See and Do

Madrid

Most of the plazas are free (because they are a public space) and the walking tours usually take you to all these places. For the walking tour, you can pay how much you like. Usually you give a few euros (sure beats a 20 euro bike or segway tour for the same sights!).

Parque del Buen Retiro is basically a huge park in the middle of the city. It kind of puts Central Park in New York to shame. Madrid’s oldest tree since the early 1600 also sits in the park.

Museo del Prado- a “must-see” if you visit Madrid. There are over 7000 paintings in this museum. ‘Nuff said. If you are a student under 25 (bring your photo ID and student card) you can get in for free. Same if you are over 65. If you visit between 6-8pm on a Monday to Saturday its also free, but expect long lines. Otherwise, it costs 14 euros.

Opera- If you’re under the age of 30, you can score deeply discounted opera tickets if you show up 30 minutes before the opera starts. Like up to 90% off. Romeo and Juliet was playing in Madrid when I was there.

Seville

La Cathedral and Giralda- this is where Christopher Columbus’ tomb is housed. It is one of the largest cathedrals you will ever see. The Giralda (a big bell tower) has been built between 1184 and 1198 by the Moors and it has withstood multiple earthquakes and the test of time. Unfortunately you can’t get in for free but it only costs about 8 euros for admission.

Alcazar- This was built in 1300 and it is beautiful. The moorish architecture is amazing. It is a UNESCO world heritage site. Admission is under 10 euros and is free if you are a child.

Archivo de Indias- This museum houses documents (including amazing maps) during Spains American empire thanks to Christopher Columbus. This museum is completely free and is highly recommended especially since there are usually no line-ups to contend with.

Toro- If you’re in Seville during the bullfight season, check to see if you can score a last minute ticket. Usually you can get one for up to 10-15 euro off the regular price.

Granada

Alhambra- This is a must-see. The Moorish architecture will make you think you’re in Morocco. Book your tickets in advance on the internet because there are only a limited number of tickets during the day. Make sure you make it to the main palace on time because you might not be granted admission if you are late. If you are a member of the EU as a student or as a senior, your tickets are discounted half off. Pick up your tickets at the Alhambra, you will need the credit card you used and it will spit out your ticket (fancy Ticketmaster in Spain). You can check out the garden area for free if you enter through the side (one stop prior to the main entrance when taking the bus).

Barcelona

Barcelona deserves a blog post of its own so check it out below.

Saving Money in Barcelona

Eat

Tapas, sangria, and tinto de verano! What more can you ask for? Food isn’t really cheap in Spain. Stay away from the touristy areas. Opt for menu de dia if you’re hungry for set menus that are usually a better bargain than ordering things a la carte. Usually includes an appetizer, main course, drink, and a dessert! Oftentimes, tapas organized by the hostel tour agencies are a pretty good deal, you get a drink and two tapas for 8 euros.

For example, for a 10 day trip to Spain, my total trip cost:

Flight, Trains, and Buses $1498.82 (most of the cost was the $1200 flight)
Accommodation $331.04 (for 10 nights)
Food $200.29
See and Do $62.61

Total: 2092.76 (10 days of fun in Spain!)

I also spent a ridiculous amount (maybe $250) shopping.  Zara and  Mango.  ‘Nuff said.

Readers, do you have any other tips on how to see Spain on a shoestring?

Gary @ Gajizmo.com writes Reasons You Should Change Jobs – The best ways to improve your future financial security are to increase your earned income through a career or home business, invest wisely, and limit your spending. This article advises readers on when and why it may be time to change jobs.

John S @ Frugal Rules writes 5 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Graduated From College – It’s sadly been too long since I graduated from college. There are a number of things I wish I knew before I did, chiefly among them avoiding debt, investing early by taking advantage of a 401k and networking all with the intention of growing professionally as well as growing my wealth.

Mr.CBB @ Canadian Budget Binder writes Financially Savvy Teen Budgets Her Money Using The Cash Envelope System – At just 17 years old Eva is well on her way to becoming financially independent because she is investing in building her knowledge up about personal financial literacy. Teens today really do need a kick-start like Eva has gotten from her parents from a young age. Now she budgets her money using the envelope system. Enjoy this inspiring story as it brings upon you strength, a desire and a passion to see the children of tomorrow succeed.

Steven @ Canadian Personal Finance writes Bitcoins: Will They Make a Viable Currency? – The recent hype in the bitcoin market has drawn a lot of attention to this digital currency. The question in many people’s minds is whether or not these can make a viable currency. It leads many to question the feasibility of bitcoins to stand the challenges it is currently facing.

Philip @ PT Money writes What Happens to Your Debt When You Die? – Handling a loved one’s debt after they die can be tricky. Make sure you know what to expect and that all the necessary preparations are made to keep things easy.

Todd @ Fearless Men @ Fearless Men writes How Much To Spend On An Engagement Ring – There’s too many opinions on how much to spend on an engagement ring.I’ve heard that a gentleman should spend 2-4 months salary on an engagement ring. How true is that?

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Lance @ Money Life and More writes Don’t Mix Family, Friends and Money – Our Townhouse Rental – We were going to rent our townhouse out to someone we didn’t know, but my fiancee mentioned that one of her friends wants to move soon and loves our townhouse so we decided we could rent it out to her instead. That was the plan… until things went wrong!

krantcents @ KrantCents writes How to Become Minimum Wage Millionaire – Can you earn minimum wage and still become a millionaire? The short answer is yes! I am sure you have heard of so called poor people becoming millionaires, although not overnight. I am not talking about professional athletes, entertainers or lottery winners.

MR @ Money Reasons writes Am I Focusing Too Hard On Investments? – Do you find that you are focusing too hard on investments? Perhaps it’s time to alter your investment pattern so that you optimize your investment research time?

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Miss T. @ Prairie Eco Thrifter writes Commercial or Organic Food: What’s On Your Plate? – Which is the greener choice – commercially-farmed food or organically-farmed food? Let’s look at some of the facts surrounding these two methods of producing our food and find out which is the greener choice and how each one compares with helping us save money.

Little House @ Little House in the Valley writes Cutting Down on Bills and Everyday Expenses – Cutting down your bills seems impossible at first, but it’s important to look at everything in front of you and keep an open mind about what you actually need versus things that are just convenient.

I would like to increase my exposure in my portfolio to utilities. I currently only have Fortis (tried, true, and trusted) and Just Energy (not so trusted, one of the dogs in my portfolio) and both of these comprise almost 12% of my TFSA portfolio. (I haven’t done this yet, still on my to do list)

I may also consider adding a REIT as well. Which REIT is your favourite? I am wary that they seem a bit overpriced at the present moment. (still on my to do list as well!)

I know that Suncor increased its dividend but I haven’t changed my spreadsheet yet- I need to do do this.

Hopefully during my school break I will get a chance to look more closely at what equities or ETFs to purchase <— obviously did not happen as I was too busy eating tapas and olives on my school break.  Now back to work!

Here are some things you can try for saving money in Barcelona :

Stay

Hostels are again, a great way to save money. I stayed at the Casa Gracia near Diagonal Metro station and other than the uber-modern interior design, the other great thing about it was the full-on free full breakfast. Coffee, fruit, juices, ham and cheese, bread, cereal, you name it you got it. It cost about 20 USD a night for a mixed dorm bed. It wasn’t in the central part of town but a quick 15 to 20 min walk (or a two stop metro ride) got you to Plaza Catalunya, which is the central hub of activity of Barcelona.

This hostel had a free walking tour arranged by the Walking with Architects group (a bunch of architect students doing this on the side). The guides give good recommendations for “must-see’s” and must-eats.n Also, their passion for architecture (for a Gaudi architecture rich city) is nice to see!

Related: Travel on the Cheap- Backpacking and Hostels

Eat

Staying away from Las Rambla, you should be fine. Otherwise, expect to pay 18 to 22 euros per person for a bunch of tapas and some drinks. La Rambla can be counted on to have restaurants open late in the night though, especially on Sunday evenings when a lot of things close early.  Also, you don’t need to tip in Spain!

Related: Travel on the Cheap- Exotic doesn’t Always Mean Expensive

Getting Around

Barcelona is easily accessible around town by foot (think 15 to 20 minute walks and sometimes more) but get a 10 ticket pass from the Metro station. The 10 ticket pass costs less than 10 euros and gives you 10 rides. Otherwise, paying for them separately costs 2 euros each. The “T-10″ is a better deal than buying a 1-3 day tourist metro ticket. The bus to the airport costs about 6 euros. Skip the 22 euro taxi! The T-10 works on the city buses and the metro.

Related: Top 10 Tips For Avoiding Travel Trauma & Saving Money

See and Do

La Sagrada Familia- Showing your student ID with photo identification saves you a few euros off the admission price. Unless you want to pay another few euros to wait 1 hr to go up the elevator to see views of Barcelona, you don’t need to add this to your admission.

Tossa de Mar- A 22 euro bus ride gets you to Tossa de Mar, which is part of the rugged Costa Brava coastline. You can go to the Arc de Triomphe metro station and the bus station is across the street. There are roman ruins, shops to meander throw, and a beautiful sandy beach with turquoise water to enjoy. They even have a glass bottom boat should you want to venture out to explore the ocean. There are a lot of tourists but it can be nice to get out of the city for a bit. If you’re going to enjoy the seafood, expect to pay 10 to 15 euros for a menu of the day including appetizer, main entree, drink, and dessert.

Museo de Picasso- On Sunday evenings from 3-8pm this museum is free and houses some of Picasso’s earlier works, including some stuff from his Blue Period. You save 11 euros! Go at around 6pm because that’s when the line isn’t too bad. Expect to wait about 30 to 45 minutes if you go at this time.

Parc Guell- More Gaudi, this beautiful garden landscaped park is currently free, but they are thinking of charging an admission price for this in the coming months. So enjoy it while you can!

La Rambla- One of the major tourist streets. Watch your bag. Free to stroll of course but it’s kinda overrated.

Montjuic- The views are beautiful from here and best of all the views are free!

As you can see, Barcelona can easily be done in a few days but if you really want to enjoy the city you should definitely stay for more because there’s a lot for everyone to see and do. Since the Canadian dollar is doing quite well, it might be a good time to visit Europe. Remember to use a credit card that doesn’t charge you conversion fees!

Readers, do you have other tips on how to see Barcelona on a Budget?

As I recently acquired an iPad as a Christmas present to myself, I started paying extra for data charges on my iPad.  As someone used to paying $56 including taxes for:

• 250 minutes anytime
• 6 pm evening and weekends
• unlimited text messaging
• 500 MB data
• Voicemail 3 (visual voicemail)
• Caller ID

I wasn’t really happy paying an extra $10 on average on a monthly basis.  Also, I had not realized (yes, I know, I am quite technologically impaired unlike the proprietors of this blog!) that you could tether your iPad to your iPhone for data and basically use it as a Wi-Fi hotspot.  I should have realized this earlier before I bought my 3G iPad, but I digress.

Negotiating A Cell Phone Plan

Going back to negotiating for the new cell phone contract– I had a great steal of a deal for a corporate plan with Rogers, but for some sick reason unbeknowst to me, I like the commitment that I have had with Telus for over 11 years.  Also, I am a Telus shareholder (I am also a Bell shareholder but that’s beside the point).  To be honest, I had some anxiety about renewing because I haven’t had the time to research the deals available out there, but spent about 30 minutes looking at the latest Red Flag Deal retention deals and was able to see what was available/ out there.

Related: Negotiating with Rogers Wireless- Head to Head Battle!

I was also deciding whether or not to buy a phone outright like Kerry from Squawkfox did, or get a discounted version and just commit to another three years like I did earlier.  Although Kerry bought an unlocked phone outright from Apple and found the saving to be substantial, I was thinking of doing the same.  Until I talked to the customer service rep and found that that Telus can unlock the cell phone for you for a $35 fee after 90 days of owning the phone.  I like this idea because as an intrepid and frequent wanderlust traveler, not having a cell phone handy can be well, kinda difficult.  I also like the idea of paying $179 for a $700+ cell phone (I know I know, I’m paying for it by being tied to a 3 year contract, but quite frankly, I am pretty happy with contracts especially if you are getting a good price for what you want).

I decided to give my good friends (lol) at Telus a call, and yes, I Googled my own blog post Step By Step Guide on How to Save Money on your Cell Phone Contract from a few years back as reference to find the retention department number.  I talked to a customer service rep and told her my situation.  I had about 4 months left on my contract.  Although I would have LOVED to have waited until my contract was over so I really will have the “upper hand” in terms of negotiation, I couldn’t because of the circumstances.  Nonetheless, I was pretty happy with what she offered me.  I mentioned the Rogers corporate deal and although they couldn’t match it, they did a good job in offering me more.  I had 100 Canadian long distance minutes for free a few years back (before my iPhone 4) and I wanted it back.  She wasn’t able to offer this to me.

I called back again and talked to another customer service rep and he was able to add this to my plan.

So, after about 1-2 hours of my time, this is what I got for $50+tax:

• 250 minutes anytime minutes
• 6pm evening and weekends
• unlimited text messaging
• Voicemail 10 (visual voicemail)
• Caller ID
• 100 Long distance minutes (Canada)
• 1 GB data

I cancelled my iPad plan and will tether it to my iPhone when I don’t have wi-fi.  I don’t use more than 1GB of data on both devices, so I’m pretty happy with that.

So to summarize, negotiating isn’t dead, even after three years.  Some tried and true tricks are:

• Don’t be afraid to ask for what you want
• Be nice (this is the MOST important thing) but be ready to “ask for the supervisor” if you get pissed
• Be humble and friendly (you are at the customer service rep’s mercy- if they don’t like you they are going to do jack sh*t for you)
• Call again and ask for what you want
• Note their names
• Write down what they offer you and make sure they put these in the “notes” on their system

Readers – Any other tips out there?