How To Make The Boss Obey Your Commands Like A Dog 29 Sep 2009 by Greg Ellis in Meet the Team Blog

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Facebook Face Painting Day - Real People. Real Faces.
It's not often the boss obeys you. Watch as our company co-founder, Sean Teahan, does as he is told.
If only all bosses were so obedient!

The Origins Of The Tight Arts – Part 8 28 Sep 2009 by Greg Ellis in Tight Arts Blog

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A lot of the info I've shared has been practical. You could easily apply it.

Probably not this. But it is a funny story that's in keeping with the Tight Arts movement - living sensibly but stylishly.

Every good Tight Artist knows that home cooking is essential to keeping within a budget. It's fun and if you're a guest, it's a great way to express gratitude and show people how well brought up you are. Cooking with local ingredients is a trip too.

Perched in Sophie's kitchen, I spotted a proudly displayed, but never used Jewish Pie Master Cookbook (The Jews are also Tight Artists but I'll tell you more about that later). Sophie had bought this book on a whim while holidaying in New York. It's a bad mistake to buy a heavy book while travelling plus it hadn't been used, so it was time to justify the purchase.

Pies are a novelty in Denmark. All they eat is Danishes. So we thought we'd buck the trend and master it - perhaps creating a reputation in Denmark and get invited to peoples' houses for dinner so we'd bring our famous pies.

I lea... Read More »

The Origins Of The Tight Arts – Part 7 24 Sep 2009 by Greg Ellis in Tight Arts Blog

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With accommodation and transport taken care of, now I just needed some food and feel for the basics - groceries, coffee, beer, a standard lunch.

Because of my amazing luck with accomodation, I was only living 100m from a grocery shop - so off I went. Initially I was a bit scared, having heard tales of $10 loaves of bread in Northern Europe. Here's what I found...

Firstly, this isn't some sort of holiday where you just eat out and order room service. No. No. I'm living it the full Euro way - checking out the local delights but staying on a budget.

So let's check out this milk. 1 litre for 5.95 DKK (Danish Kroner). That's $1.36. In Australia it costs $2.40. Not bad for the Scandos.

Milk is cheaper in Norther Europe at $1.36 a litre

How about Mars Bars? 9.99DKK = That's $2.28. It's only $1.80 for us. Again, it's not out of this world.

Mars bars are a little dearer in ... Read More »

The Origins Of The Tight Arts – Part 6 21 Sep 2009 by Greg Ellis in Tight Arts Blog

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On several occasions during my Tight Arts International Tour I've re-iterated the difference between Tight Artistry and just being mean, nasty and selfish. They're totally different.

The Tight Arts is all about being smart and well organised and resourceful, not stingy.

You're about to see an excellent example of resourcefulness, as I endeavour to sort out transport for my 2 weeks in Copenhagen. This is what it's all about. Watch and learn.

Now that I was living among Scandos, I wanted to get around like one - on a bicycle.

When in Copenhagen...

It's dead flat here and you can get anywhere in 20-30 minutes max, so they all ride bikes. You wouldn't believe it until you see it. Check these images out...

I was super keen to participate in this action, so I asked Sophie about bike options. You could buy a crap one for 1000DKK ($230AUD), rent one for 2 weeks for 800DKK ($180AUD). There are also free council ones, but yo... Read More »

The Origins Of The Tight Arts – Part 5 18 Sep 2009 by Greg Ellis in Tight Arts Blog

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A lot of people will sit around in hostels doing nothing much. There's a lot of talk about money saving in hostels, but not a lot of action at times. I believe you can live cheaper and better than in a hostel and get a full feel of the culture - as long as you're staying for a couple of weeks or so.

I woke up to a bit of pressure and immediately hit http://craigslist.com for some options. People all over the world do everything from find flat mates to trumpet lessons.

My strategy was to find people who were looking for flatmates and act as bridging rental income. That way you just pay normal rent or a little more, and you get to live with locals. Two weeks of rent at that rate is cheaper than hostels. For example a pretty nice room right in central Copenhagen was 2000 to 3000DKK/month = $500 to $700AUD/month. That's pretty reasonable really.

So I drafted this email and hit the flatmate wanted section...

"Hi, I'm in Copenhagen right now. Your room looks cool, I'm staying for 14 days and c... Read More »