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Pod hotels are not a new phenomenon. They have been around for many years, but most travelers have never heard of them. The concept started in Japan as “capsule hotels”, that were, and are still being used mainly by traveling businessmen on stopovers. However, pod hotels are becoming more and more popular with vacation and holiday travelers as well, because they are convenient and cost a lot less than regular hotels. They can be found in the United States, Britain, Europe, and Asia, usually conveniently located in, or near to major airports. The pod hotel concept is just in its infancy in the U. S. and Europe, but is growing by leaps and bounds as more and more business and holiday travelers demand this unique service. Entrepreneurs are responding by creating very small, pod-like hotel rooms that are usually rented by the hour, or number of hours at a fraction of the cost of regular hotel rooms. Most pod hotel rooms are small, but comfortable and convenient, and they can have all the amenities of a regular hotel room. They can be a good choice for budget-conscious business travelers and vacationers. Some pod hotels are located at airports such as the ones at Yotel. com, situated in London’s Heathrow and Gatwick Airports. EasyHotels. com have pod hotels in London, Zurich, Basal, and Budapest. QBICHotels. com have pod hotels located in Amsterdam and Antwerp. A New York pod hotel is the PickwickArms. com. There is a new concept in pod hotels called Metronap Sleep Pods. These space age styled pods are springing up not only on the concourses of airports, but in strategic locations in office buildings. They are perfect for tourists and business travelers, as well as tired people and executives that just want to have a short nap. Even though these sleep pods are situated out in the open, they partially enclose for privacy, but are not claustrophobic. They are also equipped with noise canceling headphones. The rental cost is by the hour and is reasonably priced. Although this brand new sleeping accommodation is actually a hostel and not technically a pod hotel it is worth mentioning especially if you are traveling with one or two other people. It is called The Jumbo Hostel. There is a very good reason for its name. You see, it is an actual real Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet airplane which has been converted into a twenty-five room hostel. Each room has three beds. The rooms are approximately six square meters (a little larger than six square yards) in size and about three meters high (about nine feet) from the floor to the ceiling. Each of the rooms has a flat screen TV and access to wireless broadband. There is also a luxury suite located in the converted cockpit that has a panoramic view of all the air traffic at the airport. This Jumbo jet even has a neat café inside where vacationers can get a drink and a bite to eat. Travelers on holiday can even walk out onto one of the wings! Don’t worry, you won’t fall off as there is a railing. If you are visiting, or on a stopover in Stockholm and stay at the Jumbo Hostel, you don’t have to take a taxi to catch your flight as it’s only a very short walk to the airport’s main terminal. And if you are not planning to stay at the Jumbo Hostel it might be a fun adventure, especially if you are with children, to visit this magnificent plane and have breakfast or a meal or just a cup of coffee in the café. And guess where this cool Jumbo Jet airliner landmark is located. At the entrance to Stockholm’s Arlanda International airport where over seventeen million travelers pass through each year. This great concept has been created by entrepreneur Oscar Dioes and is Arlanda’s first hostel. This is probably the only commercial airliner in the world where travelers are guaranteed not to get jet lag or have to worry about overcoming the fear of flying. To find out more about this unique alternative accommodation, visit JumboHostel. com.

Some of us who’ve had the luxury to travel know that it can be costly. The cost for anyone who has done so with the whole family can often cost many thousands of dollars. When I would go on vacation, thinking about ways to manage my money seldom crossed my mind. After all, I’m on vacation and I want to do anything and everything. I’ve learned that coming home to an empty bank account takes away from the memories and I now know that budgeting is important if you travel. Do you want to travel on a budget and still make it the best vacation you have ever had? I’ve created a list of money saving vacation tips.

TRAVEL WITH FRIENDS:

Hotels are expensive. If you want to stay at place with an ocean view balcony expect to spend more than $100 a night. Bring along the kids and you’ve already spent $1500 before you dipped your feet into the soft white sand. An option you might want to consider is to vacation with friends and rent an entire house. If you look online you can rent a 4 bedroom house in near Tampa Bay for $1500 or less. Take advantage of the pull out couch for the children and you are suddenly on vacation for half the price.

BUDGET WITH FOOD:

If you eat out for meal, your vacation can be expensive. Try to save cash every way you can. One of the best ways I discovered how to manage my money was to bring a homemade lunch to the beach. You can feed the entire family for less than $25. Breakfast can some cereal and to make it fun for the kids by letting them pick something they would never be allowed to eat back home. Dinner can be at an all you can eat buffet or some simple restaurant.

BUDGET WITH SPENDING:

If you hope to visit every single attraction, make sure you plan everything out before you leave. Some places offer coupons online like buy 1 get 1 free or children under 12 play free. If you can avoid Disney Land or amusement parks. The kids might have more fun seeing a dolphin in the ocean instead of at Sea World.

Vacations can be expensive but they don’t need to be. If you create a budget, make a plan and save as much as you can on dining you can create a fantastic vacation at half the cost. I’ve listed just a few of the ways I’ve learned how to manage my money while on vacation. Check out more of my blog for more money saving tips. You can sign up for my free E-Book, free budget spreadsheet, free calculators and links to various other tools. We also have a few leaked videos to help with your finances.

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With the current recession, consumers are thinking about ways to cut costs, and save money while still maintaining some sense of normality.  This difficulty becomes most apparent during the holiday season, when generous spirits and a desire to buy the best gifts conflict with the realities of a diminished budget.  According to a recent survey from PriceGrabber.com, 75% of shoppers are more concerned about holiday gift giving this year than they were in previous years.  According to the same survey, only 41% of respondents said they plan to start saving for the holidays earlier than last year and 36% admitted that they don’t save up for the holidays at all.

Retailers are also worried about the upcoming holiday season.  Last year’s sales were down by more than 2%, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers.  A drop in November sales of 2.7% and an additional drop in sales in December of 1.7% added up to the largest industry decline since 1970.  With consumers worried about rising gas prices, falling housing values and disappearing jobs, this year might just decline even more sharply this year.

So the question remains: how can concerned consumers ensure the holidays don’t wreck their newly created sense of frugality or newly tightened budgets.  Experts recommend you move to an “all cash” holiday.

Create a budget: How much money will you spend on gifts?  Decorations?  Special events?  Build a budget based on last year’s expenses, credit card receipts and big purchases.  Prioritize expenses, figure out what you can afford to part with and where you can cut down on costs.  Then, stick to your new holiday budget. Start saving now- Based on your newly created budget, start saving.  Set up an automatic deposit of a fixed amount from your paychecks into a savings account, keeping that money off-limits except for holiday expenses like plane tickets, gifts or decorations.  The sooner you start saving, the smaller the monthly amounts you will need to set aside. Start buying now- Items your family members want may be available at a lower price
earlier in the year.  End of season clearance sales are excellent opportunities to purchase non-perishable items, like clothes and appliances.  Items are more likely to be in stock and with greater options than later in the winter. Avoid plastic- When shopping for gifts, withdraw cash from your savings account and pay with it. Using credit cards makes the act of spending money less immediate, which makes it easier to overspend.  Using cash creates a more direct sense of spending money and makes the amount you are spending more real.  Plus, you are less likely to wrack up debt if you only spend the money you have already deposited in your special holiday savings account. Get creative: Instead of buying new decorations, make them.  Instead of buying new gifts, hand down family heirlooms or make old objects new; frame photos, refinish old furniture, or stencil designs on an old mirror.  The memories you make of stringing popcorn and cranberries for the tree or frosting cookies to give to your neighbors will quickly replace any stress from cutting back. Talk to family and friends:  Instead of buying gifts for each co-worker, plan a Secret Santa or White Elephant gift exchange.  Lower children’s holiday expectations and explain how the number of gifts might be lower, but that doesn’t affect the spirit of joy and love for the holiday.  Consider buying one large gift that the entire family can enjoy, like a new TV, instead of individual gifts for each and from each family member.

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Save time and money this holiday! What could be more practical way to shop and save time and money other than buying gifts online. There are beautiful and affordable gift baskets that will satisfy all of your “Wish List” needs and you won’t even have to leave the comfort of your home. Gift baskets come in a variety of high quality merchandise that will satisfy the taste buds and not empty your bank account.

Christmas is just around the corner folks and since most of us wait until the last minute to buy, usually everything our friends and family want are nowhere to be found. Buying gifts could be a chore sometimes, specially if the people you would buy gifts for are either hard to please or they seem to already have everything they want. Shopping gifts can be very tiring specially on holiday season when stores are very crowded and you have to fall in line when paying them.

Good thing we can now shop online and do not need to leave the comfort of our home giving us options to choose a wide selection of gifts and gift ideas without having to walk, and squeeze through crowded isles in the stores. Another advantage is that you do not need to have to gift wrap them and ship them yourselves. There are websites that offers this service for free and even giving you an option to have custom message sent together with the gifts you chose to make it more personalized.

I highly recommend LuckyGiftBaskets.com, they have affordable and beautiful gift baskets that come in a variety of high quality and fun assortments, they have a very wide online catalog, each product is categorized so you can easily choose. For instance, my favorite is the Tis’ The Season Holiday Gift Basket, which includes Charlie Brown’s Christmas “Snoopy’s Sweet Smores” Cocoa and Holiday Caramel Fruit Dip. They are unique and delicious, beautifully designed and wrapped.