Learn How Groupon Works! from The Point on Vimeo.

My friend told me about a site called Groupon*. From their FAQs: “Each day, Groupon features an unbeatable deal on the best stuff to do, see, eat, and buy in your city. By promising businesses a minimum number of customers, we get discounts you won’t find anywhere else. We call it “collective buying power!”"

Interesting idea, right?

There’s a limited number of cities available right now, and they’re supposed to be growing.

There isn’t a daily deal for Pittsburgh up right now, so I checked out to see what it is in Indianapolis: $20 for $50 worth of food at Sushi on the Rocks. It expires in one year.

Today’s deal in Atlanta is $45 for 10 yoga or pilates classes. GREAT deal!

Check it out if you’re interested, and if you use my referral link and end up buying one of these deals at some point, I’ll get $10.

*referal link

Have you used Groupon? What sort of deal did you get?

There’s plenty more expenses you can share with a trusted friend or family member. The key word here is trusted. You wouldn’t want one party to carry most of the financial burden, be liable for extra expenses — or worse — you don’t want to damage your relationship if a deal doesn’t go well.

That said, here are a few things you can split costs or otherwise help a friend save a buck:

• Rug Doctors. Cleaning your carpets? They’re usually rentable for a 24-hour period. But who needs a full 24 hours to do the job?
• Magazines. When I’m done with my magazines, I give them to my neighbor so she can flip through them. She’ll recycle them or keep passing them along.
• Coupons. We all have coupons that we’ll never use! Swap ‘em, mail ‘em, and help your friend save a buck.
• Accommodations. When we went to Florida last year, our family rented a house and shared the cost, rather than everyone getting a bunch of hotel rooms. It was much cheaper this way and certainly more fun.
• Entertainment Book. Along the lines of sharing coupons, there’s plenty of coupons in Entertainment Books that you’ll probably never use. Maybe you know someone who might!
• Shipping costs. If you and your bff have some online shopping to do, maybe you could combine your order and split the shipping. Sometimes, great coupon codes only apply to higher amounts. For example, you might get 30% off your order and free shipping, but only if you spend $50. It’s easier to hit that $50 mark if you and your friend are planning on buying something from that store anyway. Be careful–it’s only a deal if both parties were actually planning on making purchases anyway!
• CSA shares. Maybe you can’t eat all the veggies the farmers send your way each week. Some CSAs offer half shares, but if not, surely you know someone who could take all that extra produce off your hands.
• Warehouse club memberships. I’m a member of Sam’s Club, if any of you guys need giant jars of mayo.
• Bulk food in general. Can’t use a huge container of ________ ? Share the cost, split the item and reap the benefits of buying in bulk without having to store all that bulk yourself.
• Parking/tolls/gas. Carpool! Way more fun.
• Garage sale ads. Coordinate with your neighbor and host yard sales at the same time to generate more traffic. If you take out an ad in the paper, share the expense.
• Cell phone plans. This one has potential to be a real headache for all parties. If you do a family plan with someone else,  be sure each member fully understands their financial obligations.

What can you add to the list?

To really save money, go when certain items are on sale. For example, one of my frequented thrift shops offers 50 percent off “upscale” brands on Thursdays. I spotted a lined blazer from JCrew for $5, so it would have been $2.50 on the sale day. Too bad it didn’t fit me!

Some thrift stores have junk for clothes, but if you go to the right ones, you’ll see that many offer quality items for extremely cheap.

It’s so cheap, and such a good deal that I’ve discovered one of the downsides (if you could even call it that) of thrifting:

Paying retail is so much harder to do once you’re accustomed to thrift store prices!

Some things you just can’t thrift. For example: socks, underthings, shoes for people with weird foot sizes, etc. I maintain that if you can find an item in a retail store, you can probably find it in a thrift store if you look long enough and hard enough. But darn it, I just haven’t been able to find some dress pants or khaki pants that fit right.

So, I’ll probably have to go retail for it.

It won’t be easy. I’ll likely have to go to multiple stores and look for sales and coupons.

But you know what? When many of your clothes come second-hand, you have more money left over to pay retail prices on other things.

Read more about it here. The national debt is rapidly moving toward 12 trillion dollars. I don’t even know what a trillion means.

(Googling it now)

OK — one trillion looks like: 1,000,000,000,000. Ron at the Wisdom Journal explains what one trillion can do. Mrs Money shows us what one trillion dollars looks like.

Take those concepts and multiply it by 12 and you’ll get the national debt.

Want to watch it grow before your very eyes? Check out the national debt clock. It will make your brain hurt a little.

The national debt interest is so substantial that it’s about 8 percent of the 2009 annual federal budget. Just think of all the things we could do with that 8ish percent!

Now, it won’t be easy. According to the debt clock, each citizen will need to pay $38,954 (as of this moment). Yes, this includes babies. Or, if we think it better, we could just have each taxpayer make a one-time donation of $110,442. You can afford that, right?

What’s more, these donations are tax-deductible. What bonus! I wonder if the government will send you those little pre-made address labels as a “thank you.”

We’ll just do it the Dave Ramsey way — with gazelle-like intensity making a massive debt snowball.

And then we’ll build up a national emergency fund so we won’t have to be in debt again. And then we’ll take all that money we were throwing at debt and then buy a nice house, go on vacation, and send our kids to college.

You’re ready to write a check, aren’t you? I am.

Psyche!

If a heel breaks, the soles need repair, the stitching is coming undone, etc., there’s a chance a cobbler can fix it for you. Depending on how much it will cost you to replace the item, it might be a better deal to fix the shoe instead.

Search the Yellow Pages or Google Maps to find a shoe repair store near you.

Also, if your shoes are simply looking dingy, duh — wash them! Depending on the material, you can wash them by hand or in your washing machine, or perhaps add a bit of shoe polish.

It’s cheap and it’s a great way to extend the life of your shoes.

Works for me!

We hadn’t visited any of the museums in Pittsburgh until recently. We wanted to change that, though. Nothing like being a tourist in your own town to have fun for a low price!

I looked into the membership options for the Carnegie museums. A membership works for the Andy Warhol Museum, the Carnegie Science Center, the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and the Carnegie Museum of Art.

In addition, our membership card will allow us access to a bunch of museums around the country (so long as they aren’t within 90 miles of Pittsburgh). We’ll be able to visit some the next time we drive to Indiana, plus maybe plan some day trips around here.

If Shane and I visited the four museums just once, we’d pay $88 for admission, or $118 if we visited the history and art museums on separate days. Johnny is young enough to get in for free. Gotta love these cheap years, no?

The membership price for two adults is $100. According to museum staff, the two adults don’t have to live together or be related.

So, my friend Renee and I split the membership. (Hi, Renee!) We’re each named on the membership, so I can take Shane as my guest, or she could take her husband (or anyone!) as her guest. We just can’t each bring a guest at the same time. Make sense?

I was willing to pay $100 for the membership, so only paying $50 to split it with Renee made it a fabulous deal.

Note: Be sure to check with museum staff if you’re planning on splitting a membership. You’ll want to make sure it’s allowed!

If you aren’t sure about a membership, consider:

• How much would it cost in full price admission if you were to pay a la carte prices?
• Does the museum offer half-off or otherwise discounted days? Some museums offer deals on the first Friday of the month, for example. Check out their web sites or give them a call.
• Can you gain discounted tickets from an Entertainment Book or through AAA or some other association?
• Are you certain you’d visit often enough for it to be worth it? How often do the temporary exhibits change? Enough to bring you back a few times?
• Are there special members-only discounts? With mine, we get cheaper parking at once place and a discount at their cafes and perhaps the gift shop.
• Can you share a membership with someone?
• Which museums/zoos/etc. are included in a reciprocal membership? Would you visit any?

Since Johnny is liable to have a melt-down at any time, I wanted to have a membership in case we needed to leave early. It would stink to pay $30 admission and only stay for a half hour, you know? Now, if he has a problem, we can just come back another time.

I’m considering getting a membership for the Children’s Museum here as well. I’d have to make certain we’d go often enough for it to be worth it. I do know that the winter will be a long one (aren’t they always?) and going to a museum for Johnny to play at is probably better than going to the mall playground or a McDonald’s PlayPlace.

I’m probably going to hold off on the zoo membership for now, though. I think Johnny will appreciate the zoo perhaps next summer or when he’s closer to two years of age. Until then, we’ll probably buy single-day tickets if we happen to go this winter.

Do you buy memberships to museums or zoos in your area? What other tips can you suggest? How do you save money at museums or zoos?

This is my son’s first Halloween. At 10 months old, he couldn’t care less.

I decided to dress him up just for the sake of a cute photo. We won’t be going to any parties or trick-or-treating this year. However, I’m hopeful that a few neighborhood kiddos will knock on my door so I can see their costumes and give them some candy bars. We’ll see!

And…

Tee hee! And no, he wasn’t in the box in the first picture, silly goose!

This little get-up was made with items we already had. I took a small box that we use for toys and threw a baby blanket around it for color. Threw some makeup on a squirmy kid and ta-da! I also made a “hat” out of some colorful striped baby pants and I taped a little plastic ball to the feet on each side. Johnny doesn’t like wearing hats for even a second, so oh well.

She explained her plan and reasoning and then her new approach.

I thought I’d talk a little about my own situation.

Shane and I are 24 years old. We have 35 years until Shane can tap his retirement account without penalty. We’re renting an apartment and will continue to rent until 2011 or longer.

At this time, we are saving for both retirement and for a down payment on a house.

We’re sending about 9 percent of Shane’s gross pay to his Roth 401 (k). There used to be a generous company match, but they’ve taken it away entirely. The company has hinted that they may reinstate it, but we aren’t keeping our fingers crossed.

Our long-term plan is to bump up the retirement contributions to at least 15 percent of his gross pay, regardless of company match.

We’re also aggressively saving money so that we can afford to buy a house.

We’re putting anywhere between 22 to 31 percent of his gross pay straight into the house fund.

Since there’s no free money on the table, we could stop our retirement savings for now, and put all of that into the house fund. It would add a significant amount to our down payment, and maybe even be enough so that we could put a full 20 percent down, thereby avoiding costly PMI.

But.

There are 35 years until we can touch the retirement accounts. Since that’s 11 more years than we’ve been alive, that feels like a really long time to us. Thirty-five years is a long time for compound interest to do amazing things with our money.

In that vein, we think it’s worth it to keep on saving for retirement.

Also, diverting retirement funds into our house fund would not put us into a house faster.

When we decide how much house we can afford (and I do mean we — not the mortgage lender!), we’ll be sure to save room in our monthly budget to increase our retirement savings and for our son’s college. We haven’t yet started Johnny’s college fund.

I do realize that some people live in markets where, despite their best efforts, it will take years and years to save enough for a house. Depending on how old those folks are, and how important having a house is to them, it might be better to cut back on retirement savings a bit to put more toward the house fund.

Even in that situation, I think it’s worth it to put at least a little bit toward retirement. And if there’s a company match, put enough to get all that free money.

What’s your take on this? House vs. retirement?

How much? I won’t be vague. I’ll tell you exactly: I’ve earned $70.36 in cash back from purchases I’ve made. And thanks to their generous referral program, I’ve earned $916 in bonuses, for a lifetime total of $986.36. Good grief, that’s a lot of money!

If you aren’t yet a member, go here* to sign up and earn either a $5 cash bonus or a gift card. I certainly appreciate your referral!

Anyway.

It used to be that you got paid each quarter, and could be paid via a check in the mail or through PayPal. Now, Ebates has launched a few new ways for you to get your cash.

• You can electronically transfer your money to your bank account, which takes a few business days to become available.
• Convert it to a Visa Virtual Account, where you can use it to make online purchases.
• Order a Visa prepaid card to use online or in stores.

All of these methods are free. In fact, I earned a $1 bonus by trying their new “fast cash” method. I opted to send my latest earnings of about $16 directly to my bank, where I’ll send it to my housing fund.

It seems that these fast cash methods are only available for certain accounts. You’ll just have to login and see what your options are.

Secondly, you do need to earn $5.01 in online purchases (so, not counting your initial account bonus or referral bonus) before you’ll be able to cash out. I generally have no trouble doing this, but sometimes I’ll miss a quarter or two depending on my online shopping.

*Referral link

Case in point: My unmarried, no-kids friend from college (let’s call her Raquel) recently received a  job offer to be the editor-in-chief of a magazine. The job description sounds ideal for any journalism professional, let alone for a recent grad. Raquel will pretty much have full editorial control over a magazine that reaches a young demographic in a mid-size Midwestern city. It will be amazing on her resume.

She can expect to put in 40 – 50 hours per week easily in this salaried position. The benefits include a simple IRA plan but no employer match, what with the economy and all. Health insurance will run her about $50 per month, but I don’t know if this is an all-inclusive HMO or if she can expect to shell out hefty sums for prescriptions, doctor’s visits or other medical situations.

They’ll pay $500 toward her moving expenses.

The salary? $25,000 per year. They told her they were seeking “the best for the cheapest.” Jerks.

You can’t just hire anyone to run a magazine and expect it to be profitable. The $25,000 salary will mean she’ll be squeaking by paycheck to paycheck. She’ll be grossly underpaid.

The job description, skills required and location make me think they should be offering $40k – $45k at least. And, for pete’s sake, it should include an expense account.

Raquel will try to negotiate a higher salary, but she doesn’t think they can come close to paying what she’s worth.

You know what they tell kids in journalism school? “Don’t get into it for the money! If you want to enjoy a decent living, go into PR. Or marry a business major.” OK — I added that last part.

Is it so wrong to think that a job of this caliber should pay a decent wage? Making $45k annually isn’t living large by any means. Making $25k is going to be just plain rough. I’m thinking Raquel could earn more as a waitress.

So let’s circle back to my main question.

Should Raquel take this job, since it would be an amazing experience and potentially lead to other (hopefully higher-paying) publications?

She is unemployed at the moment, and any relevant job is better than no job, right? After all, those student loans need paid. And having health insurance is generally a good thing. Lastly, the Bank of Parents is about to close her account.

Or should she continue her search?

I think that in her case, being underpaid is better than not being paid at all. I’d take the job and commit to living like a broke college student for a few more years.

She probably won’t be able to build up much in savings, and she’ll only be able to chip at her student loans. It’ll be a lean year or two (or more) at the publication. Then she can move on to bigger, better-paying things. (Here’s hoping she doesn’t have to make a huge career change to achieve that!)

I do worry that by accepting a low starting wage, she’s implicitly saying, “Yes, I agree that I am only worth $25k.” Even if she gets a 10 percent raise at her first performance review, that’s only $2,500 more. And I certainly hope the low starting wage won’t affect her starting salary at her next job.

What do you think? Should she be happy she has a job offer and take it? Should she keep looking? What would you do?