AUSTRALIANS love to hate Coles and Woolworths and kick them at every opportunity. So why do we keep coming back?
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الثلاثاء، 9 يونيو 2015
Free range farce: What you’re really shelling out for
THINK you’re supporting happy hens when you shell out extra for eggs? A new report reveals ‘free range’ isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
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Source NEWS.com.au | Business http://ift.tt/1KnZymR
This Bank Will Pay YOU $20/Month For As Long As Your Account is Open
Wow. This is cool.
Usually banks charge you to use their services, but Santander Bank has a new promotion where they will pay you $20/month ($240 year) to open and use a checking account.
Here’s how it works:
1. First, click the orange “Open Account” button below (it’s a link to the promotion):
2. To qualify for the $20 monthly bonus, customers must open an extra20 checking and a linked extra20 savings account, make direct deposits of at least $1,500 to their checking account each month and pay two bills or more each month using Santander’s online bill pay service.
Customers who direct deposit $1,500 or more but do not pay bills through the online service will receive a $10 monthly bonus. Monthly bonuses will be deposited into customers’ extra20 savings accounts.
3. We’ve reached out to Santander for clarification, but it doesn’t appear that there is an end to this promotion. Meaning, you should get $20/month for as long as you have the account open! This is huge!
I’ll update the post when we hear back from them.
4. Bonuses are credited to your extra20SM savings account on the first business day after your extra20® checking account service fee period ends. Your bonuses will be reported as interest on Form 1099-INT in the year received. Limit 1 extra20® checking and savings account per person.
Good luck Penny Hoarders!
Affiliate disclosure: Just to be up front with you, this is a paid endorsement by Santander. We use these endorsements to pay for site’s hosting costs, writer salaries, and other expenses. Thanks for your support!
The post This Bank Will Pay YOU $20/Month For As Long As Your Account is Open appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
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Want to Make $93,000 Straight Out of College? Choose This Major
If you’re looking for a college major that’ll help you pay off those student loans in a hurry, consider becoming an engineer. When the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) broke down the highest projected median starting salaries for the class of 2015 by field, every one of the top 10 best-paying college majors was a type of engineering.
How high are these salaries? Petroleum engineering majors are projected to earn a median salary of $93,750, according to NACE’s press release for their January 2015 Salary Survey. And that’s not at the pinnacle of their careers — that’s straight out of college.
While petroleum engineers were the top of the pack by a long ways, nine other engineering majors all had entry-level starting salaries projected from $62,500 to $66,500. That’s more than the typical American family brings in each year. In 2014, some estimates placed the median U.S. household income as $53,891.
Plus, these are just starting salaries. Once you have a few years of experience in your field, your pay is likely to be quite a bit higher — so becoming an engineer could be a smart way to maximize your return on investment in your college degree. But, of course, make sure you’ll be happy in one of these careers before deciding to pursue it.
Curious about the different types of engineering? We broke down the top 10 so you can see whether any of them might be a good fit for you.
1. Petroleum Engineering
Projected median starting salary: $93,750
Petroleum engineers work in oil and gas fields, where they focus on extracting deposits from underground and collecting as much material as possible from older wells. The BLS reported petroleum engineers’ 2012 median pay as $130,280.
Petroleum engineers’ employment opportunities are expected to soar through 2022, according to U.S. News & World Report. They could see up to 26% more jobs, while the national employment growth rate is usually closer to 11% for all occupations.
2. Chemical Engineering
Projected median starting salary: $66,500
People who work in chemical engineering use math, physics, chemistry and other sciences to focus on solving problems that relate to chemicals, fuel, food, pharmaceuticals and more. Sometimes, they also work on manufacturing systems or develop processes to treat production byproducts. The BLS reported chemical engineers’ 2012 median pay as $94,350.
3. Electrical Engineering
Projected median starting salary: $65,000
Working in electrical engineering involves designing and testing electrical equipment, including motors, navigation systems, power generators, communication tools and other items. For example, some electrical engineers work with GPS systems, iPods and radar detectors. Their 2012 median pay was $89,630, according to the BLS.
4. Nuclear Engineering
Projected median starting salary: $65,000
This career path involves intensive research and development to find the best ways to use nuclear energy and radiation. Many nuclear engineers are heavily involved with nuclear medicine, including developing and fine-tuning diagnostic imaging systems and medical treatments that use radiation. The BLS reported nuclear engineers’ 2012 median pay as $104,270.
5. Computer Engineering
Projected median starting salary: $63,000
Computer hardware engineers design and develop various components ranging from circuit boards to memory devices, routers to processors, and any other part of a computer you can imagine. They work to help rapidly advance the technology involved in computing. The median pay for computer engineers in 2012 was $100,920, according to the BLS.
6. Mechanical Engineering
Projected median starting salary: $63,000
If you like variety, mechanical engineering may be for you. Mechanical engineers design and build tools, engines, machines and many other items. The BLS reported mechanical engineers’ 2012 median pay as $80,580.
7. Systems Engineering
Projected median starting salary: $63,000
This type of engineering incorporates knowledge from many different disciplines to bring a product from concept to testing and operation. Basically, a systems engineer tries to pinpoint potential issues that could develop in a certain process, then come up with solutions to those problems.
The BLS does not have a specific salary median for this type of engineer, but GlassDoor reports their average salary as $91,214.
8. Aerospace or Aeronautical Engineering
Projected median starting salary: $62,750
If you’ve always been fascinated with space and the technology used to explore our solar system, aerospace engineering may be for you. This field involves designing and testing different types of spacecraft, aircraft, missiles and satellites. You’ll also spend a lot of time working on prototypes and evaluating the effectiveness of proposed designs. The BLS reported their 2012 median pay as $103,720.
9. Materials Engineering
Projected median starting salary: $62,750
Materials engineers work with a wide range of substances, from metal to plastic to other items. They work to design and improve products that use these materials, ranging from skis to aircraft wings to computer chips. The BLS reported materials engineers’ 2012 median pay as $85,150.
10. Industrial or Manufacturing Engineering
Projected median starting salary: $62,500 projected starting salary
If you are focused on efficiency, you might like to be an industrial engineer. These professionals work on streamlining processes, such as manufacturing. They analyze people, machinery, materials and other components to eliminate wasted time or resources, and make the processes more efficient. The BLS reported their 2012 median pay as $78,860.
Do You Need a College Degree to Be an Engineer?
Surprisingly, you don’t always need a four-year degree to become an engineer.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ helpful chart summarizes the different types of engineering, and includes a number of engineering technician jobs that typically only require an Associate’s degree. For example, aerospace engineering and operations technicians (who earn a median salary of $61,530) and civil engineering technicians (who earn a median salary of $47,560) only need a two-year degree.
However, if you have an aptitude for engineering, you may want to choose to complete a four-year degree and become a full-fledged engineer — and earn an even higher salary.
Your Turn: If you’re an engineer, what made you choose your discipline? If you’re considering college majors, what do you think of these engineering options?
Kristen Pope is a freelance writer and editor in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
The post Want to Make $93,000 Straight Out of College? Choose This Major appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
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May's 10 most-bought funds
Tracker funds were all the rage among fund investors in May, with almost half of the most-popular funds being Vanguard vehicles, according to data from our sister website Interactive Investor.
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Recent Grads: Driving for Uber Might Pay Better Than an Entry-Level Job
Are you a recent grad or early 20-something trying to get ahead in the workforce? Maybe it’s time to strike out on your own as an independent contractor. A recent study revealed that many young people are earning more money working for themselves than they might have earned in a traditional job.
The group Requests for Startups surveyed 1,330 people working independent contractor jobs, which they call the “1099 Economy,” reports Slate. The survey divided the respondents by age, and found some very interesting data in the group aged 18-24. Of these younger adults, 54.8% chose to join the growing number of freelancers in America because they could earn more as independent contractors than they could as traditional employees.
Who are These Young Adults Working For?
If you thought that the idea of earning more as a freelancer than as a traditional employee was surprising, wait until you hear which companies these 18-24-year-olds are contracting under. To quote Slate:
The authors analyzed the responses by dividing companies into four segments: ride-sharing (companies like Uber), manual labor (companies like HomeJoy, a house-cleaning service), delivery (companies like Postmates, a food delivery service), and passive income (companies like Airbnb).
Yes, that’s right: If you’re a 20-something, driving for Uber might pay more than other job options. (According to Uber, the average driver earns $19 an hour. More neutral sources offer a wide range of numbers, from $10 an hour to $50 or more.)
These younger workers also value the flexibility that contract work brings; the study shows that 82.1% elected to become independent contractors because of the flexible schedules.
What About Other Types of Freelance Jobs?
Don’t want to be an Uberpreneur? There are plenty of independent options out there. A recent Payoneer study indicated that the average freelancer earns $21 an hour, which means that independent contracts can be very lucrative for recent graduates who might have a hard time breaking into traditional entry-level jobs.
Also, if you’re a parent reading this, don’t worry — your kids are probably not going to be Uber drivers for life. The Requests for Startups survey also indicated that as young people move into their late 20s and 30s, they start looking for different kinds of work. In fact, 50.7% of survey respondents over 25 said they left their contracting jobs because they wanted something with even better pay.
Want to know more? Read the full story at Slate.
Your turn: Have you worked for Uber, Postmates or a similar company? Were you able to earn more as an independent contractor than you might have earned elsewhere?
Nicole Dieker is a freelance writer focusing on personal finance and personal stories. Her work has appeared in The Billfold, The Toast, Yearbook Office, The Write Life and Boing Boing.
The post Recent Grads: Driving for Uber Might Pay Better Than an Entry-Level Job appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
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Greenspan: U.S. 'Way Underestimating' National Debt
Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan is warning that the United States is "way underestimating" its national debt, which is currently $18 trillion.
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Eleven Benefits You Should Be Taking Advantage of At Work
For the first two years of my previous career, I was largely unaware of many of the employee benefits that I was eligible for. Sure, I knew about the health insurance and Social Security and the optional retirement plan, but I was never really made aware of how good some of those options were, and I certainly never knew about some of the other benefits. It was only during the last year or two of my active employment in that career path that I actually began to tap into some of these benefits.
During that period, and after I switched into my freelance writing career, I also began to encourage my wife – and, eventually, some of my closest friends – to seek out some of the extra benefits of their jobs.
It turned out that there were a lot of benefits that we were missing out on. In fact, this article lists eleven of those benefits.
Finding These Benefits for Yourself
A list of potential workplace benefits might not seem particularly useful to some, but if you use it as a starting point and a resource, it really can be.
Although many of these benefits apply to white-collar jobs, even entry-level jobs will have a few of these benefits. You need to ask around (particularly in the human resources office) and carefully read your employee manual to discover which of these, if any, apply to you.
Eleven Benefits You Might Be Missing
Each of these benefits were things that either myself, my wife, or a close friend of ours had available in the workplace but didn’t notice them. Often, it was simply because these benefits were glossed over during their orientation at their new job; in other cases, the benefits were never directly spelled out.
Regardless, you should be taking advantage of these benefits in your workplace if they’re available to you. Check and see if each of these is available to you and, if they are, use them!
Employee Wellness Initiatives
In my wife’s workplace, the employer offers a pretty impressive wellness initiative in cooperation with the employer’s health insurance provider.
In her case, the program takes the form of a web and smartphone application, where she can indicate that she’s taken positive health steps such as exercising, getting a wellness checkup at her doctor, and many other simple things. She usually updates the app twice a day or so.
Why do this? The big reason is that she earns points for entering that information. At the end of each year, everyone who hits a certain point threshold receives some kind of prize. In her case, the most recent prize was a $250 prepaid Visa card. Yep, $250 from her employer for taking normal personal health steps and writing them down.
Another friend of mine was issued a Fitbit when he signed up for work. He was given the option of joining an employee-run Fitbit group, with prizes for the most weekly, monthly, and yearly steps taken.
Many employers offer programs like this. It is far less expensive for an employer to offer some perks for employee health than it is for an employer to deal with lots of illness and lower productivity from their workforce.
401(k)/403(b) Matching
While many employers offer some type of retirement plan, the real benefit of such plans is often overlooked by employees.
What’s that real benefit, you ask? Free money.
If your employer offers any sort of matching funds for your 401(k), 403(b), or other retirement plan, this is free money for you. There’s no other way to say it – it’s free money.
All you have to do to claim that free money is to contribute to your own retirement savings, something that you should be doing anyway.
At my previous job, my employer contributed one-for-one up to 6% of contributions. That meant that if I contributed 6% of my salary to my retirement plan, my employer contributed that much more in addition to my own contributions. In other words, my 6% contribution magically turned into a 12% contribution. Taking advantage of that was like getting a 6% raise.
At my wife’s job, they offer a 50% match up to 10% of her contributions. That means if she contributes 10% of her income, they’ll contribute an amount equal to 5% of her income in addition. That’s like getting a 5% raise.
If your employer offers any kind of retirement plan matching like this, you need to be gobbling up every single dime of it. It’s free money.
Employee Assistance Programs
Many employers offer programs to help their employees get through challenging periods in their lives. While I could have separated out many of these programs into their own sections, it really makes sense to just provide a list of such offerings:
substance abuse assessment and support
occupational stress assessment and support
emotional distress assessment and support
financial counseling
non-work-related legal counseling
family, personal, and professional relationship counseling
work relationship issue resolution
aging parent support
These are things that many people deal with in their daily lives. If these situations aren’t dealt with efficiently, they can cause a lot of distraction at work and at home; dealing with them well can make your life better and also make you a lot more productive at both work and home.
As with the employee wellness initiatives mentioned above, many employers have realized that offering these kinds of services to employees results in much more productive employees. If your employees have stable and happy lives, then they’re going to be much more reliable, which makes services like this make a lot of sense.
Life Insurance
Many employers offer a term life insurance package, often with no additional cost to the employee. It simply provides a lump sum of cash to your dependents if you pass away while in the employ of the company. The trick is, as always, to sign up for it.
At my previous employer, there was no mention whatsoever of life insurance during the orientation process. In fact, it wasn’t a benefit that I was aware of until I read the full employee manual and discovered mention of it in a single paragraph.
When I went to my HR person – and, remember, I’d been there for years at this point – she seemed to barely be aware of it, too. She had to look up information on how to sign people up for the program and seemed almost surprised that it existed.
Yet, there it was. Five years of my salary in a term life insurance package that lasted as long as I was employed there. The price? Virtually nothing.
With young children at home, you better believe I signed up.
What about you? If your employer offers a free or heavily discounted term life insurance policy, you owe it to yourself to get signed up for it as soon as possible, especially if you have dependents.
Educational Stipend
One great perk offered both by my previous employers and by my wife’s current employer is coverage of educational costs, usually up to a certain limit. My previous employer paid for a certain number of credits at partner institutions; my wife’s employer pays up to a certain dollar amount anywhere.
During my final years at my previous employer, I started to use this program to inch toward a masters degree (that I didn’t finish). My wife is currently engaged in a summer masters program that she’ll finish up in a few years and the program is paying for most of it.
Why would employers offer this? It’s often an inexpensive way to build a better trained and more educated work force. Often, such arrangements require that you stay at an employer for a certain period of time after receiving the educational benefits, which means that the employer receives return on their investment.
For you? It means that your long term employment prospects get much better while most of it is paid for by your employer. It’s a win-win, and you should be taking advantage of it if it’s available to you.
Discounted or Free Products
One of my friends works for a small grocer. He’s allowed to take anything home that’s past date or any produce that isn’t looking particularly fresh. 99% of it is just fine for his own use.
Another of my friends works at a local retailer that offers a 50% discount on everything in the store up to a certain dollar amount each month. He uses this to maintain his own hobbies as well as pick up a few items for resale on eBay.
Yet another friend of mine works at a software firm and he receives a pile of codes for the company’s software. I’ve been the beneficiary of this in the past, as he’s given me some of his codes for various things.
If your employer offers some kind of discounted or free product offering, you should take advantage of it to the hilt. If nothing else, you can re-sell the items for a financial gain. More likely, you can use the items for yourself or give them to friends who may really appreciate them.
Concierge or Errand Service
In the workplaces of two of my closest friends, a concierge service has started to take care of things like dropping off dry cleaning, picking up flowers for a romantic holiday, and so on.
At one friend’s workplace, the company now offers five hours of concierge services per week. At another workplace, the company offers a certain stipend for various services, each of which has a different cost.
Get this – one of my friends took advantage of this service to have several gifts wrapped for his child’s birthday party. He simply had a few boxes delivered to his workplace, then handed those items off to that service. At the end of the day, he had several wrapped packages ready to go outside of his office door. It saved him most of an hour (at least) and resulted in presents that were very nicely wrapped. (Yeah, he probably stayed at work for an additional half an hour because of that service, but he also got to leave just a bit earlier than he otherwise would have.)
Again, some workplaces have figured out that it’s far cheaper for them to hire someone at $10 an hour to pick up your dry cleaning if it means you’ll stay at the office for another half an hour to get some tasks done. It’s simply smart business, and that smart business translates to benefits you can take advantage of.
Transit and/or Parking Permits
My previous employer offered free passes on the city mass transit system upon request. At that time, I lived in an apartment that had a bus stop just outside the front door and my employer also had a bus stop right across the block, it was very convenient to just use the bus to go back and forth to work.
Another friend of mine is able to buy mass transit passes for his city directly from his employer at a huge discount. He uses the system to go to and from work and saves a ton of money.
This benefit often occurs when an employer partners with a mass transit system in some way, either by buying a lot of passes in bulk at a discounted rate or receiving them as part of a co-promotional package. My previous employer, for example, bought passes at an incredible bulk level and offered the passes for free as a relatively small perk (for the employer). Some employers do the same thing with parking permits.
Mass transit and parking permits can save a lot of money if they’re used regularly. Slashing the cost of one’s commute can make an enormous financial difference.
Disability Insurance
Some employers, particularly in high-risk fields, offer disability insurance to their employees as an enticement for those employees to take on the relative risk of the job. Other employers will offer such packages as a special perk, even if the job doesn’t have much risk of disability.
Still, because of the cost of such insurance packages, the employer is sometimes loathe to promote the availability of such packages, so it’s up to the employee to find out about it.
How can you find out about such things? As always, turn to your employee manual and to your human resources officer. They’ll let you know whether such programs are available.
Community Discounts (or Freebies)
In just the past few years, my wife has received free passes to amusement parks, community festivals, museums, a zoo, and several other things thanks to her work. Her employer often sponsors “group days” where passes are given out for free to employees as an effective way to draw them to certain events and help employees to bond and build a stronger team.
Another friend of mine receives a lot of passes to community festivals and the like in exchange for simply wearing his company’s shirt during the event. This serves as a way to get the company’s name out there, but it also gives him a lot of free weekend entertainment.
This is a benefit that sometimes pops up indirectly, too. Employees at larger companies will sometimes initiate bulk ticket purchases to save everyone involved some money on the tickets. While that isn’t a deal-maker or a deal-breaker, it can help participants save a little bit of money.
Telecommuting
One final perk is one that one of my closest friends uses literally every day – telecommuting. If you work at an information-oriented job, it’s likely that you can perform most – if not all – of your work tasks from the convenience of home. Doing so adds a ton of flexibility to your life and saves greatly on the costs of commuting.
Some employers offer mixed arrangements where employees can telecommute on some days while going into the office on other days. Others offer features like “telecommuting Friday” where many employees telecommute on one day of the week.
If this isn’t an obvious perk in your workplace but it is a feature that sounds like it could be particularly useful to you, don’t hesitate to ask. Talk to your boss and your human resources officer about it. This is the type of benefit that employers will often add in situations where an employee deserves a real perk but there isn’t adequate money in the budget for it.
Child Care
A final service that’s invaluable to parents is child care. Some very large employers offer an on-site child care center where children can be dropped off at the start of work and picked up at the end of work while on the actual work site.
Other employers, like my previous employer, have a tight arrangement with an off-site facility that ends up offering reduced rates and sometimes even a shuttle service between the two sites.
If you have a parent, an employer that offers any sort of child care benefit is going to be saving you a mint. If you’re in the situation we were in, with three children that weren’t yet old enough for school, it can easily add up to tens of thousands of dollars a year.
Final Thoughts
Hidden employee benefits can save you money in almost every aspect of your life, from food to transportation and from child care to education. They can offer savings on incredibly useful community resources and provide support for you when you need it most in your life.
The key is to know about these benefits. Often, they’re never directly introduced to employees, but are hidden away in employee manuals or in the dusty corners of corporate websites.
Dig around. Do some reading. Ask a human resources officer. See what’s available to you and take advantage of it.
The post Eleven Benefits You Should Be Taking Advantage of At Work appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
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Never Pay Full Price at Anthropologie Again: 9 Tips to Save Big
Walking into Anthropologie instantly transports me to a happy place. The carefully curated window displays. The gorgeously styled mannequins. The one-of-a-kind flowy dresses, vintage-inspired jewelry and adorable tschotskes. It even smells good when you step inside an Anthropologie store.
But nothing at Anthro — even that lovely dreamlike scent — comes cheap. (Those candles they’ve forever burning in the stores are $28 a pop.) That’s the one not-so-great thing about Anthropologie. One look at the price tags, and I’m instantly jolted from my happy place into reality.
As much as I love the Anthropologie look and style, I refuse to pay full price for their items. So what’s an Anthro-loving girl to do? Over the years I’ve gathered a handful of pro tips from my own shopping experiences as well as from friends who’ve worked there.
Here are my top nine ways to save money at Anthropologie so I can kiss those preposterously steep price tags goodbye.
1. Join the Club
Joining Anthropologie’s loyalty club, ANTHRO, is free. You’ll get a few snazzy perks like access to a personal stylist, a chance to shop new arrivals before everyone else and invites to exclusive in-store events.
But the best perk is a discount code on your birthday every year. If you sign up at least 30 days before your birthday, you’ll get a 15%-off coupon via email. For more details, check out this in-depth FAQ about the birthday discount from fan blog Endless Anthropologie.
When you join, you’ll also be added to the email list. Brace yourself for Anthropologie inbox overload. They send tons of emails, including sales and promotions.
2. Get a Job
If you have a serious Anthro addiction, it might be worth working a few shifts a week at your local store. Then you can take advantage of the generous employee discount. That employee discount also applies at Free People, Terrain, BHLDN and Urban Outfitters. Here’s exactly what Anthro employees get, straight from their own website:
- 40% off of regular-priced apparel, accessories and shoes in stores and online. Apparel and accessory exceptions
- 25% off Urban Outfitters beauty, men’s and women’s watches
- 25% off Anthropologie estate jewelry
- 25% off BHLDN merchandise
- 25% off FP Pet Project
- 25% off all regular-priced home/apartment merchandise, Anthropologie infant/child
- 25% off Terrain regular-priced merchandise in stores and online
- 20% discount at the Terrain café for employees and one guest. Excludes alcoholic beverages and the purchase of gift certificates.
The discounts don’t apply to sale items, with one exception: Three times a year, Anthropologie hosts employee appreciation events at every store in the network. Employees get to buy not only regularly priced items, but also redlined sale-priced merchandise at 40% off at all Anthropologie, Free People, Terrain, BHLDN and Urban Outfitters locations and websites.
3. Snag an Inventory Shift
Don’t want to get a job at Anthro? You can still get a huge discount if you work an inventory shift. While taking inventory on every single item in the store can be dull, it’s not a bad way to make a few extra bucks for a few hours of work. Plus, you’ll get to purchase one item for 40% off.
It’s no problem if you’ve never worked for Anthropologie. Each store usually brings in extra temporary help for inventory, so give yours a call to get details.
4. Keep Your Receipt
Sometimes you just gotta have that dress, even if it’s full price. But save your receipt. Anthropologie offers price adjustments within 14 days. So if an item you’ve purchased goes on sale, you can bring in your receipt to get back the difference.
Even if the item was already on sale when you bought it, keep that receipt. Anthropologie may continue to discount it, and you’ll still be eligible to receive price adjustments on those additional price cuts.
5. Never Skip the Sale Room
While sticking to the sale section is the oldest trick in the book, the Anthropologie sale section is extra special.
Always tucked away in a room in the back, it’s often chock-full of gems. Here’s why: Many Anthropologie items can only be purchased online. But all items can be returned in-store. Oftentimes, those online returns go straight to the sale room so the store won’t have to ship them back to the warehouse.
I’ve found deeply discounted $300 shoes, $170 jeans and all sorts of other goodies in the sale room that came from online returns. The sale room is also a great place to score items that have been discounted because of imperfections such as a missing button or small snag.
6. Shop with Discounted Gift Cards
Someone else’s gift card trash is another’s treasure. You can buy discounted gift cards on several legitimate sites to bring down the price of your Anthro purchase.
I found gift cards for 15% off on Gift Card Rescue, 3% off on Gift Card Zen and 3-5% off on Gift Card Granny. Don’t forget to check Craigslist, too. I found someone selling a $325 gift card for $175 — though I admit that seems almost too good to be true and I’d take a few measures to ensure the gift card was valid before handing over the cash.
7. Build a Wish List Online
You’ll need to create an Anthropologie account to save items to your wish list. If any of the items go on sale, Anthropologie will email you. It’s even worth including sold-out items, because sometimes they pop back into stock.
8. Shop by Brand on eBay
I recently bought a brand new, tags-still-on Anthropologie dress on Ebay for $80. It was originally $300.
Yet since eBay sellers know Anthropologie items are so sought after, they’re not always honest. Search “Anthropologie” on eBay, and you could get ripped off; sellers may simply include the store name in the listing title so the item shows up in search. The real way to tell is by brand name. Search by the brands that Anthropologie sells, such as Sweet Pea, Language, Velvet and Weston Wear.
As Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters are owned by the same company, there’s sometimes confusion about which brands are sold where. The following brands are NOT sold at Anthropologie: Free People, Lux, Kimchi and Blue, Angie, Matty M, Truly Madly Deeply and ICE, according to self-proclaimed Anthropologie obsessed eBayer eelbay9.
“An excellent indication that the item IS from Anthropologie is the presence of the gray Anthropologie hangtag, and/or a picture of the item from the actual Anthro website or catalog,” recommends eBayer siouxsie322. “Another good sign is if the seller lists the original retail cost of the item, i.e. “retailed for $118.”
9. Follow the Fan Blogs
Anthropologie has such a committed group of customers that a couple of blogs are entirely dedicated to the store. Follow them to stay in the loop about discounts and promotions.
- Effortless Anthropologie: One of the most popular Anthro fan blogs also has a Facebook group 5,000 strong where you can sell, swap or buy Anthropologie and BHLDN items. Blogger Thea Domber even sometimes teams up with Anthro to run contests, Racked reported last year.
- Breakfast at Anthropologie: Sophie frequently posts about sales, plus curates the “best of sale” posts when items get discounted.
The bohemian chic Anthro style can be costly. Buzzfeed recently published a list of ridiculous things you can buy at Anthropologie, which was so funny because it rang so true. It included a $3,000 armoire.
But if you shop like a pro, you’ll never have to pay full price at Anthropologie ever again. Unless you reaaaaally must have that just-your-style piece. And in that case, keep your receipt!
Your Turn: Do you have additional tips for saving at Anthropologie?
Betsy Mikel is a Chicago-based freelance copywriter. She loves biking all over every city she visits to find its best taqueria.
The post Never Pay Full Price at Anthropologie Again: 9 Tips to Save Big appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
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Funding Your At-Home Business
By Deborah Sweeney Funding for any kind of small business is challenging. Though, it can be daunting to ask for money when you know you’ll be running the entire operation from your domicile. But I’m here to tell you to get that thinking out of your head! If you’re not spending money on office rent […]
Source The Work at Home Woman http://ift.tt/1KmA1dV
Source The Work at Home Woman http://ift.tt/1KmA1dV
Apple Pay to launch in July
Payment by just one touch of an iPhone or iPad or two clicks of an Apple Watch will be possible from July, when Apple Pay launches in the UK.
The arrival of Apple Pay will enable customers of most high street banks to save themselves time at the till or when making payments within apps.
Apple Pay to launch in July
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Payment by just one touch of an iPhone or iPad or two clicks of an Apple Watch will be possible from July, when Apple Pay launches in the UK. The arrival of Apple Pay will enable customers of most high street banks to save themselves time at the till or when making payments within apps. To take advantage of the technology, you will need to link the credit or debit card you've added to your iTunes account – plus any others you choose – to your Apple device's Passbook by entering the card security code. Once your 'digital wallet' is set up, you can use Apple Pay just as you would make a contactless payment in a store; but instead of needing a bank card, you simply use your Apple device's Touch ID fingerprint recognition tool. The devices you will be able to use Apple Pay with are the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air 2, iPad mini 3 and Apple Watch. Apple Pay is a secure payment system, meaning card details aren't passed on to the companies you buy from and will never be shared by Apple. So who’s signed up? Most high street banks have signed up to the new payment method, which has been in use in the US for the past couple of years. First Direct, HSBC, NatWest, Nationwide Building Society, RBS, Santander and Ulster Bank will be ready as soon as Apple Pay launches – although the exact date in July is yet to be revealed. However, customers of Bank of Scotland, Coutts, Halifax, Lloyds Bank, MBNA, M&S Bank and TSB Bank will have to wait until the autumn. Barclays is the only big bank not to have already joined the scheme but says discussions with Apple are underway. A long list of shops, restaurants and other retailers have agreed to accept Apple Pay, including Argos, Boots, BP, Costa, McDonald's, Lidl, M&S, Post Office, Starbucks, TfL (Transport for London), Topshop, Waitrose and Zara. Notable exclusions so far include the big four supermarkets – Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury's and Tesco. Anyone wishing to use Apple Pay is encouraged to download the Find My iPhone app so if your Apple device is lost or stolen the app can quickly activate a 'Lost Mode' that will suspend Apple Pay or wipe your device completely. It is also possible to put an end to payments from credit and debit cards through Apple Pay via the iCloud, accessed through Settings. Safer way to pay Ernest Doku, technology expert at uSwitch.com, said: "Much has been made of the fact that no credit or debit card data is stored on Apple servers, shared with merchants, or transmitted with payments. All this means details are less likely to be stolen and misused. In short, Apple Pay is actually a safer way to pay than using cards and cash in your wallet or purse." "But to convince the sceptics and win over UK shoppers, Apple needs to shout even louder about its security features. Fears of theft and fraud are the biggest barriers to mobile payments going mainstream this side of the Pond. Just a fifth (20%) of Brits have made mobile payments using existing technologies, but 37% said fingerprint technology as a security feature makes them more likely to use Apple Pay." It is not known whether there will be a £20 cap on Apple Pay purchases – as there are for contactless purchases. For more information on Apple Pay, visit apple.com/apple-pay.
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Foreign investment crackdown claims scalp
A UK investor has admitted to being part of dodgy deal on his Perth home, which has brought the ire of Australia’s foreign investment regulators.
Source NEWS.com.au | Business http://ift.tt/1QkTzUL
Source NEWS.com.au | Business http://ift.tt/1QkTzUL
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