Recently, my friend Yogin told me about a website called Farecast.com. It’s actually been around for a while now but somehow I’ve missed it… so maybe you have as well. There’s basically two parts to the website that are unique. Let’s say I’m planning a trip from Portland to San Francisco on 7/25-8/1. First they provide me the lowest fare history, which charts the lowest fare for your trip for up to the last 90 days:

Pretty cool! You can try to predict any trends yourself or simply see if you’re getting a good price relative to recent history. Another possible way to use the historical information is to help you decide what to bid on a site like Priceline.com or what to accept on Hotwire.

But FareCast also provides their own 7-day fare prediction to help you decide whether to buy now or wait. The arrow show how confident they are about it based on their algorithms:

To me, I would think the fare might actually rise more given the graph. But according to an independent audit, Farecast’s prediction accuracy was 74.5 percent. Not bad, but not awesome? But they’ll also put a little money where their mouths are by offering fare insurance when they are confident you should wait. Here’s how it works:

So you pay $10 upfront and wait. If they are wrong and prices go up, they reimburse you the difference. If they are right and prices go down, hopefully you saved at least $10. Worst case, prices stay the same and you’re out $10. This is interesting… anyone use this insurance before? Either way, I’ll definitely use this site in the future as part of my airfare research.

Added
Kayak is great, but don’t forget to try and book directly on the airline’s websites whenever possible, so you can take advantage of price drop refunds.

First, I just want to say thanks for all the great and helpful comments on my post on trying to find a new mattress. I read every single comment, used many of them, and have purchased a new mattress! But before going into that I wanted to do a quick summary of all the tips.

Don’t go cheap. But don’t overpay, either.
Most readers, my friends, and even our parents told us not to go cheap on a mattress. People say you spend a third of your life on this thing. I agree that you shouldn’t buy solely based on price. But as you’ll see below, buying a mattress is intentionally confusing for the consumer, and the price on the exact same quality mattress can vary literally by a thousand dollars! So I respectfully disagree with “you get what you pay for”. Being frugal isn’t the same as being cheap! It’s shopping smart.

Go out to some stores and try them out.
Another good piece of advice that I got was to go out to the stores and try them all out. As reader and former mattress salesman Tim F suggests, you should wear some comfortable clothes (no skirts for women!) and spend at least 5 minutes laying on each bed exactly as you would normally sleep. You’re dropping a grand on something that’s supposed to last 10 years, so take your time and don’t let anyone rush you.

The exact same mattress can have 50 different names…
Chesterfield? Summerbrooke? Belmont? While looking at traditional coil mattresses, every single store had a different British name for what looked like the exact same bed. This is on purpose. From MattressHotline:

Why does each retailer have a different name for the same product?
This gives each retailer the opportunity to set their own unique price points and also give the perception of exclusivity.

Translation: We have huge profit margins, and we don’t want to enable you to easily comparison shop.

Check out this huge list of equivalent names just for the Simmons brand alone. I mean, I’ve heard of rebadging products, but a separate name for every store? Some brands attempt to justify this by using slightly different fabrics or designs that cover the identical mattresses. If you can figure out the name game, they also have comfort and durability guides that may be useful. (Thanks to reader John Tarnok.)

As for memory foam beds, I’m sure it’s equally hard to compare across brands. A salesperson said that Tempurpedic has a patent on their specific type of foam, so no other brand would be able to exactly offer the same product. My feeling is that as time goes by the copycats will catch up soon enough.

…so everyone can offer low-price guarantees.
You may have noticed that every single mattress store guarantees the lowest price. These names are why!! It gives them complete discretion. If they are willing to match your price, then they’ll give you an “equivalent” mattress (be careful that it is indeed equivalent). If they aren’t willing to go that low, they can simply say that it’s not the same mattress.

Our Experience – Trying to create our own Heavenly Bed

Like many people, we stayed at a Westin hotel (thanks to the Starwood American Express card) and we really liked their Heavenly Bed. In fact, you can buy the mattress and linens directly from them or also at Nordstrom’s. A queen mattress set with no linens is $1450 (including shipping). Recently there was even a 40% off coupon which someone was nice enough to e-mail me, but it’s now expired. So we had to create our own!
[Read more…]

I mentioned before that we were involved in a volunteer trip to Haiti, and part of it simply involved donating a bunch of unwanted clothing. We also went to a bunch of different Salvation Army’s and Goodwills to find some additional cheap clothing to give away. While doing so, I noticed something that in retrospect is obvious – the stores next to the country-club type neighborhoods have the nicest stuff. There was name-brand clothing and shoes everywhere. We picked up some like-new Polo jeans for $6 – it was like shopping at Buffalo Exchange but 75% off. I’m sure the more fashion-savvy could probably pick some stuff up and re-sell it on eBay for a profit.

Another less-exciting discovery? You can buy used underwear at some stores. We’re talking tightie-whities here! 😕 I suppose they serve a need, but who donates lightly-used underwear anyways? I don’t think I can bear to do so myself, but next time I do a donation run I will be sure to throw in a new pack of Hanes.

Sorry for the relative silence recently, I had friends over for the weekend. A while I ago I wrote about choosing frugal hobbies, and one great thing about Portland is that the biggest draw, regardless of cost, is really the outdoors. You get crisp mountain air, gorgeous views, and the main price of admission is simply your willingness to walk. We hiked to the top of Multnomah Falls and Dog Mountain, where you can catch views of both Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens when it’s clear. Here are actual pictures we took, to me they almost look like postcards!

The total cost per person including gas, tolls, and park fees was less than $5. Also, we simply packed our own picnic lunches to eat at the top. Hiking is definitely something I need to do more of, and would be a great summer counterpart to our more expensive hobby of skiing.

It’s time for a new mattress. Our current one was found 10 years ago from a university mailing list for $75. It’s actually a nice mattress and the seller said it cost $400 new and was only a year old. I remember believing her because she lived in a luxury apartment complex and the top to her red Mazda Miata convertible was also in the apartment. Anyways, it served me very well for a decade, but now the bed is really starting to sag in the middle and I’ve been waking up with a sore back every morning.

In addition, we are having our relocation expenses reimbursed, so we figure buying now won’t cost us any more, and we can avoid paying sales tax while still in Oregon.

Keeping in mind the previous story was my only mattress-buying experience, we set out to find a new place to sleep. After seeing an ad for $99/piece at a local mattress store, and decided to check it out. I figured, if $200 is cheap, then $500 should buy us a decent set, right?

Would I like to try laying down on a pillowtop? Sure… $1,500!

How about a Tempurpedic foam mattress? Nice… $2,500?!

Wait, what about the $200 set? Here it is… Yikes, you can feel every spring! This is supposed to be a new mattress? It might work for a guest room, assuming you don’t like having visitors. Teaser mattresses… who knew.

After trying several beds with enormous price tags and being subjected to too many choices, we left. Next stop – trusty Costco! I was surprised to discover they even have their own Kirkland line of mattresses! But this one caught my eye – the NovaForm Queen Fresh Dreams Memory Foam Mattress on sale for $550.

After reading a couple of online reviews, it seems like a solid bet. Older models had a certain smell to them, but the newer ones apparently don’t. Also, there have been scattered comments about the mattress not expanding properly into a perfect box shape. Since it doesn’t come with a platform, I know that I’ll have to make my own or just buy a piece of plywood to put on top of our current boxspring since foam mattresses need to be on a solid surface.

Either way, I’m not too worried because of Costco’s great return policy. I’ve read that they will even pick up the mattress again from you for free. I’ll have to confirm that, but this is looking tempting. Anyone out there with any experiences with this mattress? I’ve heard great things about memory foam mattresses in general, and from my test-drives I think I would like them.

Another idea was to simply buy a $100-$200 foam mattress topper, and add that to my current bed. But since my mattress was already sagging, I decided against it. Costco does sell a basic Serta queen mattress for $400. Madame X over at My Open Wallet also bought a new mattress recently.

I just saw a blurb on TV about a new site called Yapta, or Your Amazing Personal Travel Assistant. On the surface, it’s just another airfare price tracker that can be found on sites like Travelocity.

But, if you’ve already purchased your ticket, you can enter your confirmation code and Yapta will then track prices on that flight and alert you if the price drops. Why is this good?

Did you know you could get a refund or travel credit when prices drop after you.ve bought a ticket? Most people don’t. The airlines offer this policy only if you buy on the airline website (and they want you to have the confidence to buy early). Yapta alerts people when prices drop so they can get these refunds and credits from the airlines.

This is a good reminder not to buy on sites like Orbitz unless they truly have the best price after fees. It’s usually cheaper or the same price to buy directly on the airline website, and you might even get this price drop protection.

I think the refund is often in the form of a voucher good on a future flight on the same airline, but it’s still worth a shot. Currently, it works on Alaska, America West, American, Continental, Delta, Northwest, Southwest, and US Airways.

Since I already wrung a few extra dollars from my cell phone bill with the Sprint SERO plan, I figured I’d try the same with another monthly expense – Cable TV and Broadband internet access with Comcast. Even though I know there are slightly cheaper options than Comcast in my area (satellite and DSL), I like being able to use my existing TiVo and the speed of Cable internet. To compensate, I try to get all the discounts possible.

In the past, I’ve already haggled $138 off my cable bill over six months. Then when I had to move, instead of moving my service, I canceled and signed up again in order to take advantage of their new customer promotions. This saved me another $250 including the free modem.

My discount expired a few months ago, and I’ve been paying full price without really thinking about it. But I just got notice of another rate hike yesterday, and my new bill is now barely under $100! Time for another call to Comcast. Here’s how the conversation went:

Comcast:How can I help you today?

Me: Hi, I’ve been a customer for a while now, and I’ve been seeing commercials for [competitor’s name] offering DSL for [price less than Comcast]. I’ve also noticed that you are offering new customers $19.99/month for High-speed internet. Is there any way you can offer that to me as well?

Comcast: Sure, let me check. [on hold] Yes, it shows you are eligible for a discount of $10 a month for 6 months. We can’t match [competitor’s name] because their DSL is slower than our service.

Me: Okay, great. What about TV? Am I eligible for any discounts there?

Comcast: Yes, you can get $15 off for 3 months. I have applied these to your account.

With a 10-minute phone call, I just saved another $105 ($60+$45) off of retail. And from the way she talked, it seemed like the computer has already pre-approved each customer for certain levels of discounts. If you’re paying full price, free money may be sitting there waiting for you to claim it! You don’t even need to employ any verbal ninja skills or Jedi mind-tricks.

I’m sure other cable providers have similar promotions. You can compare your currently available offers from Comcast, AT&T, TimeWarner, Verizon, etc. at BroadbandNational, using your address and phone number.

If you’re going to Vegas, should you even bother worrying about being frugal? I mean, I’ve never seen so many Hummers in my life, and you need sunglasses while walking around at 4am. It’s the land of excess.

But one idea for the frugalites out there is the Las Vegas Coupon Run. Many casinos give you sign-up bonuses for signing up for their player’s card, which basically a “frequent flier card” for gamblers. (If you gamble a lot, these programs in themselves can be very valuable. But I don’t, so I just toss them.) The sign-up bonuses are usually in the form of coupons or “Fun Books”, which vary from free drinks, free trinkets, 2-for-1 dinner buffets, free Slot Play, or what’s called Match Play coupons. A $5 Match Play coupon means that if you bet $5 and win, you’d get $10. If you lose, you’re still out that $5. Theoretically, if you play a game that is very close to 50/50 odds, the value of a $5 Match Play coupon would be $2.50. You can also sometimes find them in as ads in the Vegas flyers and free tourist brochures. Get enough of these coupons, and it starts to add up.

So what you do? Basically, whenever you visit a new casino, just walk up to the Player’s Club counter and ask if they offer any sign-up perks. You can also try this FunBook Finder, but it doesn’t look like it’s been updated for a while. Many of the better perks are for places off the Strip.

Although, I’m not doing this myself this time around, I did do this last time I went as a broke college student. We drove the 10 hours to Vegas instead of flying, split a $59 hotel room, and just explored the city since we already had a car this way. We ended up scoring lots of gawdy t-shirts, keychains, shot glass, and cheap drinks. But the best part – we actually made about $200 cash per person! Most of this was after getting a scratch-off ticket and earning $100 in free slot machine credits at Palace Station. Essentially my first trip to Vegas was free! I tried asking around this week and the perks seems less abundant, but they were still out there. If you are looking for some cheap thrills and you want to explore many different casinos anyways, it can be a good time.

For another view, read this article on the Anatomy of a Coupon Run, which also included these hints:

• Look everywhere for coupons.
• Read everything you can about how coupons work. – Understand the difference between coupons that carry risk and those that are risk-free.
• Have a separate bankroll for couponing. – Keep track of your results.
• Be sure to read the fine print – Look for blackout dates and restrictions.
• Make a game plan to maximize your time.
• Don’t be afraid to use a coupon for a game you don’t know how to play.
• Always bet the maximum amount of money allowed for matchplay coupons.
• Never overbet your bankroll just because you have a coupon.
• The more people pooling their coupons on a run the merrier.

While you’re out exploring, consider spending some of your winnings on the Top 10 Bargains In Las Vegas. I’ve had the $4.95 Steak Dinner, the 99 cent Shrimp cocktail, and the $1 Michelob. They all paled in the comparison to the 99 cent deep-fried Twinkie and 99 cent 1/4 lb. hot dog at Mermaids on Fremont Street. 5,000 calories for $2, you can’t beat that 😉 In fact, I should add them to my post on What Does 200 Calories Cost?

Here are some free and useful phone numbers that I am always glad are in my cell phone.

1-800-FREE-411 – Free 411 Directory assistance. Why pay 99 cents a call? They can even text message you the phone number of the business you’re looking for, so you don’t need to scramble for a pen. Details here.

1-800-GOOG-411 – Free 411 Directory assistance from Google. Uses voice recognition, and connects you for free.

1-888-DO-FRUCALL – Wondering if the price you see in a store is fair? Just call FruCall and type in the UPC bar code number, and it will tell you the best price online. Details here.

1-800-555-TELL – Looking for local movie showtimes? Sports news? Driving directions? Stock quotes? Try TellMe. I use this a lot to kill time when waiting around for friends.

Store them in your cell phones now, or you’ll be sorry. 🙂 Please add your own in the comments!