Ginger Won't Snap » money

More Good News!

Ginger — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 01:41:22 +0000

So you all know that I was featured in the New York Times article about my involvement with the company Airbnb.

Now I am happy to announce that I officially work for Airbnb! I just got the offer tonight and I’m totally excited.

It’s not a lot of money and it’s a temp position to start, but I’m not really worried about any of that. Since I’m a SuperHost with them I already know the system so I’m sure I’ll do amazing and get the permanent job in a short while (which is also when I can negotiate a more reasonable salary).

I’ll be doing customer support through email, which works great for me. Airbnb is flying me out to headquarters in San Fransisco for a week of training, then sending me home with a shiny new MacBook Air so I can work remotely. I’ll be able to work anywhere there is internet. Woohoo!

This is really the best situation for me right now. I love Airbnb and being able to work from home is a godsend… It means that I’ll have the flexibility to continue working on my online shop and growing and succeeding there. So convenient!

Really, I am just thrilled and jumping all over the place!!! Everything seems to be finally falling into place.

It’s going to be a lot of work these next few months (years?). I’m essentially working 3 jobs (With Heart, Airbnb & hosting on Airbnb) plus blogging which sometimes feels like a job. I am also looking into teaching some workshops on various things around Toronto via Skillshare.

A busy girl indeed!

So obviously I’m taking on more work and throwing an epic BBQ this weekend. And a cute boy is coming. A cute boy who I’m pretty sure likes me…

Let’s see how this develops!

March Hosting Recap

Ginger — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 17:06:51 +0000

I’ve decided to start tracking my income via hosting on Airbnb. I knew I was making money, but didn’t know how much! I also wanted to see if the money I sunk into redecorating recently was worth it.

Here’s the rundown for the past month.

Total Guests: 3
Total Bookings: 4 (one guest extended her stay)
Total Nights Booked: 20
Total income: $1,140

Income Year To Date: $1,140

My year begins in March because that is the first month that 100% of the income is mine. Previously I had to split with my roommate.

So far April is shaping up pretty well. I will be making almost the same amount, perhaps more if I accept more bookings. This is good news for me!

Interested in becoming a host or using the Airbnb service to book your next trip? Click here and get $24 credit (I get it too!) Thanks, man!

Review: AirBnB.com – Travel Like A Human

Ginger — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 19:18:50 +0000

Wow, it’s not often I will find a service or product that is so cool it will kick me out of a writing slump! I am so stoked to share this article with you guys and I’m not even getting compensated for it or anything!

As a blogger with a strong bent towards personal finance I am always looking for ways to either save money or make more of it! Luckily my roomie is on the same page. One day she told me about her friend who was renting out her apartment for a month through an interesting online service and she suggested we check it out and see if it was something we could use for our extra room. So I did.

AirBnB – Air Bed & Breakfast… Get it?

So what is AirBnB?

From their site:

Called the “Ebay for space” by Time Magazine, Airbnb is an online marketplace allowing anyone from private residents to commercial properties to rent out their extra space. The reputation-based site allows for user reviews, verification, and secure online transactions. Listings include vacation rentals, private rooms, entire apartments, bed and breakfasts, boutique hotels, castles, treehouses, and many other traditional and non-traditional accommodations.

In short, it’s a great way to rent out an extra room or space of yours in the short-term and make some cash!

So, how does it work?

If you’re a host like me, you take some nice photos of your place and write up a listing. It doesn’t cost anything to create a listing for yourself, though for each booking AirBnB takes a 3% service fee.

When someone wants to book with you they complete the booking process and you’re emailed and asked whether you would like to accept or not. If you accept, your contact details and exact location of your space are released to your guest, and you also receive their contact info. At that point you start talking to them about check-in times and whatever else you like.

If you are a guest, you do a search in the area you want and see the listings. You can send a quick email inquiry if you have a question, or you can book right away. You pay upfront to AirBnB who holds onto your payment. The money is sent to the host after the first day of your stay. This is in case you cancel or something happens. This is a great way to travel– you save a lot of money and learn about the local culture much more. Or you could, you know, rent a castle or something.

Ginger, what was your experience like?

Well, so far it’s been great! We are lucky that our apartment is in a desirable location, close to public transit, a clean & safe neighbourhood, etc. so we’ve had more booking requests than we can actually handle. I had to turn two people away last night, actually!

Since I’m an advertising person *wink wink* I wrote a really stellar ad. I think that that is one of the main reasons we’re getting so much interest. I included a lot of details and listed exactly what was included. I also posted nice, but realistic photos not only of the room, but the common spaces as well so that guests could get a feel for the apartment and us as hosts before they booked.

I know that this helped because I asked some of our guests this weekend why they chose our place over all the others out there. One reason was we have a slightly lower price, but the other was because we looked “friendly”, “normal” and “welcoming”. All good things to hear!

Good customer service is also important. We responded quickly and politely to all inquires and did a great hosting job when they got to the apartment as well.

My roommate and I compiled a list of local activities and sights for our first guests from Spain this weekend. They wanted to know more about the Toronto culture and do less of the touristy stuff. They were real travellers and wanted to go where the locals went!

This was very well-received so we’re actually going to step things up a notch and do up a beautiful digital booklet to send to our guests. It will include photos our friends have taken, the traditional tourist listings (CN Tower, ROM, etc.) as well as our “local” suggestions such as our favourite bars, restos and concert venues. My roommate is also very into the local hipster art scene so she can provide all kinds of party and gallery recos.

As we get more accustomed to being hosts, we have plans to kick things up a notch as well by offering breakfast, doing tours, etc. We really want to make a cool experience for our guests. Not only will this be kinda fun for peeps like us, but it will allow us to charge more per night and increase our profits!

A key point of the AirBnB system is the recommendations and reviews. After every booking both the host and guests review the stay. The more positive reviews you have, the better (and the more money you can charge!). You can also get friends to write recommendations about you personally; this also helps guests learn more about you and helps them make their decisions.

We are still waiting for our reviews from our 3 guests this weekend but I expect that they will be quite positive. I have also left them positive reviews. Our Spanish guests were even so sweet as to bring us a bottle of local Spanish wine to thank us! Awwww!

Additional Thoughts

I obviously think this is a really cool concept for both hosts and travellers. I like that I can make money off of my extra room and I will use this service the next time I travel.

It can be a little bit weird though. While my roommate and I enjoyed having our guests, it can be stressful having strangers in your home. We had to be there at specific times and it was mentally tiring; even with good guests.

You will always want to use your best judgment and be cautious when doing something like this. We locked away our expensive items and tried to find the balance between being at home enough, but also giving the guests their space and privacy. It is important to really think things through, establish rules and communicate those to your guests to avoid any problems.

Overall I would say that my first 2 bookings were a good experience. We will definitely be continuing as hosts and also refining our listing as well as house rules so that we’re not so frazzled the next time. I really think it is a learning experience!

If you have an adventurous personality and an extra room, I would recommend trying out AirBnB!

Have you ever traveled or hosted via a service such as AirBnB? I would love to hear your thoughts and stories in the comments!

Would You Lend a Friend Some Money?

Ginger — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 18:06:00 +0000

There’s a lot of chatter on this subject going on in the blogosphere lately.

So… would you do it?

If a friend or family member asked to borrow some money from you, how would you handle it?

If it was $20? $200? $2000?

My thinking is that it really depends on exactly who you are giving it to.

I have a friend who burns through cash like it’s her job when we go out to drink. We both get drunk and spend more than we should, but I don’t have a family to support and she does. I also have the better job. She asked me for $20 and promised to repay me.

I gave her the cash. But I don’t ever expect it back. Even if she has the intention to give it back, I don’t think she will ever get around to it. So I considered it a gift when I decided to “lend” her that money.

If she were to ask for a more significant amount, I don’t know if I would actually lend it to her, at least without some written promise or something.

With the exception of my immediate family and a few friends, I don’t think I would ever lend out large sums of money. I hope that I never actually DO have to lend out money to my friends… I can get my immediate family to pay it back because we’re all on the same page in terms of money management.

But with friends… it could get tricky. It would ruin the relationship in most cases. One person would always be indebted to the other, even if the money way paid back in a timely fashion. It would be even worse if the money was late coming, requiring prodding and poking and reminders. Or just not getting it back at all.

I try to avoid lending things or money outside of my immediate family; but if I do decide to let someone borrow from me, I only give them what I can afford to lose. And I think that’s key.

How do you feel about the subject?

$$$!!!

Ginger — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 03:07:00 +0000

Wow. I just checked my credit card statement online and somehow this cycle it has gotten up past $900.

I…just…wow.

I guess a bike is out of the question for me right now. This is ridiculous. I’ve officially never had a bill this high that wasn’t travel-related.

Shame on me indeed.

This is bad news all around. Yes, I am getting paid tomorrow, but in order to keep my chequing account float stable, I’ve had to take some money out of my entertainment fund to bolster it with. I am not impressed with myself. This stupid bill will take almost a whole pay cheque for me to clear.

I’ve got lots of time to do it, but I just hate the feeling of owing money, I can’t believe I let it get so out of control.

So. How am I going to fix this?

First, I’ve transferred some funds from another account into my chequing account to keep from going in the red.

Next I plan to cut costs as much as I can for the next couple of weeks. This is going to be hard (birthday party to go to on Friday which involves lots of money) but I need to lighten my load right now.

I’ve already started tranferring money to my CC for each transaction I make, so it’s more like using a debit card. This was FB’s idea and you can read about it here. This should help me keep track of things better, and also help me stay on top of payments. Thankfully I will not accrue any interest charges on this amount.

I technically have the money to kill the balance in one fell swoop–but it would be cutting it very close in terms of living expenses for a couple of weeks, and I would rather not take the risk of having a too-low chequing account balance in case something happens.

I guess it just goes to show that even though you’re a personal finance blogger who is passionate about their money, you can still screw up. I’m only human, and while I usually hold myself to higher standards than this, mistakes can happen. I just need to get back on the horse.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that even if you’re not a PF blogger, you can’t give up at the first sign of trouble. I got myself into hot water, but I have a plan to get out. If I don’t stick to this plan and pay off my balance, then I will have to pay the price–literally. And that just doesn’t jive with me.

So I’m going to grit my teeth, tighten my belt and get through this. I know I screwed up, but I need to move on now that I’m dealing with it.

Silver lining?
…I should have enough points for free groceries this week

:)

Ginger — Thu, 07 May 2009 20:14:00 +0000

I’m proud of myself today…

I was in the COOLEST little shop EVER getting a wedding card for a friend and they had these positively adorable little Chia-pet type things for sale.

There was a little kitty one that grew grass out of his head and I wanted him… I even picked him up.

But after thinking about whether I actually needed it and what exactly it was useful for, I decided not to get him right now.

That’s some willpower right there, folks.

Have you had any of these moments lately? Did you give in or remain strong?

Credit Card Fraud!

Ginger — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 22:33:00 +0000

So today I was doing the responsible thing and checking all my banking and credit card accounts. Since I’m travelling to Las Vegas this week I wanted to have a note put on all my credit cards so they wouldn’t think that my purchases in Vegas were fradulent and freeze my account.

That would be pretty inconvenient!

I was looking at my BMO Mosaik MasterCard statement and it looked a little bit off. I’ve cleared the balance on the card since I was switching my primary CC to my new PC Financial card. The balance was at $0 as I expected, however my credit limit was different from what it ought to be.

On this particular card I have a credit limit of $5000 which I think is reasonable for my needs. The website was showing that my limit was mysteriously at $4,100.

My first thought was that the banks were scaling back their credit limits for their customers. I’ve heard that they’re doing that in the states, as well as increasing people’s interest rates. I was not impressed, but it’s no biggie.

So I called MC to find out if that is what happened, and to request it be set back at the $5000 I was used to.

I go through the motions with the CSR and after I mentioned that my card balance should be at $0 she asked me if I had any pending transactions. I told her no, the most recent was a small donation to a charity I make every month.

She asked me, “are you sure you didn’t make any purchases on March 26 & 27?”. Of course I said no, I wasn’t using the card any longer.

That’s when she dropped the bomb.

“You didn’t make two purchases of $463 and $437 on those dates?”

HELL NO!

It appears I am a victim of credit card fraud, my friends.

I was transferred to the fraud department where they asked me to verify my identity, and I found out that someone had spent $900 at Toys R Us of all places. I’m not even sure where the closest Toys R Us is, for chrissakes.

The fraud lady was helpful and began filing a report for me. I’ve been through this situation before if you can believe it, so I wasn’t too worried. I will be receiving an affadavit to sign and some other paperwork to indicate that I did not make these purchases and to open a fraud investigation.

In the meantime my account has been frozen and I will be getting a new security-chip enhanced card mailed to me. And of course, I won’t be liable for the $900 spent at Toys R Us.

I also requested that they investigate the method in which my number was stolen. I want to know if it was online, or if the card might have been double-swiped at one of the places I shop. If I can get this information I will certainly avoid shopping at those places in the future!

Now, despite all this hassle and inconvenience, there is a silver lining:

I’m glad I use my credit card so much!

Can you imagine if this had been my debit/bank card? I would have little-to-no recourse on the matter. My money would be *poof* gone.

By using credit cards (wisely, of course) for most of my purchases, I am protected in situations like these. It’s a little inconvenient, but the bottom line is that I’m not out $900 because of some fraudster. The onus is on MasterCard to find the criminal and press charges.

I hope that you all can learn a little something from my story. It illustrates how responsible use of credit cards as well as vigilance can protect you as a consumer from fraud and other unpleasant situations.

I guess those big credit card companies aren’t so bad after all!

Update your Credit Card Number

Ginger — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 13:15:00 +0000

In a very timely post, J. Money of Budgets Are Sexy just wrote about all the things you need to consider when you change your credit card number or receive a new main card.

Like J. Money, I use my credit card for everything, and have several automatic payments set up with it.

I recently wrote about how I got a new PC Financial Mastercard which I am now going to use as my main card so I can accumulate free groceries This means I need to make a list of all the places those automatic payments go to and start switching them over!

I started doing that last night when I was checking the balance on my “old” MC. A small charge for a charity I support monthly was on there which reminded me that I need to switch everything over. I think the best thing to do is keep all your automatic transactions on one main card so that you don’t lose track.

I would hate to have a small, regular transaction cause me to pay a ridiculous amount of interest if I happened to forget about it one month!

Here’s my list of transactions to switch so far:

Phone/internet bill
Gym membership
~~Cat Rescue Charity~~
Animal Shelter Charity

I guess I had better get started!

No Spend Days!

Ginger — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 14:16:00 +0000

There is a PF blogger that I really admire, Canadian Saver over at Saving4Later. She’s really good at keeping track of her daily expenses, budgeting and instituting No Spend and No Driving days.

I’ve been trying to incorporate a few of her methods into my own life recently, especially as I try to frantically save up for my trip to Las Vegas in April (Short timing, I know!).

I can’t be as vigilant as she is, but I’ve given it a shot and have been able to track most of my expenditures over the past couple of weeks and have even succeeded at having a few No Spend days!

I’m a spender, plain and simple. Yes I save and have no debt, but I still am surprised to see all my extra money slowly bleed away every month, and I wondered where it was all going. Turns out I’ve been spending over $100 per week on food. That is a simply ridiculous number for a single girl!

But I did the math and the tracking… I had been spending around $10 every weekday for lunch, and sometimes more if I bought dinner or went out with people as well. With occasional grocery shops (my mis-guided attempts to “save money” by “cooking my own food”) that were $30+ I can see now how the number got so high.

Some weeks were even higher when I included the recent clothing purchases I had made (like a super-cute custom-made cherry sundress). I can’t return the dress but I might return some other tops I just bought to free up some more cash for my trip. I can’t touch the money in my EF or my Wedding Fund because that would just be weak of me.

Anyway, long story short: By doing this tracking I was able to see where my money was going, and then start to see where and if I could cut back. My lifestyle is just not conducive to having many No Spend days every week, so I am focusing instead on simply trying to reduce spending through packing occasional lunches, forcing myself to eat dinner at home, and trying not to buy frivolous things in the meantime. It helps to have the Vegas goal in mind.

I am happy to report that for the past two weeks I have been able to do a total of 3 No Spend days! It doesn’t seem like much but for me it’s great!

I think I may try and buckle down a little more in the coming weeks and see how many No Spend days I can accumulate because frankly, I just can’t afford not to at this point. I want to make sure all my credit cards are at a $0 balance before I leave on my trip but it’s going to be tough to clear my PC card of $400 in the time left to me. I’ve got rent and my TTC pass coming out of my account with this next paycheque and that leaves me with very little left over for the credit card, and general living expenses.

I do get paid once more before I leave on my trip, but it is literally the day before I leave. Hmm, I guess I’ll just have to see how this all plays out. I really just want to travel the right way with nothing on my credit cards and a generous mad money cushion so I can have a good time in Vegas.

Woo! Las Vegas!

Ginger — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 18:01:00 +0000

I know I’ve been complaining about the money situation lately and this seems a little counterintuitive, but

I’m going to Las Vegas!!!

My friend C and I had originally planned to travel somewhere warm together in February, but our schedules and budgets and stuff never really synched up so we didn’t go at that time.

We still wanted to travel together though (she lives in Ottawa and we don’t see each other much), and now that the economy in the States is so poor, we thought we’d check out the deals for Las Vegas. Everyone should go to Vegas when they’re young, right?

So last night we took the plunge and booked our trip!

We spent all day yesterday online scouring the online deals and found lots of good hotel ones, but the flights were insanely expensive! Originally we were going to go at the end of April, but it would just cost too much, so we opted for the week following Easter to head over. We saved a bundle and found a bunch of great deals.

Our budget was $1000 CAD and had to cover flight, hotel and two major activities. We decided we wanted to take a daytrip to the Grand Canyon and also take in the Cirque du Soleil show O. My entertainment fund plus my tax return and any additional savings I can keep will fund this trip for me.

So how did we net out?

Thanks to Expedia.ca, we found a great deal that included all of the above! We’ll be staying at Treasure Island (OMG pirate love!) for 5 nights and scooped airfare, shuttle from the airport, the Grand Canyon trip and the best seats in the house for O for $955.55 each after taxes!!!

I think that’s a pretty great deal, all things considered! (btw, don’t tell me if it’s not! I don’t wanna hear it!)

Of course there will still be other expenses involved in this trip, mainly food, transportation and incidentals, but they’re a little easier to scale back on versus the hotel costs, etc. We will just have to moderate ourselves while we’re there. I think food will be easy– the American portions are huge so we’ve decided to share entrees if possible.

I’m good at the food budgeting while travelling; when I was in Europe it could get really expensive eating out so I learned the best ways to do it, including picking things up at a grocery store and eating lots of samples!

So I’m pretty excited about this trip, can you tell??? I’ve travelled all over Europe and parts of Canada, but haven’t done much travelling in the US on my own, so this should be fun and easy! I love that I will speak the language, understand the money and fit in by all appearances

So, let me ask anyone who has been to Las Vegas to share any fun and cheap activities that they enjoyed! Since we’re on a budget we can’t afford to do much of the fancy schmancy stuff, but I’m sure there’s lots of other things we can do…right?