Don't Buy a Bike - Borrow One!: Tip-of-the-Day #265

A colleague just turned me on to The Bay Area Bike Share. It is the first formal bike sharing system in the San Francisco Bay Area, with 700 bikes and 70 stations across San Francisco, Redwood City, Mountain View, Palo Alto, and San Jose. The fleet of specially designed, heavy-duty, very durable bikes are locked into a network of docking stations located throughout the region. I just found one such station three blocks from my office but they are ALL over the financial district. Bikes can be rented from and returned to any station in the system, and bikes are available for use 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
How cool is that??

To use the system, you have to become a member; options include an Annual membership for $88 (I've spent more on a cab, fyi), a 3-Day membership for $22, a 24-Hour membership for $9, or pay-by-month for an Annual membership for just $99 paid in installments of $8.25/month.

This is neat for so many reasons. I've been considering buying a bike for a while to see if I would enjoy commuting to work in that way. But, I was worried if I bought a bike and didn't like riding it, I'd be throwing out hundreds of dollars. Problem solved, now!

Check out bayareabikeshare.com and give it a whirl! I'm gonna. Wheeeeee!

Audit Your Cell Phone Bill: Tip-of-the-Day #264

I've been a Verizon Wireless subscriber for nearly two years. I made the switch from Sprint in 2011 and if memory serves, the catalyst was a migration from my Blackberry to an iPhone.

For two years, I've been paying nearly $200/month for my text/talk/data plan. That includes 1400 minutes of talk and text and 2GB of data. Oh, there's also an extra $9.99 in there for a dummy phone line that I had to set up when my first iPhone was stolen, and there's $9.99 for insurance, also in the mix.

Any time I would mention to a friend, colleague or family member what I'm paying for monthly service, I would get the same reaction. Jaw drop, widened eyes and some sort of proclamation of surprise, like, "What?! I'm only paying $100!". I always assumed they were using some spotty carrier like AT&T (unreliable on the west coast, just sayin'). So I chalked it up to a willingness on my part to pay more for reliability.

Well, yesterday I phoned "611" on my phone and was patched through to someone in Verizon Customer Support. I explained that I was simply tired of paying $200 a month for my cell phone service when I'm not a power user and everyone I know is paying half that. The somewhat sympathetic support agent promised to look into the details of my billing and "see what she could do."

Turns out I'd been paying for a data plan associated with my Blackberry that I hadn't owned in 2 years! It was $45 extra a month. $45! Before hysteria could set in, Ashley (we quickly got to a first name basis) told me that I would have been paying $30 for 2GB of data so really I was only overpaying $15 a month for two years. Well, that's $360! Nothing to sneeze at! I asked how it could have gone unnoticed by Verizon that I was overpaying on a plan that didn't even suit my device. Why don't they audit the accounts of long-time customers? She had no explanation for that. I then learned that if I were on the "Share Everything" plan which launched just over a year ago, I would only be paying $100 a month. FOR EVERYTHING - TEXT, TALK, AND DATA. At this I nearly did let the hysteria upend the conversation. Why hadn't they "shared everything" WITH ME??

Turns out, we, the people, are charged with auditing our own cell phone service providers and ensuring that we have internalized all of the latest plan structures. Add to that, we must conduct our own usage analysis, proactively phone customer support (wait on hold indefinitely) and insist we be migrated to the plan that only costs HALF of what we're currently paying. Oy.

Let me sum it all up by saying: In the end, I was credited $90 for six months worth of overpaying for a data plan I shouldn't have been on in the first place. Verizon was unwilling to go back the full two years. Whatev. And, I was moved over to the "Share Everything" Plan and will now be paying significantly less each month.

Folks! It's worth it to check yourself every now and again because no one will have your back like you do. Happy Friday!

Lose Weight, Save Cash: Tip-of-the-Day #263

Somehow I made it through the summer without crash dieting but am now faced with the sudden realization that I must address the extra lbs before it gets out of control. That said, I have participated in the Jenny Craig program (with some success) in the past, but found it to be fairly expensive. I was spending @$200 a week on frozen foods for myself and still had to buy fresh fruits and veggies on top of that! I mentioned to a colleague that I was gravitating back in that direction and she suggested Weight Watchers. Beyond the glowing reviews about the program and the choices and the success rate, she also mentioned that the cost is much lower. Seems that unlike Jenny meals, which can only be purchased from Jenny Craig, Lean Cuisines, Smart Ones and Eating Right are all available for purchase at most supermarkets and sell for around $2 a piece (coupons, twofers and rewards memberships bring the cost down low). All of those lines subscribe to the WW program and feature points right on their box front.

So, I thought, why not? I signed up for a WW membership online. For $65 I have a 3-month membership that gives me access to their tools, tips and online community. And, I just bought a week's worth of food for myself and my bf, including fruits and veggies, all for $180. On Jenny I would have spent 2.5X that for both of us!

I'm excited to be on a program that makes me totally accountable for everything I put in my mouth. But I also love the flexibility - last night I made fresh tilapia, chard and brown rice. Cooked it all up with vegetable broth instead of butter or oil. So low cal and so good and had points left over at the end of the day!

Spend less money and try Weight Watchers if you're ready to jump on the weight loss train. It's a long term win given the program's structure. I'll keep you posted on my experience!

Uber Cool Way to Get Around Town: Tip-of-the-Day #262

This week I had a sales meeting at the Hyatt Regency downtown and it was scheduled for three days. Parking at the Hyatt is prohibitively expensive and so a colleague mentioned she'd be using Uber - an app for your iPhone or Android that connects drivers with people who need rides. When I explained the concept to my sister, she said "Oh. You mean, gypsy cabs?" Seems that's what it was called when she lived in New York before the dot com boom. Whatever it's called (and there are a few competing players in the space now; Lyft, Uber and SideCar to name a few) it's the best invention since..er, taxis.

But, here's why my experience with Uber was so darn good. For one, I live out in the "avenues" of San Francisco. There aren't taxis in my neck of the woods - especially in the early a.m. or late at night. Uber gave me the option of searching for a taxi, what they call UberX (an average Joe like you or me most likely rocking a hybrid), a black car or an SUV. On Monday morning the only available service was a black car. It sounded expensive, so I quickly requested a fare quote to get a sense of what it would run me. $34 from the avenues to the fidi. Not bad considering that it included gratuity and surcharges. I accepted the fare and requested the service. The car showed up in 6 mins flat. Best yet, I could actually watch its progression on the app, from where it had started to where I live. (Yes, a little car icon moves across your screen in real time). And, upon arrival, I was texted that my car had arrived.

I went ahead and used Uber for the next three days and after trying UberX (just as speedy and nearly half the cost) I never looked back.

Affordable, convenient and friendly technology. Loved the experience and highly recommend it in place of a. parking downtown b. taking a cab (long wait and inflated pricing with a side of guilt when tipping comes up c. public transport (not suitable for my needs when I'm time constrained).

Thanks, Uber! (Treat: Use code T9r18 to get $10 off your first ride).

Kilim Rugs Hide Wine Spills Best: Tip-of-the-Day #261

After much trial and error, I've finally concluded that Kilim rugs are truly the best at masking stains - be it wine, hair balls, or pepperoni pizza.

I was fairly certain of this before, but now that I witnessed my boyfriend drop a full glass of red wine on my new(ish) chevron rug and ruin it, I'm done. There's never so much as a hint of his tomfoolery on the living room or bedroom room Kilims - and so I finally had the aha moment.

Aha! I can only own Kilim or very dark rugs in my house from this point forward. It's not fabulous news for those of us who once dreamed of living in an all white escape. Isn't it Jennifer Lopez that has all white furniture, rugs, walls, etc.? Wonder if that changed when she had twins.

Anyhoo, just figured I'd confirm once and for all for anyone still thinking they might give that natural jute one more look...or, God forbid, consider a flokati for even a second.

It's Kilims for life. Not that that's a bad thing but it does mean that you'll be spending more time at Pottery Barn. Sigh.