High above the ground in State Gamelands 127 sits a platform built by a Carbon County Eagle Scout. That landing will provide a safe haven for a protected bird while it pays Pennsylvania a visit.The platform is for ospreys. A PPL Electric Utilities crew raised a 50-foot utility pole Wednesday in Coolbaugh Township with the nesting platform atop, built by Eagle Scout Garrett Demkozitz, 16.The project is part of a program by PPL Electric Utilities with the cooperation of the [...]
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الأربعاء، 16 نوفمبر 2016
Wolf: Jobless centers will close over funding shortfall
HARRISBURG (AP) — Governor Tom Wolf says workers will be laid off and some of the eight unemployment compensation call centers will close after the Senate adjourned without providing sufficient funding.The Senate ended its two-year session Wednesday without voting on legislation the administration sought to pump $57.5 million into the system next year.The Democratic governor calls the Republican-controlled Senate's inaction "incredibly disappointing and frustrating . [...]
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These 5 Shows Will Pay You Up to $70 to Be Part of the Live Studio Audience
I appreciate shows with live studio audiences.
The cheering and clapping, the random shouts. But I’ve always wondered: Who actually goes to these shows?
Well, you could. And you could get paid to do so.
5 Shows That’ll Pay You To Be a Live Audience Member
New York Show Tickets lists the shows that offer free audience tickets — as well as some that will actually pay you to show up.
So next time you’re visiting New York City (or Stamford, Connecticut), ditch the pricy Broadway show, and get paid to check these out.
1. “AOL Build Show”
This internet-only show is streamed live on AOL Build. It features one-on-one interviews with actors, entrepreneurs, authors, musicians and celebs. Some recent guests include Simone Biles, Kathy Griffin and Sterling K. Brown.
“The show allows for the studio audience to be up close and personal with guests, providing an intimate experience for audience members that few other talk shows can offer,” according to the show summary.
Pay is $30. Click here for the inside scoop.
2. “Beat Bobby Flay”
Have you all watched this Food Network show? It’s arguably one of the most audience-interactive shows out there. (It airs Thursday nights at 10 p.m., by the way.)
It’s not currently taping (that usually happens in the fall), but mark your calendar. You’ll get paid $60 to watch — and smell — the food created by talented chefs.
Plus, you get to see Bobby Flay in action. Dream come true?
Click here to get the sweet (or spicy) deets.
3. “Knife Fight”
This isn’t one of those ninja shows — it’s all about food.
There’s a whole speakeasy vibe going on as chefs compete in restaurant kitchens after hours. It’s like “Chopped”– chefs are given mandatory ingredients to incorporate into their dishes. (Think: jackfruit, pig’s head, live catfish…)
Bonus points: Drew Barrymore is the executive producer. Oh, and you’ll get paid $48.
Click here for the cut-and-dry details.
4. “The People’s Court”
Confession: I used to love watching this show in high school. And audience member reactions make it that much more entertaining.
The premise: Judge Milian asks all the right questions, sometimes yelling, sometimes beating her gavel, sometimes making people cry. And the “hallway guy” interviews litigants after a decision has been made. It all makes for good TV.
And you can get paid $70 to attend. Note: This one is taped in Stamford, Connecticut.
Click here to read up and avoid legal issues (just kidding).
5. “The Steve Wilkos TV Show”
Remember how “The Jerry Springer Show” had to bring bodyguards in to defuse fights? Steve Wilkos was one of those bodyguards, and he landed his own show in 2007.
It’s similar to “The Jerry Springer Show” in that it features wacky guests.
“Steve has been head-butted, hit in the head by a metal bowl and attacked on stage all during the taping of the show,” the show summary says.
You can get paid $55 to see all of this go down.
Want in on the action? Click here to learn more.
Your Turn: Which audience would you want to be part of?
Carson Kohler (@CarsonKohler) is a junior writer at The Penny Hoarder. After recently completing graduate school, she focuses on saving money — and surviving the move back in with her parents.
The post These 5 Shows Will Pay You Up to $70 to Be Part of the Live Studio Audience appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
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Uber Will Pick You Up From the Airport for Free If You Have This Credit Card
Traveling home for the holidays is something I look forward to every year. But this December is the first time I’m flying home to see my family, instead of driving or taking the train.
Which brings up the dreaded question: Who’s going to pick me up from the airport? Don’t all raise your hands at once.
There’s an alternate option that’s going to help a lot of families breathe easier — and avoid fits of road rage — this holiday season.
American Express Card members are eligible for free Uber rides from major airports. It takes 10 seconds to sign up for the promotion, and your deal is good now through Dec. 31.
How to Get 2 Free Uber Rides From the Airport
It’s so easy to sign up for this deal.
- Add code AMEXAIRPORT to the “promotions” tab in your Uber app.
- If it’s not already stored in your Uber account, add your American Express card as your payment method.
- Open your app to get a ride from one of these airports:
New York City: LaGuardia, Kennedy or Newark
Chicago: O’Hare or Midway
Seattle: Seattle-Tacoma
Boston: Boston Logan
Las Vegas: McCarran
Houston: George Bush
Washington, D.C.: National or Dulles
You can take two rides of up to $65 each for free with this promotion. If your fare is more than $65, you’ll get that amount discounted from your ride.
For the sake of your savings, we hope you’re flying between New York and Houston, or D.C. and Seattle, or some other magical combination so you can take advantage of both rides.
The promotion is good for all Uber options, including swanky black cars.
If you’re an American Express cardholder, you have no reason not to use this promotion. But one thing will not change: When you roll in the door with your luggage, your dad will still ask, “What’s all that? Are you moving back in?”
Your Turn: Which cities are you traveling between this holiday? Can you use this Uber promotion?
Lisa Rowan is a writer and producer at The Penny Hoarder.
The post Uber Will Pick You Up From the Airport for Free If You Have This Credit Card appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
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It’s Booksgiving! Here’s How to Get a Free Book for Your Kids This Saturday
Thanksgiving is all about sharing, be it food, quality time or a good tale.
For the fourth year, Half Price Books is celebrating that holiday spirit with its “Booksgiving Day” event.
And if you’re a parent, that translates to an easy, fun freebie for you and the kids. On Saturday, Nov. 19, each Half Price Books location nationwide will hold a special storytime at 2 p.m. local time.
And while supplies last, every child who attends will receive a free children’s picture book to take home with them, too.
Half Price Books Celebrates Thanksgiving with Free Kids’ Books — and Charity
If you want to help pad your children’s library for free, all you have to do is show up at your local Half Price Books for the 2 p.m. storytime this Saturday.
Aside from walking out with a nice freebie, you’ll also spend a fun afternoon with the kids — and even have the chance to let someone else do the reading, for once.
Half Price Books doesn’t specify the title of the freebie — but even if it’s already on your shelf at home, no big deal. Donate it to the library or give it as a holiday gift.
And if you can’t make it to a shop this Saturday, consider turning to HPB.com and buying online.
For every book purchased on its website on Booksgiving Day, Half Price Books will donate a book to the nonprofit organization Feed the Children.
As you might know, books make fantastic stocking stuffers — and it doesn’t hurt to know your gift doubles itself to help a child in need.
After all, the only thing more fun to share than good food is a good story.
Your Turn: What’s your favorite book to read to your kids?
Jamie Cattanach is a book-obsessed staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. Her writing has also been featured at The Write Life, Word Riot, Nashville Review and elsewhere. Find @JamieCattanach on Twitter to wave hello.
The post It’s Booksgiving! Here’s How to Get a Free Book for Your Kids This Saturday appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
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How to Infiltrate LinkedIn Groups for Maximum Marketing ROI
I feel like LinkedIn is a social media platform that receives a fair amount of attention but is still overshadowed by other networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
That’s a shame. Why? Because in the B2B space especially, I’ve found LinkedIn to be incredibly effective for professional networking and for marketing in general.
With 450 million registered users as of August 2016 and two new members joining every second, LinkedIn has a huge potential.
I think many marketers are still reluctant to go all in on LinkedIn simply because they don’t understand how to utilize it properly. It’s also possible they don’t fully understand all the opportunities it presents.
Maybe it’s because of its robust set of features, the inherent learning curve, or the lack of understanding of the nuts and bolts of the platform. Whatever the reason, there’s a definite trend of marketers failing to extract LinkedIn’s full potential.
In fact, a study from the Content Marketing Institute found that an overwhelming number of LinkedIn users consider it to be ineffective as a marketing tool:
B2C marketers in North America in particular saw only limited results.
But what if I told you that there’s a way to kill it on LinkedIn and generate valuable, ongoing leads for your business? What if you could have an amazing ROI by following a fairly simple formula?
It’s definitely possible. The key is to infiltrate LinkedIn Groups.
Here’s how.
Joining groups
You have two options with LinkedIn Groups.
You can either start your own group or join existing groups relevant to your industry.
In my opinion, the latter option is your best bet, especially when you’re just starting out and have a limited network.
It’s easier to gain traction, and you can get your brand in front of hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of prospects without having to do a whole lot of legwork.
This starts by first visiting the Groups Directory.
As you can see, you can choose from a number of groups, and these are just a slice of the groups available.
You can browse the groups by name, or you can enter a specific search term in the search box at the top.
If a group is public, simply click “Join,” and you’re in.
If a group is private, you’ll need to click “Ask to join,” and an administrator will have to approve your request.
I’ve found that approval will usually happen within a day or so.
Relevancy is vital
One of the most important aspects of marketing with LinkedIn Groups is to join groups that are highly relevant to your industry.
This will ensure you’re interacting and connecting with like-minded individuals who have the same interests as you.
It also means the content you share is more likely to gain attention and get shared.
Keep this in mind when searching for groups to join.
What do I do once I’ve joined?
The first thing you’ll want to do is look over the rules and guidelines of the group.
To prevent spam and ensure a positive user experience, many groups have restrictions regarding the type of content you can and can’t post.
Here’s what I’m talking about:
Here you can see that this group doesn’t allow links and promotions.
Ideally, the groups you join will allow links and some type of promotions, but always double-check before you start participating.
I then suggest taking some time to check out the discussions. Take note of the conversations and the topics being discussed.
Are there any overarching trends? Which conversations are getting the biggest response?
Answering questions
When you’re just getting started with a new group, I recommend looking for questions to answer that are in your wheelhouse.
Try to identify a topic you’re knowledgeable about and to which you can add some legitimate value.
Here’s an example of a question from an HR-based group:
If you can nail it and come up with an answer that’s spot on, you’ll instantly raise your credibility, and other members are going to take notice.
This is how you showcase your expertise and start building leverage.
In other words, this boosts your “street cred.”
Posting questions
You can also start your own conversation with the group at the top of the page.
One of the best ways to get the ball rolling is to ask a thought-provoking question.
Make sure it’s open-ended so that members are forced to dive in deep and not simply answer “yes” or “no.”
But before you post a question, I recommend scanning over previous conversations just to make sure it hasn’t already been covered. Otherwise, its impact will be reduced, and you’ll likely look like a noob.
Posting content
You can also post content, such as blog posts and articles, relating to your industry.
While I do recommend posting content from time to time, it’s extremely important you remain tactful.
What do I mean by tactful?
First of all, anything you post should be hyper-relevant and right on target with the type of discussions members are having.
Anything off topic isn’t going to add any real value and is probably going to make you look bad.
Second, make sure you’re not going overboard when posting content.
Even if every single thing you post is gold, you don’t want to clog up the group discussion with excessive content. Although what’s considered excessive is subjective, I would say that if you’re posting any more than three pieces of content a week, it’s too much.
Just use your best judgment.
Third, make sure you’re not being overly promotional or salesy with your content.
Over-promoting yourself and your brand is an inexcusable marketing sin regardless of the platform you’re using, and LinkedIn groups are no exception.
Group members can smell this type of douchebaggery a mile away, and it’s going to kill your reputation (and your ROI).
While it’s fine to promote your brand (that’s the reason you’re using this platform in the first place), you need to be responsible and respectful when doing so.
Here are some tips for tactful promotion:
- Keep it to a minimum
- Make sure every piece of content ties into the conversation
- Make sure your promotions add genuine value
- Don’t annoy group members with in your face antics like “BUY NOW!”
In other words, be cool about it.
Building authority
You can liken LinkedIn Groups to a forum.
On most forums, there’s usually a handful of individuals who noticeably contribute a lot of helpful information and are highly respected as a result.
You want to do everything possible to be one of these people because it’s going to pave the way to success on LinkedIn Groups.
It’s also going to boost your ROI in the long run.
How exactly can you build authority?
- Be an active member, and don’t go MIA for months on end
- Chime in on conversations you’re knowledgeable about, and let other members get to know you
- Post awesome content from resources that aren’t your own
- Concentrate more on providing value than on shameless self-promotion
- Encourage others to join the group
Making connections
Another great feature of LinkedIn Groups is that it gives you the opportunity to connect with other members in an extremely convenient manner.
I suggest you take full advantage of this and make it a point to be the first one to reach out.
You can get in contact with other members by scrolling through the members list:
Hover your cursor over a person’s name, and you can view information about their industry, region, skills, and groups.
You can also check out their profile, send them a message, or send an invitation to connect.
But before you reach out, it’s usually best if you interact with that member via conversations and build at least a little rapport.
This tends to make the process smoother and should alleviate any potential awkwardness/borderline creepiness.
If you’ve been interacting with someone in your group for a while, you may want to connect with them on other networks as well.
Most people will also have a Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or some other account, and this can potentially lead to additional opportunities.
Conclusion
Like with many other marketing techniques, it usually takes a little while for things to gel on LinkedIn Groups. It’s going to take some time and effort before you can reap the full rewards.
But by being active and working to establish a presence, you can potentially gain some massive exposure for yourself and your brand.
An added plus is that you can network with other professionals at the same time, thus killing two birds with one stone.
If you’re not currently utilizing this resource as a marketing tool, I would strongly suggest you get started ASAP.
With the right approach, you can effectively promote your brand while simultaneously growing your network.
Do you have any specific techniques that have helped you generate leads on LinkedIn Groups?
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How Living Without a Bank Account Works
Millions of people have figured out how to get by without a bank account, whether by choice or force of circumstance. Learn more at HowStuffWorks.
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How Living Without a Bank Account Works
Millions of people have figured out how to get by without a bank account, whether by choice or force of circumstance. Learn more at HowStuffWorks.
Source Business & Money - HowStuffWorks http://ift.tt/2gh1BCg
Source Business & Money - HowStuffWorks http://ift.tt/2gh1BCg
12 Tactics for an Inexpensive Thanksgiving Meal
During Thanksgiving week, both my wife’s extended family and my extended family host a Thanksgiving dinner with untold numbers of side dishes, leaving everyone feeling absolutely stuffed afterwards from the huge delicious meal. As everyone cleans up and then retreats to the living room in a turkey coma, something I can’t help but observe is the expense of all of it.
No matter how you slice it, a big turkey dinner with lots of sides is expensive.
As anyone who has read The Simple Dollar for the last several years knows, I can’t help but look at a situation and wonder how I could retain what’s good about that situation without reducing the quality while spending the least amount of money possible.
So I asked. I’ve been asking our Thanksgiving dinner hosts for years how they pull off a great dinner without breaking the bank. I’ve also shared the tips I’ve learned from various dinners with different hosts.
Now, we’ve never hosted a large Thanksgiving dinner ourselves. We are geographic outliers for both of our extended families, so it makes sense for others to host. The tips below aren’t from our initial Thanksgiving fumblings, but from many years of experience from others who have hosted many dinners over the years.
Here are the twelve best tactics they shared.
Shop for a turkey based on cost per pound. When you’re shopping for a big turkey, the number one thing to think about is the cost per pound of the turkey (aside from any other personal considerations you might have, such as an organic turkey or a free range turkey). The reason is simple: the lower the price per pound, the more food you get for your dollar. It’s that simple.
Include lots of grocers in your search. Here’s the thing: among grocers, the price of a Thanksgiving turkey is a convenient way to attract new customers, so turkeys are almost always a loss leader for grocery stores. They’ll advertise an absurdly low price on turkeys in order to get people in the door. They’ll even give away turkeys at some stores if you spend enough money.
So, widen your search. Don’t just examine the prices at your preferred retailer. Look at the cost per pound for turkey at every grocer in your area. While you’re at it, price out the ingredients of many of your other dishes.
Make it a potluck dinner for local guests. Again, it’s easy: just have every guest bring a side dish or some other element for the meal. Of course, this only applies to local guests; it’s pretty hard to expect people from out of town to bring side dishes.
Still, every single side dish or beverage that’s provided by a guest is one that’s not paid for by you. It distributes the cost of the meal and takes some of the burden off of the shoulders of the host.
Limit the side dishes you actually prepare yourself. Regardless of the number of dishes that other guests bring, put a reasonable cap on the number of side dishes you prepare yourself. There’s no need to have three different variants on potatoes – pick one and make it wonderful. There’s no need to have four casseroles – pick one and make it well.
Not only is it expensive to make a lot of different sides, you’re often going to find that much of the food goes to waste unless you have a ton of people, in which case you’re probably better off just making a ton of the favorites rather than a lot of variations (some of which simply won’t be as popular).
Buy ingredients in bulk. If you’re focusing on just making plenty of a few sides, then buying ingredients for that side dish in bulk is going to save you quite a bit of money. The cost per pound of potatoes, for instance, goes down as the bulk you buy goes up.
Thus, not only is there a good reason to make fewer sides (and make more of them) for convenience, it also saves money because the ingredients cost less per pound.
Make your own spice mixes, such as poultry mix and pumpkin spice mix. Yes, mixes such as poultry mix are really convenient, but the truth is that they’re expensive for what you get. They’re just mixes of other spices and you can easily find the recipes for those mixes online. For instance, you can make a great pumpkin pie spice with seven parts ground cinnamon, two parts ground ginger, two parts ground nutmeg, one part ground allspice, and one part ground cloves. That’s almost perfect for pumpkin pie and it’s going to be less expensive than buying your own pumpkin pie spice.
Turn down your home thermostat. When you start cooking your Thanksgiving dinner on the big day, kick your home thermostat down a few degrees. The heat produced by your kitchen plus the heat produced by a lot of people in your home will keep your home nice and warm, so turning the thermostat down will keep your furnace from needlessly kicking on throughout the day, thus saving you money on your energy bill.
Make as much as you can yourself from basic ingredients, and start a few days early so you’re not time crunched. It can be really tempting to just buy a container of pre-made gravy, for example, but the truth is that the gravy is pretty expensive. Instead, make as many items as you can from scratch (or at least partially prepare them) and store them in the fridge for a day or two before the meal.
If you’re going to host year after year, buy reusable kitchenware and flatware that can be used over and over again. It’s never a bad idea to have a box of reusable plates, napkins, and silverware stowed away in the pantry in case you have guests. Many families who have large dinners will simply turn to paper plates, but the cost of paper plates year after year really adds up (and it’s not environmentally wise to boot). While this might not be a smart strategy for this year, it’s worth your while to keep your eyes open for inexpensive deals on dishes, napkins, and silverware, just to store away for big holiday meals.
Use leftovers in creative ways. It’s easy to just toss the leftovers on the table, make a plate of leftovers, and microwave them, but the truth is that it gets tired pretty fast. A much better approach is to find creative ways to use those leftovers.
I am a huge fan of potato pancakes, which are essentially mashed potatoes formed into the shape of a disk and then fried in a skillet until the edges are browned. Absolutely amazing. One of our family members often makes turkey enchiladas two days after Thanksgiving, using the turkey as the meat content in an otherwise typical enchilada recipe. Turkey tortellini is another delicious and unexpected option for leftover turkey.
Package your leftover turkey for freezing in individual recipe-ready bags. Eventually, you’re going to decide you’re done with turkey for a while, and that’s usually reached at a point where you have some turkey meat left over. Don’t just toss that meat. Instead, find a few recipes that use turkey meat (like, perhaps, the turkey enchiladas noted above), measure out and prepare the meat for easy inclusion in that recipe, and package it for freezing so that you just need to thaw the package and put it straight into the recipe. Boom – easy turkey enchiladas in a month or so!
Use the turkey carcass to make a large quantity of poultry stock. This is my favorite tip of all as I love stock. It’s so useful – you can use it as the basis for soups and stews and as the liquid component of casseroles. All you have to do is take the bones and cartilage from the turkey, break them down a little so that they fit in a big pot (or, even better, a slow cooker), then add some leftover vegetable scraps (onions and celery, for instance, but you can add whatever you want) and some peppercorns. Then, cover all of this with water so that there’s perhaps an inch or two above the top of the bones, then let it simmer all day. If you’re using a slow cooker, you can actually let this cook on the Monday after Thanksgiving while you’re at work.
After several hours of simmering, just strain and save the liquid, discarding the bones and vegetable scraps and peppercorns. I usually separate that liquid into serving sizes of two cups and then save those individual servings in the freezer. For soups, I’ll pull out two servings; for casseroles or other uses, one will do.
These strategies together can really maximize the value of your Thanksgiving holiday dinner, enabling you to cut the total cost and get more value out of the things you prepare. Good luck!
The post 12 Tactics for an Inexpensive Thanksgiving Meal appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
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FCA spells out need to Lisa "risk warning"
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has outlined its proposed approach to regulating the promotion and distribution of the Lifetime Isa (Lisa).
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Keeping the pensions triple lock is what Moneywise users want to see in the Autumn Statement
A commitment to keep the state pension triple lock is what three in ten Moneywise.co.uk users (31%) want to see announced in the forthcoming Autumn Statement on 23 November, according to our latest poll results.
Under the so-called “triple lock”, the state pension increases each year by the higher of inflation, the increase in average earnings, or 2.5%.
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How to Break a Lease Early – and Gracefully
I’ve been moving around a lot in the past 18 months, and we’re not talking minor jaunts across town. I’ve gone from Los Angeles, to Madison, Wis., to New York City, to San Francisco, and back to New York. I’ve become quite good at shedding unnecessary possessions (shipping is expensive!) — and ducking out of apartment leases.
Whether you’re excited to move and start a new chapter in your life — maybe you took a new job or bought your first home — or you’re responding to a sudden crisis such as an ailing family member or a job loss, moving out isn’t always something you can time perfectly to coincide with the end of your apartment lease.
That’s why most apartment leases require a one-year contract. If everyone could move out at the drop of a hat, landlords would have a much harder time keeping their properties rented out with any consistency.
Thankfully, there are ways to break a lease without breaking the law or knowing any secret tricks. In my experience, the keys to leaving your lease early are being determined, being personable, and being gracious.
Because no matter what kind of contract you signed, your landlord has the power to let you out of it. Generally, as long as you’re in his or her good graces and there’s a new tenant willing to take your place, you won’t have a problem getting out of your lease.
If you’re wondering how to break a lease to get on with your life, here are five tips to keep in mind.
Be Kind to Your Landlord Throughout Your Tenure
I’ve spent a fair amount of time on internet forums where people discuss their real estate properties. I hope to be able to invest in rental property one day, and I enjoy learning about the process of renting out homes for income.
One common thread I find in these forums is that landlords are by and large grateful when they’re lucky enough to have tenants who exhibit even the most basic decency. Being quiet on weeknights and attempting to fix very simple problems before reaching for the phone are seen as particularly admirable qualities for a tenant to possess. Paying rent on time and telling the truth if they need an extension are also pluses.
These are all practices you can easily incorporate into your life as a renter. As busy as you may be, and as annoying as it can be to do simple fixes when you’re not handy, giving it a shot can pay dividends down the road. And, as with any relationship, the more goodwill you build up, the easier it will be to make requests down the line.
Thankfully, my fiance and I didn’t face serious issues with our units that required urgent attention from the landlord. But, we encountered many small things (unclogging drains, stopping leaks, etc.) that we were able to handle ourselves with a little bit of effort and elbow grease.
The pinnacle of these efforts was the time my fiance fixed the gate of our building’s parking garage. It had been blown off its track on a particularly windy day. This fix so surprised our landlord that it earned us a personal email of thanks. I assume acts like this, as well as timely, consistent rent payments, helped ease our transition out of the lease and secured us a glowing recommendation when our next landlord vetted us.
Offer to Find a Replacement Tenant
Landlords generally just want to receive their rent check every month with as few intervening headaches as possible — it doesn’t really matter from whom. As long as the renter has good credit history or references, doesn’t damage the property, and pays rent on time, most landlords are happy.
Just as finding an apartment can be a grind, listing one for rent can be difficult as well. Posting an ad, drawing up a new lease, showing the apartment to prospective tenants, and evaluating applications and running credit checks is a lot of legwork. Listing through a real estate agent can eliminate some of that work, but typically comes with a fee of one month’s rent to be paid by either the landlord or the tenant.
Unless you’re in a red-hot real estate market where your landlord could potentially raise the rent to make up for the extra work and disruption, your landlord probably doesn’t want to deal with all the extra work of finding a new tenant when they already have one under contract.
So, if you’re going to try breaking your lease, always offer to help find a replacement tenant. We had one landlord who said we could move out whenever we wanted as long as we agreed to list the apartment on Craigslist and handle all the logistics ourselves. We did so, and presented her with qualified candidates — and it made the transition go as smoothly as possible.
Build a Real Relationship With Your Landlord
On the rare times I have to call our building manager out to handle a situation, I try to take the time to treat them like any other guest. I offer them water, ask them questions, and stick around to see if I can be of any help. (Of course, I’m never any help. I can barely hang a picture frame. But I’m great at nodding and furrowing my brow as problems are explained to me.)
Being friendly has led to some great interactions. When my landlord in Madison had to come by and fix a spring on our door, I got to hear all about his childhood. It turned out that he used to go on long runs through a nearby spot in the woods. Learning about his exploits inspired me to check out that area, and I had some great times there. I might have never explored that spot had I not taken the time to try to get to know him.
Just as practicing basic kindness is almost always a good idea in the long run, getting on more personal terms with your landlord can help if you later need to get out of your lease. This particular landlord ended up being more than generous when we told him how we were hoping to get out of our lease a few months early. I can’t help but imagine our personal relationship was a big help in that regard.
Be Prepared to Make Some Sacrifices
If you want to get out of your a lease quickly, it might cost you some time and money. Whether it’s showing your apartment to prospective tenants at inconvenient hours, agreeing to replace or repair things you had no part in breaking, or giving up your security deposit, there will be some hard choices to make.
When leaving our last place, the only way we could get out was to give up our entire security deposit. We kept the place in pristine condition, so that was a tough pill to swallow. Until that point, I’d never left an apartment without receiving my security deposit back in full.
But when doing a thorough analysis of the pros and cons, we realized we’d save more money by moving right away — via the higher salaries we were set to earn — than if we’d stayed put just to save the security deposit.
Move Out with Grace
This is obvious. Just as you shouldn’t leave a job by upending your desk and giving the middle finger to your boss (as tempting as it may be), you also shouldn’t be disrespectful to your landlord during the move-out process. Clean the apartment, even if you feel like there’s no point. Return the keys, even if it means you have to commute across town at rush hour to do so. Send your landlord a nice email to thank them for their help, even if it did take them two weeks to fix that leak over the tub.
My fiancee and I made the choice to clean our apartment top to bottom before moving out, even though we knew we were going to lose our security deposit for breaking the lease. It was the right thing to do, and while it was a hassle, you never know who’s going to call your former landlord looking for a reference.
Summing Up
That was quite a few words on getting out of a lease, but the most important thing to keep in mind is that it all boils down to being a decent person. As with most things in life, if you’re nice to people and reasonable, they’re going to be more willing to help you.
It’s also important to remember that you’ll never get anywhere if you’re afraid to ask your landlord some tough questions. You’ll never know if you can break the lease if you don’t ask. Happy moving!
Related Articles:
- 10 Reasons Moving Always Costs More Than You Think
- The Best Renters Insurance
- 10 Tips for First-Time Home Buyers
The post How to Break a Lease Early – and Gracefully appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
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Low-Maintenance, Passive Income Side Hustles
By Ashlee Anderson You don’t have to spend endless time online chasing passive revenue streams. In fact, some of the best ways to earn recurring revenue are by doing things you love. Whether you’re a writer, photographer, designer, or creative, you can start an easy-to-maintain passive side hustle that generates revenue day and night. For […]
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