Saving Moolah

Moving is far from a cheap process. No matter where you are or what you are doing, you will have to pay to move from one place to the next. I know this will put a damper on your CRNA salary, but it is something you just have to pay for if you need to relocate. No matter how expensive a move may be, there are some things you can do to minimize your costs and still get the work done. Seeing that I’ve moved a bagillion times over the past four years, I can tell you firsthand what it takes to save money on moving costs. Here are a few tricks I have learned over the years.

Know When It Is Okay to Spend Money

Before I go into how you can save money on a move, I need to point out that investing in some movers to load and unload your truck is going to be a wise decision. You may be tempted to do all of this work on your own, but it just isn’t going to be worth the effort. My husband and I tried this for several moves that we made, and we regretted it every time. You’ll have enough to do when you get to the house with unpacking and setting up the beds. The last thing you need to do is lift a bunch of furniture for no reason. Let someone else take over the backbreaking labor, and you can find somewhere else to cut corners.

Drive Your Own Truck

You can hire movers to load your truck at one location and unload it at another, and that will save you from having to pay them for the use of the truck. Renting a truck from Penske or U-Haul is going to be a lot cheaper than paying for a truck through the rental company, even if you have to pay for insurance and all that jazz. All you have to do is find a moving company that is willing to unload your truck for you and see what they would charge for the services. You might even be able to have some of the movers come out after hours to make some quick cash. That’ll save you even more money in the long run.

If you want to hire people to load or unload your truck for you, you might want to use a site called MovingHelp.com. I once got some movers to unload a 27″ truck for $80, and they did it in an hour and a half. I can’t promise you will have the same experience, but I can tell you that the site is worth looking into. Explore your options carefully, and you should be able to find a cheap one.

Move on a Week Day

If you move on a week day, you will be able to get a cheaper rate on your truck. You will also be able to time your drive to avoid rush hour traffic, which should get you to the destination a lot faster. On the weekends, you just have to assume that the roads are going to be packed. Moving on a week day also gives you a chance to have all of your utilities hooked up the same day you get there, which means you can enjoy your home right when you move in. Try to move the dates around and see what you can work out.

Always ask about discounts whenever you reserve a truck or a set of movers. You may be able to snag a deal for being a college student or participating in a certain organization. If you’re always on the hunt for good deals, you’ll find them. I can guarantee that.

The average college student doesn’t have the time or the education to get a “real job.” That would be something along the lines of a management position or a probation officer job – something that pays more than minimum wage. If you are stuck working in a minimum wage job, you probably don’t think there is any chance of you saving money for the future. That may not be the case though. There are a few things you can do to save money with a limited income, even if it’s not a lot at first. Here are some tips to help you get through this tough financial experience.

How Much Is Minimum Wage?

Minimum wage changes from one state to the next, just like the economy and the demand for certain careers. Higher paying states usually have higher standards of living, so you will probably end up in the same financial crisis no matter where you work. Nevertheless, it is interesting to see how minimum wage fluctuates throughout the country. The chart below shows just that.

How to Save Money with a Minimum Wage Job

Here are a few quick tips to help you save money in a low-paying position:

• Increase the money held for taxes: This will give you a bigger refund check to look forward to, and then you can put that check in savings.
• Autodraft money into a savings account: Set up a special account with your bank that you only use for savings. Then have the account hooked to your other account so that you can have the bank automatically take money out every paycheck.
• Pay for everything in cash: Once you do this, you can save all of the coins you get and put them away for a rainy day. The money will not seem very significant at the time, but it will add up in the long run.
• Get an education to bump your earning potential: Don’t settle for minimum wage jobs. Go to college so you can get out of these positions in the future.

Follow the tips above form paycheck to paycheck, and you will one day have a savings account to be proud of. You just have to get through this process first.

Gas prices are going through the roof right now, or at least they are here in America. I live in the south, and most of us get all bug-eyed when we see gas prices going above $2.00 a gallon. Now that I have to pay over $4.00 a gallon for premium fuel, I have trouble walking to the pump for fear I my faint. I shouldn’t have to pay the equivalent of a full ride scholarship to Harvard just to fill up my gas tank. That is ridiculous. If you are worried about how you are going to be able to pay for gas prices right now, you need to learn how to conserve fuel and make the most of what you have to work with. Here are some tips to help you get past the gas price blues.

Carpool

One of the easiest ways to save money on gas is to carpool to work, school, the mall, etc. Carpooling is a process where multiple people ride together if they are going to similar destinations. If the two people split the cost of gas or alternate driving one another around, each person can save money in the long run. Carpooling is not ideal if you have to do it with someone that lives a long ways away, but it could work in most other settings. See if you have anyone that you work with living in your area, and then you may be able to cut gas costs across the board.

Avoid Excessive Stopping

Every time you stop and start the car, you eat up a lot of gas. Thus if you go through five stoplights in a row, you will use more fuel than you would driving straight down a road. Ideally, you need to stick to highway driving or at least driving on roads that do not have a lot of traffic lights or stop signs. That way you can just keep going and hopefully save gas along the way. This is easier to do in some towns than others, but you should be able to find a solution in your area.

Use a Walmart Card

Walmart offers a $.03 savings per gallon for people who use Walmart gift cards to fill up at the pump. Around the holidays, that bumps to a $.10 savings per gallon. All you have to do is go inside and put whatever money you need onto a Walmart gift card. You can do this at the self-checkout if you don’t want to wait in the lines. Go in, get what you need, and go fill up at the pump. You may be able to get the best price in town by doing this.

Watch Gas Prices

If you see gas prices starting to decline, fill up when they are low for a couple days in a row. That way you catch the prices before they shoot back up. You may also want to watch the news to predict when this is going to happen. That way you don’t miss out on a good deal right before a $.20 increase. My parents watch the news obsessively, so they always keep me informed about issues happening with relation to oil. Once that happens, I immediately fill up the car to be on the safe side.

Conclusion

Gas prices are never going to get down to where they used to be. I can remember them at about $1.50 a gallon when I first started driving, and those were considered high at the time. Now we all go nuts if gas drops to $2.99 a gallon. That’s just the way the world works. Take public transportation if you cannot afford gas, or start riding a bike wherever you need to go. You just have to do what it takes to survive in a world with high gas prices.

Living with back acne can be awkward and embarrassing, but so can living with the scars that result. When swimsuit season comes around, men and women alike have to bare all and let other people see the back acne scars that have left behind. If this would naturally force you to stay inside all summer, you need to realize that there are in fact solutions out there to improve the look of your back acne scars. Here are a few tips you may be able to use to get your skin looking at its best.

Lemon Juice or Tomato Juice

One treatment you can try involves either lemon juice or tomato juice. If you can, get a friend or family member to put either of those on a cotton ball and rub it in the area with the back acne scars. By doing that, you are putting helpful acid on your skin that may be able to help the scars fade over time. The tomato juice in particular can make your skin more elastic, which is what you want to get it looking like normal again. After you apply the juices to the affected area, wash them off after 20 minutes.

Healing Baths

You can take healing baths to improve your back acne scars. These usually involve a product that is already on the market, but you could use baking soda as well. Make yourself a warm or hot bath so the solution can dissolve in the water, and then soak in the tub for twenty minutes. Drain the water and take a shower to get rid of any of the baking soda that may be left over. If you do this, you may want to make sure you have clean sheets to lie on because that will maximize the cleanliness of your skin. It should heal after repeated uses.

Lightening Creams

You can also help back acne scars with a skin lightening cream. This is a safe and reliable solution that has been proven to reduce the appearance of back scars and other skin conditions you may not be happy with. When you use the bleaching cream, you can speed up the lightening process and get the results you want, when you want them. Some people think this is what Michael Jackson used to get lighter over the years, but he actually had a skin condition that made his skin lighter over time. No worries – you won’t get super pale if you decide to go with this option. I promise.

The choice of removal is up to you, but hopefully the solutions above will point you in the right direction. It may take a little time to get your back looking the way you want it to, but the time you devote to your skin will be well worth the results. You may not get any weird scholarships out of this experience, but you will get better looking skin that you can be proud of. Stay dedicated to your acne removal and you will be out in the water showing off your sexy back in no time.