101 Best Web Freebies

While they assuredly won't help you grow your nest egg, or retire early (for the most part), there are a lot of useful free goods and services you can score online. BusinessWeek has done some of the leg work for all of us by compiling a list of the best freebies you can get on the web. It's not presented in the most reader friendly manner, but you can check the list out here. The list is almost exclusively software or web based services and I have listed a few samples of the items on the list below:

Operating Systems - Ubuntu
Anti-Virus Software - AVG
Free Phone Calls - Skype
Accounting Software - Mint
Tax Software - TaxAct
Business Cards - VistaPrint
Remodeling Software - Google Sketchup

Read the entire article BusinessWeek.

Holiday Tipping Hell

I don't mean to sound like a miser, but does it seem like the suggested tips that I keep hearing so much about on the news consume a month's salary for the common man? It could be because 1) I'm cheap, 2) I don't make gobs of money, 3) I live in the midwest and not NYC, or a combination of the three... but seriously now.

Let me first say that a very large percentage of the work force is employed in the service sector (me included), and it benefits everyone to reward outstanding service with a token gift over the holidays. Especially since most service employees don't make the most robust salary and tips put food on the table. However, some of the "suggested" tip amounts that I have heard recently are a little rich for my blood. Below are the suggested tips to give various service professionals that recently ran on CNN.

CHILD CARE
Nanny	1 week's to 1 month's pay + small gift from child
Daycare providers	$20-$70/each + small gift from child
Child's teacher	Gift (but check school's policy to see if it's allowed)
Coaches, tutors, music teachers, ballet instructors, etc:	A small gift from the child

HOME/CAR CARE
Housekeeper											1 week's pay or more (depending on length of service)
Trash collectors											$15-$20 each
Parking attendants											$10-$35 each or up to half a month's parking bill for the group if they regularly provide extra service
Gardener											$20-$50. If the gardener's last job before spring is a fall clean up, it's best to tip in the fall

APARTMENT SERVICE
Doormen	$25-$100 each (those who provide the most service for you should get more than those whom you barely see)
Superintendent/custodian	$50-$300 (tip more if there's no doorman and the service has been particularly attentive, but tip less if you tip throughout the year)
Porters/handymen	$10-$50 each
Elevator operators	$15-$40 each

PERSONAL CARE

Hairdresser

Cost of 1 cut (or $20-$100) if you go frequently + small gift

Manicurist

Cost of 1 session (or $10-$50) + small gift

Personal trainer

$25 up to 1 week's pay (or cost of 1 session)

Massage therapist

$50-$100 or cost of 1 session

PET CARE
Dog groomer									Small gift + 1/4 to 1/2 the cost of 1 session
Dog walker/regular dog sitter									Cost of 1-2 week's pay (as with a nanny, a small gift is optional)

DELIVERY SERVICES

U.S. mail carrier

Gifts under $20* (civil servants can't accept gifts exceeding $20.

UPS

Company policy discourages drivers from accepting tips, but they can accept something of nominal value. Tipping guides offer $15 as a guideline, but the amount and choice of gift are up to you.

FedEx

Company policy does not permit cash tips, but a gift worth up to $25 is okay.

Paper carrier

$15-$25 for daily delivery ($5-$15 for weekend delivery)

Does anyone actually tip the FedEx guy or the Dog Groomer? The thought never crossed my mind. Anyone out there that thinks the same way as I do, or am I alone in being cheap?

Low Cost Employee Perks

Looking for a way to reward employees without breaking the bank? I recently came across a (somewhat dated) list of 20 ways to reward employees without breaking the bank on Entrepreneur.com. Below the Entrepreneur's list has been summarized, although I think some of them would end up costing a business more than expected. Would any of them appeal to you as an employee or manager?

1 - Work from home days
2 - Family days
3 - Yoga classes
4 - Community service days
5 - Pizza Fridays
6 - Movie days
7 - Reward a top employee with vacation days
8 - Pass discounts on to employees
9 - Bring your dog to work day
10 - Free car washes
11 - Give employees discounts on what your business does
12 - Swap services with another local business
13 - Games in the break room
14 - Health club discounts
15 - Flex hours
16 - Bonus for referring new hires
17 - Continental breakfasts
18 - Pass on company perks
19 - Free seminars
20 - Holiday family parties

Personally, for employees that have to stay at work until the work is done and can't clock out at 5:00 if it's not. I think that anything that keeps people at work and away from their desk will cause problems no matter how fun or beneficial it is (so #3, 4, 6, and 13 probably wouldn't work for my business). The bring your dog to work probably isn't practical for 99% of the workforce. So, we have food, free stuff, and vacation. All pretty good options.

While most of the working world has switched over to business casual, not everyone has. If you work in a formal setting, a dress down day or two is always a welcome change of pace for most people. I think the swapping services with another business is a very good and cost effective perk as well that every business can stand to benefit from. It exposes other people to your business and lets you offer a reward to your employees for pennies on the dollar.

Do you have any favorites or ones that should be added to the list?

Read the whole story at Entrepreneur.com

Price Drop After You Bought an Item? Get Your Money Back

I know that many stores have policies that if they drop their prices after you make a purchase you can get the difference refunded to you. Unfortunately, these policies are not particularly valuable to me because 1) I don't have the time to keep tabs on prices after I buy something and 2) usually the hassle of running to the store and claiming my refund isn't worth the $5 to me, especially if it's far away. I would guess I'm not the only person who thinks this way - precisely whey stores have this policy - they don't get taken up on it much.

I've been playing around with Price Protectr the last few days and though it might be helpful to others out there. The site supports 72 stores currently and many are the largest online retailers (like Best Buy and Amazon). You simply copy and paste the item URL into a box on the Price Protectr webpage and your email address. If the price drops during the protection period, the site will email you to let you know. Then you can take over and fire off an email or phone call to the retailer to claim your refund.

Anyone else use this service or other similar ones? Now if someone could just figure out something like this for traditional brick and mortar stores I'd be in business.

Dollar Rises On Inflation Concerns

The dollar edged up against the Euro today on stronger than expected Consumer Price Index data. The data showed that there have been higher than expected gains in consumer prices and consumer spending. The Euro fell about 1.5% through this afternoon based on the report today and other economic reports that were released this week. It's likely the major news outlets will shift from "are we headed towards a recession" headlines to "is inflation on the move." Either way it doesn't look like another fed rate cut is too promising.

Read more about the CPI data at Reuters.