The secret to saving money employs all of these saving tips, but the real treasure is in how you think about money. You can read all the saving tips you want and every year you’ll start off with good intentions only to find your savings goals were derailed as quickly as your new year’s resolution to go on a diet. The problem is we are all aware of the tools and know what needs to be done, but without the right mindset it will never become a reality.

It’s All About Urgency

Telling yourself that you need to build up an emergency fund or save for retirement is fine, but that’s not enough to truly motivate most people to completely follow through. Walk down the street and ask anyone if they have a solid emergency fund or are saving enough for retirement, and most people will have the same answer. They will admit they aren’t doing as well as they should be even though they realize how important it is. We all do this to some extent. We have the knowledge and know what it takes to reach a certain outcome, but putting everything into place and even practicing what we preach is far more difficult. That’s because we usually look at things at a very high level and our brains don’t place a sense or urgency on reaching that goal.

Think about this for example. Let’s say you wanted to come up with $1,000 this year to put into an emergency fund. That’s a reasonable goal, and one many of you may have had in the past. Even though it’s a relatively small amount of money over the long period of time, how often has a goal like this failed? Be honest now. It’s just $83 a month, less than some cable bills, yet people find any and every excuse to not save up that $1,000 in a year. Bills need to be paid, unexpected expenses come up, the dog needed to go to the vet, and so on. This happens because there is no immediate consequence if you fail to reach the goal, and you’re saving for something relatively arbitrary to begin with.

Now, let’s look at another $1,000 situation. Say you need to come up with $1,000 in one month or else you’ll be kicked out of your apartment. Guess what? Unless you were already seriously delinquent and bankrupt, chances are you will be able to come up with that money in record time. You’ll find stuff to sell, you’ll eat soup and sandwiches from the pantry for a few weeks, and you’ll almost certainly find a way to scrap together $1,000 in an extremely short amount of time. That’s because unlike just trying to slowly build up a $1,000 savings over the course of a year that has no immediate concern, you’re faced with the possibility of losing the roof over your head. This sense of urgency forces you to do whatever is necessary to reach the goal rather than just kicking the can down the road knowing you’ve got plenty of time to catch up.

Some may say this is an apples and oranges comparison, but it’s the underlying motivation that’s the secret here. When you have a money issue come up that needs immediate attention, you generally find a way to make it happen. When the issue is just something you know you should do, yet don’t have an immediate negative consequence if you don’t reach that goal, there are a million ways to put it off and make excuses. This is why saving money is so elusive for so many people. We all know we need to save, either for the unexpected, retirement, a college education, and so on, but since those are usually distant goals lacking severe short-term consequences, it almost always is one of the first things to get pushed off to the back burner.

Set Savings Goals

As previously mentioned, there is little sense of urgency when it comes to long-term saving goals such as retirement. What motivates you to save today when the consequences won’t be felt for possibly thirty years or more? One way to make long-term saving objectives more manageable is to set short-term savings goals. By taking one large goal and breaking it up into many smaller and shorter term goals you can actually begin to take action right away and see some results.

The real benefit of this strategy is the sense of accomplishment you get when tackling a goal and making it happen.   When you are able to cross something off your list you feel empowered to build upon that goal and work even harder to reach the next milestone. For example, if your goal is to build up roughly a $5,000 emergency savings account in two years, don’t just focus on the big number. Instead, break it down into smaller, more attainable goals. Maybe you set a goal to save $200 a month. Now instead of trying to achieve this large sum over the course of a few years, you now have 24 very small and specific goals. Every month you know exactly what you need to accomplish, and if you treat it with the same urgency as other expenses and bills that must be paid, guess what? You’ll be far more likely to achieve your end goal.

Setting realistic financial goals and more importantly, writing them down, is an important and often overlooked step in trying to save money. If you want to get serious about saving, try creating a financial goal worksheet.  A worksheet like this will go a long way in helping you identify your goals, understand what it will take to achieve them, and then hold you accountable. Read more about creating a financial goal worksheet.

This is the true secret to saving money. Yes, paying yourself first and creating automatic contributions works wonders, but many people never even get to that point because they aren’t thinking about money in the right way or are making excuses as to why it can wait. Create a sense of urgency with all of your goals, big or small. Stop thinking about just an end result that may be years in future and bring it into the here and now by breaking it into small goals you can tackle today. If you can hold yourself accountable to these smaller goals you’ll create these little victories that build off of each other, and the ultimate end result will be that you will achieve all of your major savings goals.

Here are a few things to consider:

When the price of fuel increases, it causes other items to jump in price as well. For example, have you ever noticed that milk seems to be the most subjective to these changes? My local Walmart has gradually increased the prices of its dairy products. The last time I checked, a gallon of 2% cost me almost $4.00. That’s a hard number to swallow especially since my household goes through at least two gallons a week. That’s over $300 a year spent on one grocery item!

The more a person pays to commute, the less money they take home on pay day. Even if you’re paid a decent wage, every work-related expense, no matter how large or how small, cuts into your earnings. If it costs more to fill up your tank each week, it will require you to put in more hours at work to make up the difference. (To find out how to get around this problem, read the tips located below.)

The money has to come from somewhere. People living on a fixed income can not afford new expenses without cutting back on something else. Many rely on credit cards when they’ve run out of cash. The biggest problem with that are the interest rates. Daily house hold items purchased with credit cost twice as much once interest is applied to the balance each month.

So, what’s a person to do? Stop driving altogether and wait around for things to get better? I wouldn’t suggest that. I would, however, like to give you a few tips that can help you save money on the rising costs of gas.

Here are some things worth trying out:

If possible, change your schedule. If you’re used to working five days a week, strike up a deal with your employer to work later four days a week or to telecommute one day a week. This will not be an option for people in retail or the service industry. Working from home is easier for people that already have office jobs.

Switch to public transportation for long commutes. If you have to travel a long distance day in and day out, consider purchasing a bus pass or taking the commuter train. This will allow you to keep traveling costs at bay and will also give you time to better pre pare for your day. You can review notes from last week’s meeting, catch up with an old friend via phone or text message, and even read a chapter or two of that new book you’ve been dying to read.

Car pool. Not only is it environmentally responsible, carpooling is also cost efficient. Four to five people can travel for the same price as one. Consider carpooling to work or school rather than driving solo. Pitch in a few bucks each week for gas if you’re riding in the car with a family member, colleague or friend.

Use a Walmart gift card to receive 3 cents off per gallon at select filling stations. This is still one of the best ways to fuel up cheaply. Simply walk into your local Walmart and purchase a gift card in a designated amount. Go to an affiliated gas station and use your card to pay at the pump. The amount that you save over the course of a year doing this one simple thing is astonishing. There are also plenty of credit card deals out there offering cash back and rewards to choose from.

Use Gas Buddy to find the best prices on fuel in your area. If you’re not familiar with Gas Buddy, you may want to take a moment to get acquainted with it. (You can even down load the app on your iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad.) By typing in your zip code, you can see all of the filling stations in your area and the prices that each one is charging for a gallon of gas.

Keep your car maintained so it can run more efficiently. Do not go over the speed limit. Do not idle too much. Fill the tank fully. Make sure your tires are properly inflated. You can improve gas mileage by around 3.3 per cent by routinely monitoring your tire pressure. A tire gauge is therefore a wise investment.

Consolidate trips. Plan your errands accordingly. If you know that you’re out of certain house hold items, plan to pick them up on the way home from the doctor’s office. Also, stop and pay your bills and drop off your dry cleaning. Make it so you drive less but accomplish more.

Buy an electric bike. Electric bikes are much more economical than driving. They retail for about $350 to $400 and go up to 15 miles an hour. One charge can get a rider up to 20 miles in distance. The best thing about these bikes is that they don’t require a single drop of gas to run!

Eliminate the need to drive. Use online banking and bill pay. Make purchases through the net and have them delivered to your home. Walk or bike to your

destination if time permits. The point is to not give up driving entirely but to lessen your dependency on your vehicle. You do not have to fall victim to intermittent gas prices. Take charge of the situation instead of letting it get the best of you. You have control over your finances and how much you spend at the pump. Unleash the saver in yourself by finding alternatives to paying full price for fuel.

Like any other type of adjustment that you make in your life, the aforementioned list of suggestions is yours for the taking. Do what you feel is right for you and your family. If the price of fuel is the least of your concerns, then more power to you. If you’ve tried everything listed here and have suggestions of your own, I welcome you to share them with me. After all, we’re in this together. We might as well pool together our resources. Isn’t that what blogging is for?

Here are five places where you can find significantly discounted glasses. You’ll need a copy of your most recent eye exam and a credit card to order them with. It’s also helpful if you like their Facebook pages because that’s where you’ll find coupon codes, free shipping offers, and other opportunities for savings.

• Zenni Optical. Frames and lenses available for $6.95 and up. All glasses include an anti-scratch coating, free thin and light 1.57 index Single Vision Lens, free full UV protection, free protective case, and free microfiber cleaning cloth.
• Coastal. Use the code FIRSTPAIRFREE throughout the month of February to get your first pair of glasses free. All orders over $50 get free shipping.
• 39 Dollar Glasses. Men, Women, and Children’s styles for $39. Like Zenni Optical, the company offers a free case and cleaning cloth.
• Eye Buy Direct. Stylish glasses for as little as $6.95 with free shipping.
• Select Specs.  Prescription eyeglasses as low as $10. Styles available for Men and Women. Sunglasses and accessories available as well.

No matter what your style or prescription may be you’ll find a wide range of eyeglasses by visiting these five websites. Take advantage of special offers and make use of coupons to keep your eyecare needs under control this year.

To see if you and your family qualify for free eye exams, visit Vision USA. Income requirements and information about program eligibility is available on the organization’s website. Other companies to check out include LensCrafters and PearleVision. They offer significantly discounted eye exams.

If you truly want to be financially fit, you’ll pay careful attention to the advice given here. Although the five money saving habits I have listed here are fairly easy to adapt to, they do require effort if you want to see them through. That means you need to have some staunch determination if you want to alter your financial situation in 2012. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

1. Pay yourself first. That’s right! How do you expect to save when you have nothing left over from your paycheck? Automatically draft payments into your savings account each pay period and you’ll be surprised how little you miss the money that’s being taken out. Treat yourself just like you would any other creditor and force yourself to pay the bill to yourself on time. This little trick can help you save a pretty penny each year. Stop wasting time and sign up for an Ally savings account. It just takes a few minutes and you can easily set up automatic and recurring deposits.
2. Find an alternate means of acquiring things. Before you shell out a bunch of money to purchase something, really think about your options. Is it something that will eventually go on sale? Can you pick it up at a garage sale or thrift store? Is it something you can make yourself? Can you do without it altogether? So many purchases are made impulsively. Stop and take a moment to evaluate an item’s necessity in your household. If you find yourself wondering for a second if it is needed, don’t buy it!
3. Create at least one stream of passive income for yourself. Monetize your blog. Pay for your groceries by becoming a secret shopper. Write an article for a magazine once every couple of months. Do whatever it takes to earn some extra cash. It may not be enough to pay all of your bills but it can help in the event of an emergency or whenever you want to take a special trip with your family.
4. Join a bartering or swapping website. Clothing, books, movies, and skills can all be swapped online and in your community. Rather than pay for these items, why not trade something you have for them instead? Websites like Freecycle, thredUp, and SwapTree are great for this reason. You don’t have to do without but you also don’t have to spend money every time your kids outgrow something or you grow tired of your book or movie collection.
5. Remember that less is more. It’s hard to enjoy the things that you acquire if you have to work all the time to pay for them. Buy less and enjoy more time with your family members and friends. It may be hard to adopt a simpler lifestyle at first but with some practice, you’ll be on your way to enjoying the world around you more.

Not all methods of saving are created equal. There are three basic kinds of savings vehicles consumers can use: savings accounts, certificates of deposit, and money market accounts. Each of these methods for saving money has their pros and cons that every consumer should be aware of. If you’re a conservative investor looking for something more than saving a little money, be sure to check out my piece on conservative investing instead.

Savings Accounts

The simplest and easiest way to get started saving money is by way of a savings account. These are relatively easy to sign up for and most banks simply require a small initial deposit to start an account. Most people get a savings account at the bank in conjunction with the checking account they use to pay their bills and other expenses.

The money in a savings account accrues interest as long as it is in the account. That means that the money you have been saving all year for Christmas presents will grow with interest. Savings accounts are also very easy to use. You can do transactions at your local bank branch, on the internet with your online banking account, or you can use an ATM card at virtually any machine.

One of the drawbacks of a savings account is that many local banks don’t offer the best account features. Some banks will only allow a certain amount of ATM withdraws for free before charging a fee, some require a minimum balance to avoid a monthly fee, and interest rates are often very low. So, while opening a savings account tied to your checking account at your bank might be the easiest way to go, it may not be the best.

Instead you’ll probably want to explore online savings accounts. Just like your traditional savings account at the local bank, online banks can provide much better rates and features because they don’t have the high overhead of staffing physical bank branches. In fact, these banks often have interest rates ten times higher than most brick and mortar banks. Learn more about your online savings account options here.

Certificates of Deposit (CD)

A CD can be a savings vehicle but it acts a little bit more like an investment. You deposit your money into a CD and then keep it there for a predetermined period of time, usually ranging from a few months to a few years. Because you are telling the bank you expect to leave the money in the account for a set amount of time CDs typically pay higher interest rates than a regular bank account. And the longer you agree to leave the money on deposit, the higher the rate.

Unfortunately, this can come at a cost if you decide you need to withdraw the money early. Typically you will pay a small penalty in the way of forfeited interest if you choose to cash out the CD before the term expires. While it isn’t a stiff penalty, it usually wipes out any of the added benefit you received by going with a CD in the first place, so money deposited here should be money you’re fairly certain you won’t need before the term is up.

Using a CD is a smart way to turn money you know you won’t be spending for a while into a little extra interest, but may not be the best place for an emergency fund where the need for that money could arise at any time. Instead, consider CDs for predetermined future uses such as a down payment on a house, buying a new car, or family vacation.

Money Market Accounts

Money market accounts offer some of the best of both worlds as they usually offer higher interest rates with penalty-free access to your money. The initial buy-in on a money market account is often  higher that a savings account or certificate of deposit, but the interest rates are also typically better that the other forms of savings accounts.

Money market accounts allow customers to withdraw money or write checks from the accounts up to a limit of six transactions a month. The higher interest rate means that money market accounts can sometimes be a better savings option than savings accounts for people that want to save larger sums of money.

A money market account is not the ideal solution for someone who wants a savings account with a low balance and easy access. The fees for allowing a money market account to dip below its minimum balance requirement can be very high and the minimum balance required can range from $1,000 up to the tens of thousands of dollars. The limitation on the number of monthly transactions makes a money market account slightly less convenient than a savings account.

Savings Bonds

Finally, there’s one more method of saving available to most people, but many consider it a bit old fashioned. Savings bonds have been around for ages, and in the past it was a very safe way to save money. Today, with the wide availability of banking institutions, FDIC insurance, and access to the internet, savings bonds aren’t as common, but they still provide a way to save. You can learn more about bonds and check out interest rates at the Treasury Direct.

Bonds typically behave more like CDs than a savings account. You are usually required to hold the bond for a certain amount of time before cashing it out, and if you cash it out early you’re subject to a small penalty. There are two primary types of bonds for you to choose from�’one that is tied to inflation and one that isn’t. Rates change with economic conditions so you’ll obviously want to check to see what interest rates are before buying a bond.

Again, if liquidity is more of a concern to you, a high-yield savings account or money market account is likely going to be your best bet. But if you’re putting money aside specifically for a distant event or purchase, then a CD or savings bond may be the better option depending on the interest rate environment.

That’s right. By being an Amazon Prime Member, you get access to books for free. Borrow what you like and keep it as long as you want. Unlike the public library, you won’t be fined for returning that Bestseller late. It’s like having your own virtual library.

Here’s how the service works:

• Own a Kindle Device. The service works with all generations. If you’re planning on buying on for the holidays, make sure you pass along this information to the recipient of your gift.
• Sign Up for Prime Membership. In addition to getting free two-day shipping on millions of items, you’ll also get access to over 10,000 movies and TV shows. You can even take advantage of an Amazon Prime free trial.
• Read Books for Free. There are over 5,000 titles to choose from, including more than 100 current and former New York Times Bestsellers, available to you through Amazon’s Lending Library. You can borrow up to one a month with no due dates.

Sample Titles to Choose From

Some sample titles that you can choose from include:

• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
• The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desi
• Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
• The Big Short by Michael Lewis
• The Everything Soup, Stew, and Chili Cookbook by Belinda Hulin
• We Are All Weird by Seth Godin

Costs of Prime Membership

You get your first month of Prime Membership free. After that, you will be billed just $79 a year. Two-day delivery can be very expensive and during times where you need your item quickly, you’ll appreciate being a member of Amazon Prime. In addition to faster service, you can also take the Lending Library for a test drive. Considering many titles range from $9.99 to $22.99, you’ll save yourself a bundle by borrowing books instead of buying them. Best of all you get the portability and convenience of being able to read them on your Kindle. Now how’s that for being frugal!

Having an eReader has its advantages. You can carry hundreds of books in the device without any hassle. This is ideal when you’re required to travel light or want to take something to read to the beach. The Kindle is now $79, the Kindle Touch and Kindle Keyboard are $99, and the newest version, the Kindle Fire is $199 making it a very affordable gift to give any time of year. If you’ve already got a Kindle, give Amazon Prime a try and see if it’s right for you.

After stuffing yourself to the gills with turkey and pie, the last thing you’ll want to do is spend the day in busy shopping malls and department stores looking for this year’s bargain.  You’re in luck because we’ve also highlighted some of the best online deals being offered at Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy, and JC Penney.

Here’s what you have to look forward to:

WalMart has the Compaq Presario AMD Dual-Core 15.6″ Laptop with 2GB, 250GB for $198.00.  It also has the Xbox 360 4GB Console with Kinect and Free $50 Gift Card for $199.96.  Hundreds of DVDs are $1.96 each and make great stocking stuffers.  A 40” Emerson LCD TV will also be going for $248. Get a list of the latest Walmart pre-Black Friday deals.

Target has the Nikon L105 12.1MP Digital Camera for $99.99 and the Apple iPod Touch 8GB with a $40 Gift Card for $195.  The RCA 9” Portable DVD Player will be $55.  You can also get a Playstation 3 Bundle with two games for $199.  If you’re looking for electronics, this is the place to be. Here is a list of Target deals.

Best Buy has the Apple iPhone 3GS 8GB free with a two year contract.  You can also pick up the Barnes & Noble NOOK Simple Touch eReader for $79.99.  There is also a great deal on the Dynex DX-24L200A12 24-inch Class / LCD / 1080p / 60Hz / HDTV.  You can pick one up for $79.99. X-Men, Green Lantern, and Fast Five on Blue Ray are all going to be $9.99.  Select CDs will be $2.99.  This is a great time to pick up a few extra presents for the different gift exchanges you’ll be participating in. Get a list of Best Buy deals.

JC Penney has a Cooks 1.5-qt. Slow Cooker for $7.88.  It also will be selling Juniors Denim and Twill Pants for $12.99 and Juniors Puffer Vests and Hoodies for $12.99.  Graphic Tees for Guys will be $8.88 and Home Expressions 30×54″ Bath Towels will be $3.88.  Genuine Pearl Earrings, Necklace and Bracelet Set for the Ladies will be $17.99 and Gift Pendants or Leather Inspirational Bracelets  will be $9.99.  There’s something on sale for everyone on Black Friday. More JC Penney deals.

As you can see, there are plenty of sales to look forward to.  To see a more comprehensive list of Black Friday specials, visit http://www.theblackfriday.com.  You can even see the sales ads for all the stores in full color.  This allows you to chart the course of your day and hopefully land everything on your gift list before supplies run out.

While changing your buying behavior takes more than a tip sheet, there are some problems that can be fixed without your ever missing them. Consider taking the “never-again” pledge and see how much you can save by ditching the following seven shopping habits.

1. Don’t Double Up With BOGOs

Buy-one-get-one-free offers require you buy two of a product, so ask yourself a few questions before going for the second item. Do you have enough storage space? How long before you’ll actually use the product? What if you don’t like the first half of the deal; will you just trash the second?

2. Resist Checkout Impulse Buys

Put on your blinders while waiting in supermarket lines. Merchants place tempting items directly in your line of sight — like tabloid newspapers — so you’ll grab and stash them in your cart. Check out “9 Ways Supermarkets Suck You In” for more sneaky strategies to avoid.

3. Nix Extended Warranties

Clerks selling electronics, appliances and other big-ticket items are often trained to push extended warranties. These upsells cost far more than they’re worth, since most of these products already come with manufacturer warranties for at least the first year. Extended warranties also can be difficult to cash in on, should the product break down.

4. Avoid Gift Wrap Services

Gift wrapping and gift boxes, particularly those purchased online, usually cost far more than they’re worth. Pick up your own supplies at the dollar store and get out the tape. Better yet, recycle gift bags you’ve received in the past, or consult Martha Stewart’s “Gift-wrapping Ideas” to re-purpose common household items for a truly unique approach.

5. Forgo Store Credit Cards

Merchants offer savings when you sign up for their credit cards, but you’ll ultimately pay through the nose via interest rates and potential late fees. For some reason, just applying for these cards also dings your credit rating. Just say no and, instead, buy cheap gift cards from websites like GiftCardGranny for your preferred merchants. You can save anywhere from 10 percent to 50 percent and still buy the merchandise you want at the card’s face value.

6. Don’t Drink and Shop

There’s usually a healthy mark-up on drinks sold in store coolers. If you’re the type that needs a bottle of soda or water to make it through a dreary shopping trip, plan ahead and bring your own from home.

7. Prevent Gift Card Waste

According to an article on Kiplinger.com, American households have an average of $300 in unused gift cards collecting dust in their wallets, purses and sock drawers. Holding onto gift cards is a costly habit, one which can be remedied by exchanging them for cash on Gift Card Exchange Day. Scheduled for Dec. 26, this one-day online event serves as both a reminder and a resource to trade gift cards for greenbacks, with resellers competing for your unwanted bounty.

8. Dodge Daily Deals

Daily deal sites like Groupon and LivingSocial make saving look easy, and as a result make spending even easier. Thanks to overzealous deal purchasing, there’s now an entire industry made up of merchants who buy your unused daily deals for resale. If you habitually purchase daily deals and rarely use them, consider going cold turkey for a while.

As a consumer and money-saving expert, Andrea Woroch dissects retail trends and provides smart shopping and money-management tips to help Americans save more. She has worked with top news outlets across the country including NBC’s Today, Good Morning America, New York Times, USA Today and Kiplinger Personal Finance. For better buying tips and personal finance advice, follow Andrea on Facebook and Twitter or check out her website atwww.AndreaWoroch.com.

I’ve been an ardent computer user since the early 90s.  This is actually quite a big deal, considering I was in middle school or so at the time.  I still remember my first computer, an Intel DX4 100 Mhz  (brace yourself, more nerd-dom incoming).  I then upgraded to an AMD K6 233 Mhz, followed by a Pentium III 450 Mhz (overclocked to 600 Mhz), and three years later I hopped back on the AMD bandwangon with a Mobile Athlon XP clocked to 3.2 Ghz. And now, 6 years later, I’m finally sitting on an Intel Core i5 clocked to 3.0 Ghz.

Suffice to say I’m a real hardcore computer geek.  If you’re also a computer hardware fan, you’ll notice that I’m also an EXTREMELY cheap ass, as I actually upgrade my computer infrequently, skipping generations of new chips in between (generally, I’ve upgraded about every 3+ years).

The fact is, I always consider a computer a major purchase.  My mindset was shaped by the hefty $2,000 price tags circa 1994, and I haven’t been able to shake that. (I suppose my wallet should thank me for being a 90s computer guy at heart.)

Because of the hefty price tag in my head, I was always incredibly wary of buying a laptop computer.  Not too many years ago, you’d have to part with quite a pretty penny to get comparable performance out of a laptop computer compared to a desktop computer.

Thankfully, we’re well into the 21st century and buying choices and options have never been better for the average laptop shopper.  Whatever amount you’re comfortable spending, you can really go far (in performance) with your dollars. Here I’ll break down one of HP’s most popular laptops as an example.

The Ultimate Bang for Your Buck: HP’s dv6t Quad Edition

This is the quintessential mainstream laptop that will be solid for both your wallet and performance needs.  All configurations of the HP dv6t quad edition laptops come with a quad-core processor (the brain of the computer), making it immediately faster than all of the older processors I’ve listed above (except for my desktop Core i5) — combined.

When you think about it, it’s really amazing how far along computers have come in terms of hardware capability.  We still have the same word processor software, similar web browsing experience, etc.  Unless you’re a hardcore computer gamer, your computing experience probably hasn’t changed all that much through out the years.

The best seller HP dv6 quad edition with Blu-ray player is currently at $854.99 after coupon “NBK85678″, includes latest perks such as USB 3.0 and a fast Radeon graphics card.

In that vain, the HP dv6t quad edition series of laptops will last you many years to come.  This laptop has almost the same exact hardware specifications as a MacBook Pro 15 which runs about $1,800 at retail.  Comparatively, the dv6t usually costs around $800.  In fact, it gets you a faster graphics card (for those hardcore gamers we mentioned earlier), more RAM, and a free blu-ray player.  Say what you will about the PC vs Mac debate, but PCs usually give you way more performance and features for a much, much cheaper price.

How Long Will Your Shiny New Laptop Last?

I’ve already mentioned above that a new laptop such as the HP dv6t quad edition will easily last you at least a few years.  The exact time frame, however, depends completely on the type of work/play you do on the computer.  If you use only all the basic things such as word processing, streaming videos, listening to music, and web browse — you might use your new HP laptop for 5 or even more years.  The fact is, software in those aspects won’t really catch up to your dv6’s processing abilities until many years later.

Now, conversely, if you (or someone in the household) plays a significant amount of computer games, or dabbles in the realm of video/photo editing, you will probably need to upgrade the computer after 2 to 3 years of extensive use.

Whatever laptop you end up buying, you can rest assured you’re getting a pretty solid value (well, as long as you’re not getting out-right ripped off, like 2x the price of a comparable machine) because a new computer today should serve you well for many years if you take care of it.  Computers have come a long way since 1994, and the things I can do on my laptop now amazes me when I think back to the days of a 4 MB (that’s right, “MB” not “GB”) RAM module, costing me over $100 just so I can play this silly game call X-Wing.  It’s a good time for a computer nerd (especially a cheap one), and its a great time for all computer users out there.

1. Find a friend or family member to stay with overnight. Staying with the people that you care the most about is far more fun than spending the night alone in the most expensive luxury hotel. If this is not an option for you, consider signing up for an account at CouchSurfing.org. It’s free to join and easy to find a place to stay for a night or two. Look at the profiles listed, contact the member with your request, and voila, you score free lodging for a day or two. It’s as easy as that. My friend Vicky traveled all over Latin America very cheaply as a Couch Surfer.
2. Pack snacks and beverages that are easy to consume in the car. Using the passenger seat as my “kitchen”, I was able to prepare a number of hassle-free snacks including pretzels with individual tubs of peanut butter, fresh fruit and raw veggies, and pumpkin seeds. I also have a cooler stocked with ice and bottles of water and juice. This allows me to eat and drink what I want without having to stop every few hours for a meal. You can easily put together a couple of sandwiches and eat these as well. Think about items that require little effort to eat while driving. Squeezable tubes of yogurt as well as individual bags of chips, crackers, and dried fruit are easy to unwrap or open with one hand.
3. Find the cheapest gas by using a mobile app like GasBuddy. Using my iPod Touch, I am able to locate the cheapest gas wherever I go. I just open an app like GasBuddy, allow the internal GPS to locate the city that I’m closest to, and select the filling station that has the best price based on the listings. This allows me to get out and stretch my legs from time to time as well. (By the way, I have to have a wireless Internet connection to do this. I prefer Virgin Mobile’s MiFi card because there is no contract and it is very reliable. You can connect up to four wireless devices using it.)
4. Avoid buying cheesy souvenirs. I have a brand new digital camera that I couldn’t wait to put to use. Instead of picking up bags upon bags of t-shirts, postcards, and magnets, I opted to take really beautiful pictures. High up in the mountains of Alabama, I was able to get some incredible shots. I was also able to see sights that I’ve only seen on TV. Now’s how’s that for amazing? If you really want something to help you remember a trip, consider picking up a cheap spiral notebook or dollar store journal. Record your memories that way.
5. Earn some income while traveling. There are a number of income boosting opportunities that can come out of a road trip. For example, if you’re a writer, you can share your experience with others by writing a travelogue of how-to article. The Lost Girls have a list of websites willing to pay you for your work on their website: http://www.lostgirlsworld.com/2011/01/travel-freelancing/. You can also take photos and sell them to magazines or websites. Here is another great resource: http://www.great-adventures.com/know/plan/publish.html.