MAKE MONEY ONLINE POSTS: 12/29/16

الخميس، 29 ديسمبر 2016

Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest releases their most popular baby names for 2016

Each year at this time, national outlets publish lists of most popular baby names of the year. According to a list published by babycenter.com, the top girls’ names in 2016 were (in order of popularity) Sophia, Emma and Olivia, while the top boys’ names were Jackson, Aidan and Lucas.Of the more than 4,100 babies born at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest so far this year, many of their names followed these national trends; still, there are some interesting local [...]

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Gas tax increase, turnpike toll hike greet drivers in 2017

The cost of driving in Pennsylvania is going up on two fronts in the new year. First, the state tax on wholesale motor fuels will increase Jan. 1 — 8 cents for gasoline and nearly 11 cents for diesel fuel. Those costs are expected to be passed on to retail prices at the pump. A week later, tolls on the Pennsylvania Turnpike will increase for the ninth year in a row, this time by 6 percent. The change will increase the cost of a trip from Ohio to New Jersey from [...]

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NCC professor says she ate twigs, snow to survive 26-mile hike in Arizona backcountry

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz. (AP) — A Palmer woman who walked 26 miles through the snowy Arizona backcountry for help after her family's car got stuck says she survived by eating twigs and snow and a desire to rescue her stranded husband and 10-year-old son. "I kept thinking, this isn't how my life is supposed to end, no, no, no. My son needs his mother, my husband needs his wife," Karen Klein told "Good Morning America" this week. Klein, recounting her [...]

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Your Step-by-Step Guide to Throwing a Rockin’ New Year’s Eve Party on the Cheap

New Year’s Eve seems like such a perfect opportunity to go out on the town. The only problem? Everyone else has the same idea.

So, thanks to the law of supply and demand, most bars and clubs charge a premium to count down the last minutes of the year within their walls. When you add it all up, cover charge + fancy dress + expensive drinks + taxi rides = one heck of an expensive night.

Add to that an inability to move (due to the throng of bodies) and long waits to get a drink, and you may discover going out isn’t worth the hype.

After several years battling the New Year’s Eve bar scene, that’s the conclusion I’ve come to. This year, I’ve decided to throw my own New Year’s Eve party, which, between my friends and me, is going to save us hundreds of dollars.

6 Steps To Save Money By Throwing a New Year’s Eve Party

Here are six steps you can take to throw the perfect New Year’s Eve party — on a budget!

1. Send Festive Evites

First things first: the guest list. You could make a plain ol’ Facebook event, but why not class it up with an evite?

Paperless Post has gorgeous designs, or use Evite so your friends can leave messages as they RSVP.

2. Decorate With Handmade Crafts

There’s only one requirement for New Year’s Eve decorations — lots of sparkle — which means it’s super easy to decorate on a budget.

The best part? You can use all of your leftover Christmas decorations: keep your lights up, hang varying lengths of curled ribbons from the ceiling and cut out circles of wrapping paper to attach to the walls as giant confetti.

If you really want to get crafty, here are some shiny ideas:

Countdown number corks from Pizzazzerie
Golden-wrapped numbers from Ruffled
Bowtie pasta garland from The Gold Jellybean
Plus 51 more ideas from Buzzfeed

3. Create the Perfect Playlist

Music is absolutely essential for creating the perfect party mood. So, please, make sure you have something louder than your phone to play it with!

As for the tunes themselves, there are several options. With Spotify, you can either create your own playlist or rock one of their pre-created mood mixes.

On Pandora, you can listen to everything from top 40 to Frank Sinatra. Google Play is another good choice.

4. Serve Champagne Punch and Dessert

Your party isn’t going to get hopping until 8 or 9 p.m., so ask your guests to eat dinner at home. That way, you don’t have to worry about buying and preparing food — and if your couple friends want to enjoy a romantic dinner beforehand, they can.

What you do need to provide is champagne, and lots of it.

The best way to do this is by buying a bunch of cheap champagne and making punch. Not only is it delicious, but it will make the booze (and therefore, your guests) last longer. Try this orange, cranberry, and basil punch from Cook the Story, or this strawberry punch from Allrecipes.

Because you’re providing the drinks, ask your guests to each bring a dessert to share. That will keep your costs down, as well as allow everyone to sample a variety of tasty treats.

If you can’t resist making one yourself, here are a few festive ideas:

Almost-midnight clock cookie bites from The Decorated Cookie
Champagne cupcakes from A Little Claireification
Lemon raspberry cheesecake bites from Shugary Sweets
Pink champagne cake pops from Keep It Sweet Desserts

5. Hand Out Fun Favors

Favors are definitely not required, so skip these if your budget is really tight. If you have the time and money, however, favors give your party a bit of extra oomph (which can put it in the running for the best party of the year!).

Here are a few ideas you can make cheaply and easily:

Personalized glitter champagne glasses from Something Turquoise
Paper plate shakers from The Centsible Life
DIY confetti poppers from Weddingbells
Decorated tic-tac boxes (for the midnight kiss!) from Infarrantly Creative

6. Plan Some Group Activities

Between the champagne, desserts and music, your party might have enough going on — but if it needs a boost of energy, try some engaging group activities.

Here are three ideas that will make your guests laugh (and bond):

Create a photobooth. Gather silly props from around the house, paint a NYE-themed backdrop onto a sheet or big piece of paper, buy a disposable camera — and voila! Not only will you have a blast, you’ll have funny photos to remember your night.

Print out these New Year’s Eve playing cards from Real Simple. Ask your friends to fill out the cards with their resolutions for the new year, and then guess who wrote which.

Download the group game app Heads Up, which will provide hours of fun for just 99 cents. (You may have seen it on The Ellen Show.)

Follow these steps, and you’re sure to have the best NYE party on the block — for a fraction of what it would cost to hit the bars. We can’t think of a better way to ring in the new year!

Your Turn: What are your plans for New Year’s Eve?

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 Your Step-by-Step Guide to Throwing a Rockin’ New Year’s Eve Party on the Cheap appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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Don’t Plunk Down $60 on a 2017 Planner. Use These 5 DIY Resources Instead

Those who know me might tell you I have a bit of a Type A personality.

But those who really know me would more likely say, “Jamie’s a little nuts when it comes to the organization thing.”

Or maybe: “Jamie’s got OCD.”

What? You mean most people don’t start making resolutions in November?

In any case, I’ll be the first to own up: I’m not great at hoarding pennies when I’m tempted by spiffy new planners.

And I bet some of you out there totally feel me. New Year’s is such a great opportunity to get on top of your game, to examine what you accomplished this year and set your goals for the next.

A brand-new planner is clearly an essential part of that delicious, fresh start feeling — that same one you got from buying new school supplies every August when you were a kid.

It’s totally irresistible. But it’s also a really easy way to waste money.

You Don’t Need to Spend More Than 5 Bucks on a Planner

How can getting more organized ever be a waste of money, you might ask? Getting your life in order might even help you save cash, after all.

I’m inclined to agree with you. But hear me out.

First of all, some planners are expensive. Like, much more so than they should be. For instance, Erin Condren’s famous (and beautiful, and fully customizable) LifePlanner starts at $55. Um, what?

The creative, quirky Passion Planner starts at $25 and runs up to $35 for the big ones with the fancy covers. And that’s before shipping.

There are also tons of lovely handcrafted planners on Etsy, most of which start around $30… and can easily be customized into oblivion, ratcheting up the price.

Even a plain old blank, hardcover Moleskine can cost you about $20 — and that’s before you spring for a fancy pack of multicolored pens. Hey, it takes one to know one.

But there’s no reason your planner can’t be in a $2 composition notebook or binder. Yes, maybe even the empty one you’ve had lying around since college.

Want a Cheap Planner? Do it Yourself

Not only is creating your own planner much cheaper, it’s also objectively better for a whole host of reasons.

Most importantly, it’s way more customizable, which will gladden your inner organization freak.

If you design it yourself, every page of your planner will serve a purpose that works for you specifically. That isn’t always the case with premade, store-bought versions.

For instance, every planner I longingly picked up at Staples had a “contacts” page, set up to be filled with physical addresses and phone numbers.

I don’t know about you, but I’m still in my 20s, and most of my friends move around way too much for an address to stay relevant. Besides, we can always connect online.

Creating my own planner would circumvent my being stuck with a set of blank pages I can’t quite bring myself to tear out, but don’t have any use for.

Which leads us to the second best thing about do-it-yourself planners: If you screw something up, you can tear out a page without feeling all gross. Just use a spiral notebook or a binder so you don’t wind up with that horrifying, telltale little seam of a page in your hardbound book!

And finally, if you know you’re the type to enthusiastically start a planner every year — only to give it up and go back to your slightly less organized ways by February, making your own planner saves you from investing so much into what may turn out as yet another failed experiment.

(Psst — spending money to try and force yourself into a new habit is the wrong way to go about it, no matter what behavior you’re trying to cultivate.)

A quick note: This post isn’t even getting into the digital tools and apps you could use to organize your life online, or even on your cell phone, completely for free.

I will mention that, as much of a crazy planner as I am personally, I got through almost all of a fairly well-organized 2016 using only a simple to-do list app called TickTick and a color-coded Google Calendar.

But for the purposes of this post, we’ll assume you mean business when it comes to planning — and that “business” means “paper and pen required.”

So break out the washi tape and three-hole punch: Here are some awesome free planning resources and methods to help you get majorly organized for very minor cash.

5 Resources for Free Planner Printables and More

Yes, you’ll still pay for the ink and paper you use to print these bad boys out — but it’s a far cry from $60, am I right?

1. Passion Planner

Can’t quite stop yourself from wanting to try out Passion Planner’s unique, self-actualizing organizational method? Good news: Its maker offers free organizational downloads, so you can ritz up your own notebook or binder with its creative planning tools.

All you have to do is share Passion Planner on your favorite social media channel, take a screenshot of the share and email it to PDF.PassionPlanner@gmail.com. You’ll be sketching out your ideal life in no time!

2. The Handmade Home’s Totally Free, Customizable 2017 Planner

Ashley at The Handmade Home has created a beautiful, totally free-to-print, handmade planner — all you’ll need is a binder and a three-hole punch.

The best part of this gorgeous agenda? Ashley has provided tons of options for each component, so you can make it absolutely your own.

Maybe you’ll splurge on color printing; maybe not. Maybe you want inspirational quotes on your dividers; maybe you’ll stick in blank pages to provide the inspiration yourself. Maybe you’re a stay-at-home mom who needs lesson plans or chore charts; maybe not. It’s all up to you!

3. Planner Addiction

Emylia at Planner Addiction generously provides a host of free, printable tools — everything from stickers to inserts to printable washi tape, which I didn’t know was even a thing.

She does accept PayPal donations, so if you find that her hard work makes your life easier, you might consider throwing a buck or two in the hat!

4. Bullet Journaling

This one’s not a free printable, but rather a free organizational method — just in case you’re someone for whom a totally blank notebook more readily inspires fear and paralysis than creative planning. (I’m right there with you.)

While you can buy the bullet-journaling-optimized notebook for $24.95 from Bullet Journal’s website, you certainly don’t need to. In fact, we love that the company doesn’t push its wares on you — rather, it’s transparent about the fact that you can apply the technique to any sturdy set of blank pages you might have. (As the site’s beginner’s guide says: “All you need is a notebook and a pen.”)

5. Pinterest

Here’s the thing: When it comes to DIY planners, your own imagination is really the only limit. These are just a few ideas to get you started.

I’ll go ahead and admit it: I took the easy way out and plunked down $14.99 (plus tax) on a new planner from Target this year. (Hey, at least it wasn’t $50!)

But since I’m a DIY newby myself, I’m sure I’ve only scratched the surface of the free planning resources available online.

So, if none of these suggestions have quite unglued your eyes from that super-luxe Erin Condren thing, my best advice? Turn to Pinterest.

I have a funny feeling that the impulse to organize your interests into neatly categorized boards lines up well with designing a beautiful, functional journal, even if all you have at your disposal is an old notebook.

So what are you waiting for? Those goals aren’t going to achieve themselves.

Your Turn: Will you create your own planner from scratch this year?

Jamie Cattanach is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder and obsessive list-maker (and crosser-offer). Her writing has also been featured in the Ms. Magazine blog, The Write Life, Word Riot, Nashville Review and elsewhere. Find @JamieCattanach on Twitter to wave hello.

The post Don’t Plunk Down $60 on a 2017 Planner. Use These 5 DIY Resources Instead appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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7 Not-So-Secret CIA Jobs Open Right Now — and Pay is Awesome

In college, rumors circulated that a guy I knew was entering the CIA upon graduation.

A mutual friend said he’d been called into a McDonald’s for an interview with a man from the government to “verify” our friend.

It was all very mysterious. We could never confirm nor deny this rumor.

But, really, the CIA isn’t always that secretive. In fact, it posts job listings online just like any other company.

7 Open CIA Jobs That Aren’t Secret Agent Positions

Right now, the CIA has tons of job openings.

When I think CIA, I immediately think of spies — but of course, there’s more to the agency than that.

Just check these jobs out.

1. Customer Service Representative

Ah, our beloved customer service positions. Unfortunately, this one isn’t work-from-home, but it is for the CIA, which is pretty cool, too.

Like other customer service jobs, you need to be a strong communicator with at least a high school diploma.

Pay is pretty impressive: $43,684 to $53,435 a year — but I’m still curious to know what constitutes a CIA customer.

2. Foreign Language Instructor

So. Many. Foreign. Languages.

Arabic. Chinese/Mandarin. Dari/Pashto. French. German. Hindi. Indonesian. Italian. Japanese. Korean. Persian (Farsi). Portuguese. Russian. Spanish. Thai. Turkish. Urdu.

Know any of these? The CIA needs some teachers to train employees so they can live and work abroad.

Pay runs from $62,767 to $84,044, but the job description also mentions an annual bonus that ranges based on the language(s) you know and your proficiency.

3. Physician Assistant/Nurse Practitioner

This position requires frequent worldwide travel and could include permanent relocation every two or three years.

“The first overseas assignment will include extensive travel (six to seven months per year consisting of 45-60 day deployments) often to austere locations…” the job description states.

How austere, CIA?

Pay ranges from $98,289 to $108,117.

4. Food Services Quality Assurance Manager

Not gonna lie: This job sounds pretty intimidating.

The CIA food services quality assurance manager is responsible for overseeing the food services program, including food safety, catering and executive-level dining.

Pay for playing with your food? (Not really. Don’t do that.) $73,270 to $92,145 a year.

5. Paralegal

Paralegals handle case management, legal research, Bluebook citations (which sound scary) and more.

Further details aren’t really provided, but pay ranges from $53,435 to $80,073.

6. Sign Language Interpreter

This part-time position requires 24-32 hours of work each week, as well as possible domestic and international travel.

As an interpreter, you need to be flexible and able to work in a variety of environments, from interoffice correspondence to working with customers.

Pay is also nice: $77,490 to $119,794.

7. High School Students

Yup, you can join the CIA as a high school student — well, as an intern.

Not much information on your responsibilities is provided except that applications are accepted April 1 to Sept. 23 each year. You also have to be at least 18 and have plans to enroll in a college program.

Pay isn’t listed.

Interested? Each job listing has an important notice at the bottom that reads:

Friends, family, individuals, or organizations may be interested to learn that you are an applicant for or an employee of the CIA. Their interest, however, may not be benign or in your best interest. You cannot control whom they would tell. We therefore ask you to exercise discretion and good judgment in disclosing your interest in a position with the Agency.

Basically, don’t tell anyone you’re applying.

Find these open positions and more on CIA.gov.

And if you’re not into the CIA, find more job openings on our Facebook jobs page.

Your Turn: Are you applying for a position with the CIA? (Just kidding. That was a test.)

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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9 Shocking Stats That Show Just How Much We Bought from Amazon This Holiday

Guilty.

After perusing local shops and markets and attempting to conquer the mall, I did the majority of my holiday shopping on Amazon.

And apparently a lot of other people frequented the mammoth e-commerce site as well.

Amazon Holiday Shopping in Context

Now that the holidays are winding down, we can look back with a chuckle.

For the most part.

Hopefully.

Amazon did this awesome thing where it contextualized the amount of product it moved. Here are some stand-out stats:

Customers purchased enough 4K TVs (the fancy, high-definition type) to reach the peak of Mount Everest more than nine times.

And KitchenAid Mixers? The number of those purchased could make nearly 7.5 million cookies — at once.

As for copies of the “Harry Potter: Complete 8-Film Collection,” customers purchased enough to play HP consecutively for more than 300 years.

For you football fans: People purchased enough Wilson footballs to give every fan at a sold-out Seahawks game the gift of pigskin.

More #sports references: Amazon customers purchased enough ugly Christmas sweaters for every seat at all three NCAA College Football Playoff games.

Enough running shoes were purchased to run around the globe 18,603 times.

Amazon customers purchased 2.5 million watches — that’s one watch purchased every 1.5 seconds. (That’s a very meta fact, Amazon.)

People purchased enough luggage to fill 20 Boeing 747 airplanes. Santa actually brought me a carry-on.

And, because fried turkey is the best, folks bought enough Char-Broil’s The Big Easy Turkey Fryers to serve up 225,000 pounds of turkey. Talk about a holiday hangover…

Orders flying in peaked on Dec. 20. And none of this would’ve been possible without the more-than 200,000 full-time and seasonal employees — and 45,000 robotic units.

May Amazon be forever blessed for orchestrating (hopefully) happy holidays.

Your Turn: Are you part of these statistics?

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 9 Shocking Stats That Show Just How Much We Bought from Amazon This Holiday appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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11 Popular New Year’s Resolutions — and How to Make Money Achieving Them

Thirty-two percent of people want to lose weight in the new year.

Twenty-five percent want to spend less and save more money.

Fourteen percent want to travel more.

Thirty-seven percent want to be healthier.

None of these common New Year’s resolutions come as a surprise, do they? We hear them every year — often from the same people, over and over again.

We all want to improve our lives, but maybe we need a bigger nudge than just turning the calendar page. We’ve gathered some of our favorite tips and apps to help you achieve your goals this year — and maybe even get a little richer while you do it.

Here’s how you can achieve 11 common New Year’s resolutions in 2017:

1. Get Organized

Are your closets and shelves packed to the brim with stuff you never use — or even look at?

You can sell virtually anything on letgo. This intuitive app lets you snap a photo and upload your item in less than 30 seconds. Not only does it remove a lot of the hassle of selling things online, it’s 100% free to use.

But there are also apps for selling more specific stuff to people who might actually be looking for it.

Do you still have a prom outfit from, like, 10 years ago?

It’s never going to fit — or come into style — again, but something just keeps holding you back from sending it to Goodwill.

Maybe money could change your mind? Instead of storing clothes indefinitely, try selling them on an app like Poshmark.

Have a bunch of movies or CDs collecting dust on a shelf? Decluttr will pay you for them!

Decluttr buys your old CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays and video games, plus hardware like cell phones, tablets, game consoles and iPods.

For old books from college, you can use Bookscouter. Just type your book’s ISBN into the search bar and the site will connect you with more than 25 of the best-paying and most reputable buyback companies online.

There’s even a site for old purses and designer accessories! Sell them on CashInMyBag.

2. Contribute More to Charity

It’s easy to say we want to give back more. But how easy is it to be charitable when you’re trying to hoard your own pennies?

We promise, it’s possible! To get you started, here are six simple ways to support charities without donating your own money:

Volunteer at a job search center to help people find jobs.

Teach computer/tech skills at a local library or senior center.

Donate your unused clothing, toys and other things you want to get rid of.

Donate old electronics that are collecting dust.

Organize a garage sale in your community, and donate the proceeds to charity.

Host a bake sale for charity.

3. Pay Down Debt

A lot of us are being crushed by credit card interest rates north of 20%. If you’re in the same boat, it might be worth seeing if you can consolidate and refinance your debt to get a handle on it this year.

A good resource to get you started is Even Financial. It can help you borrow up to $35,000 (with no collateral needed) and compare interest rates from several lenders.

If you decide to consolidate your credit card debt, be sure you don’t close your old accounts immediately. The length of your credit history affects your credit score, so closing all of your longest-running accounts could hurt it.

4. Exercise More

Need extra motivation for your daily workout this year? The health app Achievemint lets you earn money for completing healthy activities.

Connect Achievemint to workout apps like Apple’s Healthkit, Fitbit, MyFitnessPal, RunKeeper, Rundouble C25K, Twitter or any other app you already use to track your health and fitness goals.

You’ll choose which data to securely share with Achievemint to earn cash for your activities. For example, you can earn points for logging your weight with MyFitnessPal or hitting step goals with Fitbit.

You can exchange points for cash or an Amazon Gift Card (10,000 points = $10), and there’s no limit on how much you can earn.

Plus, you’ll earn 10 points just for signing up with Achievemint and connecting a fitness app.

5. Lose Weight

Picture this: You step on the scale in June and finally see your goal weight.

Congratulations! But it gets even better.

Imagine, you’re about to receive a generous check to spend on a celebratory outfit in your new size, stock up on household necessities or stick into savings — all just for losing weight!

It’s not a fantasy. If you wager on your own weight-loss commitment with HealthyWage, this could very well happen for you… as long as you stick to your guns and lose the weight.

Just sign up for HealthyWage, set a goal weight and a timeframe to achieve it. Place a monetary bet on yourself, between $20 and $500 a month.

Depending on how much weight you have to lose, how long you give yourself to do it and how much money you put on the table, you could win up to $10,000!

6. Spend Less and Save More Money

We’re kind of obsessed with Stash (and not just because it gives you $5).

It’s an uncomplicated way to start investing. You just choose from a set of simple portfolios reflecting your beliefs, interests and goals, and the app does the rest.

Plus, it gives you $5 just for signing up.

To get the bonus, just enter your email here, download the Stash smartphone app and set up your account with the same email address. Within two business days, you’ll see the bonus added to your account.

Invest as little as $5 a week, and watch it add up. It sounds small, but it’s a great way to get started if you’re the kind of person who resists saving money like the plague.

Here’s one more secret weapon for saving money: Paribus.

This tool gets you money back for your online shopping. It’s free to sign up, and once you do, it scans your emails for receipts.

If Paribus sees you’ve purchased something from Amazon, Target or one of several partner retailers, it tracks the item’s price and issues you a refund if there’s a future price drop!

Stick that money into a savings or investing account, and you won’t even have to think about saving!

7. Travel More

A lot of us wish we could travel more, but think it’s too difficult and too expensive.

But did you know you could travel the world for free?

You can earn rewards points and miles that pay for your flights, hotel rooms or other travel expenses. One of the best ways to earn miles is to use rewards credit cards responsibly.

But what if you can’t (or don’t want to) get involved in that shtick? You can still collect travel rewards.

With the Frequent Flyer app, you can earn frequent flyer miles in exchange for your location data — no purchases (or credit cards) required!

Just keep the app running in the background of your smartphone, and it shares your data anonymously in a pool with other users. Plus, you can earn extra miles by entering sweepstakes, completing surveys and referring friends.

You’ll earn 100 miles just for signing up.

8. Get a New Job

Not happy with your job? Don’t worry: You have options!

Read our tips for starting a new career at any age to help you get the transition started this year.

Keep an eye on The Penny Hoarder Jobs Facebook page for almost daily new job listings. We love to find flexible, work-from-home and unique opportunities. This one for an emoji translator just might be the most 2017 job ever!

If you can’t find what you’re looking for, you can always pitch your dream job to these awesome companies.

If you prefer to work for yourself, check out opportunities in the sharing economy.

Drive with Uber. You’ll set your own schedule and get to drive around town all day. You’ll earn 80% of fares (Uber keeps 20%.).

You must be at least 21 years old; and have three years’ driving experience, an in-state driver’s license, a clean driving record and be able to pass a criminal background check.

Your car must be a four-door, seat at least four passengers, be registered in-state and be covered by in-state insurance.

Here’s a link to apply with Uber.

If you prefer to drive around without people in your car, you could deliver food or packages through Postmates.

To make money completing domestic tasks, check out TaskRabbit. For unique creative gigs, connect with clients through Fiverr.

9. Spend More Time With Family

As winter breaks from school wrap up, you might be grateful for some distance from your kids. But that relief fades quickly as you get wrapped up in work, hobbies, classes and chores again.

Suddenly you never see each other — let alone make time to visit Grandma and Grandpa.

If it feels like you can’t make plans to spend time with family because everything fun is too expensive, try these ideas for completely free — fun! — ways to connect:

Try geocaching (i.e. a treasure hunt!).

Call or video chat with family that lives far away.

Start a workout routine or do yoga together.

Volunteer together.

Go to the library for books, movies and community events.

Bake or cook dinner together.

Go for a hike, walk or swim.

Need more ideas? Read on for 102 ideas for a money-free weekend.

10. Quit Smoking

Every smoker you meet seems to want to quit, is trying to quit or has quit several times in the past. How do you actually kick the habit?

Maybe money will do the trick. States around the country are taking this approach to discourage smoking with higher cigarette taxes. Some smokers hit a tipping point where quitting is less painful than the strain on their wallet every week.

But we’ll do you one better.

Would you quit if, in addition to saving, you could actually make money?

By participating in clinical trials, you could earn money, quit smoking and contribute to research that will help others do the same.

The National Institute of Health’s website is a great resource to find paying research studies in your area.

On the site, you’ll find studies around the country that will pay you to try to quit smoking. Studies pay anywhere from $20 to $900, depending on the amount of time they require from you.

11. Eat Healthier

After the decadence of the holidays, a lot of us are trying to get back to healthier eating habits. We’ve got two smart ways to help you do it.

First, get paid for the healthy food you buy!

With website and mobile app Ibotta, you can take a picture of your receipt and earn rebates on groceries.

You’re not tied to specific stores or brands, either. Ibotta offers rebates on common staples, like milk, eggs and bananas!

Here’s how it works:

Browse cash-back offers in your area before you shop. You don’t want to buy a bunch of junk that wasn’t on your list, but this could help you save money. For example, if you just need “fruit,” consider using the banana rebate to save money, instead of grabbing the strawberries you were looking at.

Scan your receipt with the Ibotta app when you get home, and earn cash back for your purchases.

Once you’ve reached $5 in rebates, you can request payment via PayPal or Venmo. Plus, Ibotta is giving new users a $10 sign-up bonus when you redeem your first receipt.

Second, you can save a ton of money on fresh meat.

Zaycon Fresh supplies select, commonly-consumed meats like chicken, beef, turkey, pork and fish in bulk at prices well below what you’ll usually find at your grocery store.

For example, we found boneless, skinless chicken breasts for $1.69 per pound — about a third of what we pay at our local supermarket!

You’ll buy it by the case, and a 40-pound case of chicken breasts costs $67.60. So you’ll want to clear space in your freezer, but it’s worth it: That’s more than $150 in savings.

Here’s how it works:

On the day of your local Zaycon sales event, bring your order confirmation to a designated location a short drive from your home and get your fresh, delicious, nutritious food.

Good luck, Penny Hoarders, and here’s to an awesome 2017!

Your Turn: What is your top resolution this year?

Disclosure: A toast to savings! Thanks for allowing us to place affiliate links in this post.

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Buying Used Cars Online

Buying Used Cars Online

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Make Refinancing Your Student Loans A New Year's Money Resolution

Make Refinancing Your Student Loans A New Year's Money Resolution

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Warm days, cold nights, Pocono skiers delight

Rain, rising temperatures and relatively warm nights are not exactly the forecast ski resort owners enjoy.But, officials at local lodges said they were largely unaffected by the less than ideal conditions at the start of the holiday season, and they were enthusiastically looking forward to the winter punch forecasters had predicted to sock the Pocono region Thursday, and did not disappoint.“It’s been a great Christmas week. The only day that lagged [...]

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31 Days to Financial Independence (Day 20): Finding a Better Job

“31 Days to Financial Independence” is an ongoing series that appears every Thursday on The Simple Dollar. You might want to start this series from the beginning!

Last time, we took a serious look at the steps that you should take to put yourself in position for a promotion at work. Today, we’re going to to take a look at building a game plan for moving yourself from your current job to a new one.

Why would you make that choice? There are many reasons, of course, but the one that really deserves consideration here is that changing jobs can often improve your true hourly wage significantly or else put you in a position where it will improve quickly.

The obvious route to that success is through higher wages. If your pay goes up, it’s very likely that your true hourly wage will also go up. (Remember, your true hourly wage is the total income you make in a year minus all work expenses divided by the total number of hours devoted to work plus things like commuting.)

However, you might see financial benefit from switching jobs if it drastically reduces your commute or enables you to no longer have to pay for child care or if it opens the door to a completely new ladder of potential promotions or if it gives you equity in a company. Those things indirectly impact your true hourly wage either by reducing your job-related expenses, reducing the hours you devote to work, or opening up potential increases in your wages.

It’s not just about the pay, in other words.

Is a job switch the right move for you? It’s usually a good idea if you’re unhappy at your current job or if you feel like there is little opportunity for advancement or pay increases at your current job. It’s usually a poor idea if there is plenty of room for pay increases or advancements at your current job and you’re happy there. Don’t switch just for the sake of switching.

Exercise #20 – Laying the Groundwork for Finding a Better Job

If you do see a job switch as something that’s right for you, something that will improve your financial outcomes, here are some strategies to start employing right away that will set you up for a job switch in the future, along with some strategiest to make that switch as effective as possible.

Identify a number of jobs you’d ideally like to have and discover what the requirements are. If you’re considering switching jobs, what exactly is it that you’re hoping to switch to? Are you just trying to escape a poisonous work environment? In that case, you’re likely just looking for the exact same job you have now, just elsewhere.

Many people, however, are focused on finding a new job that provides the financial benefits described above. It increases their pay, gives them opportunities to move up, or provides new challenges. Generally, these jobs tend to be ones that you’re mostly qualified for, but a bit underqualified for in a few areas.

Find listings for those jobs (LinkedIn is a good place to start). See what is actually required of them. If at all possible, talk to people who are in that position that you won’t be competitive with (people you may be competitive with may have ulterior motives for not giving you the full picture) and see what the job is actually like.

In other words, understand what your target is.

Make those new requirements your checklist going forward. Your search for new positions should have provided you with a long list of requirements and highly desired traits. Take that long list of requirements and traits, cross off all of the things that you clearly already have, and turn the rest of them into a giant checklist for the coming months in your life.

It may be that you need more education. In that case, start taking classes and progressing toward the degree that you need.

It may be that you need more experience. In that case, stick with your current job if it gets you that experience, or move sideways into another job that will give you that experience.

It may be that you need certain skills. Take classes to help develop those skills, or else find ways to work on those skills in your current workplace.

You absolutely should talk to your current supervisor about polishing and building up certain skills, even if your intent is to move to a new workplace. Just simply say that you’ve self-identified some skills that you’d like to improve and ask for opportunities to do that. This is particularly helpful if those skills are ones that show up on the performance reviews at your current job anyway.

Take on tasks at your current job that are specifically chosen to bolster your resume. Many job listings are actually looking for people willing to take on extra challenges of various kinds, and many jobs offer great opportunities for taking on new challenges. When a challenging task that will fit perfectly on your resume shows up at your current job, jump on it and do it to the best of your ability.

Not only will completion of that project give you something to add to your resume that looks impressive and enable you to potentially fulfill specific requirements of the job that you want to have, it also teaches you new skills – both in terms of the technical aspects of your job and transferable skills like time management and project management – that you’ll be able to apply elsewhere.

The people that step up to the plate and take on challenges and difficult tasks are the ones that build up a nice resume and get the rewards. If you want a better job, that needs to be you taking on those challenges.

Build up lots of transferable skills. Transferable skills are skills that are useful in almost every profession out there. Communication skills, both written and verbal. Public speaking skills. Leadership skills. Time management skills. Information management skills. Project management skills. Self-directed and independent working habits. Research skills (this does not mean “know how to use Google”). Many, many, many jobs want those skills.

Think about the job that you want to have and ask yourself what transferable skills would really shine in that job. We’re not talking about the job-specific technical skills here, but the other elements that would make you successful there. What are they?

Work on them. There are opportunities in every workplace to polish those skills and there are many classes you can take to build up those skills as well. Learn to use them, not just because they look good on a resume or during an interview, but because they’ll make you a more effective employee both in your current job and your destination job.

Cultivate strong positive relationships with professional peers outside of your workplace. If you’re looking to advance within your organization, as we discussed in the previous installment of this series, cultivating relationships with people within your company is a great move. However, if you’re looking to move out, the relationships that become the most valuable ones are the ones outside the company, with people who may be evaluating you, employing you, and working with you.

If you have any interest at all in switching employers, you should be involved in local and national professional organizations. You should be attending conferences and meetings if at all possible. You should be looking for opportunities to present things to people outside your organization. And, in all of those situations, you should be focused on meeting lots of people and building real, meaningful relationships.

That’s a hard thing for some people to do (myself included). I found that simply mastering the mechanics of How to Win Friends and Influence People helped immensely with face-to-face situations, and the mechanics of Never Eat Alone helped greatly with regards to building and maintaining relationships outside of face-to-face interactions.

Which brings me to my next point…

Get involved in social media from a professional standpoint. Social media, particularly Twitter and LinkedIn, provides a great opportunity for you to get to know professionals in your field, hiring agents who may want to hire you, and many other valuable folks in terms of elevating your career. You can build relationships, learn new things, and raise your public profile from pretty much anywhere.

Many people use social media personally, but turn that idea on its ear and use it professionally. Use it to share your professional knowledge, build relationships with people in your field all across the world, and follow up on face-to-face relationships that you’ve launched.

I often use social media as a tool for following up on potential professional contacts. I’ll immediately suggest following them on Twitter or connecting on some other social media network (LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.) and then do it immediately on my phone. I usually make a note as well regarding something that I can follow up on with that person, because following up is key for building a professional relationship (or a personal one for that matter).

Make sure your resume is up to date. It is really easy to let your resume atrophy over time, especially if you’re comfortable in your current job. Don’t let that happen, especially if the idea of switching jobs is on your radar at all.

It’s a good idea to keep a current resume up on LinkedIn at all times. Review it at least once every few months, if not more frequently, and be sure to add any and all relevant skills to it. It’s not a bad idea to keep resumes on other job sites, too, particularly ones focused on your career area.

A valuable tip: don’t be afraid to highlight your unusual experiences or skills, as they’re almost always a benefit rather than a drawback. If you can speak, say, Norwegian, list that on your resume even if you don’t think it’s potentially relevant to anything you might be applying for. It might be a subtle skill that’s a big benefit at a particular company, or, at the very least, it might be a differentiator between similar candidates or a talking point in an interview.

Another valuable tip: avoid using overused terms on your resume. Don’t bother with terms like “dynamic” or “team player” or “detail oriented,” as they’re practically meaningless unless you can tie them to specific experience that you can describe. As generic descriptors, you’re better off without them.

Have a broad focus when applying for that new job. When you start actively searching for a new job, it’s tempting to look for jobs with a very tight focus. You might just look for a job in your current area that pays at least a certain amount in a certain field, for example, which quickly narrows your options.

Expand your search as much as possible. Look at jobs that pay a little less that have clear advancement opportunities or the potential for earning equity. Look at jobs that would require you to move to a new area. Look at jobs that might be a little different than what you might normally look for, like a computer programmer considering a job in IT.

The goal is to find a job that matches your skills, offers an increase in your true hourly wage, and offers opportunity for advancement. Finding a job like that might mean letting go of other factors like location.

Look for jobs based on a company rather than a job title. If you know of some companies that are known to be great to work for, look for positions within that company that you might be able to match up with. In this case, you might want to stretch even further than normal in terms of the type of job you might be looking for.

For example, if you know that a particular local employer is really great to work for and has a ton of opportunity for internal advancement, look at all of the job listings there and see what they have available. You might find something that works well for you that’s outside the scope of what you might normally be searching for.

Practice your interviewing skills. Many jobs whittle their potential candidates down based on their resumes to a small group, then interview those candidates. At that point, it’s usually your interview that decides things (unless the “fix is in” and there’s already a vastly preferred candidate for reasons you may not see… which is why it’s a great idea to build relationships so you can be that preferred candidate).

The best way to practice, honestly, is by interviewing at every opportunity until it begins to feel natural. Accept any and all interviews that you get, even if you’re pretty sure you wouldn’t take the job.

If that opportunity isn’t open to you, simply find sets of interview questions for your job and have a friend interview you. I’ve actually done this for a few of my closest friends in order to make them feel more confident about job interviews and, in at least one case, I’m absolutely certain it improved his interviewing skills and helped him get a job in his field.

Dress appropriately for the interview. Don’t show up to a job with wrinkly clothes and without taking a shower or brushing your teeth. That’s just begging for them not to hire you. Instead, show up dressed as though you want this job and you’re ready to start right now. Imagine you’re about to have a meeting where your job is on the line with your supervisor’s supervisor and 80% of the judgment is going to be a snap judgment when you walk in the door. How would you dress?

For many people, really knowing what to wear in such situations can be a bit of a mystery. I usually rely on DressCodeGuide.com for advice. For example, the advice given for business professional men seems to be utterly spot on and can be a great guide for selecting a wardrobe.

If you’re still not sure, ask around. Ask people who have earned the position you’d like to have what they would wear to an interview and do that. Make sure you’re clean, presentable, and not wearing wrinkly clothes.

Interview them as they’re interviewing you. A good interview will involve you being asked a lot of questions about your background, your skills, your personal philosophies, and so on. However, a great interview is a two way street, where you find out things about the organization and the people who work there.

During the interview, don’t hesitate to ask questions about the specifics of the job, the company itself, the company culture, and so on. Find out what the interviewers like about working there and don’t like about working there.

This can help you quickly figure out whether this is a job that you actually want or not and whether or not this position would be a good fit for you.

If you get a job offer, negotiate a little. The initial offer you’re given is usually at least a little flexible. Don’t be afraid to ask for a higher salary, particularly if you have documentation that the salary is on the low end of the expected scale.

You may also want to ask if the company offers a signing bonus or some money to help with the costs of moving. Again, it does not hurt to ask for these things; they’re not going to rescind an offer and restart the job interview process just because you asked such a question.

Another great perk to ask for – and one that I have heard “yes” to every single time I’ve asked it – is for some extra leave in your personnel account at the very start of your job. Most jobs offer some amount of annual leave and accrue that leave at some regular rate. Simply ask for some leave to already be accrued for you, so that rather than starting with zero leave, you already have, say, a few weeks of leave accumulated. Many jobs, especially in the private sector and in larger government organizations, can easily accommodate this perk and it’s one that doesn’t affect their bottom line directly, so they’re often happy to offer it if asked. You might also ask for a higher rate of leave accrual, though that’s less likely to be given, especially in government positions where such accrual is highly regulated.

Don’t burn bridges at your current job at any point in the transition. If you’re leaving a job where you don’t like the work or the conditions or have painful relationships with coworkers or simply don’t like them, it can be very tempting to burn some bridges on the way out in various ways, whether through confrontation or through leaving your job in an unstable place.

Avoid that temptation like the plague. It will bite you, especially if you’re staying in your current field.

Instead, do everything you can to transition peacefully and smoothly to your new job while preserving the best possible relationship that you can with the people you leave behind. Don’t use your last days to tell people off or to twiddle your thumbs. Use those days to cement relationships and to document standard work protocols. That time you spend will reflect incredibly well on you moving forward, which can do nothing but help your future career steps.

Next time, we’ll talk about strategies for starting a “side gig” that can provide supplemental income.

The post 31 Days to Financial Independence (Day 20): Finding a Better Job appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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It Was A Merry Christmas For Retailers

It Was A Merry Christmas For Retailers

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This Customer Complaint is Nearly 4,000 Years Old and It’s Hilarious

“I’m going to write a letter!”

We’re familiar with this cry of outrage, a cliche at this point.

It comes from a disgruntled mother, old man or time-wealthy millennial after a retail establishment fails to offer a baby-changing table, honor an expired coupon or hire their friend.

We value our right to complain to the businesses that wrong us so much that we dedicate entire apps and websites to it.

But the customer complaint was not invented with Yelp or passive-aggressive tweets.

It is, apparently, nearly as old as written language itself.

The British Museum displays the oldest known written complaint — inscribed in a clay tablet in Mesopotamia almost 4,000 years ago.

The Oldest Known Written Complaint

A man named Nanni wrote the letter in 1750 B.C. in response to a sub-standard delivery of copper ingots from a merchant named Ea-nasir.

I’ll give you a second to recall seventh-grade history class.

And because I already looked it up on Wikipedia, I’ll explain that copper ingots are chunks of copper ore. Nanni would have been buying the raw material for his contemporaries to use to create tools, cookware and other things you’ve seen in museums.

Ea-nasir promised high-quality copper, but when Nanni’s servant arrived with payment, he deemed the copper “not good.”

Instead of remedying with an apology or a coupon for free ore on his next visit, Ea-nasir rudely told the servant, “If you want to take them, take them; if you do not want to take them, go away!”

The bad service infuriated Nanni so much that he created this tablet, inscribed with a lengthy complaint.

What do you take me for, that you treat somebody like me with such contempt?

Think of the manpower deployed to administer this complaint!

A guy like Nanni isn’t carving out letters himself. So at least one man was involved to inscribe this tablet.

That man had to be literate, which wasn’t common in Mesopotamia. He also had to find a clay tablet, which weren’t incredibly hard to come by, but you certainly couldn’t pick one up at the corner store.

Someone must have tried to stop Nanni from his frivolous use of resources and man-hours. But he was just so mad.

Nanni dictated, and someone inscribed this tablet — full front and back, by the way. Then someone had to deliver it.

This isn’t a huge Mount Sinai-style tablet, at least. It’s just 4.6 inches tall by about 2 inches wide. It’s like a thick iPhone covered in cuneiform writing.

But it still required at least one guy, maybe a horse and maybe one of those carts they ride behind the horse. I’m picturing a guy in a cart making last-minute additions to the tablet on his way, not paying proper attention to the road.

That’s at least three people and a horse to get this message to the merchant. And there’s no sign of a reply from Ea-nasir.

That should make you a little less angry next time your local restaurant’s Yelp profile takes a few extra seconds to load.

You can rest easy knowing you’re not alone: The disgruntled opinions of the masses have been falling on the deaf ears of the likes of Big Copper for millennia.

Your Turn: Have you ever written a letter to complain about customer service?

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).

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Ask GFC 024 – Help – I’ve Inherited 1 Million Dollars – In an IRA!

That New Year’s Bubbly Might Not Really Be Champagne. Here’s Why That’s OK

Avoid These Life Insurance Tax Traps

Few people like to think about the paperwork and financial logistics associated with death. It often feels more comfortable to pretend the day will never come, and let such details remain undiscussed among loved ones.

Even under the best of circumstances, addressing something as important as life insurance is less than fun. But understanding if and when life insurance payouts are taxable, and what measures can be taken to help avoid paying Uncle Sam, is an essential part of sound financial planning.

“It’s easy to make mistakes that can cause unnecessary tax or financial hardship,” says Eva Victor, advanced sales attorney at the Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company. “Effective planning should identify, avoid, or remediate planning mistakes and oversights – and preserve the unique tax benefits afforded to policy owners and beneficiaries.”

If that sounds intimidating, read on for some key advice from life insurance and certified financial planning experts.

In Most Cases, Taxes on Life Insurance are a Non-Issue

By and large, the proceeds from life insurance are not taxed. This is because life insurance payouts are not included in the recipient’s gross income and therefore do not need to be reported to the IRS.

In addition, life insurance premiums are typically paid with after-tax dollars, so proceeds from such policies are exempt from further taxation.

The exception to this general taxation rule arises with individuals who have extremely large estates, which will be explained later. But for the time being, it’s important to note that for spouses, no matter what the estate size, payouts are excluded from taxes.

There are, however, some basic pitfalls to be aware of, according to David Hryck, a New York City tax advisor, lawyer, and personal finance expert who is a partner at Reed Smith.

For instance, life insurance proceeds will be taxed if they’re paid in installments instead of a lump sum. The interest paid on installments would be taxed at ordinary income rates, according to Hryck.

When Life Insurance Is Taxable

In the world of life insurance planning, there’s a common and highly complex trap known as a tax triangle, according to Penn Mutual’s Victor.

This tax triangle occurs when there are three different parties to a life insurance contract – the insured, the policy owner, and the policy beneficiary. Under such circumstances, when the insured passes away, the policy owner may be treated as making a taxable transfer of the death proceeds to the policy beneficiary – subjecting the death benefit to potential gift tax or income tax, depending upon the situation, says Victor.

For example, in the case of an employer-owned life insurance policy (first party) that covers an employee of the company (second party) and pays out to that employee’s spouse (third party), the death benefit received by the beneficiary may be subject to income tax.

In some cases, the beneficiaries of wealthy individuals whose estates are in excess of a certain dollar value, may also find themselves paying taxes to the state and/or the federal government on life insurance proceeds, says Chris Kimball, an independent financial planner in Washington.

“For wealthy individuals, without proper planning, a large part of their life insurance death benefits might end up going to their favorite uncle – Uncle Sam,” says Kimball.

Here’s why: The federal government allows a wealthy individual to transfer up to $5.45 million to his or her heirs, without paying federal estate taxes. However, if someone has a life insurance policy with a death benefit of $3 million, for example, that too could be included as part of his or her estate.

“So for someone who is worth a couple million dollars, when they die, their beneficiaries probably won’t pay any federal estate taxes. But if he or she also has life insurance that puts the estate value over the top of that $5.45 million threshold, then there will be taxes to be paid,” explains Kimball. “In addition to the federal government, various states may also have their own, separate, estate taxes.”

Often high-net-worth individuals get around this inconvenience by establishing an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust, or ILIT.

The ILIT is a trust that owns the policy, and therefore the value is generally not considered part of the individual’s estate. And upon death, the insurance proceeds go to the intended beneficiaries, not the government.

However, if an in-force policy is put into an ILIT less than three years before the individual’s death, it could be subject to the estate tax.

Additionally, taxes could be a factor if the owner puts more money into a permanent life insurance policy than was originally stated or allowed in the contract. This overage in funds turns the cash value of the life insurance policy into a Modified Endowment Contract, which is taxed as an investment vehicle.

“If a policy can hold $100,000 and you put in $150,000, then the cash value amount will be taxed as if it were an investment vehicle,” explains Anthony Bowers, a senior associate with Revolution Financial Management in Valencia, Calif.

One final instance where taxes come into play involves individuals who surrender a life insurance policy before passing away and take the cash. If a loan was taken from the life insurance policy at any point, there may now be taxes to pay on the money that was borrowed.

Related: Is Borrowing Against Life Insurance a Good Idea?

The Bottom Line

Nearly all experts agree that proper planning when it comes to life insurance is essential, no matter how young you are and no matter what your overall net worth may be.

A thoughtfully established policy can provide for loved ones in your absence — replacing lost income, and also helping to cover any remaining liabilities or expenses associated with the deceased individual.

“I tell everyone that they need to have a life insurance policy,” says Bowers. “Because at the end of the day, there are things you’re leaving behind that your family is going to have to deal with.”

Related Articles:

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High School Seniors: Read This Before You Fill Out That College Application

Imagine you’re a high school senior struggling with the hefty amount of competition that comes with applying to colleges. What do you do?

You apply to many schools. Heck, back in 2012, I think I applied to at least 10.

But have you ever thought about how much you’ll spend on applications alone?

We all know about the high costs of earning a degree, but just applying to college can have a scary price tag. You should know what you’re getting yourself into — before you start applying left and right to any school where you think you have a shot at being accepted.

How Much College Applications Cost

U.S. News & World Report recently released a report about the costs of applying to colleges — and it wasn’t pretty.

Application fees for spring 2016 averaged $42; the most common fee was $50.

The most expensive? Stanford University and the University of Central Oklahoma, which each charged $90. Just to apply.

And no, you don’t get those fees back if you get rejected.

Back in the day, my dream school was Villanova University; if I applied there today, it would cost me 80 bucks. Based on these numbers, I would have to shell out anywhere between $420 and $800 to apply to 10 colleges today.

With that in mind, it may seem like application fees will get in the way of you and your dream school.

But fear not — there are ways you can lower the financial burden of applying to schools.

How to Afford College Application Costs: Your Cheat Sheet

To get relief from hefty application fees, you have to plan ahead. Here are a few ways you can lower the costs:

Apply for a College Application Fee Waiver Through the NACAC

Students can apply for a fee waiver from the National Association for College Admission Counseling by simply logging on to its website and accessing the form. Just download and print it, have it signed and sealed by your high school, and send it directly to the postsecondary institution you wish to apply to.

You’re eligible for a waiver if you’re a high school student applying to college and meet one of the following criteria:

You received an ACT or SAT testing fee waiver.
You participate in the Federal Free or Reduced Price Lunch Program.
Your family’s annual income falls within these income eligibility guidelines set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service.
You are enrolled in a federal, state or local program that grants aid to low-income families.
Your family receives public assistance.
You live in federally subsidized public housing or a foster home, or you are homeless.
You are a ward of the state or an orphan.

Applicants can use this fee waiver to apply to no more than four schools. Additionally, only students who seek to go straight to college after graduation are eligible; you can’t receive a waiver after a gap year or if you plan to defer college enrollment after graduating from high school.

Apply to Colleges That Don’t Have Application Fees

There are actually quite a few colleges out there that don’t require you to pay anything to apply. Niche compiled a list of the 2017 Best Colleges with No Application Fee in America. The website weighed factors such as academics, value, professors, student life and student surveys about their overall experience to develop the list of 100 colleges.

Notable schools on the list include Marquette University, Loyola University Chicago and Case Western Reserve University.

Go on a Campus Tour

If you have the ability to head to a few of the colleges you have in mind, it might be a good idea to do so.

According to NerdWallet, some schools are willing to drop application fees for students who visit campus and take a tour.

In addition to potentially getting an application fee waived, a visit could change your mind about the school altogether. Wouldn’t you rather know a school you had in mind just isn’t for you before you apply? You could save not only money, but also time, by avoiding an unnecessary application.

Get a Side Gig

If you run into dead ends with these ideas, have you thought about getting a side gig? There are actually plenty of opportunities for incoming or current college students to make a few bucks online.

The best part is, you can usually do these gigs on your own time, meaning you won’t fall behind with your school work.

If you can, hold on to these gigs for as long as possible — having an income during school can majorly offset your costs, keeping you from racking up student loan debt.

Your Turn: How will you offset the costs of college applications this year? Let us know in the comments below!

Kelly Smith is a junior writer and engagement specialist at The Penny Hoarder and a senior at The University of Tampa. She thought she wanted to be a Florida Gator until she visited campus and realized that The Swamp is, indeed, a swamp.

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