Best of Personal Finance Roundup: How to Be a Cheap Drunk with Taste
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Paul Aloe Welcome to Wise Bread's Best of Personal Finance roundup. Today, we spill some tips for sipping wine and other spirits for a little less than what you'd expect. Plus, we share the benefits of raised garden beds, a quick and cheap hurricane lamp tutorial, and habits for highly effective budgeting!
Top 5 Articles
How to Be a Cheap Drunk with Taste — Hey! Trader Joe’s has a lot to offer the frugal drinker these days. (You can drink to the rest of the affordable tips here.) SF Gate
28 Tips to Save Money on Car Expenses and Save Thousands of Dollars — Thousands of dollars are actually there to be saved — believe me! These tips will help you get started. Generation X Finance
How to Make Money on Facebook — Whoops! Sometimes you should rethink that status update — especially when large purchases or financial matters are being discussed. Brip Blap
10 Benefits of Raised Garden Beds — We are definitely starting some raised beds after reading this post. The hard work it takes to get started is well worth it! Being Frugal
Quick, Easy, and Frugal Homemade Hurricane Lamps — Beautiful and affordable, these would light up any room for just a few bucks! Frugal Upstate
Other Essential Reading
The 20 Best Money Websites — This list is a great place to learn about everything going on in the world of commerce. Check out the extra commentary on iPhone apps as a bonus! Money Mag via Budgets are Sexy
Walmart Wins: Top 10 Most Valuable Retail Brands — Coach, Best Buy, or Target? Which one took second place? Brandweek via Consumerist
7 Habits of Highly Effective Budgeting — It’s not all about debits and credits, as this post points out. Ask the important questions to ensure a successful budget plan! The Centsible Life
Eat Your Green — Want to green up your bread crumbs, mashed potatoes, or more? These simply instructions can get you into the St. Patty’s Day spirit with ease! Slashfood
College Jobs That Pay Real Money — I loved the job I had in college, but admittedly, it didn’t pay much. Check out this list of not-so-shabby college gigs that can help you pay those bills! Mainstreet
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When looking for "real" work as a college student, it's really hard to beat a co-op job. Co-op (cooperative education) programs usually work something like this: Take a 4 year degree and stretch it into 5 years (or maybe a little more). For the middle three years, alternate terms going to school full-time or working full-time at a company in your field. Co-ops go back to the same company each work term, sometimes rotating into a different department each term.
Co-ops get paid a reasonable rate (I made over $10/hour 1994-1998, and that was considered on the low end), sometimes get health benefits and/or paid vacation. And it's hard to beat the experience. I got to do some great stuff as a co-op. A lot of it was very low level tasks, but it was real engineering work. I found out a lot about what I didn't want to do and learned a bit more about what I did want to do.
By the time I graduated from college, I had 18 months work experience, no debt and a great job in my field that was a direct result of my co-op job (although with a different company). Due to my co-op experience, I hired in as an experienced engineer rather than at an entry level (more money, faster advancement).
A cheap drunk with taste? That's a bit of an oxymoron isn't it?
Possibly an oxymoron.. LOL.. but the tips for wine were especially appealing :)
Linsey Knerl
I just wanted to say that it is an honor to have a post of mine on your blog. thank for picking it, and thanks to centsible life for allowing me the guest spot. :)
Recently unemployed, I've been buying the 1.5 liters of Gallo wines on sale because they're not terrible. They're currently doing a coupon deal where you can get $2 off if you buy 3 bottle and $2.50 off if you buy 4. Imagine the looks I got from the checker and the other people in line when to took advantage of this coupon the other day. I fully expected an intervention the next time I walked into the store.
Another good tip - if you've got cheap wine but find the taste to be a bit.... yea, make sangria! Sangria was never meant to be made with super fine wines; it was made to use up the cheap wine, so have at it! Only have some left? Do 50/50 (or some other combo) of wine + apple juice. It's good with all the fruit flavors in it.
Good tip.... really liked it cheap wine with taste...wish to see more comments like these :)
I kinda agree with what Robert said... Its possibly one of the hardest things to do to have a cheap night out and yet tasteful...this is especially true when it comes to things that are alcohol related. Most cheap alcohols aren't what we normally call tasteful.