Southwest is Having a Crazy Flash Sale: Fares as Low as $49!

Wanna get away this fall?

Southwest is throwing a pretty sweet flash sale right now — some fares are as low as $49 one-way — for travel between August 13 and December 14, 2016.

If you’d like to grab one of these cheap tickets, you’d better act fast; the deal only runs until 11:59 p.m. in the city of origin’s timezone on Thursday, June 9.

And if you’ve already purchased a Southwest ticket for travel during this timeframe, this sale might allow you to get a credit for the price difference.

Here’s what you need to know.

How to Jump on This Southwest Sale

Until the end of the day tomorrow, Southwest has reduced fares on some routes as low as $49, $79, $99 and $129 (including taxes).

The fares are good for domestic travel from August 23 to December 14, travel to/from Puerto Rico from September 7 to December 8 and international travel from August 23 to December 13.

If traveling domestically, you must fly on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Saturday, and blackout dates, including Thanksgiving week, apply.  

Since airfare sales almost always have restrictions, the best strategy is to just check and see what’s available.

Like many airlines, Southwest offers a free 24-hour cancellation period: If you change your mind within 24 hours of booking, you can get a complete refund to your original method of payment.

So I always advise booking first, and thinking later. Better to scoop up the fare and cancel within 24 hours than to wait and miss it.

What If You Already Booked a Trip?

Already have a Southwest reservation this fall? The sale might also mean good news for you.

If the exact flight you already purchased (same date, same route) went down in price, you can request a fare credit from Southwest.

Lastly, don’t forget Southwest has some extraordinarily customer-friendly policies, including no change fees and no baggage fees.   

Isn’t it time to get going? Click here to see if there are any sales that strike your fancy.

Your Turn: Do you like flying Southwest?

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

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If Amazon Prime is Late, You’ll Get This Sweet Freebie

Talk about frustrating: You shell out $99 for a year of Amazon Prime, specifically looking forward to its sweetest perk — free, fast shipping.

And then, a package is delayed.

And then another one. In Prime user Jason Jepson’s case, it happened 13 times.

I mean, it’s kind of a first world problem… but $99 is nothing to sneeze at. Why’d you pay for Prime in the first place if your packages are always going to come late?

Luckily, it turns out you might be eligible for some compensation if you’ve experienced this blood-pressure-raising scenario.

Specifically, Amazon will put its money where its mouth is… by offering you a free month of Prime.

The Amazon Prime Benefit for Delayed Shipping

Shipping delays are a fact of life.

Trucks break down, employees get sick and warehouses get too busy to keep up with demand.

Sometimes, we even cause shipping delays ourselves — we miss the UPS guy’s knock or change our form of payment too late in the game.

But if your package isn’t delivered by the “guaranteed delivery date” — and it’s not your fault — you may be eligible for a free month of Prime.

“If for some reason our delivery promise hasn’t been met, customers can call or email and we can extend them an extra month of Prime membership,” Amazon’s Julie Law confirmed to Time Money.

Bargain-hunting sight DealNews tested the policy — and successfully requested the free month twice in a single year.

In keeping with the fine print, you’re eligible for up to 12 extensions if you keep experiencing multiple delays.

You might receive another form of compensation instead, like free expedited shipping on a future order — or a credit, which may be worth more than Prime’s monthly $8.25 value.

But don’t think you can ring up Amazon today and score a freebie if you haven’t actually had any shipping problems.

“We don’t allow people to abuse [the policy],” Law says.

And sorry, students: The policy doesn’t apply to your free membership.

Your Turn: Have you experienced delayed shipping after paying for Amazon Prime?

Disclosure: This post includes affiliate links. We’re letting you know because it’s what Honest Abe would do. After all, he is on our favorite coin.

Jamie Cattanach (@jamiecattanach) is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. Her creative writing has been featured in DMQ Review, Hinchas de Poesia and is forthcoming in Word Riot. Her biggest regret about dropping out of grad school is losing out on her discounted student Prime membership.

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6 Unscalable Tactics That Will Get You More Customers

The biggest problem most businesses have is getting more customers.

Business owners believe that if they could just find that one magic growth tactic, their business would be set.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of them will never find that tactic.

And while they’re searching for that magic bullet, they’re passing up on smaller, unscalable tactics that could be getting them a consistent stream of new traffic.

The confusion mainly comes from misinterpretation of the concept of growth hacking:

The only real condition to growth hacking is prioritizing customer/user growth above all else.

However, too many marketers seem to believe that growth hacking must involve rapid, viral growth that makes or breaks the company.

Sometimes, maximizing your growth potential means focusing on unscalable tactics. They cost more per acquisition but deliver customers when other tactics are failing.

These are best applied early on in a business, when scalable tactics (advertising, really high quality viral video campaigns, etc.) are not realistic.

I’m going to share 6 unscalable tactics that are often very effective for young businesses looking to grow. Probably, not all of them will apply to your business, but you should be able to identify at least a few you can try. 

1. Trialists rarely leave for no reason

It makes me want to bang my head against my desk.

via GIPHY

Some marketers are so focused on getting new customers that they don’t realize that what happens after a signup or purchase is the most important factor behind growth.

Growth comes from creating a product that is as close to the needs and wants of your customers as possible.

You can’t create that kind of a product going on intuition, without any actual customer feedback.

No feedback is feedback: If someone signs up for a demo or a trial or purchases something from you, that tells you something.

It tells you that:

• They need a solution to a problem you’re trying to solve.
• They like the sound and/or look of your product.

But if a customer stops using your product right after they start using it (particularly for software products), that’s your feedback.

Their problem didn’t just disappear. What happened is they concluded that your product couldn’t help them sufficiently.

What’s the point of getting new customers if you barely retain any of them?

On top of that, you need to absolutely thrill customers if you want them to recommend you to others.

The solution? Get feedback: As long as you collect email addressed when people sign up, you can contact them.

If a large portion of your new signups are disappearing on you, personally send them an email and find out how your product fell short.

The customer is still in “pain” because they haven’t solved their problem, which makes them pretty receptive to outreach.

It’s not scalable to email every single new customer you get, but this type of feedback is how you’ll make your customers love your product. You could even survey a fraction of your customers and still get really valuable feedback.

You can also preemptively get feedback by sending your customers a welcome email, asking them how they found you and what they’re hoping your product can do for them.

Here’s how Groove did it with great success:

Try something similar, and you’ll get a high response rate with great feedback.

2. Don’t be afraid to sell one-on-one at first

I’ve started many companies at this point, and believe me, they weren’t all successes at first.

It’s a huge job to start a business from scratch. Getting customers is just one area, but it is indeed very difficult since you don’t have your perfect product yet or any word of mouth in most cases.

Sometimes, you can throw money at advertising and get your growth off the ground.

Sometimes you can’t. Whether it’s because of your budget or because of your product, advertising isn’t always a great option.

An option that I recommend is to have one-on-one conversations with your potential customers.

Where do you find them?

• Forums
• Sites like Reddit
• LinkedIn, Facebook, and other social media sites
• Friends in real life

Let me give you an example. Say you’re selling a website builder. You could spend time on the startups and entrepreneur subreddits, forums such as Warrior Forum, and many groups on LinkedIn and Facebook.

It will take time, but you’ll come across questions and conversations like this one I pulled from Reddit:

Someone was looking for a website builder with search functionality.

Then, you can send the user a message. Something like this:

Hey, I saw that you were trying to create a search based website. I actually have a lot of experience with that sort of thing and even built a website builder for that specific reason.

I’d be happy to answer any questions you have about it. Just send me your email address, and we can hop on Skype or Slack or have a quick email chat.

Regards,

Neil

Note that everything in this message is about how you can help them, and not the other way around.

It’s much easier to sell to someone when you have their full attention during a chat, and especially when you’re actually providing them with additional help and guidance.

3. Make customers come back with a little extra effort

Like I said above, the customer experience after they try or purchase something is what leads them to become return customers and to start talking about your product to others.

One way you could make sure they end their experience on a high note, which will encourage them to talk about your business and come back, is with a handwritten thank-you note.

Unless your customers are very young, handwritten letters are typically perceived as a caring, personal gesture.

For example, this is a simple card that a Jawbone customer received:

When the recipient of the note posted the above photo on Twitter, this one tweet resulted in over 100 shares (at the time of writing).

While a card will take you a few minutes to write and send (if you batch them), it will return much more to you if do it well.

Could this be scaled? If you have thousands of customers, it’ll be hard to write a real letter to each of them.

Some businesses, such as Bond and MailLift, offer services that will write the letters for you. You just need to provide the addresses and names:

Ideally, you don’t want to be writing the same thing to each customer. So, while this is an option, it’s not quite as good as writing your own letters.

4. Trade your product for something more valuable

I mentioned it earlier: it’s tough to get customers for a new product with no customer base.

People want to see that others have had a good experience with something before buying it themselves.

Translated to marketing, this is social proof, primarily seen in the form of testimonials and case studies.

Both can provide assurance to potential customers considering buying from you and often have a large impact on conversion rates.

You have to give to get: Great testimonials or case studies are worth several times the cost of your product.

One option, early on, is to give away your product or service in return for a testimonial or case study.

The hard part is finding a way to actually get this offer in front of people.

It will depend on your product.

For some, you can simply make a forum post or Reddit thread and offer a few samples of your product (say 5-10) to any users willing to give you feedback. You can get their emails and go into more details later.

If that’s not an option, you need to be more creative:

• Offer it to anyone who contacts you with questions about the product.
• Install live chat on your website, and offer products to anyone who engages.

• Actively reach out to customers if possible (say you sell a product for bloggers)

Most people are pretty receptive to trying something for free.

Once you’ve invested in these testimonials or case studies, you need to make sure they’re effective. Luckily, I’ve written about it in the past:

• A Step-by-Step Guide to Generating Clients by Writing Case Studies
• How to Receive Great Testimonials
• How to Effectively Use Testimonials

5. Have a broad market? Consider stickers…

I’ve mentioned Reddit a few times in this post as well as many of my other posts. Reddit is now one of the largest sites in the world.

Do you want to know how Reddit got off the ground?

In 2005, the two co-founders got $12,000 from Y Combinator.

That’s $12,000 for the whole business, so not a ton to go around. They were left with $500 for a marketing budget.

They promptly spent that $500 on stickers of their alien mascot:

They plastered them in public everywhere they could and handed out the rest at events or to random people on the street.

Soon after, stickers started showing up on social media and other websites, and people learned about Reddit. The picture above is of Wil Wheaton in the background of a sticker.

I love this idea because you’ll always stand out. Just make sure that your site or product is identified on the sticker and that it ends up in view of the people you’re trying to target.

The Reddit stickers worked out well because they were placed on bus stations and buildings on college campuses. Reddit had a pretty broad audience, even at the start, but primarily focused on young, tech-savvy users (college students).

You don’t necessarily have to use stickers. You could try:

• Backpack or luggage tags
• T-shirts or hats
• Bracelets
• Glow sticks

Be creative.

6. Get out and speak

Speaking at events comes with a lot of benefits.

For one, it may lead to direct payment, which alone is highly rewarding.

But when you’re first starting out, the biggest benefit is having an audience in front of you.

Most crowds consist of customers and peers (other businesses in your industry).

As a speaker, you position yourself as an expert—an expert with whom many people in the audience will want to do business.

If you have something to sell to those businesses, you’ll almost always make some sales. More importantly, you can find ways to work together.

For example, a real estate agent could partner up with a home decorator. The home decorator could touch up houses for sale and leave business cards or pamphlets for people the agent shows the houses to.

The agent gets a better looking house to sell, and the decorator gets more customers. Win-win.

Where do you start if you want to speak at conferences? Unfortunately, you can’t just jump in and speak at the biggest ones in your industry.

You’re starting from the bottom, and you need to start with whatever experience you can get.

Focus on getting experience first so you can leverage it later to get speaking opportunities at bigger events. If you can get customers from these first few speaking gigs as well, that’s just a great bonus.

To find a list of conferences actively looking for speakers, Google “(industry) conferences speaker proposal”:

Put in some decent effort into your proposals, and you’ll get at least a few chances to speak.

Here are some quick tips on how to increase your chances of being invited to speak:

1. Stick to the requirements – Different conferences want to know different things about their speakers. Always read all the details they provide, and try to describe yourself according to them.
2. Don’t be a generalist – Never submit a proposal and call yourself something like a “marketing expert.” Instead, pick a specific area, e.g., “influencer marketing expert.”
3. Your bio leaves a mark – You’ll get a chance to submit a bio most of the time. Put emphasis on your most impressive professional accomplishments.
4. Talk specifics – Part of a proposal is a topic you could speak about and a short description. Try to think of something unique that the audience would love. That way, no other speaker could fill your spot.

Apply to several conferences at the same time because they can take a little while to get back to you.

Conclusion

Scalable growth is sexy, but it’s not always possible.

If your business is still struggling for customers, don’t be afraid to use unscalable marketing tactics.

I’ve shown you 6 in this post, so you should be able to get working on at least one right away.

If you have any experience with unscalable growth tactics, I’d love it if you shared your creative ideas in a comment below.

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How to Break Out of the Overdraft Cycle

Most of us are familiar with overdrafts, whether it’s something we’ve actually done ourselves or not. We write a check for an amount greater than the remaining balance in our checking account and something bad happens.

If you don’t have overdraft protection on your checking account, the bank will refuse to cover your check. This uncashed check is returned to the person or business to which you wrote that check and they’ll usually then come after you for non-payment along with some additional fees. Most businesses will not only charge you late fees on your account, but will also tack on an additional fee for a returned check. Bummer.

To combat this, many banks offer overdraft protection. If you sign up for this, the bank essentially offers you a small amount of credit that kicks in if you ever write a check that exceeds your account balance. They’ll cover your check, but then your account balance is negative and thus the next time you deposit money you’ll have to cover that negative balance first. For this service, banks often charge you a fee for each overdraft and sometimes also charge an interest rate on your negative balance.

In both cases, you wind up in the same situation. When you overdraft, you’re already in a precarious financial state (or else you wouldn’t be overdrafting) and then you’re hit with a bunch of additional fees, making that situation even worse and actually increasing the likelihood of subsequent overdrafts.

Often you wind up in a cycle. You’re unable to cover the bills after covering last month’s overdrafts, so you’re practically forced into overdrafts this month.

That’s a very vicious cycle, and one that’s difficult to climb out of. Many people simply accept it and live on a cycle of overdrafts, which continually drains their finances at a rapid rate and ensures more overdrafts in the future.

If you want to build a better life for yourself, you have to escape this cycle of overdrafts.

But it’s not easy, which is pretty obvious to anyone who’s ever been in this kind of a cycle as well as anyone who spends some time thinking about being in that kind of a cycle.

How exactly can one escape from that cycle?

Here are seven strategies that, when used together, can pull a person out of a cycle of overdrafts. To pull this off, however, you do need to have steady employment that provides an income stream of some kind

Have a “money free” month to “reset”

The idea of a “money free weekend” is an idea I’ve talked about since the earliest days of The Simple Dollar. It’s a simple idea – you simply avoid spending money if at all possible for a weekend. You eat food that you have on hand, engage in activities that use as few resources as possible and with as little electricity as possible, and generally try to minimize your expenses in every way from Friday evening to Monday morning.

This is a great idea for kickstarting a financial turnaround, but it’s also an idea that can be expanded greatly to a “money free month” in order to provide something of a reset to your financial life.

Basically, you just take the idea of a “money free weekend” and expand it over the full month. Your goal is to minimize your spending in every way possible. If you don’t have to spend money, don’t. Live off of the food you have on hand. Use the cheapest way possible to get to work and back. Use minimal electricity. Buy nothing that isn’t an essential.

The goal of this is to get through a month where you’re not actively overdrafting – or making as few overdrafts as humanly possible.

I’ve used periods like this for many financial goals and I’ve found that the most effective way to make it work is to make it into a game. The goal is to see how low you can possibly go. Can you spend less today than yesterday? Can you spend less this week than last week?

Clean out your closet

Another great strategy that goes hand in hand with a “money free month” is the good old closet cleaning.

Here’s what you do: you simply pull everything out of your closets and storage spaces and then go through all of it, sorting it into two piles: stuff to keep and stuff to sell.

Ideally, as you’re putting things in the “stuff to keep” pile, you’re finding things that you’re going to want to use in the near future. Maybe you’ve discovered things that got pushed into the back of the closet, things that you can’t wait to actually use. The things in that pile can provide projects and entertainment and clothing for many months.

On the flip side is the “stuff to sell” pile. That stuff should be taken straight to Craigslist and sold to whoever will buy it. The cash generated from those sales can then be directly used to get you out of the overdraft cycle by putting some extra cash into your checking account.

Adopt a budget

One of the biggest reasons that people fall into this cycle is the lack of a budget – more specifically, a lack of understanding of where all of their money is going each month.

The best way to prepare a budget is to simply go through your credit card and bank statements for the last few months, sort all of those transactions into groups – food at home, dining out, utilities, hobbies, entertainment, automobile, rent – and then add up the total for each group. You’ll probably find a surprising amount of money spent on the nonessential categories – eating out, hobbies, entertainment, and so on.

For many people, this can serve as a giant wake-up call as to how much money they’re actually spending on stuff they don’t need. People forget that they’re dumping hundreds a month into cable bills, cell phone bills, internet bills, gadgets, Netflix, and so on, all of which qualifies as “entertainment.”

Those expenses need to be cut hard, at least for a while. You can always sign up for cable or for Netflix in a year or so. You can always add data and other services back onto your cell phone plan.

Cut back on everything nonessential – hard. Keep at it until your financial life is under control and you’re not even in remote danger of overdrafting any more.

Ask for a waiver

Simply go to your bank and ask for a courtesy waiver of some of the most recent overdraft fees. This seems like a simple step, but two things keep people from doing it.

One, there’s a good chance they’ll say “no” anyway. Although that seems like a reason not to do it, it’s actually no different than the situation you’re in right now, so there’s no downside to asking.

Two, they’re “ashamed” to ask the cashier or the customer service rep. If this is why you’re not doing it, swallow your pride. The truth is that the cashier or the customer service rep does not care. They’re not judging you. They’re actually usually just trying to get through a day at work and if they can easily help with your request, they probably will without skipping a beat. They see or hear hundreds of customers a day. Judging you is not something they’re going to waste their time on.

Ask. The worst that can happen is that they say “no,” which just puts you back to where you already are. In other words, this is a request that’s pure upside for you, so give it a shot.

Sign up for balance alerts

Many banks will send you an automatic text or email if your checking account balance drops below a certain point. Sign up for these. Use these.

The biggest reason many people overdraft isn’t due to not keeping track of the checks they’ve written. The biggest reason most people overdraft is that an automatic payment is withdrawn at an inopportune moment. That’s why balance alerts can be very useful, as they can alert you instantaneously when a withdrawal happens so that you don’t make the mistake of writing a check when you don’t have the cash, or it can give you the chance to rectify an error before the consequences hit you.

Contact your bank and find out whether or not they offer any kind of text or email balance alerts and sign up for whichever is more convenient for you. It’s a way to make your current balance to the forefront of your mind and reduce the number of errors you might make.

Connect your overdrafts to a credit card or savings account

Another approach is to simply forego typical overdraft protections and tie your overdrafts directly to a credit card or a savings account.

This simple move bypasses most of the dangers of overdrafts and overdraft protections. You won’t be hit with a lot of fees or unexpected interest should you overdraft. Instead, what you’ll see is a dip in your savings account balance or an unplanned charge on your credit card, both of which can be much easier to handle than an overdraft.

Again, a quick phone call to your bank can make it clear whether such services are available to you. If your bank can set up this type of overdraft “protection,” then sign up for it as it will keep you out of that overdraft cycle.

Final Thoughts

Getting out of overdraft trouble requires a mix of personal choice, personal sacrifice, and smart use of the services offered by your bank. Using all of these things together in concert can help you escape the overdraft trap altogether and put yourself on a much healthier long term financial path.

Good luck!

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This Innovative University Will Teach You to Code for FREE

We talk all the time about how software engineering is one of the best fields to get into.

It’s growing fast and pays ridiculously well — even the internships.

But if you don’t want to teach yourself to code, coding bootcamps and university degrees are both expensive.

At least, until now.

This fall, a FREE coding university called 42 is opening.

The only catch? You have to get in first.

Free Coding University? What? Why?

42 will welcome its first class of 1,042 students in November 2016 at its Fremont, California campus.

It’s actually the second university of its kind; the first opened in France in 2013. The mind behind both schools is French billionaire Xavier Niel.

His admirable goal? To even the playing field for aspiring developers.

“42’s mission is to undercover [sic] the talents of their generation in the field of programming and to do so on a broad scale,” says its website.

“Students are selected neither on the basis of financial ability nor educational degree, but solely on the basis of their talent and motivation.”

To attend, you must be a U.S. citizen or have a valid green card and be between 18 and 30 years old, or less than 18 years old but in 12th grade, by November 1.

How Does 42 Work?

There are no classes, professors or grades. Its pedagogy embraces a peer-to-peer learning system, gamification of progress and the ability to learn at your individual pace.

The coding school’s curriculum takes approximately three to five years to complete, accounting for time spent working part time and also completing mandatory internships.

Although it’s a nonprofit organization and costs nothing to attend, you should keep in mind housing in Silicon Valley is really expensive.

42 will offer rent-free dorms, but only for 300 students.

“We are currently working with the City of Fremont to bump that number up to 600,” 42 COO Brittany Bir told me in an email.

As for who’ll get accepted, the “dorms will be reserved for those who need it the most,” she continued.

“For example, students who are coming from far away will be given priority over those who come from the Bay area,” Bir said.

“However, we must wait to learn more about the socioeconomic data of the students that will be coming to school in order to have an accurate idea of who should be considered for housing.”

Even if you don’t get into the dorms, it’d probably still be worth attending to graduate with, hopefully, a high-paying job — and assuredly, no student loans.

How to Get Accepted to Free Coding School

So, how do you get in?

First, register here.

Then, play two games, each designed to “test your ability to learn and to become a world-class software engineer.”

The first takes about 10 minutes, and the second, two hours. You don’t have to complete both at the same time, but once you start a game, you must finish.

One twist? The games don’t come with any instructions.

“In the absence of an objective in a game, do not panic: this is normal, you can figure it out for yourself,” the website states.

I tried them myself. They’re challenging — and also addicting.

If you successfully complete the games, you might be asked to attend one of 42’s four-week intensive bootcamps, which take place in July, August and September.

Work your derrière off there, and you could be one of the lucky one-third of students invited to join 42’s inaugural class.

Bonne chance, mes amis!

Your Turn: Will you apply to this innovative university?

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

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23 Brilliant Ways to Get Everything You Need for Free

Do you think you could make it through a day without spending any money?

What about a week? Or a month?

Eventually your food and necessities start to run low, and rent comes due. But we’ve found some pretty cool ways to get even those for free.

If you’re creative, you can get everything from clothes to furniture to groceries to WiFi — without spending money.

Some take more work than others, and a few things in this list will require payment upfront. But when you balance your budget at the end of the month, you could get away with zero expenses!

Are you up to the challenge?

Whether you want to live your life entirely without money or you just like to get a good deal, here are 23 smart ways to get your everyday items for free.

1. Swap Clothes to Get Outfits for Free

Instead of paying for new or even used clothes, try swapping outfits with friends to keep your wardrobe fresh.

Swishing.org shows you how to organize your own clothing swap party with friends. If you’re in the U.K., you can also join a Swishing event to connect with others in the community.

But you aren’t limited to swapping with your friends. Register at the new Swapstyle site to trade in your designer clothes for others, instead of buying new ones.

2. Get Free Beauty and Feminine Product Samples

Hair, makeup, lotions and other beauty care products can be pricy. But brands are constantly sending free samples to get you hooked!

If you’re flexible about which products you use, you can maintain a pretty decent stock of beauty supplies by signing up for free samples.

The same goes for tampons and other feminine care products. Go here to get three free boxes of o.b. Tampons, and keep an eye on these sites for more daily freebies:

• Hey, It’s Free

• Mr. Free Stuff

• Freebies on Reddit

• Allure’s Free Stuff & Samples

3. Get Netflix for Free With This Credit Card Hack

If your ex’s sister’s boyfriend has changed his password and locked you out of your free ride to Netflix and chill, try this hack to cover the expense.

Here’s how it works:

Sign up for a Bank of America checking account and the Bank of America Better Balance Rewards credit card. The card rewards you with $25 per quarter when you pay more than the minimum each month.

You can get an additional $5 per quarter by automatically depositing that cash reward into a Bank of America checking or savings account. That’s $30 every three months in rewards.

Netflix costs $9.99 per month, so your quarterly rewards are just enough to cover it!

Build up a quarter of rewards before signing up for Netflix, and you won’t even have to dish out your own money upfront.

4. Trade Your Old Books to Get New Ones for Free

Swapping books with friends, family and colleagues is a pretty old-fashioned frugal life hack.

But of course, we’ve found ways to add some hipster and hacker flair and, by all means, avoid unwanted human contact.

BookMooch is a website that lets users trade books they’ve already read for something new.

To make it even simpler (and human contact-free), look for Little Free Libraries around your neighborhood. These are literally boxes on posts that people fill with books you can take for free.

Find your nearest Little Free Library on the map here, drop off old titles and pick up your next great read for free.

5. Use This Hack to Make Your Parking Space Virtually Free

This tip requires you pay money upfront, but you can earn it all back if you’re smart.

If you rent an apartment downtown, chances are you pay extra for a parking space near the building. If you drive your car to work during the day, that pricy spot is vacant the whole time.

Earn that money back with JustPark, and consider your space free.

JustPark is an app that connects people who have empty driveways during the day with commuters looking for a cheap parking spot. Use it to rent your vacant space to someone who commutes to your area every day.

6. Never Pay for Furniture

Sure, you can get a classy new living room set to furnish your apartment. Or you can be thrifty and buy it secondhand.

Or you can do even better than that.

I prefer to curb-shop for my furniture — there’s even a holiday for it in my old college town, where tenants are kind enough to leave a note when their discarded furniture has bed bugs.

If you don’t trust your neighbors’ garbage as much as I do, browse Craigslist for freebies.

People often list big items, like old furniture and TVs, that they can’t or don’t want to transport. If you’re willing to pick it up, you can have it for free.

Also check out online swapping communities for people looking to give away or trade their old stuff. Freecyle.org is a good resource, and you can probably find a “buy/sell/trade” group for your city or town on Facebook.

7. Borrow Someone’s Dog Instead of Spending Money on Your Own

Pets are expensive. Their food, treats, vet care and weird accessories are costly icing on the cake. And the fee your landlord charges just to allow a pet to live with you is the cherry on top of this broken metaphor.

Skip the expense. Just borrow someone else’s pet!

The app Bark’N’Borrow connects dog owners with “dog-loving borrowers” for free. Take someone’s pooch off their hands for a few hours, and get your Fido fix without spending a dime.

8. Get Free Food Pretty Much Anywhere if You Have an Email Address

Most chains and a lot of local restaurants offer something for free if you subscribe to their newsletters or download their apps.

Some freebies are even enough to cover a full meal, like a free bagel and schmear from Einstein Bagels or free tacos from Taco John’s, Del Taco, Rubio’s and Taco Cabana.

Check out our full list of more than 95 companies that give you free stuff in exchange for your email address.

9. Eat Free Food if You Don’t Mind Sharing…

Are you willing to eat a stranger’s food scraps to save money? Download LeftoverSwap on your smartphone to find strangers with food to spare!

The app will connect you to people with leftovers they don’t want, but don’t want to waste. Browse offers in your area to finish someone’s pizza, eat the last of Chinese takeout or even enjoy what they can’t eat of a home-cooked meal.

Pay it forward when you have leftovers of your own. Snap a photo and share it with other freegans around you.

10. Eat Free Fruit by Finding Fruit Trees in Your City

Depending on where you live, fresh fruits and vegetables can be prohibitively expensive much of the year. Skip the middle man, and harvest them yourself.

You don’t even have to raise a tree yourself to eat fresh, local fruit. Look at FallingFruit.org to find public fruit trees in your city, and stop by for a snack next time you take a walk.

11. A Grant Could Help Cover Your Rent When Money’s Tight

If unexpected circumstances put an extra strain on your budget, Modest Needs could help you cover your monthly expenses.

This nonprofit organization provides small grants to deserving, self-sufficient individuals who can usually cover basic expenses.

When a medical or dental emergency, death in the family, job loss or other unexpected cost makes it tough to pay rent or other bills, you can apply for one of these grants to catch up.

12. Healthcare.gov Can Help You Find Free Health Care in the U.S.

If your employer doesn’t cover health insurance for you or your family, check the marketplace at Heatlthcare.gov to find out if you qualify for assistance.

Healthcare.gov will let you know if you qualify for free health insurance through your state’s Medicaid or other public programs. Even if you don’t, you may be able to find discounts or tax credits to help cover the costs of health care.

Free dental insurance is harder to come by, but we found nine ways you can save money on dental and orthodontic care, including lots of ways to get free check-ups and braces for kids.

13. Get Free Baby Stuff When You Create Your Registry

Yes, creating a baby shower registry is a great way to get free stuff, because your friends will buy gifts for you. But you’ll get free stuff from the store just for signing up!

When you create registries at Babies R Us, Amazon and Target, you’ll get a free package of baby stuff and coupons for future discounts.

You can also use your health insurance to cover the cost of a breast pump, and connect with local moms to swap baby clothes, toys and other supplies.

Plus, check out our list of nine ways to get free diapers.

14. Online Fitness Classes Can Help You Work Out for Free

Work out for free by following YouTube channels that share free yoga and workout videos. If you don’t enjoy exercising solo, invite friends over for a regular DIY fitness class.

If there’s a Lululemon store near you, check out its events, which often include free in-person yoga and other fitness classes.

If your health and wellness goals include meditation, you can find free meditation classes and other resources through Shambhala.org.

15. Skip Car Ownership, and Use This Hack for Free Car Rental

Instead of spending money on a car payment, insurance and maintenance to own a vehicle, only pay for it when you need it. You can drive a Zipcar by the hour or with a membership for as low as $7 per month.

Like our Netflix trick, use a cash-back rewards credit card to earn back the cost of your membership, so your car use is effectively free.

16. Take Free Family Vacations to National Parks and Museums

The best vacations don’t have to cost a lot of money. Even with the whole family in tow, you can get through a fun trip on a budget.

Educate your kids (and yourself!) by taking advantage of free admission days at national parks and museums.

If you’re going far from home and don’t feel like camping, save money on accommodations by trying a housing exchange.

For a smaller group or a pair, try Couchsurfing.

Or just reach out to your network on Facebook. You’ll be surprised by how many of your friends might know someone who’s willing to host you in a new city!

17. Celebrate Your Birthday With Tons of Free Treats

The last thing you want to do on your birthday is spend a bunch of your own money. So we put together a huge list of places that will help you celebrate for free.

Check out these 100 birthday freebies to plan your next celebration.

18. Surf the Web on Free WiFi

Could you live without home internet service? It’s probably easier to survive than you think.

You can find free WiFi outside your home at local libraries, museums, hotels and coffee shops in any city. Even retail stores like Target and restaurant chains like McDonald’s and Perkins advertise their free WiFi for customers.

You can supplement with a data plan if you don’t want to be completely disconnected while you’re at home. Use the Karma mobile hotspot to earn free data by sharing it with the people around you.

19. Get Free Texts, Calling and a Phone Number With TextFree

As long as you’re getting free WiFi, why not ditch your phone plan? Plenty of services let you talk and text over WiFi for free.

You can use Facebook Messenger to message or call anyone who has a Facebook account. Similar but less common options include Google Hangouts, Snapchat or WhatsApp.

To get a real phone number for free calls and texts, use TextFree with an internet connection.

The service lets you send and receive unlimited texts to anyone, whether they have the app or not. Textfree-to-Textfree calls and any incoming calls are free. Outgoing calls to someone without TextFree will cost you.

If you want more freedom, sign up for (no pun intended…) a free cell service plan with FreedomPop.

20. Get a Free Cell Phone and Monthly Plan

What’s that? You need a phone on which to use all this free internet, texting and calling? We’ve got that covered, too!

You can get a steeply discounted phone, plus free service, through FreedomPop.

If you can’t afford that, you could qualify for a free phone and free cell or internet service through the government Lifeline program.

21. Get a Free Education Through Online Courses or These Colleges

A college degree might be an increasingly pricy commodity, but an education doesn’t have to be.

Get the same education as your high-paying peers by taking free online college courses. Build a course schedule to rival any institution’s by building your major on CourseBuffet.

Or you can actually earn your degree for free if you’re accepted to one of these nine colleges that pay or waive tuition for every student.

22. Use Free Software and Websites for Your Home or Office

Think you can’t work, study, create or connect with the world from home without paying the price? Don’t worry — we’ve found free apps for that, too!

If you’re not a Windows fan but don’t want to shell out the cost of a Mac computer, an open source operating system might meet your needs.

You can download and install Chromium OS (similar to Google’s Chrome OS) for free. The operating system is best for users who mostly want to browse the internet.

Regardless of your operating system, you can meet most of your computing needs with free software, apps or websites.

Check these out:

• For free word processing, spreadsheets, presentations and drawing, try Google Docs online or download the OpenOffice suite.

• For internet browsing, download the free Firefox or Google Chrome browsers.

• For photo editing and graphic design, use PicMonkey or Canva online.

• On your smartphone, use Over, Spark or Legend to create cool graphics for social media, and Line to edit photos.

23. Borrow Tools in Your Town Instead of Paying to Own Them

A proper set of tools can seriously improve your life… or be a huge burden. If you rent and move a lot, storing and transporting a heavy toolbox can be more of a pain than it’s worth.

Instead, try borrowing tools only when you need them. Plenty of national auto-parts retailers, like AutoZone and Advanced Auto Parts, let you borrow specialty tools for a refundable deposit to repair your car.

Your city might also have a tool lending library, where you can borrow everything from hammers to plumbing tools to circular saws for your home improvement projects.

More Free Stuff!

Want even more? Check out our giant list of 101 freebies for more ways to earn rewards and life-hack your way to free stuff.

And here are 30 of the best internet freebies we’ve ever found.

Your Turn: What everyday items do you never pay for? Share your tricks in the comments!

Dana Sitar (@danasitar) is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She’s written for Huffington Post, Entrepreneur.com, Writer’s Digest and more, attempting humor wherever it’s allowed (and sometimes where it’s not).

The post 23 Brilliant Ways to Get Everything You Need for Free appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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Energy billing blunders leave households £270m out of pocket

Helen Knapman

big-bill.jpg

Nearly four million energy customers have been overcharged by a total of £270 million - £72 each – due to billing mistakes, claims comparison website uSwitch.

Nearly four million energy customers have been overcharged by a total of £270 million - £72 each – due to billing mistakes, claims comparison website uSwitch.

It says over a third (36%) of respondents it surveyed who said their supplier had made a billing error, said the wrong tariff or product details had been applied.

read more

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Eight Free Things to Do with Dad This Father’s Day

With Father’s Day coming up on June 19, it’s time to start thinking of ways to recognize the special man in your life. From home beer brewing kits to “World’s Best Dad” t-shirts and personalized photo mugs, you’ll find an endless supply of “stuff” to buy your dad if you feel compelled to buy a gift.

But, what about the dad who has it all? Or what if you’re on an extremely tight budget? No matter who you are or what your income is, there are times when it doesn’t make sense to spend money to celebrate with the ones you love.

Free Ways to Celebrate Father’s Day

Some dads already have it all, while others hate the idea of their kids or partners spending money on them. Then there are dads who would rather have something homemade or free – not because they’re cheap, but because those heartfelt efforts are what they truly value most.

If you’re looking for a free way to show someone you care this Father’s Day, consider these ideas from popular money and frugality bloggers around the web:

Take dad out to enjoy his hobby.

Dads and parents in general get so wrapped up in their children’s worlds that they often forget about their own hobbies, dreams, and desires at times. Father’s Day is the perfect time to let your husband or dad know you appreciate what his hobbies mean to him and want to learn more about them.

If your dad loves to golf, take him to the driving range for the afternoon. If he lives to build furniture out of wood, pick up some supplies and help him with his latest project.

Rosemarie Groner of The Busy Budgeter says she loves to take her dad fly fishing with a giant bag of Doritos and penny candy.

“He already has about 50 ties and sweaters,” she says. Like most dads, hers wants nothing more than to spend time with his little girl. And if you don’t care how you spend that time, you might as well spend it doing something he likes.

Take a walk (or a drive) through history.

If your dad is a history buff, chances are good he’d like the day enjoying his love of history with you by his side. “You could head out to a historic monument, battlefield, or map out a series of historic markers and make it a driving history lesson,” says Paul Moyer of Saving Freak.

If you don’t live close enough to anything worth visiting, borrow some historical documentaries from the library and spend the day taking them in together. It’s not quite the same thing, but you’ll spend plenty of quality time together nonetheless.

Have your kids fill out a funny questionnaire.

You know those funny questionnaires commonly sent home from school? The fill-in-the-blank style forms kids fill out about their moms, dads, grandparents, and friends?

Phillip Taylor of PT Money suggests creating one of your own just for Father’s Day. The funniest things come straight from the mouths of babes, and he’ll love you put in the effort on his behalf.

You can come up with any questions you want, but it could go something like this.

My dad is _______ years old. His favorite hobby is _______. My dad gets mad when _______ and happy when _______. The best thing about my dad is _______. I love it when he _______.

You could even try a “Mad-Libs” format for extra laughs: Just ask your kids to name a random number, a couple of activities, and a few adjectives without explaining the context.

Go for a walk, run, or drive.

With our lives busier than ever, Father’s Day is the perfect time to slow down. If you haven’t had a heart-to-heart talk with your dad lately, the perfect activity for Father’s Day might just be a long walk, jog, or drive.

“I really like going on a walk with my Dad,” says John Rampton of Due.com. “This is a time that I can share my time, experiences, and life with him.”

On the flip side, John says he enjoys taking long walks with his own children. The best talks take place when no one else is around, and all electronics are out of site. If it’s hard to find that kind of quality time amid the distraction and bustle of your home, a quiet walk or long drive can do the trick.

Hold a surprise party or pitch-in dinner.

If you want to plan activity that all of your family members can take part in, plan a surprise party that also acts as a pitch-in dinner. Donna Freedman of Surviving and Thriving says she just did something similar for her father’s 80th birthday. Call it a surprise descent, she says, and “just show up.”

“It helps to have someone in on the game, though, so you don’t show up and find out he decided to go hiking for the day,” says Freedman. Conversely, you can host the descent at your own home and make sure he winds up there – even if coercing him involves some storytelling.

• Related: How to Organize a Cost-Effective and Fun Dinner Party

Organize old photos that share a special memory.

Alexander Aguilar of Cash Flow Diaries likes to go through old photos and describe the memories each brings back with his dad. It’s like a trip down memory lane, he says.

If you’re crafty, you could even create a simple photobook with your favorite memories. Collect or print out your best photos and write a caption under each. That way, you can go through it with him in person but he’ll have a keepsake, too.

Teach your kids about previous generations of men in their lives.

Thanks to websites like Ancestry.com, more of us know (or can learn) about our heritage and family trees than ever before. If you want to help your kids understand their family legacy, tell them all about the men that came before their father.

“Have a family history lesson, where you teach your kids about the previous generations of men and their lives,” says Jeff Rose of Good Financial Cents. “It gives your kids an appreciation of their ancestors.” In turn, that might make them appreciate their dad a little bit more, too.

Volunteer to help someone else.

If you have small kids, volunteering together is a great activity for Father’s day. “It gives you a chance to give back to the community and to spend family time together,” says Moyer of Saving Freak.

This works best if your dad actually wants to spend his Father’s Day volunteering, but can be a huge success if you get everyone on board. Stop by a local soup kitchen (call first) and spend the day serving meals, or volunteer for a shift at your local animal shelter. If your dad’s the type who enjoys wandering the aisles at Home Depot, spend the day building a home through your local Habitat for Humanity chapter.

It might even be a ton of fun. Best of all, you’ll be creating even more memories together.

The Bottom Line

If you have some cash on hand, you can buy your dad all sorts of things. From bottles of bourbon to new watches, ties, and yes, sweaters, the gift options you’ll find are nearly limitless.

But there’s a gift he might appreciate more, and it’s absolutely free. We’re talking about the gift of time here, the one thing in this world that is absolutely finite and cannot be bought or sold.

If you love your dad (or your husband), give him some of your time this Father’s Day. If you happen to throw in a gift or two, well, that’s probably just icing on the cake.

What are you getting your father or husband for Father’s Day this year? What is your favorite free way to celebrate?

Related Articles:

• 10 Heartfelt Gifts for People Who Don’t Need More Stuff
• 25 Free Things to Do to Make Today Feel Awesome
• Some Thoughts on My Father

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This College Student Made Her Own Full-Time Job and Paid Off $19K in Debt

While scrolling through Instagram in late 2013, college sophomore Ellen Yin saw an ad for Ledbetter, a health and fitness company.

She was intrigued, so she bought a three-month personal training program.

She had no idea the purchase would help her land a remote internship, score a full-time job and pay off $19,000 in student loans… before she even graduated.

What?! I know. Here’s the story of how she accomplished it all.

Talking to Strangers

After purchasing Ledbetter’s program, Yin stayed connected with the company via its social media channels.

Soon, she developed a personal friendship with Josh and Julie Ledbetter — the married-couple CEO and COO.

“They share a lot of their own story and struggles through their fitness journeys,” Yin says. “I was able to relate to them in a lot of ways. I really got to know their story and know their hearts.”

In turn, Yin shared some of her own milestones and lessons learned through comments on Facebook and Instagram.

And when she visited a friend at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, she was comfortable enough to ask the Denver-based Ledbetters if they’d like to meet up and chat.

During their two hour lunch meeting, Yin took a leap — and pitched them an internship.

“I was like, ‘I really love your company,’” Yin explains. “‘I love everything it stands for, your mission, your products.’”

She needed to complete a 60-hour practicum for school, and even though she wasn’t studying public relations or marketing, she knew the Ledbetters could use help with their YouTube channel and blog.

Everything seemed to click into place. And although her pitch was pretty casual, it was successful.

“We’ve never had an intern before,” they told Yin, “but you’re welcome to work with us.”

How to Create Your Own Job

During the initial unpaid, three-month internship, Yin accomplished many of the goals she’d set and grew to feel like she was part of the small startup’s family.

So when the topic of planning for her next required internship came up at a summer dinner with some classmates, she knew what she had to do.

She texted Josh Ledbetter to say she wanted to pursue a second internship — and that she hoped it would lead to a permanent position.

“I knew that (I) was taking a risk,” says Yin. Ledbetter’s a startup with a small team and finite funding, and she didn’t know if her candor would be read as too brazen.

But in retrospect, Yin attributes a huge part of her success to her honesty in pitching the internship and job.

In being transparent about her intentions, Yin created space for the Ledbetters to have a frank discussion to see where she would fit in their company’s growth.

After Josh responded with a tentative yes, Yin wrote a formal proposal, identifying three tangible improvements she wanted to make in the company’s public relations.

She planned to expand the wholesale program, create an ambassador program and increase media presence.

During her second three-month unpaid internship starting in August 2015, she was able to accomplish all of those goals.

Along with placing Ledbetter headbands in her college store and a downtown Corvallis, Oregon, boutique, Yin also organized a breast cancer walk fundraiser, organized a photoshoot for the site and relaunched the company’s YouTube channel.

She helped build the ambassador program she’d pitched from the ground up (down to writing the application) — and she managed the company’s blog, which saw an increase from seven to almost 400 unique visitors per day.

So it wasn’t that surprising when, after flying Yin and the rest of the company out to Breckenridge, Colorado, to partake in David Ramsey’s leadership conference, the Ledbetters agreed to upgrade Yin’s internship to a part-time, paid position for the rest of the school year, then a full-time job once she graduated.

Why Yin’s Pitch Worked

Some of the keys to her success?

Yin knew her strengths and found actionable ways to apply them to the company’s needs.

“Look at a company and see which areas they lack in, or what you, uniquely, can solve,” Yin says.

Then, follow through and create tangible results, so the value you add to the team is obvious and unquestionable.

“Give first, and then ask for a mutual thing in return,” Yin suggests.

In her case, she showed what she could do during her first internship, then pitched a second internship — with the potential for a full-time job afterward.

But this tactic might not work for everyone.

“I know a lot of people who are full time in the working world can’t afford to just take three months off and work for free,” Yin says.

“But if you have an opportunity to give something to the company first and show them your worth and your value, [it can help] create that sense of urgency.”

Another takeaway from Yin’s story: You have to be willing to ask for what you want.

Talking to strangers doesn’t come easy to everyone. It sure doesn’t for me.

But none of this would’ve happened for Yin if she hadn’t taken the first step to reach out.

“If there is a company that you’re really passionate about working for that you really believe in their mission and you would love to be a part of their team… try to start developing a relationship with them,” Yin explains.

In her position as public relations director, she continues to actively seek relationships with big companies like Bodybuilding.com — even if she’s not sure it’ll work.

“Don’t be afraid to reach out to strangers,” she says, “because a lot of people have surprised me with responses when I didn’t think they would respond.”

If this all sounds like a lot to you, keep in mind it’s OK to be afraid — Yin certainly was.

“I don’t have any experience in PR, so when I [got] this position, I was scared, of course,” Yin explains. And even if you’re an expert in your field, it’s easy to feel inadequate for loads of other reasons — like if you don’t yet have any work experience.

But Yin knew how to overcome her nerves.

“I just told myself, everyone is always learning,” she says.

The moment you stop learning is when you’re really in trouble.

And Now She’s Going to Graduate Debt-Free

Yin transformed her fear into an opportunity to overcome an obstacle — and earned valuable connections and a fulfilling career in the process.

While she finishes school, she works 20 paid hours per week for Ledbetter, managing its Instagram and email correspondence, doing monthly evaluations for the ambassador program she created, and more.

Plus, the job has helped her pay off almost $20,000 worth of student debt in less than a year.

In fact, Yin is on track to be completely student-loan-free before she graduates in June.

And before you ask, no, she doesn’t live with her parents.

After reading Ramsey’s “Total Money Makeover” — a gift from the Ledbetters — Yin was inspired to gain financial freedom. So she cancelled her loans for her final year of school and started devoting almost her entire paycheck to paying down her student debt.

To pay for rent, bills and everything else, she uses the wages from her second job at Applebee’s, where she puts in 15 to 20 hours a week on top of her full-time studies and presumably catching a few hours’ sleep here and there.

She also continued to apply for scholarships after enrolling in school, which earned her about $10,000.

“People should really go after the grants and scholarships,” Yin explains. “It really is free money. It’s worth the investment to take that time to apply.”

When she graduates in June, she’ll work for Ledbetter full time — but she’s staying in Oregon for now. Since she’s prioritizing her financial freedom, she wants to think hard before investing in a move.

Plus, Denver — as you may have heard — is snowy.

“I’m not really a snow person,” says Yin.

Your Turn: Have you ever created a job for yourself?

Disclosure: This post includes affiliate links. We’re letting you know because it’s what Honest Abe would do. After all, he is on our favorite coin.

Jamie Cattanach (@jamiecattanach) is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. Her creative writing has been featured in DMQ Review, Sweet: A Literary Confection and elsewhere.

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