Showers of sparkling wine fell over Linda and Randy Rice as they celebrated during the groundbreaking ceremony for their new winery in Hamilton Township and their 27th wedding anniversary.The couple sprayed each other with bottles of their locally made bubbly to cap off a ceremony that many people never believed would happen. “We believe that God gave us a vision that was guaranteed to fail unless we had His help so He could prove what faith can accomplish,” said Linda. [...]
Source Business - poconorecord.com http://ift.tt/2bPfaqF
الاثنين، 5 سبتمبر 2016
Annual economic summit set for Sept. 9
The Fourth Annual East Stroudsburg University Economic Outlook Summit is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 9 from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Mattioli Recreation Center on the ESU campus. The theme for this year’s summit is Monroe 2030 — Action Now! Assuring a Prosperous Monroe County.The program will include presentations on Re-Energizing our Economy — the Monroe 2030 Action Team Work Plan, results from the Monroe County Business Climate Survey, and [...]
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Source Business - poconorecord.com http://ift.tt/2cajzVM
Multiple factors to determine property values
A commercial landlord’s rental income will be one factor used to determine future Monroe County commercial property assessments for tax purposes, but the income produced at an industrial/commercial location won’t be considered in calculating property tax bills.That’s the message that county assessment officials want to stress to the public to correct recent misunderstandings voiced by some taxpayers.The county is in the early stages of reassessing more than [...]
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Source Business - poconorecord.com http://ift.tt/2bZowxq
Family beaks ground on Hamilton Township winery
Showers of sparkling wine fell over Linda and Randy Rice as they celebrated during the groundbreaking ceremony for their new winery in Hamilton Township and their 27th wedding anniversary.The couple sprayed each other with bottles of their locally made bubbly to cap off a ceremony that many people never believed would happen. “We believe that God gave us a vision that was guaranteed to fail unless we had His help so He could prove what faith can accomplish,” said Linda. [...]
Source Business - poconorecord.com http://ift.tt/2bSUYmb
Source Business - poconorecord.com http://ift.tt/2bSUYmb
This Single Mom Has 3 Kids and Multiple Jobs. Here’s Her Exact Budget
Meagan Pietrzak thought she had it all: a husband she loved, a stable job and two vivacious daughters.
But last year, the life she’d built quickly fell apart.
Her husband abruptly left, completely disappearing from their lives.
Suddenly, she was not only heartbroken and alone, but also the sole provider for two hungry mouths. And it would soon be three: She was a few weeks’ pregnant.
But even though Pietrzak’s world had crumbled, she did not.
“Failing as a mother is not an option,” she explains. “You do whatever you have to do to make it work.”
Amazed by her resilience, I had to know more. Here’s how this supermom handles two jobs and three daughters — and still manages to thrive.
The Day-to-Day Life of This Supermom
Image from Meagan Pietrzak
Pietrzak and her daughters, ages 5, 4 and 6 months, live outside Houston, Texas.
She works full time as a coordinator for an international oilfield firefighting company and receives no government assistance.
Every morning, she wakes up at 4 a.m. so she can have one-on-one time with the baby. They leave at 6:30 a.m, she works from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 or 5:30 p.m., and then comes home to make dinner and put the girls in bed.
As if that doesn’t sound hectic enough, Pietrzak has a side gig, too.
Ironically, she found it while (unsuccessfully) searching for an inexpensive babysitter on Care.com. She noticed a nearby church was hiring an infant sitter, and sent in an application.
“I let them know I was interested, but had my own children I’d have to bring,” she says. “They were reluctant at first and wanted to meet everyone. My kids became fast friends with the regular kids, and a few months later they offered me the Wednesday evening sitter position, as well.”
Exhausted yet? We’re still not done…
Most lunch breaks and evenings during the week, she performs tasks on Amazon’s Mechanical Turk to earn additional money.
She also participates in a long list of rewards programs: Swagbucks, ShopAtHome, Ebates, AchieveMint, ReceiptHog, PerkTV, Pact and BCBS Well onTarget, through her health insurance provider.
(Want to learn more about these programs? Here are 12 awesome apps for earning extra money and nine sites that will pay you to shop online.)
Somehow, she also finds time to occasionally write on her blog Solely Surviving. Though it doesn’t earn money (yet!), it helps her have conversations with other adults — an opportunity she doesn’t often get.
This Single Mom’s Exact Budget
So that’s her day-to-day — but how do the numbers break down each month?
Here’s her exact budget…
Monthly Income
Full-time job: $2,550 (after taxes, 3% 401(k) contribution and health insurance)
Part-time job (church): $260
Odd jobs (online): $50
TOTAL INCOME: $2,860
Monthly Expenses
Mortgage: $960
Daycare: $1,240 (full time, includes breakfast, lunch and snacks)
Utilities: $130
Cell phone: $0 (her employer pays, on the condition she answers calls after-hours)
Internet: $70
Food: $125 (explained further below)
Gas: $75
Car insurance: $40 (paid annually to get the discount)
Baby items: $50 (mostly diapers and clothes)
Incidentals/rollover: $25
Student loans: $20 (on income-based repayment plan)
Emergency fund: $100 (she now has $1,600 saved up)
TOTAL EXPENSES: $2,835
How This Single Mom Saves Money
Surprised by how low some of those numbers were? So was I.
“Basically, there are always ways to save,” Pietrzak explains. “Every time I think I’ve scrounged to the max, I find something else I can do to cut back on costs.”
Here’s how she saves money on…
Housing
Pietrzak and her daughters live in a three-bedroom house.
“I bought a cheap two bedroom fixer-upper house with a 3% down, first-time buyer loan, spent a year updating it and sold it for enough profit to put the 20% down payment on our current home,” she explains.
When her older daughters are in school and she can save $250 per month on daycare, most of that money goes towards home repairs.
“I plan to sell this house next summer to turn a profit,” she explains, “so any leftovers generally go to upgrades, paint, etc.
“My plan is to keep buying and fixing up every two to three years, so eventually I’ll be mortgage free,” she says. “Hopefully before they start college.”
Daycare
Image from Meagan Pietrzak
Since she’s “just over the threshold” for daycare assistance, Pietrzak’s summer daycare costs are higher than her mortgage.
She sends her girls to two different daycares to save $400 per month — even though it’s admittedly “inconvenient”
Her infant daughter stays with a woman without grandchildren, who charges 50% less than a regular daycare because she wants her “baby fix.”
During summer vacation, she also saves money by sending her older daughters to an unofficial daycare: the home of a teacher who wants to make extra money.
“The key here is to not get complacent,” she says. “Talk to people, network, know the prices, know what’s a deal… Don’t be afraid to ask or negotiate.”
Essentials
Although Pietrzak says she doesn’t have time for “extreme couponing,” she does what she can to save money on the essentials.
After waking up with the baby at 4 a.m., she scans coupon blogs like Living Rich With Coupons and The Krazy Coupon Lady. If she sees a great deal or moneymaker, she stops by the store on her way to work or during her lunch break.
She also keeps food costs low by breastfeeding her youngest baby and choosing a daycare that provides food, as well as cooking dinners at home from scratch — often in the crockpot.
For household items, she uses her cash-back credit card to buy discounted CVS, Lowe’s or Home Depot gift cards at Raise or Cardpool, and then makes her purchases online through ShopAtHome or Swagbucks.
“It sounds tedious, but it gets me great discounts,” she explains. “It’s just a little bit of a juggling act.”
Credit Cards
“Credit cards are only to be used for money back and to be paid off every month,” Pietrzak says.
She uses them for points, discounts or cash back at the retailers she frequents: Sam’s Club (5% back on gas), Amazon (rewards points) and Target (5% back on purchases). She also has a Chase card that offers 1%-5% cash back on everything.
“I write down the purchases in my check register so I know exactly how much to pay,” she explains. And as soon as she gets home, she pays the bill.
That lets her reap the cash-back rewards of credit cards — without racking up a balance or paying interest.
Everything Else
Pietrzak and her family live a frugal life: For example, she mows her own yard and cuts all of their hair.
But frugal doesn’t mean devoid of fun.
“We go to different parks a lot, have play dates and really have an active life,” she says. “It helps we live in a larger city where there is always something to do that’s cheap or free.”
On the rare occasion they eat out, she uses discounted gift cards purchased using her cash-back credit card.
Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way
Image from Meagan Pietrzak
Although Pietrzak never would’ve asked for — or imagined — this life, her outlook is incredibly positive.
“All my kids are happy, curious, and healthy… and I think that is what matters most at the end of the day,” she says.
“When I die, no one will remember me for having or lacking expensive furniture or fancy shoes,” she explains. “My kids will remember the picnics, park time, bike rides, playing tag and hide-n-go seek, or days at the splash pad — none of that costs me money.”
Of course, she wishes she didn’t have to stress about money, or could take her kids on vacation — but she’s confident she’ll get there someday.
“I’m determined,” she says. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”
If you’re impressed by her story, you’re not the only one — even Pietrzak herself is surprised.
“Five years ago, I would’ve said there’s no way I could survive alone,” she says.
“Now I’m not only surviving alone, I’m providing for three little people and we are all thriving,” Pietrzak explains. “Life is good.”
Your Turn: Are you inspired by this single mom’s budget?
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.
The post This Single Mom Has 3 Kids and Multiple Jobs. Here’s Her Exact Budget appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
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15 Reasons Scrolling Through Instagram is Ruining My Bank Account
Have you ever bought something because you thought it would make a good Instagram photo?
I know. You think I’m kidding.
But a friend of a friend recently admitted to planning vacations with her Insta feed in mind. Sounds crazy, right?
Maybe I don’t go that far. But I’m definitely guilty of social media-inspired FOMO spending. You know, buying something to quell my fear of missing out…
Can you relate to any of my Instagram FOMO?
1. Every photo of a city I’m not in makes me want to buy a plane ticket, like, now.
That TPA to SFO flight doesn’t come cheap, but, COME. ON.
2. I can’t stop moving different places, because everyone is either hanging out on the beach without me…
3. …Or they’re falling in love over a snowman while I’m alone in Florida. #facepalm
4. When I’m alone with Insta on a Friday night and see concert pics, I immediately click over to BandsinTown.
I thought photography wasn’t allowed?
5. Everyone is definitely getting a new car way more often than I am.
You’re going to want to uncover those eyes…
6. Of course I need to hire an interior decorator and buy all new furniture.
I’ll probably need to hire someone to clean the place, too…
7. When it comes to food, I pretty much just do whatever Tasty tells me to.
Even when it means letting the other groceries go bad.
8. If I go out to eat, I want it to look like this every time.
Gotta buy wine. It’s good for composition.
9. I’m convinced I could nail this pose if I just had the right yoga pants.
Yeah, it’s definitely the pants.
10. And I’d probably be way more successful if I dressed like this.
Would you hire me in that outfit?
11. I obviously don’t run enough races.
So I’ll need a gym membership, running shoes, cute shorts, cute shirts, cute headbands and a cute friend.
12. If I’m really in love, my wedding will have to be very expensive.
Because how else would people know?
13. Seriously stalled on my bucket list. I think I need a life coach.
Or at least a new suit.
14. Is this kid better than my kid?
Definitely going to have to spring for those fashion pre-school summer preparatory courses.
15. My dog needs better toys if she’s going to be happy.
She doesn’t even have her own laptop. And I don’t even have a dog, so you can see how these two expenses will add up!
Your Turn: I can’t be the only one! Are you guilty of FOMO spending?
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 15 Reasons Scrolling Through Instagram is Ruining My Bank Account appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
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Questions About Having Children, Clearing Drains, Making Coffee, and More!
What’s inside? Here are the questions answered in today’s reader mailbag, boiled down to summaries of five or fewer words. Click on the number to jump straight down to the question.
1. Kids and delayed retirement
2. Inspiring personal finance book
3. Clearing drains
4. Cheap coffee technique
5. External motivation
6. Three paycheck month
7. Rent is throwing money away
8. Professional photos for kids
9. Preparing for collapse
10. Figuring out early retirement target
11. Finding new social circle
12. Cheap decent notebooks for class
This past weekend, my oldest son got third place in his division in a 5K race. He was awarded a small trophy for the finish. At the same time, my youngest son got third place in his division in the same 5K race. He was also awarded a small trophy for the finish.
My daughter also ran in the race. However, she did not make the top three. She didn’t get a trophy or a ribbon or anything for participating.
So, why am I mentioning this? For starters, my daughter didn’t get upset over this. Instead, she decided after the race that she wanted to practice to get better at the 5K so she could perhaps win a trophy next year. Not winning motivated her to do better.
Second, both of my sons wished they could have won the larger trophies that went to the first place finishers in their divisions. They are similarly motivated to train in a 5K. Not getting first place motivated both of them to do better.
The motivation comes from self-improvement. They did well, but they know they can do better. They want to do better. The motivation comes from within.
I guess, in the end, it really doesn’t matter if everyone gets a “participation award” or not. If a parent encourages self-improvement tendencies, both in themselves and in their children, the children will naturally want to improve themselves. They’ll want to do better next time and they’ll want to figure out how to do better next time. That phenomenon is completely separated from any awards they happen to get.
The real reward isn’t a trophy or a ribbon. It’s doing better than you did last time. It’s hitting the goals you have for yourself in your head.
The goal of any of life’s journeys isn’t to beat others. It’s to beat your previous performance. You are your own metric for success, not anyone else, not participation ribbons, not trophies.
Q1: Kids and delayed retirement
Read your article on things to think about early retirement and I had a question about having kids. I don’t believe that having kids can delay retirement by ten-fifteen years. What evidence do you have for that?
– Larry
In that article, I was speaking largely about my own experiences raising children, but that experience really does line up with the statistics. The USDA estimates that it will cost $245,000 to raise a child from cradle to high school graduation. I have three children. The average American household brings in around $60,000. Ten to fifteen years is a pretty reasonable alteration in retirement plans given those numbers.
Now, that doesn’t mean that each child is going to cost $245,000. There are definitely some shared expenses – for instance, our two sons share a bedroom, and our youngest wears a lot of hand-me-down clothes and plays with hand-me-down toys. That doesn’t change the fact that each child has food costs, health care costs, and at least some clothing and housing costs.
That adds up, no matter how you slice it. Is it $245,000 per child? I don’t think it’s quite there, but it’s definitely enough to alter our retirement plans, especially since that’s really where most of the expenses for our children are coming from.
Q2: Inspiring personal finance book
I read Rich Dad Poor Dad and was really inspired to start investing. Then I did some homework online and found out that the book is actually junk in terms of how to actually do it. Turns out you can’t just show up at the courthouse and buy dirt cheap properties.
Looking for personal finance/investing books that are inspirational and actually have practical things that work.
– Lonnie
Personally, the book that inspired me the most to make financial changes in my life was Your Money or Your Life. It really opened my eyes to what was possible if I made good choices with my finances and it made me want to change things as quickly and as intensely as possible. It’s not really an investment book, but I would definitely describe it as an “early retirement” book.
I don’t think any investment book really “inspired” me, but the one that clicked with me more than any other was The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing. It’s just a very strong guide to investing, from the philosophy behind it to how exactly to invest. It is a great pairing with Your Money or Your Life, in my opinion.
I’d also like to point to my own book, The Simple Dollar, where I use my story as the backbone for a lot of basic financial advice. My focus in writing the book was to keep it simple and keep it inspirational, so it’s fairly short, focuses on high-impact basic financial strategies, and includes a lot of inspirational stories from my own life interwoven with the strategies.
Q3: Clearing drains
The drain in my bathroom sink basically stopped emptying out the water so I went to the Home Depot and asked for help. The guy told me to buy a big jug of Drano and I did and it helped for a while but about 3 months later it’s barely draining again. Drano is expensive so what else can I do?
– Kristina
There are a lot of things you can try.
The first thing I’d try is to pour some boiling water down the drain. Fill up a tea kettle, get that water to boiling, then pour it slowly down the drain and see if that helps.
If that doesn’t help, get about 1/2 cup of baking soda and dump it into the drain, let it sit for a couple of minutes, then follow that with about 1/2 cup vinegar. This will probably foam up like crazy, but it will likely help.
If that doesn’t help, get out your plunger, fill the sink with some water, and actually plunge it for a while. If your sink has an overflow hole, you’ll need to plug it with a wash cloth for plunging to work.
If that doesn’t help, go back to Home Depot and ask for a Zip-It – I honestly can’t believe they didn’t tell you to buy this first. It’s basically just a long, thin plastic rod with a bunch of teeth on it that will cost you a couple of dollars. You just take it home and run it down your drain, twist it around a few times, and pull it out. The teeth grab onto whatever is clogging the drain (usually it’s hair) and yank that stuff out. It’s going to be foul when it comes out, but it will really help if the other steps don’t.
If none of that helps, call a plumber. Those steps above will clear basically anything that Drano will clear, so if those don’t work, a plumber is probably in order. They’ll likely bring a drain snake with them – imagine a larger and very long version of the Zip-It – and find where the clog is, because it might be far below your bathroom sink.
Q4: Cheap coffee technique
I just wanted to share a quick technique that I’ve used for really good cheap coffee. I have been a coffee drinker for 20+ years and have never used a coffee pot.
Take two cups of coarse ground coffee (I have my own coffee grinder) and put it in a quart jar with a lid. Fill it up with water until it’s basically full and then put the lid on and stick it in the fridge for 24-48 hours. Then take out the jar and pour it through a fine mesh strainer. The liquid is delicious cold coffee. If I want it hot, I microwave it, but I actually prefer it cold. I also sometimes make “coffee ice cubes” by pouring coffee into an ice cube tray.
You can add whatever extra stuff you want to it at this point.
I like this technique because I don’t have to wait for the coffee pot or anything. It’s already in my fridge ready to go and if I want it hot it takes about 30 seconds in the microwave. I don’t have to buy a coffee pot either.
– Kaylee
This actually sounds very appealing to me. I’m not much of a coffee drinker, but when I do drink coffee, I like it in the afternoon and cold with just a little bit of milk in it. I could see myself using this exact technique, except actually straining out the grounds and keeping the coffee in the fridge for a while afterwards in a sealed jar.
My wife is a coffee fan and she uses something similar when she’s in a hurry. It’s a special coffee cup she received as a gift. It’s basically a cup with an integrated straining section that functions like a tiny French press, so what she does is that she puts the grounds right into the mini-strainer while water is heating in the microwave, then she pours the hot water in and presses down to strain it through the grains. She then just tosses the strainer part in the sink and has a cup of coffee to take with her.
The point is that you don’t need a coffee pot to enjoy coffee, especially if you’re the only one in your house who enjoys coffee. At that point, a coffee pot is just another expense that you probably don’t really need.
Q5: External motivation
I am 26 years old and recently left the military for a civilian job. I have always thrived on external motivation. During my football career in high school, college, and one year semi-pro, I had a hard time motivating myself but my coaches could always push me. The military was the military – tons of external motivation. But now I’m basically on my own.
Where can a person find external motivation for financial success? I guess I could hire a financial advisor but they are quite pricy.
– David
There are a few routes you can follow here.
One route is to make automation your external motivator. Automate all of your savings and make that savings plan fairly intense. That way, you have to make ends meet on what’s left over.
Another route is to find a personal mentor of some kind. Look for someone in your life or in your workplace who has found the kind of success you’re looking for and start picking their brain. Ask them what they did to get there and take copious notes. Use their story and comments to motivate you.
My best motivator is kind of a mix of internal/external – it’s my “future self.” I want my “future self” to have a great unburdened life and I know that right now is when I need to be putting in the work to make that happen. I visualize my “future self” judging what I’m doing right now.
Q6: Three paycheck month
A few months ago I started turning my finances around and have paid off two credit cards so far. Feels good.
I have been doing this while planning around two paychecks a month since I get paid every other Friday. I pay some bills with the first paycheck of the month and others with the second.
This is my first “three paycheck” month since I started turning things around. I just realized it.
My question is what do I do with that extra paycheck? I used to just spend it on dumb stuff and that temptation is still there.
– Luis
From that third check, take out enough money to cover your basic expenses for those two weeks, like food and transportation and household supplies that you’ll buy. You can even keep a little more for some fun entertainment or hobby purchases if you like.
Take the rest of it and pay off or drastically pay down a debt. If you don’t have a debt, use it to build an emergency fund by putting it in a savings account. If you already have that, put it into a Roth IRA.
Regardless of what you choose, the idea remains the same: put it to useful personal finance work immediately so that it’s out of your hands and not just sitting in your checking account begging you to spend it.
Use that money for something financially responsible as quickly as possible and you’ll feel pretty good about things.
Q7: Rent is throwing money away
Can’t believe you ever advocate for renting an apartment instead of buying a home. Renting is just throwing money away. Better off making house payments to build equity.
– Terence
I’m going to make a counterargument to that using what’s happened to us in the last few weeks.
First, we paid our property taxes, which meant a few thousand dollars went up in smoke. This is an annual expense. If we rented, we wouldn’t have to pay this.
Next, we had to replace our damaged patio door. If we rented, we could call our landlord and have this replaced for free.
Next, our homeowners insurance bill came in. This is an annual expense. If we rented, this bill would be renters insurance, which would be way cheaper.
Next, we had to get an estimate on sidewalk leveling after the city sent us a letter regarding it. If we rented, this would be our landlord’s job.
This is the reality of home ownership. It’s pretty expensive. Even if the equity in our home is going up, it has to be going up awfully fast in order to make up for expenses like this.
That’s not even counting the expense of mortgage interest or mortgage insurance or homeowners association fees, either.
Renting isn’t always the best solution, but neither is home ownership. I think that both are good solutions depending on the specifics of the situation.
Q8: Professional photos for kids
We have a newborn and we would like to start getting annual professional photos taken of her so we have a series of photos as she grows. However they all seem so expensive! I don’t think I could make it look professional on my own either. How do I do this?
– Nikole
Depending on your desires, most school districts have an annual school photo package at a pretty reasonable rate that should handle this when your child reaches five years old or so, so you’re really only worrying about this for the first few years of their life.
My suggestion for baby and toddler photos is to use JC Penney portrait studio, if there’s one near you. They usually have a very good coupon available that you can use for your first package which will end up giving you a ton of prints for well under $100. Then, after that, they’ll start sending you coupon packages that are even better. I’ve seen coupons in recent years that were as low as $1 per sheet with no sitting fee, which meant that my kids could get pretty good photos taken for about $10 for a pile of prints.
I’m not as familiar with the offerings from other department store chains, but my guess is that many of them offer similar discounts and packages. You’ll just want to shop around. I mention JC Penney because they’re the chain I have experience with in the past.
Q9: Preparing for collapse
One of the things I have noticed about The Simple Dollar is that you have a pervasive optimistic view about the future. Your articles all have an underlying assumption that the world will be the same or better than it is right now for the rest of your life.
But what if you’re wrong?
My belief is that we are heading for a serious environmental collapse in the next 20-25 years that is going to have profound negative impact on our way of life. We are going to see intense dying off of lots of species that hold diseases in check leading to global pandemics, an enormous rise in ocean levels that will endanger pretty much every place on the coasts, and political and religious upheavals to match. I believe we are already on the downhill slide from the peak of human civilization for a very long time.
You’ve made it very clear what you think a person should do if they hold an optimistic future view. What should a person do if they hold a pessimistic view?
– Aaron
I think that the answer to that lies in some flavor of “prepping.” I assume you and most of the readers of The Simple Dollar are aware of the “prepper” movement, where people do all they can to prepare for environmental and cultural unrest.
If you believe that things are going to collapse, you should be investing in making a sustainable lifestyle for yourself that you’re happy with. By “sustainable,” I mean that you can continue to live that lifestyle without the services that people expect to have these days: no cell phones, no internet, no electricity, no running water. What can you do to build the best life if all of those services go away?
Your time should be invested in mastering all-around skills like carpentry, plumbing, gardening, mechanical repair, and so on. Your money should be invested in making yourself as independent from services as possible – having your own well, having your own sources of power (like solar panels on your roof or a small wind turbine), having your own sources of food (like stored dry goods and a robust garden), and having means to protect these resources as well.
The thing is, this is actually a form of financial independence as well. Once you have everything on your property that allows you to have a good lifestyle without the grid, what do you need to work for?
My vision of financial independence is not centered around this type of societal collapse. I think there will be some environmental changes in the coming years, but I also am a big believer in human ingenuity and problem solving. I think, in general, humankind will move forward rather than backward. Even in the so called “dark ages,” mankind progressed forward, even in Europe, but particularly in the Middle East and Asia.
The only source I can think of for global regression is if there is a catastrophe that eliminates a very large portion of the human race, at which point all the prepping in the world probably won’t help you.
Q10: Figuring out early retirement target
How do you figure out what you would need to retire early? What’s your “target number”?
– Stephen
For me personally, I want to have no debts and enough money in the bank that I can live and pay my income taxes off of 2.5% of the total balance of my investments each year without counting Social Security. 2.5% is a very safe long term withdrawal rate.
The question then becomes how much are my living expenses and how much taxes would I have to pay. This depends, of course, on how the money is invested. The majority of my investments are post-tax and quite a bit of that is in a Roth IRA, so my taxes are going to be pretty low. If most of your money is in a 401(k), you’re going to have a bigger tax burden.
My family currently lives on about $28,000 per year. This is for a family of five and covers our food, clothing, property taxes, property upkeep, health care, a bit of travel, some hobby expenses, and so on. We could cut that a little and we could also inflate that. I expect that inflation is going to creep up at about 3% a year going forward, so I’d probably use a number closer to $40,000 for this calculation taking everything into account.
So, I just take that annual target number – $40,000 – and divide it by 0.025, and I get $1.6 million.
Now, if I lived a little cheaper, that number would get lower. If I figured a 3% withdrawal rate, that number would get lower. If I were a bit less “future thinking” when it comes to inflation, that number would get lower.
My point is this: that magic “early retirement” number is the result of a lot of factors. This is just a really rough overview of what I consider for early retirement.
Q11: Finding new social circle
For many years I hung out with a group of people who all worked in the same industry in our town. We went to each others homes for dinner and had our kids play together and so on. Over the last 3 years, all of them have switched jobs and moved away and thus my family’s social calendar has basically gone from full to mostly empty. I have no idea how to “fill” a social calendar as an adult. My wife is a freelancer that works from home for remote clients. The new people at my job are all younger than me and single and mostly interested in going to bars all the time. How do you find friends as an adult?
– Chuck
Think of something you and your wife both enjoy doing. It doesn’t really matter what it is. Just think of at least one thing – and ideally a few things – that you enjoy doing together and would enjoy doing with other adults.
Then head to Meetup.com and look for groups in your area that touch on those things. Look for anything close to you and similar to your interests.
You also might want to look at your city’s website and the websites of cities nearby and see whether they have a list of community organizations.
You also might want to check in on businesses that deal with the things that you’re interested in and see whether or not they have any social events that they plan or are involved with.
Then go. Bite the bullet and go to some of these things. Do your absolute best to socialize; don’t expect the people there to just come and throw themselves at your feet. Talk to as many people at those groups as you can. You’ll click with some of them, and those people can become the beginnings of a new social circle for you.
You’ll cultivate friends. It’s easier than you think.
Q12: Cheap decent notebooks for class
Do you have a suggestion for an inexpensive notebook for college class notes? The one subject college ruled cheapies from Walmart always seem to utterly fall apart by the end of the semester and every recommendation I ever find is for $10 or more per notebook.
– Carrie
I agree with you in terms of the cheap spiral-bound one subject notebooks from Walmart. When I was in school, those notebooks were always in disastrous shape already by the time the first test rolled around. They were utterly falling apart.
What I’ve discovered with notebooks is that, up to a reasonable point, you get what you pay for with them. Sure, you can start getting into really expensive stuff that’s needlessly overpriced, but the vast majority of notebooks up to about the $15-20 range are pretty much as good as what you pay for.
The question really is: what do you define as “decent”? For me, the cheapest “decent” notebook would probably be a 1″ binder with graph paper in it, preferably graph paper with hole reinforcement like this. That would be my “default” choice if I were going into college again. I’d just buy some 1″ binders and a bunch of that type of graph filler paper (I use graph paper for almost everything). The biggest worry you have here is that your binder might break at some point (it happens), at which point you just move all of your papers to a new binder.
If I were spending a little more, I’d probably buy a Baron Fig Confidant for each class I was in. They’re just about perfect for thorough notetaking for a single college course for a semester, including lectures and reading. I’d also keep a folder in my backpack with some loose paper in it for things like quizzes.
I just don’t trust a spiralbound notebook over the course of a college semester, assuming you take it to class each time, take good notes with it, and review it regularly. I’ve never had a spiral notebook survive a full semester intact.
Got any questions? The best way to ask is to follow me on Facebook and ask questions directly there. I’ll attempt to answer them in a future mailbag (which, by way of full disclosure, may also get re-posted on other websites that pick up my blog). However, I do receive many, many questions per week, so I may not necessarily be able to answer yours.
The post Questions About Having Children, Clearing Drains, Making Coffee, and More! appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
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Virgin Money chops Help to Buy Isa rate again
Virgin Money has cut the rates on its Help to Buy Isa for the second time in under two months, meaning new customers can only get 2% on the government’s flagship deposit saving scheme.
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7 Football-Season Side Jobs That Pay Up to $25 an Hour
Ah, fall.
Warm days, crisp nights, pumpkin-flavored baked goods, apple cider and, of course, football.
As much as you love watching your favorite team, did you know you could make some extra cash while you’re at it?
Stadiums across the country are on a hiring spree, picking up temporary workers for everything from parking to concessions to security for football season.
It’s the perfect low-commitment side gig. College teams play roughly six home games on Saturdays in the fall, while NFL teams play an average of 10 home games on Sundays.
The jobs, which pay between $9 and $25 per hour, are typically offered by private companies that contract with stadiums, though in some cases, you’ll be working directly for the stadium or the university.
Whether you live near an NFL stadium or a university, here are some of the dozens of jobs available. Why not start saving before you have to start buying all those darn Christmas gifts?
1. Parking Attendant
Bradley Gordon under Creative Commons
Games mean fans. And fans mean tons of cars that have to park somewhere during the game.
Many stadiums are looking for parking attendants, traffic directors, parking cashiers and valet staffers to work this fall.
“The parking staff sets the first impression for guests and leaves the last impression,” according to a recent job posting by Premier Parking Services in Kansas City, Missouri.
“This job is perfect for college students and individuals look for extra income as well as the opportunity to work in a fun and exciting atmosphere.”
The company, which provides parking services for Arrowhead Stadium, where the Chiefs play, will pay you between $9 and $15 per hour, depending on the position. Plus, valets get tips!
2. Security
Phil Roeder under Creative Commons
These days, event venues are as concerned as ever about keeping patrons safe.
That’s why they hire droves of temporary security staffers to screen fans, check bags and keep crowds moving during football games, which can attract 25,000 to 100,000 fans, depending on the team.
Stadium security job duties also include helping police enforce event rules, addressing bad behavior and preventing disturbances during the game.
If you’re polite yet assertive, game day security may be a good fit for you, according to this job posting at Syracuse University.
“He or she is willing and able to actively engage guests in difficult, high-pressure situations while remaining calm and professional,” according to the posting, which says pay starts at $11.66 an hour.
3. Concession Worker
Navin75 under Creative Commons
What would a football game be without a hot dog and a beer?
Sure, you might come home smelling like nacho cheese, but stadium concession jobs like this one at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis pay between $13 and $14 an hour.
Aramark, which runs food operations for the University of Minnesota’s games, also pays bonuses and provides uniforms so you don’t have to worry about what to wear.
Concession workers handle cash and credit cards, take food and drink orders, and check IDs for alcoholic beverages.
4. Retail Shop Associate
KOMUnews under Creative Commons
If selling team gear and clothing is more your style, consider a temporary retail position.
Teams like to put their logos on everything — from hats to T-shirts to jerseys to koozies.
The Seattle Seahawks are looking for a pro shop stadium sales associate to sell souvenirs this season at CenturyLink Field for $13 an hour. This job also includes working some Seattle Sounders soccer games, which are also held at the stadium.
“Shifts typically start four hours before Seahawks kickoff and 2.5 hours before Sounders matches and range from six to nine hours,” according to the job posting.
5. Usher
Phil Roeder under Creative Commons
If you’re a people person, and you don’t mind giving fans directions, helping them find their seats or assisting them in the event of an evacuation, become an usher.
In short, ushers are there to provide customer service and to help fans have a good game-day experience.
The University of Washington is trying to fill a number of positions on its customer service team, including ushers, elevator operators and ticket-takers.
Candidates must “exemplify the Washington way by consistently putting fans first,” according to the job posting, which says pay is between $13 and $15 an hour.
Ushers help with crowd management, resolving guest complaints, collecting lost and found items, help lost children find their parents and identifying prohibited items.
6. Brand Ambassador
John Seb Barber under Creative Commons
What exactly does a brand ambassador do, you may wonder?
A brand ambassador represents a brand or a company in a positive way. In a way, it’s like human advertising.
Companies like WP Beverages, which sells Pepsi products, are hiring brand ambassadors to work at University of Wisconsin home football games. This job pays $18.20 an hour!
“Your goal will be to generate excitement, build brand awareness and increase product sales through event sample and promotion,” according to the job posting.
Brand ambassadors are expected to post photos and videos to Facebook, hand out samples of Pepsi products and chat with potential customers. An outgoing, engaging personality is a must, along with a “polished appearance.”
7. Tailgate Setup Staff
Colton B/tailgategroup.com
It’s no secret that football fans love to tailgate. This company helps them by renting trailers and other tailgating supplies across the southeastern United States.
“We are an event services company that specializes in bringing the pre-game tailgate party to you,” according to the Tailgate Group’s website.
“We transport the tailgate trailer and all additional equipment to your preferred tailgating location, set everything up and then after the game or event, we take everything down.”
The Tailgate Group is hiring tailgate operators at $25 an hour to work Auburn, Georgia, Florida State, Alabama and Atlanta Falcons football games.
Your Turn: Would you work while cheering on your favorite team? Have you ever worked one of these jobs?
Sarah Kuta is an education reporter in Boulder, Colorado, with a penchant for weekend thrifting, furniture refurbishment and good deals. Find her on Twitter: @sarahkuta.
The post 7 Football-Season Side Jobs That Pay Up to $25 an Hour appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
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What is Scoping? A Work at Home Job Few Know About
We’ve received a lot of questions regarding scoping, so this week I got the chance to talk with, Linda Evenson who has been a scopist for almost 37 years and who has taught scoping online for nearly 20. She’s been active in the profession through speaking, writing articles, and serving on committees. She was once dubbed the […]
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These 5 Companies Will Pay You Up to $25K to Quit Your Job
How much do you like your job?
If your boss offered you a month’s salary to quit, would you take the money?
What about $5,000? Or $25,000?
Some companies are so committed to the idea that the best employees are the ones who really want to be there that they’ve created programs that offer cash to people who quit their jobs.
The idea is that the employees who don’t enjoy their jobs will take the money; the ones who love their jobs will keep coming to work every day.
Here are five companies that will pay you to quit your job:
1. Zappos
Image from Zappos/Facebook
Let’s start with shoe and clothing company Zappos, famous both for its customer service and what it calls “The Offer”: If new hires don’t enjoy working for Zappos, the company will pay them one month’s salary to leave.
Zappos is all about customer service, after all — and if you aren’t happy with Zappos, you might not be the best person to help make Zappos’ customers happy.
In 2015, Zappos took The Offer one step further. The company was transitioning its management style, so Zappos offered current employees the opportunity to take a severance package in the amount of either three months’ salary (at minimum) or one month’s salary for every year worked.
This was another way of saying “if you aren’t going to be happy working for us, we’d like to make it easy to choose something else.” As Zappos reports, approximately 18% of its staff took the severance.
2. Amazon
Scott Lewis under Creative Commons
In 2009, Zappos was acquired by Amazon. In 2014, Amazon announced its own version of The Offer: a program called “Pay to Quit.”
Here’s how Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos explained it to shareowners:
Pay to Quit is pretty simple. Once a year, we offer to pay our associates to quit. The first year the offer is made, it’s for $2,000. Then it goes up one thousand dollars a year until it reaches $5,000. The headline on the offer is “Please Don’t Take This Offer.” We hope they don’t take the offer; we want them to stay. Why do we make this offer? The goal is to encourage folks to take a moment and think about what they really want. In the long-run, an employee staying somewhere they don’t want to be isn’t healthy for the employee or the company.
In other words: Work for Amazon for four years, and it’ll pay you $5,000 to walk away. The bosses hope you love working for Amazon so much that you can’t imagine saying goodbye — not even for $5K.
3. AdoreMe
Image from Adore Me/Facebook
If you think $5,000 sounds like a lot of money, how about $10,000?
That’s how much lingerie company AdoreMe offers its departing employees. As Bloomberg reports:
Like many popular benefits these days, the generous parting gift is an attempt to signal the existence of a positive company culture, both to employees who stay behind and those yet to come. The type of organization that gives loyal, hard-working employees a pile of money is, in theory, a desirable place to work.
Bloomberg also notes that the $10,000 bonus is not given to every employee who turns in a two-week notice, and quotes CEO Morgan Hermand-Waiche: “We would do it for anyone that has put in a lot of hard work and effort at Adore Me.”
4. Riot Games
Image from riotgames.com
Riot Games, the company behind the massively popular multiplayer game “League of Legends,” also gives its newest hires the opportunity to quit their jobs and walk out with some cash.
New Riot employees have six months to determine whether the company is a good fit. If they decide they don’t want to stay, Riot gives them 10% of their salary with a $25,000 maximum.
Riot named its incentive plan after the gaming term “Queue Dodge,” and explains it this way:
If someone gags on the unique flavor of our culture, they’d be doing themselves and the company a disservice to hang on just for the paycheck.
5. DealDash
Image from dealdash.com
Auction site DealDash has a workforce that’s spread across six countries — as of this writing, it has job openings in London, Minneapolis and two cities in Finland — and it’s ready to not only build the best possible team but also pay $6,000 to any employee who resigns.
As the DealDash job listings explain:
We believe people who work at DealDash should only do so because they love it, not because it’s their only option financially.
That’s a really healthy way to approach employment — and offering the $6,000 resignation bonus helps make sure that DealDash employees have at least one other financial option: quit their job, take the $6,000 and start looking for something they love.
Your Turn: Would you quit your job if your employer offered you $5,000? How about $10,000? Do you love your job so much that no amount of money could convince you to leave?
Nicole Dieker is a senior editor at The Billfold, and her work has also appeared in The Toast, The Write Life, Boing Boing and Popular Science.
The post These 5 Companies Will Pay You Up to $25K to Quit Your Job appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
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Petrol prices edge up in August
Motorists were hit with petrol and diesel price rises in August, despite a price cut at supermarket pumps at the start of the month.
According to the RAC’s latest Fuel Watch report, a litre of unleaded rose by 0.33p to 111.5p over the month of August, while diesel rose by 0.77p to 112.81p per litre.
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This Site is Giving Away Totally Free Swiffer Starter Kits Right Now
I’m not really sure how I lived without a Swiffer for so long.
Or, more importantly, why. (Well, probably because they’re kind of expensive.)
Now that I have one, I use it all the time. It replaced my broom and my mop, and picks up my constantly shedding hair like nobody’s business.
If you’re on that same train — hesitating to buy a Swiffer because of the cost, or because you have a weird attachment to archaic cleaning supplies — keep reading.
I’ve got a way you can get a totally FREE Swiffer Sweeper Starter Kit — no strings attached…
How to Get a Free Swiffer Sweeper Starter Kit
The trick: Use a site called TopCashback.
Even if you’ve heard of cash-back shopping sites before, this one is different.
While other sites only give you a percentage of their commission, this site gives you the entire thing. Which means big payouts for you — bigger, in fact, than any other cash-back site.
Just shop online at one of its 4,000 partner retailers, and TopCashback will give a percentage of your spend back to you.
There’s no minimum to get paid out, and you can request your money in the form of bank transfers or gift cards.
Plus, right now, you’ll get a free Swiffer Sweeper Starter Kit just for signing up.
This kit has everything you need to kiss your mop and broom goodbye: one Sweeper, two dry sweeping cloths and one wet mopping cloth.
If you shed as much as I do, this is one offer you won’t want to miss.
Ready to grab your free Swiffer? Just follow the steps below:
- Click here to sign up for your free TopCashback account. Note: This offer is valid for new members only.
- After signing up, you’ll be redirected to a page that says “Free Swiffer Sweeper Starter Kit.” Click the “Get Cashback” button.
- Once redirected to the Walmart homepage, add the Swiffer Sweeper Starter Kit to your cart. Make sure it’s the only item in your cart, or you won’t receive proper credit.
- Check out and pay as normal. Select the “free store pickup” option, so you don’t have to pay for shipping.
- Swing by your nearest Walmart and get your Swiffer kit from the customer service desk.
- Within 14 days, you’ll see a credit for $11.97 (plus whatever tax you paid) in your TopCashback account. You can immediately request your cash via Paypal, a bank transfer or an Amazon gift card.
This offer runs from now until October 11, 2016.
Click here to try TopCashback and get your free Swiffer Sweeper Starter Kit today.
Your Turn: Have you switched to Swiffer yet?
Sponsorship Disclosure: A huge thanks to TopCashback for working with us to bring you this content. It’s rare that we have the opportunity to share something so awesome and get paid for it!
The post This Site is Giving Away Totally Free Swiffer Starter Kits Right Now appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
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Parents pay £53k extra to live near top state schools
As the summer holidays come to an end, some parents will be sighing with relief even though they may have forked out £53,000 more, on average, to live close to a top-performing state school, new research has revealed.
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