It was a pleasure to meet all of you last week. Please find below some notes and links from my talk on Friday morning.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to deal with tipping. For myself, unless the service is poor, I always tip 20% at restaurants, but this would be considered high by many, nice generous people. Here are two good, balanced guides to tipping in the U.S.
Get Rich Slowly
CNN Money
If you are headed some place where it snows regularly, you will need: waterproof gloves, waterproof snowboots, waterproof long coat, one (or two) scarves, a warm hat, chapstick, and thick socks. Online retailers such as duluthtrading.com, llbean.com, rei.com and landsend.com.
You can shop fro just about anything online at stores like amazon.com and in person at stores like Target and most big retailers have a store finder service on their website like this one at Walmart’s.
For phone, I suggest taking a hard look at pay-as-you-go plans and see which major provider (such as Verizon or att.com) gets the best service in your area.
For banks, look into whether your university has a relationship with a credit union http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_union
For state ids and driver’s licenses, check the government webpage for the state you are living in (for example, Indiana’s page is at in.gov).
The Make Use Of Laptop Buying Guide can be found here.
Food sites like yelp.com can help you find great meals in new places.
For cheap travel shop around and always read the fine print at online agencies such as kayak.com, hotwire.com and mobissimo.com.
Is there something else you’d like to know? Post in the comments and I’ll get back to you.
