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Show Selling. Saving. Selling Plasma In Pursuit of a Well-balanced Three-dollar Meal Nicola Pritchett / HEX Editor Clark Goldsberry / Former Sometimes saving money isn't enough. It could be that no matter how frugal you are with your spending, you simply don't have enough capital flowing FIND A CLINIC into your bank account. There are a few simple ways that you can supplement a below-par income without dedicating extra hours to your career. Biomat USA 349 East University Parkway, Orem Most people have a few unused valuables lying around their house; ipods, old laptops, clothes, books, instruments, or collectables. Occasionally you appliances, recreational vehicles. Or, if you aren't interested in selling any of your household items, there exist more corporeal exchange options, which Open: 7am-7pm Monday-Friday 9am-3pm Saturday Closed Sunday may better suit your needs. PREPARATION may want to upgrade some of your belongings and consequently find yourself in need of a good venue to sell whatever is being replaced; furniture, Take vital signs Take a test sample of your blood (with a finger pinprick) Ask a series of high risk behavior questions • Physical Examination (only on your first visit), including... Medical history interview A second set of high risk behavior questions DONATE Sell on KSL Connor Allen / HEX Assistant Editor Once you've made a good inventory of your belongings and decided on a few superfluous items which you would like to sell off, you're now charged with finding the best means to do so. A few possible choices may be Craigslist, Ebay, possibly Amazon or KSL classifieds. I recommend the latter. KSL's service is free, easy to use (for both the buyer and seller) and most importantly, popular. The more people you have browsing locally for your item the better. The caveat to this popularity, however, is the competition that ensues between the sellers of similar products. Items in most demand have dozens of posts a day. One popular seasonal product is ski equipment. Within the last 24 hours of this writing, 215 posts have been made attempting to barter off ski equipment in the Utah area. While the competition is challenging, this much activity on a classifieds website brings in more potential buyers. All you have to do is make your product stand out, and there are a few simple steps you can do to make sure yours does. PRICE COMPETITIVELY Before you post your third-generation iPod for a little under what you paid for it, check to see how much others are selling for. It's important to find as many of your products you can find to have a good understanding of what it's worth. Your customer will do their research before buying, and you should do the same before selling. If products like yours are all posted for a similar price, try to slightly undercut your competition to gain the advantage. KSL will keep "sold" products on their website for some time, and this gives you a good reference for what price your products are actually being sold for. HEX/IV Other websites like eBay, Amazon, or Craigslist can also help you get an idea for pricing before post your product. DESCRIBE YOUR PRODUCT WELL KSL classified posts are ordered chronologically by default. This generally means that you will need to make your post stand out, not only through its price, but also its title. Many sellers like to use ten exclamation marks or attempt the ALL CAPS method. Some swear by this, but I find it debilitating. Many interested buyers will filter out such ridiculousness in attempts to find the most trustworthy seller who is selling the product they want. Use key words (color, model, storage space, condition, etc.) in your title that will draw the buyer to your item. Buyers will inherently be skeptical while purchasing used items, from people they don't know, online. It will help gain their confidence to accurately and completely describe the product you're trying to sell. In the post's description, include the features, history and potentially even problems that the product has. Do your best to keep your customer interested by casting your product in the best light possible (literally, but we'll get to that in a bit) by focusing on the positives. If there is a crack across your iPod's screen, however, you should explain that in the post. Your buyer will be examining your product before purchasing it, and attempting to ignore obvious flaws such as this will only waste your time and theirs. TAKE A GOOD PHOTO There are a few photographic directions sellers can go when posting products on KSL. The first is to not use a photo at all; this is not recom- mended. Buyers want as much transparency as possible when buying online and going photoless is the first step in ruining this. Even a cell phone photo is better than no photo. The second option is using stock imagery of your product. Somewhere on the internet there will exist an image of whatever it is your selling. Generally this is a simple picture which displays your product in its perfect form. I do not condone the use of other people's pictures, but it is fairly common on KSL classifieds. What I do recommend, in fact, is taking your own photo. While the display may not be as ideal as your product's stock image, using a personal photo is the best thing you can do to add transparency to your post. Do your best to avoid pictures of your ipod laying on the carpet in your living room. Try using a sheet as a back drop or at least find a more suitable background material. Instead of using your camera's flash, take the product outside and use natural light (open shade works best). It will generally be the most flattering. BRING A BUDDY TO THE SWAP After you've posted your product and been contacted by an interested buyer, it's time to prepare for the swap. This can be stressful. The stranger may be aggressive in his bartering or he may want to include you in the deal. For either circumstance, it's important to have someone with you when you meet them. Preferably, bring someone who can help you with the confidence to maintain your price because a back-and-forth on the amount is pretty much inevitable. Once the trade is complete, and the cash is in your hand, expect to feel invigorated. You've just been part of an age-old human tradition, and it feels good. • Donations last between 30 and 90 minutes (the clinic shows movies, but you can also bring a laptop, an iPod, a book, whatever you can use with one hand) After the process is completed, remain seated for about 5 minutes Check your eligibility • You must be between the ages of 18 and 65 Weigh at least 110 lbs. Generally be in good health Live within a 125 mile radius of the plasma center • Prepare to donate Stay hydrated for the day of, and the day before your visit Before you go in, eat a balanced meal Avoid alcohol, caffeine, and fatty high-cholesterol food • Call and schedule your first appointment (801) 235-9800 • Bring documentation An official document with your Social Security Number Valid picture ID (with your current address) The plasma clinic can't use your first donation without a second, so be sure to return within 7 days. You can donate plasma twice in a 7-day period. VISIT TIP • The entire process, including wait times and interviews can be pretty lengthy (3-5 hours for your first visit), so bring something to work on or to entertain yourself. Find out more at: biomatusa.grifols.com • • Check in at the front desk with your identification Fill out the questionnaire Participate in the medical screening where a nurse • GET PAID • • $30 for your first donation, $40 for your second (within a 7 day period) For every week after you will recieve $25 for your first donation of the week and $30 for the second. REPEAT PLATO'S CLOSET Connor Allen / HEX Assistant Editor Located across the street from University Mall in Orem (592 East University Parkway), Plato's Closet specializes in buying and selling used clothing. To sell to them, all you have to do is bring your clothes into the store in some container. Backpacks, trash bags, shopping bags or laundry baskets all are viable options. You're asked to provide some basic information to the store and present a valid photo ID, and then the employees will examine your departed clothing. This may be a time of vulnerability for you, but don't fret. I'm sure they've seen worse. Once the associates have fully assessed your stock, deciding which garments they want, they appraise the items. At this point you will be summoned to the desk and presented an offer. To my knowledge, this is a take it or leave it kind of deal, and bartering won't get you anywhere. Often, they will pass on some of your clothes, giving you a reasonable explanation as to why they don't want them. This is kind of them, but you'll know the real reason: they're gross, old clothes. Nicer, more expensive clothing will obviously fetch more, but still don't expect much. This company profits by marking up your clothes while still maintaining cheap clothing costs; you're getting the shortest end of this short stick. All the same, it's better than nothing, and that's what you'll get by leaving them on the hanger. HEX Editor There's got to be a way to eat well and eat cheap, but I haven't found it. This past summer, while trying to save a little extra money, I started a rigorous economic diet. It was actually pretty simple. No points, no plans, no charts, and just a little deprivation. I set a goal, which I thought would be incredibly easy, to spend three dollars or less on every meal that I ate. It nearly killed me. Sounds easy, I know. But you should try it. It felt like part of me, whether economically or gastronomically, was always suffering. Despite the pain, after a few near-debilitating stomach convulsions, it got better. And I actually managed to save a few bucks. Beyond the few dollars I saved, the pursuit of a relatively-healthy three-dollar meal did two things to me. One, it made me acutely aware of my spending habits. I never realized, for example, how much money I frittered away on frosties, sweet pork burritos, subway sandwiches, sushi rolls and an endless variety of greasy dishes that gave my mouth about 45 seconds of enjoyment and my stomach nominal nourishment for 6-8 hours. Secondly, it made me painfully conscious of my dietary choices. Allotting 9 dollars to my meals each day made me extremely conscious of their nutritional value, or the lack thereof. I found that the cheapest meals were oftentimes the least healthy, and left me hungry again after just an hour or so. If you'd like to experience similar deprivation, here are a few suggestions for cheap and somewhat filling lunches at and around UVU: THE SALAD BAR AND DELI—they charge by weight so you can just get what you need. Generally the produce is fresh and delicious. Nicola Pritchett / Avoid heavy items like macaroni salad, as tempting as it might be. an order for a grilled cheese sandwich (and they'll customize the bread and cheese if you ask. Sourdough plus provolone dipped in honey mustard is a personal favorite). THE GRILL—place COSTA VIDA—Rice and Beans. I know this doesn't sound very glamorous, especially in cornparison to a hearty, cheese-covered pork burrito. But it's filling and surprisingly tasty. +Wolverine Wednesdays—Get in the habit of wearing green on Wednesdays. There's almost always a deal for those who exhibit even an iota of school spirit. JOIN A CLUB—This is one of the best ways to get free food. But club membership often comes with some baggage, so don't join any clubs you don't actually want to participate. THE UVU REVIEW NEWSROOM— Friday afternoons around 2:00pm. Sneak in for chips, vegetables, fruit or delicious Danishes. FORAGE—This is only for the destitute. But there's plenty of uneaten food on the trays in the lunchrooms. And there are starving people in China. Avoid the pasta dishes during flu season. WESTMORE ELEMENTARY—This is easily the best deal I've found. Westmore is renowned for it's focus on nutrition and visitors are welcome to come and eat in the cafeteria anytime. Three dollars will definitely fill you up, plus you might make some new friends. Also, Pizza Thursdays. I needn't say more. (1150 S. Main St., Orem) DUMPSTER DIVING Collin Lawrence / DISCOUNT MOVIE THEATERS HEX Writer I've always had a roommate with the perfect job. One got me a job on a construction crew for the summer. One found a way to get every single woman over to our house for the best parties. But Brett was the best. He worked at Office Depot. Brett was responsible for inventory, stocking, shipping and receiving. Every once in a while they would have a new set of demo items and when the new demos went up the old ones came down. I'd never thought of what happened to them until Brett told me. After they shred display signs and discount sellable merchandise, the regular ordinary office items get spray painted and tossed into the dumpster. By the end of that year, everyone in our house had a full desk's worth of office hardware. Tie-dye staplers, neon orange hole punches, white and green rolling chair mats and a pair of all pink left-handed scissors. HEX Editor $10+ on a night out to the movies, but if you're willing to wait a few weeks and brave theaters with nicknames like "the sticky shoe", you can enjoy a good film for a lot less. It's easy to spend WATER GARDENS CINEMAS Cinema 8 790 Expressway Ln, Spanish Fork and Cinema 6 912 Garden Drive, Pleasant Grove $3.50 NOW PLAYING (varies by theater): Playing for Keeps, Red Dawn, Rise of the Guardians, Twilight: Breaking Dawn- Part 2, Skyfall, Wreck-It Ralph, Here Comes the Boom, Hotel Transylvania, Pitch Perfect. TIP: All of their snacks are between $1-3, including popcorn, candy, and drinks. Since they charge a little more for tickets, they get movies earlier than most discount theaters. They never show R-rated movies. TOWNE CINEMAS (Known by locals as "The Sticky Shoe") 120 West Main Street, American Fork $1.50 NOW PLAYING: Here comes the Boom, Pitch Perfect, Hotel Transylvania TIP: Towne Cinemas has only one show time for each weekday evening and multiple showings of each movie on Saturday. CINEMARK MOVIES 8 2424 North, University Parkway, Provo $1.50 NOW PLAYING: Here Comes the Boom, Frankenweenie, Pitch Perfect, Taken 2, Hotel Transylvania, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Bourne Legacy TIP: The movies are discounted, but the concessions are not. HEX /V |