The Green Frugal

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Hi Everyone,

We have an exciting new feature on Cash4Books.net that enables you, our customers, to make even more money! We understand how it can sometimes be confusing to know exactly which books we are buying at the moment. And nobody wants to enter a bunch of ISBNs only to discover that most of them are unable to be purchased. So in order to reduce the chance of that happening, the Mountain Dew and Cheetoh stained nerds in our IT department were instructed to make Cash4Books easier to use. And frankly, I am impressed with their improvement.

Cash4Books.net is proud to introduce Cash4Books Suggestions!

Whenever an ISBN or a group of ISBNs is entered into our site, we analyze the entered book(s), find related titles, and suggest them to you. Here is an example:

Let’s say that you just finished reading The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch and you wanted to sell it to Cash4Books. You go to Cash4Books.net and type 9781401323257 into the box on the homepage. You click “Price My Books” and are taken to the results page. If you look right under the results you will see a new box that looks a lot like this:

These are books that our computers predict you are most likely to have and that we are currently buying. To make it even easier on you, if you happen to have one of these books all you have to do is type in the last four digits of that book to add it to your buyback cart. Pretty sweet, huh?

Now let’s say you are in college and are studying American History. You go to Cash4Books and type in the ISBN off of the back of one of your textbooks that you would like to sell back. You click “Price My Books” and under the pricing results you’ll see a box that looks a lot like this one:

Amazingly, the computer predicted three books that you are likely to own. And again, you only have to type in the last four digits of each book to add it to your cart.

We hope that everyone finds this new feature as fun and helpful as we do. Be sure to check it out on your next order and see if we’re able to predict some of the books on your shelf.

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Five Fun Ways To Save Money

Too often we think that trying to save money must mean denying ourselves of things we like. Not only does this make life more stressful, but it actually makes it harder to save money as you have to exert a lot of mental effort to do so. Once life catches up with you and other stresses arise you won’t be able to expend that extra effort and you’ll be likely to slip back into those old not-so frugal habits.  Fortunately, this doesn’t need to be the case; here are some low-stress and even fun ways to save money.

#1 – The Power of the Pig

You probably have not used a piggy bank in ages, but consider channeling your inner child in order to save money. Place a few dollar bills into a piggy bank a couple times a week and you will see the amount grow at a surprising rate over the course of several months. This is one of the more fun ways to save money because you can physically see your savings increasing. If you have children, this is also a great activity to teach them about the value of money and saving.

#2 -Use Your Skills

You’re awesome cooking skills (or computer know-how, or just about any talent that you have) might not be  enough to land you a high-paying, glamorous position as a world-renowned chef, but that doesn’t mean that your talent is worthless. Chances are one of your friends, family members or casual acquaintances would love for you to share your knowledge or ability. You can trade your skill with someone who needs your expertise and receive something valuable in return. You won’t have to purchase as many items and services, plus you get to do something that you love.

#3 – Second Hand Prices, First Class Style 

Few things can match the thrill of finding a stylish item on sale. Just because an item is not brand-new does not mean it cannot be new to you. Check out consignment and second-hand clothing stores for great deals on hot items. If you can find a beautiful jacket at 1/3 of the new price, you can afford to splurge occasionally. Plus, if you later decide that it is not as awesome as you thought, simply sell it to recoup some of the expense of your purchase.

Image credit: Λ W Λ, Flickr.com

#4 – Clear The Clutter

Ok, this one is really more of a way to make money, but it is still fun; hold a yard sale to sell the many items you do not need anymore. It will be embarrassing, but fun to go through your old clothes and other items and think to yourself “Why did I ever buy these bright pink high-tops? I hope there isn’t any photographic evidence of me actually wearing them.” Just remember that you will probably never use these things again, and you can get even earn some money for them. In fact, many old items are back in style now so you can earn decent money from selling them. As a bonus, you’ll gain some extra space in your closet and attic.

#5 – Entertainment Book

Many people love trying out new restaurants, but as hobbies go, this one can be quite expensive. This is where the Entertainment Book can make all the difference. The initial investment is $25 but it is going to pay for itself once you use it a few times. Most large US cities are represented the Entertainment Book and inside you will find coupons for fun restaurants and shops. There are also regional coupon books that have specials for all of your favorite local hotspots. Our favorite out here in the Pacific NW is the Chinook Book, (also available in a few a few other metropolitan areas) which tends to focus on local, “green” businesses.

These are just a few of our favorite fun ways to save money. There are plenty more out there. What do you do to have fun and save money?

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Make Money Traveling

If you asked people what they would do if they didn’t have to work, you can bet most answers would include something to do with traveling. But did you know there are actually ways to make money traveling? These are just a few ways that you can make travel fun and profitable.

Use your writing skill to make money traveling. Image credit: kiwanja, Flicker.com.

Option #1 – Travel writing

Many travel-focused magazines are on the constant lookout for new and engaging articles. While these magazines have high quality standards for content, if you have writing talent and experience, this is a great way to make money traveling. A good place to learn more and gain access to travel writing resources is thetravelwriterslife.com.

Option #2 – Write a blog about traveling or Podcast about it

You may not be able to easily get a job writing for a travel magazine, but you can do the next best thing and start writing for yourself. Many people will be interested to learn about your travel adventures, especially if you can write in an informative and humorous manner. Once you start getting some traffic to your blog you can begin selling travel related products or advertisements. You could also consider writing and self-publishing a travel guide.

If you are more comfortable just talking passionately about where you have been or what you have seen, a podcast may be your best bet to make money traveling. Record a short episode about your favorite traveling experience. Upload it and watch those hits come in; if you can make your listeners feel a connection with your podcast, you can be guaranteed to have them coming back to hear about your most recent adventure. Once you have a sizable fan base, you can began seeking out advertisers or sponsors for your podcast. Visit transtionasabroad.com/navpages/links/best _travel_podcasts.shtml for a list of podcasts that you can listen to for inspiration.

Option #3 – Offer English language tutoring

This obviously won’t work if you are just planning to travel to Boston or New York. If however you are interested in seeing the world, you can cover the costs of your trip and maybe make a little extra by offering your services as an English language tutor. As English has become the dominant language in the business world, the demand for English language tutors has increased. By tutoring you will meet some incredible people and make money traveling.

Do you have an eye for photography? Use it to make money traveling. Image credit: travellingtamas, Flicker.com.

Option #4 – Photography

For the right person who is truly passionate about traveling and photography, travel photography is an excellent way to make money traveling. People not only love beautiful pictures, but also seeing places that they have never visited. Because not everyone has the time or budget to travel around the world, viewing the world through photographs gives them a chance to see what is out there. If you have a knack for photography, it could be worth getting out there and start taking pictures. If there is not a magazine or website interested in running your pictures, start your own website! Check out travelphotographers.net for some more information.

Of course, there are other ways to make money traveling that we did not mention here, and we invite you to join our discussion and let us know some of your favorite ways are that worked in the past.

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Attention college students: as you get settled into your new fall classes and start shopping for the best textbook prices, here are a few things to look for in a writing handbook that will help with your term papers and essay assignments.

Once you get past the introductory writing courses like English 101, your professors are going to expect competent, college-level writing in your assigned essays without giving you a lot of steps and support. Hopefully you learned all of the basics from English 101, and even if you did, an excellent writing handbook can provide a lot of quick support and resources at your fingertips.

All college writing handbooks will give you the basics about starting your essay (brainstorming, mapping, outlining, and drafting), and all handbooks will give you the grammar basics (how to make sure your sentence isn’t a fragment and how to tell if your sentence has a comma splice), but here are a few things to look for in a writing handbook that offer extra support to make your writing shine during college (and maybe beyond college too).

Have you selected a college writing handbook yet? Image credit: Unhindered by Talent, flickr.com

#1 – Sentence Style

In the beginning of your undergraduate days, you will probably be most concerned with creating error-free sentences. However, as you go deeper into your degree field and start taking upper-level courses, correctness is no longer enough; you want to have style. Learning the intricacies of subordination is essential for advanced college-level writing, especially if you want to go on to graduate school. It takes a lot of practice. For example, do you know how to use parallelism in order to convey the multi-part meaning of a complex idea, capture your audience’s attention through stylistic devices, and display a sophisticated level of critical thinking with your grammar? Make sure your handbook has an entire section on sentence style that gives plenty of ideas and instructions for a variety of sentences.

#2 – MLA/APA Updates

Your professors will expect you to use MLA or APA format (or maybe something else) to document your sources. Make sure your writing handbook has the latest updates. For example, MLA format has now been updated so students no longer need to include cumbersome urls in their citations. As far as I can tell, most of the updates for documenting electronic and online sources are very helpful for students, so it’s better to make sure you’re using the new format.

#3 – Glossary of Style and Usage

There are a lot of things in college writing that your spellchecker will not pick up. For example, do you know whether or not to use “toward” or “towards”? “Further” or “farther”? “Hanged” or “hung”? Do you know the differences between “lay,” “lie,” and “laid”? Should you capitalize seasons? A good glossary of usage will provide easy answers to all of these things and a lot more. If you think your professors don’t notice stuff like this, you’re wrong. They notice, and it doesn’t take very many little usage errors to add up and make an overall bad impression.

Use a writing handbook to easily develop a spiffy resume. Image credit: The CV Inn, flickr.com

#4 – Resumes and Cover Letters

During college and after, you’re going to need to make awesome resumes and cover letters for job hunting. All of the lessons of effective college writing come into play with these documents that can make or break your job search: how to write for a specific audience (your prospective employer), how to craft concise and impactful sentences, how to persuade, how to use powerful verbs for dynamic style. Making a perfect resume and cover letter is an art form–it takes style. In addition to these features, there are very specific conventions regarding format and presentation for resumes and cover letters. Too many people stop at correct format without making their sentences powerful. You want your writing handbook to give you all of this information within easy reach. Spend at least as much time editing and revising your resume as you would a college term paper that is ten times as long.

Some of you out there might be thinking, why should I bother paying for a writing handbook when all of this information is available online? It’s true that you can find most of this information online, but you have to find it first. As a working writer myself, I can tell you it is much more time consuming to go searching for a usage question online (and sort through all the results that pop up) than it is to flip open my handbook, which is always sitting on my desk.

Do you have any questions about finding a writing handbook? Or do you have any other questions that you always wanted to ask your professors but were afraid to ask? Leave your questions in the comments section and I can give you all of the inside information.

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Groceries: few people like shopping for them and even fewer enjoy paying for them. While there isn’t a way to get your groceries for free (short of dumpster diving), you do have options. Check out these tips on how to save money on groceries.

Save money on groceries with these easy tips. Image credit: cooksaid.com

Tip #1 – Plan your meals in advance

One recent study showed that 20% of grocery store purchases are unplanned, impulse buys. You can avoid this trap by planning your meals in advance and sticking to your list. Not only will you save money on groceries, but you’ll waste far less food.

Tip #2 – There is nothing wrong with generic 

Most people don’t end up buying generic brands because of perceptions of lower quality. However, you might be surprised to learn that blind taste tests have shown that some customers actually prefer the taste of generic brands. Make a point of giving generic or store brands an honest chance. If you don’t like them, it’s not like you spent an arm and a leg and you might be pleasantly surprised.

Tip #3 – Prepared foods cost extra

If you’re in a hurry, prepared foods are admittedly a great way to save time. However, as prepared foods are generally more costly, a better alternative if you’re short on time is to cook meals in advance and freeze them. While preparing a meal, it’s easy to double a recipe and freeze the leftovers for a later date. As an added bonus, homemade meals are generally healthier than prepared foods. If you need some freezer friendly recipe ideas, a great place to start is Life’s A Mom or Martha Stewart’s Freezer Friendly Foods.

Don't go shopping while hungry. Otherwise you might try something like this. Image credit: funnypicture.in.

Tip #4 – Avoid shopping hungry

This is an oldie but goodie. If you’re hungry while you shop, you will buy more. Everything looks appetizing when you’re ravenous. Make sure you eat a meal (or at least a snack) before shopping and you will find that a lot less ends up in your cart.

Tip #5 – Bend down or tippy toe

Grocery stores and supermarkets usually place the items with the highest markups around chest level. This makes these higher cost items easier to see and more accessible to shoppers. Resist the temptation to reach for what is nearest to you and kneel down or reach up for to find cheaper alternatives.

Tip #6 – Put a little effort into it

Did you know that there are plenty of supermarket chains that offer coupons if you visit their website? Not just that, but if you clip coupons and pay attention to the weekly deals that supermarkets have, you can’t help but save money. A smart shopper saves money on groceries simply by going where the deals are. There are also entire websites dedicated to the art of couponing. Check out Money Saving Mom or Frugal Living NW for daily sale and coupon updates.

Tip #7 – Price match

If you read about a particularly good deal in a store that’s far away, see if one of their local competitors will match the price. This not only saves you money on groceries, but also reduces gas consumption.

These are just seven of the best ways to save money on groceries that we have found, but of course we want to learn about what ways you have found that worked for you. Whether you saved ONE dollar, or twenty bucks, we want to know!