As many of you know, my pal Chris Guillebeau is crazy. He’s been to 119 countries, and he just keeps on flying. He wants to see them all before he turns 35 (in April 2013).
As you can imagine, Chris has accumulated a hell of a lot of frequent flyer miles over the past few years. He says he currently has 676,583 miles in eight accounts. But not all of these come from flying. Chris has learned all sorts of ways to accumulate miles without taking to the air. Now he’s put together a new e-book called Frequent Flyer Master that describes how you can maximize your miles, too.
I haven’t read Frequent Flyer Master but I’ve read several of Chris’ other books. They’re packed with information. They’re not scams. Plus they come with money-back guarantees. If you’re interested in travel, consider buying this guide.
Meanwhile, from elsewhere on the internet, here are few of my favorite articles from the past week:
First up, Flexo from Consumerism Commentary offers a great rebuttal to my advice to do what what works for you. “Doing what works for you can be a trap,” he warns. This philosophy can:
- Make you think you have a license to ignore criticism.
- Make you ignore better options.
- Make you accept mediocrity as a way of life.
I think Flexo’s points are spot-on, and I like his conclusion. (I like it so much, in fact, that I’ll incorporate the gist into my book!) “What works is just the minimum,” he says. “Do more than that. Do what works and look for something better.”
Next, The New York Times has an interactive graph that shows the jobless rate for people like you. Lowest unemployment? White women ages 25-44 with a college degree (3.6%). Highest? Black men ages 15-24 who didn’t complete high school (48.5%). And people like me? Just 3.9%.
Also from The New York Times, here’s a story about buying into a Christmas without presents. The older I get, the more I dislike Christmas gift-giving. Does that make me a Scrooge? Not according to this article. (For more on this subject, watch for April’s Anti-Stuff Holiday Gift Guide later this week.)
Finally, here’s a round-up of recent money carnivals. These are great sources for more info about personal finance:
- Kelly from The Centsible Life hosted Carnival of Personal Finance #229.
- Provident Planning was the home of The Best of Money Carnival #23.
- Bob at Christian PF shared this week’s Carnival of Money Stories.
- The Financial Blogger hosted Carnival of Money Hackers #89.
- Over at Don’t Mess with Taxes, you can read Tax Carnival #59.
- And The Skilled Investor shared Carnival of Financial Planning #114.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to finish chapter six of Your Money: The Missing Manual.
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Wow, that jobless chart is really an eye-opener. I happily fall into that lowest-rate group, and my husband’s group rate is not much higher.
I knew that this recession was affecting men more than women, and education always plays a role, but I had no idea how dramatic the differences. Merely finishing high school moves a person like me from 17% to 7% unemployment. How grateful I am to my parents, for valuing education so highly.
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Chris’ books always offer an incredible value with absolutely no risk. Don’t like it for any reason? Get your money back. Not able to implement what he lays out? Get your money back. The whole point is to save you more than you pay for the guide in a relatively quick period of time. If you don’t? Get your money back.
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Concerning Chris and his passion for travel: I have used frequent flyer miles a number of times in the past, and felt grateful for them. At the same time, we know something now about flying that we didn’t know when it was first invented: it creates lots of the carbon emissions that drive global warming. I fly less now than I used to, but am just as happy as I’ve ever been . . . I don’t have to escape from where I live to find adventure and interesting people. More on this topic at http://www.diamondcutlife.org/rethinking-the-entitlement-of-travel/
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The NY Times article about Christmas without presents is something I have tried to bring up with my siblings a couple of times, but they never seem to go for it. My husband & I don’t buy each other gifts, but we do give to our kids, although not as much as when they were younger. I prefer Thanksgiving over Christmas as a holiday because basically it is the same (getting together with family & friends, a nice dinner, etc.), but none of the stress of “Did I get the right color, size, style, etc.” Christmas is over-commercialized, I think.
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I’m a white woman aged 25-44 with a college degree, and have been unemployed for over a year. Goodie, another way to feel like a loser. I beat the odds! *grumble*
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Like E, I also felt that the NYT “jobless rate for people like you” chart was a real eye-opener.
I do wonder why the media, politicians, etc have focused so relentlessly on the total jobless rate, while ignoring the differential? Most people who read the news regularly and vote are probably not anywhere near to being in the highest jobless category.
It does seem like the media and politicians have wished primarily to spread general hysteria by suppressing this information.
The only differential I heard of previously in the media was the man-woman jobless rate difference, which is minor compared to the education diff. So weird that this hasn’t been reported anywhere for the past 12 months or so.
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I love the article in the New York Times about Christmas presents. My family has been leaning in that direction for a while. I appreciate you sharing it with your readers.
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My most recent article was about opting out of the consumer holidays without looking like a Scrooge. I have long had the feeling that we are approaching the gift-giving season from the wrong direction and this year I’ve decided not to participate in the stress of it all. Check out my article!
http://hundredgoals.com/2009/11/07/some-thoughts-on-gift-giving-the-holidays/
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I wonder if the low jobless rate for women 25-44 is also because that is when most women have little kids. I’m in that group and if I lost my job I might not look for another for a while. I’d stay home with my two year old. Therefore I would lose my job, but on a survey I would not be considered unemployed.
And women with degrees are more likely to be married to men with degrees, who therefore are more likely to bring in a good enough salary to support a good life.
Did anyone read “Skipping Christmas” (or I guess see “Christmas with the Kranks, though I didn’t)? I got so mad that the couple was trying so hard to buck the system and not only save money but put more meaning into it and what happened to them.
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Check out http://www.adventconspiracy.org for some great information about doing Christmas different. Our church is participating for the second year and our goal is buy a well (cost $5000). Not much, but when our church is only about 30 people right now, with many in college, it’s more of a challenge.
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Re: The NY Times article “Buying into a Christmas without presents.”
I have always personally felt that if you worry yourself sick about size/colour/style, and give/receive gifts that don’t get used, and lament the wearing of Christmas PJs that only get used for a couple weeks – it’s not the holiday that’s wrong*, it’s what you are doing that’s wrong.
Those bottles of lotions that sit in the bathroom unused shouldn’t be part of the holiday in the first place
Holidays are not supposed to be about stress and worry, so don’t let them be. There IS a happy medium between being slammed in a crowded mall at 8pm on December 25th spending $1000 and not doing anything.
And I don’t even celebrate Christmas, per se!
*=disclaimer
I do think the Holidays are really over-commercialized, but I also feel that this has happened because people let it.
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@ Caitlin, I think you’re right. If I tried to stop my parents from giving gifts, they would be sad. It’s not about the Stuff, it’s about finding things they think we will like, and watching us open the packages. They just love it.
They really don’t care if we give them anything at all, but it really is fun to do if we can. This year my stepmother wants bird stuff: bird houses, bird feeders, bird food. My sister and I can’t wait to go shopping and find the perfect things for her yard. It might be stressful, but it’ll be worth it. It might be expensive but that’s why we’re going together, to share the cost. And we know she’ll love it, whatever we find.
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I love buying presents for people. I agree that Christmas has become too commercialized, but for me, it’s not about a mad dash to stores at the last minute. I start shopping early, and I love thinking about all the people I love, what they might like, how their interests have changed over the past year. I’m reminded of what unique and cool family members I have as I shop for them.
I also love wrapping presents. It gives me an excuse to work with beautiful papers, ribbons, make homemade tags, and so on. Putting on Christmas music, making some tea or opening a bottle of wine, and sitting on the floor surrounded by boxes to wrap — I find it relaxing and it gets me in the holiday spirit.
I do stick to a budget, not only for gifts but for wrapping paper! Christmas is something I look forward to every year, so I’m willing to set aside money for it.
I respect the “no gifts” idea as well, and I make homemade gifts as well as getting store-bought presents. I just thought I’d offer a different perspective.
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Re: holiday spending, I am squarely in the camp of putting the money into getting people together, preferably around a table.
Once you’re a “grown-up,” let’s face it, if there’s something you really want for yourself you are likely going to buy it for yourself. A friend or relative, no matter how close, is rarely going to find that perfect thing that you’ve always wanted without knowing it.
The one thing that people nowadays do too little of (besides exercise) is spend quality time face to face, talking about their futures, reminiscing about shared pasts, playing games, goofing around.
And I’m not talking about those “gatherings” where 80% of the people are glued to a TV screen. You might as well just go out to a sports bar.
The one “gift” I really try to put together is an experience gift. If someone loves [museums/the beach/the zoo/the theatre] but rarely goes, for example, arrange to take them.
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Re: the frequent flyer guide, I have read it, and it is terrible. It basically tells you to sign up for a million credit cards, which is not only bad advice, but seems to fly in the face of what you write about here.
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Stephanie can you please expand on the frequent flyer guide? I was interested in purchasing it but was unsure if I would learn anything other than churning credit cards and buying coins from the US Mint. Are there any other helpful tips in the guide that would make it a worthwhile purchase? Thanks
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Andy – I did not go through the guide in great detail, as soon as I skimmed through it and saw credit cards on every page I asked for a refund – which, to his credit, was prompt, and our email exchange was courteous. He got 300,000 in one year by getting 13 credit cards, some of which required a minimum purchase which I recall was in the hundreds of dollars. There was also a huge section on AmEx, and how to get a business credit card when you don’t have a business. There is an audio supplement which I did not listen to, and there were additional written supplements which I did not look at, and he will send you email updates. I wouldn’t say it was worth the money unless you are willing to open a lot of cards, in which case it would be a fast way to find the best deals.
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Thanks for your response Stephanie, I appreciate it.
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Does the guide address the continuing devaluation of miles? Not only are availability going down and fees going up, but the airlines are adjusting the number of miles it takes to even get a ticket at all. To me it doesn’t make sense for air miles to “inflate” like normal currency, since the normal currency price of the air tickets theoretically used to earn the miles is already inflating. But I guess the airlines (and any other businesses nowadays) will do whatever they can get away with.
Anyways, ranting aside: I would not go out of my way to earn extra air miles; and any guide to air miles is simply not complete without a thorough discussion on how to use the miles effectively, which is at least as if not more important than earning them, and definitely more complicated.
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Did you just recommend buying a book without even reading it?
I hardly consider that sound financial advice.
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