Best and worst chemists revealed

PHARMACY discounters like Chemist Warehouse are losing the battle for hearts and minds as customers rate service over value, according to a new study.

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Holden posts another massive loss

THE red lion was leaking more red ink last year as sales fell to a 21-year low in a booming market.

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Samsung posts anti-Semitic cartoon

SAMSUNG has been forced to take down online cartoons depicting a Jewish hedge fund founder as a ravenous, big-beaked vulture.

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Best and worst chemists revealed

PHARMACY discounters like Chemist Warehouse are losing the battle for hearts and minds as customers rate service over value, according to a new study.

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2DayFM survives Royal Prank call

TROUBLED radio station 2DayFM will keep its broadcasting licence over the Royal Prank scandal, but has been slapped with new restrictions.

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Bar+Bistro at art studio center closes

The owner of The Arts Factory building in downtown has closed the Bar+Bistro restaurant at the popular art studio center on East Charleston Boulevard near the Main Street intersection.

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Sundance Helicopters first in US to implement two FAA safety programs

A Southern Nevada helicopter operator has become the first air tour company in the country to implement two Federal Aviation Administration safety programs that encourage the self-reporting of issues to head off accidents.

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Crafting rules on how Uber, others will operate a devilish task

The devil is in the details and Nevada Transportation Authority is having a devil of a time crafting regulatory details to match the legislative intent of lawmakers who legalized transportation network companies this year.

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China loses its mind over Uniqlo sex tape

A VIDEO of a couple having sex in a Uniqlo changing room has turned the store into a bizarre tourist attraction. The Chinese government is furious.

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Marketing Day: Clif Bar CMO Profile, Facebook Shopping Pages & Google Earnings

Here's our recap of what happened in online marketing today, as reported on Marketing Land and other places across the web.

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Google Beats Expectations With $17.7 Billion, Mobile Search, YouTube Revs Grow

After search marketing reports that showed slowing growth for Google, the market was anticipating a miss or very modest growth. However Google just announced earnings and profits that beat analyst expectations. Total revenues were $17.7 billion. The company said it had roughly $70 billion in cash...

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Hooters is in pretty big trouble

AUSTRALIA’s Hooters chain, including a restaurant at Townsville, is expected to be sold off. The chain has been through some problems lately.

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Google Wins Against Plaintiffs Who Argued Data Mingling Violated Privacy Rights

The case of In re Google, Inc. Privacy Policy Litigation has been going on since 2012. It has a long and tortured history, having come back from the near-dead several times only to be finally defeated this week. Federal district court Judge Paul Singh Grewal ruled that plaintiffs, who sought...

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Both Google And Companies That Didn’t Prepare For Mobile Face Uphill Struggle [Report]

Advertisers are paying higher prices for fewer clicks on mobile search; Facebook mobile display ad engagement is growing while Google's declines.

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Lexus Teams With SNL Writers Paula Pell And James Anderson For Second Season of “Hudson Valley Ballers”

Luxury automaker Lexus promotes "innovation" by featuring inspiring original media via its L/Studio Project.

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LOL…WHAT?!? SEOs Have A Field Day With Google’s SEO Job Posting

The SEO industry fills Twitter with snark, jokes and plenty of reactions to the news that Google is looking for an SEO Manager.

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Would You Trust Quicken Loans With Your Mortgage?

By Peter Miller

There has always been competition in the mortgage industry, but now borrowers increasingly find themselves with a new option: financing from a nonbank.

What’s a nonbank, and how do they work? Is it safe to get a mortgage from one?

Go back to the 1980s and the mortgage field was largely dominated by savings-and-loan associations. These so-called thrifts were local financial institutions mainly established to do little else but offer mortgages. Then came the savings-and-loan crisis between 1986 and 1995, and more than a thousand S&Ls closed.

The mortgage business formerly done by the S&Ls was largely taken over by existing competitors such as banks, mortgage bankers, and mortgage brokers. For borrowers, the important point was that access to the mortgage marketplace wasn’t interrupted.

The New World of Nonbanks

Today a new set of players has entered the mortgage field — “nonbanks” such as QuickBooks maker Quicken, loanDepot, New American Funding, and Carrington Mortgage Services. And the emergence of these new competitors means that borrowers will continue to have a broad range of mortgage choices. (

So what is a nonbank, and is it safe to do business with them?

In basic terms we can see a “bank” as a regulated financial institution which, in large measure, gets money to lend from its depositors. Today, our largest financial service companies, such as Bank of America and Wells Fargo, are all banks.

A “nonbank” can be seen as a financial intermediary. Instead of depositors, a nonbank gets its funds from investors, debt (via bond sales), or by borrowing from commercial banks. It takes that money and loans it to borrowers. The fees and interest collected — as well as principal repayments — are then used to repay the capital with interest.

“Not only does the source of funds differ between banks and nonbanks, so do their operations,” said Rick Sharga, executive vice president at Auction.com. “Nonbanks have no tellers, ATMs, bank branches, or drive-in windows, and the result is a very lean operating basis. Most nonbanks also focus on a limited number of loan products, and focus all of their efforts and business practices on optimizing those products.”

Borrowers seem very comfortable with the idea of nonbanks. According to J.D. Power & Associates, in 2014 the mortgage lender which ranked highest in primary mortgage origination satisfaction was not a traditional bank — it was Quicken.

Borrower happiness is also reflected in the growing use of nonbanks. The financial publication Inside Mortgage Finance reports that in the first quarter, 12 of the top 20 mortgage originators were nonbanks. According to Mortgage Daily, the three largest lenders during the same period were Wells Fargo ($49 billion), Chase ($25 billion), and a nonbank, Quicken ($19 billion).

Mortgage Sources

With such growing popularity the question for borrowers is fairly plain: Should you consider a nonbank when financing or refinancing real estate?

The answer is that a mortgage is a mortgage. A VA, FHA, or conventional mortgage is the very same product, whether it comes from lender Smith or lender Jones. It’s a commodity, so the real issue for borrowers is finding the best rates and terms that fit your particular needs. To be successful you have to shop around.

• Related: How to Find the Best Mortgage Rates

Banks and nonbanks both have to play by the same rules set in motion through Dodd-Frank. For instance, they must all use the new disclosure and closing forms scheduled for introduction in 2015. The “qualifying mortgage” standards are the same for everyone. And, whether banks or nonbanks are involved, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has the authority to supervise virtually all mortgage originators, brokers, and servicers.

For borrowers, the emergence of nonbanks is likely a good thing — for two reasons.

First, there’s more competition in the marketplace, and that’s always good for consumers.

Second, nonbanks represent the growing use of electronic platforms and new forms of service delivery. Now everyone — banks and nonbanks — is online.

“What used to be a competitive disadvantage – the lack of brick-and-mortar locations – has turned into an advantage today for nonbank lenders,” Sharga noted. As more and more borrowers shop for and secure their mortgages online, nonbanks can compete aggressively, and successfully, with retail banks on the Internet.”

The historically low mortgage rates we’ve seen recently are the result of many different factors, including the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy. But it’s hard to ignore the idea that lower operating costs, greater efficiencies, and additional competition from new players have helped reduce financing costs — trends influenced at least in part by the emergence of nonbanks. And those are trends every borrower should welcome.

Peter G. Miller is a nationally syndicated real estate columnist. His books, published originally by Harper & Row, have sold more than 300,000 copies. He blogs at OurBroker.com and contributes to such leading sites as RealtyTrac.com, the Huffington Post, and Auction.com. Miller has spoken before such groups as the National Association of Realtors and the Association of Real Estate License Law Officials.

The post Would You Trust Quicken Loans With Your Mortgage? appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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Wanted: Session Ideas For Marketing Land’s SocialPro Conference

We want your input to help us plan our upcoming Marketing Land SocialPro conference (formerly known as SMX Social Media Marketing), which will be taking place in Las Vegas on November 18-19, 2015. Specifically, we’d love to hear from you if you have an great idea for a session that you think...

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Despite #PrimeDayFail Complaints, Amazon Says Prime Day Was Better Than Black Friday & Will Be Back

Company touts more units sold than last year's Black Friday and the highest number of Prime membership sign-ups in a single day.

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Report: Half Top 100 Digital Properties’ Audiences Are Now Mobile-Only

The gap between mobile devices and the PC is growing. Last week Gartner and IDC reported that Q2 PC sales were down between 9.5 and 11.8 percent year over year. By contrast smartphone penetration and mobile time with media are going in the opposite direction, creating a significant disparity...

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Entrepreneur hopes to help those with memory loss

Watching children on her school‘s playground a decade ago piqued Patricia Derrick‘s curiosity€” and with it she learned the power of the fingertips.

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6 Ways to Make Your Batteries Last Longer, Including a Device Called the Batteriser

It happens the same way every time: You’re settling in for a House Hunters marathon and find that your TV remote has quietly died. Or your nephew is super excited to show you his remote-control car, but no amount of button-smashing can get it to work.

The batteries are dead. They’re always dead when you’re expecting them — nay, relying on them — to function.

And all those batteries you need for your remotes, digital cameras, wireless keyboards and mice? They’re not cheap. Battery desperation is even more expensive: When you’re anxious to get your battery-powered device working again, you’re not exactly hunting for a coupon to take to the drug store. You just want to get the darn things working again.

But raise up those heavy heads, battery shoppers. There’s something new on the power horizon, and we’ve got some solutions for you in the meantime.

A Battery Revolution?

Here’s the big problem with modern batteries: They have tons of power left in them when they stop functioning. CNNMoney’s David Goldman describes it well. “AA batteries start off with 1.5 volts of energy, but the voltage goes down as the batteries are used up,” Goldman explained. “Once the batteries dip below 1.35 volts, they appear to be dead, even though they still have a lot of juice left.”

What can you do to get to that leftover energy? Enter the Batteriser.

The Batteriser is a thin, reusable sleeve that snaps on your regular old battery and claims to extends the life of a regular battery as much as eight times its normal use. The small wonder of computer science professor Bob Roohparvar, the device costs $2.50 and will be available starting this fall in AA, AAA, C and D sizes. Roohparvar says the device will pay for itself once it extends the life of just one battery.

Mother Nature will love this doohickey. With 15 billion disposable batteries purchased each year worldwide, extending the life of the batteries already in our homes means money saved plus fewer batteries in landfills.

Beyond the Batteriser: Home Fixes to Extend Battery Life

What’s a money-conscious battery user to do until the Batteriser debuts? Luckily there are several battery hacks that you can try to stretch your battery power for a little longer. In addition to the Batteriser, here are five more of our favorites:

1. Don’t Stock Up

If you only go through 20 or 30 batteries each year, don’t jump at the chance to grab a 60-pack on sale. (I don’t even know if they sell those, but you catch my drift.)

“A good approach is to take is to treat batteries and battery-powered devices like you do dairy products,” Lifehacker Australia writer Valentin Muenzel explains. “Buy the freshest one whenever given the choice.”

Be sure to check the date listed on a pack of batteries, Muenzel warns, as batteries lose power even without being placed into a device. Take a deal on some older batteries, sure, but prepare to use them right away — and expect a shorter life span.

2. Complete the Circuit

This tip comes from Dylan Hacker of the Household Hacker Youtube channel.

“The juice from one fresh battery is typically enough to power a small device like a remote control,” Hacker says. He recommends digging a bolt or screw about the size of a battery out of your junk drawer; insert one fresh battery, insert the metal piece, and get back to business in front of your TV.

3. Rotate

The remote-control car won’t work, but that doesn’t mean the batteries are actually dead. As we know from the research for the Batteriser, there’s still plenty of juice in there. Stick those used batteries into a device that requires less energy, like a clock or remote control.

4. Refrigerate (but only in extreme conditions)

If you live in a hot climate or don’t have AC in the steamy summer months, you may want to refrigerate your batteries. But don’t sweat it too hard: “Prolonged heat of over 100 degrees is known to damage the charge of a battery by up to 1/4,” the Batteries and Butter blog explains. “However, it is doubtful that your batteries will ever be subject to those extreme conditions.”

If you do refrigerate, remember you can’t put cold batteries into a device — they’ve got to warm back up to room temperature first.

5. Don’t Overcharge

This tip applies to rechargeable batteries along with those that stay inside a device (like your laptop battery). If you leave your batteries on the charger whenever they’re not in use, you’ll actually burn them out more quickly. “One reason is the ‘gassing’ effect, where over-charging leads to increased pressure, which will temporarily increase performance but drastically shorten lifespan,” Anna Jacobsen explains at Brokelyn.

Instead, charge your batteries (and your phone and computer) only when the battery level reaches about 40%. Resist the urge to plug in early and often!

Your Turn: What tips have helped you extend the life of your batteries?

Lisa Rowan is a writer, editor and podcaster based in Washington, D.C.

The post 6 Ways to Make Your Batteries Last Longer, Including a Device Called the Batteriser appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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6 Ways to Be Less Miserable at Work

Buck up, and cheer up. How to be positive while you find a better job.

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6 Tips for Becoming a Good Boss

How to transition from team member to respected manager.

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Low-Cost Home Security Options to Keep Out Thieves

Homeowners can stay safe from intruders and burglars by leveraging new technology (and a little smarts). 

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3 Ways To Maximize Data And Increase Engagement Across Email Communications

Columnist Paul Ford discusses what marketers should bear in mind in order to deliver the best email experience and strengthen engagement.

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Responsive Is The McDonald’s Cheeseburger Of Mobile SEO

Columnist Bryson Meunier explains why for skilled SEO practitioners, responsive design may have the most risks.

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Nine Fantastic and Inexpensive Summer Recipes Using Fresh Seasonal Foods

For me, the best part of summer is the seemingly endless variety of fresh produce. It’s everywhere, from gardens to CSA baskets, from farmers markets to family gardens, from roadside stands to your local grocery store. The variety of produce available this time of the year is out of this world – and the best part is, it’s cheap!

This time of the year, almost every meal we put on the table is centered around fresh vegetables. We prepare a wide variety of vegetables in a wide variety of ways, ensuring that there’s always something interesting to eat.

We collect those vegetables from all over the place. We have three different small gardens that are teeming with vegetables, as well as neighbors that we often swap vegetables with. We’re also members of a CSA, which places a basket of fresh vegetables on our front step each week. If that doesn’t give us enough, we hit up roadside stands in the area as well as the weekly farmers markets, five of which are within ten miles of us.

In short, we’re flooded in cheap vegetables. While we do freeze some of the produce, we also constantly look for ways to use them in interesting ways while they’re fresh.

Of course, there’s another factor: we have children. While they’re pretty adventurous eaters, they still like the routine of familiar foods and often repeatedly request dishes that they like.

This article is simply a listing of nine dishes that fulfill all of those requirements.

One, they use a lot of fresh vegetables that appear in the summer months at low prices. The inexpensive fresh summer vegetables available around here includes a wide variety of things, from tomatoes to sweet corn and from root vegetables to bell peppers and countless other things as well.

Two, they are easy and relatively quick to prepare. Nothing in this entire article requires a ton of preparation time. Most take less than half an hour.

Three, they are flavorful, but not monotonous. These recipes are all tasty, but there’s a lot of variety from recipe to recipe. You’re not going to be eating the same old tired pile of food each night.

Finally, they all earn a seal of approval from at least the majority of our family. That includes two adults, a nine year old, a seven year old, and a five year old, all with different food preferences.

Let’s dig in.

Easy Grilled Root Vegetables

This is about as easy as possible. Just take whatever root vegetables you have easy and inexpensive access to – potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets, kohlrabi (yes, it’s not a root vegetable, but it basically acts like one), turnips, onions, and so on – and dice them into 1/2″ cubes. You can either combine them into one mix or keep them separate, your choice (though beets will color everything into a reddish-purple color if you mix them). I usually mix onions with the potatoes, for example.

Take out a piece of aluminum foil and spray it with a bit of olive oil, then make a pile of the vegetables in the center of the foil. Add an ice cube, a bit of salt and pepper, and maybe a small pat of butter (totally optional, but I like it in particular with the turnips), then wrap the vegetables in the foil to make a flat packet. If you need more foil, add another layer to the packet so that the vegetables are all well covered.

Take this packet and toss it on a preheated grill and leave it over medium heat for twenty minutes, flipping at about the halfway point. This is one of those things you’ll have to check regularly, as there is a lot of variance in packet size and grill heat. Just pull the packet off, open it up, and check for doneness – ideally, the vegetables are somewhat browned but deliciously soft in your mouth, with the softness being the most important factor.

I would eat vegetables prepared like this every single night if it were possible.

If you want to experiment a little, try adding some minced garlic to the packs, as that will add some additional flavor. You can also try out herbs that match well with the vegetables – I’ll often put chives in with the potatoes, for example. I love trying different root vegetables with different flavorings, like adding some honey to the carrots. I even like doing things like chopping up an apple and making an apple packet for dessert or adding some apple slices to the turnips.

Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes

Again, this recipe is the height of simplicity. Just take a few fresh tomatoes from your garden, cube them into small pieces (depending on how big you want the pieces to be in your pasta), then add a few teaspoons of olive oil to the tomatoes and heat them just a bit in a saucepan, not enough to really cook them down but to bring out a bit of flavor.

If you want more flavor, chop up an onion into small pieces, add some olive oil to that, then cook the onion over high heat until the onion is translucent and slightly caramelizing, then remove it from the heat and add the tomatoes at that point, letting the residual heat warm up the tomatoes.

While you’re doing that, just boil up whatever your preferred kind of pasta is, drain it, and serve it, putting the tomato mix right on top (or mixing it in with the pasta, whatever your preference is).

This is such a fresh and delicious meal. Pasta does a wonderful job of providing a backdrop for the delicious flavors of fresh tomatoes.

We often serve this with a salad of fresh greens from our garden. In fact, just the other night, we made a simple salad dressing out of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and some fresh berries we picked… it was delicious!

Another tip: if you have an extra ear or two of already-cooked corn on the cob, cut off the kernels and add them to the tomatoes. They go hand in hand together for a delicious meal.

Grilled Corn Medallions

Sure, you can grill corn by just tossing the whole ear on the grill (whether husked or not), but I find that these medallions make an interesting twist.

All you do is slice a shucked ear of corn into one inch thick discs, then soak them in olive oil for a little while. I usually season the olive oil with some garlic and a bit of black pepper. You can try lots of additional flavorings if you’d like – anything from lemon pepper to paprika to Parmesan cheese.

Then, fire up your grill over medium-high heat and toss the medallions on there. Flip them every few minutes until the kernels on the edge of the medallions just begin to char, then pull them off and fill up a bowl with them.

These little discs have a wonderful flavor that isn’t really matched by a full ear. The flavor is caused by greater exposure of the kernels to the heat, which means they’re cooked more thoroughly down near the base of the kernel. They’re also really easy to eat as a finger food and complement almost every meal.

You can even make them sweet by tossing them with some honey and grilling them, making them a delicious sweet side or even a dessert.

Zucchini/Summer Squash Chips

Take a zucchini and/or a summer squash or two and slice them as thinly as you can, making lots of little thin round discs. Take those discs, pat them dry, then toss them in a mixture of a cup of olive oil, some salt, and some black pepper.

Take the discs out of the olive oil and lay them flat on a baking sheet. Sprinkle some additional black pepper on the top or whatever flavorings you’d like – we’ve made them with paprika sprinkled on them, cayenne pepper, even a cheesy popcorn seasoning.

Toss the baking sheet in the oven (preheated to 450 F) for 25 minutes. Check and see if the chips look golden brown and, if not, cook for another five to ten minutes. Pull them out, let them cool, and enjoy!

If you make thinner chips, they don’t take quite as long to cook and tend to be really really crisp. If you make them a bit thicker, they’ll take longer and won’t be quite as crisp, but they can easily hold some dip. Either way, they’re delicious.

You can make these with any root vegetable as well – really, any firm vegetable works, as do firm fruits like apples. Yes, apple chips, though you may want to season them a bit differently.

Summer Quesadillas

In the summer, we tend to have lots of peppers, tomatoes, onions, and other such things coming in out of the garden all of the time and we often want to use them for quick lunches that the kids will love. This is one of our go-to options.

We take some bell peppers, onions, and tomatoes and dice them very thinly, sometimes adding a bit of cilantro and salt to the mix. This makes something similar to a salsa except without the chunks. We usually dry the tomatoes a bit as we’re dicing them to make the “salsa” nice and thick.

Then, we take a tortilla, spread some of this mix on one side of it, then sprinkle some cheese on top of the mix. We fold this tortilla in half, then either toss it on the grill or in a skillet over medium-high heat for just a minute or two, flipping it halfway through. Our goal is simply to warm up the “salsa” and melt the cheese a little.

This ends up being delicious, as the outside of the tortilla gets a little crispy and the cheese on the inside melts. This makes me hungry just thinking about it!

If you want to experiment, try adding other vegetables to the “salsa.” I love mixing in some avocado, for example, and any and all hot peppers are always welcome on my palate.

Baked Root Vegetable Fries

If you’re like us, you’re probably flooded in kohlrabi, beets, carrots, and many other root vegetables. I don’t want to even guess how many pounds of turnips we’ve had in our house in the last week or two.

One great solution is to use them for the same thing many of us use potatoes for – fries! This really works for any root vegetable – turnips, kohlrabi, beets, carrots, parsnips, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and so on. Just be sure to avoid the cores on some of the root vegetables (like parsnips) – if you’re unfamiliar with the vegetable, do a bit of research on it.

Just cut up two pounds of root vegetables into the shape of fries. It’s easy – just peel them (and that’s optional), then cut the vegetable by both length and width, leaving a bunch of square fries. At that point, I pat them thoroughly with paper towels to dry them a bit.

Then, toss them in olive oil with the flavoring of your choice – I like to add a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of lemon pepper and a teaspoon of black pepper.

Then, I toss them into a few eggs that I’ve beaten to get an egg coating on them, then I toss those egg-coated fries-to-be in some bread crumbs (just let some bread dry out and pulverize it in a blender). I lay these fries out on a baking sheet and bake them at 400 F for about 40 minutes.

These are a wonderful way to use lots of root vegetables and make a very finger-friendly food that works as a surprisingly flavorful accompaniment to grilled meat or veggie burgers.

Ratatouille

This is a “kitchen sink” recipe that we use to take care of whatever vegetables we have on hand. You can basically put anything into this and have something tasty.

I’ve actually written a full post about ratatouille before, where I describe multiple different ways of making it, but I’m just going to stick to the easy one here. (The “hard” one was Julia Child’s method, which was mind-blowingly delicious but took a lot more work.)

With the “easy” method, you just slice a lot of vegetables into disc shapes, then sort them by their hardness. I usually put them on separate plates and saucers and line them up, with the “hardest” vegetables closest to a big skillet.

Then, I add a bit of olive oil to a skillet, turn the heat up to medium high, and start adding vegetables. I add the hardest ones first, let them cook a bit, then add another one. The goal is to get everything done approximately at the same time, so what I usually do is get the hardest ones mostly done (like potatoes, for instance) and then add the soft ones rapidly at the end, just giving them enough time to get nice and hot.

Along the way, I’ll add dashes of salt and pepper, and I usually add some minced garlic early on.

This smells amazing when it’s cooking. The whole house smells wonderful and the dish usually has a unique and rich flavor and has something for everyone in it.

So, what’s the “hard” method like? You simply cook each vegetable individually until they’re just shy of being done and then lay them out in a lidded casserole dish, making layers of vegetables. Then you simply bake this casserole for a fairly short time to allow the flavors to combine. This takes a lot of work, but I love it as more of an early autumn “harvest” meal.

“Kitchen Sink” Stir Fry

This is another “kitchen sink” recipe that works with almost anything you have on hand.

Just take those vegetables and chop them into thin slices or shell them as appropriate. I usually make two bowls of vegetables – one full of “hard” vegetables like onions and peppers and one with “soft” vegetables like tomatoes and peas.

We’ll start cooking some rice and then we’ll take a large skillet (or a wok), add a bit of oil, and turn the heat up high. Toss in the “hard” vegetables and let the heat do its work, caramelizing them a bit.

I usually judge this step by the onions – I’ll add the “soft” vegetables when the onions are translucent and just starting to brown a little bit. I then cook the “soft” vegetables for just a minute or two, then I pull the whole thing off. If you’re using a sauce, add it at this point and toss it thoroughly, then serve it with the cooked rice.

Much like the ratatouille, I love this dish because it winds up with unique flavors each time you cook it, depending on the vegetable choice and the varieties that you use.

Refrigerator Pickles

You can “pickle” almost any reasonably firm vegetable, from cucumbers to root vegetables and even things like squash. All you need is a well-sealed container, water, vinegar, salt, and maybe some flavorings like garlic cloves or peppercorns.

All you need to do is cut your vegetables up into fry-shaped batons or into discs. Then, mix three cups of water, one cup of vinegar, and half a cup of salt. Fill your container about halfway with vegetables, add anything you might want for additional flavoring such as peppercorns or garlic cloves, then add the liquid on top until the vegetables are covered by at least a fingernail’s depth of water.

Cover the container and put it in the refrigerator for a week. You’ll have pickled vegetables within just a few days.

When I first did this, I stuck mostly with cucumbers and onions, but I learned before very long that this procedure worked well with lots of vegetables. I love doing this with turnips and kohlrabi now and simply having a container of them in the fridge is one of the rites of summer.

In the end, the key is to just try cooking fresh produce in lots of different ways and see what works for you. Don’t be afraid of a vegetable you haven’t tried before – take it home and just try some simple recipe with it, whether it’s one of these or something else.

For me, a fresh vegetable that I’m unfamiliar with that’s on sale is an opportunity. It’s a low-cost way to figure out if I like something and, if so, to add it to that ever-growing list of things that I like and that I know how to prepare and that might someday find a place in our family garden.

Just try it. Don’t be afraid. Remember, the worst possible outcome is one meal that you don’t like very much. The good outcome? You’ve found a new food that you love and can’t wait to try again. That’s always a great reason to try new dishes and new ingredients.

May the smells of freshly-cooked summer vegetables fill your kitchen and dining room!

The post Nine Fantastic and Inexpensive Summer Recipes Using Fresh Seasonal Foods appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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5 Things to Know About Withdrawing Money From a Traditional IRA

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The Best High-Interest Savings Accounts Online

If the low yields on savings accounts at your brick-and-mortar bank have you searching for other options, you’ll be pleased to know there are still plenty of high-interest savings accounts online. While the interest from your savings won’t be funding your retirement, it can still add up, particularly on higher balances.

The Simple Dollar has examined several of the most popular online banks to find the best high-yield savings accounts in 2015. All of these banks offer high interest rates, low or no minimum balances, and no account maintenance fees. Here are our top picks:

• MySavingsDirect
• Synchrony Bank
• Barclays
• Ally
• Discover Bank
• Capital One 360

We’ll also give you a primer on high-yield savings accounts, including what that interest rate really means and whether online banking is a smart choice for you.

The Best High-Yield Savings Accounts

MySavingsDirect

You won’t get a flashy website or lots of other banking options with MySavingsDirect, an online division of Emigrant Bank, a large bank based in New York City. But if you’re just looking for a basic savings account with the highest interest rate you can find, it’s hard to beat the 1.25% APY on its High Interest Savings Account.

Even better? You won’t pay any monthly maintenance fees or any other hidden fees, and you don’t need a hefty balance to open the account. You’ll access your money by making electronic transfers from up to two linked external checking accounts.

Synchrony Bank

Synchrony Bank’s High Yield Savings Account offers an impressive 1.05% APY. There is no minimum balance required to open an account, though you will have to keep at least a $30 balance to avoid a $5 monthly maintenance fee.

You can make deposits and withdrawals via electronic transfers, over the phone, or with an optional ATM card. There’s also a convenient mobile check deposit feature.

Depending on your balance and the length of time you’ve had your account, you may also qualify for Synchrony’s OptimizerPlus perks, which include travel discounts, ATM fee reimbursements, and free identity theft resolution services.

Barclays

If you’re looking for an online bank that’s a little better-known, British megabank Barclays might fit the bill. Its U.S. division offers an Online Savings Account with 1.00% APY, no minimum balance, and no monthly maintenance fees. You can make deposits via mobile check deposit, direct deposit, electronic transfer, or mail.

If you’re willing to keep your hands off your money for awhile, Barclays also offers a Dream Account with 1.05% APY. Make deposits of up to $1,000 for six months, and earn a 2.5% bonus on your interest; make no withdrawals for six months and earn another 2.5% bonus.

Ally

High-profile online bank Ally offers 0.99% APY on its Online Savings Account with no account minimum and no monthly maintenance fees. Ally also boasts some of the most transparent account disclosures in online banking as well as 24/7 customer service, a rarity.

Make deposits via electronic transfer, mobile check deposit, direct deposit, or mail. You can also link up to 20 external accounts to your savings account, should the need arise.

If you want to keep your funds more readily available, Ally’s Money Market Account earns 0.85% APY and allows unlimited no-fee ATM withdrawals.

Discover Bank

You’ll need at least $500 to open an Online Savings Account with Discover Bank, but you’ll get a healthy 0.90% APY. There is no ongoing minimum balance or monthly maintenance fee.

Like Ally, Discover has 24/7 customer service and a convenient mobile-banking app that allows mobile check deposit. You can also make deposits via electronic transfer, direct deposit, and mail.

For easy ATM access, Discover’s Money Market Account features free withdrawals at 60,000 ATMs nationwide. That account earns 0.75% APY on balances under $100,000, or 0.80% over that amount.

Capital One 360

It’s not the highest rate on this list, but 360 Savings from Capital One 360 still offers a respectable 0.75% APY with no minimum balance and no account maintenance fees. You’ll also be able to stay organized with up to 25 free sub-accounts, an automatic savings plan, and the My Savings Goals tool. Make deposits via mobile check deposit, phone, online electronic transfer, or mail.

If you’re in the market for other accounts, Capital One 360 offers one of the best variety of products online, including teen checking, mortgages, business accounts, and investments.

Is a High-Yield Savings Account Your Best Option?

High-interest savings accounts are an ideal place to keep your emergency fund or any money to which still you need ready access. Your money will be safer than if you stuffed it under your mattress, and it will grow a bit, too.

However, regardless of where you open a savings account, federal regulations limit you to six withdrawals or outgoing transfers each month. Exceed that number and you could be charged a fee. One notable exception is ATM withdrawals, which are not restricted.

Remember, there are fewer ways to get your money from a savings account versus a checking account. You may not be able to write checks or get a debit card for your savings account — both are perks typical of checking accounts. But if you opt for checking, you may get a very low interest rate, or none at all.

A money market account may be a happy medium between the two: You’ll still earn a decent interest rate, but you’ll often have check-writing and debit card privileges, too.

Another common savings option is a CD, or certificate of deposit. CDs may earn a higher interest rate than savings accounts, particularly at brick-and-mortar banks. This may not be the case online, however, where you can find a number of high-interest savings options. Note that you may need a bigger initial deposit to open a CD, and must agree not to touch your money for a specific term or you’ll have to pay an early-withdrawal fee.

What Does a ‘High Interest Rate’ Really Amount To?

Online, you can easily open a high-yield savings account with an interest rate around 1.0% APY. That’s certainly much higher than the national average of .09% APY, but it’s still not going to make you rich.

Let’s crunch the numbers to see just how much you can grow your money in a savings account. We’ll assume you make an initial deposit of $5,000 and don’t touch it for five years. We’ll also assume that you don’t make any more deposits and interest is compounded (added to your balance) daily:

• At 0.01% APY (a typical savings interest rate at very large brick-and-mortar banks), you’ll have $5,002.50 after five years.
• At 0.09% APY (the national average savings interest rate), you’ll have $5,022.55 after five years.
• At 1.00% APY (a competitive high-interest savings account rate from an online bank), you’ll have $5,256.35 after five years.

As you can see, the difference between a high-yield savings account and lower-yield options amounts to a couple hundred dollars in this example. Significant? Yes. But it also demonstrates how even a high-interest savings account won’t be making you rich — the interest is merely a nice bonus.

If you truly want to grow your money, you’ll need to consider more sophisticated investments. If you’re interested in jumping into the stock market, a great place to get started is our article on the Best Online Stock Trading Brokerages. If your focus is on building your retirement fund, check out our guide to the Best IRA Accounts.

Pros and Cons of Online Savings Accounts

If you’re wondering whether it’s worth moving your savings online to take advantage of a high-interest savings account, here are some of the benefits:

• Interest rates: Online banks offer many times the national average on savings accounts, which was 0.09% APY in June 2015, according to Bankrate. In fact, it’s not uncommon for some of the biggest banks to offer just 0.01% APY.
• Low or no fees and minimums: Many online banks don’t charge the monthly account maintenance fees you find at brick-and-mortar institutions. Several, like most of the banks on our list, also don’t require a certain minimum balance to open or maintain the account.
• 24/7 account access: If you like to do your banking at unconventional hours, that’s not a problem online. You’ll probably be able to print statements for free whenever you need them, and may have access to conveniences like account alerts and online bill pay. These tools are often better at online banks, which have optimized their technology to keep customers happy.

Of course, there are also some drawbacks to banking online:

• Harder to deposit and access your money: While direct transfers from external accounts are convenient, you could be looking at longer hold times before your money is available. Five days is typical. Even banks with mobile check deposit may not allow checks over a certain amount to be deposited that way, meaning you’ll have to mail larger checks. Also, your online bank may not allow cash deposits.
• Lack of in-person service: Sometimes you just want to talk to a real person, and do it in person. While online banks offer varying degrees of customer service, you won’t be able to talk to a teller or a bank manager. A personal relationship with your bank can come in handy if you ever have problems or need a bit of extra assistance.
• Lack of other products: If you only need a savings account, you might not care whether your bank offers other account options or products such as loans and credit cards. However, there’s something to be said for the convenience of keeping your banking with just one or two institutions.

Remember, High-Interest Savings Accounts Aren’t Your Only Option

Savings accounts are popular because they’re easy to use, keep your money safe, and they’re everywhere, including the Internet. Some of your best options online include Synchrony Bank, Ally, Capital One 360 and the other banks on our list above.

However, you do have some other options. Money market accounts can give you a little bit more flexibility, though you may have to sacrifice a little bit of interest. CDs may give you more interest, particularly with higher deposits, but you won’t be able to touch your money for a long time — not ideal if you need a place to stash emergency savings. And of course, if you need the freedom to make a large number of deposits and withdrawals, you’ll need to look at checking accounts instead.

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