Tag Archives: Prices

How to Dine Out On a Budget

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Dine Out On a Budget

Despite the economic crisis, people still have to eat, and dine out sometimes. You could save money by eating home-cooked meals, but maybe it is a way to convince yourself that things are not that bad, because you can still dine out. Just to be sure you are not forced to ask if you could wash the dishes to pay for the balance of your check, you could use some dining-out-on-a-budget tips.

1. Bring Coupons
Many local or community newspapers have restaurant advertisements placed on them with promotional coupons attached. These coupons should be worth a few dollars, a boon to those dining out on a tight budget.

2. Choose Buffets / See If Kids Eat For Free
For below $10 per head, buffets can be a wonderful choice. Gorge on everything that is on the tables, without doing mathematical computations in your head while you try not to choke on a chicken wing. You should also be lucky to find restaurants that let children dine free of charge.

3. Go to Family-Style Restaurants
If you are taking your friends out for a meal, you can do worse by picking a family-style restaurant. Varied dishes will be brought to your table served the same way at home. For an entire meal, you will only pay a single price, truly easy on your budget while entertaining friends.

4. Select Appetizers
There is the mistaken notion that appetizers are high on calories and are not filling. It is not true at all. Appetizers are served in portions that one person cannot consume by himself. You can make a meal out of the appetizers. Select the appetizer sampler as you enjoy a couple of different foods for a low price.

5. Go for Vegetarian Dishes
Dishes without meat are usually cheaper than dishes cooked with meat. Pasta and salads usually don’t have meat, so they are cheaper. You can choose these dishes. Not only is it budget-friendly, it is also good for your health.

6. Ask for Half Portions
If you are on a budget, do not be afraid to ask for half portions when you dine out. Not only are half portions cheaper, but half portions are also healthier. Your typical entrée will usually contain well over 1,000 calories.

7. Make Two Meals Out Of Large Portions
Sometimes, you get served too much food that you cannot possibly consume in one sitting. Do not be embarrassed to ask for a doggy bag. You will have something extra for your next meal.

8. Request the Special
A lot of restaurants have daily specials. Not only will you be able to enjoy budget-friendly meals, you can also try new kinds of food. The next time you go to the same restaurant, you can order another of their specials.

9. Limit Drinks to Water
Before you go to a restaurant, tell everyone going with you that drinks will be limited to water. No soda, no juice, not even beer for yourself. You are on a budget, and drinking free water cuts out a good part of the check.

10. Ask for Local & Senior-Citizen Discounts
Besides asking if children eat for free, ask for a local discount especially if you reside in a tourist area. Normally, restaurants in tourist areas are too expensive for diners on a budget but these restaurants want to cultivate their local clientele and give them discounts. From 10 percent to as high as 25 percent is a lot of savings for the budget-challenged.

How to Practice Self Control on Gadget Shopping

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How to Practice Self Control on Gadget Shopping
Shopping for the latest technological gadget is a very tempting way to spend that hard-earned money during pay day. But do you really need to splurge on the latest version of iPod or iTouch when you have a perfectly functional music or video player? Here are guaranteed ways for you to resist incurring unnecessary gadget update even in the most enticing conditions.

1. Why replace when you can accessorize?
Make the most of what you have before even entertaining the option of swapping it. Getting accessories is made more fun and interesting with different gadget brands competing, not only by coming up with the most innovative product features, but also by providing a variety of fashion merchandise. For laptops, there are colorful and lively skins to choose from. With laptop skins, you get to cover up the numerous scratches on the surface of your gadget. Laptop skins also come in easily removable and replaceable adhesive that leave no residue on the surface.

2. Impulsive shopping is indeed one of the manifestations of reckless spending.
To curb this difficulty, personal financial management strategies must be employed. Budgeting involves appropriating your resources according to the most urgent matters such as bills payment and emergency fund allocation. If in your calculation, you realize that you still have something to spare to fuel your gadget fancy, then that is the only time to give yourself a go signal.

3. Who says you need to get away from the shopping mall to prevent yourself from spending?
Go window-shopping to do more research on that gadget in mind. Compare products of different brands in terms of price, features, and accessibility of support services. Raking the market for the best option proves to be the most practical way of enjoying the best buy when you finally find it.

4. Make a list of the things and gadgets you want to buy.
This way, you are able to visualize your wants, and easily weigh them out according to the intensity of your desire, and to its necessity. Responsible spending requires the ability to focus on specific purchase goals.

5. Enjoy your existing gadgets to its full capacity.
The latest gadgets may only have upgraded systems and additional features that you can well avail of from the brand’s website or from other sites that offer free downloads. Pack your gadget with widgets and software add-ons to increase its versatile functions to parallel those of the latest versions.

Microsoft Takes a Cheap Shot at Apple

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Microsoft Laptop Hunters featuring Lauren

Microsoft Laptop Hunters featuring Lauren

With the fears of recession and overall scrimping on unnecessary expenses, Microsoft shows some marketing savvy by positioning it as the better and cheaper alternative to Apple’s Macintosh.

Microsoft recently released a new ad featuring Lauren, a bespectacled redhead. In the commercial, a voice-over tells her to go hunt for a laptop that would suit her needs, and if she does, Microsoft would buy it for her. Lauren then goes into an Apple store, but quickly goes back out and dejectedly reports that the store did not have her preferred laptop: one that has a comfortable keyboard, a 17 inch screen and fast performance. The only thing she could afford from the Apple store is a 13 inch Macbook.

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Asus Eee PC 1004DN: First Eee with Optical Drive

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Asus Eee PC 1004DN

Asus Eee PC 1004DN


Notebook or netbook? One of the key features that separate a netbook from a notebook is the presence of an optical drive.

Now Asus comes and blurs that line with its newest installment for the Eee series – the Asus Eee PC 1004DN. This shiny new creation sports a ‘super-multi optical disc drive’. In other words, it is a CD/DVD writer. How’s that for revolutionary, eh?

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The Video Game Industry “is” Recession-Proof

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I’ve heard about claims that the video game industry, along with healthcare, is recession-proof. Well, these claims might be proven to be true, especially when you take into consideration the gaming industry’s February 2009 sales in the United States, which involved a double-digit growth year-on-year at a time when overall retail sales growth was sluggish. That is made even more special when you take note of the industry’s consistently growing sales for the past few months, while the rest of the world was experiencing recession blues.

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The world’s most powerful desktop computer unveiled!

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The new Apple Mac Pro interior

The new Apple Mac Pro interior

Apple has done it again. This time it produced the world’s most powerful desktop computer. The new 8-core and 4-core Mac Pro has been describe by Apple as “perfect for power users”. Its most appealing spec is its innovative Nehalem microprocessor with a clock speed of approximately 2.26GHz. This processor utilizes one of Intel’s most potent lines of processors – the Xeon 3500 / 5500.

Among its latest and refurbished parts include:
- a new video system
- a new hardware look
- 4-core processors on 1 die
- On-chip memory controller
- Turbo Boost
- A whooping 4 Tera-byte of hard drive storage (maximum capacity)
- Up to 6GB of memory
- Enhanced Data Rate wireless
- NVIDIA GeForce GT 120

Xeon Intel processor

Xeon Intel processor


Mac Pro processor architecture

Mac Pro processor architecture

All these specs make the new Mac Pro 1.7 times faster than the 2008-released Mac Pro model.

But all beautiful and powerful things come with a price. For a Quad-Core Mac Pro (with a clock-speed of 2.66GHz), its price ranges from $2,300 to $2,500. On the other hand, the Eight-Core Mac Pro (with a clock-speed of 2.26GHz) can go up to $3,400.

Dell’s Sexy Mystery Not Up to Par?

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Adamo Laptop by Dell

Adamo Laptop by Dell

At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) last January, Dell unveiled this sleek, sexy, ultrathin notebook called Adamo which had techies speculating furiously. Is this going to be a Macbook Air nemesis? Will this be the notebook that will give Apple a run for its money?

Sadly, answers could not immediately be found, because Dell revealed no specs nor internal features (booting wasn’t even allowed, reportedly). The sleek, black Adamo was literally just displayed for all to see and nothing else. On the outside, the machine sports a 13″ display covered edge-to-edge in glass, three USB ports, an eSATA jack, a backlit keyboard. It also is 0.65″ thick.

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LCD Prices Going Down

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LCD TV

LCD TV

Recent media reports have said that three manufacturers of LCD flat-panel screens were fined almost $600 million in an anti-trust suit. Except for the fines attached, there is nothing really surprising about companies engaging in price fixing and informal cartels. What catches one’s attention, however, is the comments that LCD prices would have gone down faster have it not been for the efforts of these three companies.

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