This Week in Your Wallet: Preparing for Vacation Season
You wouldn’t know it from the chillier air in parts of the country, but spring is definitely in the air, and here to stay. The sunny blue skies have made for fantastic running weather — and, it turns out, a reason to daydream about summer.
Yes, I know, it just got nice and I shouldn’t be rushing hotter, humid weather. But I’m not the only one. There have been a plethora of articles about summer travel popping up over the internet, some of which I’ll proceed to share here. If you’ve just started thinking about yoursummer plans, reading these might save you a little bit of money.
First up, from CardHub, data on currency exchange services for when you travel abroad. Their study found that no-foreign-fee credit cards are the best ways to make purchases overseas. Using these cards (you can catch a full list here) can save you 7.1 percent compared to exchanging money at a bank, and 15.5 percent compared to airport exchange services. In general, CardHub found it’s best to avoid exchanging your money at an airport regardless of the credit card you’re carrying; even if your credit card does carry a foreign fee, you’ll save over 13 percent by using that card instead of the airport exchange.
Two additional tips from CardHub: If you are planning on traveling abroad this summer, be sure to bring a debit card with a low international ATM withdrawal fee; you will need cash and unless you make the conversion before you go, you’ll need to be able to withdraw the money from an ATM. Also, be sure to notify the bank of your travel plans. If you’re not a frequent traveler, the bank could get suspicious and freeze your cards (generally until they talk to you) when they see a transaction in France or Turkey (or as happened to me, Argentina).
The next piece of summer travel news comes from Hotwire.com, which did a survey and found that 30 percent of Americans plan to avoid visiting major U.S cities this summer because they believe they’re too expensive. Specifically, consumers told Hotwire they plan to avoid New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington DC and Miami. While these cities certainly can be expensive, the experts at Hotwire noted something interesting: because these cities are popular destinations for business travel, it’s possible to get extra affordable rates on the weekends, when hotels are trying to fill the vacancies left by the business travelers. As an example, Hotwire found one hotel in San Francisco that was charging $272 per night during the week, but $143 per night over the weekend.
You can see more examples of weekend savings here, but note that this pattern won’t necessarily hold true everywhere in the U.S — especially if your desired destination is known for being a great weekend getaway. “If you’re traveling to a destination that primarily caters to the leisure traveler, such a relaxing beach locale, then you could see higher prices over the weekends,” said Pierre-Etienne Chartier, vice president of the Hotwire Group.
And now, here are the other headlines for the week:
How Job-Hopping Can Hurt
How many times have you changed jobs in the last four years? If you answered “one,” or even “two,” you’re not alone. Recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that workers stay at a job for a median 4.6 years — meaning that a person could work for 10 different companies throughout their career. While many people have been forced to do this to sustain income in the wake of the recession, Learnvest recently pointed out that many recruiters see job hopping as a reason to reject a potential candidate. “Nearly 40% of recruiters and hiring managers say that a history of hopping is the single biggest obstacle for job-seekers,” they wrote.
The good news is that, depending on your field and reason for job hopping, there are ways to overcome this potentially dark mark on your resume. The first and best way, in my opinion, and echoed in the Learnvest piece, is to freelance in your desired field and build up experience that way. Employers will understand if you had to pick up lots of odd jobs to pay the bills if you can show an underlying dedication to perfecting your skills in one specific area. Another option: workyour network. Here, too, you can explain away smaller jobs nabbed for quick cash and focus onyour real skill set.
The Best Things To Buy in May
I’m sure many of you are planning on taking advantage of Memorial Day sales at the end of the month. But to help you with your planning, I wanted to quickly share this Wall Street Journal article, which explains that specifically, your best deals will be in the land of mattresses, refrigerators, and spring attire. And since the weather is finally nice, it’s good to be on the lookout for yard sales — or even consider running one yourself. Earning some extra cash heading into vacation season is never a bad idea.
Have a great week!
Jean
