With plummeting temperatures and the arrival of winter weather, snowmaking has resumed in earnest in the Pocono Mountains where officials at each local ski area said they have something new for the season.“Now that Mother Nature has cast a cold spell upon us, I think guests to the Pocono Mountains are looking forward to another great winter season,” said Carl Wilgus, president and CEO of the Pocono Mountain Visitors Bureau.“From snowmaking and snow sports [...]
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الثلاثاء، 13 ديسمبر 2016
Income Inequality is Growing. Here are 5 Real Ways You Can Fight It
Do you feel like you can’t get ahead?
That no matter how hard you try, the other half seems to be getting further and further away from you?
It’s not your imagination.
A recent study by three scholars from the University of California Berkeley and the Paris School of Economics examined American tax, survey and national accounts data to produce a comprehensive report about the distribution of national income since 1913.
And the results are striking.
Proof Your Piece of the Pie’s Been Disappearing
At its simplest, they found there’s been a “sharp divergence” between the bottom 50% of earners and the rest of the country over the past 30+ years.
The rich are continuing full steam ahead — the rest of us are standing still.
Between 1980 and 2014, the average national income grew by 60%, the study reports.
While that sounds wonderful, it’s mostly due to increases at the top: The average pre-tax income of the top 1% rose from $420,000 to about $1.3 million.
Compare that to the average pre-tax income of the bottom 50%, which hasn’t moved at all: stagnant at about $16,000 per adult.
Look only at working-age adults, the numbers are even worse: The income of the bottom 50% has decreased 20% for people ages 20-45, and 8% for people ages 45-65.
In terms of our national income pie, the share held by the entire bottom 50% has “collapsed” from 20% in 1980 to 12% in 2014, while the share of the top 1% increased from 12% to 20%.
Basically, over the past 30 years, 8% of our country’s income went straight from the paychecks of the bottom 50% to those of the top 1%. And it’s important to remember that, by definition, the bottom 50% has 50 times more people than the top 1%.
The bottom line?
“While top 1% adults earned 27 times more income than bottom 50% adults on average in 1980, they earn 81 times more today,” the report states.
The study’s authors see this as evidence that government redistribution programs — including the Earned Income Tax Credit, Medicaid and Medicare — aren’t as effective as we thought.
“Even after taxes and transfers, there has been close to zero growth for working-age adults in the bottom 50% of the distribution since 1980,” they write. “Transfers that go to the bottom 50% have not been large enough to lift income significantly.”
They argue policies should focus on improving education and teaching skills, workplace reforms like an increased minimum wage, and “steeply progressive taxation.”
These issues are systemic, and much of the change needs to come from our nation’s leadership. But as we all know, that could take a very long time.
So you need to take action against income equality yourself. Here are five ideas for getting ahead in spite of a difficult situation.
1. Vote
As I said, these are big issues that our government needs to address. That doesn’t mean you’re helpless, though — you can make your voice heard by voting.
And not only in the presidential election, either.
Many of the most important changes happen on the local and state level, so attend city council meetings and learn about the issues and the candidates. And when the elections roll around, head to the polls to support people who will represent you and your needs.
2. Educate Yourself
As the study’s authors pointed out, education is paramount.
Although college undoubtedly helps and grads earn about a million dollars more than non-grads over their lifetimes — it’s not the only answer.
Trade jobs and apprenticeships offer another route out of poverty (without the loans), and there are many free and low-cost ways to learn valuable skills like these and these.
3. Ask for What You Want
During a training last year, a journalist told us, “Never say no for someone else.” It’s great advice as a reporter, and also for life in general.
When you get a new job, negotiate your salary. When you’ve reached a milestone, ask for a raise or promotion.
Because if you don’t, you might never get it.
4. Eat Healthy and Exercise
If you think this has nothing to do with money, you’re dead wrong.
Much of the “paltry increase” in the disposable income of the bottom 50% “has been absorbed by increased health spending,” the study explains.
Again, the rising cost of healthcare and insurance is a much bigger issue than can be addressed here — but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing you can do.
Taking care of yourself could lead to cheaper medical bills, lower costs for unhealthy food and entertainment options, and fewer sick days at work.
Stop wasting money on sugary drinks. Grow a vegetable garden. Download this free cookbook. Cancel your cable, and instead of watching TV every evening, take a walk.
5. Move to a Different City or State
Face it: Certain areas of the country are stagnant, while others are growing. Certain areas of the country have skyrocketing rent, while others have affordable costs of living.
If you can’t support your family where you live, it might be time to move. It’s a hard (and expensive) decision, but if it makes the difference between struggling and getting ahead, it’s probably worth it.
Your Turn: Are you discouraged by this report? What’s your advice for getting ahead despite the circumstances?
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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This Company is Actually Hiring an Emoji Translator Because #2016
I studied the English language for four years in college.
My choice in bachelor’s degree came with snickers from my peers. “What’re you gonna do with that?” they’d ask.
I felt great about my decision — until now.
The emoji is taking over, y’all. So much so that a UK translation firm is hiring an emoji translator.
This is not a drill; the future is now.
Today’s Translations is Actually Hiring an Emoji Translator
Do you use emojis to share your feelings?
when you’re being, well, like a poophead.
An when you’re frisky?
when you’re starved?
You’re not alone.
“Emoji” is the fastest growing language in history, according to Professor Vyv Evans of Bangor University.
Now, Today’s Translations is embracing the move. The London-based translation firm has a global network of more than 3,000 linguists who cover more than 200 languages.
To be added: an emoji translator.
This is thought to be the first job of its kind worldwide, BBC reports. And, yes, there’s actually a need for this.
Jurga Zilinskiene, head of Today Translations, said she needed an emoji specialist to translate diaries into emojis for a client, BBC reports. For what purpose? Who knows.
Needless to say, there wasn’t an emoji translator out there, so she decided to create the position.
Out of Curiosity… What’s it Take to be an Emoji Translator?
Today Translations’ emoji translator will work with clients to translate the little icons, keep track of emoji trends and developments, and study the emoji across cultures.
This ain’t a joke. To become the purportedly first-ever emoji translator, you need a bachelor’s degree in translation or at least three years of language industry experience.
Thought you knew your way around the emoji keyboard? BBC totally schooled me with these fun facts:
This isn’t actually friendly. It’s more like a “Bye, Felicia” move. In China, it’s basically the middle finger.
Hopefully you’ll get this one before going into a job interview. In Japan, the words for “poo” and “luck” apparently sound similar, so enter the hanky emoji.
I always used this before going out with a friend. It was exciting, like “Yes! Let’s enjoy some brewskis and have a fun girls night.” Well, these were originally Playboy bunnies, so that’s awk. There’s also a men’s version now. #equality
So maybe it’s best I studied the English language because, well, I’d accidentally be translating that diary into a Playboy mansion scene. Yikes.
And to whoever is well-versed enough to apply, to you.
Your Turn: What’s your favorite emoji?
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.
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This Work-From-Home Virtual Assistant Job Pays Up to $20 Per Hour
If you’re looking for a part-time work-from-home job that offers a bit of a challenge, Worldwide 101 could be the company for you.
It’s hiring experienced, professional-level virtual assistants to join its team across North America and Europe.
Worldwide 101 connects business clients with its network of virtual assistants around the globe to provide not only administrative support, but also help with marketing, customer service, project management and bookkeeping.
You’ll work with clients who match your availability. You can work around your schedule, but you should be available during business hours.
This is a part-time job, 20 to 25 hours per week. Pay is $15 to $20 an hour, depending on experience, skills and seniority.
Your job would vary depending on the clients you support, including duties like:
- Scheduling meetings, conferences and travel
- Organizing travel arrangements
- Providing customer support
- Fielding client correspondence and managing emails
- Administrative support
The company is dedicated to making this more than a job. You can expect a career with room to grow and develop.
“We foster long-term partnerships, open communication and transparency with our team,” the listing states. “We have a ‘virtual’ open door policy, which means that everyone has access to our CEO’s email address, and Skype, and is encouraged to speak up, and connect with her directly, no matter what the issue.”
You’ll also have opportunities to virtually meet the team. Even though everyone is remote, you won’t have to work in a vacuum!
Requirements for Worldwide 101’s Virtual Assistant Jobs
Worldwide 101 looks for candidates with at least five years of “professional corporate experience,” including some executive assistant experience, and “impeccable references.”
You won’t receive VA training, so you should come in with basic skills and be comfortable using and learning relevant online tools.
As an assistant, you should be a great communicator, be highly organized, have strong writing skills, and be comfortable working under deadlines.
To apply: Fill out the online application here. If you make it to the next round, you’ll hear back within two weeks.
The next steps include two video interviews, psychometric testing (which assesses your professional strengths and weaknesses), as well as reference and background checks.
How to Become a Virtual Assistant
Don’t have the experience this company is looking for?
Read our guide to the skills that will help you become a virtual assistant and eight websites that will help you find virtual assistant jobs.
Want to be the first to know about other fun and interesting jobs like this? Like The Penny Hoarder Jobs on Facebook to stay in the loop!
Your Turn: What tips do you have for new virtual assistants?
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 This Work-From-Home Virtual Assistant Job Pays Up to $20 Per Hour appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
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I Only Spend $50 per Month on Meat for my Family of 6. Here’s How
For years, my parents spent an average of $50 per week on meat at the grocery store to feed our family of six.
Unfortunately, my dad was in an accident that required multiple surgeries and physical therapy.
Once our family began living on a fixed income, home-cooked meals with meat only happened once a week or on special occasions.
As I got older, I discovered we actually can afford to feed our large family meat on a regular basis.
Rather than spending $50 per week at the grocery store, I found ways to feed our family meat on only $50 per month. We actually get more meat now than we ever did when my father was working!
How to Save Money on Meat
Before I start my own family, I‘m prepared to start things off right and save thousands of dollars on meat the rest of my life.
You can, too. Here’s my secret to spending so little on meat:
1. Buy Wholesale Meat
Wholesale meat suppliers often sell to restaurants and grocery stores, but anyone can walk in off the street and buy meat in bulk.
Check your zip code in the Wholesale Meat Supplier Directory.
By shopping at our local wholesaler, we get three months’ worth of beef, pork, chicken and fish for only $50, and it all fits in our standard-sized freezer.
This covers most meals each week, and dramatically cuts down our grocery-store meat purchases.
Prices may vary, depending on your local market. But you’re always guaranteed to pay less at a wholesaler than you would at the supermarket.
Keep in mind wholesalers’ hours are usually different than the typical supermarket. Many are open from about 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Pro tip: Bring a jacket! These places are often just one giant freezer full of meat.
Don’t have a meat wholesaler near you? Here are five other ways to save:
2. Shop at Local Farms
Many local farms and ranches are willing to sell you an entire cow or pig, and you can easily buy turkeys and chickens for a low cost.
Kitchen Stewardship has an in-depth guide on how to buy an entire cow.
Once you pick your cow, work with the butcher to specify how many pounds you want in each style of meat — ground, steaks, ribs, etc.
When all’s said and done, you’ll leave with over 200 pounds of beef, which could easily last more than a year.
Sure, the up-front cost is higher, but you can save hundreds of dollars on meat each year. Plus, this is much higher quality meat than you’d find in a grocery store. In many cases, it’ll also be organic.
This option isn’t for everyone, especially if you live in an apartment. But it’s perfect if you live in the suburbs with a large family, a second freezer and plenty of space.
3. Look for Coupons and Sales
Pay attention to your grocery store’s sales flyers.
If meat goes on sale significantly cheaper than it normally sells for, it’d be smart to stock up.
Meat coupons are rare, but you can find them on company websites and in the Sunday paper. Sometimes, they’ll be right on the meat packages.
Check out our couponing resources to get started.
4. Shop at Ethnic Grocery Stores
Many ethnic markets offer meat and other ingredients you’d expect to pay a fortune for in other places, but for way less.
As an amateur chef and major foodie, I shop at Asian groceries for rare ingredients for my dishes.
Chains like H-Mart carry everything you typically see in any grocery store, but they also carry snacks, meats and produce seen exclusively in Asian cuisines.
With all of the affordable meat options, try cooking outside your comfort zone.
5. Compare Average Grocery-Store Prices
Grab a notebook and visit each of your local grocery stores.
Write down your favorite meats’ average price-per-pound. Ask employees how often they run meat sales and what price you can expect at any given time.
Compare your findings to pick the cheapest grocery in your area. Calculate how much gas money you’d have to spend to get there to decide whether a sale is worth it.
In my area, the cheapest place to buy meat is Aldi, but it’s 10-15 minutes away from where I live. I always use Aldi as the baseline price to decide whether or not a sale at another store is worth it.
6. Cut Down On Meat-Per-Meal
When my mother cooks, she uses a huge amount of meat.
She has this mindset that the family needs as much meat as possible to be full and satisfied.
When I cook, I use a fraction of her amount of meat. For example, if I’m cooking chili, I’ll only use a quarter of a pound of beef instead of the entire pound.
The rest goes in the freezer, and I can use it for at least two more meals.
To make the meal filling, I increase the amount of beans, vegetables and other ingredients, and it tastes exactly the same.
Your Turn: Will you use these ideas to save money on meat?
Shannon Quinn is a writer and entrepreneur living in the Greater Philadelphia area. She spends a great deal of her time discovering creative ways to save money so that she can live comfortably on a small budget.
The post I Only Spend $50 per Month on Meat for my Family of 6. Here’s How appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
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Ovo pays £58,000 after missing appointments
Energy firm Ovo is making a payment to charity after it missed appointments with customers or turned up late and failed to compensate them in accordance with the regulator’s rules.
Ovo is paying £58,000 to the charity Step Change to help indebted energy customers. This includes £54,000 worth of redress, plus a further charitable donation of £4,000.
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Finding Fulfillment for Less
Jack writes in:
Seems to me that frugality is about balancing fulfillment with money in the bank. If you’re cutting off some options because they’re too expensive you’re eliminating some of your most fulfilling experiences. That’s a tradeoff I don’t want to make. If I have the money for something that’s incredibly fulfilling, I’m going to go for it.
Jack is pretty clearly describing a philosophy that many people subscribe to: hedonism. The idea behind hedonism is simple: It’s the idea that seeking maximum pleasure is the highest good and proper aim of human life. In other words, everything you do should be directed toward maximizing your personal pleasure in life.
The philosophy makes sense and, in the short term, it will make for a very fun life. However, there’s a cost behind hedonism.
The Hidden Cost of Hedonism
Whenever you make the choice that gives you the maximum pleasure or fulfillment in the moment, that choice comes with some cost you’re going to have to pay at some point.
Let’s say, for example, that I thought it would be more fun today to spend all day playing a game with a few friends instead of working. In the short term, that’s an awesome choice that contains a lot of pleasure. I’m probably going to have more fun in the moment hanging out with my pals playing a game than I would working.
However, if we stretch that out over the long run, there begins to be a problem. If I’m not working, eventually I’m going to get fired. I’m going to not deliver on my contracted work, they’re going to cease paying me, and then I’m in a real pickle.
While that’s a really obvious example, the truth is that the same phenomenon plays out in almost everything that you choose to do in life. Everything has a cost in terms of time and money.
Every time you choose to spend some of your time, there’s an opportunity cost involved. By devoting your time to one thing, you’re choosing to miss out on the many other things that you could be doing with it.
Similarly, every time you choose to spend some of your money, you’re choosing not to spend it in some other fashion or to save it for the future. You’re choosing to miss out on the many other things you could be doing with it.
No matter what you choose to do with your time and your money, you’re making choices like this. You spend money on one thing at the expense of not spending that money on other things. You spend time on one thing at the expense of not spending that time on other things.
Frugality and Cost
The frugal approach (at least, the approach to frugality that I advocate) is that the best balance of those factors is usually toward finding fulfillment and pleasure with minimal outcome of money so that you spend less of your life working and more of your life doing pleasureful things.
Let’s put that another way. Whenever I choose to spend my free time on something fulfilling, I’m more likely to choose a fulfilling option that costs less money because, by doing so, I have less need in my life to earn money. That means that if I make those kinds of choices consistently, I can have a less stressful career, a job that eats up fewer hours, or, if I take the long term view, I can save up my money and retire much earlier than I would otherwise.
In other words, I choose lower-cost avenues for fulfillment because, in the long run, it puts less stress in my life and reduces the number of hours in my life that I have to work for an income.
I recognize that there are many expensive things in life that can bring a great deal of personal fun and fulfillment. Driving a shiny new car is fulfilling. Going on vacation to a resort in Jamaica is fulfilling and fun. Those things are quite expensive, though, and in the expense of those things, I’m adding months of additional work to the end of my career or I’m choosing to have to take a career path that’s higher stress or more hours to earn more money.
In my eyes, the fact that a national park vacation costs a lot less than a vacation in the Caribbean doesn’t detract from the Caribbean vacation’s value, but it adds a lot to the perceived value of the national park vacation. It adds greatly to the fulfillment factor of that vacation.
I think a look at one of my favorite concepts in personal finance, the fulfillment curve, might make this clear.
A Quick Look at the Fulfillment Curve
One of my favorite topics over the years has been the fulfillment curve. I’ve written about it in detail twice, in Some Thoughts on the Fulfillment Curve and Another Look at the Fulfillment Curve, and I want to bring it up again here because it’s such an important concept.
Take a look at this curve:
The idea here is that the more money you spend on something, the greater your fulfillment gets — to a point. After that, your fulfillment drops to the point that there’s no longer any fulfillment at all.
I wrote up an example of this fulfillment curve many years ago, and I still like it. This is one way to interpret the numbers on that curve in an example of buying a home:
1 – We’re essentially homeless. We live in our car.
2 – We live in an extremely cheap, extremely small old apartment. The rent is extremely cheap, but there’s barely enough room for sleeping space for everyone or room to do anything at all. We’re embarrassed to have guests at all.
3 – We live in a nice apartment or a small house. There’s enough room for everyone to sleep and have meals, but we’re sometimes pinched for space and there’s more clutter than we’d like. We have some of our friends over, but we feel pretty self-conscious about the place and don’t have the dinner parties we’d like.
4 – Our house is just the right size for our family. We feel comfortable having any and all guests over, the housework doesn’t overwhelm us, and the bills are completely manageable.
5 – Our house slightly exceeds what our family needs, but it gives us some room to grow. The bills are slightly painful, but we can manage things. We spend a bit more of our weekends on home cleaning and maintenance than we’d like, but we feel quite proud giving dinner parties and inviting people over.
6 – Our house is a McMansion. We can afford the bills, but just barely, and only if we eat everything at home. The bills make me feel kind of guilty, and there are times where it feels like all we do is upkeep.
7 – We bought a house nine times our annual income on an ARM and it just adjusted. Our house is mind-blowingly awesome, but we’re getting foreclosed tomorrow. We have no equity and we have no idea what we’re going to do. I wish we’d never come here.
In most things in life, I shoot for somewhere between a 3 and a 4, probably closer to a 3, on the fulfillment curve. That’s actively my target, because I view any option where I spend less money as having some “bonus fulfillment” attached as I described above.
Many people tend to shoot for a little over a 4 and end up somewhere near a 5 on the fulfillment curve. These are people who are stretching their finances to the breaking point. If you’re living paycheck to paycheck, in my opinion, you’re above a 4 on the fulfillment curve in many areas of life and the stress of living paycheck to paycheck is bringing down your overall fulfillment.
If you give me a choice between a 3 and a 5 on that curve, I will choose the 3 every single time. I would far rather have a house that’s a bit smaller than I’d like than one that’s bigger than I would like, because the smaller house means fewer hours devoted to it and much lower costs, both of which maximize my free time and minimize my stress. I can basically modify that sentence for anything in my life from which I draw fulfillment.
Finding Fulfillment for Less
So, how do I find fulfilling experiences and things for a low cost? This post actually started off as just a long list of things that I find deeply fulfilling that don’t cost very much. All of the things listed below are things that bring me a lot of personal fulfillment with relatively little cost. Many of them are obvious substitutes for other things that I could be doing.
I strongly encourage you to try out some of these strategies for finding fulfillment for less money. See which ones work for you. Some of them might not click and that’s fine, but I will say that the more fulfilling things for little cost that you can put into your life, the more fulfilling and less stressful your life will become and, over the long haul, the more free time you’ll have to boot because you’ll have less long-term financial demands and can retire earlier or switch jobs easier.
1. I meditate/pray each day for ten or fifteen minutes, after which I almost always feel fulfilled and refreshed.
2. I go on walks and short hikes in local parks. My favorite place in the world for hiking is Ledges State Park in Boone, Iowa, which I know like the back of my hand at this point. When the weather is decent, I try to go on a hike there or at another nearby park at least once a week.
2a. My absolute favorite places to vacation are our national parks. I can spend days and days and days in them, exploring new trails, taking photographs and little videos of things I discover, and just relaxing in a completely natural surrounding. While international travel definitely has appeal to me, I actually find more lasting fulfillment exploring Shenandoah or Acadia or Glacier or Yosemite or Yellowstone.
3. I make food from scratch quite often. Making things like pasta, bread, pasta sauces, casseroles, beer, and many other things from basic ingredients is incredibly fulfilling. Start with simple things, like dicing up tomatoes and a few vegetables to make a sauce. It’s often much less expensive than buying the equivalent at the store.
3a. I love the flavor of fresh foods, particularly fruits and vegetables. There is nothing more satisfying on my plate than items that have either come straight from our garden or a neighbor’s garden and moved to our plates as fast as possible, but barring that, items from the produce section turned into snacks and meals makes for a fulfilling meal for me. Fast food and other things are okay, but they’re mostly just fuel and not really fulfilling.
4. I write down the things I’m grateful for in my life. Make a list of five or 10 of them, and do it regularly.
5. I wall off blocks of time to get “lost” in actually doing my hobbies. This isn’t about buying new things for my hobbies or anything else. I like to curl up with a book when there’s no requirement to be anywhere else or do anything else. I like to play board games or card games with my friends.
5a. I read challenging books that I know from the beginning are going to challenge my understanding and how I think. There’s almost nothing more fulfilling to me than reading a book that challenges my way of thinking and introduces me to new ideas that I have to slowly grasp and wrap my mind around.
6. I also wall off blocks of time to do something with my children that’s completely focused on the thing we’re doing. I literally turn off my cell phone completely and leave it somewhere where I can’t see it for a while and make a genuine effort to get lost in whatever I’m doing with them.
6a. If I’m being honest, my favorite activity with my kids is coloring. I love taking a sheet of paper and making an elaborate doodle on it, or else taking a page from an “adult” coloring book and just getting lost in filling in all of the space with color and pattern.
7. I like the taste of water, as cold as possible, and maybe with a slice of lemon or lime or orange in it. There is no other beverage I would rather have in the entire world. What I like to do is fill up a water bottle, put a slice of a citrus fruit in it, put it in the freezer until it’s just about to freeze, and then drink it down.
8. I love the smell of coffee. I actually don’t like drinking it, but I love the smell of it when my wife grinds beans in the morning. I would actually be disappointed if she switched to buying a Starbucks on the way to work.
9. I have “passive conversations” with people, which means that I intentionally shut down the part of me that just wants to say things that I think and not really listen to what the other person is saying. I ask a lot of questions and listen. What I find is that when I do that, I tend to not only understand the other person better, but they tend to like me and even trust me more. I even sometimes look up people who I’m interested in and have such a conversation with them, an idea that I picked up from Brian Glazer; he calls them “curiosity conversations.”
10. I try to “get lost” in whatever task that I’m doing. If I’m going to take on a task that’s going to take a while, I shut off distractions as much as humanly possible and focus just on the task at hand. If everything goes well, I get “lost” in that task – I lose all sense of time and location and just get so absorbed by the task that time just zips by. Whenever this happens, I feel incredibly fulfilled. This connects back to other things I’ve listed here, particularly reading.
11. I love to work in our small garden. Again, I often try to get lost in what I’m doing so that time passes without notice and I’m absorbed in the task.
12. I love exercising enough so that when I get up the next morning, my body is a little sore but still functional. I like to breathe hard for a while and stress my muscles, but not reach a point of feeling utterly miserable. The exact exercise doesn’t matter – I usually do a workout from Darebee – but I really like playing soccer with people in the park if I get a chance.
13. I love doing volunteer work, when I know that some task that I’m doing actually provides some tangible benefit to the life of someone who’s really in need. I personally feel drawn to the issue of hunger in the community where I live. The fact that somewhere in the area of 30% of the children in my children’s school district are food insecure at home shakes me to my core, and taking action to do anything to help reduce that statistic and be sure that children in my community have enough to eat and clothes on their back is very meaningful to me.
14. I love having long conversations with my wife about the world, about our philosophy on living, about the things we’ve learned, about the things we’d like to change, about our parenting strategies, about anything. I find the meaningful periods of time with her to be deeply, deeply fulfilling.
15. I feel deeply fulfilled when I can take an idea in my head and, over the course of several hours, translate it into something meaningful on a sheet of paper or in a computer program. I’m creating something and that feels great.
Those things are honestly enough to fill almost all of my waking time, even my work time.
Final Thoughts
I live a life that I consider to be deeply fulfilling, and those fulfilling elements generally come from spending time, not money. By consciously making that decision and filling my life with genuinely fulfilling activities, I can afford to have a super-flexible and low-stress job that still keeps me on the path to early retirement.
I’m fulfilled now because I have a life full of fulfilling things and a job that doesn’t consume my time or my patience. I’ll be fulfilled later because I’ll be able to walk away from working for money a lot earlier than I might have ever believed.
That, to me, adds up to a fulfilling life for less. It’s a path that I’m happy with every single day.
Related Articles
- Wealth, Purpose, and the Idea of ‘Enough’
- 102 Free Things to Do
- ‘Wealth Is Doing What You Love to Find Joy and Fulfillment’
- What Should I Do With My Life? The Fundamental Question of Personal Finance
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Wednesday closure scheduled at I-80 West, Tannersville
EDITORS NOTE: The date of this investigation has been changed to Wednesday State police are scheduled to close Interstate 80 West at Exit 299 in Tannersville, starting at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 14 for an investigative reconstruction of the Nov. 18 crash that claimed four lives.Westbound traffic will be redirected to take the Exit 299 off-ramp, turn right onto Route 715 North, then turn left at the first light onto Sullivan Trail and stay straight ahead to take [...]
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Source Business - poconorecord.com http://ift.tt/2gw8eMv
Inflation rises to 1.2% in November
UK inflation – the measure of the increase in prices of a selected ‘basket of goods’ that includes items and services that are commonly bought by the average person in the UK (and is updated each year) – rose to 1.2% in November, 0.3% higher than October’s 0.9% number.
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Increase Your Etsy Sales After the Holiday Rush
By Dawn Berryman The holiday rush has come and gone. It was a profitable one for your Etsy business, but how do you ensure that continues? Profit is great, especially during the holidays; however, it is important to maintain that momentum all year long. It may seem like there is a big drop in sales […]
The post Increase Your Etsy Sales After the Holiday Rush appeared first on The Work at Home Woman.
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Why Is Credit Utilization Such a Big Deal?
Credit scores can either save you a ton of money or cost you just as much. Ultimately it’s your own credit management habits that will determine whether your credit scores are a financial asset or a liability. For this reason, it’s essential you learn how to earn great credit scores and then follow through on that knowledge. Great credit doesn’t happen by accident. It’s a premeditated effort.
One of the worst assumptions that consumers make when it comes to their credit is the belief that simply paying bills on time is all it takes to safeguard their credit scores. Don’t get me wrong: Paying your bills on time is the single biggest factor in your credit score. However, it’s hardly the only factor — credit scoring is much more complicated than that.
In fact, about two thirds of the points in your FICO and VantageScore credit scores have nothing to do with whether you’re making timely payments. As a result, it’s possible to never make a single late payment and still have a less than desirable credit score.
Of course, credit scoring models do pay attention to whether or not you make your payments on time. That’s a given. However, these same credit scoring models are also designed to focus heavily on what’s called your credit utilization ratio. In fact, your credit utilization is nearly as important to your credit scores as your payment history.
What Is Credit Utilization?
Your credit utilization ratio is the relationship between your credit card limits and your credit card balances. This relationship, expressed as a percentage, is the measurement of how much you owe versus your overall capacity to borrow.
For example, if you’ve charged $1,000 on your credit card, and your available credit limit on that card is $2,000, then your credit utilization ratio is 50% — you’ve used up half of your available credit. And that’s a lot higher than lenders and credit score models like to see.
Why Lenders Care About Your Credit Utilization
The developers of credit scoring models are the people who design and build the mathematical algorithms that calculate your credit scores. These developers focus on your credit utilization for one simple reason: It’s predictive of credit risk. People who utilize higher proportions of their available credit card limits represent a larger risk to lenders.
Keep in mind that credit scoring models are specifically designed to help lenders predict the risk of doing business with you. High credit utilization could indicate that a consumer has experienced a loss or reduction in income. It might also indicate a lack of discipline or an overspending problem.
Regardless of the specific reason behind high credit card balances, one fact is certain: Consumers with high credit utilization rates are statistically more likely to make future late payments or default. This fact makes them less attractive to lenders.
Paying Once a Month Might Not Be Enough
Credit utilization is the amount of available credit you’re using at the specific time your credit scores are calculated. Do you think paying off your credit card balance once each month is enough to protect your credit score from any unnecessary dings in the credit utilization department? If so, you might be in for an unpleasant surprise.
Credit card issuers will only report your balance to the credit bureaus once a month, shortly after the statement closing date on your account. That means thatif you used up a large portion of your credit limit one month – say, racking up $2,000 in holiday purchases on a card with a $3,000 limit — and you paid off the balance in full before the due date but after the statement closing date, the credit bureaus are still going to report your balance as $2,000 and your credit utilization rate as an ugly 67%, even though both are currently, in fact, zero. And that data will remain on your credit reports until a new closing statement is generated the next month.
To avoid this problem, many consumers develop the habit of paying small portions of their credit card balances multiple times per month in an attempt to prevent a high balance from building up. While this isn’t a bad idea, paying off your credit card balances in full prior to the statement closing date is the best strategy. That guarantees you’ll have a credit card utilization percentage of zero, which will be great for your credit scores.
Related Articles
- Credit Utilization: You Can Improve This Part of Your Credit Score Almost Immediately
- Debunking Four Common Credit Myths
- Revolving Credit vs Installment Loans: Why the Type of Debt Matters to Your Credit Score
John Ulzheimer is an expert on credit reporting, credit scoring, and identity theft. He has written four books on the topic and has been interviewed and quoted thousands of times over the past 10 years. With time spent at Equifax and FICO, Ulzheimer is the only credit expert who actually comes from the credit industry. He has been an expert witness in over 230 credit related lawsuits and has been qualified to testify in both federal and state courts on the topic of consumer credit.
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