Millennials, we have a problem — and I’m not talking about thehigh price of coffee. I’m talking about those ever-looming student loans.
If you’re like me, you might be struggling to see the light at the end of the tunnel that is handing over apainfully largechunk of your paycheck every month. Or, if you’re still in college, you’re probably dreading the thought of facing your debt mere months after you walk that stage.
But have no (or at least slightly less) fear: A report by The College Board found thata bachelor’s degree pays for itselfin an average of 12 years.
The Hidden Cost of a College Degree
The report takes into account something we don’t often think about when considering the cost of a college degree:the time you lost that youcouldhave spent in the workforce making money(albeit for lower pay).
But don’t let that deter you. You’ll make that money back, and more than likely double it, within a few years of graduation — especially if you have one these eight college majors that will set you up with apretty sweet entry-level salary.
Last year, college grads with a bachelor’s degree and a full-time jobearned an average of 67% more than those who only graduated high school.
So while it might not feel like it now, you’ll eventually make back the cost of your education and then some.
This means you probably made the right choice by getting your college degree — even the one that made the people in your freshman dormquestion your sanity. (Was anyone else worried? Just me?)
And if that’s not enough to prove your 8 a.m. class is worth getting up (and paying!) for, consider that for 25- to 34-year-olds with a bachelor’s degree,unemployment was just 2.3%in December 2016. That’s a pretty big difference from the 5.1% rate for those with just a high school diploma.
Keep in Mind, This Isn’t the Golden Rule for Every Grad
It’s important to note that CNN Money bases the 12-year payout on the average college gradin the U.S. leaving schoolwith $30,100 in student loan debt and sticking to a regular 10-year repayment plan.
If you’re looking at that number and thinking, “Iwish!” then you might want to considersome of the odd wayspeople are working to pay down their student loans quicker or how an extra $25 a month could meanhuge savingsdown the line.
Don’t Wait to Start Chipping Away at Your College Costs!
College life adds up fast, especially if you’ve made any ofthese mistakes. Still, you can combat the size of that extra two-year net loss by earning some money on the side while still earning your degree.
Here’s a list ofjobsyou might even be able to do during that awkward stretch of time between classes (read: any break too short to grab a bite to eat, because let’s face it, that would be my first choice).
And if you’re still looking for the right college degree for you, check out ourlist of degreesthat will keep you interested beyond graduation day.
Your Turn: What hidden costs did you encounter while attending college?
Grace Schweizer is a junior writer at The Penny Hoarder. She’s deep in the throes of paying off her student loans, so she gets you.
Introverts have been getting a lot of buzz in the past few years. Everyone wants to tell us how to survive in what is, apparently, an extroverted world.
But what if you just want to live in an introverted world?
Luckily, we love to find ways to make money working for yourself or working from home, so you can keep your interaction with the outside world to a bare minimum.
Here are 15 jobs for introverts that don’t compromise your very-real need to just be left alone sometimes.
Take Surveys While You Stay Home on Saturday Night
We know surveys aren’t going to make you rich quickly. But if you’re just vegging out on the couch avoiding Facebook event invites, why not use the time to make some extra cash?
Sign up for these sites, and you’ll get notified when you qualify for a survey. You’ll answer a few qualifying questions, complete the survey and earn points you can cash in for gift cards to major retailers like Amazon.
You know what it’s like out there. Stores are full of people, crammed into aisles, holding up the line, chatting you up for no good reason.
Skip it, and shop online. You can find everything you need without talking to a soul. Plus, we’ve got a secret tool to help you make some of your money back.
This secret weapon is called Paribus. It’s a tool that gets you money back for your online purchases.
Paribus is free to sign up and takes less than a minute. Once you do, it scans your email archives for receipts. If it discovers you’ve purchased something from Amazon, Target or one of the other participating retailers, it will track the item’s price. Anytime a price drops, it’ll refund you the difference.
There’s no fee to use the service. It just charges 25% or less of what it saves you.
Improve Your Fitness Routine Instead of Spending More Time With Friends
Avoiding people doesn’t have to mean you’re cooped up inside all the time.
Go for a run in the park, do yoga at the beach, take a walk downtown — and get paid for it! How’s that for motivation?
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 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.
You can even get paid for tweeting about your activities.
For example, you can earn points for logging your weight with MyFitnessPal or hitting step goals with Fitbit. You’ll earn points towards cash or Amazon gift cards (10,000 points = $10).
Do Your Banking Online, So You Never Have to Talk to Anyone
Have you had enough with the small talk at the bank? For goodness’ sake, no one cares what you’re doing this weekend.
Open an account with an online bank, and never talk about the weather with a teller again.
Aspiration’s Summit Checking Account is an online-only bank account with no fees, no minimum balance, no minimum monthly deposit and no chatty Cathys.
It also yields 1% interest — about 100 times a typical interest rate. You’ll get a debit card, so you can access your money at any ATM in the world, and it reimburses 100% of your fees.
Sell Your Stuff Without Inviting People Into Your Home
Negotiating and bartering are tough for anyone. For introverts, they can be agonizing.
Decluttr lets you skip the trip to the record store or the awkward liaison with a Craigslist buyer.
You just scan your stuff with the app, and it makes an offer.
Decluttr buys your old CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays and video games, plus hardware like cell phones, tablets, game consoles and iPods.
To get started, just download the app and start scanning barcodes of the items you want to sell. You won’t pay any fees. Decluttr even sends you a prepaid shipping label, so you don’t have to go to the post office.
Earn Money From Credit Card and Bank Bonuses
Did you know a lot of credit cards and banks will give you money just for signing up? Instead of getting a toaster, they’re getting straight to the point these days: cold, hard cash.
These bonuses usually come with a few requirements. Typically, you’ll have to spend a certain amount on the credit card or deposit a certain amount into the bank account within the first few months of opening.
Switch your typical spending to these accounts, at least temporarily, and you could earn hundreds of dollars in bonuses a year!
You’re probably doing it right now: browsing the internet at your desk, in your bedroom or in the bathroom at a party… It’s a great way to escape and clear your head.
You could also be getting paid for this. Digital Reflection Panel is a research company that will pay you more than $200 a year for connecting a device to your wireless router.
The device anonymously gathers information about how you use the internet, in hopes of helping companies improve online experiences.
To qualify, you have to have wireless internet service and live in a single-family home (no apartments, sorry!).
And don’t worry, you don’t have to talk to anyone to install the device (though they’re available if you need help). The set-up kit comes in the mail with instructions, and you’ll earn your first $25 for installing it within four days.
Then you’ll earn $60 after you’ve kept the device installed for two months, and $10 a month after that.
Stay Behind the Camera: Sell Your Smartphone Photos
Occupy yourself on nights out or at parties by snapping photos of other people. It’s a great way to join in on the fun without really interacting with people.
You’ll sign up as a “Turker” with your Amazon account and accept tasks (called “HITs”) like data entry, writing, research or taking surveys. The work won’t be crazy exciting, but it’s not a bad way to pass the time, especially when you’re getting paid.
Take Care of Houses
House-sitting is kind of like babysitting, except you don’t have to be around kids all day. Sometimes, you don’t have to talk to another person at all.
The best bonus, really, is you get to stay in some pretty nice houses. You can get paid to look after them while the owners are out of town.
House-sitting can be a smart way to find free lodging when you travel, or you can actually turn it into a business and get paid for your service!
You can even decide which dogs you’ll accept, based on size, age and medical needs. (See? They’re already easier than people.)
Write About Food and Wine
If you prefer the company of a good bottle of wine, try getting paid to write about it.
Turn your knowledge of body, fruit, tannin, acidity and sweetness into education and recommendations for other wine-lovers.
If you have writing skills and experience, pitch your ideas to magazine editors. Check out these 10 wine magazines to get started.
Also think about how your culinary prowess could apply to other topics. Maybe you can share cooking tips for families? Pitch these parenting blogs and magazines.
Even Penny Hoarders can recommend a good wine! TPH contributor Jamie Cattanach has shared several recommendations for great wine on the cheap (even the best boxed wines).
Work at a Cat Cafe
Yeah, if you work in a cat cafe, you’re going to have to deal with people. But they’re cat people, so you can probably handle it.
We found three cat cafe jobs that pay up to $13 an hour, plus tips. If you have barista experience, your main job could be taking and preparing drink orders and helping customers. If you only want to hang out with cats, they have “cat wrangler” positions just for you.
Either way, if you’re a cat-lover, it’s a pretty great way to meet some new feline friends.
Who knows? You might even connect with some cat-loving humans while you’re at it!
Write Book Reviews
Spending another Saturday afternoon reading? Yeah, we thought so.
You ought to get paid for that time.
Lots of sites will send you free books and/or pay you to write book reviews. Here are 18 of them. If you’re an avid reader, it’s a great way to save money!
Some sites will publish your review in their magazine or blog. Some will ask you to publish at your own blog or on Amazon. Most ask for your honest review, but a few will only pay for positive reviews.
Your Turn: What independent ways have you found to earn extra money?
Disclosure: This post includes affiliate links. We’re letting you know because it’s what Honest Abe would do. After all, heison our favorite coin.
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).
That’s because The Penny Hoarder gives me one work-from-home day a week. And because I went to the College Football Championship last night and essentially took a nap before waking up for work. (Totally worth it, though — Clemson fan.)
These work-from-home days are a godsend.No real clothes and no commute means I get to press snooze just a few extra times. Which is why many people love work-from-home gigs: no commute, saved expenses, flexibility.
5 Work-From-Home Jobs Open Right Now
In honor of my exhaustion, I found five work-from-home jobs you can apply for right now.
1. Customer Service at HotelTonight
This popular applets travelers book last-minute hotel rooms — at reasonable prices.
Right now, it’s hiring multiple customer service folks, including phone agents, bilingual phone agents and live chat agents. You’ll work 40-hour weeks, helping customers resolve booking and billing issues.
You’ll also get awesome benefits,such as health care plans, 401(k) plans, 10 paid vacation days, six paid sick days, quarterly $500 hotel credits and a monthly internet stipend.
However, there arestate restrictions, and right now, HotelTonight needs residents in Florida, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas and Washington.
This popular airlineoperates throughout Alaska (of course), as well as the rest of the U.S., plus Canada and Mexico.
It’s hiring a work-from-home reservations agent who will assist customers with travel requests, answer questions about flights and technical issues and make new reservations.
Pay is $12.14 an hour, and benefits include insurance coverage, 401(k) plans, incentive bonus plans, paid time off and a“generous employee travel program.”
The call center is located in Chandler, Arizona, which is where you’ll need to spend four weeks for paid training — with weekly exams. In addition, flexibility is a must; it might assign you any shift on a 24/7 schedule, including holidays.
This platformhelps bands build super simple, super pretty websites quickly. It started back in 2003 and caters to more than 25,000 musicians.
Right now, the site is hiring a work-from-home, part-time customer support person who will work 20 hours a week. Responsibilities include helping customers, troubleshooting issues and dealing out advice via chat and email.
The job listing notes a competitive hourly wage, performance-based wages and paid training.
You do need some computer skills and IT experience is a major bonus. As are bunny slippers.
This software programstreamlines the hiring process for tons of clients, including Lonely Planet and the U.S. government, according to its site.
As its new customer success specialist, you’ll onboard new companies, offer ongoing training and check in quarterly. To do so, you should already have some experience with success software such as Totango.
You can work remotely from anywhere in the U.S., though you’ll be working on Pacific time.Pay is “competitive market.”
Writer’s Note: I reached out to each of these companies to get more information about pay. When I hear back, you’ll find updates.
Your Turn: What’s your favorite part about working from home?
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.
It’s time to manage your money, but where to start?
Take advantage of the many apps available to help you save, invest and budget this new year.
Surprisingly,nearly 42% of folksdo notuse any sort of technology to handle their finances, according toLendEDU.
“Frankly, we didn’t expect that 42% would say that they don’t use technology,” says Andrew Rombach, LendEDU’s research and content associate.
We’re talking tools as simple as Bank of America’s online banking site.
Even more:Nearly 20% of respondents said technology would be “the most powerful tool” in helping them maintain financial resolutions.
“Surprising” is how Rombach described the results.
Absolutely, especially considering these respondents are tied to LendEDU — an onlinemarketplace for student loans and student loan refinancing.
5 Money Management Apps to Help Your Finances This Year
Until recently, I’d never used money management apps — outside of my banking app that automatically handled payments.
I was missing out.Many of these apps do the work for you and make personal finance a whole lot less terrifying and your resolutions a whole lot more achievable.
My phone is now plagued (in a good way) with financial management apps, including many of the ones listed below. It’s my hope these will help me — and now you — meet New Year’s financial resolutions.
1. For saving, try Digit or Qapital.
Digitis a savings app that analyzes how much money you have in your checking account and automatically sets aside an appropriate, affordable amount for you to save.
Our senior writer Susan Shain used the app to build her emergency fund. It’s automatic, so she didn’t have to think about it. She saved nearly $2,000 in under a year — without really trying.
If your income decreases, Digit adjusts accordingly. And it can tell if you’re in the dangerous overdraft territory and stops pulling out money.
Qapital —what I use— is similar.It’s an automated savings app that makes saving kinda, sorta fun. And also mindless.
First, you set a goal. For me, it was to save enough to take a train trip. I set “rules,” which, when triggered, transfer money into my Qapital account.
For example, if I meet my daily step goal, $2 is transferred in. Or if I make a purchase of $3.85, the leftover 15 cents trickles over. In five months, I stashed away $700 — without thinking.
DownloadDigitandQapitalto start saving some coins today.
2. For investing, try Stash or Clink.
Think you don’t have enough money to start investing? Think again.
Stashis an easy-to-use app that breaks down investing in easy-to-understand terms.Set it up to automatically transfer a certain amount of money each week from your bank account into your “Stash.”
Our staff writer Jamie Cattanach sets hers to $5. She doesn’t even think about investing or the complicated jargon that comes with it. It’s super easy and only costs $1 a month.
Clinkis another investment app that lets you invest in the stock market automatically. You can easily start investing with $1 a day (or more if you so choose).
Mint is another app Shain uses. It keeps all of her financial information in one spot.
Likely, you have a checking and savings account and probably at least onecredit card account. Hopefully you have a retirement fund, too. So this app automatically keeps track of things and updates you with current information from these accounts.
It breaks down your spending by category and lets you see what’s going where.
Your Turn: What’s your favorite money management app?
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. By checking out this featured content, you help us bring you more ways to save!
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.
Is your kid a junior explorer who loves to travel? Text them this cool opportunity to tell the world about a trip they’ve taken for an opportunity to win $100 in free books!
The competition is open to children worldwide and the winning essay will be published on the Lonely Planet Kids blog for the whole world to see.
Judges plan to also award a copy of “How Cities Work”to a handful of runners-up and even post the entries on the blog.
Even though Lonely Planet’s blog post says they’re picking three runners-up, we confirmed that it’sactually two. But still! Two is better than none, right?
In fact, they “may choose to publish other notable entries,” as well, so your child’s shot at fame is basically unlimited — they just may not get the free book.
The Fine Print for This Writing Contest for Kids
The contest is open to kids under 16 years of age. The maximum entry length is 200 words, making it super easy for children of any writing level or experience to enter.
The essay content criteria is pretty broad, as long as the focus is on a trip your child recently took. They can talk about where they went, what the weather was like, who else tagged along, or even what animals they saw. The sky’s pretty much the limit, so go wild!
A couple of housekeeping things to keep in mind if your wee traveler plans to enter the competition:
Parents must consent in writing to allow Lonely Planet to publish their child’s entry on its blog and social media channels.
Entries must be in digital format. In other words, essays must be typed by you or your child. Crayon and notebook paper won’t fly.
Each entry must include a scanned or digital copy of a photograph or drawing related to the essay.
Parents of the winners may be asked to provide proof of their child’s identity and age.
Winners will be chosen on Feb. 6, 2017.
“The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into, even if you think that sucks. Lady luck has nothing to do with this promotion,”according to the sassylegalese.
Entries must be received by 11:59 p.m. BST (that’s 5:59 p.m. EST for us Americans) on Feb. 3, so go round up your youngster and get writing!
Your turn: What’s the most exotic place you’ve traveled with your children? Are you planning to ask them to enter this contest? Let us know if they win!
Lisa McGreevy is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She’s been traveling since she was a tot but never won any free books from it. Yet.
By Holly Reisem Hanna Do you love fashion and style? Would you like to have your own fashion boutique, but don’t have the funds to invest in a brick and mortar storefront? No problem. The direct sales industry has made it easier than ever to have your very own home-based business within the fashion industry. […]
Frugality is a spectacular tool for immediately seeing positive financial results in your life. Whenever you find ways to get most of the same value in your life for a lower price, or you find a different avenue completely to fulfill your needs and wants without the same sticker impact, you’re managing to still enjoy life while spending less than you have before.
There’s a catch, though. At some point, you’re going to cross a line where the frugal strategy is no longer enjoyable. You’re going to give up something you care deeply about and find yourself feeling miserable about it.
The reaction to that state is usually a bad one. People who dig deep into frugality and then find themselves miserable often respond by undoing most of the frugal changes, even many changes that have little or no life impact for them. When they cross that line where they feel a sense of deprivation, that’s it. They’re done with frugality for a while.
It’s a lot like binge dieting. People do really well on a diet for a while, then suddenly they find themselves giving up something that they don’t really want to give up. The “rules” they’ve adopted for their diet don’t allow them to have some occasional treat and they begin to feel deprived and miserable, and when a person starts to feel that way, it’s not long before the inevitable diet backlash occurs where they undo most of the positive and non-miserable habits they’ve developed.
I’ll use myself as an example. I gave up a lot of hobbies when I decided to strongly commit to frugality. I gave up golf. I gave up almost all drinking, cutting it from a regular thing to a highly irregular thing. I gave up several of my collections. The thing is, I didn’t mind most of those changes, really.
There were two major cuts that did bother me, though. One, I completely swore off buying books. Two, I completely swore off buying board games.
Those two things were the hobbies I was most passionate about, and it didn’t take long for both changes to really chafe at me. I felt deprived. I had thoughts like, “If I can’t even buy myself a book when I want it, what good is a financial turnaround?”
On more than one occasion, I went through short periods where I just gave up on the whole financial turnaround and spent money to my heart’s content, only to regret it deeply a few days later.
What I gradually learned over time is that when you cross that line into feeling deprived, you’re usually going to end up causing serious long term damage to your financial plans if you stay there very long. Sticking with something that makes you feel miserable, even for a while, is going to eventually result in a nasty backlash.
The truth is that frugality is not about feeling deprived. It’s about finding situations where the value that you give up is much less than the money you’re saving, and deprivation comes from situations where the value that you give up is more than the money you’re saving. In my eyes, frugality is the opposite of deprivation. Frugality is about getting maximum value out of every transaction, and you’re not getting maximum value if you’re feeling deprived.
In my eyes, the best state of frugality is one where you’ve explored many frugal tactics and stick with all of the ones that don’t cause a sense of deprivation or loss. That sense of deprivation and loss comes from an underlying gut feeling that you’ve given up more than you’ve gained, and if you’ve done that, you’re not being frugal any more.
Everyone’s line is different. Rather than giving you specific guidelines to follow, all I can do is give you some great strategies for finding your own line, pushing right up to it, but not overstepping it, so that you’re getting maximum value out of every dollar you spend.
Let’s dig in!
Figure out the handful of things that really matter to you and box them off. I’ve found that the surest route to a sense of deprivation when you’re trying to be frugal is to cut back too hard on the handful of core things that you truly care about in life. The truth is that most people have a small handful of things upon which their day-to-day sense of contentment rests, and when you cut into that sense of contentment, that’s when people feel miserable.
For me, cutting into my core hobbies – mainly reading and tabletop gaming – form the one big area of that sense of deprivation. I need to have some outlet into those hobbies, whether it be time to practice them or money to spend on them. If I have more time, I need less money; if I have more money to spend, I don’t need quite as much time. Regardless, I need to devote some time and money in my life to those core hobbies.
For my wife, good coffee is one big area that forms deprivation for her. She grinds coffee almost every morning and is very particular about her coffee. Two or three cups of good coffee in the morning are vital to her, and without that good coffee, she can feel really deprived.
We know those areas in our lives. We understand those areas. It’s far better to let us have our breathing room in those areas than it is to cut back on them, because if we cut back on them, we begin to feel deprived and when we feel deprived we tend to make irrational spending decisions in those areas and in other areas in life.
Figure out the two or three things that really bring a ton of value to you and that leave you feeling deprived when they’re cut and leave those areas alone. Don’t cut back in those areas. (You can obviously do things like bargain hunt, but don’t cut back on the things you value.) Leave them alone and cut back strongly in other areas where you don’t feel that sense of deprivation.
Experiment with frugal tactics, but don’t overcommit right off the bat. Most of the time, when I’m trying out a new frugal strategy, I do it as a pure “trial run.” I rarely commit in a large way to a new frugal strategy unless I can see for myself that it works and that it doesn’t lead to a frugal backlash.
A great example of this comes from meal prepping. By meal prepping, I mean the strategy of preparing lots of copies of the same meal at once and saving the copies for later, usually in the freezer, for easy meals later on. At first, I was concerned that this would be a lot of extra work for not a whole lot of savings, so I committed as little as possible to a trial run.
I bought a couple of very cheap freezer-safe soup containers and tried it with a big batch of soup first, and what I found was that it actually didn’t take that much longer to make a triple batch of soup in a big pot than a single batch in a bit smaller pot. I’d then just ladel the extra soup into the containers, label them, and pop them in the freezer so that later all I had to do was defrost them to prepare soup for supper. It actually saved time overall, because it made meal prep on later nights much shorter, and it made eating at home more convenient on busy nights.
After that trial run, I gradually scaled up. I bought some freezer-safe pans with lids and made lasagna in them, then a tuna casserole. Before long, our freezer was stacked with made-ahead meals.
Here’s the thing: if I had found that meal prep was something that was too much effort, that it didn’t give enough value for the extra effort, I would have stopped. Even more, I would have stopped before I invested very much in it – just a few freezer-safe soup containers and a bit of time making a big batch of soup.
Try new frugal strategies. See if they work. If they don’t, roll back just that strategy. Don’t decide that cutting back is terrible and that all of frugality is horrible and undo all of your progress. Just cut the specific tactic that isn’t clicking in your life.
If you feel miserable or deprived, focus on finding the single tactic or two that’s making you feel that way and roll back just that tactic. The “honeymoon period” that many people go through when they first start turning things around is a wonderful thing. It gets people to try a bunch of new tactics all at once and they often see a bunch of great results.
However, after a few months, that “honeymoon” period wears off and people sometimes find themselves feeling mildly deprived. You might find yourself with a sense that you’re missing out on things and you don’t really know why, and without a specific idea of what’s dragging you down, you’re often very prone to just rolling back lots of frugal tactics (save the ones that you’ve already embedded deeply into your life).
That’s usually a huge mistake. If you ever find yourself feeling a mild sense of being deprived, don’t blame frugal tactics in general. Almost always, that sense of deprivation is coming from a specific tactic or two that took a while for the downside to really click with you.
Instead, try to figure out specifically what’s making you feel deprived. When you think about your life, what specific thing is now missing that was once there? It may take time to figure this out, and that’s okay. Give it time. It’s far more important to get the right answer here than to get the fast answer.
When you figure it out, roll back just that specific tactic (or two) and you’ll find the malaise going away.
For me, this sense of deprivation really came from completely cutting myself off from bookstore visits. I went from stopping by twice a week to basically not stopping at all. Today, I stop at a local independent bookstore (specifically, Plot Twist Bookstore in Ankeny, IA) about once every three weeks on average. That’s enough for me. I don’t need to stop every week, but if I don’t ever visit a bookstore, I feel like something’s gently missing. Three weeks is about right for me, and I usually set aside a few dollars to spend there when I visit.
Try lots of free or very low cost things, even if they seem way outside your comfort zone. Often, a sense of deprivation from frugal tactics comes from eliminating something from your life without anything to replace it. You realize that shopping trips with your friends are expensive and you cut them out… but then you’re just sitting at home some Saturdays. You realize that golf outings are pricy, but then you find yourself sitting at home sometimes.
You’ll feel deprived if you do that! Don’t do that!
Instead, fill that time by diving into other things you could be doing. I recommend simply dabbling into lots of new things and seeing what clicks with you. Here are eight extremely frugal activities I deeply love that fill a lot of my hours. If you want more, here’s a list of 102 free things to do. Need more? Head over to your community’s website and see what organizations are in town and what activities are on the community calendar. Need even more? Visit Meetup and see what groups are meeting on a regular basis.
Try new things. Try things that you aren’t sure if you’d like. Try things that you think you might even actively dislike, but you’ve never tried before. Give them all a shot with an open mind and see whether any of them click with you.
With me, what often happens when I do this is that I end up with more interesting possibilities for things to do than I ever will have time to complete in my life. I genuinely have more things now that I want to devote time and energy to without spending money than I ever did when I was spending money like it was water. Time is the challenge now, not money.
Figure out the things that bring you peace and emphasize them in your life. One valuable thing that I’ve learned over the years is that even if I feel a little deprived in one area of my life, if it is counterbalanced with a strong sense of contentment or peace in another area of life, I end up barely noticing that sense of deprivation.
If some of the areas of my life are very good, then it pulls up the rest of my life.
Thus, it’s well worth your time to cultivate a sense of happiness and peace and contentment in many areas of your life. Work on building a good marriage and a good relationship with your children. Work on building a robust social circle.
More than that, work on finding a hobby or an aspect of your work that allows you to find a “flow state.” That’s the surest path to contentment I’ve ever found in my life.
What do I mean by “flow state”? It means when you’re working on something in a physically and/or mentally engaging way and it becomes so engaging that you lose track of time and even of the place you’re at. It’s when you’re engaged in something really interesting or really intense and then you look up at the clock and two or three hours have passed. That state feels good, as does the aftermath of it. Being in a flow state is absolutely the most content feeling that I’ve found in life, and if I can find it regularly, then I can overlook a bit of discontent in other areas of life.
I try to make those things central in my life. I consciously try to put in time every single day to strengthen my relationship with Sarah and with my kids. I put in time pretty regularly to strengthen relationships with my closest friends. I wall off blocks of time for my hobbies so that I can get into that flow state with them, and I do everything I can to encourage a flow state when I’m working.
If I feel content and joyful about many areas of my life, a little bit of discontent elsewhere flows right under the bridge.
Extract as much joy from anticipation as possible. As I mentioned earlier, I go to a bookstore about once every three weeks. It’s a ritual that I enjoy deeply – browsing the shelves, finding so many that I want to read and own and leave on my bedside table for a while, smelling fresh print on a page and the sawdust-like aroma of a new book, holding a book in my hand as I leave the store and knowing I’ll be reading it soon.
A few days before I go, I start thinking about it. I start anticipating that visit.
I used to think that the anticipation was terrible. I just wanted to cut to the chase and jump ahead to the pleasure of the event itself. I was so impatient before Christmas when I was younger, for example.
Now, I’ve come to realize that the anticipation is half of the fun. The simple act of thinking about going to the bookstore soon lifts my mood. I’ll think about particular titles that I’ll look for, or what type of book I’m wanting to read next. I’ll wonder whether they’ll have any of that good, free coffee available.
Those thoughts flutter through my head for days and they consistently lift my mood. Sure, if I let it go on too long, I might get frustrated, but what I usually do is wait until just about the time when the anticipation might turn and then I’ll go. For me, that’s usually three or four days.
In other words, I milk anticipation for joy, not just the event itself. As soon as unfulfilled anticipation begins to turn into a sense of frustration or deprivation, that’s when I go, but I’ve usually already made the decision that I’m going to buy the book. I’m just enjoying the anticipation.
I do the same thing with family vacations, when I’m planning them out. I do the same thing with holidays. I do the same thing with Gencon, my one big splurge of the year, which is a giant convention for tabletop gaming that I attend with several old friends. I enjoy the anticipation and let it lift me up, and that lift is very, very good at keeping a sense of deprivation at bay.
Give yourself a “free spending allowance” each month. In the end, though, I do spend money on my hobbies and interests. I do buy books. I do buy board games. I do buy the occasional other item for a hobby or interest of mine.
I don’t feel guilty about it, either. Those things are a big part of why I work. They make me tick.
Instead, I just give myself full permission to spend a certain amount each month. I have a dollar limit for hobby spending, and within that dollar limit, I can spend without question or concern. If I want to buy something really big, I let it build for a few months.
By doing this, I don’t have to feel guilty about indulging occasionally in my hobbies. I don’t have to have a sense of deprivation by choosing not to spend on my hobbies, either. It keeps both a sense of deprivation from underspending and a sense of guilt from overspending at bay. It’s peaceful and joyful instead.
Final Thoughts
The goal of all of these strategies is to encourage people to dig deep into frugality and to cut back on all of the unimportant areas of their life, but to ensure joy and peace in the areas that really do matter. We all work for something – don’t throw away that something or else the entire journey will be undermined.
At the end of each year, I make it a point to go over everything that happened to me during the last twelve months. Not only do I enjoy reflecting on all the fun memories, but I also thrive on looking forward to the next year. While 2016 was full of milestones for both my family and my business, I still get excited about planning new goals for the new year.
Now, I’m not talking about “New Year’s Resolutions. Why? Because I don’t really believe in waiting for the new year to create goals. I tend to believe resolutions are a waste of time, mostly because the bulk of people never follow through.
In place of resolutions, I like to create short-term and long-term goals. As each year draws to an end, I like to make a new list of end-of-year goals as well.
On top of those one-year stretch goals, I like to check in every 90 days to take stock of my progress. I implemented this strategy into my business and personal life about five years ago after being introduced to the concept in a strategic coaching program, and it was a game-changer. Once I started tracking my progress, amazing things started to happen.
If you’re interested, you can also read my goal-setting posts from 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and2016. As you can see, I’ve been doing this for a long time!
What I want to do today is go back over my goals from 2016, then introduce my new personal and business goals for 2017. Maybe these goals will inspire you to reach for greater heights in your personal or business life.
Too many of us get so caught up in what’s happening now- right this moment – that we never really think about all the good and bad things that have happened in our lives. It’s so easy to forget and to move on.
But if I’ve learned anything, it’s how important it is to be appreciative for what you have and willing to learn from your mistakes. Without reflecting back, it’s far too easy to get caught up in the next big thing. This is especially true if you’re an entrepreneur.
Before I go over my new goals for 2017, I wanted to share some of the best moments for my family and my business in 2016.
#1: Adopting a Baby Girl from the Phillipines
The best thing that happened to us this year was our adoption, and it’s not even close. For those who may not know, my wife and I had been trying to adopt a child from the Philippines for more than four years. It got to the point where we wondered if it would ever happen. Throughout the process, we started to feel as if we were forgotten. The fact that I’m part Filipino on my mother’s side means that we were supposed to have an expedited adoption, but it started to seem as if that wasn’t the case.
We were initially told our adoption would take only a few years. In the end, it took almost five. Still, it was worth the wait. When we finally got the call in March of last year, we were ecstatic. We still had to wait another three months before we could travel and pick up our child, but we at least had hope. Then, at the end of June, we got the call that she was ready….and we traveled to bring our daughter, Janella Jane, home.
Introducing her to her three doting brothers was one of the most amazing experiences of our lives. She has been a joy in our household and we’re so thankful she’s here every day. We’re also so glad the adoption didn’t come earlier; had it moved any faster, we wouldn’t have ended up with this beautiful child.
As always, God had His plan and His timeline in mind. Although the timing wasn’t perfect on our end, He was waiting to put the perfect daughter and the perfect sister in our home. We’re so thankful to Him for placing her in our house.
#2: My Awesome FinCon Talk
The rest of the happenings on this list are in no specific order. However, another goal I’m extremely proud of is my talk on profit at the financial blogging conference known as FinCon. While there are a ton of conferences in existence, this conference is where it’s at – where financial bloggers and professionals mingle, network, and share ideas. Basically, it’s a huge nerd fest and I fit right in.
In 2016, the conference was held in San Diego, California, which is pretty much the best location ever. The weather and the venue were amazing. Even better, I was asked to give a speech on the big stage. I’ve talked at FinCon before, but only in front of smaller groups comprised of maybe 50 – 100 people.
This year, I gave a twelve-minute talk in front of hundreds of people. I was extremely nervous, but it was totally worth it. I was so thankful for the opportunity, for my wife for supporting me, and to my friend Grant Baldwin who graciously coached me on how to give my talk more effectively.
In the end, I think I absolutely killed it. The topic of the talk was how following a simple principle allowed me to spend more time out of the office while also growing revenue. If you’re interested in learning how to delegate and simplify your work life, you have to check it out!
#3: Best Day Ever With My Boys
Another awesome milestone from 2016 was a “best day ever” with my kids. I picked this idea up from my friend Curtis, who I met in Michael Hyatt’s Inner Circle mastermind group. Like me, Curtis has boys who are totally consumed with sports.
He’s also a successful business owner and entrepreneur who, like me, works a ton and doesn’t always get to spend enough time with his kids. Even though we love our kids, it’s easy to get so caught up in work and entrepreneurship that we forget to make them a priority. But with our “best day ever,” I vowed to change that.
It all starts with asking your kids one thing they really want to do every six months or so. For Curtis, this meant taking one of his sons to a UCLA basketball game and taking another child to a baseball game.
I loved how intentional this idea was; not only does it let your kids know they’re a priority in their life, but it sets you up to create special memories that will last a lifetime. I basically followed Curtis’s lead and did the same thing with my kids. I started by asking my oldest son what he wanted to do. Of course, he immediately told me he wanted to go to a Saint Louis Cardinal’s game and spend the night. Surprise!
After I did some research, we bought tickets to the game and booked our overnight stay at a nearby hotel. And honestly, it was a blast!
When I asked my middle son what he wanted to do, he said he wanted to go to a bouncy house. Of course, that only lasted until he heard what his older brother was doing for his special day. After that, he decided he also wanted to go to a Cardinals game.
Since he didn’t really want to spend the night, we took off during the day to see a daytime game. It was an amazing experience. We were sitting behind the dug-out and Yadier Molina actually threw my son a ball to keep. It was awesome!
Later on in the year, I also took my two older boys to a Chicago Bears football game. The main reason I brought two kids along for this special day was due to the logistics of seeing – and paying for – a game. It was expensive and we live five hours from Chicago.
To make it extra special, we spent two nights in a hotel, went out to eat some Chicago deep-dish pizza, and enjoyed plenty of quality time.
Since my youngest son isn’t too into sports yet, I took him to Las Vegas to visit his grandmother for his special day. Since I was going to Las Vegas for a business trip, this worked out perfectly. He loved flying in the plane, and we had a blast together.
I love the “best day ever” concept so much that I plan to do it as long as I can. I also plan to have “best days ever” with my daughter once she gets old enough. My wife and I want to have as much fun with our kids as we can while they’re still young, and this is one way to make these years last forever.
When my kids are too old to care about this stuff anymore, I want to look back and know we did all we could to spend time with them. Kids are only young once, so we plan to make it count.
#4: Michael Hyatt’s Inner Circle
Joining Michael Hyatt’s Inner Circle Mastermind was definitely one of my biggest highlights from 2016. In case you don’t know, Michael Hyatt is a New York Time’s bestselling author, internet entrepreneur, and awesome family guy.
I joined this group after being involved in the Strategic Coaching Program for around five years. Just as I was ready to upgrade to the 10x program from Strategic Coaching, Michael’s Inner Circle group practically appeared before my eyes.
When I first heard of the Inner Circle, I thought the $25,000 price tag was far too steep. Instead of joining, I took note of the program and decided to sit on it for a year. The next year, I talked to my wife about it again to see if it was finally a good fit.
Out of all entrepreneurs in the world, there was no one I wanted to be mentored by more than Michael Hyatt. Not only is he a business owner and entrepreneur like me, but he’s the type of family man I strive to become. He’s been married to his wife, Gail, for almost 40 years. Together, they have five daughters.
People who join the Inner Circle tend to be business owners who want to be better spouses and parents, and also better leaders. With my wife’s blessing, I applied and was accepted. The entire experience has been amazing – not only being mentored by Michael Hyatt, but also being around the other individuals in the program. The experience has had such a huge impact on my business and my personal life. It’s made me a better man, a better household leader, and a better husband to my wife, Mandy.
Unfortunately, Michael decided not to renew the group for 2017. With a business to run, he decided to refocus and spend more time with his executive team. The good news is, I’ve gotten so much out of the group that it was still more than worth it. It was only a year of mentoring, but man, last year’s group will have an everlasting impact for the rest of my life.
I’m thankful for all of it. I’m also thankful for you, Michael, for taking me on. And I’m thankful for all the guys in the Inner Circle for embracing me like we’re brothers.
Every year, my wife and I try to take at least one adults-only trip somewhere. Last year was no different. Once we cleared our schedules, we booked a five-day trip to Cabo with the goal of doing absolutely nothing. And I mean it; we did almost nothing. We laid by the pool I guess, and we drank cute drinks with tiny umbrellas. We played a little beach volleyball, but mostly for fun. I did work out while I was there, and we ate a ton of food. Really, that was about all we accomplished.
I have to say, the “nothingness” of this trip was absolutely amazing. We made a conscious decision to spend quality time together without feeling pressured to do any activities, and that’s exactly what we did.
Co-parenting our children is important, but so is our marriage. Whatever it takes, and no matter how hard it is to piece together babysitters to get away, we’ve made our adults-only time a priority.
#6: Awesome Media Deals
One of the cool strategic byproducts of having a blog and online presence is that you can grow enough to get contacted by huge brands who want to work with you. It doesn’t usually happen for a while, but it’s awesome when you finally get there.
Last year, I got two pretty huge deals. With the first one, I was contacted by a production company that was working with Time and Money.com. They were working on a web-based video series in a partnership with State Farm and asked me to record a six-video series in New York City. Yes, please!
The cool thing is that, when they initially approached me, I turned down the offer. Why? It wasn’t enough money at all. They even came back with a second offer that I also turned down. Eventually, they asked how much money I wanted and said I could name my price. Now, that’s what I want to hear!
Eventually, we worked it out where I would only have to travel to New York City three times. And yes, I got the amount of money I wanted – along with some fun memories with my wife in New York City.
The second media deal I scored was with Capital One. This one was a little bit different, but still cool in its own way. I mentioned earlier that I got to go to Las Vegas with my son, Sloan. The reason behind this was the fact that I got a media deal to meet with Capital One BuyPower cardmembers. Not only that, but I was allowed to drive a Corvette around a legitimate racetrack.
The best part is, I was paid for the entire thing. And yes, this is yet another experience that I am entirely grateful for. Even better, I already have at least one awesome media deal lined up for 2017. I can’t wait to share more about it in the coming months!
#7: Launching The Online Advisor Growth Formula Course
In 2016, I launched my first digital product – a course for financial advisors. This is something I’ve wanted to do for years, but only got the courage to finish last year.
The Online Advisor Growth Formula teaches a step-by-step process I created for financial advisors who want to increase their reach through online marketing. I’ve had so many advisors contact me about this topic over the years, that I finally just went for it.
I’m so thankful to my friends John Corcoran and John Baldwin for making this happen. Not only did they provide support and encouragement, but they walked me through the process as well. Thanks to them and my own efforts, my course brought in almost $115,000 in sales in 2016. Launching the course was a huge win for me, and the profits were just icing on the cake!
#8: Working Less than Eight Hours in the Office
One of my favorite books ever is The Four-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss. When I first heard of it, I wondered if the ideas he taught were legit at all. I mean, can people really get all their work done in just four works per week?
To an extent, the premise is slightly bogus. But when you understand the book and what it’s all about, you start to see where his ideas have merit.
Here’s a good example of how work hours can be reduced with the methods Ferriss teaches: When I’m in the office, more distractions happen – whether these distractions are conversations in the hallway or something else. To cut down on distractions and wasted work time, I decided I only wanted to be in the office for client meetings or strategic meetings with my team.
And guess what; it works. My initial goal was to be in the office for 16 hours per week. Eventually, I dropped that down to 12 hours. For all of 2016, I worked my way down to just 8 hours of office time per week.
The cool thing is, everything is still going smoothly. I had to build some really detailed processes on all of my work so that others could do it, but most of that was a one-time thing. I also had to train my team to take care of any issues that arise when I’m gone. On top of that, I had to be willing to delegate some of my work to people I trusted.
All of this worked wonders for my mental health and my business. And, believe it or not, our revenue even grew 30% last year! Considering that I only spent around eight hours per week in the office, I consider that a huge win.
#9: Earning More than One Million Dollars in Revenue
Last year, I created the goal of earning at least seven figures in total revenue across all of my business ventures. This means earning at least $1 million dollars with my financial planning firm, this blog, my new course, media deals, and everything else.
I’m excited to say that I blew this goal out of the water. In fact, total revenue exceeded $1.3 million for the entire year!
#happydance
For a guy that was once a college dropout and had over $30k of debt to start my career, it still amazes what you can achieve if you believe in yourself and hustle your arse off.
2016 Goals Recap
I already told you I created a list of goals for 2016 at the end of 2015, right? Here’s a recap of how those goals panned out, where I had big wins, and where my dreams fell flat.
Win #1: Doing Nothing In Cabo with the Mrs.
As I mentioned, my wife and I went to Cabo for a week without the kids. This was one of my goals for 2016, and I call this a “win” for sure.
Win #2: Working 16 hours per week
If you’ll remember, I wanted to get to the point where I was working less than two days per week in the office. However, I was actually able to work an average of eight hours per week instead. I consider this a huge win for 2016!
Win #3: Start a weekly video podcast
This is one goal I absolutely killed. I launched Good Financial Cents TV in the summer and did my best to create a weekly show. As of right now, I have recorded 15 episodes. I’ve only released 11 of those, but I’m going to release the rest of them here soon.
This is almost four month’s worth of video podcasts, which I consider a huge success. I haven’t been as consistent as I wanted to be, but I consider this a “win” nonetheless.
Win #4: Launching My Course
This one is definitely a huge win. Not only did I launch the course, but it brought in over $115,000 of revenue in 2016.
Win #5: Hiring an Executive Assistant
Since I’m busier than ever, I began to realize I need help! Fortunately, I was able to bring a new employee, Melanie, on board as an executive assistant in 2016. She handles an array of tasks for me including email, blog scheduling, and creating images. I had a lot of help already, but I really needed someone at the center of it all. Bringing Melanie on was a huge win for me and I’m glad it’s working out.
Win #6: Earning More than $1 Million in Revenue
Another goal I had for 2016 was for my total revenue to exceed $1 million. As I mentioned previously, I accomplished this goal and I am so excited about it. Fortunately, I think it’s only up from here.
Fail #1: Another Family RV Trip
A few years ago, my wife and I took our three sons on a really fun trip around the country in an RV. This trip included the Grand Canyon, which was the highlight of our journey with our sons. I wanted to redo that trip in 2016. Why? Because it was awesome! Unfortunately, too much happened including the adoption of our new daughter, Janella.
While we didn’t get our RV trip done this year, I’m adding it to my list of goals for 2017 for sure.
Fail #2: Complete the Spartan Race Trifecta
This one was a big, fat fail. Not only did I not complete the three races that make up the trifecta, but I didn’t do any of the races at all. A lot of factors ruined this goal – including the fact my schedule didn’t jive with my battle buddy’s, and that our kid’s baseball schedules got in the way. I’m not sure I’ll get this done in 2017, but I hope to run these three races one day.
Even though I didn’t get in a Spartan Race last year, I was able to complete my first Battle Frog race with some other buddies of mine in Nashville. It was a muddy blast!
Fail #3: Launch Another Blog Movement
Over the last few years, I’ve launched several blog movements – the Roth IRA movement, the life insurance movement, and the debt movement. I’ve been wanting to launch another blog movement like these, but never quite made it happen in 2016.
These movements require a considerable amount of work – from getting over 100 bloggers to write about the movement to planning and getting sponsors. While I’m unsure I’ll get another big movement going in 2017, I hope to make it happen sooner rather than later. For now, this one was a huge fail.
Fail #4: Build a School
My wife and I have been wanting to build a school – either through Pencils of Promise or some other organization. This is one goal we had that took a turn as life unfolded. After we adopted our daughter from the Philippines, we got a chance to visit her orphanage.
It didn’t take long to realize how run down it was and how much help they needed. The place was not only dirty, but filthy. It’s not that the people weren’t trying; they’re all amazing. The orphanage just didn’t have the funds to keep things clean and running smoothly.
Once we left the orphanage, we donated a fairly large sum of money to help out. Still, we started to feel like we could be doing more. So, we decided to do a T-shirt fundraiser. That meant designing T-shirts and selling them to raise money for the orphanage. When all was said and done, we raised over $30,000 for the orphanage. And since we decided to match part of the gift, we actually donated even more.
So, while we didn’t build a school, I only consider this goal a partial fail. We were able to offer money for improvements to my daughter’s orphanage, and we feel blessed we were able to do so.
My New Goals for 2017
So, that was 2016. But, what about 2017? Here are my new goals for the new year, and how I plan to make them happen:
Goal #1: I want to take my family on a cross-country trip in an RV.
As I already mentioned, I am so ready to pack up my kids and my wife in an RV and hit the road. We had such a blast last time, and it was such an amazing experience. I want to replicate that again, but with our daughter Janella along for the ride, too.
Goal #2: We want to pay off our mortgage.
While we haven’t thought a ton about our mortgage, I really want to pay it off in 2017. Once we pay off the mortgage on our primary home, we’ll be entirely debt-free with no consumer debt of any kind.
Since we started with a thirty-year loan, this is a pretty lofty goal. Fortunately, we did eventually refinance to a fifteen-year loan, which means we’ve paid off our home a lot faster already.
Our initial goal was to pay off our dream home by the time our oldest son graduated high school, but we’re going to blow that goal right out of the water if we can make this happen. Our new goal is to pay off our home before our oldest child starts junior high, which means 2017.
Goal #3: I want to have three “best days ever” with my kids.
As I mentioned already, one of my biggest priorities is spending quality, one-on-one time with my kids. I already have one trip planned with my older sons in 2017. This is an exception, but I want to do a joint trip to see the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers play in Oakland at Oracle Arena in January.
This trip was a Christmas gift and will also be a birthday gift for my middle son – a huge Steph Curry fan. Since my older son is a huge LeBron James fan, this trip is sure to be a hit.
To complete this goal, I’ll need to plan several more “best days ever” with each of my kids. I can’t wait to see what they want to do, then figure out how to make it happen.
Goal #4: I plan to teach at least six times at our church.
I’ve been volunteering with the junior high program at our church for several years now. During this time, I have had the pleasure and privilege to teach that group. Since the group is made up of sixth, seventh and eighth graders, it’s a ton of fun. I love interacting with the kids and providing spiritual nourishment directly from the Bible.
Earlier this year, our youth leader asked if I would be willing to teach more often. Of course, I said yes. My goal this year is to teach these kids on at least six separate occasions. I get something out of it every single time and I hope that they do, too.
Goal #5: My wife and I want to launch a community around Marriage More.
While Good Financial Cents listeners and readers may not know this, my wife and I also have a podcast about marriage. Called “Marriage More,” this joint podcast lets us share our experiences with marriage and family. We’ve been married for twelve wonderful years. While it hasn’t always been perfect, we’ve learned a lot and we just feel like we have a lot to offer couples who need to feel more connected.
To take our podcast to the next level, we really want to create a community where married couples can go to connect and become more accountable. I also want to tie the financial aspects of marriage into the group. Since I’m a financial planner, it only makes sense.
Our goal is to create a paid membership program where couples can go through different curriculum and courses to feel better connected and eventually reach financial freedom. We hope to launch in beta by March 31st, then have at least 100 paying members by that point in time. After that, our goal is to have 500 couples in the program by the end of the year.
If you want to hear more about this goal or check out our podcast, head over to MarriageMore.com. If you’re on iTunes, you can search for Marriage More there as well.
Goal #6: My wife and I plan to get away for another marriage retreat, and hopefully an adults-only trip!
In 2016, my wife and I were able to do this really awesome marriage retreat at this place called Blackberry Farms in Eastern Tennessee. This trip served as a great reminder of why it’s important to get away with your spouse. When you’ve been married for a while and have kids, any one-on-one bonding time you can get is priceless.
During the marriage retreat, we got a chance to learn from Ian Cron, the author of a book called The Road Back to You. I suggest this book not just for married couples but for anybody wanting to learn more about themselves, their personality, and their life choices. When you use the concepts in Ian’s book and tie them into a marriage, it’s absolutely amazing.
One of our marriage goals for 2017 is doing another marriage retreat or something similar. Even though we’re happily married and have been for years, it’s important to continue nurturing our relationship.
Goal #7: I am going to earn $2 million in revenue.
While all goals are important, it’s crucial to have a revenue goal. Last year’s goal was to crack seven figures. In 2017, my goal is to crack $2 million dollars in revenue!
Originally I figured I would aim for $1.5 million in revenue, but that’s not really a stretch goal, is it? Go big or go home, right?
Keep in mind, the $2 million goal is net profit – not my personal income. I do hope to hit seven figures of annual income one day, but this year’s goal is a pure revenue goal. Also remember that money isn’t anything in the grand scheme of things. It’s true that money is important, but there are more important things in life.
A long time ago, I felt the opposite. Nearly all my goals were tied to earning money somehow. Eventually though, I realized I was chasing something that could never fulfill me. Further, I learned the real feeling I craved was helping people – not earning more money. The revenue is great for sure, but it’s really just is a byproduct of me becoming a better person and helping others.
Yet, I still strive to earn more money every year. Why? Because you can use it to help people. I was emailing back and forth with another successful entrepreneur named Stu McLaren, and he said something that really impacted me:
Basically, the more you earn, the more you can give away. If we hadn’t had the money to spend, we might not have been able to adopt a child from the Philippines, let alone donate $15,000 of our own money to the cause.
I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m sharing this with you. The thing is, people who don’t know me often assume I’m trying to hit absurd revenue figures so I can keep more for myself. But, that’s not it at all. At the end of the day, I just want to be able to help others and impact others. It’s not the money I love; it’s having the funds and the ability to help people.
More money = more impact, remember? This is why I strive to work harder and smarter every year.
Conclusion
So, that’s finally it. If you’ve stuck around for all 6,000 words of this post, I truly commend you. I hope me rehashing my wins and losses was helpful. I also hope you’ll check out some of my podcasts on the topic of goal-setting, along with the goal achievement worksheet I use to check in with my goals every 90 days.
Tune into the next podcast where we’ll talk about how money can change our lives and the lives of others for the better. Until then, I’m reminding you that it’s your life, it’s your money, and only you can make it awesome.
Take care.
Did you reach your financial goals in 2016? What goals do you have for 2017?
Some banks and building societies have edged rates up on easy-access accounts or launched competitive fixed rate deals, but they are still at historically low rates and likely to remain there for the foreseeable future. Experts predict there is very little chance of a rise in base rate this year.
Some banks and building societies have edged rates up on easy-access accounts or launched competitive fixed rate deals, but they are still at historically low rates and likely to remain there for the foreseeable future. Experts predict there is very little chance of a rise in base rate this year.
The first of six 24-hour strikes planned by Southern train drivers is now under way, but it’s not just commuters who are suffering.
The first of six 24-hour strikes planned by Southern train drivers is now under way, but it’s not just commuters who are suffering.
Homeowners across the Southern Rail network have seen the prices of their property rise at a slower rate than the rest of England, new research has revealed.
How many cake days have you celebrated? Have you ever given — or been the lucky recipient of — Reddit gold?
Wondering what the heck I’m talking about?
If you’re completely unfamiliar with Reddit, don’t worry: It’s really not that complicated. It’s basically an aggregator of discussion forums — a concept which might be familiar to you if you remember the internet in its pre-Facebook (or even pre-Myspace!) days.
Reddit users can post and discuss text, images and videos about a variety of topics on dedicated, user-run “subreddits,” or individual forums.
The site also features a unique content rating system, by which readers — or “redditors,” if you will — can “upvote” or “downvote” content. These votes influence a post’s performance and placement, with only the most popular and upvoted content making it to the “front page of the internet.”
Basically, it’s like a hyperspecialized, crowdsourced newspaper.And while it’s not perfect, it can be a fantastic source of information, entertainment and community, no matter your interests.
Since you’re here at TPH, I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess that saving money is in your interest set.
So how, specifically, can you put Reddit to work for you?
The 31 Best Subreddits for Penny Hoarders
When you sign up for a free account onReddit, you’ll automatically be subscribed to a number of ultrapopular subreddits — stuff like the self-explanatoryr/funnyor the repository of tiny cute animals that isr/awww.
But if you want to customize what you see on your front page, you’ll have to get busy subscribing to the specific boards you want to follow.
To do so, you’ll justfind a relevant subreddit and click the “subscribe” button in the right-hand sidebar.(You can also add specific subs to your dashboard or shortcuts from here, and usually there will be a short description of the subreddit with FAQs and rules — give ’em a look!)
Although you’ll still only see the content with the most upvotes, your front page will be populated primarily with posts from subreddits whose updates you subscribe to.
That means if you play your cards right, logging on to Reddit could become a literal gold mine, filled with money-saving tips, hot deals and freebies, and a plethora of cheap, healthy recipes to try.
Reddit is a dynamic community, with new subreddits popping up every day.
But to get you started, we raked through its boards and hand-picked a custom list.
Here are some of the very best subreddits for Penny Hoarders to follow.
Basic Personal Finance and Debt Repayment
Need to get a handle on personal finance basics? Check out these subs.
This subredditwill help you set one and stick to it. It also serves as a great resource for technical trouble with YNAB itself.
(Psst: YNAB isn’t paying us to tell you this!Interestingly, this subreddit is better populated and more consistently followed than r/Budgeting or r/Budget, so this is the one we recommend.)
3. r/FinancialPlanning
Once you’ve gotten a better handle on your money, head over tothis boardto figure out the best thing to do with those rapidly growing stacks of hoarded cash.
Join other redditors on aquest to get debt-free, no matter what you’re working on paying off.
5. r/StudentLoans
If you’re dealing with thisgrowingnationwide financial problem,r/StudentLoanscan be a source of great tips and tricks — not to mention camaraderie.
6. r/FinancialIndependence
Serious about achieving financial independence and retiring early?This subreddit’sdevoted population will help you hold yourself accountable and make it happen.
General Frugality
You know how we roll. These subs will help yousave that money.
Find freebies of all sorts — and make sure the money youdopart with is well-spent.
10. r/BuyItForLife
This is one of my personal favorites.
Ready to invest in apair of bootsthat’ll last you a decade? Need areliable knife?r/BuyItForLifewill help you do just what its name says — and although its recommendations are rarely cheap, they always carry amazingcost per usevalue.
(Related: Check out our post onbrands that offer lifetime warranties. Buy it once, and rest easy knowing if you break it, you can get it fixed or replaced for free!)
11. r/Freebies
If you want to be first in line for some of the best freebies on the internet, subscribe tothis board, and check back often.
12. r/FREE
A smaller community than r/Freebies,r/FREEincludes stuff given freely by actual individuals. (Think: cruising the curb at a college town post-graduation.)
13. r/DumpsterDiving
Hey, no one said saving money is an easy job — or always a clean one.
If you’re willing to get seriously dirty in the name of saving money, followr/DumpsterDiving. Some of thehaulsare impressive, and divers often clean ’em up and flip them for some quick cash.
(And while you’re at it, maybe check out our post about a guy whomakes moneyby going“Trash Panda”— or if you’re really the adventurous type, read this guide toeating roadkill.)
Food
It’s one of life’s greatest pleasures — and biggest expenses. Get ahead of your monthly grocery bill with these food-related subreddits.
14. r/EatCheapAndHealthy
So often, it seems like eating cheaply and healthily are mutual exclusives.
Not so atthis subreddit, which features tons of recipes, advice and tricks. For instance, did you know that onceWalmartmoves its ready-maderotisserie chickensfrom the hot server to the deli fridge, they mark ’em down evenmore? I sure didn’t!
15. r/Cheap_Meals
Not only are the recipes atr/Cheap_Mealscheap — they’re also often posted in easy-to-follow, delicious-looking video format. (Just look at thischicken bacon pasta. Look at it!)
You can also ask the community forits best ideasabout what to do with those last few ingredients you have lying around in your fridge.
16. r/7DollarDinners
More yummy recipesand drool-inducing videos, this time with a hard cap of $7 on the price.
17. r/Slowcooking
Aside from my beloved cast-iron pan, my Crock-Pot is my favorite kitchen thing — and many slow cooker meals are as cost-effective as they are scrumptious.
From microwave-and-mini-fridge-friendly hacks to the simple secrets tomaking canned ravioli edible,r/StudentFoodis a great resource — even if your college days are far behind you.
19. r/MealPrepSunday
Prepping a week’s worth of meals ahead of time is a great way to get a handle on exactly how much you’re spending on food — and avoid the last-minute splurge on lunch.
Althoughthis subreddithas a strong fitness focus, it’s a great resource for affordable, make-ahead recipes.
20. r/CookingWithCondiments
A real Penny Hoarder never throws away a freebie — even one as small as a packet of Arby’s sauce.
But rather than leaving them to languish in your junk drawer, check outr/CookingWithCondiments, and put ’em to use.
21. r/FastFoodReview
Don’t dump your spare fiver on the new McInvention without figuring out if it’s a worthwhile spend. The good people atr/FastFoodReviewtry the newest drive-thru creations so you don’t have to…
… unless you really,reallywant to.
(OK, this one’s kind of a joke. But come on, right? Our purpose is to delight as much as to inform.)
Parenting, Travel and More
From dealing with daily family growing pains to considering alternative living situations, these lifestyle subreddits are a boon to open-minded Penny Hoarders.
22. r/Parenting
While not specifically dedicated to frugal parenting, kids are an expensive-enough venture that questions of saving cash come up onthis boardoften.
(Bonus sub: Just when you think one more day with your children will make you tear your hair out, they go and say something hilariously brilliant, right? Share the wealth atr/ThingsMyKidSaid.)
23. r/AskParents
This one’s an especially awesome resource if you’re not yet a parent yourself, but eyeing the job cautiously.Ask real, live parentsyour child-rearing questions, money-related and otherwise.
Want to be first in the know for discount travel package deals? Need some help finding low-cost flights, even to distant destinations?
First of all, you’ve already taken a step in the right direction by reading TPH! But followingr/Travel_Dealswon’t hurt, either.
26. r/Backpacking
Want to ditch the luggage on your next frugal getaway? Strap on your backpack and hop to it — after carefully preparing that pack’s contents with the help ofthis discussion board.
26. r/TinyHouses
If you’ve ever thought about taking the big leap into tiny living,r/TinyHousesis an impressively rich resource.
Go ahead and check it out if you’re curious. After all, it can’t hurt to look! (That backache after snoozing in your passenger seat, however, is real.)
Side Hustling and Freelancing
Saving money is awesome — but making it is even better.
29. r/BeerMoney
Want a few extra bucks in your pocket to cancel out that beer line on your budget?
From simple, small, totally Penny Hoarder hacks — like shopping through online cash-back portals, to the best ways to use Swagbucks —r/BeerMoneyis the perfect subreddit for quick ways to make some minor passive income.
Hey: Every penny counts.
30. r/FreelanceWritingJobs
Freelance writing is an awesome, flexible way to make extra money (or evena whole career).
If you’ve got a way with words, keep an eye onr/FreelanceWritingJobsto find new opportunities.
31. r/Blogging
Dreaming of starting your own blogging business?This subreddithas the community to help you get started on the right foot.
Your Turn: What’s your favorite subreddit?
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.
