I wholeheartedly agree with all of the tips thus far. I'll add a couple more:
-Seriously consider temporary/ temp-to-perm work. I've been out of an official full time job since January of this year (yay Michigan and their highest unemployment rate in the US. we're #1!). However, I've strung along a bunch of temporary gigs. I've been continuously working since early March.
-Stop eating out. Learn to cook. It's not that hard, and it's healthier for you. I have not eaten in a sit down restaurant in all of 2008. The only thing I miss is not having to do dishes. :)
-The hardest thing of all is to stay positive and upbeat. That's my biggest challenge by far. I just remember that I can only do the best I can at interviews, and the rest is outta my hands.
Back-to-school sales seem to be spread out this year so instead of everything being on sale, just 1-2 items are. I did pick up some notebooks at Staples on sale last week -- there is a store very close to me and it's easy for me to stop by and check.
The reasoning behind not paying off your mortgage is this: you need to save money for emergencies and also for investments (which in prior years, often earned much more than the 5-6% interest rate on the home loan). It's great to have the home paid for, but in the time between now and being mortgage free you might need the cash to pay your regular payment, buy food, invest in your retirement, etc., if you lose your job, for example.
Most of the movie-star insurance that you're talking about is bogus--they buy a policy mainly so they can issue a press release saying, "Our star's smile is so pretty we've insured it for a million dollars." It's never expected that there'd be any claim.
One of the reasons I'm down on insurance for things like this is precisely that there's no way to know what will be covered and what won't be. Having said that, if you're teeth are damaged in an accident, I would expect your regular dental coverage to pay to have them restored functionally. The incremental cost over that to have them restored cosmetically as well would be quite small--if a crown is damaged, it has to be replaced for your bite to be functional, and once they're replacing a crown, the extra cost of replacing it with a cosmetic-quality crown is relatively small.
Rather than trying to insure your dental work (the loss of which is really just one of many bad things that might happen to you), you'll probably be ahead of the game to save and invest whatever you might have paid in premiums. Then the money would be available for non-dental emergencies as well.
oh i hear ya with #9..i love trader joe's and costco but i must have spent thousands on individually-rolled chicken breasts with cranberry stuffing (and other similar convenience items)..never mind that they were 2.99 each...or those cute appetizers were 15.99 a box for 25 crabs cakes..they were on sale right!? And I’ll have a party eventually…
Stretching my food by eating (almost) everything in the house before buying new things just because I want them. I've also been mixing beans with just about every dinenr, also dumping in dolalr store peas- very good btw, to fill out a meal- yum! Although now target has ice cream and I have to try really hard to not go there!
So here's a question for you all, which I can't seem to get an answer from either my dentist, oral surgeon, or Insurance company.
I am paying out of pocket for some cosmetic work for my teeth (extractions/implants/crowns) to the tune of $15,000+. My company dental plan is only covering part of this. If I were to have an accident and wreck this dental work, my understanding is that my company dental plan would not cover the cost to re-do it, since they didn't cover it in the first place.
I have asked my insurance company, my dentist and my oral surgeon if there is specialty insurance that I could purchase to offset this "risk". None of them have heard of such a thing, even though movie starts insure their smiles for millions. How can an ordinary person get this insurance, and is it worth it? In your opinion...
Wondering if there are any tips for those who have been out of work long term? Even with a positive attitude and supportive family/friends it's daunting...
Americans have become a nation of whiners. If we can't buy something at the price we want, we whine to our mommy politicians to pass a law to make the big bad businessman lower his price, or to help us buy it.
grillman wrote an excellent piece. The venue sponsors know the audience is captive, so they want a piece of the action. Because his costs are higher, he charges more.
If you are going to go somewhere, you better factor in the cost of food and drink. Otherwise, bring your own. If you can't, then don't bother. When our local ball club jacked up their prices to pay for the new team and the new stadium, I decided I had enough. I simply stopped going. If I am invited to go, I eat before and bring along snacks and a drink, which we are allowed.
Especially with digital cameras and scanners, it's easy to share photos. When I scan an older photo, I send copies by e-mail to my sister if it's a family photo, or to friends who might be in it. When I write to my in-laws who don't do e-mail, I put recent photos into the text of the letter with Word so they can see what the kids look like that week.
When we take photos we notify those who were at the event of where the photos are on photobucket and let them lift or link them.
Noone's forcing any of you to buy concession products. It's a fact of life and business that when the cost of supplies goes up, the price of the end product goes up. The people that are slamming the concession owners apparently have no empathy or business knowledge. There are plenty of ways to go to a fair or carnival and not break the bank.
Prices are determined by supply and demand. Expensive supply (in this case due to fees and transportation costs, among others) and high demand (in my experience, there are always long lines at stands) elevate prices. Also, gas prices are reasonable. Same thing. Oil is becoming scarcer, and people are reluctant to drive less. Incidentally, oil profits are relatively smaller than those of S&P 500 companies.
As far as consumers not having a choice, I've never been forced to buy anything. I prefer not to buy an $8 hamburger, so I don't. If I do, it's because I'm really hungry and the hamburger is worth $8 to me. If you don't like the prices, don't buy anything. If you think gas is too expensive, drive less.
Costs are passed on to the consumer. That's life. It would be great if everything was free, but it's not. The alternative is for the vendors to eat the cost and go out of business, making it impossible to get a hamburger or Coke at any price.
Thanks to those who offered a perspective from the other side of the counter. I agree that the article is one-sided. If concessions were such a slam dunk, Donald Trump would be buying hot dog stands, not real estate.
The concession guys can cry me a river all they want, I'm not spending $5 for a bottle of water or a soda. It sounds like more people can't justify the cost vs. benefit of events built on this model. Maybe the concession guys should look at new avenue's of income.
Just in case the unexpected happens, it's a good idea to get short-term health insurance coverage while you're unemployed. Cobra can be very expensive, but you can usually find a plan for much less money on your own. It may not have all the bells and whistles, but will cover you if you're struck by a major illness. We've had good luck using ehealthinsurance.com.
In 2002 my husband was unemployed and my son was hospitalized with appendicitis. We had basic coverage and the hospital was willing to subsidize the difference between our basic insurance coverage and the cost of the operation. It would have been a financial disaster without medical insurance on top of the unemployment.
Great article. I would just like to add to the note about sex. I don't know about other young women, but my hormone levels are very responsive to how much I'm getting. For example, I did not develop breasts AT ALL until I became sexually active at 18. It did nothing for my acne, but it was great for my figure and it helped regulate my period. I told my doc about this, and she noted studies of women in which women who did not have regular access to men or other arousing things simply stopped ovulating. Instead of periods, they had breakthrough bleeding every month.
Bottom line, it helps regulate hormones. And anyone who has spent ANY time around a pubescent boy knows that regulated hormones are a wonderful and often underappreciated thing!
I would try to avoid foods served at concessions as much as possible. Not only they're more expensive but also unhealthy. As much as possible, I tried to sneak in foods prepared at home*laughs*
Man, you bleeding heart guys really confuse me. So now it's ok to ream a customer $4 for a Coke because you have it tough? Who asked you to get into that business anyway? I suppose by your reckoning gas prices are fine because oil companies have overheads. THe fact that you guys chose to make a living this way means that you clearly saw a way to make money. Only after the fact did you find out the true costs on your end, but one thing is clear...whatever your costs are, is it fair to pass them on to the consumer who has no choice but to pay your overblown prices?!
Grill Man you have said a mouthfull and unfortunately it's all true and well stated.
I have four food concessions that I work at fairs and festivals in Illinois and Iowa. I'm sitting at one now and we closed tonight due to a storm after being open for an hour. I still have to pay a premium price for my locations and I still have to pay my 10 employees full pay eventhough I didn't turn $100 tonight.
Every single item we sell has to be delivered to us. This once upon a time was a free service. When you buy $7,000 - $8,000 worth of supplies a week the food service companies used to deliver them to your location for free. Now we have a little charge called 'fuel surcharge' added to our bills. When you are open Tues-Sun then move Monday to our new location and reopen again the next day it doesn't leave a lot of time to run around time and comparison shop for the best prices on hamburger patties and bottled water. We get it where we can and pay whatever we have to because we have to have it.
We also run Caterpillar diesel generators that are hauled in 28ft semi trailers to power our food operation. Our diesel has to also be delivered to us twice a week at $5.05 a gallon. Plus our trailers don't go down the road on their own. Our big trucks require that diesel as well. It takes 6 supply trucks to haul enough supplies to service my four trailers. We have two trucks for nothing but ice machines and freezers for our bagged ice. It always irritates me when a customer comes up with a 44oz cup they didn't buy from me and wants it filled up with ice for free. They just don't have a clue what it takes for us to keep up with the supply of ice for our paying customers, I'm sure as hell not going to give it away. They then call me every name in the book and usually throw something at me. I once had a patron throw a soda back at me because we don't have lids (that would require a whole other truck to haul enough lids to put one on every drink we sell).
We also carry workmen's comp insurance, public liability insurance, city 'entertainment' taxes, health dept. fees, etc. I have one concession that costed me $165,000 and I had to buy a big straight truck to pull it. That's a lot of bottles of water to sell to make the payments. And grill man didn't mention the blown tires and break downs we experience as well. Wal-Mart doesn't carry semi tires, those are a little more expensive.
It's a hot, dirty, dusty, miserable business where you are forced to deal with the nastiest, unappreciative people. It requires you to work 7 days a week and put in 12-15 hour days on your feet and in the heat. It always amazes me that people will go to a theatre and pay $4.00 for a popcorn but at the fair that's expensive (we charge $1.50)!
So the next time you go to a fair think about what those professional vendors have been through to bring you those products and don't complain when you have to pay $3 for a water and cups of ice aren't free.
License to print money?. If you only knew what you were talking about, but you obviously don't, at least when it comes to fair and festival concessions,
Do you have any idea how much goes out before one red cent comes in...and it only does that if the weather co-operates and that's just one hurdle we face...this ain't a job for the squeamish.
Insurance costs go up each and every year.
Fairboards jam as many stands as they can at their events..they don't care if vendors have way too much competition per cap.
Lets not even mention fuel costs...nuff said!
Product costs themselves may not amount to much, but a lot of stock has to be delivered...at a premium.
Help, high rent often hundreds of dollars PER FOOT (known as "privelege") or 20%-30% on gross/
As mentioned on another post, some product has to be bought on site, at whatever they say you have to pay.
Sometimes you have to purchase a particular brand of soft drink and if your not set up for that particular product, they'll be more than happy to sell you what you need...at the "catalog suggested price"...or rent it at a high premium.
Oh yeah, there's all the legal stuff from all the various health depts.(often from town to town, state by state) to the DOT and anybody else that can get their hand in your pocket.
Then there is the help, electric charge, garbage collecton charge, parking charge, camper hook-up charge(unless of course you pay for a hotel/motel).
These are known as "dings" and we sometimes get dinged to death whether we make any money or not at a particular spot and you usually have to put your money up front, sometimes many months in advance.
And last but not least, do you have any idea how much a decent looking outfit costs...some cost nearly as much (and sometimes more) than a brick and mortar joint.
This is a business that you can in fact make a good living, if your willing to work your ass off and take BIG risks, but you make it sound as if food vendors are just rolling in dough...license to print money indeed!
Get a grip...or at least your facts straight!
Have a swell day & and support your local fairs and festivals!!!
Daddy needs a knew pair of shoes...can't hardly afford to drive.
I wholeheartedly agree with all of the tips thus far. I'll add a couple more:
-Seriously consider temporary/ temp-to-perm work. I've been out of an official full time job since January of this year (yay Michigan and their highest unemployment rate in the US. we're #1!). However, I've strung along a bunch of temporary gigs. I've been continuously working since early March.
-Stop eating out. Learn to cook. It's not that hard, and it's healthier for you. I have not eaten in a sit down restaurant in all of 2008. The only thing I miss is not having to do dishes. :)
-The hardest thing of all is to stay positive and upbeat. That's my biggest challenge by far. I just remember that I can only do the best I can at interviews, and the rest is outta my hands.
Back-to-school sales seem to be spread out this year so instead of everything being on sale, just 1-2 items are. I did pick up some notebooks at Staples on sale last week -- there is a store very close to me and it's easy for me to stop by and check.
The reasoning behind not paying off your mortgage is this: you need to save money for emergencies and also for investments (which in prior years, often earned much more than the 5-6% interest rate on the home loan). It's great to have the home paid for, but in the time between now and being mortgage free you might need the cash to pay your regular payment, buy food, invest in your retirement, etc., if you lose your job, for example.
Thanks for this list. I know I'm going to find it helpful!
Most of the movie-star insurance that you're talking about is bogus--they buy a policy mainly so they can issue a press release saying, "Our star's smile is so pretty we've insured it for a million dollars." It's never expected that there'd be any claim.
One of the reasons I'm down on insurance for things like this is precisely that there's no way to know what will be covered and what won't be. Having said that, if you're teeth are damaged in an accident, I would expect your regular dental coverage to pay to have them restored functionally. The incremental cost over that to have them restored cosmetically as well would be quite small--if a crown is damaged, it has to be replaced for your bite to be functional, and once they're replacing a crown, the extra cost of replacing it with a cosmetic-quality crown is relatively small.
Rather than trying to insure your dental work (the loss of which is really just one of many bad things that might happen to you), you'll probably be ahead of the game to save and invest whatever you might have paid in premiums. Then the money would be available for non-dental emergencies as well.
oh i hear ya with #9..i love trader joe's and costco but i must have spent thousands on individually-rolled chicken breasts with cranberry stuffing (and other similar convenience items)..never mind that they were 2.99 each...or those cute appetizers were 15.99 a box for 25 crabs cakes..they were on sale right!? And I’ll have a party eventually…
Stretching my food by eating (almost) everything in the house before buying new things just because I want them. I've also been mixing beans with just about every dinenr, also dumping in dolalr store peas- very good btw, to fill out a meal- yum! Although now target has ice cream and I have to try really hard to not go there!
Sorry, "Stars" not starts...
So here's a question for you all, which I can't seem to get an answer from either my dentist, oral surgeon, or Insurance company.
I am paying out of pocket for some cosmetic work for my teeth (extractions/implants/crowns) to the tune of $15,000+. My company dental plan is only covering part of this. If I were to have an accident and wreck this dental work, my understanding is that my company dental plan would not cover the cost to re-do it, since they didn't cover it in the first place.
I have asked my insurance company, my dentist and my oral surgeon if there is specialty insurance that I could purchase to offset this "risk". None of them have heard of such a thing, even though movie starts insure their smiles for millions. How can an ordinary person get this insurance, and is it worth it? In your opinion...
Wondering if there are any tips for those who have been out of work long term? Even with a positive attitude and supportive family/friends it's daunting...
Americans have become a nation of whiners. If we can't buy something at the price we want, we whine to our mommy politicians to pass a law to make the big bad businessman lower his price, or to help us buy it.
grillman wrote an excellent piece. The venue sponsors know the audience is captive, so they want a piece of the action. Because his costs are higher, he charges more.
If you are going to go somewhere, you better factor in the cost of food and drink. Otherwise, bring your own. If you can't, then don't bother. When our local ball club jacked up their prices to pay for the new team and the new stadium, I decided I had enough. I simply stopped going. If I am invited to go, I eat before and bring along snacks and a drink, which we are allowed.
Especially with digital cameras and scanners, it's easy to share photos. When I scan an older photo, I send copies by e-mail to my sister if it's a family photo, or to friends who might be in it. When I write to my in-laws who don't do e-mail, I put recent photos into the text of the letter with Word so they can see what the kids look like that week.
When we take photos we notify those who were at the event of where the photos are on photobucket and let them lift or link them.
Staying positive is key and a big way to do that is to put your best foot forward when you get that all-important first job interview. Know what to do and say ("How to Ace Job Interviews" at http://shanelyang.com/2008/01/07/how-to-ace-job-interviews/ ) and what to wear ("Bullet-Proof Interview Suit" at http://shanelyang.com/2008/07/09/bullet-proof-interview-suit/ ) to knock them dead! : )
Noone's forcing any of you to buy concession products. It's a fact of life and business that when the cost of supplies goes up, the price of the end product goes up. The people that are slamming the concession owners apparently have no empathy or business knowledge. There are plenty of ways to go to a fair or carnival and not break the bank.
Chris,
Prices are determined by supply and demand. Expensive supply (in this case due to fees and transportation costs, among others) and high demand (in my experience, there are always long lines at stands) elevate prices. Also, gas prices are reasonable. Same thing. Oil is becoming scarcer, and people are reluctant to drive less. Incidentally, oil profits are relatively smaller than those of S&P 500 companies.
As far as consumers not having a choice, I've never been forced to buy anything. I prefer not to buy an $8 hamburger, so I don't. If I do, it's because I'm really hungry and the hamburger is worth $8 to me. If you don't like the prices, don't buy anything. If you think gas is too expensive, drive less.
Costs are passed on to the consumer. That's life. It would be great if everything was free, but it's not. The alternative is for the vendors to eat the cost and go out of business, making it impossible to get a hamburger or Coke at any price.
Thanks to those who offered a perspective from the other side of the counter. I agree that the article is one-sided. If concessions were such a slam dunk, Donald Trump would be buying hot dog stands, not real estate.
The concession guys can cry me a river all they want, I'm not spending $5 for a bottle of water or a soda. It sounds like more people can't justify the cost vs. benefit of events built on this model. Maybe the concession guys should look at new avenue's of income.
Just in case the unexpected happens, it's a good idea to get short-term health insurance coverage while you're unemployed. Cobra can be very expensive, but you can usually find a plan for much less money on your own. It may not have all the bells and whistles, but will cover you if you're struck by a major illness. We've had good luck using ehealthinsurance.com.
In 2002 my husband was unemployed and my son was hospitalized with appendicitis. We had basic coverage and the hospital was willing to subsidize the difference between our basic insurance coverage and the cost of the operation. It would have been a financial disaster without medical insurance on top of the unemployment.
I totally agree with you on the moping around. It helps to hang around with optimistic, positive thinking people.
Great article. I would just like to add to the note about sex. I don't know about other young women, but my hormone levels are very responsive to how much I'm getting. For example, I did not develop breasts AT ALL until I became sexually active at 18. It did nothing for my acne, but it was great for my figure and it helped regulate my period. I told my doc about this, and she noted studies of women in which women who did not have regular access to men or other arousing things simply stopped ovulating. Instead of periods, they had breakthrough bleeding every month.
Bottom line, it helps regulate hormones. And anyone who has spent ANY time around a pubescent boy knows that regulated hormones are a wonderful and often underappreciated thing!
I would try to avoid foods served at concessions as much as possible. Not only they're more expensive but also unhealthy. As much as possible, I tried to sneak in foods prepared at home*laughs*
Hey Carrie,
Great tips, as I'm lamenting the lack of your awesome frugal blog way out here in the middle of the ocean.
I also like your new profile picture! That pig was cute, but you are much cuter :-)
~Laura
Man, you bleeding heart guys really confuse me. So now it's ok to ream a customer $4 for a Coke because you have it tough? Who asked you to get into that business anyway? I suppose by your reckoning gas prices are fine because oil companies have overheads. THe fact that you guys chose to make a living this way means that you clearly saw a way to make money. Only after the fact did you find out the true costs on your end, but one thing is clear...whatever your costs are, is it fair to pass them on to the consumer who has no choice but to pay your overblown prices?!
Grill Man you have said a mouthfull and unfortunately it's all true and well stated.
I have four food concessions that I work at fairs and festivals in Illinois and Iowa. I'm sitting at one now and we closed tonight due to a storm after being open for an hour. I still have to pay a premium price for my locations and I still have to pay my 10 employees full pay eventhough I didn't turn $100 tonight.
Every single item we sell has to be delivered to us. This once upon a time was a free service. When you buy $7,000 - $8,000 worth of supplies a week the food service companies used to deliver them to your location for free. Now we have a little charge called 'fuel surcharge' added to our bills. When you are open Tues-Sun then move Monday to our new location and reopen again the next day it doesn't leave a lot of time to run around time and comparison shop for the best prices on hamburger patties and bottled water. We get it where we can and pay whatever we have to because we have to have it.
We also run Caterpillar diesel generators that are hauled in 28ft semi trailers to power our food operation. Our diesel has to also be delivered to us twice a week at $5.05 a gallon. Plus our trailers don't go down the road on their own. Our big trucks require that diesel as well. It takes 6 supply trucks to haul enough supplies to service my four trailers. We have two trucks for nothing but ice machines and freezers for our bagged ice. It always irritates me when a customer comes up with a 44oz cup they didn't buy from me and wants it filled up with ice for free. They just don't have a clue what it takes for us to keep up with the supply of ice for our paying customers, I'm sure as hell not going to give it away. They then call me every name in the book and usually throw something at me. I once had a patron throw a soda back at me because we don't have lids (that would require a whole other truck to haul enough lids to put one on every drink we sell).
We also carry workmen's comp insurance, public liability insurance, city 'entertainment' taxes, health dept. fees, etc. I have one concession that costed me $165,000 and I had to buy a big straight truck to pull it. That's a lot of bottles of water to sell to make the payments. And grill man didn't mention the blown tires and break downs we experience as well. Wal-Mart doesn't carry semi tires, those are a little more expensive.
It's a hot, dirty, dusty, miserable business where you are forced to deal with the nastiest, unappreciative people. It requires you to work 7 days a week and put in 12-15 hour days on your feet and in the heat. It always amazes me that people will go to a theatre and pay $4.00 for a popcorn but at the fair that's expensive (we charge $1.50)!
So the next time you go to a fair think about what those professional vendors have been through to bring you those products and don't complain when you have to pay $3 for a water and cups of ice aren't free.
Expensive, yep that's true.
License to print money?. If you only knew what you were talking about, but you obviously don't, at least when it comes to fair and festival concessions,
Do you have any idea how much goes out before one red cent comes in...and it only does that if the weather co-operates and that's just one hurdle we face...this ain't a job for the squeamish.
Insurance costs go up each and every year.
Fairboards jam as many stands as they can at their events..they don't care if vendors have way too much competition per cap.
Lets not even mention fuel costs...nuff said!
Product costs themselves may not amount to much, but a lot of stock has to be delivered...at a premium.
Help, high rent often hundreds of dollars PER FOOT (known as "privelege") or 20%-30% on gross/
As mentioned on another post, some product has to be bought on site, at whatever they say you have to pay.
Sometimes you have to purchase a particular brand of soft drink and if your not set up for that particular product, they'll be more than happy to sell you what you need...at the "catalog suggested price"...or rent it at a high premium.
Oh yeah, there's all the legal stuff from all the various health depts.(often from town to town, state by state) to the DOT and anybody else that can get their hand in your pocket.
Then there is the help, electric charge, garbage collecton charge, parking charge, camper hook-up charge(unless of course you pay for a hotel/motel).
These are known as "dings" and we sometimes get dinged to death whether we make any money or not at a particular spot and you usually have to put your money up front, sometimes many months in advance.
And last but not least, do you have any idea how much a decent looking outfit costs...some cost nearly as much (and sometimes more) than a brick and mortar joint.
This is a business that you can in fact make a good living, if your willing to work your ass off and take BIG risks, but you make it sound as if food vendors are just rolling in dough...license to print money indeed!
Get a grip...or at least your facts straight!
Have a swell day & and support your local fairs and festivals!!!
Daddy needs a knew pair of shoes...can't hardly afford to drive.
for every one saying he should have told you about the ending he did its under the video
Cherries are not listed! Cherries usually start in early July.