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1. Get Collaborative

If money’s been tight all year, your children are likely aware you’ve been trying to cut corners. Get the family together and brainstorm about ways to spend less on gifts. They may enjoy coming up with ways to give their time to teachers, aunts, and cousins instead of store-bought items.

2. Co-host

Just because a function takes place at your house, that doesn’t mean you need to be solely responsible for hosting. Ask your sister to share the responsibilities to cut down on costs. She may appreciate the opportunity to do something together.

3. Barter

Lots of people list items–both used and new–they’re looking to trade on Craigslist. Search through the barter ads or list your own to find holiday presents, decorations, and more.

4. De-clutter

Now is the perfect opportunity the clear your space for a more calming environment. You may be able to earn extra cash by selling those items in a yard sale or online.

5. Share a part of you

Instead of giving away store-bought items, look through the possessions that mean something to you, and give them to your friends and family. Include with each a note that explains why you chose that specific piece of you to share.

6. Let other people off the hook

Make a wish list online for your friends and family that includes inexpensive gifts; or even gifts that don’t cost any money, such as a babysitter for a specific date in January. This allows them to feel they’re giving you something you want without breaking the bank.

7. Use your passion

Do you do what you love for a living? If not, use it now. If you play the guitar, write a song for your significant other.  If you’re a great writer, offer to revamp your friends’ resumes. Why not give the gift of your passion and skills to friends who can use them?

8. Hand deliver holiday notes instead of mailing cards

Your grandmother may prefer a note expressing what she means to you over a card everyone else received with your signature at the bottom.

9. Make a cash daily limit

This one is more practical than meaningful. People often don’t realize how little things add up, particularly when using credit cards. If you commit to only spending what you have in cash in your wallet, you’ll save on impulse buys, like food and decor items.

10. Show your children what matters

Kids will always have wish lists for Santa; but they’ll learn a lot about value by watching you. Don’t just tell them it’s the thought that counts–show them through your interactions with people who give and receive your gifts.

As we have said before, one of the reasons people sacrifice their vacations is because it can cost too much. So, in this series of posts, we are going to examine some tips which will allow you to save some money while you are on vacation.

1. First of all, if it is possible, try renting a car

It may sound like it will cost too much, but it can actually save money. For instance, it might be less expensive than using the shuttle at the airport. The flexibility and freedom you will have will save a lot of stress, as well. This can even save more money — and be more comfortable — than driving your own car.

2. Kid friendly places

If you are vacationing with children, find kid friendly places. You can eat at places where kids get to eat free.

3. Why not eat your lunch in your hotel room?

Not all the time, of course, but it can be nice on occasion. You do not have to fight the crowds, you do not have to make reservations, you get to enjoy the air conditioning in your room … what could be better?

4. Coupons can be your best friends on vacation

Look closely and you can find coupons for all kinds of things, from special attractions, like theme parks, to restaurants, or even for a hotel. The local paper is not the only place you can find them; look on the internet for starters, or even request coupon packages.

5. Seemingly simple things can save lots of money as well

For instance, bring your stroller with you, rather than renting one from wherever you are going. Starting a sort of recycling plan of your own can save money on vacations.

6. Most of us have a collection of water bottles we can refill

Bring those on vacation with you. You can actually save as much as twenty dollars a day – this for an average family of four – by doing this. After all, water fountains and sinks work just as well on vacation as they do elsewhere.

7. A lot of special attractions

theme parks, museums, and so on – offer multi day passes. A lot of them can be used any time throughout the year. Make sure you take advantage of these!

8. Now, this tip probably seems self explanatory and obvious to a lot of vacationers out there

Book your reservations on your own. Well duh, right? I am pretty sure I have never used a travel agent to book my trips for me – but then, a lot of us haven’t. Still, you can also make your reservations for a plane ticket or a hotel right on the internet yourself, because a lot of them will offer you discounts and special rates if you book online. We finally come to the last couple of tips which can help you save money while you are traveling.

9. A lot of times, your children can “gimme” your bank account to death

“Gimme five more dollars, dad!” “Gimme some quarters for the pinball machine, mom!” Rather than letting your kids “gimme” you right into the poor house, start out the trip by giving each of your children a set amount of money to spend. If you are going to an amusement park featuring characters, you can also invest in an autograph book for the kids, because not only will they have fun going around and getting the autographs of the characters they love, but they automatically get a worthwhile souvenir as well.

10. Last but not least

do not feel the need to spend every single day going to see those expensive attractions. Spend a day swimming in the hotel pool or at the beach. Go to some museums or take the family shopping.

There are a million uses for Backpack, but what follows is a list of 10 productive uses for them. Why use Backpack? As a web worker, you need a tool that you can access any time, anywhere – not just from your home computer. And Backpack is a great tool because of its intuitive, easy-to-use interface. It’s also versatile and seriously useful.

1. Capture

If you’re a fan of writing down every thought, idea, task and fancy that pops into your head – and if you’re not, you should consider it – you might carry a paper notebook everywhere you go. And paper is great, but you’re less likely to use it when you’re at your computer, or using your laptop or mobile device. And if you’re driving, it’s seriously hard to jot down ideas. Enter Backpack. At your computer, you can quickly pop open your Backpack front page (name it “Inbox”)

and jot down a new note. Now all your notes are in one place, neat and organized, and you can easily paste them into other documents if needed. And when you’re on the road, you can use cell phone notes for Backpack – it’s a free service, and you can call a toll-free number (U.S. and Canada) and leave a voice note, which is then forwarded to your Backpack page.

2. To-dos

We’re always looking for a better to-do list. Backpack works as well as the best of them, because it’s simple. Enter a new item, drag and drop them around, check off the completed ones. No fancy fields to enter info. And for GTD fans, you can manage multiple to-do lists in a snap. Create mini-lists for your calls, work tasks, errands, home tasks and more. Now, when you need to do something, just look at the appropriate context list, instead of looking at a huge long list that you have to scan through. And this to-do list is accessible from anywhere, unlike one you might save on your computer.

3. Mobile productivity

If you have a Treo, mobile phone, or wireless PDA with a web browser that can display basic HTML, you can use a slimmed-down version of Backpack on your phone. Just enter /mob at the end of your page’s url, and you can get it without all the Ajax. Using your mobile device, you can now view all of your pages, add list items and notes, make a new page, and view and add reminders. And you can send yourself text messages and alerts from Backpack, so you’ll never forget anything again. That means you can be productive from anywhere. Or don’t be productive, but at least know what you aren’t doing.

4. Reminders

A cool little feature on Backpack, the reminders can be especially useful. A client wants you to check back in a week? Enter a quick reminder and forget about it. Need to send an invoice on the 30th? Have a deadline in a fortnight? Don’t want to forget your wedding anniversary for the third straight year? Set a reminder. And they’re super easy to do: just enter the reminder and a date, and you’re done.

5. Project planning

One of the seriously useful ways to use Backpack. A complicated project could require a bunch of lists, notes, photos, links, a timeline and more. You can put those all on one page in Backpack, and keep everything organized. Use reminders and the calendar feature to keep the project moving along and on time. Attach files you might need to reference later. Here’s an example of a wedding planned using Backpack. And you can share the project page with others who might also be working on it.

6. Simple collaboration

There are more feature-filled collaboration tools out there (37signals’ Basecamp being one of the more popular ones), but if your collaborative needs are simple, Backpack has a “writeboard” feature. Invite people to collaborate on a document, and multiple people can edit it, comment on it, and see changes from previous versions.

7. All lists

Keep all your lists in one place. A list of ideas, articles to check out, goals, checklists, schedules. Your waiting-for list (for follow-up), your someday/maybe list, your dreams. By keeping them all in one page, things stay simple and organized. No more little Post-it notes all over the place, no more flipping through your notebook looking for that grocery list, no more writing down a list of goals and forgetting about them. I like to keep a growing list of article or blog post ideas that I refer to every day.

8. Log

Backpack is great for logs. I do an exercise log, an articles log (for invoicing later), a work log. It’s a very simple and fast way to log anything – just open the page, enter, and get out. And now you have a record of it for later, which is hugely useful. The key is making it a habit to log things as soon as you’re done doing them.

9. Personal time

Don’t just get your professional time organized. Shovel your personal stuff into Backpack as well: movies to watch, books to read, books you’ve already read, places to travel, cool gadgets to buy. Your kids’ extracurricular activities. Grocery lists. Checklists for packing. Chores lists. Pretty much anything in your life.

10. Today

One thing that works well for me is creating a “Today” page and making it your home page (you could also make your “Inbox” your home page). On this page, just put three things you want to accomplish today. I like to put an inspiring quote or poem and photo. And I usually have an “agenda” list for a couple of key people in my life (boss, wife, not in that order), where I keep a list of things I need to talk to them about. Don’t dump everything on this page. Just a few key things you need to do today. Everything else that comes up, you can shunt into your inbox or to-do lists. At the end of the day, review your Today page, and if you’ve checked off those 2-3 things, you were successful! I try to clear off my Today page every day.

Expand your circle of friends or find someone special to date. These clubs, social groups, and dating events are sure to help you meet people in Portland.

1. Bergfruende Ski Club

Even though they call themselves a ski club, this group gets together for all kinds of events including dinner parties, camping trips, and nights at the theater.

2. Events and Adventures

A singles group for active people with events every day of the month.

3. Portland Skyliners

A social club for tall people. In order to join, Men must be at least 6′2" and women at least 5′10" without shoes.

4. 8 Minute Dating

You’ve probably heard of speed dating. At these events, you’ll spend 8 minutes with 8 perspective dates. When two people find a mutual connection, your contact information is exchanged.

5. Columbia River Orienteering

Orienteering is a competitive sport where participants navigate through various checkpoints in designated areas, from city parks to wooded forests. This group offers events for people at all levels. Beginners are welcome.

6. Willamette Sailing Club

Sailing enthusiasts get together for racing clinics, social events, and regattas. This is the only small-boat sailing club in Portland, dedicated to boats under 20 feet long.

7. Portland Meetup

Meetup is an organization that’s all about connecting people with common interests, from politics to pets. You can find groups of people to connect with or start your own group, and it costs nothing to join.

8. Mazamas

This group’s activities revolve around hiking, climbing, and conservation. They also offer classes such as Basic Climbing and Avalanche Awareness for people interested in outdoor adventure.

9. Oregon Trails Club

Hiking, biking, kayaking—this group does it all. If you love the great outdoors and you’re looking to explore Oregon, join the Trails Club.

10. Walking and Running Clubs

Train for a race such as the Portland Marathon or just find other runners and walkers to hit the trails with.

Reconsidering that trip to Europe this summer? Don’t! There are plenty of ways to save money while actually enhancing your experience.

There are two distinctly different ways to travel Europe. You can run from one museum to the next, crossing off sights on a checklist, or you can relax and enjoy the beautiful city you are in. This way you will truly enjoy your vacation, spend less money, and see the city through the eyes of the locals. Here are some tips on how to do this:

1. Rent an apartment instead of staying in a hotel

There are many vacation apartment rentals that can be rented by the night or by the week. These are less expensive than hotels, and the owner of the apartment meets you there.

Take this time to ask them questions about their city and find out about their favorite things to do. A few of my favorites are Cocoonbarcelona.com, Cross-pollinate.com, and Realrome.com. To find more, just Google the name of the city you are visiting and “vacation apartment rental.”

2. Pick and choose the “tourist” activities to do

The admission prices can add up quickly, and there is so much more to see of a city than the inside of its museums. Decide ahead of time which activities you want to do and check to see if there is one day of the week that is free. Just make sure to go early on these days because there will likely be a large crowd.

3. Make friends with locals

Ask them what they like to do. There are plenty of fun things to do in cities that don’t require standing in long lines and buying expensive tickets. You will also have a much greater cultural experience doing the activities locals like doing.

4. Do some homework before you go

Research tipping standards. Americans tip far more than Europeans do. Also find out how to tell if the tip is included in your bill. It might say it on the check, but if you don’t know the language this doesn’t help you. Call your credit- and debit-card companies and find out what charges there will be. Credit cards typically have a foreign currency charge, meaning you will be charged every time you use the card. If this is the case, it is best to get cash using your debit card. This way you will only be charged the ATM fee once rather than being charged for every purchase you make.

5. Don’t eat out for every meal

If you stay in an apartment, use your kitchen. It is also fun to shop at a grocery store or go to an outdoor farmers market to pick up bread, cheese, meat, fruit, and wine to make a picnic. One of my favorite meals in Paris was a picnic we made in the park next to the Eiffel Tower.

6. When you do go out to eat, go to more residential areas

They typically have better food and are less expensive. Ask about specials. Be careful going to a restaurant with a great review in a guidebook. These restaurants become very popular with tourists and the restaurants will oftentimes increase prices.

7. Research budget airlines when visiting multiple cities in Europe

Europe has a lot of these, and if you buy the flights ahead of time you can find amazing deals. I flew from London to Dublin for $20 including all taxes. The two most popular airlines are at Easyjet.com and Ryanair.com. If these airlines don’t fly the route you are looking for, go to Whichbudget.com to see which airlines do.

8. When looking for flights to Europe, be as flexible as possible with dates and airports

My favorite site for searching flights is Kayak.com. If flights to your destination are very expensive, look into a roundtrip flight into London. These are usually the least expensive flights to Europe. From there you can fly to your final destination. If you can’t find a budget flight out of the airport you are flying into, you can take a bus to another nearby London area airport. Buses are lined up right outside all London airports and they depart very frequently. To check times, search on Nationalexpress.com, and just buy tickets when you are there.

9. Research public transportation ahead of time

Getting from airports into cities is very easy and affordable. It will be much easier to do if you pack light. See if there are any multi-day public transportation passes you could buy if you will be in a city for more than one day.

10. Take the whole picture into account

When traveling between cities, calculate the actual time and cost of both a train and a plane. Train stations are typically very close to the city center, while the airports that budget airlines use are often very far from the city. Make sure public transportation is running if you are taking an early flight. What can seem like a great deal on a flight can get very expensive if you have to take a taxi to the airport.

About the Author – Katie Frederick is a member of the Orange County, CA, Incubator and the founder of Easy Euro Trip.

Responsible travel starts at home, literally. Any savvy traveler can tell you that the journey starts long before you step out the door. Whether it be a weekend  or an extended international hiatus,  here are ten ways to start traveling green before you’re out the door.

1. Cut the paper trail

Paperless booking is no longer the way of the future, it is here now. When the International Air Transport Association switched to all paperless ticketing last year, (and their bookings comprise nearly 95% of international travel), they started saving an estimated 50,000 trees every year. Not only is e-ticketing saving resources, it can save you time and hassle as well at check-in.

2. Get disconnected 

Before you head out, unplug ALL the appliances you can. All the things that power your home – televisions, blenders, TV’s, chargers, computers, toasters – are secretly sipping away at electricity. This “standby power” expenditure can really add up, both for your power bill and the environment.

3. Drop the plants off at the sitter

Instead of having a friend or relative drive over to your house to water your plants while you are gone, try finding a plant sitter who will allow you to bring the plants to their house instead. This will save fossil fuels and emissions for those plant-watering visits, and your plants are likely to receive better care that way, as your plant sitter will be less likely to over-water them.

4. Enter the digital age

Ditch bulky guidebooks and maps for digital downloads and podcasts to take on the road. Go Green Travel has a recommended list of paper-free guidebooks and our friends over at Transitions Abroad have picked their favorite travel podcasts.

5. Consider buying offsets 

More and more people are budgeting in carbon offsets as a responsible way to reduce their environmental impact when traveling. You might also consider that direct flights, even though they may be a bit more expensive, always equal less total mileage and therefore less emissions.

6. Book wisely

With a plethora of sites like the Green Hotels Directory and Dine Green at your fingertips, a little time online can go a long way for finding sustainable restaurants, booking hotels with best practices and picking goods and services that benefit the community you’re visiting and keep your money local.

7. Go light

Packing the bare necessities is best for you and the planet. Trying packing a few days early, take a walk around your hood, then re-assessing what you have. I bet you’ll be able to find a few more cuts to your packing list.

8. Don’t forget the water bottle

I won’t step up on the soap box again but, seriously people, making a plan and preparing to treat your own drinking water is one of the simplest ways to prepare for a far greener trip.

9. Plan to hoof it

Walking, biking and using public transport are all great ways to enjoy a local’s view of a destination while leaving a gentler tread. Before you go, plan for biking and walking routes, and download local bus and train schedules so you’ll be ready to hit the ground…strolling.

10. Grab your brain and go forth with purpose

Keys – check. Passport – check. But don’t forget your brain! So many travelers hang up their responsible sensibilities and leave their eco-friendly habits at home. Everything you’ve adopted in your daily life – recycling, turning off the lights, saving water – should apply just as equally when you are away. Treat the world with the care you give your home and you will find yourself at home in the world.

Sure vacations are meant to be relaxing but they can end up being more stressful than your day job! Check out these top tips for avoiding traveling stress and relaaaaaaaax. I’ve worked myself up into some fits of traveling stress on several occasions that’s for sure. But what a shame, this is our time out!

Check out the 10 tips below on beating vacation stress, I hope they help you chill!!

1. Learn Some Words

Language misunderstandings and misapprehensions can be incredibly frustrating. Take the time to learn some key words and phrases before you go that should help you to get your point across.

2. Prepare for all Scenarios

Don’t get caught out without that medication you can only get at home or the only shoes that you can hike in. Think through all the eventualities you might encounter and come prepared for each one. And don’t scrimp on travel insurance, it’s just not worth it.

3. Be Airport Smart

Airports can induce high stress levels so be airport smart: book your seats online and leave plenty of time for check-in so you can sail through onto your flight without a care in the world.

4. Take Two Clear Days

It takes two days to unwind from work and settle into your vacation. Fact. So don’t make any plans and take these days to ease yourself into your new surroundings and get used to doing nothing.

5. Get into the Zone

So you’re an incredibly efficient, organized, high-achieving individual. Not anymore – you’re on vacation! Relieve yourself from the pressure of trying to create the perfect trip – be flexible, go with the flow and everything will just slot into place.

6. Ditch the Kids

Not in a nasty way of course, but if there are facilities to leave the kids for a day or an evening – go for it. Take some quiet kids-free time and don’t feel guilty, you deserve it!

7. Don’t Over-Plan

Remember the goal of the trip is to relax. So as much as you’d love to go on every tour on offer and see everything in the guidebook, be realistic. Leave yourself some free-time each day, otherwise it’s just not fun.

8. Take the Easy Option

So the taxi’s more expensive and you could do the tour yourself but if it’s going to save you time and effort in the long-run, take the easy option – you’re on vacation!

9. Cut Yourself Off

This is an obvious one. You don’t need me to tell you that checking your Blackberry, or even Facebook, every two seconds isn’t conducive to a relaxing vacation. Don’t do it!

10. Invest in Relaxation

For some people just being in the sun with nothing to do isn’t enough to help them relax. Book a massage, take a yoga class or practice meditation. Whatever you think will help you relax and unwind.

Got vacation stress stories?? Post up your comments below, we want to hear from you!