Do you LOVE staying in hotels like this...

 

...but paying $300 per night simply isn't an option yet?

I just got off the phone with a good friend of mine, and she told a story about a particular luxury hotel where she and her husband have stayed that charges rates in excess of $250 per night.  

Just to give you an idea of how upscale this place was, one evening they actually ran into a well-known rapper and his whole entourage in the lobby.

When I heard how little my friend paid to stay there, I yelled, "Forty dollars per night? How did you do THAT?"

Turns out, she's a raving fan of Hotwire.com, a site that sells last-minute bookings for hotels.

Before I go any further, this is already sounding a bit like an advertorial, so keep in mind that I have no affiliation with Hotwire! I'm just passing along a cool discovery that you may want to think about on your next trip or vacation.

To explain the concept of Hotwire, imagine a hotel that has a total of 250 rooms, and only 200 of the rooms have been booked for tonight (so far).

If the hotel estimates that 30 of these rooms will remain empty all night, they often allow Hotwire to sell them to people at a highly discounted rate...so they can at least make SOMETHING from those 30 rooms.

After all, most hotels would rather make $40 from a room than $0!

Now, I've know about Hotwire for a while...but I've just never taken the "leap" and tried it. I investigated the site further, and here's an honest look at some pros and cons I came up with: 

Pros: You can choose the level of hotel quality you want (2 star, 4 star, etc.), the amenities you require, how much you're willing to pay, and the specific location of town where you want to stay. In most cases, your stay will be WAY cheaper than the hotel's normal rates.

Cons: You have to pay in full ahead of time, and they don't tell you what exact hotel you'll be staying in until after you pay.

That second "con" has always made me a little uneasy, but if you think about it...what does it matter? You can get very specific about the kind of hotel you want, and their match MUST meet those requirements...so how bad could it be?

If you've ever had a cool experience with Hotwire or know someone who has, I'd love to hear about it. Just click on the "comment" button below and give us your two cents!

Ever heard about a movie star deliberately losing or gaining 20 pounds in a matter of a few weeks…just to play a certain character in a film?

It happens all the time.

And that should tell us something.

Celebrities know something about weight management that the average person doesn’t. Or, they DO something about it that most people don’t do.

Of course, there are multiple factors involved, but one “common denominator” stands out to me more than anything else.

When the rich and famous want to lose or gain weight, they don’t rely on their own knowledge or motivation to make it happen.

They hire a personal trainer.

Unfortunately, the average person can’t afford to have that kind of expertise and support.

According to my research, the average cost of hiring a personal trainer is $50-80 per hour. Which means that if you spend an hour at the gym 3X per week, you’ll have to dish out nearly $800 every single month to have this kind of celebrity advantage.  

But spending all that money for a trainer is the NORMAL way…and as you are probably figuring out by now, I rarely do things the normal way. ;)

Recently, I made a cool discovery that allowed me to get a personal trainer for a cost so low that you probably wouldn’t believe me if I told you.

Like, zero dollars and zero cents.

Here’s How I Did It

I’ve always been a skinny guy. At 5 feet 9 inches tall, my natural bodyweight has hovered around 135 pounds ever since I was 18 years old.

My lanky physique has always been a source of some insecurity for me, so last December I made the decision to get serious and do something about it.

One afternoon, I was studying at Panera Bread (one of my favorite spots) with a buddy of mine when he mentioned that he had been struggling to come up with an idea for a practicum required by one of his fitness classes.

Most people don’t know this, but college students who are studying to become personal trainers are often required to self-design some sort of project that gives them real-world experience.

My friend was in this position, so I suggested a unique idea.

Instead of just working the front desk at a gym or some other boring project, I told him…

“Dude, why not use ME as your practicum, and act as my personal trainer for the next 4 months?”

He would get experience doing everything a personal trainer would…all the detailed measurements at the beginning, the personalized work-out plan, motivational support, and closely supervising my workouts in the gym three times per week. 

As a result, he would graduate with a serious advantage over other students, and perhaps even a stunning testimonial for his portfolio, complete with before/after pictures.

…and since I knew very little about weight-gaining strategies at the time, my odds of meeting my fitness goal in the next 4 months would SKYROCKET.  

It was a win-win situation, so he excitedly agreed.

Despite the fact that he was a college student with very little experience, his motivation to do a good job and help me reach my goal made up for it.

He was a fantastic trainer, and I did exactly what he told me to do.

Less than 3 months later, I had gained 15 pounds of LEAN muscular bodyweight and felt a lot more comfortable in my own skin.  

Then it hit me.

Why couldn’t ANYONE do this?

How To Get Your OWN Free Personal Trainer

In nearly every city, there are colleges and universities with fitness and personal training programs.

And out of ALL the students at any given school, you’re practically guaranteed to find just one who is  interested in getting real-world experience and a testimonial of his own…especially if class requirements are involved.

So here’s how to start:

First, make a list of the nearby colleges and universities that offer fitness and personal training programs.

Then, send a quick email to several of the professors in the athletic training department, explaining your idea and asking them to spread the word to their students.

If you want to go the extra mile, print up some simple flyers announcing your offer and providing your contact information. Use a bold, black font on bright yellow paper to grab as much attention as possible.

Then post the flyers around the gym and the fitness classroom areas wherever it is permitted.

Finally, answer the phone calls and emails, and choose your trainer!

Offer to pay the “winning” student $10-12 per hour, and your chances will be even higher of getting a whole stack of applicants to choose between.

If you’re concerned about college students lacking experience, or about the possibility of the student misleading you, don’t let this stop you.

You will find that many of these students are highly motivated and exceptionally careful to guide you in the right direction because they KNOW that their ability to help you is a test of their likelihood to succeed as a trainer.  

And think about it…

Say your trainer suggests a method that doesn’t really get you brag-worthy results.

So what?

You’ve lost nothing, and you’ve given a valuable learning experience to a college student.

And if it DOES work out for you, like it did for me?

Well, four months from now, you just might find yourself walking down the sidewalk feeling, as the rapper Ludacris would say, “like a million, gazillion, fafillion dollars.” ;)

[Jesse Lear is the author of Millionaire Lifehack blog. If you would like to leave feedback on this post or ask a question, please use the comment section below or send an email to millionairelifehack@gmail.com]