10 weeks 'til graduation

Random thoughts today:

> Monday morning, and it's our spring break!! Break started last Friday for me.

> Met an MBA alum on my way to the library. He's an international student who's switching jobs after not-even-a-year. He's going to join a startup after working at a small financial consulting firm. He says he "likes small companies." I wished him good luck!

> It's break, yes, but I am working in the library. It's nice, however, to be working in the library -- getting paid and getting fed (lots of extra food from dissertation camp) -- when most students are away.

> Must remember to get my new I-20 from the International office and mail my OPT application today!

> Need packaging tape to mail a textbook rental back. Ebay in the US is a blessing. There's stuff there that's cheaper than Amazon, Walmart or the dollar store.

> Spending more than I usually do on food with friends, and stuff like ski pants. Trading money for (affordable more-value-for-your-money) memories.

> I need a US driver's license!!! Aaaahhhhhh. Parallel parking, I'll beat you today!

> Double points for Bing Rewards today! Followed it up with Swagbucks! (for more info, follow this link.) I think I've earned around $50 so far with these two sites. Not bad!

> Wondering what to eat for mid-afternoon "lunch."

> Can't wait to know how much my tax refund will be; my tax appointment's next week.

> Wonder what ever happened to No Debt MBA? She stopped writing on her blog since she started her internship. I had been reading it before I came to the US back in 2012. Did she accumulate debt during her second year? Hmm.

> Yes, I'm graduating soon, and I'm feeling lazy, like the stereotypical second-year MBA. Cannot wait to start earning again!

Trade your idle time for $5 Amazon Gift Cards!

$5 Amazon gift cards are manna from heaven for a graduate student like me looking for textbook money. Granted, these gift cards do not come free since you have to spend a certain amount of time doing searches on sites. The good news is that how much time you spend is completely under your control.

(Note: Unfortunately, Bing Rewards and Swagbucks Search aren't for Philippine residents. You could still play Swagbucks games though! But keep this in mind if you're gonna study in the US.)

With all the mini-breaks that I take from work and studying, I go to Bing and Swagbucks for a few minutes each day to search and play games. I just "discovered" Bing Rewards and Swagbucks a few weeks back, and I've earned $15 so far! (Which, granted, isn't a lot at the moment, but think of how much I can earn in a year!)

I really like Bing Rewards because it's simple to earn points, and there's a set limit each day -- meaning that I don't have to spend as much time as necessary to earn the limit. I can earn the max allowed points in less than 5 minutes, since I can type literally anything into Bing's search bar and have it count towards the limit. Bing has fewer partner merchants, but... one of them is Swagbucks!

Once you get into Bing Rewards' Gold Status level (which is really easy to get into), you get the rewards at a discount. You can choose between getting an Amazon Gift Card at once for 475 points, or go through the Swagbucks route for the same 475 points. The latter means that you get 500 Swagbucks, which you can use at Swagbucks to get an Amazon Gift Card for 450 points, with 50 points left over.

I haven't tried the Swagbucks route yet, since I was happy with how fast Bing gave me the Amazon codes, and was unsure with how fast I could get the Swagbucks one. I'll be doing it next time though, since the turnaround of Swagbucks was bearable (i.e. not even a week).

There are so many ways you could earn Swagbucks that the danger is spending too much time on that site. But, if you find yourself going to do mindless surfing over the next couple of hours, then it might still be worth a try.

With Amazon's Buy-Back program (where I can sell my old textbooks), and these gift card programs, I can earn enough to fund the next set of books. Or a book or two, anyhow. Hey, every little bit helps.

Useful advice for Pinoy students in the US, Part 2

Useful advice if you're a Pinoy student going to the US, Part 1

Here are some more tips that I think would be useful for other students who have just arrived in the land of the free (check out the above link for numbers 1-5):

6. When it comes to buying textbooks, check out the sell-it-back price on Amazon first. It may be cheaper to buy a book and sell it back when your class is done. You will really benefit from this when it comes to newly released books -- for instance, there's this Accounting book (released last January) that I'll be needing later this year. It now costs $170, but I can sell it back to Amazon for $152. End result? I'll be able to use the book for only $18.

7. Compare textbook prices across different websites through Slugbooks.com.

8. Those really cheap textbooks on AbeBooks.com may be international editions with different section questions than the US editions. Just be aware of this if ever you decide to buy via that route.

9. Renting textbooks may turn out to be more expensive. If ever you're reduced to desperate measures, you may want to try a rental site I've used before: CampusBookRentals. What I like about this company is that they provide excellent customer service, free shipping and discounts during certain times of the year (usually before classes start in the fall or spring). And they usually have cheaper prices than Chegg.

10. Well, it always pays to ask around -- second-years may be selling their first-year books, or some of your classmates may have taken that elective in a previous term. Your library may also have electronic or print copies of the book you're looking for.


As you might have noticed, this post is very much textbook-related.

I think it has something to do with the fact that I've gone through the list of textbooks I might need this fall semester, and have been thinking of ways not to spend so much on them. If you're from the Philippines, you will definitely experience sticker shock when you find out how much the textbooks over here cost.

I'll be wrapping up my internship this week, and heading back to campus. Good news: my internship savings will be enough to pay off my second year's tuition fees! Yes! Hopefully, my part-time job in the library will help to cover living expenses.

Using Google Voice for SMS

So --- it has been several busy weeks for me, getting ready for school and the transfer to the US.I'm now (more or less) settled in our apartment. I've bought a laptop, purchased groceries and supplies with my roommate, gotten a bank account, registered my immigration documents, etc, etc, and purchased a prepaid SIM for my mobile phone.

For us Filipinos, who have forever been spoiled by the mobile carriers in the Philippines, the calling and texting rates in the US will come as a shock. Imagine being charged for incoming calls and incoming texts! Heck, you even get charged for accessing voicemail. It seems that nothing is free, and you start missing the unlimited calls, texts and rewards you get in the Philippines for very affordable prices.

Enter Google Voice.

Google Voice is this great service from the popular world-dominating force that lets you send and receive SMS messages in the US for free. The full, working version can even transcribe voicemail (!), save your SMS messages in your email, and route your calls to any and all phones you configure in your Google Voice account. Home or office, landline or mobile -- it doesn't matter. All you need is a Google Voice account, a WiFi connection (or data plan) and a smartphone (works best with Android, I believe).

To get the full suite of Google Voice features for free, you have to have a new number, courtesy of Google. (Or get a phone plan from Sprint, I think.) If you think that's such a hassle, then you can port your existing number to Google Voice, pay the $20 activation fee, terminate your old number and change it to a new one without terminating your line, which, hopefully, will not be such a hassle as it sounds. There are very helpful people who document how they ported their existing number to Google Voice around the web; all you need to do is search for them on the almighty Google.

For those like me who just need an alternative to the expensive SMS rates in the US and want to manage their prepaid load better, then there's this procedure:

From Technobuffalo: How to Get Free Text Messages with Google Voice

I've tried this, and it works! Of course, the free WiFi on campus makes it very convenient to use around school. Outside school, there are quite a number of places that offer free WiFi so I can use this there too.

I've given people my actual number but, when I have WiFi connection, I'd text them using my Google Voice number and just add in my name so that they'd know it was me. Usually, they text back to my Google Voice number so I can save on both incoming and outgoing SMS.

The one downside I can see to this is people texting you on your Google Voice number at a time when you don't have any data connection. A possible remedy to this is reminding people to use your mobile number when calling or texting you. At least, with Google Voice, you can save on outgoing SMS from time to time.