flop down on my bed.

-Safety: Driving is scary. More than once I've seen near accidents occur. Additionally, there have been times when I've had to pull over to nap because I've started to doze off behind the wheel. While riding the subway is less scary, it also doubles my commute time. Furthermore, I've been harassed by people on the subway demanding money or use of my cell phone. On top of that, I worry about the bacteria on the plush subway seats and sometimes wonder if I'll ultimately contract MRSA that way.

While I do saving lots of money by commuting, it seems like I am sacrificing a lot more. I suppose in come cases I am putting myself at risk for some steep monetary expenses, such as health bills and accident repair costs. The more I think about it, the more moving makes sense to me. Currently, I am in the process of looking at apartments closer to my multiple jobs. I'm definitely looking forward to the shorter travel times! In the meantime, I think it's time to go to bed.

How to Book a Cheap Trip to Las Vegas

Since I'm fortunate enough to have flexible per diem jobs, I've managed to schedule a week of vacation at the end of this month. So far, my plan is to fly to Las Vegas with some friends and spend a few days relaxing and having fun! I didn't want to spend too much on this trip, and thanks to some shopping around and early planning I'm spending less than $150 on housing and airfare!

Here are some tips on how you can save money on a trip to Las Vegas (which can also be applied to other locations):

-Shop around and book early: I cannot stress this enough. When I decided I wanted to go to Las Vegas, I immediately started searching travel websites like Expedia, Priceline, Kayak and comparing rates. My friends and I decided to book a room at a hotel located in the middle of the Las Vegas Strip for $24.50 a night. The next day, the price went up to $27.00. Today, the same room is $33 a night. By booking early, you ensure you have a room and extra spending money to spend on money and shopping! I'm pretty pleased that I'm paying less than $7 a night to stay in a themed Las Vegas hotel after splitting the cost with my friends.

-Schedule your vacations during weekdays and non-holidays: Weekday hotel room rates tend to be significantly cheaper than weekend and holiday rates. When booking my hotel I noticed that the Friday night rate was $125, a whopping $25 more than the total cost of the four weekday nights I'm staying. Weekends and holidays also tend to be more crowded at popular tourist locations, which can be good or bad depending on your preference. Personally, I'd prefer to save some money and not wait in line when I use that said money on shows and buffets!

-Use budget airline companies: Search Slickdeals deals being offered by major airlines. Southwest, JetBlue, and Virgin America tend to offer reasonable fares, and Spirit Airlines offers low cost ticket prices for people who travel light and don't mind skimping on certain services. I'll be writing a review of Spirit Airlines at a later date.

By using these tips, I've managed to book a trip to Las Vegas that leaves me extra money in my budget to spend on other things. Knowing this definitely leaves me more relaxed, as opposed to worried about paying for the whole thing. I can't wait for my vacation!

A Newbie's Take on Airline Rewards Programs

Apparently, I'm going to Las Vegas next month! With ridiculously cheap weekday hotel room rates and soon to be expiring deals from airlines like Southwest and Virgin America, it's prime time for a cheap Vegas vacation (if you can handle the heat)! More on this in another post.

After booking my tickets, I spent several hours signing up for and redeeming mileage points from various airline rewards programs. It was actually my first time dealing with airline rewards since I don't fly on my own that often. Here are a few things I learned in the process:

1) Sign up for the rewards program before booking the flight: I booked my flights before signing up for the programs, and hence wasted a good amount of time trying to figure out how to get my flights retroactively credited.

2) Don't wait too long to get your points credited: Most airlines will only credit points up to 3 to 12 months after your flight. Don't wait or you may lose your points forever!

3) Don't hesitate to ask for expired points: Call center representatives have a lot of power. When I called United Airlines asking for points that expired 9 months ago, they credited my account. Airline companies want your business, and will do what it takes if it means you'll fly with them again or enroll in their credit card program. Unfortunately for the kind United call center rep, I declined the credit card. However, I'll definitely fly United again at some point!

4) Don't pay to be part of special airline discount programs: Unless you plan on traveling a lot with a single airline company, then it's probably not worth paying to be part of airline rewards or discount club programs. Make sure to read all the fine print so you're not surprised with a bill. The same concept applies for a credit card - not worth it unless you fly regularly with a single carrier.

Traveling is fun, so why not make the most of your money by getting some rewards points! Thanks to these programs, I hope to someday earn myself a free flight or two!

Carmageddon!

I don't know much about what's going on in Southern California with the shutdown of the 405 freeway. However, you know your public transportation system is flawed when you need to take an airplane to travel a distance of roughly 40 miles. This is almost the same distance separating the airports in San Francisco and San Jose.

I suppose this is another reason I'm lucky to live in the Bay Area. Between buses, BART, and Caltrain, I have many ways to get around if my car is ever unavailable. Bay Area public transportation is great, and location relative to public transport has played a key factor in my apartment search. My eventual plan is to rely primary on buses and BART to get to work, and use discounted commuter checks provided by my job to save money on fares.

Good luck to everyone that will be affected by the 405 shutdown! I will admit that $4 (with $1 extra for first class) is a great deal to ride JetBlue . Definitely something I would have considered if I lived down there.