Money Hacks

I have decided that, temporarily at least, Money Hacks will be incorporated into Get Rich Slowly. I’ve created a new money hacks category. In a couple of hours, I will switch the feed source from this site to the new location. If all works according to plan, those of you who read this site by feed won’t notice a thing. It should just be seamless.

Note that if the money hacks end up being a poor fit at GRS, they will return to this site. This is an experiment. I think it’ll work, but who can tell ?

Note: I already posed this question to readers of Get Rich Slowly. If you responded there, please don’t respond here. You’ll mess up my survey!

For the past six weeks, I’ve been posting one short tip here every weekday. But I’ve found that it feels odd to maintain two money sites. Every time I write something for Money Hacks I think, “I should really share this at Get Rich Slowly.” There are other times I post stuff at the main site and think, “I should post this at Money Hacks.” More and more, it makes sense to maintain just one site.

How do you folks feel about this? How many of you read Money Hacks but not Get Rich Slowly? How would you feel about moving over to the main site? Would you prefer that Money Hacks remained an autonomous entity? Would you be okay if it were absorbed by its big brother, Get Rich Slowly? Some combination of the two? Don’t really care? Let your voice be heard!

This is the first Money Hacks entry to be dual-posted at Get Rich Slowly. This is my transitional measure until I decide exactly what I’m going to do.

I don’t usually think of Boing Boing as a source for money hacks, but they just posted a blurb about Wayne Gerdes, who “may be the most fuel-efficient driver in the world”.

Through tricky coasting, careful acceleration, and driving without breaking, the “king of the hypermilers” can apparently squeeze 59 MPG out of a non-hybrid Honda Accord and more than 100 MPG from a Toyota Prius.

I read the original article about Gerdes and listened to the interview with him. Here are some of Gerdes’ recommendations for achieving fuel economy:

• Don’t speed.
• Go easy on the brakes.
• Inflate your tires to maximum pressure.
• Never idle. (His rule of thumb is: “If you’re going to be stopped more than seven seconds, turn off the engine.”)
• Know your route so you can time the traffic signals.
• Keep your vehicle as empty as possible. Added weight reduces fuel economy.
• Remove racks and other objects on the outside of your vehicle.
• If you’re comfortable with it (because it is illegal), use a rolling stop.
• In parking lots, don’t use reverse. Pull into a spot so that you’re facing out.

[Boing Boing: Mileage hacker Wayne Gerdis]

I’ve seen a lot of great sites collecting free college courses. Here’s another. World Lecture Hall links to actual pages of actual college courses. When a professor posts material to the web, World Lecture Hall points to it.

Some courses are delivered entirely over the Internet. Others are designed for students in residence. Many fall somewhere in between. In all cases, they can be visited by anyone interested in courseware on the Internet — faculty, developers, and curious students alike.

The site offers great search capabilities, and allows users to browse by suject area. Interested in Computer Science? You have 88 courses from which to choose!

Sally’s Kitchen has tips on How to Budget Effectively, including an Excel spreadsheet template for download. There are some great ideas and suggestions here, simple things like: print out a small copy of your budget and tape it over your credit card so that every time you’re tempted to use it, you’re reminded of your goals; always shop with a list in order to avoid temptation; when shopping on-line, add items to your wish list rather than your cart, and then check back in a week or a month (when it will be clearer if what you wanted was just an impulse purchase).