All aboard the karaoke ghost train

THE internet says this karaoke truck is a great night out, with 19,500 Twitter followers and glowing reviews. Only problem: it doesn’t really exist.

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Walls surrounding legalized sports wagering may be 'crumbling'

Forty years ago, he wrote the betting lines in chalk at the old Royal Inn. Today, the lines are updated electronically via mobile sports wagering applications.

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Artist sells paintings, helps customers brush up on skills

When Shannon Almanzar of Bangor drove through Delaware Water Gap borough and noticed the green Victorian house for lease, she immediately knew that was the building for her to start her new business. An artist for much of her life, Almanzar wanted to share her love of art with everyone else.“Eight years ago when my friends would come over and I’d say let’s paint a picture and they found they could do it and it was fun,” said Almanzar. “When we moved [...]

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Credit card overhaul will chip away at fraud

Look carefully at your credit or debit card.If it’s less than a year old, it likely has a “chip” on the front of the card. It is an icon with a dull sheen located near the card’s logo. If there is a shiny hologram on either the front or back, that does not count; it is not a chip.The scary thing for me is that my credit cards are older. Only one has a chip.But Oct. 1 is the cutoff for banking and business to begin officially converting over to [...]

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Deeds, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2015

Chestnuthill TownshipRonald L. and Sandra Lee Pennell to Jindricht Tomas, Lot 1, "Subdivision of Lands of Theodore O. May," PA Legislative Route 45099, Tax Map No. 02/8/1/35-13, $227,000East Stroudsburg Borough329 E. Brown Holding LP (By Gen Partner), Pocono Tranquil Partners LLC (Gen Partner) to Pocono Senior Housing LLC, East Brown Street, Lot 1, Parcel No. 5-1/3/4/9-1, $7,000,000Eldred TownshipBruce A. [...]

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New car wash owner believes good signage sells

The logo of Shinetime Auto Wash features a pair of red brushes frothing with white soap as they scrub blue letters outlined in yellow. The logo and the colors are used throughout the carwash, at 385 N. Courtland St., in East Stroudsburg and give it the appearance of being a franchise or a part of a chain. This is privately owned Shinetime, for now, and the branding was the result of careful planning. “It’s so people feel their car is in [...]

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Does It Make Sense to Pay an Annual Fee?

Many rewards credit cards charge annual fees up to $100 or more. Are they worth it? Photo: StockMonkeys

Have you ever vowed to sign up for a rewards credit card, but changed your mind after seeing the annual fee? If you have, you’re certainly not alone. Although the top rewards cards offer plenty of value, many people don’t want to pay an annual fee for the privilege of having one.

At the same time, some rewards enthusiasts don’t mind paying an annual fee every now and then. Why? Because, despite the upfront cost, they feel they’re getting more than enough value in return. This post aims to explain why an annual fee makes sense sometimes, and how you can determine when an annual fee is worth it.

What Is an Annual Fee?

Since many rewards cards are fee-free, it’s easy to wonder why others charge a fee to begin with. As a general rule, however, the rewards cards with the biggest perks and signup bonuses are the ones that charge an annual fee. And if you want the most bang for your buck, you’ll be asked to pay for it.

Most annual fees charged by rewards cards are somewhere between $59 and $95. However, certain premium cards charge annual fees as high as $450 or more. Annual fees pay for:

• Credit card perks: While all cards offer a different set of benefits, many rewards cards that charge an annual fee come with special perks such as price protection, extended warranties, and free FICO scores.
• Insurance and other protections: Travel credit cards specifically are known for offering pricey insurance coverage as a cardholder perk. This coverage can include primary rental car coverage, trip cancellation/delay coverage, and emergency travel assistance.
• Membership in a rewards program: If you charge a lot of expenses to your credit card, membership in a rewards program can help offset the cost of your card’s annual fee.

While credit cards don’t actively advertise all of the extra benefits they offer, they are certainly available. To learn more, read our post on Eight Hidden Benefits of Credit Cards.

How to Tell When an Annual Fee Is Worth It

While there are no hard and fast rules that dictate when paying an annual fee is worth it, it’s fairly easy to tell. For the most part, paying a card’s annual fee is worth it if you’re receiving more back than you are paying in.

It’s also worth noting that most of the top rewards credit cards waive the annual fee for the first year, which gives you time to see if the added cost is worth the benefits. Once the annual fee is due, however, these tips can help you decide.

Most of the time, paying an annual fee is worth it when:

• You’re earning enough rewards to offset the annual fee. If you’re spending enough on your card each month to rack up plenty of rewards, then paying an annual fee might make sense.
• You’re using your card’s “extra benefits” frequently enough.
• Your card offers services you needed to pay for anyway. If you need to purchase primary auto rental coverage each time you get a rental car, for example, it might be wise to get a rewards card that offers that coverage as a cardholder perk instead.

A Real-Life Example

To show how and when paying an annual fee might be worth it, let’s imagine you just signed up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card and met the minimum spending requirement. Since the annual fee is waived the first year, and the sign-up bonus alone is worth $500 in travel or even $400 in gift cards, your first year is absolutely worth it.

But, should you pay the $95 annual fee after the first year?

If you spend more $5,000 per year on travel or dining…

Yes. Since you earn two points per dollar spent and you can redeem your points for gift cards or cash back, $5,000 in travel and dining spending will net you $100 in value.

If you spend more than $10,000 per year on regular purchases…

Yes. Since you earn one point per dollar spent on all purchases, annual spending on the card of $10,000 means you’ll score enough points for a $100 gift card or $100 in cash back.

If you rely on your card’s valuable perks…

Yes. Since primary auto rental coverage or even trip cancellation insurance can easily cost a lot more than $100 each time you buy, using this coverage just once a year means the card pays for itself.

With all of that being said, paying an annual fee might not be worth it if you don’t spend much within your card’s valuable bonus categories, which in the case of the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, is travel and dining. Meanwhile, if you don’t use your card often, you may find little value in the points you earn anyway.

The Bottom Line

Paying your card’s annual fee is worth it when you’re getting more value out than you’re putting in. It’s as simple as that. And that value can be extracted in more than one way, too.

Whether you’re addicted to the rewards points you earn, used to relying on your card’s valuable insurance coverage, or enjoying the fact that credit cards in general offer superior fraud protection and liability coverage, it’s OK to pay a card’s annual fee if you truly value what you’re getting in return.

And, as always, the choice is yours to make.

Do you ever pay annual fees on credit cards? What perks make an annual fee worth it for you?

The post Does It Make Sense to Pay an Annual Fee? appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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Know Tons of Random Trivia? I’ve Made $155 Answering True-or-False Questions on Givling

If you have a couple of minutes to spare each day and a general knowledge of history, pop culture and weird facts, you could make money playing an online trivia game.

Givling hands out cash prizes to players who correctly answer true-or-false questions on a wide range of topics. I’ve been playing for a few months, and I’ve already won more than $150!

Want to get paid for your random trivia knowledge? Here’s what you need to know.

How Does Givling Work?

Each player earns points by answering true-or-false questions, which range from relatively simple, common-knowledge topics, to challenging, niche areas of history. (Some examples: “The word ‘allegro’ is a term that means slow and sadly.” And “Benjamin Harrison was the first president to use electricity in the White House.”)

You only get eight seconds to answer each question, so there’s no time to Google your answers. You have to know your stuff!

The more questions you answer correctly, the more points each ensuing question is worth. The first question is worth 10 points, the next 20, and so on. You’re allowed three wrong answers (“strikes”) per game, so try not to strike out before you get to the big-point questions!

Here’s the catch: You’ll randomly be put on a team with two other Givling players, and your scores are tallied together. If you’re lucky, you’ll get paired with some smarties who can boost your team’s score with their bountiful knowledge, but be aware that some of your teammates might not be so scholarly.

If your team gets the highest score for a given day, you get paid! You can win bonus prizes for individual high scores, so there’s a silver lining in case you get stuck with a less-than-brilliant teammate on a particular day.

How Much Can You Make?

The cash prizes depend on how much money was raised the previous day. 20% of each day’s earnings go toward prizes, so if the site raises $1,000 on Tuesday, Wednesday’s payout will be $200.

Depending on the day, expect to see the total payout at the top of the site at anywhere from $100 to $1,000. Weekends tend to have lower payouts, presumably because fewer people are playing.

That’s not much, but the big payout will come once the total amount of funds raised passes $10 million, according to Wired Magazine’s Rob Boffard. (This money comes from the players, which I’ll explain in greater detail below.) At that point, half of the money will go toward giant prizes for the highest-scoring teams, while the other half has a special use — which we’ll get into later.

To date, Givling’s website says it’s paid out more than $100,000 in prizes, and that number should increase as the game becomes more popular.

The downside: If you live in Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Iowa, Maryland or Tennessee, you can’t play the game. Sorry!

How Much Does It Cost to Play?

You can play Givling for free once each day. The company sends a daily code via text message, and you redeem this “token” for your free play. Right now you can play on your computer or tablet, and the company is working on a mobile version.

After you’ve used your free token, you can choose to buy more tokens for 50 cents each through PayPal, with an additional 30 cent transaction fee

If you’re going to buy tokens, it’s smart to buy a bunch of them at once, rather than paying multiple transaction fees for smaller purchases. The tokens never expire. On the rare occasion I purchase tokens, I buy 10 to 15 at a time, though I usually stick to the free ones.

During the last four months, I’ve spent just over $25 in tokens but have won $155 in cash! The site sends your winnings via PayPal, so collection is simple.

Givling Helps Pay Off Student Loans

Here’s the cool part I mentioned — what happens to the other half of that $10 million the company’s aiming to raise.

Givling started as an endeavor to help pay down the overwhelming amount of student loan debt in the United States. Sound crazy? Don’t say that to Kevin James Foster — Givling paid off $32,000 of his student loans.

That’s the beauty of paying to play this trivia game. Any money you spend on tokens goes to help someone else become debt-free.

There’s an active queue of other debt-ridden hopefuls who may get the opportunity to have their loans paid off, provided Givling continues to grow in popularity. I’m one of those candidates, in line at #1,266. Who knows, maybe someday Givling will be able to foot the bill for my remaining $70,000 in student loans!

Not into trivia? You don’t have to play the game to join the queue. If you have student loans, you can sign up to join the list and potentially have some smart people pay off your debt.

Your Turn: Have you tried playing Givling? How much have you earned?

Jacob Trowbridge is a freelance writer from Madison, Wisconsin who enjoys writing about saving money almost as much as he likes actually saving money.

The post Know Tons of Random Trivia? I’ve Made $155 Answering True-or-False Questions on Givling appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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15 Free Kindle Books to Inspire You to Great Things

Photo: Alex

The Kindle is an absolute treasure trove of great free and inexpensive books – if you know where to look. Unfortunately, many of the true highlights that I’ve found for free on the Kindle aren’t anywhere near the bestseller list.

Here is a list of 15 of my favorite books for the Kindle, ones that have inspired me and made me think over the years. The material here will leave you entertained, inspired, and ready to conquer challenges in your life. These books will make you think about the deep questions in your life and figure out new paths forward for yourself.

These books will change your life if you’re willing to start reading.

But I don’t have a Kindle! If you have a smartphone or a computer, you don’t need one. Just download the free Kindle app for almost every platform under the sun – PC, Mac, iOS, and Android. You can even read Kindle books on the web if you so choose.

The best part? Your bookmark in the various Kindle books you’re reading synchronize back and forth between various devices. I have a Kindle, but sometimes I read on my phone and occasionally on my computer. It all syncs effortlessly!

Here are 15 more free books I strongly encourage you to read. They’ll inspire you and make you think about your personal, financial, and professional success as well as your place in the world. They’ll help you to understand cultural references and meanings too.

Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Emerson was a man of his times, during a period in American history where people went from town to town debating and lecturing and publishing essays. Emerson was seen as a champion of individualism and a prescient critic of the countervailing pressures of society. He believed that an individual owed it to himself to make the most of his or her own mind and abilities, and that by doing so a person would find their own way to live, one that wasn’t steered by the culture of the moment.

This is a collection of truly wonderful essays by Emerson, mirroring his first collection of essays. It includes one of the finest essays I’ve ever read, Self-Reliance, which I discussed in three parts in the past. That’s just the start, though, as his other essays discuss compensation, prudence, heroism, love, friendship, and art in profoundly thoughtful ways, ways that will leave you reflecting deeply on your own life.

Emerson’s writings are among the most powerful I’ve ever read. I’ve read and re-read many of his essays over the years and they’ve guided me at different points in my life. I hope they can do the same for you.

If you’re willing to spend just $0.99, Emerson: The Ultimate Collection is a much more thorough collection of Emerson’s essays. Think of the free book as the “highlights,” and this as the much more complete collection.

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

The Picture of Dorian Gray is a powerful novel in which the title character has a painting made of himself when he is young. As he gazes at this painting, full of youth and vigor, he wishes that he could remain that young forever, and his wish is granted. He chooses to use his eternal youthful vigor and appearance to live a hedonistic life, but he comes to find that perhaps it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.

Not only is the story a powerful one, it left me thinking about what I would do if I had an eternally youthful body. Would I perpetually live as I did in my late adolescence, seeking pleasure without any worries about the long term? Is there more to life than that? Is the idea of “growing up” just a result of the youth and vigor leaving our bodies? Or is there something more?

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius was the emperor of the Roman Empire from 161 to 180 AD. Meditations essentially serves as his personal journal of sorts as he figures out his place in the world, what is right and wrong, and what the best way to live a life truly is. It’s divided into twelve sections (called “books”) that cover different periods of the life of Marcus Aurelius.

This book is often seen as a foundational work of Stoicism, a philosophy that has a deep connection to modern ideas such as financial independence and minimalism. I’ve found that Stoicism has a lot in common with the ideas I write about here on The Simple Dollar, so it’s quite enjoyable to see many of those principles existing in the minds of people thousands of years ago.

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

Treasure Island is just a rip-roaring adventure story that can really appeal to almost anyone. It’s perhaps the definitive pirate story as almost every idea that’s used today in pirate books and movies, such as treasure maps, swords, ships, hidden treasure, and so forth all find a home here.

While this is a fun book for older children to read – Stevenson keeps the plot moving along and doesn’t ever introduce anything that would be too objectionable for children – it’s also got a lot to think about. Having read this to my own children not too long ago, I found the character of Long John Silver to be fascinating. He struggles with some profound moral questions and I find myself sympathizing with him often, even though he is the “villain” of the story.

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens has written a ton of great novels, many of which I’ve enjoyed and considered listing here. David Copperfield has an eternally admirable hero that I identified deeply with. A Tale of Two Cities is a tremendous story and a powerful reminder of how the same place can seem completely different to people in different economic situations. A Christmas Carol is an eternal classic.

So why add Great Expectations to this list and not the others? In my opinion, it’s the best that Dickens ever wrote. The book tracks the life and personal growth of an orphan, who goes from a street urchin to a solid member of society in part due to the aid of a mysterious benefactor. Who the benefactor is and why this benefactor is aiding the main character is part of the mystery, but also a great reflection on the good and bad inside people. It’s just a beautiful book.

Moby Dick by Herman Melville

Moby Dick is a novel about obsession and singlemindedness how it can break a person. On one level, it’s an incredible adventure at sea, but when you start watching how Ahab devolves as his obsession with the white whale grows, it’s pretty hard not to see reflections in modern life.

I think we all have a bit of Captain Ahab in us. We find ourselves focused on one particular small piece of life and, because of that focus, we lose track of the many other things that we have. Moby Dick is a tragedy, no doubt, but it’s a tragedy because of the singlemindedness and selfishness within all of us.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Jane Austen’s novels are known as romances, but they stand out because… well… they’re not really romances. Sure, there’s usually a relationship or two involved in the books, but they’re great because they’re really about manners, upbringing, morality, education, and marriage among people in early 19th century England that actually have a lot in common with people today. Like all great fiction, it creates a world that’s just a little different than our own, and it’s those differences that make those big things really stand out.

Austen is such a skilled writer, though, that you’re drawn right into that world. She brings her characters alive, animating them with such vitality that you can almost believe that these characters actually existed. That she manages to also push the plot along at a fast pace while also dropping all of these thoughtful tidbits about living and society is the reason why her books are still beloved two hundred years later.

I universally recommend Jane Austen’s novels and they’re all available for free on the Kindle.

The Republic by Plato

The idea of “justice” is a pretty nebulous one. It’s one of those words where most of us have a vague idea of what it means, but when we start digging into the specifics, things quickly get sticky.

The Republic digs into that idea. Most of the book involves Socrates going around the city of Athens, observing how the citizens there serve the city and balance that service with their own self-interests, and carrying on conversations about that with various people around the city.

Almost every page brings up some issue that deserves some careful thought. The book ends up concluding (essentially) that justice is the set of actions that preserve harmony among all in society, both in terms of their individual needs and of the place they live in. Of course, attaining that kind of justice is very difficult. The whole book is incredibly thought provoking.

Walden by Henry David Thoreau

For a two year period, Henry David Thoreau chose to live as simply as possible on the shore of Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. He starts off by building a house out of very basic materials that he earned in exchange for doing some work for the landowner. He grows a garden for himself and finds a wide variety of ways to provide for his own food, clothing, shelter, and fuel (to keep warm in the winter).

Walden is a diary of and reflection upon his experiences in doing so and what exactly “living deliberately” actually means. It’s pretty hard to read the book without seeing at least some appeal from the situation, but where it gets really interesting is when you start thinking about the presented ideas in terms of your own daily life.

The Odyssey by Homer

This is an epic poem – almost more like a story – set in the age of Greek mythology in which Odysseus spends ten years trying to go home after the end of the Trojan War. All kinds of things befall him along the way, some of them supernatural and others deeply human. It’s a heroic, exciting tale of perseverance and adventure.

This is one of those works that has been referenced and copied so many times that it seems like it is part of the fabric of our culture. As you read it, parts will immediately seem familiar and other things will pop out at you as it’s clear that modern things were just references to it. Yet, still, along the way, you’re going to be surprised by it. That’s the beauty of a truly great work – it’s often imitated, but never duplicated.

As a Man Thinketh by James Allen

It’s not exactly a secret that I’m not particularly impressed by the whole “positive thinking” movement. The idea that you can merely think about something and have it come true, like magic falling from the sky, is absolutely ludicrous. At the same time, I do believe there is value in carefully reflecting on and considering your own actions, even up to the point of visualizing yourself going through a difficult action and coming out on the other side successfully.

This book somewhat straddles the two perspectives, but it makes for an interesting read nonetheless. Allen’s primary point is that you create the kind of person you are by the kind of thoughts you choose to have. If you choose to think negative thoughts about others, you become more negative overall, and the reverse is true as well. To a certain extent, I think this is true, but it is carried a bit too far by Allen and way too far by some of the people who picked up that idea and ran with it in later years. Still, this is a great book and well worth your time to read it.

Candide by Voltaire

Candide is a comedy of sorts, centered around a student who is sheltered and raised to be eternally optimistic and then is forced to confront some of the harsh realities of the world around him. In other words, many of the scenes come off as comedy with a strong hint of tragedy to it.

Of course, given that mix of elements, it’s not surprising that it echoes very well across modern life. We’re often sold an eternally optimistic world in advertising and television, but when we look at the realities of the world, it’s often not that rosy. There is sometimes real pain when a person is forced to see something that they’re unprepared to see, but there can also be humor in it, too. It’s that comedy with a hint of sadness and reality that makes Candide a very worthwhile read.

Poems by Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman is hands down my favorite American poet. Some of his poems, like Pioneers! O Pioneers!, Song of Myself, and O Captain! My Captain, are among the most beautiful things I’ve ever read.

Poetry can sometimes be a challenging thing to read, as the words are often used in a different way than the writings that we’re used to. Poets like to use words much like painters use paint on a canvas – not necessarily organized, but often hauntingly beautiful. Whitman manages to combine both sides of the coin, as his poems are very readable insights into the human condition as well as amazing examples of the beauty of word choice and wordplay.

While not the most complete collection of his poetry out there, this is a very good collection, one that contains a lot of his best work. If you’ve ever wanted to dip your toes into great poetry, this is an absolutely incredible place to start.

The Quran

I recommend this simply because so many people in the Western world act as if they are experts on the contents of it without ever having so much as looked at one. If you find the relationship between Islam and Christianity and the Western world to be of any interest to you, you owe it to yourself to read the Quran and know exactly what the foundations of Islam are.

Not only will this book teach you a great deal about Islam, it will also help you to interpret the history of the Middle East, especially in modern years. This is the book that billions follow as their holy book and to act as if you know much at all about it without having read it is a grave mistake. Read it and understand it, even if you don’t necessarily agree with it.

The Bible

I could write virtually the same thing about the Bible. This is such a fundamental book in terms of the development of the Western world, yet so many people only know of it through the words of others or through brief verses. If you want to know what Christianity is truly all about – and not just talk as if you do – you owe it to yourself to read this book in its entirety.

Again, not only will it teach you a great deal about Christianity, it also makes many aspects of the history of the Western world and of modern history make a great deal more sense. This is a book that billions use as their holy book, so reading it and understanding it is a fundamental key to understanding the world, whether you agree with the writings or not.

The Kindle provides a treasure trove of great books for you to read. They can entertain you and enlighten you. They can stretch your understanding of the world and fill in the blanks in your knowledge. Best of all, many of the greatest books you’ll find on the Kindle are free – and you don’t even need a device to read them!

Happy reading, everyone!

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