PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Despite a threat from cable giant Comcast to take legal action, Philadelphia has banned employers from asking potential hires to provide their salary history, a move supporters say is a step toward closing the wage gap between men and women.Democratic Mayor Jim Kenney signed the measure on Monday, and said he's confident the bill can withstand legal challenges."I know that Comcast and the business community are committed to ending wage discrimination, [...]
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الأربعاء، 25 يناير 2017
1,000 jobs come with Smithfield Gateway project
A parcel of land east of Route 209 in Smithfield Township will change hands this week. The 29 acre property, located btween Dairy Queen and the Odd Lot store, is located just off the Marshalls Creek Exit.It is being sold to Legend Properties, Inc. for $4 million. The development company will seal the deal on Monday, said CEO James DePetris.His company will then have acquired a total of 120 acres in Marshalls Creek for $100 million worth [...]
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Former SARP officer to run for Scranton City Council
Scranton School Director Paul Duffy announced plans Tuesday to run for Scranton City council, virtually ensuring a competitive Democratic race for three open council seats.Duffy, 39, who has emerged as one of the directors most vocal about fixing the ailing school district’s finances, denied running for council means he’s abandoning the district. He said he would serve in both posts if he could. State law forbids that.“This has been a goal of mine for [...]
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This is Why It’s So Hard to Save Money When You’re Broke
Smart financial choices today will help you save a ton of money over time.
It seems obvious, right?
Tips for stretching your budget and cutting back always seem to include things like skipping your morning latte, buying secondhand clothes or finding a Groupon for your next haircut.
But what if you drink the office coffee, haven’t bought new clothes in 10 years and cut your hair at home?
Sometimes there’s nothing left to skimp on.
So where are you going to find the extra money for that bulk purchase or to stock up when the essentials are on sale?
Anyone who’s lived below the poverty line understands this issue.
For everyone else, a study by a University of Michigan professor backs up the experience with data, reports the Washington Post.
My favorite thing about this study is it’s about toilet paper.
What Toilet Paper Can Teach Us About Saving Money
Professor Yesim Orhun and Ph.D. student Mike Palazzolo analyzed panel data from more than 100,000 American households. They tracked purchases of toilet paper over seven years.
Toilet paper is nonperishable, and we consume it pretty steadily. We don’t go without it just because we’re strapped for cash, like we might go without new clothes or haircuts. And we don’t use more when there’s extra in the house — unlike, say, food.
Toilet paper is also something people with less money pay more for.
But why?
Toilet paper is technically cheaper in bulk. When you have a cushion of money (i.e., your expenses won’t drain your account before next payday), you buy the 24-pack.
But the 24-pack costs more in the moment than the four-pack.
When you only have enough money in your pocket for the four-pack and your family’s bathroom needs TP, you’re not going to wait just because the math says the 24-pack is the smarter choice.
“Having more money gives people the luxury of paying less for things,” as The Washington Post puts it.
Being Broke Isn’t Cheap
I can relate.
For four years before taking this full-time job, I was pretty consistently dead-broke and without credit.
I bought the four-pack.
Honestly? Sometimes I bought single rolls of toilet paper at a convenience store because I didn’t have a car to get to the four-pack.
Now I have a steady paycheck and a handle on my monthly expenses. I’m building savings and working to build my credit. I pay my bills ahead of time, and there’s more and more money in my bank account with every paycheck.
Now I buy the 24-pack.
I also buy the big bottles of shampoo and multipacks of bar soap. I stock up on grocery staples when they’re on sale. I purchase flights when they’re cheapest, instead of waiting until I have the money.
I celebrate these victories — yes, I celebrate the backup shampoo in my bathroom. And I’m thankful for my job every time I open a kitchen cabinet.
We know the common sense money-saving strategies — even when we can’t afford them.
But we get by with what we have, and sometimes that doesn’t include the luxury of making smart financial decisions.
How Do You Get Ahead When You’re So Far Behind?
Personally, I was able to get ahead and buy the big shampoos and the 24-packs of TP because I got a new job with consistent pay.
I wasn’t getting ahead when I was poor; I was getting by.
Sometimes, finding a higher salary is the ultimate solution. But in the meantime, you can make extra money on the side, and do small things to save money when the typical advice doesn’t apply to you.
I had to get creative, especially with food. I became great at making meals by combining small leftovers and turning whatever was left in the cupboard into, usually, a stir-fry.
I was also smart about free food. When I worked in food service, I’d make my shift meal a variety of fruits and veggies — things that are expensive individually in the grocery store.
Probably my biggest savior was just gifts. Not handouts — I mean Christmas gifts, birthday gifts, etc.
A Starbucks gift card can buy a few meals. Target sells groceries. And you can regift or sell gift cards and other gifts you won’t use.
These desperate hacks are usually subjective. When the typical advice doesn’t work for you, you get creative to save money.
We’d love to hear some of your strategies!
Your Turn: When the typical advice doesn’t help you, what strategies do you use to save or earn money?
Dana Sitar (@danasitar) is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She’s written for Huffington Post, Entrepreneur.com, Writer’s Digest and more
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Student Loan Default Is Worse Than We Thought
Student Loan Default Is Worse Than We Thought
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Here’s How to Get a Yummy Which Wich Sandwich for Less Than $1
Good news for anyone who was dreading eating Monday’s soggy leftover meatloaf again today: Sandwich chain Which Wich is offering $5 off any online order of $5 or more through Jan. 31, 2017.
With sandwiches starting at just $5.75, this means you could score a whole meal for next to nothing.
Which Wich offers a wide variety of sandwiches, wraps and salads, and it’s all seriously customizable. (I’m not kidding — there are four distinct varieties of mustard alone.) There’s even a good selection of vegetarian and vegan options!
How to Get a (Nearly) Free Sandwich From Which Wich
To take advantage of this deal (and you should, because that’s five whole dollars of free sandwich), follow these steps.
1. Visit the Which Wich Website
If you’re still on the fence about this one, let me tell you something: Which Wich has cookies. I mean, you could feasibly get four totally free cookies today because you’re an adult and you do what you want.
2. Locate Your Nearest Which Wich
Click here to find the nearest Which Wich. Then select the “order pickup” option to save a few more bucks by avoiding a delivery fee. If your location doesn’t offer delivery, you can still order online.
3. Pick Your Poison
Use the super convenient online ordering feature to customize the perfect sandwich. A peanut butter and bacon sandwich slathered in Buffalo sauce? Hey, if that’s your thing.
4. Apply the Coupon Code
Make sure your order comes out to at least $5, then use coupon code RN6PCPMP to knock $5 off your total during checkout.
5. Enjoy Every Bite of Your Practically Free Food
Because for some reason, food just tastes better when it’s free.
That’s it folks! Now go forth and enjoy your custom sandwich creation.
Your Turn: How will you use that extra $5?
Grace Schweizer is a junior writer at The Penny Hoarder. Excuse her while she makes a Which Wich run — those cookies aren’t going to eat themselves!
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It’s a Dirty Job, But It Helped This Teenager Make $100 in One Afternoon
Whether you’re a college student trying to pay tuition, a young professional working on paying down student loans or a teenager hoping to stretch your allowance, unusual side jobs can help you make a little extra cash.
When I was 14, I wanted to take dance classes, but I needed to pay for them myself.
I wanted a job I could do every once in a while, and I knew it would help to find a niche.
That’s when I decided to try trash can cleaning.
No, washing garbage cans wasn’t a glamorous job. In fact, it was a downright dirty job. But I made more than $100 in one afternoon… and I could have made even more.
Why Trash Can Cleaning is an Awesome Side Gig
I cornered this little market in high school.
Picture me: a scrawny, prissy, little blonde girl climbing into giant trash cans with a hose. (Well, OK, they were standard-size trash cans… I was just a freakishly tiny 14-year-old.)
While you can earn extra money with many classic odd jobs, I chose this one because there was no competition.
All my friends were jockeying for lawns to mow, houses to clean or dogs to walk. None of my peers had even thought about washing garbage cans.
I won’t lie: It’s a nasty job.
Most people don’t think cleaning their trash cans is necessary. They just set them out on the curb, let them bake in the sun and pretend the foul smell is coming from their neighbors’ driveways.
But let’s face it, the stink does get to everyone eventually.
So when a young, able-bodied neighbor comes along and offers to relieve them of that dirty job for a few bucks, they’ll probably jump at the chance.
How to Make Money With a Dirty Job
Here are three ways to ensure you’ll make as much money as possible doing this dirty job.
1. Target Your Customers
Technology always seems like the best way to get your information out into the universe.
Just this once, though, you may want to consider going old-school. I’m talking about flyers.
To get the word out, I taped flyers to my neighbors’ front doors with the necessary information: the job I would do for them, the amount I charged, and the day and time to drop off their cans at my house.
Distribute your flyers Friday evening and have people drop off their trash cans Sunday morning. Living with Mom and Dad meant I had access to free paper and ink, so the flyers didn’t cost me a thing.
Cleaning garbage cans is kind of a weird offer to make, so briefly explain on the flyer why you’re in the business.
While a number of people brought me their garbage cans, looking back, I could have made more money if I had mentioned on my flyers that I was a teen trying to afford dance classes.
2. Decide What to Charge
I charged $20 per trash can. My neighbors were happy to pay this price, and a few of them gave me $5 tips.
People hate performing this job so much that they would probably pay more. If you think you can do a thorough job in a timely manner, charge $25 per can.
If you have a car, advertise that you’ll make appointments to drive to people’s houses to do the job in their driveways. Since they won’t have to bother with dropping off or picking up their trash cans, charge a little extra for the convenience. (You can also do this if you have a bike or don’t mind walking.)
If you live in a neighborhood where people have garbage and recycling cans they wheel out to the street, try offering a combo deal. For example, charge $25 per can or $40 for both.
3. Be Organized!
When people leave their trash cans with you, get their names and phone numbers. Don’t forget to write everything down!
Know your time estimate for your job so you can tell them when to pick up their clean can.
Would You Try Cleaning Trash Cans?
I recommend this job to any teenager or college student who needs cash in a hurry. If my post-grad job didn’t require me to work on weekends, I would probably still try to swing this gig every once in a while!
Most people avoid cleaning their trash cans because they’re grossed out by the smell and the word “garbage.” If you can overcome these minor turnoffs, you’ll realize there are no other downsides to the job — and it’s worth a stinky afternoon.
Your turn: Would you ever clean garbage cans to make extra money on the side?
Laura Grace Tarpley is a 23-year-old who worked multiple jobs through college to pay for school and her travels. Currently, she is working as much as possible to travel to Scandinavia with her fiancé.
The post It’s a Dirty Job, But It Helped This Teenager Make $100 in One Afternoon appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
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This Mom Quit Corporate America to Work From Home. Here’s How She Did It
“Experience Bliss.”
So reads the header at the top of Anitra Durand Allen’s website, where she markets her services as a life coach and speaker.
Allen is a work-from-home mom, professional life coach and the author of “Experience B.L.I.S.S. in Your Relationships,” a guide to creating a more peaceful, productive and, yes, blissful family life. She’s been at it since 2014.
But Allen’s life wasn’t always so blissful. Allen spent 15 years as a project manager in the corporate world before she quit her job to pursue her dreams.
“It got old quick,” Allen said, summing up pretty much everyone’s feelings about working in a cubicle farm.
But quitting your job — even if you hate it — isn’t exactly easy when you have a family of five to support.
So how did Allen do just that?
Time for a Career Change
Allen attained a corporate job in the medical devices field immediately after graduating college with a biomedical engineering degree.
Although life changes and geographical moves led her through different jobs, Allen remained in the same unfulfilling office environment and in similar roles — leadership positions that meant part of her job performance was based on the behavior of others.
But while Allen was never in love with her job, it was actually her family that made her realize it was time to quit — in particular, her crazy-entrepreneurial children.
Her older daughter, Olivia, is an actress and founded the “I Can Be” Girls’ Confidence Conference. Her younger daughter, Alexandra, is an award-winning sprinter; she was the sixth fastest 8-year-old in the nation in 2015.
When Olivia got her first big audition in L.A — necessitating a lengthy plane ride from the family’s home in Louisville — Allen realized she couldn’t be tied to a traditional 9-to-5 job and still be able to fully support her daughters’ passions.
“It was their giftedness that caused me to do what I’m doing entrepreneurially,” said Allen, “and the desire to be present in their lives.”
Hatching a Plan
Allen knew she had to rebuild her career to be more flexible and fulfilling, but she didn’t know how.
“I always wanted to just be a good wife and a good mom,” she said. And she knew she wanted to work for herself. But how to translate that into a career was less straightforward.
Then, Allen started writing about her journey.
“This was before I really knew what blogging was,” she said. Her first platform? Facebook’s Notes app.
Eventually, she found a coach in a Facebook group who offered a course on content marketing.
“I knew what I wanted to say and how I wanted to say it, I just didn’t know how to reach the people I wanted to reach,” Allen mentioned. The coach she found was able to help her change that.
Since then, Allen’s business has grown beautifully — she makes money as a speaker, blogger, coach and author.
She also spends a significant portion of her working time managing her children’s entrepreneurial pursuits. “Both of [the girls’] managers say I work for them,” Allen laughed.
But it took Allen and her husband two years to get their finances in order to accommodate such a massive lifestyle shift.
Here’s what they did — and what you can do, if you’re trying to get your freelance business off the ground.
1. She Figured Out Where Her Money Was
While Allen was still employed in the corporate world, she took a course centered around Dave Ramsey’s “Baby Steps” concept, and began complete them one by one.
“It’s about knowing where all of your money is, and then telling your money where to go — instead of finding out where it’s going after the fact,” Allen said.
Only once the family had an idea of what their finances looked like were they ready to allocate those funds appropriately.
2. She Assessed Her Assets
The couple’s first priority was to get out of debt. (Hint: this should be your first priority, too.)
The family took a well-calculated risk by liquidating $16,000 of their 401(k) plans to achieve this goal — as well as to seed Allen’s business and allow for more cash flow while she got started.
If you’re in debt, you might look into (mindfully!) liquidating some of your assets, too. Sometimes, it’s worth letting go of some savings to avoid the endless cycle of paying down high-interest loans.
3. She Cut Her Grocery Bill in Half
The biggest part of the family’s shift revolved around groceries, Allen said.
And that’s no surprise: Groceries are one of the most widely variable budget line items.
But how’d they do it?
To get started, the couple set a very specific — and strict — grocery budget: $200 per week had to support all the needs of Allen, her husband and her three children. That includes paper goods and toiletries — and any restaurant meals the family might indulge in.
To ensure they stuck to their guns, they went the old-fashioned route and employed the envelope system. Only the $200 cash inside that envelope could be used on food each week. Period.
And while Allen says she “used to coupon really heavily” — which meant about 1.5 hours of planning on Sundays — the majority of the savings had more to do with where they were shopping.
“I shop at discount chain stores like Value Market and Save-a-Lot,” she said. You might try Aldi, too.
“I shop by what’s on sale for that week, and plan my meals around what’s in the circular,” she mentioned. The family goes shopping every week, once per week.
And when they splurge on salmon or T-bone steaks, that means some other day of the week, it’s beans and rice out of the slow cooker or cereal for dinner.
4. She Found Free Services
Instead of continuing to pay the $60-$70 per week she was paying for after-school care, Allen found a free daycare program near her daughter’s school. It’s even on the school bus route.
Even better? Finding it wasn’t that hard.
“I just Googled around for what was close to her school,” Allen said.
You can apply the same principle to other paid services you may be taking advantage of, and even some goods.
The Penny Hoarder’s founder Kyle Taylor supplied his college friends with free beer he earned by taking jobs auditing liquor stores. And before you pay for another trip to the movies, date night or glass of wine, think again.
Always be on the lookout to see what you’re paying for that you can trade for a free version — that’s Penny Hoarding at its best!
5. She Repurposed Her Career
Although Allen did invest in a coaching certification and marketing courses, much of the knowledge she’s used to build her business was repurposed from her ex-career.
“Most of my content was developed from what I learned in corporate America,” Allen said. She remodeled concepts around leadership and relationships to apply to marriage and family life in outside-the-box ways.
In so doing — and by choosing a low-overhead freelancing business like blogging and lifestyle coaching — she was able to avoid many of the startup costs associated with a budding business.
Ready to Quit Your Job?
By carefully examining her finances and cutting back, Allen was not only able to quit her job and segue into solopreneurship, but the family also purchased a new home and started paying tuition at a new private school for her daughter.
Although she doesn’t make what she did in the corporate world (yet!), her new position allows her the freedom to play “momager” and travel the world, which she says is totally worth it.
“This year alone, we will travel to New York City, Michigan, Houston, Orlando, Baltimore and Indianapolis for engagements and opportunities in my business as well as my daughters’. Most of those trips are fully funded,” Allen noted.
If you can figure out how to prioritize your own finances and build a business you care about — and that helps other people — you, too, can actualize your dreams and work from home.
Nobody said it would be easy… but the most worthwhile things in life never are.
Your Turn: Why do you want to work from home? To spend more time with your family, travel more or just to avoid donning pants? Let us know in the comments.
Jamie Cattanach (@jamiecattanach) is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She also writes other stuff, like wine reviews and poems.
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How SEO Has Changed with the Possum Update
Google is totally unpredictable.
SEO practitioners know full well that things can change in an instant, and search engine dominance today means nothing tomorrow.
Or as Babe Ruth put it,
Yesterday’s home runs don’t win today’s games.
One of the more significant updates Google made in 2016 was Possum.
In fact, it’s arguably the biggest change Google has made to local SEO since the Pigeon update back in 2014.
As you might imagine, it’s shaken things up quite a bit and has switched up the SEO landscape considerably.
I’d like to dive into this topic and explain how it may have impacted your local rankings as well as what you need to know moving forward.
Why is it called Possum?
The first thing you’re probably wondering about is why exactly the SEO community called it Possum. Google usually names their updates after animals, but a possum isn’t as cute as a penguin or as awe-inspiring as a panda. Possum? Really?
Well, the term was coined by Phil Rozek.
According to Search Engine Land, “Rozek suggested the name, pointing out that it is fitting since many business owners think their Google My Business listings are gone, when in fact they are not. They have just been filtered—they’re playing possum.”
Okay, so the possum name is supposed to make you think of something playing dead when really, it’s not dead.
The details
It all went down on September 1, 2016.
Although it was never actually confirmed by Google, it was clear that a major change had occurred that specifically impacted the 3-pack and Local Finder, which you probably know better as the local results or Google Map results.
Here’s a screenshot from Moz’s Google Algorithm Change History:
All of a sudden, many of the websites that had ranked so well for so long had lost traction and saw a dip in their rankings.
However, other sites that once had difficulty ranking saw a noticeable spike in their rankings.
To get a better idea of the implications, it’s helpful to take a look at some data from an article published on Search Engine Land.
In an attempt to determine precisely how big of an impact Possum had on local search, Search Engine Land reached out to Bright Local to conduct a study.
In this study, Bright Local “took a look at the ranking trackers for 1,307 different businesses, which were tracking 14,242 keywords. Then they compared the difference between September 7 and August 31 (the date before Possum).”
Here’s what they found:
- 9% of the keywords had the business pop into the Local Finder when they weren’t there previously.
- 11% of the keywords showed the business had increased in position by three or more positions.
- 15% of the keywords showed the business had increased in position by one to two positions.
- 35% of the keywords showed no change in position for the business.
- 15% of the keywords showed the business had decreased by one to two positions.
- 14% of the keywords showed the business had decreased by more than three positions.
Here’s a graph to illustrate how this all breaks down:
The bottom line is that “64% of keywords saw some type of change.”
This is obviously significant, and it’s easy to see why so many people freaked out over Possum, especially those whose rankings were adversely affected.
What does this mean for local SEO?
Perhaps the most noticeable change was that businesses that aren’t located directly within the city limits now have a much better chance of ranking well.
Here’s an example:
- Say there’s an Italian restaurant located in Hialeah, Florida. It’s very close to Miami but not located within the city limits.
- Prior to Possum, that restaurant would have had difficulty ranking for keywords such as “Italian restaurant Miami” or “Miami Italian restaurant.”
- But now, after Possum, that restaurant has a chance to rank for those keywords.
And this makes sense when you think about it.
Why should businesses very close to the city suffer just because they’re not exactly within the city limits?
Odds are, many of those businesses would be just as relevant to the searchers as others located directly within a city.
This recent update basically levels the playing field between businesses located right within a city and businesses located in the suburbs and other surrounding areas.
As long as a business is within a close proximity to a city, it has the chance to rank when that city’s name is used in a search query.
In my opinion, this is a logical move that will be beneficial in the long run. This spreads the wealth and ensures that search engine users find exactly what they’re looking for.
IP address is a bigger factor
In the past, what popped up in search results was primarily based on the entered keywords.
But with Possum, Google will now take a search engine user’s IP address into account when generating search results.
This is Google’s way of ensuring users get the most accurate results when performing a search.
The main reason for this change is the massive volume of people using mobile devices.
Google is continually looking for new ways to accommodate mobile search users.
Because people are often on the go, this ensures they’re always getting the best results based on their current location.
This is something you’ll want to keep in mind and use to guide your local SEO approach.
I think that Inc.com offers a smart suggestion:
“Your QA team should test your work as a user within the region of the business and not simply test it by Googling the business name and location.”
Doing so should definitely give you an edge over competitors still basing their strategy primarily on keywords (an outdated strategy as this point).
There’s more variance in search results based on keyword selection
Before the Possum update, users could enter similar keyword phrases and get virtually the same results.
For instance, entering “Italian restaurant Miami,” “Miami Italian restaurant,” or “Italian restaurant Miami FL” would generate pretty similar results.
But that’s no longer the case.
In fact, there could be a considerable variance depending upon the specific keywords a user enters.
Let’s look at an example.
Here are the results I got when I used “Italian restaurant Miami” as a keyword phrase:
And here’s what happened when I used “Italian restaurant Miami FL” as a keyword:
Notice by simply adding “FL” at the end, I got completely different results. Pretty interesting.
This just goes to show that Google is “spreading the wealth,” and even a small keyword nuance can produce entirely different results.
Why did it happen?
Because Google has been quite secretive about this update, it’s hard to say what their logic was.
We’re definitely not getting anything out of Matt Cutts for the time being.
But with a little deductive reasoning, I came up with four probable reasons:
- It’s likely a way to switch up the local search results and prevent only a handful of businesses from dominating.
- It’s yet another step in Google’s unending mission to destroy spam. By implementing this algorithm update, they made it more difficult for black hat SEOs to game the system.
- It’s another way to ensure that search engine results take user intent into account.
- It should enhance the mobile experience even further.
At least, that’s my take on things.
A final note
Unlike most other major updates, Possum only affected local search results.
That’s why I think it hasn’t received the same level of attention of past updates such as Penguin, Panda, Hummingbird, and so on.
If you’re trying to reach a nationwide or even global audience, the Possum update shouldn’t affect you all that much. It’s just business as usual.
But if you’re a mom-and-pop, brick-and-mortar type of business with a much more finite demographic in a specific region, it can have a tremendous impact on your approach to SEO.
In this case, you may need to restructure many elements of your local SEO campaign.
Conclusion
Google is always reinventing itself.
That’s been a major contributor to its success and longevity.
Possum is just one of many updates that influences the way SEO practitioners approach things, and I would imagine this particular update has received a mixed reaction.
It probably didn’t go over so well with many businesses located within city limits because their rankings took a collective blow.
However, it has leveled the playing field for those that aren’t within city limits but are located within a close proximity.
I’m sure these businesses are quite happy about the updates.
When it comes to search engine users, I think Possum should improve their experience.
I know I want to have the most accurate results possible when I’m searching for a business wherever I happen to be. Considering I’m a heavy mobile user, this should be beneficial to me.
And there’s one last thing I’d like to point out.
Since Google never formally “fessed up” to this update, it’s likely incomplete.
After doing a substantial amount of research on the subject, I get the idea that there are still more changes to be unrolled.
We’ll see what happens in 2017.
Have you noticed any major changes to your local search results since the implementation of Possum?
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Dow Jones Industrials Breach 20,000 for First Time in History
Dow Jones Industrials Breach 20,000 for First Time in History
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Buying Foods Based on Cost Per Calorie
Recently, I came across this infographic that listed a bunch of different foods, separated by category (fruit; vegetables; fats, nuts, and seeds; fish, poultry, and eggs; whole grains; beans and tofu; red meat; and dairy) and sorted within those categories by the cost per cup or cost per 100 calories, depending on the item. (The truly low-calorie items, which were the vegetables and fruits, were listed by cost per cup, while the other more calorie-dense items were listed by cost per calorie.)
Below, I’m going to list out the top ten finishers in each area.
Fruit: Watermelon ($0.17 per cup), bananas ($0.21 per cup), apples ($0.28 per cup), oranges ($0.34 per cup), pears ($0.42 per cup), honeydew melons ($0.45 per cup), plums ($0.48 per cup), nectarines ($0.49. per cup), mangoes ($0.52 per cup), and grapes ($0.62 per cup)
Vegetables: Potatoes ($0.19 per cup), carrots ($0.25 per cup), iceberg lettuce ($0.26 per cup), cabbage ($0.27 per cup), onions ($0.28 per cup), romaine lettuce ($0.40 per cup), radishes ($0.41 per cup), sweet potatoes ($0.43 per cup), spinach ($0.52 per cup), and collard greens ($0.57 per cup)
Fats, Nuts, and Seeds: Canola oil ($0.02 per 100 calories), corn oil ($0.03 per 100 calories), sunflower oil ($0.03 per 100 calories), shortening ($0.04 per 100 calories), peanut oil ($0.04 per 100 calories), olive oil ($0.05 per 100 calories), peanut butter ($0.05 per 100 calories), coconut oil ($0.07 per 100 calories), safflower oil ($0.07 per 100 calories), and peanuts ($0.08 per 100 calories)
Fish, Poultry, and Eggs: Eggs ($0.19 per 100 calories), chicken breast ($0.54 per 100 calories), tuna ($0.58 per 100 calories), trout ($0.59 per 100 calories), farmed salmon ($0.65 per 100 calories), turkey breast ($0.86 per 100 calories), tilapia ($1.04 per 100 calories), wild salmon ($1.32 per 100 calories), shrimp ($1.67 per 100 calories), and halibut ($2.97 per 100 calories)
Whole Grains: Oatmeal ($0.09 per 100 calories), steel cut oats ($0.12 per 100 calories), brown rice ($0.14 per 100 calories), quinoa ($0.16 per 100 calories), wheat bread ($0.18 per 100 calories), and bulgur wheat ($0.41 per 100 calories)
Beans and Tofu: Pinto beans ($0.05 per 100 calories), great northern beans ($0.05 per 100 calories), lentils ($0.07 per 100 calories), navy beans ($0.07 per 100 calories), black beans ($0.07 per 100 calories), kidney beans ($0.09 per 100 calories), and tofu ($0.59 per 100 calories)
Red Meat: Bacon ($0.18 per 100 calories), Italian sausage ($0.35 per 100 calories), pepperoni ($0.36 per 100 calories), beef brisket ($0.37 per 100 calories), ground beef 90/10 ($0.39 per 100 calories), salami ($0.43 per 100 calories), pork loin ($0.54 per 100 calories), lamb chops ($0.75 per 100 calories), bison ($0.84 per 100 calories), and sirloin steak ($1.00 per 100 calories)
Dairy: Whole milk ($0.11 per 100 calories), 2% milk ($0.13 per 100 calories), cheddar cheese ($0.15 per 100 calories), cream cheese ($0.19 per 100 calories), mozzarella cheese ($0.21 per 100 calories), Parmesan cheese ($0.29 per 100 calories), yogurt ($0.37 per 100 calories), cottage cheese ($0.50 per 100 calories), Greek yogurt ($0.61 per 100 calories), and feta cheese ($0.61 per 100 calories)
That’s a lot of data! How can you use it effectively?
Let’s start with a few principles. Ideally, a balanced diet will draw from all of these categories, perhaps a bit more heavily from the fruits and vegetables and maybe the beans and whole grains categories, too, with a lesser amount coming from the other groups. You want to mix things up to get a balanced diet. Similarly, you’re going to want to mix things up within categories to ensure a varied diet, both for your nutrients and for your palate. Of course, at the same time, you want to spend less at the grocery store.
What you can do is use this information along with the grocery store flyer to plan your meals for the week. Ideally, what you’ll try to do is focus on meals that are easy to prepare that are made up mostly of ingredients that are on those lists and also ingredients that are on sale.
Let’s say we’re planning breakfasts for the week, for example. One thing you might notice from this list is that oatmeal is pretty cheap – it’s $0.09 per 100 calories for rolled oats and $0.12 for steel cut oats. That’s cheap. You’ll also notice that bananas ($0.21 per cup), apples ($0.28 per cup), and pears ($0.42 per cup) are all also pretty cheap and all work really well as an additive to oatmeal.
So, for a couple days a week (at least), have a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast with a different fruit chopped up in it. You might also vary things by using whatever fruit is on sale that would go well in oatmeal (like peaches, for instance). You can have a cup of cooked steel cut oats with half a cup of chopped bananas in it for a roughly 325 calorie breakfast with a total cost of $0.34.
You might also notice that eggs are cheap, at $0.19 per 100 calories. That’s a good food to have semi-regularly for breakfast. Bacon is similar, at $0.18 per 100 calories, and that makes for a reasonable occasional breakfast food, too. Two strips of bacon and two eggs is roughly 300 calories (depending on how you cook them) and the total cost is going to be about $0.55, for instance.
What about lunch? You could have a small grilled chicken breast (250 calories, or about $1.25) and whatever vegetables you like along with it, adding about another quarter, or turn it into a sandwich with wheat bread for another quarter. Put a slice of cheese on it for about another fifteen cents.
Or, you could have a tuna salad by tossing a can of tuna (about $0.50) with a bit of olive oil (about $0.05) and a few seasonings (a penny or two) and mix it with a cup of spinach (about $0.50) or iceberg lettuce (about $0.25). You’re talking lunch for under a buck.
For a snack, eat some peanuts or some fruit (like an orange) or have a piece of bread with some peanut butter on it. All of those are at most a quarter or two.
Dinner offers you lots of options. Have a salmon fillet ($2 for a 300 calorie filet) or a turkey breast ($2 for a 300 calorie piece of turkey breast) with some veggies on the side ($0.25 a cup or so, depending on what you choose). Make a soup with some ground beef in it (maybe $2-3 across a large pot of soup) and use lots of beans ($0.05 to $0.09 per 100 calories of beans, which means you can eat a LOT of beans) and save the leftovers. Make yourself a black bean burrito with a tortilla (maybe $0.25), lettuce (probably $0.10 for the amount you’d put on a huge burrito), onion ($0.05 for the amount you’d want on a big burrito), a bit of cheese (maybe $0.10), and a ton of beans (again, a few cents). Those are all dinner options for just a dollar or two, made up of stuff from the lists above, and there are many, many more options and combinations.
The thing is, all of these examples come from just options on those lists. If you use your grocery store flyer and also include sale items where the prices on other items come down into this range, you add a lot of week-to-week variety here without adding much cost.
These principles enable us to feed our entire family of five breakfast for about $2, lunch for about $3-4, and dinner for about $5 if we’re careful. That’s a monthly food budget of about $300 for a family of five.
Now, naturally, we do buy a lot of items not listed above and incorporate those into our diet, but we use the ingredients above as a default and use them as the basis for a lot of our meals. Oatmeal with fruit in it is a very common breakfast, as are eggs and a piece of whole wheat toast. We have very simple lunches all the time. We eat a lot of dishes with beans in them, including as side dishes in tons of meals.
The vast majority of meals consumed by our family come in at well below $1 per person. That means that, even when we splurge sometimes for meals, we still don’t have a large food bill. (Even better, the splurges are meaningful and memorable; if you have a treat every day, it isn’t special any more and it ceases to be a treat.)
My challenge to you for reducing your food costs isn’t to make every meal cheap, but to make your ordinary meals cheap by sticking to ingredients from these lists and from your grocery store flyer. Make most of your meals using these cheap ingredients and your food expenses will be very cheap on the whole. That way, when you do splurge on other foods, you’ll still keep your overall food costs low for the month.
By all means, enjoy a steak with your wife on a Saturday evening or go out for dinner with the family on Sunday or have a date night every once in a while. For the rest of your meals, though, keep them cheap and simple. Not only will you be healthier, your wallet will be, too.
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How to Write a Business Plan Step by Step
By Dawn Berryman Now that you’ve decided to take the plunge into business ownership, you need to organize your thoughts and put your business plan down on paper. Sometimes novice business owners think that the business plan is something that can be skipped. It shouldn’t be. There are many benefits to your business and to […]
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How a Money Jar Helped Me Save $400 Without Even Trying
Hi, my name is Kaitlyn, and I’m an impulse shopper.
I continuously fall victim to deals and coupons. I’d like to pretend a sale would never tempt me to buy yet another pair of sunglasses I don’t need, but the truth is, my impressive collection would put Kim Kardashian-West to shame.
But here’s the thing: I’m not a Kardashian and I don’t have money to blow. I’m a recent college graduate with a waitressing job, plenty of bills and a looming mountain of student loan debt.
Living paycheck-to-paycheck and having an empty savings account was my norm…. until this past year, when I managed to save more than $400 almost accidentally.
How I Saved $400 Without Even Thinking About It
As most people know, working as a server means a good deal of your income comes from tips.
But while many servers earn a little over $2 an hour and the majority of their income is in individual tips, my work starts servers at minimum wage, and we pool our tips and divide them based on the number of hours we worked.
This in-between type of pay means that about 50% of my income comes from hourly wages deposited directly into my bank account, and the rest is in cash I take home each day.
Having to constantly go to the bank to deposit cash is downright inconvenient; my busy work schedule just doesn’t allow it. Plus, I’ve been known to be pretty lazy on my days off…
This inspired a solution so simple, it’s almost comical: I put a jar on my kitchen counter, and threw my cash in it at the end of each day.
I know, a money jar. It sounds cheesy and cliche, but stay with me.
After a few weeks, I started to notice my money jar was looking a little full. I decided to count how much I had squirrelled away, not thinking too much of it. To my surprise, it was more than $400. Four hundred dollars, y’all!
At first, I was confused. How did I have a spare $400 just lying around? I had never been able to save so much before.
After some reflection, I realized: Without that cash in my bank account, I thought I had less money than I really did.
Every time I opened an email about 30% off sports bras or buy-one, get-one-free tank tops, I would check my bank statement and think “No way, I don’t have the money for that right now,” and call it a day.
I had found a way to cut back on impulse shopping without even trying! And managed to save $400 to boot.
So I wondered: If I could save $400 without even meaning to, how much could I save if I actually tried?
Using My Money Jar to Save Even More
I decided to continue this “laissez faire” method of saving money. I kept throwing my tips in the jar at the end of the day, and didn’t obsess over how much I added each time.
I also didn’t stress if I had to remove any cash from the jar. If I needed a little extra money for my cell phone bill, or had to cough up a couple hundred for my dog’s yearly vet visit, I would take only what I needed.
Not knowing the total amount of cash in the money jar helped alleviate some of the anxiety of removing money. I saved what I saved, and spent only what I needed to.
Months went by, the amount in the jar kept growing, and I had to upgrade to a bigger jar to hold it all. After a while, my boyfriend started pestering me to take it to the bank, saying it didn’t make sense to have that much cash just lying around.
I knew he was right, but I was nervous about emptying my money jar. This method of keeping my own money from myself had worked out so well, and I was worried that the moment I saw my new bank balance, I would morph back into the impulse shopper I knew lurked inside me.
Eventually I took the plunge and deposited it into my savings account, rather than my checking account, so I wouldn’t be as tempted by the available money.
I started off this unintentional project as the type of person who was accustomed to having an empty savings account, and by the end, I had managed to save $1,200 in roughly eight months.
What I Learned From a Money Jar
Seeing how much money I had saved was inspiring. I finally realized I was capable of saving money, and I didn’t need to keep spending my hard-earned cash on unnecessary items.
The accomplishment helped me swap online sales for experiences and plans for my future.
For the first time in my life, I had the money to attend a College Football National Championship, which I never thought I would be able to do. And even after treating myself to that experience of a lifetime, I still have the majority of my savings left over, and they are in the process of growing again.
Plus, now that I know what I’m capable of, paying off my student loans doesn’t seem entirely impossible.
But let’s be honest, I’m still going to treat myself to a new pair of sunglasses every once in a while. After all, I’ll always love a good deal and pretty things, and I can’t let Kim K’s collection outdo mine.
Your Turn: Have you ever seen great results from a simple saving strategy?
Kaitlyn Blount is a recent college grad composed of 90% caffeine, 5% Southern accent, and 5% sarcasm. She’s rarely seen in the same pair of sunglasses twice.
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Airport Lounge Access Is Sweet, Sweet Luxury – But Can It Save You Money, Too?
The fact that we can fly to the other side of the world never ceases to amaze me. After enduring an initial trip to the airport, you can check your bags, board your aircraft, and be on your way. And if you’re lucky, you might even sleep through the entire flight – falling asleep in one land and waking up in another world.
While this all sounds great, there’s more to flying than pure joy and adventure. For all its conveniences, air travel is also a huge pain.
Arrival at the airport usually leads to a flurry of queuing – first to check your bags and check in, then through security. If you’re lucky enough, you’ll get to your gate in a decent time. But then, it’s cramped seating, constant announcements over the intercom, and gross airport food until you queue (once again) to board your plane. And once you land in your destination, it’s usually more queuing and even more hassle.
Escaping the Stress of Travel with Airport Lounge Access
Enter the airport lounge: a type of travel oasis tucked away in the corners of airports across the world. While airport lounge access can’t save you from long lines or the hassle of flying, they do provide a welcome respite from the business and stress of airport travel.
Sounds amazing, huh? Unfortunately, airport lounge access isn’t free. One of the most popular lounge programs, Priority Pass, offers access to 1,000 airport lounges across the world and starts at $99 for an annual membership. On top of that, members pay $27 per visit for themselves and guests. A Standard Plus membership costs $249 per year, yet comes with 10 free lounge visits and $27 guest visits. A Prestige membership costs a staggering $399 per year, but includes unlimited visits. Also note that most airport lounges offer one-time day passes for $30 to $50 per person.
After spending hours, days, or even weeks stalking travel booking websites to save $100 on your flights, the notion of giving back all those savings probably doesn’t sound too appealing.
But while lounge membership certainly comes off as expensive, some travel credit cards offer airport lounge access as a cardholder perk – making your quiet airport escape close to free. Plus, lounge access comes a lot more than just a place to escape. On top of peace and quiet, lounge access also comes with:
- Complimentary snacks and appetizers
- Free drinks, including certain types of alcohol
- Newspapers and magazines
- Free Wi-Fi
- Shower facilities
Some airport lounges are better than others. For example, Centurion Lounges, which you can access if you have The Platinum Card® from American Express or The Enhanced Business Platinum® Card from American Express OPEN, are known for offering appetizers and full buffets of food, along with premium drinks and plenty of extra snacks. The Centurion Lounge in Miami even offers guests 15-minute massages and manicures as part of the experience, provided you have enough airport time to make, and wait for, an appointment.
Could Airport Lounge Access Actually Save You Money?
With so many benefits, you might be wondering if lounge access is a good or bad deal, or if (gasp) it might even save you money. As someone who makes use of airport lounges frequently, I would say it really depends. But for my family, lounge access has been a lifesaver – both when we’ve traveled as a couple and with our young kids.
Last year, for example, my husband and I got stuck at the Miami airport for nine hours starting at 9:00 a.m. Since we have American Express credit cards, we headed straight to the Centurion Lounge for the day. Once we arrived, we ate breakfast, completed some work with the free Wi-Fi, then stuck around for lunch. And since our plane wasn’t scheduled to leave until around 6:00 p.m., we also had dinner in the Centurion Lounge.
Not only did we save anywhere from $60 to $100 by not having to pay for airport food all day, but we saved our sanity, too. Sitting at the gate for nine hours would have easily made me crazy!
Another time, we endured a few long days of traveling with our kids. Since we got the Chicago airport early, we had a few hours to kill at the lounge there. That meant plenty of snacks and drinks for all of us before we boarded our plane. During a three-hour layover, we had lunch and snacks again. And when our plane was delayed a few hours, we wound up turning the airport lounge snacks into dinner. If you have purchased food at an airport before, you know buying lunch and dinner for four could have easily cost us $100.
But, it’s not just families who can benefit from airport lounge access. Frequent travelers who spend a lot of time in airports are more likely to benefit from airport lounge access based on visit frequency alone. If you travel at least a week every month and experience long layovers, for example, having a place to shower and eat a free meal with drinks can easily lead to savings over time.
Should You Ever Pay for Airport Lounge Access?
If you don’t travel very often and don’t have any rewards credit cards, it might be difficult to get much “bang for your buck” from airport lounge access. With the Standard Priority Pass membership, you’ll pay $99 per year and $27 per visit. Unless you’re going to spend hours in the lounge and drink your weight in alcohol, it’s doubtful you’ll come out ahead.
If you travel all the time, on the other hand, paying $399 for unlimited visits could absolutely be worth it. If you visit a lounge and eat a meal five times per month saving $20 every time, it would only take 20 airport visits over four months to come out ahead.
In my opinion though, the best way to get airport lounge access as a frequent traveler is to sign up for a travel credit card that offers it. The new Chase Sapphire Reserve card, for example, offers access to more than 900 airport lounges worldwide with complimentary Priority Pass™ Select membership. And obviously, the card itself offers plenty more travel benefits that can be immensely helpful, including trip cancellation/interruption insurance, primary auto rental coverage, and of course, Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
As mentioned above, the The Platinum Card® from American Express and The Enhanced Business Platinum® Card from American Express OPEN both offer Centurion Lounge access and the Global Airport Lounge Access Program, which includes access to over 1,000 airports around the world.
Plenty of other cards come with their own airport lounge access program, including the Citi Prestige® (at least for now), Ritz Carlton Rewards Card, and Citi Executive® / AAdvantage® World Elite™ MasterCard®. Before you sign up for any of these cards, make sure you understand their benefits, how you might access them, and whether any annual fees are involved.
The Bottom Line
If you travel often enough to take advantage, airport lounge access can improve your travel experience and save your sanity. And, who knows – it might even save you some money in the process. As always, it makes sense to run the numbers before you purchase a membership or sign up for a rewards card that offers this perk. How often you can use this benefit will make a huge difference in how much value you’ll get out of a membership.
Airport lounge access may make air travel easier to stomach, but it only helps when it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.
Holly Johnson is an award-winning personal finance writer and the author of Zero Down Your Debt. Johnson shares her obsession with frugality, budgeting, and travel at ClubThrifty.com.
Related Articles:
- Eight Hidden Benefits of Credit Cards
- Best Travel Credit Cards of 2017
- 10 Hidden Costs That Can Derail Your Budget Travel Plans
Have you ever visited an airport lounge? Do you think lounge access saves you money?
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Rental round-up: Demand for London cools
For the fifth month running, private rental prices paid by tenants in Great Britain (excluding London) rose by 2.3% in the 12 months to December 2016, according to latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) data.
This means that a property that was rented for £500 a month in December 2015 cost tenants £511.50 in December 2016.
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'Angry' savers struggle to set aside cash
Almost a third of UK savers do not have enough in their account to cover three months’ salary, with people describing themselves as ‘angry’ at the current situation.
The lack of cash in the bank puts British savers behind their counterparts across Europe, according to research by banking group ING.
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