The town that Volkswagen built

WOLFSBURG is the town literally put on the map by the Nazis in pursuit of their dream of a “People’s Car”. Now the people are preparing for the worst.

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ANZ boss Mike Smith bows out

AFTER months of speculation, ANZ chief executive Mike Smith is stepping down after eight years in the top job at the bank.

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DJs chief quits for ‘personal reasons’

DAVID Jones chief executive Iain Nairn is leaving the embattled retailer for “personal reasons” just 14 months into the job, despite boosting sales.

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Grad School is Expensive Enough. Don’t Forget to Factor in These Additional Costs

If you’re hoping to increase your income over the long term, you may be considering going to grad school. This decision comes with many pros and cons, and grad school expenses vary greatly depending what school you go to, what region of the country it is in, what you choose to study and for how long.

There are the obvious upfront costs of tuition, textbooks, and room and board. But what about the not-so-obvious costs?

Here’s my story and how I learned — the hard way — about the price of furthering my education.

The Back Story

I majored in communications with a minor in marketing for my bachelor’s degree. After graduating in 2011, I decided to specialize in public relations and enrolled in Boston University’s graduate program. I was a part-time student who also worked full time, and it took me three years to complete my master’s degree.

Although I worked throughout college and lived at home after graduating to save money, I was unable to save much during those initial three years in grad school. For a while, I couldn’t figure out why.

Finally, I sat down and crunched the numbers. The problem is, going to grad school is expensive. (I know, that much is obvious, right?)

However, aside from tuition — which added a whopping $65,000 onto my existing student loans from undergrad — I paid almost $15,000 out of pocket for various expenses.

Here’s where I spent my money.

Parking

Because I had to drive to work every day and attend night classes two to three times a week, I had to pay for a parking pass for one of BU’s garages.

I paid $85 for a part-time pass every semester, which worked out to $595 over the course of three years. (I went for seven semesters because I took a summer course one year).

Student Activity Fees

I also paid $70 each semester for a vague “student activity fee,” supposedly to fund various events throughout the year. I never went to these events because after working 40-50 hours, sitting in class for six to nine hours, and spending countless hours tied up in driving, studying, homework and trying to see my family and friends, I never had the time.

Because I didn’t go to any of the student events, I tried multiple times to get out of paying this fee, to no avail. This came out to a total of $420 for six semesters, since you don’t pay in the summer.

Excess Tuition

The biggest out-of-pocket expense was tuition. The federal student loans I took out didn’t cover the full amount, so I had to pay $1,000 at the beginning of every semester for a grand total of $6,000.

Classes

I started a new job one semester and wasn’t sure what my workload would look like. Therefore, I decided to only take one class instead of my usual two.

It turns out this meant my student status technically became “less than part-time,” so I no longer qualified for the federal student loan. My options were to either take out a private loan with sky-high interest rates, or to pay for the entire class upfront. I ended up dipping into my savings account to pay for the $5,500 class.

To graduate on time and make up for the semester I only took one class, I took an accelerated six-week summer course a year later. That class cost $2,400. By that time, I had built up my savings again and once more paid for a course out of pocket. I paid $7,900 for these two classes.

In total, I paid $14,915 out-of-pocket during the three years I was in grad school. These expenses hindered me from being able to make more payments toward my already-existing undergraduate loans — causing them to balloon into the six-figure balance I’m still working on paying down.

Had I known about the additional costs up front, I’m not sure I would have gone through with grad school. However, I do believe it was a worthy investment and will be beneficial in the long term.

That is, of course, once I finish paying off the remaining mountain of student debt!

Your Turn: Are you thinking of going to grad school? If you did go, do you regret the decision?

Kelly Russell is a marketing professional with a goal of saving more and paying off her six-figure student loan debt in five years. She currently resides in Massachusetts.

The post Grad School is Expensive Enough. Don’t Forget to Factor in These Additional Costs appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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What Turning 35 Taught Me About Money

Photo: Marc van der Chijs

Earlier this year, I turned 35. After what seems like a whirlwind, I am not only the mother of a preschooler and first-grader, but 10 years into my marriage as well. How did this happen?

I have to be honest; I don’t know.

It seems like just yesterday I was an awkward teenager in high school. And just last week I was struggling to get by and saving for our wedding.

How could it possibly have been more than six years since my oldest daughter was born? And more than four since I introduced my oldest child to her sister in the hospital?

It seems like it all went by in the blink of an eye. Before I really had the chance to enjoy it, it was gone.

What Turning 35 Taught Me about Money

It doesn’t seem possible, yet here I am, fighting middle age and wondering where the time went. Fortunately, all that time wasn’t a waste. While we are making huge financial strides now, we made plenty of mistakes, too. And along the way, we learned plenty of lessons that have shaped the way we think about money. Here are a few of those lessons and realizations.

A debt-free life is better than the alternative.

For the first few years of our marriage, my husband and I didn’t pay too much attention to our spending or our outstanding debts. We made decent incomes, after all, and didn’t have any children. What difference did it make if we carried credit card debt, student loans, or car loans?

Here’s what I found out — it makes a huge difference. With two kids in school now and the college years fast approaching, I can’t imagine how unstable I would feel if we carried the kind of debt we did early on.

Now that I know a debt-free life is much better (and a lot less stressful) than the alternative, my plan is to avoid debt like the plague if at all possible. For us, that means driving older cars, saving money for splurges so we can pay in cash, and staying put in our reasonable home. If that keeps us debt-free, that’s fine with me.

Investing regularly actually matters.

With the stock market taking off the way it has the past few years, I have received constant reminders of how much more money I could have saved if I had started earlier. Unfortunately, I didn’t start saving heavily for retirement until my mid to late 20s, which has held me back. And let me tell you, I would do anything to have back all the money I wasted on cute clothes and beer — anything.

• Related: If Have Savings in Your 20s, You’re Doing Something Right

Since I can’t make up for the earnings I lost out on in my early 20s, all I can do is make sure I don’t miss out again. With that in mind, my husband and I invest heavily in index funds every month, no matter whether the market is up or down.

Even though I started later than I wanted, I now know that time is still on my side. I can’t change the past, but the future is up to me.

• Related: Not Investing Yet? Here’s How to Get Started

Caring what other people think is pointless.

Once upon a time, I cared a lot about what others thought. This was especially true when it came to money, and over time, I spent quite a bit keeping up appearances. In addition to constant home upgrades, we spent a lot on new cars every few years, nice clothes, and evenings out on the town.

But somewhere along the way, I stopped caring what others think. I stopped worrying whether my car looked nice enough, or whether my house was as nice as our neighbors’ or friends’ homes.

Having kids and growing a family taught me that our real financial lives were a lot more important than appearances. Reaching that conclusion — and letting go of the need to please others — was incredibly freeing.

Having an emergency fund is crucial.

This year alone, we have dipped into our emergency fund to rebuild our chimney, buy a new lawnmower, replace a busted water heater, and replace the HVAC unit at one of our rental properties. Over the course of a single summer, those repairs have added up to more than $7,000!

While there was a time in my life when I would never have had that kind of cash on hand, the e-fund we keep stocked now allows us to handle multiple emergencies without too much stress.

• Related: 20 Reasons You Need an Emergency Fund

In my 20s, I didn’t see the need to keep plenty of cash on hand, but in my 30s, I realize it is crucial. And with two kids and a mortgage, I know my e-fund is part of the reason I sleep so well at night.

Even if I never retire, I want the option to do so at any time.

For some reason, turning 35 made the idea of retirement seem more real to me than it was just a few short years ago. Perhaps it’s because I already have 15 working years behind me, or maybe it’s because financial independence could be just 15 short years away.

Either way, I have been thinking a lot about how long I plan to work, and what I might do in retirement or semi-retirement. While I’m still unsure, I know for a fact I want to keep up with our current rate of saving and investing. I’ve seen far too many people have to work far too long to make the same mistakes.

And while I may never retire all the way, I want the option to. So for now, that means keeping our savings rate as high as possible, avoiding lifestyle inflation when we can, and making smart choices when it comes to our investments.

The Bottom Line

None of us can change the past, but we are the ones responsible for the future. And if I have learned one thing, it’s that the little things do matter. The steps any of us take today can make for a better future, or conversely, they can hold us back.

As for me, I plan to take all the lessons I learned from overspending, being in debt, and planning to fail, and harness them for good. Time goes faster with each passing year, and I know that one day, everything I did and said today will matter.

What have you learned about money during the past decade? What are you doing today to make for a brighter future?

The post What Turning 35 Taught Me About Money appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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VW revs up recall plan

NEW Volkswagen CEO vows to be ‘ruthless’ in getting to the bottom of the emissions-testing scandal.

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How I Saved $495.78 (and Made $120!) When I Moved to a New City

Moving is one of those life events that sneaks up on you. Your moving date creeps up before you’re ready, you’re scrambling to do everything on your to-do list and, all of a sudden, your bank account is hurting.

But sometimes life circumstances — in my family’s case, a job change — require moving. As I counted down the summer days until my late-August move from Washington, D.C. to nearby Baltimore, I started counting my pennies, too.

There’s enough moving stress around packing and unpacking that I made a choice to pay professionals to do the real heavy lifting for me. I budgeted for that big expense, but found other ways to save money.

Those small savings really added up. Here are five ways I saved money as I prepared to move.

1. I Negotiated My Lease Date

I suspect every renter has had this problem: You find an apartment online that looks pretty great, but the unit is available earlier than you would like to move.

You go look at the apartment anyway, and fall in love. Then, you have to scramble to move so somebody else doesn’t take this apartment of your dreams.

It happened to me. I wanted a lease start date of no earlier than August 15. Although the apartment we applied for had a move-in date of August 1, I asked the landlord if he’d be willing to adjust the lease start date.

“We really want this apartment rented sooner than that,” he said. “But would you be willing to do August 7?

It was still earlier than I would have liked, but but agreeing on this change to the lease meant paying for one fewer week at my new place.  

Savings: $270

2. I Got Rid of My Stuff

Well, not all of it.

I knew there were certain items around my home I probably wouldn’t want to use — or wouldn’t fit — in my new digs. So why pay someone to move them for me if I wasn’t completely committed to them?

By listing items up to a month before my move date on sites like Craigslist, and even on my personal Facebook page, I maximized how many people were able to view my items for sale.

Here’s what sold:

Desk: $45
Blender set: $55
Large wall mirror: $10
Vintage picnic basket: $10

Total earnings: $120

I was surprised there were no takers for my two-year-old microwave. I tried the money-making route on Craigslist at $35, and later reduced the price to $30.

Then I noticed Craigslist is just flooded with microwaves. They’re so easy to buy new for cheap that hardly anybody wants a used one.

I turned to Freecycle, where I met a woman helping a family in need furnish their first apartment. I didn’t make any money, but I was able to hand off my gift to someone who would appreciate it.

I also found homes for a bookshelf and cabinet that didn’t jive with my other pieces of furniture. I gave away the items to someone who could use them (and loved the free price tag), and unloaded two heavy pieces I didn’t want to lug to my new apartment.

As for the money I earned? I used it toward tips for our hard-working moving crew!

3. I Communicated With My Old Landlord

Security deposits are nerve-wracking. No matter how much you scrub your place before you hand over your keys, there’s always a risk your landlord will find something to ding you on, leaving you with a less-than-satisfying deposit refund.

By communicating with my landlord early and often, I made sure the conditions of my move-out were crystal clear. The chip in the window that was there when I moved in? No problem; he remembered it. The holes in the wall from all the art? No need to spackle, he assured me.

My main concern was metal shelving I had installed in the kitchen and bathroom of my studio apartment. I knew leaving anything behind in the apartment could mean at least $100 deducted from my security deposit.

“When you come to take photos of the unit,” I asked my landlord in an email, “Take a look at the metal shelving we installed. I know we’re not allowed to leave anything in the unit, but if the next tenant is interested in keeping them up, would it be possible to leave the shelves?”

“They look great,” he quickly responded. “Yes, please leave them.”

I got my full security deposit back.

Savings: At least $100

4. I Didn’t Buy Boxes

Here’s a benefit I didn’t expect when I moved into an apartment building: boxes. Boxes everywhere.

Whenever I needed a box to ship something, I wandered down to our trash room and rifled through the cardboard boxes other residents had dropped off. Online shopping is great for cardboard box scavengers like me

We used 52 boxes for our move: four plastic storage bins I already owned, two cardboard wardrobe boxes and 46 regular cardboard boxes.

Of those 46 cardboard boxes, I found 28 for free; I purchased a total of 18 boxes for $39.10. That amount includes two wardrobe boxes my partner really wanted, which cost $10.92 each.

I purchased 16 cardboard boxes, a variety of small and medium sizes at both heavy-duty and “regular” construction for $17.26. If I had purchased all of those 46 regular cardboard boxes — at an estimated cost of $2.28 for the heavy-duty medium size — it would have cost $104.88 (before sales tax!).

I may have looked a little wacky picking through the recyclables in my apartment building, but I’d rather reuse free boxes than truck to Home Depot for costly new ones.

Savings: $65.78

5. I Made the Movers’ Job Easier

Parking in the city is hard to come by on an average day in an average-sized vehicle. What about when you’re driving an 18-foot moving truck?

I wasn’t comfortable leaving moving-day street parking up to chance. So I spent $65 on a city-issued no-parking permit to free up the spots directly outside my new address.

Why spend that much? Because I knew how much I was paying my movers per hour — and I knew how much longer it could take if they had to walk farther from truck to apartment.

I estimated my movers, at a rate of $125 per hour, would have needed an additional hour to unpack the truck if they didn’t have parking directly out front.

Total savings: $60

It doesn’t seem like much, but there are a ton of moving parts involved when you’re moving. This one saved me a little, but gave me a lot of peace of mind.

All in all, I saved $495.78 and made $120. Moving was still hard work, and I’m relieved I’m not planning to do it again for a while. But I’m glad to see my penny pinching was worth it!

Your Turn: How have you saved money during a move to a new place? Let us know your tips and suggestions!

Lisa Rowan is a writer, editor and podcaster living in Baltimore.

The post How I Saved $495.78 (and Made $120!) When I Moved to a New City appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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This Company Did Something Really Strange: It Gave Its Customers $100 Million

Stop the presses…

Because we just found out some crazy news. In the past seven years, one company has given its customers a whopping $100 million.

That’s right: we said given. Though most companies take money from their customers, this company is different. It earns money from the big guys and gives it out to people like you and me.

And today it’s hit a big milestone: $100 million back in the hands of its customers.

Which company is crazy enough to give out $100 million extra that people used to pay their rent, fix their cars and do a million things (literally!) they otherwise couldn’t have afforded?

A company called Swagbucks. It pays users to do things like answer surveys, watch videos and search the internet. (Curious how it works? Learn how to use Swagbucks here.)

It’s almost hard to believe, right? We had a tough time believing it, too — until we started to hear the Swagbucks success stories.

And because it’s been in business for seven years — and has now given away $100 million! — there are lots of ‘em. Here are two of our favorites:

Swagbucks Helps Achu Spread the Love

Last year, Achu moved from India to the United States with her new husband. Without friends, family or a job, she needed something to fill her days. Wanting to do something special for her “hubby love,” she started searching for work-from-home jobs.

When she stumbled across Swagbucks, she initially thought it was a scam — but after earning her first Amazon gift card, she was sold.

“It was shocking for me when I got it,” she says. “It made me extremely happy, as it’s my first earning in life.”

In the six months since, Achu has continued to earn SBs; in total, she’s made $300 in Amazon and Visa gift cards.

With some of her initial earnings, she purchased a beautiful canvas for her husband — her very first gift to him. “I can’t explain the immense pleasure it gives to make your loved ones happy,” she says.

Achu’s favorite way to earn SBs is through surveys; she says she completes “as many as possible in a day.” She also takes polls, uses the search engine and plays games.

On her phone, she uses Swagbucks TV. “It’s the best because you just need to turn it on and it plays automatically,” she says.

Still skeptical? Achu encourages you to give it a try. “[The] process is very simple from signing up to redeeming,” she says. “[Once] you get your first gift card… you’ll know how easy it is to make Swagbucks.”

For Achu, Swagbucks has made a huge difference in her life here. “As everything was new to me, I was holding myself back from doing everything,” she says. “Swagbucks helped me change myself by being my first friend in the USA… It gave me confidence that even being at home I can do so much.”

Visiting the Happiest Place on Earth… on Swagbucks

Not only is Swagbucks perfect for people who want to work from home, it’s also a great gig for retirees.

After 30 years of hard work, Genevieve and her husband retired. Though money was tighter than it had been while they were working, Genevieve — being the awesome grandmother she is — still wanted to send surprises to her grandkids.

“You know, for times that Grammy isn’t around but wants to say, ‘I love you and I’m so proud of you!’,” she explains. So she started searching for ways to earn extra money.

Soon after, she found Swagbucks and promptly “fell in love.” When her grandson said he wanted to go to Disney World, she became intent on funding their trip with the platform.

She watched videos, took surveys and participated in focus groups, redeeming her SBs for Amazon credits. Genevieve gave the Amazon credits to her daughter, who paid her back in Target gift cards — which, in turn, Genevieve used to purchase Disney gift cards.

When coupled with $575 in Disney gift cards she already had, it only took her one year to earn enough SBs for a weeklong trip to Disney with her husband and grandson!

“I have the trip paid for and an additional $400 in Disney gift cards for spending money,” she says.

“I also redeemed my Swagbucks for Visa Reward Cards that I used to buy Universal Studios gift cards… [and] for Landry’s eGift Cards, which we will use to eat at T-REX Restaurant at Downtown Disney.”

If Genevieve can earn an entire trip to Disney World with Swagbucks, just imagine what you could do.

“For anyone who thinks they can’t afford to go to Walt Disney World, you absolutely can with Swagbucks,” she says. “I know because I did it.”

Interested in learning more? Sign up here to see if Swagbucks is right for you!

Your Turn: Do you use Swagbucks? What’s your favorite way to earn money on the side?

Susan Shain, senior writer for The Penny Hoarder, is always seeking adventure on a budget. Visit her blog at susanshain.com, or say hi on Twitter @susan_shain.

The post This Company Did Something Really Strange: It Gave Its Customers $100 Million appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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How to Prepare to Interview a Veteran

Four things employers need to do before interviewing a job candidate with military experience.

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A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating an Autoresponder That Subscribers Can’t Wait to Open

Email autoresponders are the holy grail of marketing.

You set up a sequence of emails once, and you’re done.

Thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands, of people will get exactly the same emails from you, in the same order.

This allows you to create an unbelievably consistent level of service.

Perhaps the most underrated benefit of autoresponders is that they exist within email marketing, the most profitable channel of marketing.

Capterra found that every one dollar spent on email marketing resulted in $44.25 of revenue. So, not only can autoresponders save you a lot of time, but they can also be extremely effective in driving profit for your business.

Of course, there are two sides to everything, and autoresponders are no exception: they have some limitations.

If you don’t understand these limitations and take appropriate action, you will end up with autoresponders that suck.

Remember that an autoresponder is just a tool. It’s how you use it that counts.

One marketer can achieve amazing long-term success with an autoresponder, while another will never make a sale.

I want you to be in that first group.

And if you follow the five steps in this post, you’ll be well on your way to efficient and effective communication with your email subscribers. 

How does an autoresponder fit into your business

As you might know, there are two main types of emails you can send with any email marketing platform:

• broadcasts
• autoresponders

Broadcast emails are written to your list and sent once at a particular time.

Autoresponders, on the other hand, are all automated. You create a sequence of emails to send to your subscribers after they sign up for a list.

The downside of using broadcasts to email your list is obvious: it takes time—time to create emails on a regular basis.

Sometimes you should use broadcasts—typically for one-time, time-sensitive events and news.

However, a few situations are perfect for autoresponders, and that’s what I’m going to focus on in this post.

Situation #1 – Introduce new subscribers to your content: In a distant past, any new subscriber you got already knew your content and loved it. They had to; otherwise, they would have never filled out a plain opt-in form.

But now, with the use of tactics like content upgrades, blog owners can double, triple, or even quadruple their opt-in rates.

You offer an attractive free bonus in exchange for a reader’s email address. As a result, you get way more opt-ins.

This is great!

However, there’s a downside to this.

A large portion of your subscribers have only read one or two pieces of content on your site.

So while they might like you, they mainly signed up because of the free bonus. In other words, you don’t really have much of a relationship with them.

To fix this, you want to show them your absolute best content that you’ve written over the years.

Blow them away so that they recognize the value you have to offer and let you start building a relationship.

Obviously, you don’t want to have to send each new subscriber an email of your best posts manually.

And since you want to deliver it soon after they sign up, an autoresponder is perfect.

A great example of it is this email you receive from James Clear after you join his email list.

He sends an email early on dedicated to his best articles:

Not only does he show his subscribers his best content, but he also organizes it by category so that the subscriber has the best chance of finding content they are most interested in.

Situation #2 – Create an automated sales funnel: Selling a product through an email sales funnel is a delicate process.

You need to consider the types of emails you send as well as their timing.

With some launches, you have no choice but to send emails manually. If you open and close a course at specific times, you have to stick to broadcasts.

However, if you’re selling a product or service continuously, you can build it right into your autoresponder (which is what I do at NeilPatel.com).

Situation #3 – Use it as a lead magnet course: In general, the more valuable the free bonus you offer to your new subscribers, the more likely they are to opt in.

The most valuable thing that most bloggers could offer would be coaching or consulting help. But giving that away just isn’t viable. Not only would it take a ton of time, you’d sacrifice a lot of profit as well.

However, with an autoresponder, you can provide a fairly good level of coaching or training and automate it.

Email courses are highly valued in many different niches.

Assuming your course is actually good, you get one more benefit: you’ll “train” your subscribers to anticipate and open your emails.

Step 1: Understand the 4 factors that affect open rate over time

Before even thinking about making any sales through email marketing and using autoresponders, you need to get your emails opened.

There are many reasons why subscribers might want to open your emails:

Your name is an obvious one, but it is often messed up, even today.

If you write all the content on your site under your name, your subscribers expect (and want) to get emails from you.

They don’t want to get emails from “support,” “customer service,” or someone else they don’t know even if that person works with you.

People mainly open emails because of relationships, so always send them your emails using a name they know.

Beyond that, four other factors influence long-term open rates (which is what you should be aiming for).

Factor #1 – Enticing subject lines: In a typical email box, a user will see the subject line of an email, followed by the sender.

In certain emails, they will also see the first line of the message, but it’s not as prominent.

Obviously, the subject line matters a lot.

Somewhere around 35% of email users will open emails based on the subject line alone.

So, how do you create a good email subject line?

First, make is short.

Subject lines with 6 to 10 words get the highest open rate.

This is mostly because most email inboxes only show about 10 words at the max before cutting off the rest of the subject line.

The second important part of a good subject line is that it induces some curiosity—it’s interesting.

Here’s where many email marketers mess up.

They see that they can use certain tricks to get great open rates.

For example, if you send an email with “(No subject)” as the subject line, it will get opened by nearly everyone.

But that’s the wrong kind of curiosity.

With tricks like these, the reader opens your emails just to see what they are.

Unless you have the most interesting, compelling content inside, the reader will feel tricked. Tricked readers are not happy ones and won’t be opening your emails much in the future.

If you’re going to use tricks like these, use them very sparingly.

The alternative, and better, option is to send your readers valuable content they are interested in.

If you’re on any of my email lists, you know that I don’t get cute with subject lines. I simply put the name of the post or topic I’m writing about in the email:

Why?

For two main reasons. First, I know you’re already interested in the topics I’m writing about if you’re on my email list. As long as it’s clear that I’m writing about a relevant topic, emails will get opened.

Secondly, I’ve already spent a good amount of time crafting a powerful headline. Because of that, I know that the message will be clear, and there will be some sort of a curiosity gap built-in.

Getting emails opened is not about tricks.

Factor #2 – Your topic matters: Although you may want to send all your most popular posts at once, you can also spread them out over time.

As we’ve discussed, sending information on interesting topics is the best way to build a relationship with your readers and get your emails opened now and in the future.

The best place to get the best email ideas is from your most popular posts.

Go to Google Analytics, and navigate to “Behavior > Site Content > All Pages.”

You’ll see a list of all your posts sorted by pageviews. Make sure that you set the time period to at least the last year.

Use these top posts as your email content, or just give these links to your subscribers. You can be reasonably confident that they will enjoy them just as much as your past visitors did.

Factor #3 – Deliver on your promise: I’ve mentioned that you need to be building a relationship with your subscribers over time.

You need to prove that you can be trusted on an ongoing basis.

As soon as you betray that trust by tricking your subscribers or not living up to your word, you destroy that trust and the relationship.

So yes, sending emails about interesting topics is important. But so is what happens after that.

If I wanted a great open rate for an email, all I would have to do is make a crazy promise in the subject line.

If I delivered, readers would, of course, love it. But if my content didn’t live up to that promise, I would lose a lot of trust immediately.

An email by CoSchedule promised 21 ways to increase an email list by 552%.

That’s a big promise:

Did they deliver?

You bet. You can see so in the comments of the article they linked to in that email:

The next time CoSchedule sends an email, those happy readers will be excited to open it. That’s how you build a relationship.

Factor #4 – Give much more than you take: At the end of the day, email marketing needs to produce sales.

And it can.

But you need to be careful about how often you’re promoting products.

In general, subscribers don’t like pitches, but they don’t mind them as long as the value of your overall communication heavily outweighs the pitches you are sending.

If you look at the emails that someone like Bernadette Jiwa sends, you’ll see they are almost all value, no pitch:

Over time, your subscribers will see that you’re not just trying to make a sale from them, but that you actually care about improving their lives.

Once that barrier of skepticism gets knocked down, your subscribers will start opening your emails without worrying that you’re just trying to profit from them.

Future pitches will be much more welcome because subscribers understand that you want to help them, not take advantage of them.

Step 2: The often misunderstood purpose of emails

The first lesson of all modern copywriting is that you should write to your readers in a conversational tone.

Your blog posts as well as your emails should sound like something you’d send to a friend.

It’s not bad advice, but you need to remember that you can have many different levels of friends.

You wouldn’t talk to someone you’ve just met (even if you liked that person very much) like you would talk to a close friend you’ve known for years.

But, of course, some marketers take this advice way too literally.

They’ll send their new subscribers something like:

Hi (name),

What’s up? Just heading out for the weekend to the cottage! :p

If you’re in San Diego next weekend, let’s grab dinner.

-N

That might be okay if you were writing to a really close friend with whom you talk often.

For a new relationship, this is not even close to being okay. New subscribers would think, “Ummm..okay? What the heck was that?” and be creeped out by it. Unsubscribes would follow.

Bottom line: Be friendly, write in a conversational tone, but remember that there are many stages to a friendship. Your typical email subscriber is a good acquaintance at the most.

Your style reflects you: For some reason, many marketers have a hard time writing good emails.

They write great blog posts, but when it comes to composing an email, they panic and end up producing emails that sound as if a robot wrote them.

Email may be a different from a blog channel, but you should write emails just like you write any of your other content.

Your subscribers opted in because they like how you write.

Why would you change that?

Your emails should both sound and look like you (the way you write on your blog).

Let’s look at an example…

Brian Dean writes in a unique style on Backlinko. He uses extremely short sentences and paragraphs as well as very casual phrases like “I’m pumped”:

You’ll even notice in the above picture that he capitalizes words to add emphasis.

Guess how he writes his emails?

You guessed right—exactly the same way:

He uses short sentences, casual language, and a similar font and even capitalizes “PUMPED!” to add emphasis.

An email doesn’t have to be an announcement: There’s one part of writing a great blog post that is always difficult to overcome.

Blog posts are typically one-sided: the writer writes, and the reader reads.

This can make it difficult to get your readers to engage with your content. Additionally, you can’t build a relationship without having some communication from both sides.

That’s why email is an amazing medium.

It’s designed so that people can respond to your communication—they expect a two-way conversation.

But if all you do is write your content and link to your posts in your autoresponder, you’ll get some replies, but not many.

To fix this, you need to encourage responses and actually reply back to any emails you get. Although this will take time because you can’t automate it, these interactions will help you build strong customer loyalty.

You can encourage a reply by asking your subscriber to either answer a question you pose in your email or let you know something.

For example, in one of the first emails Derek Halpern sends his new subscribers, he asks if there is anything they are struggling with:

He specifically asks his subscribers to reply to him to begin a dialog.

Step 3: You don’t need to sell in your emails

Email is amazing for driving sales, which you probably already know.

The mistake, though, that most marketers make is selling directly in an email.

People don’t really buy in emails.

They discuss ideas, they learn new things, but they don’t buy.

People are wary of email scams these days and don’t want to purchase anything through links placed directly in emails.

So, how do you make money from email marketing if you can’t sell in an email?

You send subscribers to pages, where they can buy safely and confidently.

Essentially, you want to use your emails as a pre-sell to warm up your subscribers before they get sent to a landing page.

That way, they don’t just get a buy button slapped in their face without expecting it.

You can pre-sell in emails in a few main ways.

Option #1 – Link to reviews: If you’re promoting an affiliate product, you can either link directly to a landing page for it, or you can create a review of a certain product and include affiliate links throughout it.

A few weeks ago, Jon Morrow created a new list for subscribers who care about WordPress site speed.

In all his emails about this topic, he linked to a thorough review:

In the article he linked to, there are several affiliate links pointing to the hosting company he is promoting. He gets paid whenever someone signs up through those links:

Option #2 – Link directly to a landing page: Alternatively, you can warm up your subscribers and send them to one of your landing pages.

Talk about the benefits of your product or service, and tell your subscribers that if they want to learn more or to purchase, they can check your landing page.

Instead of feeling tricked or pressured, the subscribers will feel in control. Since you’ve hopefully built a relationship before pitching something, they will typically give your offer a fair shot.

Here’s an example: Peep Laja is a conversion rate expert. When promoting his coaching program, he sent an email with the most important details and benefits of his coaching.

Then, at the bottom of the email, he made it clear that anyone who clicks the link would be going to a landing page about his program.

No one gets tricked, and you still drive a lot of targeted traffic to your landing page.

Step 4: Don’t be the “boring” friend

We talked about the fact that you need to write emails as if you’re writing to a friend.

There’s one part of it that we haven’t looked at:

Don’t you like getting emails from certain friends more than others?

Maybe you wouldn’t tell them that to their face, but I bet you occasionally ignore emails or other types of messages from certain friends (or at least delay your response).

Conversely, you probably get excited when other friends send you a message.

Obviously, you want your autoresponder emails to fall into this second group of emails.

To do so, you need to avoid all the things that your “boring” friends do.

Emails are reserved for value: I realize that everyone is different, but for the most part, email isn’t used for much “chit chat.”

If you want to ask someone about their day, you text them or use some other messaging app.

Over time, you get conditioned to pay attention to those emails that you know will give you some value.

This also means that when you read an email that just wastes your time, you are less likely to open another one from the same sender (your “boring” friend).

Here’s what you shouldn’t do:

• Email frequently about nothing in particular
• Send any email without a point
• Send emails about everyday topics (not of high interest)

My subscribers want to learn about SEO, marketing, and a few other related topics.

Every single one of my emails needs to be about one of those topics.

It’s fine to include some personal details to try to build more of a connection with your subscribers, but you need to always tie those back in with your main topics.

Do you only contact “friends” when you need something? Everyone knows that one person from school or work who only ever talked to their peers when he needed help with something.

The first few times, you’d give that person the benefit of the doubt and just assume they are having an unusually difficult time with something.

However, as time goes on and behavior doesn’t change, you realize that if this person gives you a call, comes up to you, or sends you an email, she wants something.

Don’t be this person.

Everyone gets sick of them at some point and stops giving them any attention.

Instead, be the person who gives others value and offers assistance more often than asks for help.

Fifteen out of the 17 emails in the picture above are asking the subscriber to do something.

If you do that, most subscribers will either unsubscribe soon after they realize what’s going on or just mark your messages as spam.

Step 5: Don’t let your emails lose their impact

There’s one last main problem we need to address.

Have you ever been excited to sign up for a list in the past, only to slowly lose interest?

I know you have because we all have.

As the email sender, you’ll find it’s one of the hardest things to prevent, but it is possible.

Length should match value: When it comes to the length of your communication, you need to consider two aspects.

First is the length of your emails.

Second is the length of your autoresponders.

Despite what some will claim, there’s no perfect length for an email.

The length of your emails should depend on a few key factors:

• How interesting your topic is - the more interesting it is, the more willing people are to read more about it
• What they expect – if you always write short emails, subscribers will expect short emails. Don’t expect long ones to get as much attention as your regular email would.
• What needs to be said - If you’re simply linking to another page that you want your subscribers to visit, less is more. Only include what is necessary to prepare your readers and build up curiosity for that page.

The last point is perhaps the most important.

If you send an email with a lot of fluff in it, you might not realize the problem at first.

Your readers will still read it if the topic is interesting enough.

However, they will lose interest in your emails over time. It will become a chore for them to sort through the junk in order to find the gold.

If you see your open rates decline significantly over time, that means you are driving off your subscribers for one reason or another.

What about the length of your autoresponders?

If you’re offering a course or introduction to your content, your autoresponder has to cover that specific topic.

If it’s a complex topic, it might take 30 emails to cover it.

If it’s a simple product, it might only be a 5- or 7-email series.

Match the complexity of the product and the interest your subscribers have in it with the length of your autoresponder.

If you create an autoresponder course about “how to format a blog post,” don’t send 50 emails.

By the time you get to your third or fourth email on a simple topic, most subscribers will lose interest.

All autoresponders must come to an end: All autoresponders should be about one or two specific topics.

They should be used only for those cases when visitors to your website want to learn about a specific topic and signing up for those targeted emails will give them those answers. 

We just discussed what happens if you send too many emails about a topic.

In addition, if you start talking about different topics, most readers will stop reading your emails.

They’ve learned what you have to offer about topic “A,” and that’s what they wanted. They didn’t ask to learn about topic “B,” which is why they are no longer interested.

Whenever you create an autoresponder, determine the scope of what you’re covering, and divide the material into however many emails you think is necessary.

Then, write those emails. Don’t add more emails to the autoresponder in the hope of automating 100% of your email marketing.

What happens at the end of an autoresponder? You’re probably wondering what happens to these subscribers once they hit the end of an autoresponder.

That’s a great question.

There are two main options that you can use either individually or together.

The simplest option is to move your new subscribers to your main subscriber list. Then, you can continue sending them emails when you publish a new post or want to send out another broadcast email.

If you’re on my main broadcast list on Quick Sprout, for example, you get three emails per week letting you know there’s a new post published.

The second option is to give your autoresponder subscribers the chance to join a new autoresponder.

Instead of assuming that they would also be interested in topic “B,” you can send them an email saying something like:

This is the end of your course, and I hope you got a lot out of it.

I also have a few other free email courses you might be interested in. If you are, just click the link below, and sign up for the one(s) you’re interested in:

1. Email course about topic “B”

2. Email course about topic “C”

3. Email course about topic “D”

I mentioned Jon Morrow in this post. He did something very similar.

He knew that a large portion of his broadcast list is interested in WordPress hosting. So he sent a broadcast email that offered a free email course about this specific topic.

So, although all autoresponders must end, that doesn’t mean that a subscriber couldn’t keep signing up for other autoresponders you’ve created.

They’re an easy way to continue to provide value and generate sales without any repeated effort.

Conclusion

Autoresponders are a fantastic tool for businesses to use in their email marketing.

However, it’s still just a tool.

If you want to get great results, you need to know how to use it properly.

If you follow the principles and concepts that I’ve broken down in the five steps in this article, you’ll be able to create an autoresponder that subscribers enjoy and that actually produces revenue for your business.

Creating a solid autoresponder isn’t easy, so if you have a question about any part of the process, leave it below in a comment, and I’ll try to answer it.

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Some Lessons from the Homeless Billionaire

Over the past several years, a number of media articles have popped up that discuss Nicolas Berggruen, a person known colloquially as “the homeless billionaire.” Why is he known that way? This article from the Wall Street Journal explains it:

When I first met Nicolas Berggruen, I was struck by two things. First, he was a multi-billionaire I’d never heard of — the most interesting kind. Second, he didn’t own a home.

“I stay in hotels,” he told me.

A billionaire without a home? This, I figured, was worth a story. My article about Mr. Berggruen in today’s Journal focuses mainly on his investing life and his push toward socially responsible investing. But what interested me most was his unconventional personal life.

After making his billions, Mr. Berggruen, 46, lost interest in acquiring things: They didn’t satisfy him, and in fact had become something of a burden. So he started paring down his material life, selling off his condo in New York, his mansion in Florida and his only car. He hatched plans to leave his fortune to charity and his art collection to a new museum in Berlin.

For him, wealth is about lasting impact, not stuff.

“Everybody is different and I think that we live in a material world,” he told me. “But for me, possessing things is not that interesting. Living in a grand environment to show myself and others that I have wealth has zero appeal. Whatever I own is temporary, since we’re only here for a short period of time. It’s what we do and produce, it’s our actions, that will last forever. That’s real value.”

When I pressed him on why he no longer got much enjoyment from acquiring more “things,” he said this: “First, I don’t need it. Secondly, maybe in a bizarre kind of way, I don’t want to be dependent on it or have the responsibility. I don’t get that much enjoyment out of saying ‘I own it.’ ”

Mr. Berggruen makes clear that his philosophy is his own, and he has nothing against those who want to enjoy their wealth by having big homes, cars and all the rest. And of course it’s easy for a billionaire to say “money and things aren’t important.”

But his perspective seems to be increasingly common among today’s superwealthy — and even wealthy — who are looking for more lasting meaning in their lives beyond their possessions. I’m not saying they’re right or wrong or that possessions are inferior to other measures of wealth — people should use their wealth however they choose. Yet for all that, Mr. Berggruen’s personal downsizing may be a sign that the voluntary simplicity movement could be moving up the wealth ladder.

I’ve written about the voluntary simplicity movement in the past. In the words of the most influential book of the movement, “[s]implicity means taking charge of lives that are too busy, too stressed, and too fragmented. Simplicity means cutting back on clutter, complications, and trivial distractions, both material and nonmaterial, and focusing on the essentials – whatever those may be for each of our unique lives.”

In other words, it’s a conscious effort to pare down and even minimize one’s obligations, one’s distractions, and one’s possessions in order to focus on the essentials and the things the person finds truly important.

It might be easy to hear that kind of talk from someone who is already financially restricted, at least in the sense that they’re not incredibly wealthy. It’s a philosophy that seeks to maximize the resources you already have – time and energy – and minimize other resources – money and possessions – so if you already are lacking in the money department, that philosophy can really hit home.

However, Nicolas Berggruen proves the point that even if you’re already in control of a lot of money and possessions, time and energy may still prove to be more important.

His life is practically possession free. He lives in a way that instead maximizes his time and energy and makes it possible for him to have a lot of experiences and devote his time to a lot of projects.

He lives in the most time and energy efficient housing available to him – hotel rooms. Because of his wealth, he can actually afford constant hotel visits, where someone else takes care of the tasks of cleaning and changing the sheets and so on. That choice basically eliminates the time he might have to devote to household tasks.

For most of us, that’s impossible, but we can minimize that time by living in a very small home or apartment where there simply isn’t that much room to clean up. It’s far faster to clean up an efficiency apartment, for example, than a multi-bedroom home.

He’s able to live in such a small space because he doesn’t have many possessions, and the ones he does have are well-made and he uses them to death. This Bloomberg article describes him as living out of a tote bag and wearing ragged clothes: “Berggruen, 50, lives his whole life this way, always on the move, as he seeks out companies to buy from Berlin to Bangalore to Brisbane. For the past decade, the dual American and German citizen has had no fixed home address. He constantly roams the world on his Gulfstream IV jet, living out of five-star hotels. Most of the time, he carries only a small tote bag containing clothes and his BlackBerry. ‘If you have things and if you are a perfectionist, which I am, you have to really tend to them, and it takes energy away from other things,’ says Berggruen, whose pink shirt, monogrammed with his initials in red on the pocket, is fraying at the cuffs and collar.”

First of all, he doesn’t own many possessions, period. He lives out of a rather small bag that contains a few electronic devices, some clothes, and presumably a few toiletries.

I’ve been thinking about this idea a lot. What would I do if I had to live out of my duffel bag? I’d probably put my laptop in there, my Kindle, and chargers for both. I’d probably have one set of nice clothes, along with two pairs of jeans and a few t-shirts, as well as undergarments and maybe one extra pair of shoes. I’d probably also have a notebook or two and some pens and a little bag of toiletries. I think I could be pretty happy with just those possessions – after all, I’d have very little to worry about besides them.

If Sarah and I both committed to that, we could actually have a very small house and be just fine.

Second, the possessions he does have are sturdy and well made, and he uses them until they fall apart. His clothes, for instance, are “fraying at the cuffs and collar,” but he’s still wearing them, likely until they tear. That means they’ve survived a lot of washings and a lot of use – he’s getting maximum value from those clothes.

And he’s a billionaire.

Whenever I read about him, I think to myself about what it would be like to live that kind of life. I might not necessarily live in hotel rooms, but I could easily live a very minimal lifestyle where my possessions largely fit into a duffel bag. If I did that, and Sarah did it, too, we could live in a much smaller home. We probably couldn’t become migrants for professional reasons, but we wouldn’t need a big house, that’s for sure.

But then I tell myself, “But I’ll never live like that.”

And then I ask myself, “Why not?”

There may be specific elements of my life that would make this kind of minimalism extremely difficult, but it wouldn’t be impossible. It would just require a commitment from everyone in my family to these ideals… but it’s a commitment I wouldn’t be able to obtain.

However, in terms of the possessions I have that are clearly “mine” and no one else’s, this type of approach certainly would be possible at the very least. After all, if this is something I believe in, why not work toward it, a step at a time?

That’s why, over the last few weeks and for a while going forward, I’m taking a cue from Nicolas Berggruen. I’m doing a pretty deep purge of my possessions as time affords it, selling off entire sets of my possessions and strongly paring down other sets. It’s going to take a while, but as I look around and think about which possessions of mine actually matter as possessions, the number is pretty small. Many of the items I have just represent possible experiences… but the reality is that I won’t actually ever enjoy those experiences on a deep enough level to warrant having the stuff on my shelves.

What I really value is experiences and time. Piles of possessions don’t really give me that, but money in the bank helps greatly.

I might not be able to live out of a single bag, but I can certainly downsize and reduce. In fact, that’s how I’m spending the rest of today. I’m starting by purging my board game collection of the majority of my titles. I realize that most of my game playing takes place in a social context with other people who also bring games, so there’s not a burning need to maintain a big collection. I can also pare down the vast majority of my pocket notebook collection, as I have acquired them at a faster rate than I actually use them and I have some old ones that actually have secondary market value. After that, there are a lot of possibilities.

It’s time to let go of some of my possessions, to give myself more free time and less space requirements, and the homeless billionaire is my inspiration.

The post Some Lessons from the Homeless Billionaire appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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How Joining a Sorority Helped Me Save Money in College

Would you join a sorority in college?

At first glance, the price tag is intimidating: The average cost of sorority membership at the University of Central Florida, for instance, is $1,280 per semester, according to USA Today.

Price was almost a deal breaker for me. Then I took a closer look and realized how much bang I would get for my buck — and how joining a sorority could actually help me save money.

Outside of tuition, the biggest costs for students are rent, food and entertainment. As a recent alumna of Kappa Kappa Gamma at Florida State University, here’s how I saved money on all three by joining a sorority.

Spend Less Money on Rent

Room and board on campus (which includes a meal plan) for four years, in-state, costs approximately $9,804 per year, or $4,902 per semester. It’s tough to say how much of that is for the room portion and how much is for the meal plan, but it’s fairly apparent that sorority rent is lower.

Sororities only charge about $1,000-$1,500 per semester, based on my conversations with friends in other chapters. My rent was only $975.

This was on top of sorority dues for an entire semester. When you break it down, I was spending between $300 and $400 a month on rent, including cable, water and electricity.

Greek houses are typically on campus or within walking distance. Not to mention, most of them look like mansions. Although getting a room in the house can sometimes be competitive, juniors and seniors are almost guaranteed to get spots, and two years of saving is better than none.

If your chapter doesn’t have a house, you’re in luck! This means dues will most likely be substantially cheaper, since you don’t have to maintain a huge residence. Some chapters also offer housing alternatives, like securing an entire floor of a dorm.

Save on Food

The next big-ticket item in every college student’s budget is food. Undergrads spend absurd amounts of money on groceries, take out and extra guac.

Students spend an average of $380 per semester on off-campus food, according to The Huffington Post, if they have a meal plan. A typical food budget for those who don’t have meal plans lies somewhere around $750-$800 per semester, according to my fellow students.

By contrast, sorority dues usually include 15 meals per week, as well as study snacks. My sorority (and most at my university) used about 45% of the dues ($576 per semester, using the national average) to pay for those meals — all of which are prepared by a professional chef, and none of which were made of Ramen.

Have Fun For Less

The final big expense for many college students is entertainment. This includes concerts, festivals, movie tickets and more.

More than 50% of students spend $25 or more per week on these activities. That works out to $400 a semester or more!

Sororities have what they call “chapter fees,” which you can think of as entertainment costs. My sorority used almost 30% of my dues ($384, according to the national average dues) to pay for these activities.

My entertainment last semester included a retreat to Universal Orlando, two tickets to an NHL hockey game (including transportation), two date functions (formals/semi-formals, which included dinner and drinks), weekly socials and monthly sisterhood activities like movie nights and private yoga sessions. Twenty-five dollars a week wouldn’t stretch that far.

Extra Tips

Use these tricks to save even more as a member of a sorority:

• Ask your sisters if you can buy or borrow their old textbooks. They’ll usually sell them to you for super cheap because #sisterhood, or let you borrow them at no charge.

• Check your house’s study room for old books sisters left behind. My house had hundreds of old textbooks, and I usually found old editions that worked just fine.

• Make sure your chapter doesn’t fine you for being late to chapter meetings or missing events.

• Borrow your sisters’ clothes. You don’t need to spend money on a formal dress when your “Big Sister” has one she wore last year and will never wear again.

• See if your dues include any T-shirts. Most sorority girls’ wardrobes consist of T-shirts and workout shorts anyway, so you won’t need new school clothes.

• Check with the alumni groups in your hometown for scholarships. Almost every alumni chapter offers scholarships, and they can help a ton with college costs.

• Use your network. You’ll likely have at least 100,000 sisters all over the world, if not more. Bonding over your sisterhood could help you land that dream internship or job.

In my experience, sororities are well worth the investment. Not only will you have the experience of a lifetime, you can end up saving tons of money.

Your Turn: Were you in the Greek system? Did it help you save money?

Amy Daire is a recent Florida State University graduate. She is currently navigating her newfound adulthood as a freelance writer in St. Petersburg, Florida.

The post How Joining a Sorority Helped Me Save Money in College appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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Tips for Finding Affordable Engagement Rings

You shouldn’t have to go into debt to show the world you love each other. Photo: Tela Chhe

Choosing an engagement ring should be simple in theory. Pick out a ring, buy it, and propose to the love of your life (who will, ideally, say yes). However, because it’s an engagement ring, there is so much emotional and cultural expectation wrapped up in that beautiful black velvet box.

Men who want to propose might wonder, “Is she going to like this ring for the next 50 years?” or “Should I go into debt to get a more expensive ring as long as I can pay it off?”

Women might wonder, “Should I tell him exactly the type of ring I want?” or “Do beautiful, affordable engagement rings even exist?”

These are good questions to consider, and it’s important to note that there are many beautiful and high-quality engagement rings that you can love for years to come that won’t cost you a fortune or drive you into too much debt.

After all, financial strains can be difficult on any marriage, particularly a new one — so why set yourself up for stress when you can buy an affordable engagement ring that your other half is sure to love?

Tips for Selecting Engagement Rings

Ask Your Other Half What They Want

The first rule of being successful when it comes to buying an engagement ring is to know what you should be looking for. It might seem completely obvious, but you’d be surprised at the number of women who walk around wearing a style of ring that they don’t actually like.

So, does your other half love vintage rings or modern rings? Should you buy a solitaire or should it have as much bling as possible? Should colored stones be included or not? In order to find out, simply ask her, ask her friends or family, or go shopping with her to see the type of rings she likes.

Ignore the ‘Three Months’ Salary’ Advice

Somewhere in a smoke-filled office, an advertising copywriter long ago invented the idea that an engagement ring should cost a man two or even three months of his income. It’s a benchmark I’ve seen printed time and time again in bridal magazines and in wedding blogs, but just because you see it printed somewhere doesn’t mean you have to follow it! (The origins can be traced back to a marketing campaign by gemstone giant De Beers.)

Two or three months of income is a serious financial outlay, and for many couples who live paycheck to paycheck, it’s preposterous to blindly use that guideline to determine how much to spend on an engagement ring.

Know What You Can Afford

Instead of multiplying your monthly income, know what you can realistically afford. Are you in debt? If so, you might want to buy a ring you can afford to pay off in cash instead of going into more debt for a diamond. Do you have a monthly budget? If so, look and see if there is anything you can give up for a few months to help save for a ring instead.

If you love someone and want to buy a ring, choosing one you can actually afford really is the greatest gift you can give them. Being ready and able to buy an engagement ring with money you already have is far better than making monthly payments throughout your first few years of marriage.

Think Outside the Box

There are many beautiful engagement rings that aren’t sparkly clear diamond solitaires. My mom’s engagement ring is a light blue sapphire. I have friends who wear opals, black diamonds, alternative diamonds, and other precious stones. My husband gave me an affordable aquamarine ring when I gave birth to my twins last year, and it would make an absolutely stunning engagement ring.

The point is, you don’t always have to go with what society has deemed the norm — or rather, what the world’s largest diamond producer deemed the norm when it began marketing the diamond engagement ring in the 1930s. Prior to World War II — and the cunning De Beers campaign — only 10% of engagement rings were diamonds, according to the BBC.

Talk to your fiancée and discuss it together. After all, if the person you’re proposing to has extremely high expectations for their ring and would rather go into debt than wear something both of you can afford, maybe you need to have a deeper discussion about money and marriage.

The average American couple spent a whopping $4,000 on engagement rings in 2012. If you need some help finding a beautiful but affordable engagement ring for the love of your life, here are some options and alternatives for less than half that price.

Affordable Engagement Rings

Option No. 1: Family Ring

Cost: Free!

The ring I wear on my left hand belonged to my great grandmother. She actually received it as an anniversary gift from her husband after they had been married for many years. It has a very unique, vintage feel being that it’s from the 1920s, and it has two smaller diamonds on it instead of a main center stone, which I love since it’s unique and memorable.

The best part is that it was passed down to my grandmother, then to my mother, then to me. Ask your family members if they have a ring they could pass down to you. It doesn’t have to be a four-carat diamond. A unique, vintage sapphire or other stone would be equally as amazing and romantic — and the best part is that it’s totally, 100% free.

Option No. 2: Brilliant Earth Classic Solitaire Diamond Ring

Cost: $1,185

Sometimes, it’s just gotta be a diamond. But that doesn’t mean you have to buy the biggest hunk of clear carbon out there. A classic solitaire cut on a simple band of 18k white gold looks elegant no matter what size the stone is.

Brilliant Earth, where I found this small but timeless 1/3-carat diamond engagement ring, sells only “beyond conflict-free” jewels — the company says it goes above and beyond industry standards to ensure its jewelry comes from ethically and environmentally responsible sources adhering to fair labor and trade practices. They even use recycled precious metals.

Brilliant Earth’s website allows you to design your own custom ring, choosing from dozens of settings and hundreds of individual diamonds with information about their cut, clarity, country of origin, size, and more. This means you have total control over the ultimate look — and price — of the ring you choose.

Option No. 3: Princess Cut 1/2-Carat Diamond

Cost: $1,700

Another classic, elegant cut, this preset engagement ring from Blue Nile (pictured above) with a ribbon of petite-cut diamonds along the 14k white gold band will make any fiancée feel like she’s landed in a fairy tale. A similar solitaire cut version is $1,400.

Option No. 4: White Sapphire

Cost: $199

This engagement ring from Zales received several five-star reviews. It’s a beautiful white sapphire that is lab created so it’s much more affordable than a diamond or other stone. The best part is that it still looks like a diamond (if that’s the look you’re going for!) at a much more affordable price.

Insider tip: Zales runs a ton of sales, so just keep your eye on the website and you likely won’t have to pay full price.

Option No. 5: Wedding Ring Tattoo

Cost: $50-$150 per hour

Some couples opt to get tattoos of their engagement rings and wedding bands instead of paying for physical rings or in addition to modest rings. This would be an especially good option for people who work with their hands or aren’t allowed to wear engagement rings at their particular job (some scrub techs, for example, might not be able to wear their engagement rings while in the operating room.)

The cost of a tattoo is typically the hourly rate for the tattoo artist, which can vary depending on their experience and your location. So, do your research and price out different tattoo artists to find the one that fits best in your budget.

Option No. 6: Three-Carat Rose Gold Plated Stunner

Cost: $130

The Etsy store Tiger Gemstones has nearly 3,500 five-star reviews. For less than $130 you can purchase an absolutely stunning three-carat diamond simulant with a band that is gorgeously rose gold plated.

Option No. 7: Sterling Silver and Cubic Zirconia With Wedding Band

Cost: $79

A cubic zirconia looks like a diamond without the cost. What I love best about this ring is definitely the price! For only $79 you can purchase an engagement ring and a wedding band that snugly fits inside the ring. It also includes a velvet box and free shipping.

With over 230 positive reviews to back it up, this one appears to be a good buy for the couple looking for a beautiful ring on a budget.

Option No. 8: 14k Yellow or White Gold Cubic Zirconia Ring

Cost: $149

If you liked that last ring but prefer gold, $149 is a great price for this beautiful, long-lasting cubic zirconia ring in either 14k white or yellow gold.

Option No. 9: White Gold, Aquamarine, and Diamond Ring

Cost: $305

If you’re reading this post and you know that your future fiancée will only want real gold and real diamonds and gemstones, this could be a great ring for you. At $305 (at the time of this writing) it’s pricier than some of the other options on this list; however, it is made of white gold, has real diamonds, and a beautiful light colored aquamarine for the center stone.

I absolutely love aquamarines, so maybe I’m biased — but this ring is a great way to get the look of an engagement with with all the “real” materials — without spending a fortune.

Option No. 10: Round Center Cluster Diamond Engagement Ring

Cost: $380

Another affordable, honest-to-goodness diamond ring, this engagement ring features a round cluster of smaller diamonds in the center instead of a focal stone, maintaining the glimmer and beauty of a more expensive ring, but not the price.

Option No. 11: Ultra-Affordable Heart-Shaped Ring

Cost: $8

Why go with a round or an oval-shaped center stone when you can get a heart shaped stone? This ring is so unbelievably affordable and so gorgeous, and because it’s made with Swarovski crystals versus CZs or other diamond simulants, it really sparkles. The store that sells it on Etsy has over 50 positive reviews, so be sure to check it out.

Other Ways to Save on Engagement Rings

Go without: This might seem counter-intuitive to the post, but consider just wearing a wedding band. This is a great option especially if you can get a higher quality diamond wedding band because you passed on the option for an engagement ring. The choice is up to you and will depend on what you do every day. For example, if you run a landscaping business, a simple and beautiful wedding band might be preferable over a diamond engagement ring that might snag or get dirty every day.

Buy online: Although shopping at a jewelry store is a fun experience, it can also be costly. One of the best things you can do to save money on your purchase is to shop online — but be sure that the store you buy your ring from is reputable, has a return policy, and can certify the diamond if you are a purchasing a real one. You can always take it to a jeweler to get them to confirm you purchased a real stone or real gold as well.

Avoid designer brands: Designer rings are beautiful, but they also come with a designer price. Instead, don’t be afraid to shop around. There are many sites like Amazon or Overstock that carry engagement rings, and although they might not come in a little blue box, they can still be very beautiful and high quality.

Use coupons: Before purchasing an engagement ring, check to see if the store you want to buy it from has any coupons or deals. You can also strategically wait for sales, like buying a ring in January — prices will drop after the Christmas rush when business is slow.

Pay cash: If you do go to a local jewelry store, you can offer to pay cash. Cash is king when it comes to discounts so don’t be afraid to bring a stack of $20s and negotiate heavily. You can also bring in competitors’ ads or print some examples of different prices online to show the salesperson and try to get them to match the price.

A Final Note

Remember, a marriage isn’t about the engagement ring or even the wedding. It’s about a relationship between two people. The type of ring you buy matters very little in the grand scheme of life.

Although most women would love a sparkly, large diamond to wear every day, the truth is that it’s not worth it if you have to go into debt over it. Instead, work with what you can afford and select a ring like the ones above that are high quality, highly rated, and beautiful without the immense price tag.

Like I said, I wear my great grandmother’s ring, and I couldn’t be happier with it. One day, I hope to pass it down to my daughter and at that point, maybe I’ll upgrade. However, I’m glad I didn’t push my husband to buy something he couldn’t afford so we didn’t have that financial strain on our marriage in the very beginning.

Which affordable engagement ring featured above was your favorite?

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