Nevada to phase out home financing rescue program

State officials are dimming the lights and preparing to phase out an ambitious but short-lived program initially intended to help people stay in their homes as Nevada's housing market crumbled and home values plummeted during the Great Recession.

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How to retire with at least $1,000,000

Do I really need $1 million in retirement savings? That depends on your lifestyle and the extent you want to replicate that in the future — that is, how much of your current income you hope to replace a few decades down the road. In many cases, yes, you might need $1 million or more in retirement savings if you are not going to continue working.

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Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas shows second-quarter profit

The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas showed a profit of more than $15.3 million in the second quarter, reversing a net loss from a year ago.

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Las Vegas shared-office provider grows formal

Quentin Abramo runs Faciliteq, a company that does workplace interiors, from the downtown Las Vegas building that bears the business' name.

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Russian businessman ‘on assassin hit list’

WHEN Alexander Perepilichnyy collapsed and died after a long run, it was thought his death was from f natural causes. Then it emerged he may been poisoned.

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War on Coal Is War on Red States

Here's today's political quiz question: What do these five states - Rhode Island, Vermont, California, Oregon and Maine - have in common?

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Marketing Day: LinkedIn Ads, Facebook Defends 3-Second Video View & HubSpot Earnings

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

Please visit Marketing Land for the full article.

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In Hefty’s #SaidNoSchoolEver Campaign, Teachers Sarcastically Proclaim They Have All The Supplies They Need

The Reynolds company brand, working with Havas, shows solidarity with teachers as consumers' minds shift to back-to-school shopping.

Please visit Marketing Land for the full article.

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PUC expected to decide fate of net metering rate next week

The state Public Utilities Commission is expected to decide Wednesday whether to grant a petition by rooftop solar companies to continue Nevada's existing net metering program until a new rate structure is put in place later this year.

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Bidding war for online gambling's Bwin.party intensifies

British online gaming company GVC Holdings Plc raised its offer to buy rival Bwin.party Digital Entertainment Plc for a second time in two weeks, hoping to persuade the company to reject 888 Holdings Plc's offer.

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YouTube Ads Won’t Be Sold Through AdX Next Year, Google Says

Company emphasizes focus on TrueView ads and Google Preferred program.

Please visit Marketing Land for the full article.

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Abercrombie to 'discontinue the use of call-in shift scheduling'

Abercrombie & Fitch announced Wednesday that it will stop scheduling workers using so-called "on call shifts," where employees are given very little advance notice of what hours they will be working.

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Don’t Have Amazon Prime? Qualify for Free Shipping With These 7 Smart Buys

We’ve all been there: You need another $6 worth of stuff to cross the $35 threshold and get free shipping on Amazon, but you don’t want to waste money on something you’ll never use.

Until you’re ready to splurge on Amazon Prime (free shipping all the time!), take a look at our round-up of items under $10 that you won’t be sorry you bought.

1. A Practical Purchase

Start by whipping out your grocery list. Anything on there you can get on Amazon? You’ll find a surprising number of household items at the mega retailer.

If you’re looking for something you’d probably buy anyway, check out some first aid supplies. Because no one wants to come up short when in need of a bandaid.

Or get some lip balm to replace the 300 other tubes you know you have but can never find (just me?). Or splurge on a pack of Magic Erasers. They truly are magical. And grab a stain stick to spread the cleaning love to your clothing too.

2. A New Food

Once you’ve exhausted your go-to items, it’s time get creative and add some fun to your home cooking game. Looking at my own budget, the biggest area of savings is in the “eating out” column.

Just cooking at home one more night a week would save me around $120 a month. If a $4 pack of saffron is going boost my will to cook this week, it’s totally worth it. Paella for days!

How about some fancy sea salt? Bonus points because it’s naturally pink and comes from the Himalayas. Or maybe a tropical snack and some hippie snack bars.

And here’s my top foodie pick: Get the ingredients for dinner in a single shot with a pack of artisanal pasta shapes and a bottle of sauce. I’m not reinventing the wheel here, but that’s a solid meal!

3. An At-Home Spa Treatment

Rather than spending $75 on a trip to the spa, drop a couple of bucks to try a new beauty treatment at home. Amazon has hundreds of beauty products you won’t find at your local CVS, at prices that rival any drug-store aisle.

With a typical mani-pedi running upwards of $50, a few supplies more than pay for themselves.

Get your nails pool-ready with a pumice stone and a bottle of nail polish in a new color. Or get your facial on with a new age face sponge or a peel-off mask. Change up your makeup game with some eyeliner or a magic serum to keep your foundation in place. Or keep it practical with some time-saving dry shampoo or blotting sheets.

4. That Book You’ve Been Meaning to Read

Amazon has tons of cheap books. If you still enjoy the smell of the occasional old-fashion paper book (raises hand), get browsing!

How about one you were supposed to read in high school? Or pick up one that’s about to be a Matt Damon movie, one you can color in, or one that’s just plain good.

5. A Crafty Combination

Fill your downtime with some wallet-friendly crafting instead of a pricy night out. Amazon has all kinds of supplies to fuel your creativity (and you might be able to whip up some gifts in the process, netting you additional savings and serious brownie points for thoughtfulness).

Keep it simple with some washi tape to spruce up, well, pretty much anything. If you’re feeling a little more ambitious, this felted wool fox kit is adorable. Or pick up a bottle of gold leaf and go crazy (dishes and jewelry and bookends. Oh my!).

6. A Treat for Your Home Base

Or what about spending a few dollars to spruce up the house? Whether you buy or rent, small tweaks can make your habitat more cozy — maybe even so cozy you’ll want to stay in instead of going out!

I bought this picture-hanging kit to finally deal with those prints I’ve been meaning to put up since I moved in three years ago.

You might also freshen up the rooms with some essential oils. Get serious about relaxation with a mini sound machine. Or get even more relaxed by upping your cocktail game with some globe ice cube trays.

7. A Wild Card

If you’re still struggling to get $4.68 worth of items in your cart, it’s time to get weird. You need to find something you didn’t know existed, but can’t live without.

Consider a scarf holder, a pineapple slicer/de-corer (use it to make these tiki drinks!), a chic BPA-free water bottle, an unexpected air freshener. My pick is the world’s cutest soup ladle.

Just don’t buy a cowboy hat for your dog. No one needs that.

Your Turn: Will any of these ideas make it into your cart? What would you add to cross the finish line and get free shipping?

Disclosure: We appreciate you letting us include affiliate links in this post. It helps keep the beer fridge stocked in the Penny Hoarder break room.

Lyndsee Cordes is a writer, editor and Amazon Prime holdout living in Washington, D.C. She asked her Facebook friends what under-$10-item they would buy, and this was the consensus. It should arrive on Monday.

The post Don’t Have Amazon Prime? Qualify for Free Shipping With These 7 Smart Buys appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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Affinity Gaming reverses second-quarter net loss

Affinity Gaming reversed a second-quarter net loss, which the Las Vegas-based company's chief executive credited to a change in the casino operator's marketing approach.

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£310 spare cash per month buys you happiness

Alex Holmes

money.jpg

The nation's happiest 10% of people have at least £310 a month as spare cash, nearly double what the average Joe has to enjoy.

The nation's happiest 10% of people have at least £310 a month as spare cash, nearly double what the average Joe has to enjoy.

Research into the correlation between spare cash and happiness found that on the average UK salary of £23,640, 81% of money earned is spent on essential outgoings.

£310 spare cash per month buys you happiness

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The nation's happiest 10% of people have at least £310 a month as spare cash, nearly double what the average Joe has to enjoy. Research into the correlation between spare cash and happiness found that on the average UK salary of £23,640, 81% of money earned is spent on essential outgoings. That means that just £1 out of every £5 we earn is spare cash, or to put it another way, if you work five days a week, then the money you earn from Monday to Thursday is already earmarked for your regular outgoings. The research showed that average monthly income in the UK is £1,970. After rent or mortgage, loan or credit repayments and utilities are paid the average spare cash per household was £381. That becomes £166 per person per month, or £38.19 a week. "Our research shows that having spare cash - money that you haven't already got earmarked - is really important for happiness. It shows how beneficial it can be to budget, to try to give ourselves a bit left over at the end of every month," says Dean Lamble, managing director of SunLife. "It also shows that financial happiness could be more attainable for many people than they might think, with the average person needing to find an extra £33 a week - less than £5 a day - in spare cash to be among the happiest in the UK." The research found the Scots among the most flush, managing to set aside £454 per household every month. High living costs pushed London near the bottom of the happiness index as its residents only managed to scrimp together a spare £350 per household per month. Meanwhile the least happy were people were resident in the East Midlands, managing to set aside £215 spare every month. However, one rather mean spirited result found that those who thought they had more spare cash than their peers were happier than those who believed they had less.

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All Aboard: Retire on a Ship

Here’s how to cruise through your retirement years.

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The $100,000 Challenge: July Update

I just wrapped up the fourth month of the $100,000 a month challenge. In July, NutritionSecrets.com received a total of 26,370 visitors, 6,931 of which came from search engine traffic.

Although the overall traffic has dipped from 33,562 visitors in June, the site is still progressing in a positive way.

Here’s what happened in the month of July, and here is how I am going to start making money from the blog… 

Search traffic is up

The overall rankings for NutritionSecrets.com are up. We now rank for over 100 keywords in the top 20 positions in Google according to the data from Search Console.

In June, we received 3,675 search engine visitors. In July, this number increased by 93%. In the following few months, you should see this number climbing faster and faster. It’s because Mike has been doing manual outreach to grow the link count as well as publishing more content.

During July, he published one blog post a day—every day. As the links continually roll in from manual outreach, you’ll see the rankings for all of these content pieces increase.

I also tried to get Mike to write two blog posts a day, but I haven’t been successful as he hasn’t had enough time to pull it off. My goal was to get Mike to blog more frequently in July so we would have a backlog of content for August and hit the 2-a-day mark.

We may be able to do this during the month of September as he shifts his focus from link building to content creation, but we will find out in due time.

The overall search impressions are up as well. As that continually rises, you should start seeing the search traffic climbing at a much faster pace.

Income

Traffic isn’t growing as fast as I would like it to so I will have to think outside the box to generate income.

The first revenue channel concept I came up with is to try to white-label existing supplement products.

If you had a tangible product, wouldn’t you kill to have your product in Walmart? Well, why wouldn’t you kill to have your product listed on Amazon? Amazon is still in its infancy, and it’s bigger than Walmart from a worth/financial perspective.

I am planning on leveraging the NutritionSecrets community to help drive reviews. We know that once a product hits 400 to 500 solid reviews, it becomes easy to generate $70,000 to $150,000 a month in revenue, assuming you are picking products in a popular vertical.

From doing some searches on Google trends, using Google’s traffic estimator for keyword research, and browsing Amazon, I was able to figure out that product categories listed below are popular but aren’t very competitive:

• CLA (weight loss product)
• Ubiquinol
• Vitamin D3
• Probiotic
• Biotin
• Omega
• Turmeric
• 5-HTP
• Colon care/cleanse
• Fish oil
• Psyllium husk caps
• Glucosamine
• Caffeine

Hopefully, I can find a great product to white-label. The key with Amazon is to make sure you invest heavily in a good product (or finding a good product to white-label) as products that have over 500 reviews and an average rating of 4.5 stars tend to generate a lot of sales.

Comments

The blog is generating a steady stream of comments. If you go there, you’ll notice that there are some posts that aren’t getting comments now, while in July every post received a comment, at least from what I can tell.

Why is this happening?

With blogging, comments are typically generated by email subscribers. And we haven’t been doing a good job of collecting emails. So what Mike did was browse the web and look for popular nutrition-related e-books that are selling like hotcakes on sites such as Clickbank.

Our plan is to release a popular e-book—that competitors are selling—free. This should help bring more industry-related traffic and emails, which will help future posts when it comes to generating comments.

Conclusion

As time goes on, you should see an update on NutritionSecrets.com traffic, but hopefully I will have updates on the Amazon process for you by next month’s update.

Overall, the traffic isn’t growing as fast as I want as Mike is having a hard time coming up with attractive headlines. I will have to help him craft better headlines that generate more clicks, and that should help the traffic.

Expenses update: expenses in July went up by $29 because of Aweber. So, the total now is $2,918.74 dollars.

What do you think about the progress so far?

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Report: iPhone Drives Less Than Third Of Android Traffic, Nearly 75 Pct. Of Revenue

Last week Opera released its State of Mobile Advertising report for Q2. Headlines on coverage tended to focus on the finding that “the first app of the day is in the Social Networking category, and the most common last app of the day is for Entertainment.” The report also explores the...

Please visit Marketing Land for the full article.

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Everything PPC Advertisers Want To Know About LinkedIn Ads – Part 2

Contributor Sahil Jain shares more questions and answers about how best to utilize the platform. Don't miss these important tips on bidding, targeting and choosing between ad products.

Please visit Marketing Land for the full article.

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Accused Jeep boss buys a Ferrari

THE man accused of lavish overspending during his time as a car company boss has imported an Italian supercar into Australia.

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Dusting Off Your New Year's Money Resolutions

It's not too late to improve your financial picture in 2015.

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How to Make a Living by Selling on eBay

You can pick up some extra cash by selling unwanted items online. 

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‘You Shouldn’t Go Through Life Worrying About Money. It’s Not Healthy.’

The climb out of ‘Debt Valley’ and up ‘Worry Mountain’ is a formidable one — but if you make it to the other side, it’s more peaceful than ever. Photo: Giuseppe Milo

Not too long ago, I was having a conversation with an old friend about life, the universe, and everything. We talked about career choices, our recent and upcoming travels, our families, and many other topics.

At one point, when the conversation briefly touched on money issues, I made an offhand comment about how my hope was that I could stop working at about age 45 as I hope to have enough money in the bank by then so that I no longer have to work for money if I don’t want to.

After about 10 seconds of silence, he dropped that little bombshell that makes up the title of this article.

“You shouldn’t go through life worrying about money. It’s not healthy.”

And we moved on to other topics.

Not surprisingly, that little statement stuck in the back of my mind. Worrying about money? Really?

I worry about money right now less than I ever have in my entire life.

The time in my life when I genuinely worried the most about money was in 2006, when I was practically drowning in debt. I was almost ill with stress at times. As I mentioned before, I stayed up at nights stressing out about money. Sarah and I constantly got into strenuous discussions and arguments about money.

As we started to take control of our finances, our worry started to melt away. We got rid of debts and I started The Simple Dollar and, eventually, we bought a house.

We thought more about money, but we worried a lot less about it.

Right now, we have no debts. If either one of us became dissatisfied with our work, either one of us could change career paths or go back to school without any real stress. I’m completely confident that there is almost no scenario in which my children would have to go without anything that they might need or want.

What is there to worry about regarding money right now?

Of course, one could simply say that when my friend was talking about “worrying about money,” he was simply referring to “thinking about money.”

Well, here’s another shocker: Aside from my professional needs regarding The Simple Dollar, I think less about money than I ever have in my adult life.

My investment strategy is on autopilot. I almost never think about it.

My buying habits are well under control. I almost never even think about wasteful purchases. I just walk on by 99% of the stuff I would have considered buying just a few years ago.

I don’t have to wonder about whether we have money when there’s an important and urgent expense. I just pay for it and fix up any problems later on.

I just don’t think about money very much. I don’t need to.

Of course, one could simply say that when my friend was talking about “worrying about money,” he was simply referring to “having fun by spending money.”

Again, that doesn’t make any sense. I pretty much do everything I actually want to do in life.

To me, a truly happy day is one where I do something fun with my children and have an hour or two just to hang out with my wife. It might involve doing something with my friends, but what exactly we do isn’t really important – I actually enjoy dinner parties and game nights. I enjoy curling up with a good book – I don’t have to own it, a library book is fine. I enjoy playing one of the board games we have on our shelves. I like making stuff, especially food items. I like wandering around state parks and hiking on trails. I’m in a few community groups and I like doing activities with those groups.

Those elements, in some combination, make for a pretty good day for me. Almost none of those things require me to spend much money at all.

What about “special treats”? If there’s a special treat that I want, I buy it. The thing is, I really don’t want many “special treats.” I’m pretty happy with what I have and don’t really want more.

In the end, the only way that this question makes sense is if I assume that my friend simply has the wrong idea about personal finance success. He must believe that having a personal finance plan is worrying and miserable in some fashion.

The thing is, I think I know what he’s talking about.

Let’s roll the clock back to where I was back in, say, 2005. During that period before I hit financial bottom but while I was making a lot of spending mistakes, I did worry a little about money. In fact, I wrote an article about that very thing, entitled “September 23, 2005.” I highly encourage you to give it a read.

At that time, I didn’t really think too much about money as I was spending it. I wanted stuff, I spent money on it, I moved on with life. Sometimes, though, I would step back and look at my overall financial state and it would really worry me. I couldn’t see a path from where I was at to where I wanted to be.

However, I was keeping my head above water – kind of – so I’d usually try to step away from those worries. Those kinds of worries were the “before bed” worries, the kinds of things I would find myself thinking about as I went to sleep. They’d keep me up a little bit.

The bigger worry, though, was when unexpected events would come up and cause us financial trouble. If we needed a car repair or needed to pay a tax bill or something, we usually didn’t have enough money to just pay for it.

So, our lives had financial worry, but not a whole lot of financial worry.

The real worry didn’t kick in until we hit our financial bottom and began to really reassess our financial state. That was the truly worrying time.

I stayed up late reading personal finance books and looking at our financial state. Sarah and I talked about all kinds of solutions. We constantly looked for ways to spend less money and ways to come up with money to pay our bills.

Thinking about our finances in the disastrous shape they were in was a very painful thing, and it ate up a lot of our time. It was absolutely very worrisome and stressful and it probably wasn’t too good for our health at the time.

Eventually, though, we crossed that wave of worry. We started paying off some bills, and some good choices started to become automatic things. Our thoughts about personal finance ceased to be purely full of worry and slowly became more optimistic.

As time went on, most of the worry went out of our personal finance thinking. At the same time, we spent less overall time thinking about our finances.

In fact, it soon reached a point where we worried about personal finance far less than we did before we reached bottom.

So, our worry followed something of a curve. Before our financial meltdown, our worry was at a medium level. During the start of our financial turnaround, our worry peaked at a high level. After that turnaround took hold, our worry eventually went down to a very low level.

Thus, if I step back to where I was at before our meltdown and I look at someone who went up that mountain of trying to turn their finances around… I see worry. Lots of it. And I’d be right.

But that worry passes. Once you start getting your finances in good shape, the worry about money melts away. At the same time, so does your worry about your career. You fight less with your spouse, so your worries about your marriage melt away, too.

So, let’s go back to that conversation with my friend. When I hear him make that statement, what I realize is that my friend is on the other side of Worry Mountain from me. When he looks down the path to financial independence, he sees that giant mountain of worry ahead of him. It doesn’t seem pleasant – and he’s right, it isn’t.

But what he doesn’t see is the other side of the mountain. On the other side of that mountain, the worry drops off and it goes even lower than it was before. That’s where I’m at now.

So, what’s my advice to my friend? “Sure, finances are worrisome for a while as you’re getting things in order, but after that, it’s almost worry free. I managed to make it to the other side of that mountain, thank goodness, and I don’t really worry about it any more. The path getting here had a lot of worry involved, but when you get past it? Things are great.”

That’s my advice to you, too. It might seem like fixing your finances is full of worry and stress and difficulty. It is, at first, but once you start figuring things out, all of that worry starts to melt away rather quickly.

Good luck!

The post ‘You Shouldn’t Go Through Life Worrying About Money. It’s Not Healthy.’ appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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Computer software company expands in Las Vegas

A Las Vegas-based computer software maintenance company has expanded its headquarters in the Hughes Center by adding 11,000 square feet of office space for 60 more lawyers, finance workers, payroll employees and assistants.

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Building The Business Case For Attribution

Do you need help convincing your CEO or CFO that attribution will pay off? Columnist Liane Dietrich has four ways to build your case and justify the expense to your organization.

Please visit Marketing Land for the full article.

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7 Financial Steps to Take When Getting a Divorce

If you and your spouse are parting ways, follow these steps to stay financially secure. 

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Facebook Defends Its 3-Second Video View Standard

In a Medium post responding to criticism from a YouTube creator, Facebook video product manager says three seconds is enough time to indicate "intent to watch" a video.

Please visit Marketing Land for the full article.

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What the 2015 Song of the Summer Can Teach Us About Credit

Your 'Fight Song' might help clear the 'Bad Blood' with your credit score. 

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Complete Guide to the Best Credit Card Signup Bonus Offers in 2015

Photo: Frédéric Bisson

Whether you’re pursuing airline miles, hotel loyalty points, flexible rewards, or simple-to-redeem cash back, the biggest bang for your buck is almost always found in a credit card’s signup bonus. These signup bonus offers, which are normally doled out after you meet a set of predefined requirements, are often worth $500 or more.

Although signup bonus offers aren’t all created equal, many work similarly. As you search for the best credit card signup bonus offers out there, here are a few things you should know:

• Scoring a signup bonus usually requires hitting a minimum spending requirement. Although some credit card signup bonus offers award you with the bonus after you make a purchase or simply sign up for the card, the vast majority require you to hit a minimum spending requirement within a certain length of time (e.g., spend $3,000 within 90 days).
• You may have to pay an annual fee. While some cards offer a huge signup bonus, many of them charge an annual fee just for being a cardholder. In some cases, this fee may be waived the first year. As you consider a new rewards card and signup bonus offer, you should consider how paying that annual fee will impact the amount of rewards you earn.
• Other requirements may apply. In addition to meeting a minimum spending requirement, you may have to perform other tasks to earn your signup bonus. For example, if you’re trying to earn a signup bonus for a co-branded hotel loyalty credit card, earning the bonus will mean signing up for that loyalty program if you haven’t already.

The Best Signup Bonus Offers of 2015

While securing a hefty signup bonus is fairly easy if you know what you’re looking for, it can be hard to find the winners among the hundreds of offers that are available. That’s why we created this complete list of all of the best signup bonus offers available in 2015:

Best Credit Card Signup Offers: Flexible Rewards

While some cards offer airline or hotel-chain points that can only redeemed with a specific brand, others offer flexible rewards that can be used to book all types of travel – either by booking through an online travel portal, by booking with your card and redeeming for travel credit, or by transferring your points to a number of popular hotel or airline loyalty programs. Here are our top credit card signup bonus offers for flexible rewards:

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

Platinum Card from American Express

Capital One® Venture℠ Rewards Credit Card

American Express® Premier Rewards Gold Card

Best Credit Card Signup Offers: Airline Cards

Airline cards offer points that can be redeemed for airfare, seat upgrades, and other travel perks. Planning a trip soon? A good signup bonus in this category can score you a free roundtrip ticket or more. Here are the best co-branded airline signup bonus offers currently on the market:

Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card

British Airways Visa Signature® Card

United MileagePlus® Explorer Card

Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express

U.S. Bank FlexPerks® Travel Rewards Visa Signature® Card

Best Credit Card Signup Offers: Hotel Cards

Like airline credit cards, co-branded hotel credit cards offer points that can be redeemed for free hotel stays, room upgrades, and more. The following offers represent the best of all of the hotel card signup bonus offers currently on the market:

Marriott Rewards® Premier Credit Card

Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express

IHG® Rewards Club Select Credit Card

Best Credit Card Signup Offers: Cash Back Cards

If you don’t like to travel, earning straight-up cash back might be more your style. These signup offers are some of the best among the true cash back cards currently on the market:

Chase Freedom®

Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express

Best Credit Card Signup Offers: Business Cards

Credit card signup bonus offers aren’t just for individuals; they’re for businesses too. If you own a small business, have a side hustle, or are self-employed, you could qualify for any of these lucrative business card signup bonus offers:

Ink Plus® Business Credit Card

Ink Cash® Business Credit Card

Capital One® Spark Miles for Business

SimplyCash® Business Card from American Express OPEN

Credit Card Signup Bonus Offers Dos and Don’ts

Although many of the top offers are lucrative in their own right, it’s important to understand how to make the most of these offers without hurting yourself financially. Here are some basic tips that can help you do just that:

Do consider how meeting a minimum spending requirement will affect your finances. Since most credit card signup bonus offers require you to spend a certain amount of money on the card within a limited time, it’s important to make sure that the spending goal is attainable before you sign up. If your spending is relatively low, steer clear of bonus offers that ask you to spend more than you would otherwise.

Do keep your overall credit health in mind. Since opening new credit cards (and closing old ones) can have a negative effect on your credit, it’s important to weigh the pros and cons of either action. In other words, sign up for cards when it’s to your benefit, but stop once you’ve reached a point where your credit score might feel a negative impact.

Do pay your bill in full every month to avoid paying interest. Paying interest on your purchases while simultaneously pursuing rewards is never a good idea. If you expect you’ll need to carry a balance, you should nix the idea of trying to earn a signup bonus altogether, and opt for a low-interest credit card instead.

Do use your credit card as part of a comprehensive financial plan. Without a plan, a new credit card could wreak havoc on your finances. Before you sign up for a new credit card, you should put a plan in place to make sure your new line of credit is working in your favor.

• Related: Eight Tips to Make Credit Cards Work for You, Not Against You

Do pursue signup bonuses with a strategy in mind. A hefty signup bonus won’t do you much good if you don’t know how to use it. Before you pick one bonus over another, make sure to explore each loyalty program so you know what your points will be worth. These posts can help:

• Best Hotel Rewards Programs of 2015
• Best Frequent Flyer Programs of 2015
• Best Rewards Credit Cards of 2015

Don’t open too many cards just for the signup bonus. As we’ve written before, getting a new card will result in a hard inquiry with at least one of the three credit reporting agencies. While one hard inquiry might have minimum impact on your credit score, having several could cause your score to tumble substantially. So while you may earn more rewards by signing up for a handful of offers at once, you could potentially hurt your credit.

Don’t commit to a minimum spending requirement you can’t handle. When choosing among credit card signup bonus offers, it’s important to consider how meeting any applicable minimum spending requirement will work with your “real-life” finances.

For example, if you don’t normally spend $3,000 on regular bills and expenses during a three-month period, what makes you think you can do it safely to earn a signup bonus? If the minimum spending requirement on a card puts it out of your comfort zone, you’ll be better off if you opt out instead of signing up.

Don’t carry a balance or pay interest. For some people, credit cards are a tool of mass destruction. And no matter how hard they try not to, they always manage to rack up a credit card balance that is bigger than they anticipated. If you’re one of those people – or if you just plan to carry a balance in general – you’ll be a lot better off if you steer clear of rewards cards and opt for a card with no annual fee or the lowest interest rate possible instead.

Don’t forget to factor in annual fees. While some cards offer crazy-huge signup bonus offers, many offer correspondingly large annual fees. In order to extract the most value out of any offer, it’s important to understand your card’s annual fee, when it’s due, and how it related to the overall value you receive from the card.

Don’t use rewards as an excuse to overspend. If you’re someone who tends to get carried away with credit, it’s easy to see a shiny, new credit line as an excuse to overspend. You’re not doing yourself any favors if you go this route, however. By overspending to earn more rewards, you’re actually putting yourself in a worse financial position than where you started.

The Bottom Line

Credit cards can be a valuable tool if used wisely, and signup bonus offers can be extremely lucrative if pursued with a thoughtful strategy in mind. However, it’s important to fully understand how these offers work if you truly want to maximize them.

The most important thing to remember is to use credit cards to your advantage, but don’t let them use you. If you find yourself spending more just to get a bonus, or worse, getting into debt, you’ll probably be better off avoiding credit cards and signup bonus offers altogether.

The post Complete Guide to the Best Credit Card Signup Bonus Offers in 2015 appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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