Jobs You Can Run Away To

Get a (New) Life
If you have fantasies of picking up, packing up and starting a new life somewhere, then one of these jobs may be a great fit for you. Continue clicking through our gallery to learn the pros and cons about jobs that you can run away to.

Jobs You Can Run Away To

Cruise Ship Jobs

On one level, cruise ship jobs seem amazingly glamorous. After all, employees receive free food, accomodations, medical care, airline tickets and uniforms. They often don't have to pay taxes, get discounted cruise rates for family members, and can travel for free. As many cruise ship job sites point out, passengers pay thousands of dollars per week to see the same sites that employees enjoy for free.

On the other hand, cruise ships can get claustrophobic after a while, and many jobs are far from wonderful. After all, when somebody gets seasick, a cruise ship employee has to clean it up, and chances are that the captain won't be the one wielding the mop. Still, cruise ships offer a dizzying array of jobs, a chance to escape to exotic climes, and a steady income, most of which can be banked. Anchors aweigh!

Jobs You Can Run Away To

The French Foreign Legion

Long the stuff of legend, it's surprisingly easy to join the French Foreign Legion. If you are male non-felon between the ages of 17 and 40 in relatively good physical shape, simply present yourself with a form of identification to one of the 11 information offices in France, go to the recruitment officer, and say "voluntaire pour Legion." If you pass the subsequent physical and mental tests, you won't have to make any decisions for the next five years: the Legion will clothe, feed, and house you, as well as give you a new name and all the medical care that you need.

The next five years will be a whirlwind of education, combat, and almost constant training. You will pick up a lot of French, and will constantly engage in hand-to-hand combat with other members of your unit. In all likelihood, you will also travel: depending on where your unit is stationed, you may get to visit Africa, Asia, South America or Europe. At the end of your five year stint, you can choose to re-enlist or can leave the Legion. As an added benefit, you will qualify for French citizenship.

Jobs You Can Run Away To

Park Rangers

Full-time Park Rangers earn a salary of between $24,000 and $37,000 and often receive free housing, in addition to other benefits. Unfortunately, these jobs are tenured and competition is fierce. In addition to a bachelor's degree in park management, natural history, forestry, or a related major, applicants need extensive experience as seasonal rangers or interns.

On the bright side, there are a variety of seasonal jobs available from the National Park Service. The education and experience required depends on the position, and interested parties can apply at USAJOBS, the US Federal government's job site. While park ranger jobs were cut after 2006, it seems likely that these could be among the first positions to benefit from the US government's stimulus plan.

Jobs You Can Run Away To

Nanny

Salaries for live-in nannies vary wildly, depending upon the area, the family, and the nanny's qualifications. In general, nannies in major cities get $18-20 per hour, while live-in childcare in less costly areas is about half that. Entry-level nannies with high school degrees can expect roughly $400 per week, while experienced, trained nannies can expect $1000 per week or more.

While live-in nannies may not qualify for time-and-a-half overtime wages, they still are legally entitled to time off and other benefits. Many nannies get complete compensation packages, including subsidized health insurance, paid vacations, gym memberships, cell phones, and educational allowances.

Jobs You Can Run Away To

Overseas English Teacher

While many Americans feel qualified to teach some form of English, most overseas language schools are interested in teachers with at least a Bachelor's degree, preferably in a language-related field. However, for those who didn't major in linguistics or English as a second language (ESL) education, training is widely available, both in person and as a correspondence course. Two common programs are teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) and teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL). Numerous sites offer teaching jobs, but it is wise to consult with friends who have done this before, as school quality varies wildly.

Jobs You Can Run Away To

House Mother

If you're a woman who is over 40 years old who enjoys dealing with adolescents and has experience with running a household, hotel, or small country, this might be the job for you. Basically, a house mother is in charge of the environment of a sorority or fraternity. She deals with the house's staff, plans meals, handles minor disasters, and generally makes sure that her charges' lives run smoothly. Jobs usually include free rent and meals and come with a reasonable salary. Since they are attached to a university, house mother positions may allow you to take advantage of many of the cultural and educational attractions available at your school. Best of all, you get to deal with the wonderful drama of a household full of college girls!

Jobs You Can Run Away To

Ranch Hand

Running away to work on a farm is one of the classic escapist American fantasies. While the dude ranches of the nineteenth century have almost disappeared, there is still a huge livestock industry and plenty of jobs for people with experience in animal husbandry. Depending on the type of ranch, workers can do a wide variety of jobs, including training horses, caring for livestock, taking care of children or young adults, performing general farm work, maintaining corrals, and cooking. While education for this work is generally vocational, some areas will train employees to do the specialized jobs that they require. Depending on the position, the area, the employer, and your level of knowledge, pay and benefits can range wildly. Ranch Work is a good starting place to get a feeling for available jobs, salary possibilities, and benefits involved.

Jobs You Can Run Away To

Camp Counselor

If you sometimes find yourself obsessively watching Meatballs, then camp work might be perfect for you. While salaries vary based on position and experience, you can expect to make a couple of hundred dollars per week, in addition to room, board, and free use of recreational facilities. Positions include lifeguard, counselor, kitchen staff, administrative staff, nursing staff, and maintenance staff, and are available across the country. Added benefits include fresh air, beautiful scenery, and a 50 chance of waking up with your hand in a pot of warm water!

Jobs You Can Run Away To

Migrant Farm Worker

While not quite as bad as The Grapes of Wrath, migrant farm work is tough, and you'll often find yourself in competition with people who are willing to work for next to nothing. On the bright side, however, the world wide opportunities on organic farms network (WWOOF) offers a variety of positions on organic farms around the world. In return for helping with farm work, volunteers receive free food and board. Some farms charge a small organizational fee, but many are free. Best of all, if you've ever wanted to harvest grapes in France, wheat in Italy, or oranges in Israel, this is your chance!

Jobs You Can Run Away To

7 Easy Ways to Save $100 a Week

Quick Cash Fixes
You're freaked out about money. Food prices are up, your home's value has depreciated and your job is on the line. While there's not much we can do to reduce the cost of fixed expenses like a mortgage and taxes, there's a great deal of miscellaneous savings staring us right in the face.Click through our gallery to see MainStreet.com's quick cash fixes that can save you at least $100 a week.

7 Easy Ways to Save $100 a Week

Buy Generic Grocery Brands
Buying generic pharmaceuticals and filling your grocery cart with store-brand products instead of upscale labels can help save up to 50% on everyday goods. While the quality may not be identical, it's pretty hard to tell the difference between most products. Considering the average two-person household spends $200 a month on groceries, a single person could save a quick $50 just opting for basic brands. Want to cut another $30 to $50 a month? Reduce your eating out habits in half, since families spend more than 40% of their food budget on dining out, according to Consumer Reports.

7 Easy Ways to Save $100 a Week

Limit Your ATM Transactions
ATM transactions, on average, charge about $3 in fees. Take out cash from ATM machines that belong to your bank to limit fees, or ask for cash back (no fee) when you use your debit card at stores like Staples and Best Buy. Visit the ATM once a week, take out as much money you'll need for the next seven days and use that cash for your everyday expenses from gas to coffee, lunch and that must-have sweater that's on sale at Banana Republic. Sticking to that cash with help you better budget and avoid the ATM during the week.
Weekly Savings: At least $3 to $10

7 Easy Ways to Save $100 a Week

Pre-Game Strategy
The markup on alcohol at a restaurant or bar is easily 100% more than the retail price at a liquor store. Next Saturday night when you plan on going out, first have a little cocktail party at your house to help limit how much you spend at the bars. And of course, drink responsibly. Weekly Savings: At least $25

7 Easy Ways to Save $100 a Week

Get Rid of Your Landline
Use your cell phone plan exclusively and save at least $25 a month. If you need to make international calls, encourage your overseas friends and family to join you in signing up for Skype.com, which offers free VOIP (voice-over-internet-protocol) services. Weekly Savings: At least $8-$15

7 Easy Ways to Save $100 a Week

Nix the Gym
A UC Berkeley/Stanford University study found that average gym members visited their fitness clubs just four times a month – or once a week. That's hardly enough times to satisfy a $60 to $100 monthly membership. If you're not using your gym, lose it. Go for a run in the park, instead.
Weekly Savings: At least $15

7 Easy Ways to Save $100 a Week

Get a Library Card
It's free! From books to DVDs and WiFi, the library is a cheapskate's mecca, and makes Blockbuster and Netflix look like highway robbers.
Weekly Savings: $5

7 Easy Ways to Save $100 a Week

Self Mani-Pedi
Beauty specialists suggest pampering your hand and toe nails about twice a month. That's at least $30 a visit, more if at a fancy spa. Instead by some white nail polish to give your French manicure tips your own touch-up, or go two weeks without a professional manicure -- no one will think less of you. There's a much cheaper home remedy solution involving a nail file ($1) and nail polish ($6)
Weekly Savings: At least $15

7 Easy Ways to Save $100 a Week

Everyday Retail Ripoffs and How to Avoid Them

With times tight, everyone is looking for ways to save money. One way to do that is by making sure you get the most bang out of every hard-earned buck you spend.
Ken & Daria Dolan, popular personal finance experts, reveal 10 retail rip-offs that give you less than your money's worth. Their tips aren't about scrimping or cutting out life's little luxuries ... instead, they show you some places where you are paying big price markups and may not realize it.

Everyday Retail Ripoffs and How to Avoid Them

Pre-cut fruits and vegetables didn't even exist 10 years ago, but we spent more than $600 million on prepared salads alone last year. While grabbing pre-cut fruit and vegetables can help cut down on your time in the kitchen, that small convenience carries a big price. It's safe to say you are paying at least double the cost for pre-cut produce vs. buying their whole counterparts. Another negative -- you aren't getting all the vitamins you think. Tests have shown that pre-cut vegetables, for example, start losing their Vitamin C once they are cut!

Everyday Retail Ripoffs and How to Avoid Them

Coffee markup is insane. And we're not just talking about the fancy "mocha grande latte with soy" kind of coffee. A plain ol' cup of joe can carry an absurd markup. A plain cup of coffee at Dunkin Donuts costs $1.75. You'll pay at least that much for a much smaller cup at most restaurants. Consider that a plain cup at home will cost you about $0.55. We're not telling you not to enjoy that occasional coffee run. But just one cup of coffee a day at home rather than buying it out could save you $438 a year.

Everyday Retail Ripoffs and How to Avoid Them

You don't need us to tell you that the price of popcorn at the movie theater amounts to highway robbery. But it might be even worse than you thought. According to a professor at the University of California-Irvine, you're paying a 1,300% markup on that tub of buttery popcorn! When you do the math, $5.50 for that bucket of popcorn makes an ounce of popcorn more expensive than filet mignon!

Everyday Retail Ripoffs and How to Avoid Them

Here's a great inside tip that we got from a store manager: you'll pay more for items at eye level on the grocery store shelves. Products with the highest markups get that prime shelf space because the grocery store gets a share of those fat profits. Less profitable products get high and low shelf space at the grocery store, so that's where you are likely to find the best bargains

Everyday Retail Ripoffs and How to Avoid Them

You'll pay 30-50% more for organic produce -- sometimes more if something is not in season. Now, that may be completely worth it to you, but if you are looking for ways to save, here are a few ideas. First, shop at your local farmers' markets and look for farmers growing organically. They likely won't be charging big markups at the farmers' market. Next, consider not buying organic when you are shopping for types of produce that use very little pesticide. These have the lowest levels (starting with the lowest): onion, avocado, sweet corn (frozen), pineapples, mango, asparagus, sweet peas (frozen), kiwi and bananas.

Everyday Retail Ripoffs and How to Avoid Them

French fries are a big profit maker for restaurants. A 10 ounce potato makes about 90 french fries (that's about the serving size for large fries at a fast food restaurant). That potato costs about 30 cents, but brings the restaurant about $1.75.

Everyday Retail Ripoffs and How to Avoid Them

Restaurants charge 100-200% more than what you would pay for that bottle of wine at the store if you buy by the bottle. It's a whopping 300-400% markup if you buy wine by the glass! To make it even worse, the highest markups are on the lowest priced wines. Either bring your own bottle and pay a small fee for the restaurant to open and cork it for you (if your state/restaurant allows it) or find out if the restaurant has an "off premises" license that allows you to take open wine bottles home with you. If so, then you'll save money if you buy the full bottle even if you don't plan to drink it all. Simply cork it and bring it home.

Everyday Retail Ripoffs and How to Avoid Them

Just because produce is being offered at an organic store, this does NOT mean it's organic! Be sure to check the signs and labels before you buy. Non-organic produce often still carries a hefty markup at specialty stores. You could end up paying 30-50% more for the same non-organic apples or tomatoes you could get at your regular grocery store. Buyer beware-read the labels!

Everyday Retail Ripoffs and How to Avoid Them

Next time you are shopping for an over-the-counter medication (such as Tylenol or Nyquil), give a closer look to the generic versions next to them on the shelf. A general rule of thumb is that you'll pay 30-40% more for name brand medication vs. generics. Most of that cost difference is because of the money that brand name companies spend on marketing and packaging. Check the active ingredients on each box or bottle to be sure they are the same ingredients at the same dosages. If so, save big with the generic. If you have any questions, ask your pharmacist or doctor.

Everyday Retail Ripoffs and How to Avoid Them

Sneaky Marketing Tricks

Emerging Marketing Tricks
Can't get that jingle out of your head? Then all that R&D money is paying off! Companies are increasingly using "neuromarketing" to sell their products, which gets past the fact that people sometimes give the answer they "think" is right rather than saying how they truly feel. Scientists attach electrodes to subjects' brains to test their physiological responses to stimuli. It's a little like giving a focus group truth serum. Spearheading the groundbreaking research is Swedish globetrotter Martin Lindstrom, whose new book 'Buyology' describes his findings. He shared his knowledge of emerging marketing tricks with WalletPop.

Sneaky Marketing Tricks

Do It for Me
One of the sneakiest marketing tricks is having customers do their advertising, product development and other outreach for them. Lindstrom says this will go far beyond the gimmicks that companies use now of fans creating their own jingles or commercials or even creating fan blogs to get out the word. He gives the example of a cosmetic chain in Japan that has an online store where users are vigorous about posting reviews. The real-life store stocks only a few items at a time on shelves, and these are rotated based on what's popular on the site.

The antidote? Give the most weight to your own opinions, rather than anonymous users out there, who may or may not be on the payroll of the companies.

Sneaky Marketing Tricks

Bring in the Band
Using sound to sell products used to be about playing soothing background music in stores, but not so anymore. Retailers are learning that people respond strongly to sound stimuli, so they will be playing specific kinds of music to push products. Lindstrom conducted a test in a wine store. When the store played Italian music, people bought more Italian wine. When they played French music, people bought more French wine. "When you asked people why afterward, they had no memory of music playing, they just said, "oh, I felt like an Italian wine," he says.

The antidote? If you don't want to be tricked, pay close attention to your surroundings.

Sneaky Marketing Tricks

Life Is a Small Box of Chocolates
Americans may love their Big Box stores and buying in bulk, but Lindstrom says a sea change is coming where the marketing trick will be to offer fewer choices instead of more. People's brains respond better to fewer choices. He did a test where he was giving women a box of chocolate with 20 options. They would pick one. When the box offered just six items, they picked three. "We buy more the fewer options we have," he says. "Somebody has to choose. We look and aspire, and so you will see stores offering fewer products and changing them out more often."

The antidote? Order what you want online or make a list before going into a physical store so you buy what you want.

Sneaky Marketing Tricks

Gee, You Smell Terrific
Smell stimuli is just as potent on shoppers, so in the future, retailers are going to go way beyond just potpourri. "The sense of smell is incredibly powerful, the sense really seduces us a lot," says Lindstrom, who has done many tests of smells being pumped into stores. In one hardware store, the smell of fresh cut grass made customers think the staff was more intelligent. In an appliance store, he pumped in the smell of an apple pie and the sales of ovens and fridges went up 23%.

The antidote? Beware if you walk into a store and are hit with an odor.

Sneaky Marketing Tricks

The Big Basket Theory
Lindstrom says the first lesson companies have learned, particularly supermarkets, is that shoppers will get cautious about spending when their carts are full. How to get people to buy more? Just give them bigger shopping baskets. He says that Whole Foods has found people spending 30% more with a larger shopping cart. You'll also find that a lot of smaller stores, like drugstores, now offer wheeled carts rather than hand-carry baskets, in order to trick people into buying more.

The antidote? Only buy what you can carry.

Sneaky Marketing Tricks

Hungry Promotions
It's no coincidence that people buy more before lunch and dinner when they are hungry -- and this is not just about food. "We buy more computers, more videos, more of everything, just before we are going to eat," he says. Now that companies understand more about this hunger trigger, which makes people 200% more sensitive to sound and smell stimuli Lindstrom says they will start timing promotions to the hours before meals in retail stores, on TV and radio and even on the Web. This type of campaign works much better than even celebrity endorsements, a high-price gimmick that advertisers have been relying on for ages.

The antidote? Don't shop or watch TV right before a meal.

Sneaky Marketing Tricks

Ding, Dong, Time to Buy!
Neuromarketing owes a deep debt to Pavlov, who showed how people can be conditioned to respond in a certain way to a stimulus. The gold standard these days is to have some distinctive "bell sound" that makes customers jump up and hand over their money. We will be subjected to repeated sounds as they try to create one of these iconic sounds. Lindstrom did a study in his home country of Sweden on the sound that the most popular ice cream truck makes. When people heard the sound on TV, they grabbed their money and ran out in the street to buy from the truck.

The antidote? Don't keep cash available for impulse purchases.

Sneaky Marketing Tricks

Luxury Mini-Me's
Luxury retailers are suffering deeply in this bad economy, as even high-earners are cutting back. Stores like Saks and Bloomingdale's are offering deep discounts for the first time, up to 70% off in some departments. One way that these brands will recover, says Lindstrom, is to create products with a lower price point. Affordable luxury is still luxury, though, so the way to cut the cost of items is to make them smaller. Can't afford a Coach bag? Maybe buy a change purse. "They will also be creating bags with more practical purposes so that now people can justify the purchase," he says.

The antidote? If you can't afford it, then don't buy it.

Sneaky Marketing Tricks

A Non-Generic Response
As more consumers turn to store brands in this tough economy, marketers are having a tough time creating brand loyalty and positive brand associations. People are just more interested in price. Some companies will resort to cutting prices, but Lindstrom cautions clients against this. "You are discounting your brand image," he warns. "Companies will start to use other tricks," he says, "Like combining with other brands, like buy a Coke product and you get a free snack product." That way, you get a reward for buying the brand name.

The antidote? To make sure you're getting a good deal, compare the prices of all the items you are buying, and make sure you actually want the bonus item.

Sneaky Marketing Tricks