My 5 tech no-no's | Save $$ with this hotel hack | Boost's new $25 plan
Plus: Save on Airbnb rentals and more!
I'm back! Still figuring out how to proceed long-term, but for now let's sally forth. One housekeeping note: Amazon links now lead to a landing page before taking you to Amazon proper, meaning one extra click/tap at your end. Sorry for the hassle, but it's a necessary concession.
📺 Most underrated TV series of 2022 Do not miss The Afterparty on Apple TV Plus. It's a Rashomon-style murder mystery with strands of DNA from the classic comedy Murder By Death. Each cleverly crafted episode focuses on a different suspect and has a completely different feel (one's animated, for example, another has sprawling musical numbers). And check out the cast: Sam Richardson, Ben Schwartz, Ilana Glazer, Tiffany Haddish, Ike Barinholtz, and more, all crushing it. The last show that made me laugh this much: What We Do in the Shadows (now in season 4!).
📗 Book that got me through a rough patch I rarely reread books, but recent events pulled me back to This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper. It's one of the funniest and most insightful novels I've read on the subjects of death, marriage, and family. Definitely more of a guy's book, but Mrs. Cheapskate enjoyed it as well.
🛌 Save on Airbnb! Airbnb fees got you down? I hear you; they're obnoxious. Here's a hack: Some properties are listed on VRBO as well, sometimes for less money. Hichee is a simple tool that compares Airbnb and VRBO prices for individual listings, and can sometimes hook you up with cheaper direct-to-host options as well. Worth a try!
🎧 I made you (well, me) a playlist! Are you a runner? Gym rat? Over the years I've cultivated what I consider a pretty solid workout mix on Spotify, so I thought I'd share the playlist. There are a few oddities in there, like orchestral numbers from soundtracks I like. But mostly it's mainstream pop stuff, great for getting you moving. Enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: Some of the links included herein (those in bold type) are affiliate links, meaning if you make a purchase via one of them, I may get a small commission. I promise you, now and forever, that I won’t choose deals based on whether there’s an affiliate option available.
Is Boost Mobile's $25/month deal the best ever?
Several carriers offer unlimited lines of service for $25 per month, but usually that’s with a family plan of four lines or more. If you’re shopping for an individual line, the rates tend to start closer to $50 and rise from there.
No more. New Boost Mobile customers can get a single unlimited line for $25/month (with auto-pay, natch). And this isn’t a time-limited promotion, either: Boost says this is the new normal, good for life as long as you keep your auto-pay active.
Formerly a Sprint provider, Boost now runs on AT&T’s 5G network. All you need is an unlocked, GSM-compatible phone. The good news: Your plan includes mobile hotspot, something many carriers charge extra for. The bad: Boost doesn’t currently offer international roaming, meaning if you venture outside the U.S., you’ll need to swap in a SIM card from a local carrier.
Assuming that’s not a deal-breaker for you, this is definitely one of the best individual-line deals I’ve seen.
Top 5 tech things I wouldn't do
There’s a huge trend on TikTok right now: Various experts (often in the medical community) listing the “top five things they wouldn’t do” because they’ve seen the unfortunate outcomes. An ER doc, for example, cites “riding a motorcycle” and “jumping on a trampoline.”
Thought I’d weigh in. Here are the top five technology things that I – a consumer-tech veteran of over 30 years – wouldn’t do:
1. USE CRAIGSLIST TO SELL STUFF
I have zero love for Facebook, but Facebook Marketplace is arguably the single best way to sell stuff locally. Two reasons: 1. Huge user base; 2. At least some accountability. Whereas Craigslist is entirely anonymous, and therefore fairly risky, Facebook requires an account with at least a basic profile – so you can do a little research on the person before you agree to meet up or invite them for porch pick-up.
2. PAY FOR A LIVE-TV STREAMING SERVICE
I’ve covered this before (just recently, in fact): The major live-TV services are a total rip-off and, IMHO, unnecessary. Want news? Get it free from Pluto TV and the Roku Channel. Want sports? Get it on-demand from the likes of ESPN or Sling. Miss channel-surfing? Try Philo for just $25 per month. And pull in your local networks with a cheap antenna.
3. SKIP GOOGLE’S SECOND-BEST FREEBIE
Got a Gmail account? You can get a totally free, zero-strings-attached second phone line, courtesy of Google Voice. Use it for business, dating, selling stuff on Facebook Marketplace, avoiding telemarketing (give it out instead of your real number), and so on. It works on smartphones and the web, and it includes voicemail (with transcription!), texting, call-forwarding, and more. It’s also great overseas if you’re using an eSIM, because you can still do calls and messaging.
4. BUY AN INKJET PRINTER
Inkjets? More like stink-jets, am I right? Nozzles are always getting clogged, replacement cartridges cost a fortune, printer won’t print if one color has run out, and on and on. And do you really even need color? If not, grab an inexpensive laser printer like the Brother HL-L2325DW (currently $110 at Walmart, often on sale at Amazon for $100). It’s fast, compact, wireless, and a total workhorse. Plus, toner cartridges last forever, and compatible replacements are super-cheap (I’ve seen them as low as $18)
5. BUY APPLE AIRPODS PRO
Do I like them? Sure. Are they outrageously overpriced? Duh. My go-to alternative continues to be the EarFun Air Pro 2, currently on sale at Amazon for $60 after clipping a $20-off coupon. Active noise-cancelling, ear detection, wireless charging, great sound – what’s not to like? You could literally buy four pair for less than the price of a single AirPods Pro.
Hotel hack: How I saved $200 on my latest booking
If you buy or transfer points to a hotel reward program, you may be able to save big on your next reservation.
Recently I’ve been dipping my toe into the wonderful world of travel points. Some folks are masters at this, scoring lavish vacations on the cheap. Me, I just needed an affordable downtown hotel for a night. Here’s the story.
The destination: Chicago, next month, because Cheapskate Jr. and I are running the Stan’s Donuts 5K. (Let’s face it, if you run, you should get a prize, and that prize should be a donut.)
The hotels: I searched high and low; most places on the Loop were going be $200+, if not closer to $300. Ugh. I hate spending that much money just to plunk my head down for eight hours.
The trick: Various hotel reward programs (I started with World of Hyatt) allow you to buy or transfer points to your account for potentially cheaper stays.
In my case, I already had around 24,000 points available on my Chase Sapphire Reserve Visa card – good for around $300 in hotel money if I booked using Chase’s own rewards program. That plus around $60 (taxes and fees, double-ugh) would get me a night at a Hyatt – not bad, but my points would be wiped out.
Then I checked the World of Hyatt website and discovered I could book that same hotel for 12,000 World of Hyatt points. Of course, because I’d just signed up for that program, I had zero, but Chase lets you transfer points to various travel partners – Hyatt being one of them. Bam: I transferred exactly 12,000 and booked my room via Hyatt, easy-peasy. That means I saved around $200 – and walked away with half my Chase points left over.
If you want to learn more about this kind of thing (including how to buy points at a discount), I highly recommend checking out The Points Guy. It’s home to all manner of travel tips and news, including great beginner guides for maximizing points and miles.
And if you want to kick-start your travels, try the Chase Sapphire Preferred card. You’ll earn 60,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 in the first three months. Then, using the above method, you could stay four nights free at a Hyatt!
Thanks for reading Deal Secrets! Questions? Comments? Hit me up on Twitter or Facebook, or shoot me an e-mail. I’ll do my best to respond to all inquiries!