Mortgage rates move higher Mortgage rates carried on their steady ascent this week, moving higher for the seventh consecutive week. Home loan rates are loosely tied to long-term bond yields, which have been on an upward march. The yield on a 10-year Treasury note climbed to 2.54 percent Wednesday, the first time it has been above 2.5 percent since September 2014. The day before the election, it was 1.83 percent. The Federal Reserve's [...]
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الجمعة، 16 ديسمبر 2016
Feds back ambitious plan to speed up Northeast rail service
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Federal railroad regulators endorsed an ambitious and costly plan to rebuild the congested Northeast Corridor over the next 30 years by shoring up crumbling infrastructure, running more trains and building new tracks that would allow speeds of up to 220 mph on a stretch of the Washington-Boston route.The Federal Railroad Administration's plan unveiled Friday aims to cut down on delay-causing bottlenecks and increase capacity and reliability by upgrading [...]
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DeVry University Duped Thousands of Students. Now It Owes Them $100 Million
If you attended DeVry University between 2008 and 2015, the for-profit college could owe you money.
DeVry and its parent company agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission, which alleged the school misled prospective students. The FTC says the $100 million settlement will provide financial relief to tens of thousands of students impacted.
According to the FTC, DeVry’s advertisements falsely claimed that 90% of students were hired in their fields within six months of graduating.
DeVry also claimed its graduates earned 15% more on average one year after graduation than those with bachelor’s degrees from other colleges and universities, the complaint states.
How DeVry Will Divvy Up $100 Million
So, who gets the $100 million?
A judge still has to approve the settlement, but DeVry has agreed to pay $49.4 million in cash to qualifying students who were duped by the ads.
Meanwhile, DeVry will pay $50.6 million to forgive student debt.
That debt relief is split into two parts: $30.35 million will be applied to the full balance on private student loans DeVry issued to undergrads between September 2008 and September 2015.
Another $20.25 million will go toward student debts for tuition, books and lab fees, the FTC explained.
Does this settlement affect you? DeVry will notify you in early 2017. If the school forgives your student debt, it will notify your student loan administrators and all credit bureaus.
DeVry will also provide transcripts and diplomas to students who previously could not obtain them due to outstanding debt to the school.
The FTC explained, “If you’re eligible, the refund amount will depend on how much you paid, and it may not be the full amount of your loss.”
In addition to compensating affected students, DeVry will have to change its advertising methods. The settlement prohibits the school from misrepresenting its graduates’ job placement rates and compensation.
Your Turn: Did you attend DeVry University? Do you think you’ll get a refund or debt forgiveness?
Lisa Rowan is a writer and producer at The Penny Hoarder.
The post DeVry University Duped Thousands of Students. Now It Owes Them $100 Million appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
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Happy Holidays: Here’s Every Single One of Our Budget-Friendly Gift Guides
I love my family and friends — and I hate shopping for ’em.
I’ve known my best friend since I was 4. That’s 20 years of friendship. What does it culminate in? A random Christmas present — anything with cats on it. (Totally exposed that strategy…)
It’s like a hot potato. I get nervous, grab something and throw it. Here. Whatever it costs. Just have it.
No more, my friends. I’ve got a back-pocket solution, one for eternal virtual bookmarking.
Our 2016 Holiday Gift Guides — All of Them
I’ve rounded up all The Penny Hoarder’s holiday gift guides.
Here, you’ll find everything you need with a pleasant little — or practically nonexistent — price tag.
7 Gift Guides Based on Your Budget
If you haven’t already, make a holiday shopping budget. Seriously, it won’t take too long, and, in the end, you’ll save more.
Work from there.
Here are 7 gift guides to peruse based on your budget.
11 Gift Guides Based on the Recipient
There’s always that one person on your list who has extreme interests, but you just don’t know where to even start.
Being a parent? Well how much more vague can you get. A hipster? Yikes — don’t know where to start there.
Here are 11 gift guides based on your recipient.
Resources to Help You Jingle-Bell Rock Your Gift-Giving
In case you’re feeling bashful, these are some solid resources we’ve put together to get you on your way to saving money — and not forgetting about any last-minute supplies (i.e. wrapping paper).
Your Turn: What’s your favorite way to save money during the holidays?
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 Happy Holidays: Here’s Every Single One of Our Budget-Friendly Gift Guides appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
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15 Banks With the Most Customer Complaints in 2016 — Is Yours on the List?
If I asked if you were friends with your bank, what would you say?
If your answer is vigorously shake head “no,” then you might want to keep the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on speed dial.
This government organization started collecting consumer complaints in 2011. Apparently, a lot of people have something not-so-nice to say about their financial institution: More than half a million complaints are housed in its Consumer Complaint Database.
The data offers a snapshot of which banks are making their customers happy — and which are not.
The Most-Complained-About Banks of 2016
The team at LendEDU analyzed the 2016 data to create a list of the best and worst banks.
What I liked about this study is it didn’t just include the number of complaints — it looked at the number of complaints per billion in deposits. So it’s not as unfairly weighted towards the big banks that have the most customers.
When all was said and done, these 15 were at the bottom of the heap:
- TCF National Bank: 12.30 complaints per billion ($) in deposits
- Citigroup: 8.58
- Wells Fargo: 8
- SunTrust: 7.67
- Bank of America: 7.24
- U.S. Bancorp 7.14
- Fifth Third Bancorp: 7.08
- Citizens Financial: 7.04
- M&T Bank: 6.20
- CIT Group: 6.17
- JPMorgan Chase & Co: 5.82
- PNC Financial: 5.81
- Comerica: 5.78
- BB&T: 4.61
- Regions: 4.57
As for the best banks? They were all smaller and regional. (No surprise there!)
If you’d like to see the full list of the best and worst banks, click here.
Your Turn: Is your bank on the list?
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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Why Leave The House? Get 3 Free Months of Google Express Deliveries
Google vs. Amazon. Who wins? You do.
Google’s delivery service, Google Express, has nearly finished moving into every neighborhood in the U.S. in its quest to compete with Amazon Prime.
Now it’s trying to seduce you with a free three-month membership.
Come check me out, it whispers in your ear. You’ll never have to leave your house again.
What’s Google Express?
The service offers free delivery from more than 40 retailers, including Target, Costco, Walgreens, Staples, Whole Foods Market, Bed Bath & Beyond, Kohl’s, Barnes & Noble, Toys R Us and Petsmart.
Some orders are delivered the same day, but many arrive in one or two days, depending on your location. (One notable exception: After Dec. 21, Google Express can’t promise your order will show up in time for Christmas.)
You have six weeks to think about whether you want to try it; the free trial offer expires Jan. 31, 2017.
Things you should know:
- After the three-month free trial, cancel the membership if you don’t want to be charged $10 per month or $95 per year. Set an alarm in your calendar so you don’t accidentally get charged.
- To get free delivery from most participating stores, you’ve got to order at least $15 worth of stuff. Some stores require a minimum order of up to $35. If you don’t meet the minimum, you pay $3 for the delivery.
- Google Express doesn’t deliver frozen or refrigerated foods. It tested that option in a few markets, then dropped it.
- In most places, it won’t deliver alcohol, either. Nice try, but you’re gonna have to put on some pants to pick up that bottle of New Year’s bubbly.
- Nonmembers can use the service for $4.99 per delivery.
- The number of participating stores varies depending on your location. Type in your ZIP code on Google Express’ main page to find out which stores will deliver to you.
How Google Express Compares to Amazon Prime
At this point, Amazon Prime is the undisputed Lord King God Ruler of the online delivery world, according to ecommerce analysts who keep track of these things.
Google Express debuted in 2013 to compete with it, and since then, the two internet giants have been fighting it out for the privilege of delivering deodorant to your doorstep.
Amazon Prime offers a one-month free trial before it begins charging you. It costs $99 a year or $11 per month — about the same as Google Express.
With Amazon Prime, you’re ordering everything from Amazon, while Google Express partners with a variety of retailers.
When Google Express first started, it was only available in annoyingly hip places like San Francisco and New York. Since then, it’s steadily expanded its delivery area.
In November 2016, Google announced that Google Express covered 90% of the continental United States and expected to cover the rest by the end of the year.
Thus, the War of the Delivery Vans rages on.
Your Turn: Would you try Google Express for free?
Mike Brassfield (mike@thepennyhoarder.com) is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder. He sometimes leaves his house.
The post Why Leave The House? Get 3 Free Months of Google Express Deliveries appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
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What the Fed’s Rising Interest Rates Could Mean for You (In Plain English)
Yesterday, the Federal Reserve, the nation’s central bank, raised interest rates by a quarter point from a range of 0.25-0.5% to a range of 0.5-0.75%.
You’ve probably seen the news everywhere — but do you have any idea what it could mean for you?
We’re here to break it down in plain English.
What the Fed Rate Hike Could Mean for You
The Fed determines something called the “Federal Funds Rate,” which is basically the interest rate financial institutions charge each other to borrow money.
The lower the rate, the cheaper it is for banks to borrow — savings passed on to you.
To stimulate our economy and encourage spending, the Fed has only raised rates once since the crash of 2008. The fact it’s raising them again shows it’s feeling confident in our economy.
“My colleagues and I are recognizing the considerable progress the economy has made,” explained Fed chairwoman Janet Yellen. “We expect the economy will continue to perform well.”
So that’s good news, but what’s it mean for you? Not a lot — at least at first.
“The impact of a single rate hike is inconsequential,” Greg McBride, Bankrate.com’s chief financial analyst told Bloomberg. “It’s the cumulative effect that really matters.”
On that note, the Fed’s expected to raise rates three more times in 2017, according to Bloomberg. If these projections are correct, here’s how you might be affected.
Mortgages
Interested in buying a house? You may have noticed interest rates slowly climbing over the past few months. Since this hike was expected, banks have been building it into their rates.
It shouldn’t affect mortgage payments on your future home too much, though.
Let’s say the Fed raises rates three more times next year, each at a quarter point: Monthly payments on a $200,000 mortgage would cost about $44 more per month, according to McBride.
If you already own your house and have an adjustable rate mortgage, you might want to consider refinancing to a fixed-rate mortgage before interest rates climb further.
Rental Rates
As a renter, this could eventually affect you, too. Since it’ll be more expensive for landlords to purchase homes, they could pass this cost on to renters.
That being said, you might be able to afford it.
“Workers’ wages could rise at about the same time as rent prices,” Stephen D. Oliner, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and former member of the Federal Reserve Board, told the New York Times.
… Just make sure you don’t live in one of these cities with skyrocketing rents.
Credit Cards
If your credit card has a variable APR, your interest rates could spike if the Fed continues to raise rates.
So, pay down debt now. If you really can’t, switch to a card with 0% interest — making sure to pay it off before the promotional period ends.
And most importantly, stick with your goals of living beneath your means and improving your credit score.
“For credit card debt, I would be more concerned with credit scores than with the Fed,” Matt Shapiro, CFP®, explained to LearnVest. “An individual’s credit score has a much larger impact on their interest rate.”
Other Loans
Interest rates for other loans might increase, as well, including those for college, small businesses and cars.
On student loans, for example, interest could go up by one or two percentage points in the next few years, the Times reports.
And when it comes to auto loans, Princeton economist Markus K. Brunnermeier told the Times: “If you’re thinking of buying it now or in two years’ time, you should buy it now.” (But only if you can afford it!)
Although you might not be stoked about these changes, remember they’re a direct result of a healthier economy — and overall, that’s a very good thing.
“The bottom line, ostensibly, is that the economy is getting stronger,” Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, told the Times.
“Nobody in their right mind would say, ‘I’d rather have higher unemployment and lower interest rates.’ Nobody wants to pay a higher interest rate, but I think that’s an easy choice for most people.”
Your Turn: What do you think of the rate hike?
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 What the Fed’s Rising Interest Rates Could Mean for You (In Plain English) appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
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This Report Graded States on Financial Literacy — and It Doesn’t Look Good
How does your state stack up when it comes to financial literacy?
We know which states are the poorest or the richest, where the best jobs are, where to find the most affordable housing and which states have the highest student loan debt.
But do you know how much your state actually knows about personal finance?
A new report from Champlain College’s Center for Financial Literacy ranks states on their financial knowledge and behavior — and shows where we’re falling behind.
As you might expect, we’re not doing so hot as a country.
The report measured each state’s overall level of adult financial literacy using 59 data points from 18 organizations. It graded states for overall literacy and in each of these categories:
- Financial Knowledge
- Credit
- Student Loan Debt
- Savings and Spending
- Retirement Readiness
- Investing
- Insurance
“As you will see, many adults lack financial literacy knowledge and/or exhibit behaviors that suggest poor or, perhaps, uninformed choices,” the report says.
Mississippi was the only state to get an overall F grade. Most of the South fell in the D or C range. Virginia topped the region with a B-.
The Midwest, Northwest and Northeast got A’s and B’s, with Minnesota at the top of the list with an A-.
But before you celebrate, let’s break that down.
Is Our Nation Financially Illiterate?
States were graded on a curve.
If a state receives a good grade, it may not mean great financial literacy, just that it’s more literate than other states.
When you break down how well each state actually does in financial literacy, it looks pretty bleak.
For example, Utah received the best grade (100%) in “Financial Knowledge.” The category measured answers to a financial knowledge test, whether participants received financial education and whether the state offers financial education in high school.
In Utah, the average number of correct answers on the six-question financial knowledge test was 3.4. Just 29% of respondents had participated in a financial education course.
That was the best in our country.
On credit, Minnesota topped the nation. The average credit score in that state is 707, which is hopeful.
Still, only 59% of Minnesotans always pay their credit card balance in full. A quarter make only minimum payments monthly, and 40% carry a balance that’s accruing interest.
Compare that with Mississippi, in last place for credit, whose average credit score is 644. There, 32% of residents make only monthly minimum credit card payments, and 48% always pay their balance in full.
No matter where you look, the country has room for improvement.
Ways to Improve Financial Literacy
The report points out “financial literacy” happens in two parts: what you know and what you do with your knowledge.
You have to first understand the basics of personal finance: e.g. what affects your credit score, how to save for retirement, the best ways to pay back student loans and how to start investing.
To get you started (whether you’re in the top state or the bottom!), check out some of our Smart Money posts that demystify these topics:
- Financial knowledge: These 8 Common Money Tips Could Lead to Financial Disaster
- Retirement: You Won’t Believe How Little a 21-Year-Old Needs to Save to Retire Rich and Starting a New Job? Here’s How to Tell if Your New 401(k) Plan Sucks
Then you actually have to put that knowledge into practice.
That can be harder. I write about personal finance every day, and still haven’t taken the proper steps to improve my abysmal credit score or done any more to save for retirement than contribute to my workplace 401(k).
But I’m inspired by other Penny Hoarders. If you think hope is lost, read these stories of exactly how these people navigated some tricky financial spots:
Your Turn: How does your state stack up in financial literacy?
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 Report Graded States on Financial Literacy — and It Doesn’t Look Good appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
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EDF to cut gas prices, but hike electricity bills
EDF customers on a standard variable tariff will see their gas bills fall by up to 12.9% from 6 January 2017, but electricity prices will be hiked by up to 8.4% from 1 March.
Moneywise explains what’s happening.
For customers without a prepayment meter eg, those who pay by direct debit or quarterly billing, here’s what’s happening:
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A Step-by-Step Guide to Using Google Search Console Like a Boss
Killing it at SEO requires that you use a lot of different tools.
There’s SEO software, apps, analytics, and so on.
But in my opinion, one of the most helpful tools, pound for pound, is Google Search Console.
Formerly known as Google Webmaster Tools or GWT, Google Search Console is the name of the “free service offered by Google that helps you monitor and maintain your site’s presence in Google Search results.”
It’s powerful, it’s potent, and it gives you a behind-the-scenes snapshot of how your site is performing on multiple levels.
More importantly, it provides you with insight into what needs your attention so you can optimize your site more fully.
Here’s a screenshot of why you would want to use Google Search Console, according to Google:
As you can see, it can be used for a plethora of different purposes and offers some tremendous benefits.
But in order to fully capitalize on this free tool, you need to know which features to use and how to use them.
In this guide, I’m going to highlight some of the key features I’ve found most helpful in optimizing my websites for Google Search and explain how you can use them as well.
Let’s dive in.
The initial setup
Before you can use Google Search Console, you’ll first need to verify ownership of your domain.
This is a pretty straightforward process, but if you need some help, check out this resource from Moz.
Dashboard features
Once you’re set up, you’ll see a dashboard on the left side of the screen that looks like this:
Needless to say, there is an extensive list of features.
Although I don’t have time to fully cover every single one in this post, you can find a detailed look at all of the features in a previous article I wrote on Quick Sprout.
But what I do want to cover in this post is some of the core features most critical to your overall SEO.
HTML improvements
This section can be accessed by clicking on “Search Appearance” and then “HTML Improvements.”
Google will then scan your site and “detect any potential issues with content on your pages, including duplicate, missing or problematic title tags or meta descriptions.”
If there are any content issues with your site, you’ll definitely want to know about them and promptly find a resolution.
For instance, you may need to tweak your meta descriptions to ensure they’re the optimal length (roughly 160 characters).
Search analytics
This section can be accessed by clicking on “Search Traffic” and then “Search Analytics.”
It will provide you with a wealth of information about the performance of your content.
For instance, you can determine what your most popular queries are, which devices people are searching with, which countries your traffic is coming from, and so on.
One of the first things you’ll want to look at is the number of clicks per keyword.
This will show you how a certain keyword ranks in search results and its number of clicks.
Analyzing this data will quickly let you know which keywords are bringing the most traffic and which have had only marginal results.
This is obviously beneficial for determining which type of content is resonating the most with your audience.
I also recommend taking a look at the number of impressions per keyword.
This will let you know what percentage of people are actually clicking on each keyword.
If you notice that a keyword is getting a high volume of impressions but only minimal clicks, this could indicate that the title of your content needs some tweaking because it’s not interesting enough to motivate users to check it out.
Links to your site
As you probably already know, the links that point to your site play a major role in the value (or lack thereof) that Google gives your site.
Get plenty of links from authoritative, relevant websites, and it’s going to help your SEO tremendously.
On the other hand, getting links from sketchy, irrelevant sites is going to have the opposite effect and hurt your rankings.
While there are several paid tools that will analyze your site’s link profile, Google Search Console is a really nice alternative.
I’ve found it to be quite sufficient, and it’s free.
Just click on “Search Traffic” and then “Links to Your Site.”
You’ll instantly see a lot of helpful information, including:
- Total links
- Who links the most
- Your most linked content
- How your data is linked
Knowing this information is important for two main reasons.
First, you’ll know which sites are linking to you. If you’re getting links from sketchy, spammy sites, you’ll probably want to disavow those links.
Second, you’ll know which reputable, relevant sites are linking to you. If you find that a high profile publication is featuring your content, this could lead to future opportunities.
Index status
Next, I recommend seeing what your site’s index status is like.
This can be found by clicking on “Google Index” and “Index Status.” Then click on the “Advanced” button at the top.
You’ll see a graph that looks like this:
Why is this helpful?
This feature will give you a rundown of how many total pages are indexed as well as how many have been blocked by robots or have been removed.
If there’s a particular page you want to be indexed that isn’t, you can look into it and see what went wrong.
More specifically, I suggest looking at your robots.txt file or your sitemap to determine exactly what the problem is.
You obviously don’t want integral pages of your website to escape Google’s notice. This can hurt your rankings.
But by checking the index status, you should be able to get everything to where it needs to be.
Crawl errors
One thing that can be detrimental to your SEO is if you have crawl errors such as:
- 404 errors
- Server errors
- A URL pointing to a nonexistent page
This can not only hurt your site’s ability to climb the search rankings but also diminish the user experience and make you look unprofessional.
I find it irritating when I get hit with the dreaded 404 error while exploring content.
But you can identify any such problems by clicking on “Crawl Error” under the “Crawl” section.
Google Search Console will then show you what (if anything) is wrong and will display both site and URL errors.
If you spot any errors, click on them for a more detailed description. You’ll then want to diagnose any problem areas and correct them.
I really like this feature because it saves me time from having to manually look over my site for issues and ensures that I can provide my audience with a positive browsing experience.
Fetch as Google
Let’s say you just made some significant changes to your website and you want Google to index these updates ASAP so that the changes will appear in search results quicker.
You can expedite the process by using the “Fetch as Google” feature under the “Crawl” section.
A box will appear that looks like this:
What you’ll want to do is type in the URL you want Google to fetch.
If this is only a single page, you’ll want to type in http://ift.tt/2gSko7y
If it’s a large scale, site-wide update, you’ll want to leave the box blank.
Then click the “Fetch and Render” button. If you only update a page or two, this should be completed quickly.
But if there are a lot of changes, it’s probably going to take a few minutes.
Once it’s finished, click on the “Submit to Index” option at the bottom.
The final step is to choose between one of two options.
There’s “Crawl Only This URL” and “Crawl This URL and its Direct Links.”
Choose the first option if you only want to index a single page. Choose the second option if you want Google to index your entire site.
After you’ve completed this final step, you’re all done. At this point, Google will send its spiders/bots to crawl the updated sections of your website, and the changes will appear in search results fairly quickly (usually a couple of days or so).
This is really helpful because it increases the odds of new content ranking well in a shorter period of time than it would otherwise.
Conclusion
I love Google Search Console.
It’s an easy-to-use tool that can be applied to improve numerous aspects of SEO.
Whether you want to see which keywords are bringing in the lion’s share of traffic, check your link profile, or ensure that updated content gets indexed quicker, you can do it all with this tool.
I think of it as my SEO headquarters. It’s like sitting in the cockpit and pulling all the right switches and levers to keep my campaign running without a hitch.
This puts you in a position to monitor nearly every aspect of your SEO campaign and prevents you from making needless mistakes.
The best part is that it’s completely free and goes right to the source—Google itself.
What’s your experience with Google Search Console? What power tips do you suggest?
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Here’s How to Get $110 in Krispy Kreme Coupons for Less Than $10
Ready to ruin some New Year’s resolutions?
Don’t worry, they won’t really mind. Some things are worth it — like hot, fresh donuts.
The 2017 Krispy Kreme calendar just hit shelves, and it’s pretty freaking valuable: It has more than $110 in bonus coupons inside, according to its cover.
Oh, and did I mention it’s also an adult coloring book?
How to Get the 2017 Krispy Kreme Calendar
If you want to get your hands on $110 worth of coupons for donuts and coffee for less than $10, head to your local Krispy Kreme and ask for the calendar by name.
The exact price varies by market, and we’ll let you know if Krispy Kreme gets back to us with more information. But some bloggers report snagging it for $7 this year, and here in St. Petersburg, Florida, it costs $8.
Either way, it’s a heck of a lot less than the $110 in coupons and deals inside.
So consider picking up a couple as gifts… or just get one for yourself. Because, let’s face it: After 2016, we could all use some comfort food. And some mindless coloring won’t hurt, either.
Here’s to a sweet and caffeinated 2017!
Your Turn: What’s your favorite: original glazed… or original glazed?
Jamie Cattanach is a 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 Here’s How to Get $110 in Krispy Kreme Coupons for Less Than $10 appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
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Eight Little Things to Always Remember When You’re Shopping
I have a little note that I continuously update and save (using Evernote) that’s full of little tips and strategies that I learn about or think about and want to include in a post at some point. Eventually, I wind up with a big collection of them … and I realize that many of them really don’t fit into an organized article.
Here are eight of those ideas, little strategies for shopping so that you’ll spend less money and wind up with fewer things that you don’t really need.
The best place to make a decision about whether or not to buy something is before you ever enter the store. Yes, I’ve written many times about the value of a grocery list, but it goes even further than that. You should never walk into a store without the intent of buying something and without knowing almost exactly what you’re going to buy.
Why? Stores are designed to convince you in infinite subtle ways to buy stuff that you didn’t plan on buying and that you don’t really need. That’s their purpose. If it was not their purpose, stores would be designed much differently, with the most commonly desired goods right near the front or even with a warehouse “picker” type system. Those types of systems are efficient for customers, but that’s not what retailers want – they want you to buy.
So, view every trip inside a store as a mission. You’re going in there to buy something specific. Know what that specific thing is before you ever step foot in there. Don’t go in there to be social. Don’t go in there to hang out. Go in there to buy and get out. Find your entertainment and your social time outside of stores.
When you’re buying something that’s discounted, you’re not saving money. You’re just spending a little less. It’s still spending and it’s still knocking down your net worth. Businesses like to tell you how much you’re “saving” when buying something at a sale price. Why, if something is originally $99.99 and they knock it down to $49.99, you’re saving $50! Right?
That’s actually not accurate at all. Unless that item was something you absolutely needed, you’re not saving money by buying the discounted item. You just happen to not be spending quite as much. Your net worth is still going down in order to afford something you don’t really need.
The reality is that a sale price should only figure into your consideration once you’ve already decided to buy the item. At that point, you’ve essentially committed to spending whatever the price of the item is, so a sale price in that situation actually is saving you a little money.
Customer rewards programs are okay, but there are tricks involved. Customer rewards programs are designed by companies to retain their regular customers and keep them coming back into the store. They usually require you to spend a certain amount at a store over several visits in order to earn some sort of perk, like a free sandwich or a free lunch. For example, our local pizza place has a coupon on each box that, when you get ten of them, entitles you to a free large pizza of your choice.
There are two catches to watch out for. One is that many such programs want your personal information, and when they have it, you’re going to receive junk mail. This is particularly true of email addresses, so my strategy is to have a “junk email” address that I check only rarely that I use for signing up for such programs. I’ll check it to see if there are any ongoing deals when I’m considering going out to eat, for example, as the email inbox is usually loaded with all kinds of offers.
The other is that you shouldn’t use a customer rewards program as a reason to spend money. In truth, it’s much like a sale as described above; it does save you money, but only if you’ve already committed to buying the product. It’s far cheaper, for example, to make a meal at home than it is to go out to eat. It’s almost always far cheaper to bargain hunt than to “not worry about it” and just go to a familiar store with a customer rewards program.
When buying online, always do a reverse image search of anything that claims to be a picture of the original item. Whenever I see an item on eBay or Amazon Marketplace or another website with an image that claims to be of the original item, I copy that image and use Google Image Search to search the internet for that image.
What I’ll often find is that the same exact image has been used elsewhere, which is a sure indication that the picture I’m looking at is not the original item, and when that happens, I do not buy the item.
Note that this is only true for items that aren’t new. If they’re new and in original packaging, a distinct picture is pretty unnecessary; I only use it on a used item where the condition is an important factor.
When you’re buying something nonperishable that you use with any frequency at all, the only price that matters is the cost per unit. The sticker price truly doesn’t matter on a big bundle of toilet paper, for example; all I look at is the cost per sheet. The same is true for things like dishwasher soap and garbage bags and rice and countless other items that we gradually use over a long period of time.
Look at the cost per ounce or the cost per pound or the cost per bag or the cost per sheet. Don’t worry about what the actual sticker price is; instead, minimize the cost per unit.
Why? You’re going to use a certain amount each time you use that item regardless of which package you buy, so if you buy the package with the lowest cost per unit, it’s going to cost you the least amount over the long haul. A jumbo container of garbage bags might cost $30, but if the cost per bag is lower, you’re going to spend less over the long run. A container of 200 garbage bags for $30 is a better deal than 50 garbage bags for $10 every time (provided they’re the same brand).
Going through your pantry and cupboards once a month is the best way to save on groceries. Virtually every time I go through my cupboards with an open mind, I end up finding enough odds and ends to make several complete meals and to provide the parts of several more meals. The reason is that when I find a big bargain at the grocery store, like jars of good pasta sauce for $1 or boxes of pasta for $1 or something like that, I’ll stock up a lot and then, over the next few weeks, I’ll forget that I have an abundance of those things.
Cleaning out the pantry usually solves that problem. I’ll often “bundle” items I find together into sensible meals, putting a package of pasta with a jar of pasta, for example, or putting stir fry sauces right next to the rice container. I’ll then make a big list of all of the complete – or close to complete – meals that I already have in the pantry and draw from that list in my meal planning for the next week or two.
This also keeps me from having items with a long shelf life – but not an infinite shelf life – from ever expiring in the back of the pantry, and it keeps us from having herbs and spices go stale, too.
Try to stretch out the time between shopping trips to the length of time that fresh foods stay fresh in our fridge and pantry. For most of our fresh items, that’s usually somewhere between a week and two weeks, so I try to plan things so that the items that go bad the fastest get used first and the other items stick around for a while in the crisper.
The longer I can wait between grocery shopping trips, the less time I have to spend in the store overall and the more efficient I am when I actually have to go on one of those grocery shopping “mega trips.” The less time I have to spend in the store, the less likely I am to put impulse items in my shopping cart, which means that we spend a lot less on groceries.
Take pictures of every receipt you get with your smartphone. This is a strategy I’ve switched to recently. I used to keep all of my receipts in my pocket, but I often found that I would lose them or drop them somewhere along the way and so the record would sometimes be incomplete.
If I just use my smartphone to take a picture of every single receipt as I pick it up, I always have a record of my spending. Since I use You Need a Budget to track our family’s spending and future planning, having all of those receipts in one place is really useful.
To be specific, I take pictures of my receipts with Evernote, which stores them in a note that I can easily access from my computer later on. It sticks around there until I enter the information into You Need a Budget.
Hopefully, you can take at least one of these tips and do something useful with it that will help cut back on your costs the next time you go shopping or help you make better decisions with your money going forward. Good luck!
Related Articles:
- Shopping Is the Enemy of Your Wallet: Here’s How to Avoid It
- 11 Strategies to Minimize Shopping or Avoid It Altogether
- Four Ways Holiday Shopping Can Crush Your Credit
The post Eight Little Things to Always Remember When You’re Shopping appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
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House price round-up December 2016: annual growth slows
House prices in the UK continued to rise steadily in October, with an annual increase of 6.9%, putting the average house price at £216,674, according to the latest figures from the UK House Price Index (HPI).
This is down from a 7.7% annual rise in September and an 8.4% rise in August. Monthly house prices hardly went up at all – a 0.1% rise compared with September.
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2016's 10 worst roads: how to claim compensation for pothole damage
As winter progresses and driving conditions look set to become more treacherous, new research reveals England’s worst roads to drive on.
Using freedom of information (FOI) requests, Car Parts 4 Less, accessed council data to find out which roads drivers in England complained about most.
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Why This Dad Negotiates Allowance Contracts With His Kids
Life is full of negotiations — at work, in our relationships and in our purchasing decisions. But what about in our parenting styles?
I recently caught up with one dad who’s taking an unusual approach to teaching his kids about money management. And as a new parent myself, I found his ideas fascinating!
About five years ago, Bob Helbig began negotiating contracts with his two daughters, now ages 15 and 13. And we’re not talking flimsy verbal agreements here.
“All requirements must be met to receive an allowance of $5 weekly, to be paid no later than the last Sunday evening of each month,” read the contracts. “Failure to do all of these things may result in withholding of said allowance.”
From there, the contracts lay out the specifics of what each child is responsible for around the house, how their allowances work, and who gets stuck with the most dreaded household chores. They also incentivize good money-saving habits through a creative, 401(k)-like matching system.
Of course, I had to talk to him about it. Here’s our interview, lightly edited for clarity.
Why did you start negotiating contracts with your kids?
On one level, I was inspired by those piggy banks that are divided among spending, saving and giving to charity. But the idea of the contracts stemmed from my background as a union contract negotiator and my interest in personal finance.
I guess I’m playing the management role here. In most everything in life, I see value in having conversations, planning and creating clear expectations.
The kids and I have an understanding that the money they earn from their allowances is their spending money, which they have earned. They know they aren’t going to get any extra cash from us beyond that.
They are welcome to earn money babysitting for neighborhood families or doing other work outside the house if they choose.
How have the contracts evolved over the last five years?
We generally renegotiate every year or 18 months. Over the years, the girls have gotten raises and sometimes the chores change. Also, the penalties have changed based on their ages and our expectations.
For example, one of my daughters had a habit of leaving her lunchbox at school, so we wrote that into the contract that year.
We hear a lot about the importance of learning to negotiate, especially for women. What have your daughters learned through this process?
They are not afraid of speaking up for themselves. That in itself has huge value. They know that if they want more money, they better come armed with reasons why they deserve it.
There’s definitely value in having upfront conversations about what they are willing to do and what they feel their time and effort is worth. Some jobs are harder to persuade them to do than others. Neither girl likes the job of sorting and pairing the socks.
I have also been sensitive to the fact that not only do costs rise, but kids’ expenses rise as they get older. So they have gotten not only “cost of living” adjustments but also allowance increases based on their responsibilities.
Does the contract include incentives for getting the kids to save some of their money?
Yes, we match the amount of money they save each month. There’s definitely been some back and forth around when or how much they can withdraw from their savings, but ultimately we’ve left that up to them.
The kids will sometimes talk about wanting to withdraw money to go shopping, for example. I urge them to plan long term about saving and to think of that money as not for everyday expenses or splurges.
My hope is that someday they will look back and realize: Wow, that discipline of saving really paid off.
How flexible are you on the contract, especially around chores?
Enforcement is up to me. It’s one of the perks of being the parent. I’m a stickler about some things, like forgetting to take out the garbage. That’s an automatic deduction.
Some things I might let slide, like forgetting to make the bed for a day. But if I see patterns of inattentiveness, I’ll make an issue of it. The same as any employer would do.
How do your kids feel about this approach to money, especially compared with how their friends’ families might approach allowance?
Our girls will sometimes tell us that some of their friends get more spending money from their parents. We just reply that’s not how we do things in our house.
The upside is when they see their monthly balance in their savings account. They know they probably have more money saved in their own name than their friends do.
My older daughter has saved more than $2,000 between her own money and the funds we’ve matched according to the contract.
How do you encourage your kids to donate to charity?
Each week, the girls are required to set aside 50 cents of their allowances for charity. Every six months, they choose a charity to receive the $13 donation they’ve saved up. I kick in $37 for an even $50 donation.
It’s important for kids to understand that there are many people in need and many worthy causes. I want our daughters to know that there’s a world out there much bigger than themselves.
When it’s time to choose which charity to donate to, I encourage my kids to find a cause they care about and do some research on the foundations working to make a difference.
Why is it important to teach your kids good habits around money?
Once our kids are adults, how they handle money will be out of our control.
For now, they are finding motivation to earn money and some discipline when it comes to handling money. They see the value of a dollar, the importance of saving money and the need to spend within your means.
We hope it sticks.
Ready to draw up a contract with your kids? Here’s a copy of Bob’s most recent contract with one of his daughters.
Your Turn: What would you add to this contract?
Lyndsee Simpson is a writer and editor living in Washington, D.C. She should probably negotiate a contract with her cat to spell out expectations around chores and hairballs.
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Night Tube boost to Piccadilly line property prices
As the Piccadilly line gears up to be the latest Tube line to enjoy the benefits of the Night Tube on Saturday, new research reveals how property prices have fared along the route.
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Energy prices predicted to keep rising in 2017: switch and fix now
Households are being urged to check their energy prices and consider fixing, as experts warn that gas and electricity prices are likely to continue rising in 2017 by as much as 5%.
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Why Do You Need a Down Payment, Anyway?
When it comes to navigating through life, there are certain financial traditions and transactions that are difficult to avoid – among them paying taxes annually, saving money for retirement, and setting aside money for a down payment, whether it be for a home, car, or any other major purchase.
There inevitably comes a point when we have our sights set on a big-ticket item we’d like to finance with a loan, and closing the deal requires shelling out a substantial amount of hard-earned money up front as a down payment.
It’s a prospect that can be intimidating, unnerving, and altogether off putting. But, as many financial experts point out, understanding the ins and outs of down payments can make a substantial difference in the long-term success of the purchase you’re preparing to make.
What’s a Down Payment and What Types of Purchases Require One?
To be clear, a down payment is cash that’s paid upfront in an expensive purchase. It typically covers a small percentage of the purchase, with the remainder often being financed in some way.
By far the most well-known purpose of such a down payment is the purchase of a home. But that’s hardly the only use for such a sum of money.
“A down payment is money you’re putting toward an item or a service. It could even be money you’re putting toward a layaway purchase in a store,” explains Lori Askins, of New York-based BR Finance Solutions.
The Standard Down Payment
For a home purchase, the down payment is typically 20% of the home’s selling price. That means if the property is listed for $400,000, the standard minimum down payment would be $80,000.
While there are exceptions to that rule, which we’ll get into below, they’re becoming less frequent in the wake of the housing market collapse of 2008, which revealed many risky and unsound mortgages being offered by financial institutions across the country and led to a historic wave of foreclosures. These days, banks and other lenders are more likely to stick to the 20% rule of thumb.
For an auto loan, however, it’s much harder to pinpoint a standard down payment, experts say. Some people strive to put as much money down as possible or even pay in cash. But with so many dealer financing promotions aimed at getting customers behind the wheel of a new car, if there is a standard down payment, it’s rarely in the 20% range.
“I haven’t seen someone put 20% down on a car ever,” says Ronit Rogoszinski, a certified financial planner and founder of the New York-based Women & Wealth Solutions. “The amount I typically see is 10%, because a car is a depreciable asset. It has already lost its value when you drive it off the lot, so it’s a very different mindset in terms of what kind of money you want to put into something that depreciates from day one.” (That said, if you owe more on your car than it’s probably worth, make sure your auto insurance policy covers that gap in the event you total the car. )
More Exceptions to the 20% Rule
When it comes to home purchases, there’s a handful of cases when the buyer is not required to provide a 20% down payment.
For instance, first-time home buyers could be required to provide as little as 3.5% down, thanks to the Federal Housing Administration, a government agency that assists mortgage lenders with making loans to such individuals. By guaranteeing a portion of the loan, the FHA frees banks to lend to people who may have less money on hand for the down payment or who have lower credit scores. Many states and cities offer their own low-down-payment programs for first-time buyers as well.
Yet another exception to the 20% rule is mortgages for active duty and retired members of the military, who have access to zero-down payment VA loans through the Department of Veterans Affairs, says Askins.
There are also instances when a stellar credit history can translate into a smaller down payment being required. “If you have really amazing credit — and when I say amazing, I mean excellent, tier-one credit — then you may be eligible to put less down,” says Askins.
Why Banks Prefer a Larger Down Payment
There’s a reason for the 20% rule of thumb. The way banks see it, they’re still protected if a home’s value drops by up to 20%. What’s more, a buyer who puts down a big chunk of money has more skin in the game, so to speak.
“The down payment encourages home buyers to not walk away from their mortgage, because you don’t want to lose all that money you put down,” says Askins. “For the banks it’s less risky when there’s a larger down payment. They know you’re more likely to follow through if you just invested 20% of a $400,000 mortgage, as opposed to someone who put put zero down.”
What’s more, a bigger down payment gives the buyer more power when it comes to finalizing the the details and terms of a mortgage, says Rogoszinski. You might be able to score a lower interest rate if you offer to put more money down.
“The more you bring to the table, the better you can negotiate other features,” Rogoszinski explains. “Sometimes with big banks it’s black and white, but there might be smaller places where you can negotiate.”
How a Down Payment Affects Your Purchase
In general, when financing a purchase, a bigger down payment also means your monthly payments will be lower, and you’ll ultimately pay much less in interest.
For example, take that $400,000 house. If you’re able to put down $100,000 (25%) instead of $80,000 (20%), your mortgage payment would drop by almost $100 a month, and you’d pay about $35,000 less in interest over the life of the loan, assuming a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 4.0%.
And there’s yet another reason why a 20% or greater down payment is your best bet, specifically with regard to home purchases. That reason is something known as private mortgage insurance (PMI). It’s a part of the home purchase many first-time buyers are not fully familiar with.
Home buyers who don’t have a 20% down payment are required by the lender to purchase additional mortgage insurance, which has a significant impact on your monthly out-of-pocket expenses. PMI, which is designed to protect the lender in the event you default on the loan, is just like any other insurance, meaning you must pay a monthly insurance premium. And the payments can add hundreds of dollars to your monthly mortgage bill.
“People, when they come to the table to look at mortgages, are surprised when they get hit with PMI. Unless you have 20%, you need to factor in PMI,” says Rogoszinski.
It’s also important to note, says Rogoszinski, that until you build up 20% equity in your home, you’re not allowed to take advantage of refinancing (which can lower your monthly mortgage payment if interest rates drop.)
But once you’ve achieved this 20% equity benchmark, you can hire an appraiser to have your home assessed and provide the report to your mortgage holder. If the house is in good condition, you may be allowed to eliminate the PMI, saving still more money each month.
Saving Up for a Down Payment
One last parting bit of advice from the experts. Accumulating a 20% down payment for a home purchase, or anything else, can be an uphill battle for many people. But try tackling it little by little, over time, to make it more manageable.
“Put it into a savings account and pretend that account doesn’t exist. Pretend it’s invisible, and over time the money will accumulate,” Askins says.
Related Articles:
- Buying a House? How to Save for a Down Payment
- How Big Should My Down Payment on a Car Be?
- First-Time Home Buyer? Check Out These Helpful Programs
The post Why Do You Need a Down Payment, Anyway? appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
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The Santa Rally does exist, but is it off the cards for FTSE 100 in 2016?
Once again in 2016, the age-old "sell in May and go away" failed, but investors may want to pay attention to another seasonal quirk.
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