reader tips

If you're a regular Starbucks patron, reader danakscully64 has a tip on how you can save at your favorite coffee chain. She says:

"If you go to Starbucks even semiregularly, register a gift card. Once you use it five times, you move to green status, which means you get free syrup added and a free soy milk upgrade. It also gives free refills on brewed or iced coffee or tea during the same store visit, free tall (12-fluid-ounce) beverage with one pound of whole bean coffee purchase, and special exclusive offers and coupons. If you earn 30 stars in one year, you move to gold status where every 15 drinks gets you a free drink postcard. You just need 30 drinks a year to keep your gold status. The key is to do individual transactions for drinks to earn a star for each. The registered card brings my Venti Cinnamon Dolce Frappuccino down to about $4 (soy is free, and because they don't have a button for a CD Frapp, they ring it in as a Coffee Frappuccino, add CD, which makes the syrup free)."

What other ways do you save at Starbucks? Be sure to check out our list of $3 Starbucks drinks!
Source: Flickr user Marco Arment

I love hearing about the many frugal habits of our readers because I know all of us have our own thrifty tricks hidden up our sleeves. I recently asked you to share your thrifty secrets, and here are a couple from reader le romantique:

It's the little things that count. I definitely splurge on going out to eat and shopping, but when it comes to everyday things I'm a bit more "green".

Power Bill: unplug EVERYTHING, only have appliances plugged in when in use. Air at 78 when I'm not home (I live in St. Petersburg, FL so it's impossible to let it get any hotter inside), when I'm home I have my fans on and windows open (I crank up the AC when I sleep though!). I also hang dry my clothes.

No cable, I live off Netflix/AppleTV and an HD TV Antenna (I can get the first 20 channels with it).

I try to bring lunch to work 4 out of 5 days a week. I make huge crock pot dinners and freeze left overs (I live alone, so they can last awhile), I also buy meat when it's on sale and I freeze it.

What are some of the many ways you try to save?

Thanksgiving is almost here, and I smell travel (and turkey!) in the air. I already gave you eight awesome reader tips for surviving superlong plane trips, but reader Katinedinburgh shared more tricks to staying sane when you're stuck for hours and hours in the air. Here they are:

• Exercise: Walk occasionally up and down the aisle to keep the blood flowing, use the areas by the exits or toilets to stretch.
• Neck Rest: Neck pillows are really handy, especially the ones with the beans instead of air. Much comfier. Travelling with a partner is best, to be honest, as they are a natural pillow.
• Pick Your Airline: Fly airlines with decent entertainment systems. The suggestion about the laptop/DVDs is great, but a hassle to carry all that around! I would choose airlines such as Singapore, Qantas, Air New Zealand (the best) for long-haul, as their entertainment systems are fantastic.
• Drink Water: Keep hydrated! And not with booze! You'll feel a lot better when you land if you're not getting a weird hangover feeling.

Ask anything travel-, career- or budget-related — well, almost anything — by Ask anything career- or budget-related — well, almost anything — by posting your questions in the Ask Savvy group, and readers and I will weigh in to support you.

Last week, I shared a professional tip that I found quite handy, which is to reply to emails as soon as possible. Reader fakeplanettelex then chimed in with a great piece of advice for responding to emails. She comments:

"I color code my e-mails so I know which ones to address first. For instance, pink is addressed directly to me (since i'm cc'ed on so many e-mails). Red is from senior execs (so I know to answer immediately) and then color coded by client (since my calendar items are color coded by client). It's a bit OCD, but my system works for me!"

For more tips how to shine at work, ask me and other friends in the community at the Ask Savvy group.

Most people don't look forward to really long flights, I mean there's only so much Sudoku you can do until you're sick of it right? Recently, reader onlysourcherry asked the SavvySugar Community what she should do on a 14-hour flight. She can first start by checking out our 10 trinkets for travelers, which will definitely come in handy! Readers rallied and gave a ton of really great suggestions that will keep her well occupied on her air travel. Check out these gems from suzieleung, jelibeann, and mydiadem!

• Ignore Time: "Don't think about the time. Seriously. Just take the time on the flight for what it is, and chill out."
• Neighborly Chat: "Talk to the person sitting next to you. Chatting really kills time."
• Movies: "Portable DVD players are awesome! Stack up on DVDs. Or, bring your laptop and watch movies. Be sure to bring and extra battery pack."
• Get Comfy: "Make sure you're as comfy as possible — slippers, a travel pillow, a blanket — [you] might as well settle in."

For more boredom-fighters for long, long flights, read on!

Figuring out which hotel to stay in can be tough, so thank heavens for TripAdvisor! In a recent survey, all of you said that you found consumer opinions on travel review sites really helpful, and a few readers left some great tips for sorting through reviews. Here are some of them:

• Check Their Bios: I also read where they are from and what their age is. Someone from the UK has different expectations than someone from Canada. And a 55 year old has different standards then a 23 year old  — Lovely_1
• Read the Content: I find them helpful, but I always make sure to read some statements, rather than just looking at the stars. Because sometimes there'll be some cranky person giving them one star just because the receptionist was on the phone for too long or things like that. — RoaringSilence
• Look at the In-Cetween Ratings: I LOVE trip advisor. I pay more attention to ratings between two and four than I do to the one and five star ratings though. (Unless there are a ton of one star ratings!) — onlysourcherry
  

Many people tend to skip meals before a buffet, just so they can chow down more food. In fact, in a recent Are You a Penny Pincher SavvySugar poll, 39 percent said they skip a meal before a buffet and 20 percent said they do that occasionally. Reader isahrangme disagrees with that mentality and shares her buffet tip:

Actually, you're supposed to eat before a buffet! just something small! If you don't eat at all, your stomach stays "small" and at the buffet, you don't end up eating much if you've actually prepared your stomach to "stretch" by eating earlier, then you can eat more! At least, that's what I've heard and this is actually how it works for me!

Do you have a tip for readers? Join our How Do You Save group and share your helpful suggestions! Here's a detailed guide to posting questions or posts to groups if you are new to the PopSugar Community.

Writing down your big wins at work is important, because it makes it easier for you to keep track of them. Reader lizs mentioned another tip that would come in handy during performance review time. Here's what she had to say:

The best piece of advice I ever read on this topic was to create a "kudos" folder in your email. Whenever you get an acknowledgment of your excellent contributions, copy that email into this folder — you'll have a record of what your contributions were for the year, and what's even better is that the praise doesn't come directly from your mouth. (Also very helpful in offices that use 360 degree reviews — it's a good reminder of who might offer you a favorable review from the past year.)

For more tips how to shine at work, ask me and other friends in the community at the Ask Savvy group.

I shared some tips yesterday on how I bought a $1099 couch for $250, and reader GirlOverboard left an extremely helpful comment on haggling etiquette. She's speaking from experience, having been on the sales end. Read what she had to say:

Haggling can be great, but trying to haggle with a cashier at your local department store or being rude about it will just make things frustrating. The last thing you want to do is come off rude or make the associates not look forward to having you in their store again. Ask what the associate can do for you and if it's not what you want, ASK politely (don't demand) if you can see their manager and thank the associate for their time. Having been the associate, I can say that nothing will burn somebody out faster than being made to feel like they're the bad guy because large price deductions are out of their control.

I talked about the death of office romance, and reader vabeachbum responded with great insight on guidelines for relationships in the workplace. Here they are:

1. I think it's better if you work in completely separate areas or departments so you're not around each other all the time.
2. Never ever date your boss, and if you're the boss, never date someone below you. I feel like that is a recipe for all kinds of disaster.
3. I would be open about it from the beginning. I would not necessarily tell every single person about it, but I would make sure my immediate supervisors knew. I think it's OK as long as both of you follow any rules the company has and if you can be mature about it if it doesn't work out.
4. Of course, if you think it's going to be awkward if you break up or if you think you can't be mature about it if the person breaks up with you, then just don't do it.