Tips for living "The Gud Life"

Before reading the reviews and recommendations for fine experiences, adventures, and luxurious creature comforts (hotels, vacations, wine, beer, tea, restaurants, etc), it is important to understand that all good things come at a price.

That price, often (but certainly not always!) is proportional to the value of the product or service. Many times you do, truly, "get what you pay for." As much as I can, I am going to write honest reviews of things that are worth what you pay -- or more -- and to steer you from things that are not worth the price.

However, the first thing you should be aware of is that, for many of us, the finer things in life feel "out of reach"; unless we dig into credit and debt (which I highly don't recommend, any more than is necessary), we must find some way to "make do" with the income, finances, and free time we have.

But that is where you often have choices and more freedom than you may realize:

1. to spend your free time in time-wasting activities, or to choose to spend it productively, or to choose to engage in leisure activities that are healthy for your body, your mind or, perhaps, even your soul.
2. to spend your money on small frivolities, or to scrimp and save it for bigger, more memorable or more valuable things.

It seems that most travel and lifestyle guides out there cater to two types of people: 1) the privileged few who can afford the exorbitant prices of travel and fine dining; or 2) young and/or underfunded bohemians who would like to experience the world on nickels a day, and don't mind "slumming it" in order to do so. This is where Gudie Guides are different: they are designed for those of us who don't want to "slum it" and want to experience "the high life", but can only afford to do so by finding the best deals, making some sacrifices, and "trimming the fat" -- ie. prioritizing what is most important to us.

In the travel itineraries that will be posted, you will see that they are often a balance of "the high life" and "the low life" -- ie. the same trip may include a stay in a hostel and a $6 pasta dinner, followed by a stay in a 4-star hotel with a top-notch 3-course meal. Thus by saving money on one day or in one area, it can be applied to something extravagant or otherwise out-of-reach. The alternative would be to take the "average" or "middle" road each and every day... which is fine for many people, but not for those of us who want tastes of what nobility or privilege feels like, or for those of us who want memories that will last a lifetime.

In this vein, I will provide a few tips which you can use every day of your life that will ensure efficient use of your money and/or time, which can ultimately enrich the experiences you have and open the door to many you never knew you could have.

1. Go to the grocery store instead of the restaurant. I will be writing restaurant reviews on here -- for those special occasions when you decide to eat out, so that you can make the most of your time and money and really get a memorable, enjoyable experience. But "eating out" all of the time really adds up. By cooking or creating your own meals, you will be spending 50% -- or less -- of the money you would spend at a restaurant. Now, I'm not saying to never go out and enjoy yourself. But if you do it sparingly, you may find it more special and memorable, while saving enough money to purchase larger, more fabulous items or experiences, travel, etc.
   This includes going out to lunch. For the sake of simplicity, let's say that a typical lunch meal is $10. That is a lot of money. If you went out to lunch every day, you would be spending $3650/yr on lunch alone. By comparison, that $10 would be enough to feed you for about a 5-day work week if you bought the ingredients at the store and made your own soups, sandwiches, veggie snacks, or other well-balanced lunch meals. Suddenly, your annual lunch expenditure drops from $3650 to $730. The extra $2920 would easily cover the cost of a wide variety of wonderful purchases... you could go on a 1-2 week vacation, or buy a nice computer, or a plasma TV... you name it. And going out to dinner is even more expensive. You can figure an easy $25+/person (including taxes and tips, dessert and drinks, etc.) Obviously, this is out of the range of most people, but how many people go out on average 2 or more times per week? Even that adds up to $2600/year. Now, one could argue that the cost of the dinner meals is justified because they generally have larger portions and more expensive ingredients (steak, seafood, etc); this is all true. However, with a minimal amount of work, you can purchase and prepare these same ingredients at home. A sauteed-scallop dinner, even prepared by yourself at home, is not cheap... but you would be spending about 1/3 of the cost that you would at a restaurant, for food that is on par (or, I've found, often better than many restaurants); when I discover superb recipes for such meals, I will post them in Gudie Guides, complete with where to find the ingredients and the approximate prices of the ingredients.
   
   
2. Cut out the junk foods. Junk food is not only bad for your health... it's bad for your wallet! Potato chips, tortilla chips, snack cakes, etc. are not only high in fats, sodium, processed sugars, and even nastier things (like preservative chemicals), but they are also much more expensive than making your own snacks! A bag of corn chips -- weighing less than 1 lb. -- could cost $3 or more. For 1/2 that price you can buy some sweet potatoes/yams, slice them into chunks, drizzle with a little oil and salt and bake in the oven at 400 degrees until they become "yam fries." (BAKED yam fries -- even healthier!) Instead of buying Toaster Strudel or Little Debbies, you could spend 1/2 the amount of money and create your own fruit-and-yogurt smoothies in a blender (I will post some various smoothie recipes on here... and I guarantee they will be a FRACTION of what you would pay at Jamba Juice or other smoothie joints)
   
   
3. When you do eat out, look at the menu carefully. Often times, certain items on the menu will simply be much better deals for what you get than others will. I'm not saying to avoid ordering what you really want to eat (the whole idea of cutting back on the frequency of dining out is so that you can splurge and enjoy whatever you'd like to enjoy)
   
   However, there are some examples where you can get food that is practically identical to another part of the menu, for far cheaper. For example, at McDonald's a double cheeseburger is about half the price of a Quarter Pounder with cheese... yet contains practically the same ingredients. At Starbucks, a flavored latte is about twice the price as getting a house coffee, asking for whatever syrup flavor you would like, and adding your own milk or cream (in which you end up with pretty close to the same result.) But, going back to #1, getting a coffee maker and making your own lattes at home is even less expensive and not very difficult at all.
   
   
4. Save money on energy costs. This is just plain common sense whether you plan to follow the Gudie Guides or not. It's good for your wallet and it's good for the environment. If you are not using lights in a room, turn them off. Don't leave the water running when you brush your teeth. In cooler times of the year, keep the thermostat set lower than normal and in warmer seasons set the thermostat higher.
   
   
5. Find out where the best local prices are. This might seem like a piddling detail and you might be thinking "okay, this is going too far... I'm not going to drive around town taking notes and keeping tally of everybody's prices." Fair enough. However, for a few basic goods (groceries and gas, for example), there are often multiple suppliers in a small area. If you live in a suburban area like me, you will likely have several different supermarkets and gas stations within a few miles of each other. It's not hard, as you're driving around, to keep an eye out for the gas prices of the different stations you pass on a regular basis, see which one is lowest (sometimes significantly) and make it a habit to frequent that station.
   
   
6. When you do decide to splurge on something enjoyable... you should still keep an eye out for discounts, savings, and deals! Just because you have saved up some money and decided that it's time to treat yourself -- with a bottle of wine, a fine tea, a meal at a nice restaurant, or a well-deserved vacation getaway -- doesn't mean you should just go an blow your money on the first thing you see! Sometimes altering your plans just a little bit or spending just a little more time planning and exploring can lead to big payoffs. In many cases, it may be difficult to find lower prices for high-quality food. But some things you can almost always find better deals for comparable purchase include: airfare, car rental, and other transportation options; hotels, B&B's, and other lodging; tour excursions and outdoor/adventure packages. There are even sites like TravelZoo (no affiliation or sponsorship with this site) which can send you email updates of special discounts, packages, and promotions going on. Sometimes travel agencies can provide better packages than you could put together on your own -- especially at off-peak travel seasons. I've found such deals like this at Gate1 Travel. The bottom line is: do a little research, and you can save yourself valuable money or valuable time during your trips experiencing only the very best and not wasting time or money on overrated, overcrowded, or just-plain-not-worth-it activities.