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Holiday tipping

Not sure how much to tip people whose services you enjoy? The rule of thumb is to tip the value of a service. 

• Personal trainers get a session's worth in cash or gift. 
• House cleaners get the cost of one service, though most people tip $35. 
• Lawn people get $20-$50 each. 
• Building staff get $25 to $50, with most people tipping $25.
• Hairdressers get the value of a service, with most folks tipping $20.
• Teachers get gifts with a value of around $20-$30 
• Newspaper carriers typically get around $10-$30, with most folks tipping at $15
• Mail carriers may not accept gift above $20 in value or get cash or cash equivalents, such as gift cards
• Dog walkers get a week's pay. 
• Babysitters of hellions should definitely get tips. A night's service. 
• Delivery guys typically get $5, though if they have to hoist a refrigerator through two flights of narrow staircases, you might want to be more generous. It really, after all, literally backbreaking work.  

Source: USA Today and Consumer Reports. 

It's not being cheap, it's being green

Why buy it when you can rent it? You can also make money on stuff you don't use much. If you're not the trusting kind, you can set up a security deposit. Collaborative consumption is the way to go. People used to do it that way, before we got all huffy about owning our stuff and keeping them locked up, unused in the garage, where our cars can no longer be parked.

Use the marketplace for renting stuff: http://rentalic.com/. They hand out security codes, so you know you're borrowing/lending to the right person.

If you're the more trusting kind, you can try SnapGoods. No security codes there, but it's a more usable website.

Transportation discounts with AAA

Yes, AAA is the automobile association, but it does have lots of discounts on public transit, including:

• Airport parking - Expresso airport in Oakland airport and Sky Park in San Bruno for SFO
• Amtrak
• RV rental
• Hertz
• Penske truck rental
• Supershuttle (though you might be able to get better deals online)

And even tours, like:

• Grand Canyon Railway
• Gray Line
  

AAA Discounts for California Toursits

AAA membership is a must-have tool for bargain travelers. For starters, you get better deals at hotels with your card, which covers your membership fees.  In addition to hotel savings, you can get discounts to the following entertainment places:

San Francisco Bay Area

• Asia Art Museum
• Gray Line
• Great America
• Oakland A's
• Pier 39 - Get your Fun Pack at the California Welcome Center (free two-hour parking, discounts in restaurants, and bay cruises)
• Six Flags Marine World and Water World

Los Angeles Area

• Knottsberry Farm - admission adn some merchandise
• Legoland
• Universal Studios

San Diego Area

• San Diego Wild Animal Park
• San Diego Zoo 
• Seaworld

For more savings, see aaa.com/savings. Or just try your luck and ask for AAA discounts. You'd be surprised at how the card is accepted at the oddest places, including fastfood restaurants. 

Museums on a discount

Your cultural education shouldn't burn a hole in our pocket. Here are a few money-saving ways:

• Check the museum website for free days, or you can just check out sites that list free museum days. Those days tend to be more crowded than usual, so you should go as early as you can, when the rest of the attendees are having breakfast and stuff. 
• If they don't have free days, check for free evenings. The SF Museum of Modern Art, for example, lets people in for free every Friday evenings.
• Look for two-fers. Some museums have agreements with each other. Two western fine arts museums, the Legion of  Honor and the De Young, are sister institutions. A ticket for one is good for entry to the other.
• Check to see if the ticket allows for multiple entries. Both the Legion of Honor and the De Young let you back in a couple of days after you enter the museum. If you went on a Saturday, you can come back on Sunday and Tuesday (because Monday is not open to the general public).
• If you have a AAA card, you can get discounts for some museums. For example, you can get the admissions for a second ticket at half price. 
• If they have a hot, special exhibit, get your tickets from Costco. Costco had one of the best deals for the King Tut exhibit in the De Young, for example. It came with the audio tour and didn't slap you with a service charge. Just go to the warehouse, buy the voucher, redeem it online, and print the tix. 
• Get more discount tips about other events from Bay Area on the Cheap.     

Buying SD cards

Get the right brand

Does the brand name matter for SD cards? In a word, yes. Inferior cards can fail quickly. But you're not necessarily safe if you buy only brand name stuff, because there is a large gray market that sells knock-offs (it's not just designer purses!). Some cheap sellers merely silkscreen brand names on the inferior junk. I suspect—though I don't know for sure—that some of the fantastic deals online for brand-name stuff could be from questionable sources.

Even with the genuine material, some companies are sloppier than other with their quality control. SanDisk is a trusted brand and seems to be more careful. (If you are curious about this, you can read more in an investigative report on failed Kingston cards. The report did not speak highly of Kingston's quality control and customer service, even to wholesale customers.)

Get the right class

Not all SD cards can transfer (read or write) data at the same rates. That's why cards with the same storage space from the same company could sell for different prices. SD cards have class ratings that tell you what its minimum transfer rates are. So a class 10 card can transfer at 10 MB per second (great for full HD video recording); while a class 4 can transfer at 4 MB per second (minimally sufficient for full HD recording).  

Having said that, you shouldn't necessarily buy the highest class that you see, especially if it costs a lot  more. You pay a premium for the fastest cards (class 10 in 2010) for incremental benefits; besides,  your device might not be able to transfer data at that speed anyway. Most smart phones, for example, use normal speed I/F bus for their SD slot, which means that they top out at class 6. Class 4 is fine for smart phones. To learn more about classes, see the official SD docs. 

All things being equal, I'd value brand name over class number. How do you know that the off-brand is not pulling your leg? It's not like an independent lab tested and classified their SD cards. 

Buy from the right store

If you want to be cautious, buy only from retail stores that you really trust. Presumably, their buyers do a bit more research; and if they don't, too many failed products and product returns will encourage them to discontinue selling the product or ending the relationship with the seller.

If your card fails, it's easier to return it to the actual store. Shipping things back is always a hassle. Also, some credit cards extends warranties by a year. Use such cards for your electronic stuff.

Final tip

Even the best cards by the most trustworthy manufacturer could fail, so back up your data.