Daniel J. Lewis

Internet entrepreneur, award-winning podcaster, podcast consultant, keynote speaker

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5 ways to save money traveling

August 22, 2014 by Daniel J. Lewis Leave a Comment

Photo Credit: ljcybergal via Compfight cc

Travel can be both fun and tiring. But don't let it be financially stressful! Here are five easy ways to save money traveling.

As an entrepreneur, I now get to travel and speak a more conference, which I absolutely love doing! Contact me if you'd like to have me speak at your event!

But travel can be expensive and I choose to live frugally. So here the five tips I use when traveling for business or pleasure.

1. Plan ahead

Winston Churchill said, “He who fails to plan is planning to fail.” The less time you have to plan your trip, the less money you can potentially save.

Use flight and hotel pricing tools like Kayak or [bl id=”1121″]Hotels.com[/bl]. But even better, check with your credit card company's website, as you may get bonus cash-back points for using their affiliate link. For example, I use separate Chase rewards Visa cards for my personal expenses and business expenses. Chase offers up to 500% more reward points (on top of the 1% baseline) for certain affiliates. That's a potential 6% savings!

Additionally, mobile apps can help you optimize your travel experience. For example, check gas price on your automobile travel route with Waze or GasBuddy and know where you should stop to fill up at the best prices.

Savings: $200 or more

2. Buy groceries instead of dining out

Food is usually the third biggest expense for traveling, after transportation and lodging. Dine out while traveling and you could easily spend $50 per day per person!

When my wife, Jenny, and I attended New Media Expo in Las Vegas, we got on Google Maps and found local grocery store. A quick (and fun) shopping trip resulted in more groceries than we would actually eat, but for less than the cost of eating out in a single day! We shopped at 99 Market, which is an Asian grocery store, so we found lots of exciting things to try. We ended up saving a couple hundred dollars during our one-week stay.

Another benefit to buying groceries instead of dining out is that we ate a lot healthier. Instead of fattening and oversized meals and drinks, we had fresh fruits, salads, and breads.

Savings: $40 per day

3. Pack light and bring carry-ons instead of checked luggage

Checked luggage is now a luxury on most flights and could easily cost $50 per person roundtrip! Now, I travel as light as possible and fit everything into a carry-on and laptop bag.

I know this one could be a lot more challenging for ladies, as they have more needs. But I don't think it would be impossible.

Guys, an easy way to do this is to bring enough pants to wear three days at a time, a T-shirt for every day, and a dress shirt (for business casual needs) for every two days. If you're attending a conference where T-shirts may be handed out, take a risk and plan to wear a provided T-shirt.

Here's the clothing I pack when I travel for a week (six nights).

  • One pair of shoes
  • Seven pairs of socks
  • Seven pairs of underwear (no reversing here!)
  • Four T-shirts (I assume I'll get two free while I'm there)
  • Two pairs of pants
  • Three dress shirts

Another step to packing light could be in the devices you bring. I have a 17″ MacBook Pro that requires a carrying case, power adapter, and mouse. But I can reduce this to an iPad with Bluetooth keyboard (I recommend the Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover or the Belkin QODE Ultimate Wireless Keyboard and Case for any kind of iPad).

Savings: $40–$50

4. Use an airport shuttle instead of a taxi

Taxis are expensive, especially in traffic. Find out if your lodging provides its own airport shuttle. If not, make reservations with the local shuttle service. You can usually find a quick trip for less than half the cost of a taxi.

Visit RetailMeNot.com ahead of time to find a coupon code and reserve your shuttle online to save a few more dollars.

Savings: $25

5. Walk instead of riding

You may have some leisure time to explore the area. Some hotels provide free roundtrip transportation to local attractions, which can save your legs and money. But for everything else, try to resist taking a taxi or other paid transportation!

If the weather is bearable and it's safe for you to walk, get your blood pumping and your legs moving!

This will not only save the taxi fare, but it will also keep your energy levels and health higher as you probably spend most of the day sitting.

Savings: $10 per day

How do you save money traveling?

Please comment with how you save money traveling. I'd love to see your ideas!

Filed Under: Business, Family, Money Tagged With: money, saving, travel

5 MYTHS on money, family, and business from The Game of LIFE

May 26, 2014 by Daniel J. Lewis Leave a Comment

The Game of Life, entrepreneur, life, business, family, and money

My wife, Jenny, and I recently decided to play a board game and we chose The Game of Life (albeit, the 1991 version that looks like it's from the ’80s).

I could see several money, family, and business lessons we could pull from the bad advice in this classic board game.


 

College debt or career (The Game of Life)

Myth 1: You'll get more jobs with a college degree

When you start playing The Game of Life, you have the choice of getting a college degree or jumping straight into your career. If you skip the degree, you have fewer career options. In our game, this meant you couldn't be a doctor, teacher, or accountant.

Today, degrees are far less mandatory for success as they used to be. While many great leaders have had degrees, many others have not. While several business may say they require a particular degree, they're often more interested in knowing your real skills and ability to interact with others.

This isn't to say that all degrees are rubbish. There are certainly many occupations (especially doctors and lawyers) where the knowledge and experience that come with a degree is absolutely necessary to their ability to help (or even save) someone else.

Having children (The Game of Life)

Myth 2: Children are merely expenses with no lasting reward

In The Game of Life, children come by chance and sometimes mean extra expenses. Each time you have a child, you earn an extra “LIFE tile,” but you can earn these just as well with any other “LIFE” space on the board.

Whether you retire with no children or a van full of children makes no difference to you success in the game.

Many studies will show that couples live happier, more fulfilled lives by having or adopting children. But I think the best case for this comes from the Bible.

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
are the children of one's youth.
Blessed is the man
who fills his quiver with them!
He shall not be put to shame
when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
[Psalm 127:3–5, ESV]

Wheel spin for chance success (The Game of Life)

Myth 3: You can't control your success without cheating

The only way to progress in The Game of Life is by spinning the wheel and moving the number of spaces the wheel randomly returns. If any player is a police office, you get punished for spinning a 10 and moving too many spaces.

You land on space that deal different rewards, penalties, or changes. You can't control your destiny without interfering with the wheel's spin. Likewise, you must randomly select you home, career, stock, and even salary.

This kind of thinking leads people to dead-end jobs and unfulfilled lives. I love how Ray Edwards put it in his podcast, “99% of all the results I’m experiencing in my life are 100% appropriate.”

… our lives are closed systems. They have a beginning, a middle, and an end. What happens between the beginning and the end is largely up to us. I say that 99% of all of our results are 100% appropriate, in that 1% are things that are actually outside of our control: an unexpected genetic defect causes the disease or deformity, market forces we had no chance of influencing diminish the value of our investments, a tornado demolishes the house we live in, etc. but despite the impression that may be given by the disaster-fascinated media, these events are definitely the minority.
[Ray Edwards, “How to Get Back on Track“]

In other words, you have far more control over your own life and circumstances than you realize, which makes you 99% responsible for where you are. It's not just a random spin on a wheel.

Bank loans, debt, and interest (The Game of Life)

Myth 4: You can borrow money whenever you want

At the beginning of each turn, players may choose to borrow money from the bank—as much as they want. They only have to pay these back at the end of the game (or may pay anytime before then) at a 25% interest rate (at least in our 1991 version).

There's no reward for paying off the debt early, and no consequence for holding onto it. It's treated at the only option for getting out of a tight financial position.

Again, allow me to get Biblical.

… the borrower is the slave of the lender.
[Proverbs 22:7b, ESV]

It's not hard to see how destructive debt, especially bad debt, can be to an individual, family, business, community, and even the whole nation.

Rich retirement (The Game of Life)

Myth 5: Whoever has the most money wins

When all players have reached the end of The Game of Life, they may choose to retire in Countryside Acres and receive one more “LIFE title” bonus, or they may compete for four “LIFE tiles” by being the richest in the Millionaire Estates. After that, all players combine their cash and “LIFE titles” to find their net work. The player with the most money wins.

This doesn't factor in the value of your house, stocks, or insurance policies. It also gives no special reward for having or not having a family.

In our game, my wife, Jenny, beat my $1,090,000 with her $1,205,000 and thus earned the four “LIFE tiles,” which contributed to her victory. (I'm glad she's not a sore winner.)

Where are the goals? The Game of Life defines success by a mere dollar figure and nothing else.

“Success” is entirely how you define it. If you want a job that provides enough so you can leave work at the office and enjoy your family, and you get that, then you are a total success! You may not have the millions of dollars, fancy cars, or latest gadgets. But those don't define you and your success.

How I would fix The Game of Life

If we ever play The Game of Life again, especially if it is with my own children, we'll be changing some rules. 

  1. You may choose any career you want, without debt or degree.
  2. You'll experience more bonuses in life if you have or adopt children.
  3. You have a set number of turns, and you may move as fast or as quickly as you wish.
  4. You will never be forced to buy anything, and debt is not an option. If you borrow, it will have consequences with each turn.
  5. You must start the game with measurable goals. You win if you reach all or most of these.

What would you change about The Game of Life? Maybe we should talk about Monopoly next.

Filed Under: Business, Family, Money Tagged With: business, children, debt, destiny, entrepreneurship, family, games, income, insurance, life, money, salary, stocks, The Game of Life

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