الثلاثاء، 28 مارس 2017
Church group plans to convert Pocono Dome
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Tony's Restaurant, on Eburg's Crystal St. since 1968, sold
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Outwit, Outplay, Outlast: “Survivor” Announced Its Latest Casting Calls
As a child, I had an 8 p.m. bedtime.
Except on Thursdays. That’s when “Survivor” aired, and I was allowed to stay up late — until 9 p.m.
That was something like 16 or 17 years ago, but the reality competition TV show is still going strong (except now on Wednesdays). In fact, it’s one of the longest running reality shows out there.
You could even say it’s outwitting, outlasting and outplaying the ratings.
And it looks like it’s sticking around at least for another season or two. “Survivor” is holding free auditions in Florida and Southern California — and virtually — for upcoming seasons.
Cue the wordless, yet motivational, theme song.
How to Try Out For “Survivor” and Snag a Shot at $1 Million
Can you see yourself doing this?
This?
Or, if you’re graceful like me, something like this?
Or maybe you’re just a super-fan and want to see what being stuck on an island with a bunch of weirdos is really like…
Either way, if you snag a spot on “Survivor,” you’re in the running to win $1 million in prize money.
Granted, there are a lot of other considerations — like leaving your job and your family for a while — but if you’re willing to play, you might get paid.
Two big auditions are coming up this year:
1. Florida Open Casting Call
When? April 9 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Where? Victory Casino Cruises in Cape Canaveral, Florida
2. Southern California Open Casting Call
When? Sept. 8 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Where? Mathis Brothers in Ontario, California
All you need to bring a valid driver’s license. Find all the information at AuditionsFree.com.
If you can’t make it to one of these, online auditions are also being accepted. Just fill out your basic information, write a 70-word bio and upload a photo and three-minute video.
Good luck! And hopefully you’ll never hear the words “the tribe has spoken” directed at you out of Jeff Probst’s mouth.
Your Turn: Do you think you have what it takes to outwit, outplay and outlast for $1 million?
Carson Kohler (@CarsonKohler) is a junior writer at The Penny Hoarder. She’d suck as a Survivor contestant because not being able to shave her legs would drive her insane.
The post Outwit, Outplay, Outlast: “Survivor” Announced Its Latest Casting Calls appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
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CLOSING BELL: Consumer confidence gain sends stocks up
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Do You Refuse to Shop if There Isn’t a Sale? You’re Not Alone
We all like a deal, right? We’re always looking for a sale. And some of us are pretty stubborn about it.
Here’s proof: Nearly half of American women won’t even enter a retail store unless there’s a decent sale.
That’s right. They won’t even walk into the store, thank you very much. They’ll just keep on walking.
This illuminating statistic comes to us courtesy of Footwear News and originates from a report by First Insight, an analytics firm focused on consumer data. The firm surveyed more than 1,300 people for a report titled “Markdown Mania: Consumer Perspectives on Retail Discounting Strategies.”
Here’s what we learned from the report:
- An eye-opening 45% of women won’t enter a store if there isn’t an advertised discount of 41% or more.
- The average shopper is willing to pay only 75% of full price for womenswear.
- Nearly 40% of shoppers will go to another store to find a cheaper price.
- Two-thirds of women would rather shop online, and 60% expect to find the biggest discounts there.
“Consider all of the real and made-up occasions retailers plan sales around: One-day sales, anniversaries, Singles Day, Black Friday, Veterans Day, Cyber Monday, Columbus Day, Back to School,” the report said. “With these constant sales in mind, why would consumers ever want to pay full price when another sale is right around the corner?”
That’s pretty tough news for brick-and-mortar retailers.
Big department stores like Sears, Macy’s, Kmart and J.C. Penney have been closing dozens of locations. So have mall chains like Aeropostale, American Eagle, Chicos, Finish Line, Men’s Wearhouse and The Children’s Place.
Here’s what else we learned: You’re far from alone in your search for deals, Penny Hoarder.
Your Turn: Will you go into a store if it’s not having a sale?
Mike Brassfield (mike@thepennyhoarder.com) is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder. He buys everything on sale.
The post Do You Refuse to Shop if There Isn’t a Sale? You’re Not Alone appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
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Why Renters Now Outnumber Owners in 52 of the 100 Largest U.S. Cities
Sometimes it seems like all your friends are better at this adulting thing than you could ever hope to be.
Just scroll through your newsfeed. It seems like every other day someone you know from college is announcing a new baby, spouse or house on Facebook, and you’re still in your rented studio apartment swiping left on Tinder for eternity.
Well, this new report from Bloomberg News might not help you snag a husband or wife, but it does suggest that you’re not as far behind the curve as Facebook would have you believe — at least by one benchmark.
The report shows that in many of the nation’s largest cities, more people are opting to rent rather than buy their homes. In fact, renters now outnumber homeowners in 52 of America’s 100 most populated cities.
The decline in homeownership is especially apparent in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Detroit, where renters became the majority in 2015. In Detroit, the year marked the lowest homeownership percentage in more than five decades, with just 49% of households owning their residences.
The U.S. housing crisis likely played a major role in the decline of ownership. Some cities have long been home to mostly renters, but in Detroit and 20 other cities, including New Orleans, Denver and Atlanta, renters have only become a majority since 2009.
Renting: A Choice or a Necessity?
There’s nothing wrong with renting by choice. Unfortunately, that’s not why most families choose rent over a mortgage.
A lack of affordable housing — both in the rental and buying markets — make it tough for low-income and middle-class families to purchase homes, Nela Richardson, chief economist for real estate brokerage and database Redfin, told Bloomberg.
Adding to the boom in renters is the rising number of elderly people selling their homes and downsizing, along with millennials who can finally afford to move out of mom and dad’s house but aren’t quite ready for a mortgage.
Here’s What Cities Can Do for Their Renters
This means renter-to-owner ratios are quickly changing in cities that have long valued homeowners, who often stay longer in one area and are more civically engaged than renters.
But advocacy group Detroit Future City believes it’s time for the the Motor City and others to embrace renters as it did homeowners in the past.
Among its proposals:
- Renovate government-owned properties to improve the quality of low-cost housing.
- Punish absentee landlords who don’t keep their properties well maintained.
- Create new financial options that ease the transition from renting to homeownership.
The Center for Budget Policy & Priorities goes even further, advocating for tax credits for low-income workers, the elderly and people with disabilities to make it easier to find quality housing, whether they are looking to rent or own.
These programs are likely a step in the right direction, as estimates say the number of renters will continue to increase for at least another decade.
Are You Ready to Buck the Trend?
Yes, renting is all the rage right now, but people are still buying homes. If you have never bought but have been saving for your chance, you’re not alone. About 35% of homebuyers last year were leaving their rentals behind for the first time.
Just because you’re a newbie doesn’t mean you have to go into this blindly. Here are a few tips for first-time homebuyers to make sure you get the best deal on your starter house.
Your Turn: Are you still renting? Or do you own your home?
Desiree Stennett is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She opts for renting instead of owning because she appreciates that when something breaks, it’s someone else’s problem.
The post Why Renters Now Outnumber Owners in 52 of the 100 Largest U.S. Cities appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
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Ben & Jerry’s Free Cone Day is April 4! Here’s the Scoop
Phish Food, Cherry Garcia, Chunky Monkey, Half Baked.
To the uninitiated, that might look like a random jumble of words.
To Ben & Jerry’s fans, though, that sentence conjures up some of the best feelings this universe has to offer.
‘Cuz they’re ice cream flavors. Insanely delicious ice cream flavors. (Can you tell I’m a total fangirl?)
And you can try them for FREE on Ben & Jerry’s 38th annual Free Cone Day, which takes place Tuesday, April 4.
Here’s what to do if you want your free ice cream…
How to Get Free Ben & Jerry’s
On April 4, head to the Ben & Jerry’s location nearest you between noon and 8 p.m.
Because this is a popular event — people have been lining up to get their free cones since it started in 1979 — it’s smart to get there early.
Having grown up next to Vermont, where Ben & Jerry’s was founded, I’m a diehard fan.
Not only does the company make amazing ice cream, it’s also driven by strong values and an admirable mission.
In its words, “We make the best possible ice cream in the best possible way.”
So you can bet I’ll be there — though what flavor I’ll get is always a game time decision.
Your Turn: What’s your favorite Ben & Jerry’s flavor?
Susan Shain is always seeking adventure on a budget. Visit her blog at susanshain.com, or say hi on Twitter @susan_shain.
The post Ben & Jerry’s Free Cone Day is April 4! Here’s the Scoop appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
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Foregoing the American Dream Helped One Couple Retire in their 30's
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Home Loans Under Trump
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Browse Through the MoneyTips Free Financial Library
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Lesson Learned: Can Trump Build Consensus on Tax Cuts?
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How to Work-From-Home as a Travel Agent
By Holly Reisem Hanna Do you love to travel? Do you have wanderlust? Are you a master at finding great travel deals? Becoming a work-at-home travel agent might be your ideal work-at-home career path! Working as a travel agent might seem a little outdated in today’s world of Kayak and Airbnb, but in reality, many […]
The post How to Work-From-Home as a Travel Agent appeared first on The Work at Home Woman.
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OPENING BELL: US stock indexes edge higher in early trading; Oil up
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Iran’s 'reciprocal' sanctions include Blooming Grove's Kahr Arms
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UK banks face tougher financial tests
Banks in the UK will be forced to prepare for a global economic downturn, as the Bank of England introduces tougher stress tests.
The central bank carries out these tests each year on the UK’s major banks. It usually assesses whether each bank would be able to cope with a recession in the UK, higher interest rates and a fall in house prices.
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Rents start to slow - with London feeling the pinch
Rents in the UK were fairly static or started to fall during February, according to the main industry polls, with landlords hesitating to raise rents because of fears that tenants won’t find them affordable.
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BT fined £42 million for late installations
BT has been fined £42 million after an Ofcom investigation found failings with its installation arm, Openreach.
This fine comes after Openreach failed to install high-speed lines on time, and then failed to pay full compensation to the other providers. These failings occurred between January 2013 and December 2014.
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Savings update: Isas and taxable accounts rates
Coventry Building Society has raised the rate it pays on its Easy Access Isa 5 to a top 1.05%. It is available online, through its branches and by post or phone and accepts transfers from other providers.
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Is the Innovative Finance Isa a damp squib?
It has been a sluggish start for the innovative finance Isa (IF Isa) until this point. Major peer-to-peer lenders are still waiting for approval from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to introduce the Isa on their platform, and many investors have never even heard of it, according to a new survey.
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Cancelling child benefit costs 50,000 women 'vital' pension rights
The number of mothers who are missing out on vital state pension rights, because they haven’t claimed child benefit, has doubled over the last two years.
As many as 50,000 could now be missing out, according to the latest figures from HMRC. Royal London says that, together, these women could be losing millions of pounds of state pension income.
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New £1 coin launches: purchasing power has shrunk to 32p since launch
The new £1 coin is out today – its first revision since it was introduced in 1983. At 34 years old, the pound coin is a good case study on the power of inflation, which has become more of an issue for consumers in recent months.
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Wealth Is Not a Route to Happiness. What Is?
I recently read a great article by Peter Singer on the general topic of effective altruism entitled The Drowning Child and the Expanding Circle, which was originally published in New Internationalist. In the article, Singer’s primary focus is on personal happiness and whether helping others is aligned with it. The article contained a key quote that really stood out at me:
“We live in a time when many people experience their lives as empty and lacking in fulfillment. The decline of religion and the collapse of communism have left but the ideology of the free market whose only message is: consume, and work hard so you can earn money to consume more. Yet even those who do reasonably well in this race for material goods do not find that they are satisfied with their way of life. We now have good scientific evidence for what philosophers have said throughout the ages: once we have enough to satisfy our basic needs, gaining more wealth does not bring us more happiness.”
The idea that happiness doesn’t increase with income once you have a certain level of income (and, by many measures, it actually declines) is something I’ve talked about before on The Simple Dollar. A few years back, I wrote about a well known research study by Daniel Kahneman that a family income above about $75,000 per year (adjusted for income, of course) does not bring any additional happiness whatsoever and, in many cases, actually results in a slight decrease in happiness.
The reason is easy: once all of your needs are met and many of your desires are met, you’re at a crossroads. You can begin to chase desires that produce smaller and smaller returns in your life at a cost of putting more and more pressure on your career, which ends up at best producing neutral happiness. Or you can seek out other approaches.
This is a crossroads I’ve found in my own life. Sarah and I worked hard to achieve some level of financial security in our life over the past ten years. We paid off our student loans and our mortgage incredibly quickly and we found ourselves at the point I described above. We could meet all of our needs. We could fulfill a lot of our basic wants.
What’s next after that? Let’s dig in.
Finding Happiness in More
One route forward from this point is to keep pushing to fulfill lesser and lesser wants. We could own things like a constant cycle of new cars and new gadgets. We could go on spectacular trips. We could enjoy a ton of great meals at restaurants. It sounds good, right?
Often, these wants were incredibly expensive and, yes, sometimes we fell into those traps. We would prioritize a really expensive vacation, for example, over a low cost one. We went to Disney World instead of going to a national park. We looked at expensive household items. We spent more on our hobbies, buying things that were very much in the realm of “more and better versions of stuff we already have.”
We realized pretty quickly that in general these things might bring short bursts of joy, but they didn’t really bring anything that was long lasting. Sure, we have memories of our Disney World vacation, but we also have great memories of our summer vacation spent camping in Door County or at Gooseberry Falls, too. Sure, we have a lot of neat things for our hobbies, but I still spend a lot of my actual hobby time reading books from the library or playing some of our favorite board games that we’ve owned for many years or making some sort of complex recipe using tools we’ve had since we were first married.
This isn’t to say that all such expenses aren’t worth it, but we’ll get back to that in a minute.
Finding Happiness in Less
The other route was to simply preserve what we have and push ourselves toward ever more personal freedom within that space. In other words, we started working for financial independence and early retirement. Our goal wasn’t to keep pushing up our relative lifestyle, but to stick at our current lifestyle and instead stock our retirement savings so heavy that we could walk away from our work much earlier than we might have otherwise.
In other words, we make a concerted effort to lock in our lifestyle at a certain level and keep it there, and when extra income arrives, we use it to preserve that lifestyle rather than expand it.
What that means is that rather than buying a new car every three years (or leasing one), we buy cars and drive them until they’re about to completely wear out. Instead of going on a huge summer vacation and “getaways” every few months, we go on a modest family summer vacation that’s still fun and memorable. Instead of buying everything we could possibly want for our hobbies, we own modest bicycles and (mostly) reasonable collections of hobby items. Instead of having a huge house in the country, we have a modest house on the edge of a small town that provides plenty of room for us and our stuff.
Through the Lens of Vacations
Let me expand on this a little bit using the vacation example above. In 2014, my family went on a summer vacation throughout the Southeast that culminated in five days spent at Disney World. We took my parents along on the trip, as they had never seen the Southeast of the United States at all and this would give us all some great bonding time.
It was an expensive trip, no doubt about it. Our final total bill for the whole trip was several thousand dollars. (Remember, we have three children and were also taking my parents along for the ride, too, and the vacation was fairly long.) We all deeply enjoyed ourselves and had tons of memories.
The next summer, we camped in Door County in Wisconsin at a pretty ordinary campground. We explored a ton of trails, visited lighthouses and forests, and spent some time in Green Bay doing things like visiting the city’s free zoo. On that trip, we all deeply enjoyed ourselves and have tons of memories from that trip.
The difference? The trip to Door County cost several thousand dollars less than the trip to Disney World.
The Door County model is the one we’re adopting for most of our summer vacations going forward. This summer, for instance, we’re going to drive to Yellowstone and camp there, visiting Badlands National Park on the way. We’re using the program that gives every fourth grader in America a national parks pass for their family. The entire trip will be a tiny fraction of the cost of the Disney World trip – I’ve already budgeted for it.
There’s nothing that we deeply want that these types of more modest vacations don’t fulfill. Going on huge elaborate trips would merely fulfill some relatively small wants at a huge price tag.
Through the Lens of Housing
During the early years of our marriage, our big shared dream was to own a giant house in the country with a small barn and plenty of room for our kids to roam and explore. We designed floor plans and talked about the attributes of the land we’d like to buy.
As we had children and our incomes and financial state became more stable, one might expect that we were building toward this goal, but what we came to realize is that the modest home on the edge of a small town that we currently lived in actually met all of our needs and many of our wants quite well.
It has plenty of room for all of us. It’s close enough to a grocery store and a library that I can walk or bike to both of them. We all have friends that live literally a stone’s throw from our house. It has a big basement and garage for ongoing projects and storage.
There’s nothing that we need or deeply want that this house doesn’t fulfill. Buying a big house in the country would merely fulfill some relatively small wants at a huge price tag.
Through the Lens of Hobbies
I have several hobbies that could easily turn into huge expenses if I allowed that to happen. I enjoy home brewing and the cost of home brewing equipment can basically go as high as you want it to until you’re basically building a microbrewery in your garage. I enjoy riding my bicycle around town (both with and without my family), and it would be easy to invest thousands in a bicycle. I enjoy reading books and it would be easy to have an enormous library of books (in fact, I sometimes slip into that trap). I can go on and on like this.
Here’s the thing, though: many of these hobbies eat up only a small sliver of my free time. I don’t have a ton of free time to pursue hobbies and the time I have is pretty precious to me, so I’m selective on how I spend it. If I’m choosing to not spend my free time on a particular hobby in any significant amount, why should I spend my extra money on a particular hobby in any significant amount?
It’s that logic that keeps me from buying an expensive bicycle or turning my garage into a miniaturized microbrewery. The only area where I’m challenged by that logic is with my core hobbies, the ones that eat most of my hobby hours in a week: reading books and playing tabletop games.
In both cases, I do slip up and spend more on those hobbies than I should, but when I actually reflect on them, I realize that even in those hobbies, spending more pretty much always leads to diminishing returns in joy within the hobby paired with less money for other life goals. A new book when I have nothing new to read is a real joy; a new book when I have fifteen unread books at home and I’ve got a few on reserve from the library really doesn’t bring much to the table. A new board game when I’ve played everything on my shelf is amazing; a new board game when I have five on my shelf that are unplayed and a bunch more that I want to play many more times isn’t really all that great.
I’ve learned, over time, that with my core hobbies, I’m better off collecting experiences rather than stuff. I keep a list of the books I’ve read and the games I’ve played and I realize I actually get more joy from adding things to that list than from adding books and games to my collections.
Finding Your Happiness Without Diminishing Returns
One pattern that’s pretty obvious from all of these experiences – and something you’ve probably observed in your own life – is that once you reach a certain point, investing more money in it brings diminishing returns in terms of happiness. Even if I had all of the money in the world, I’m going to get far more joy for my dollar out of a book if I have nothing else to read than if I have a bunch of unread books on my bookshelf, so it makes sense to read those unread books first before buying a new one. I’m going to get far more joy for my dollar out of a modest vacation (like camping in a national park and making my own meals over a campfire) than an elaborate one (like, say, going to Disney World or going to London).
That’s not to say that the more expensive options aren’t going to bring me more total joy from the experience. They probably will, honestly. The difference is that once I creep above a base level of spending, the joy I get out of it doesn’t increase at the same rate; it slows down.
If I can spend $1,000 on a family summer vacation and get 75% of the enjoyment that I would out of a summer vacation that I spent $10,000 on, then the $1,000 seems like a better option. If I can spend $50 a month on a hobby and get 75% of the joy that I would get compared to spending $500 a month on a hobby, then that $50 seems like a better option.
Furthermore, the more you spend on something, the greater the financial impact on the rest of your life. Whenever you spend more money, you have to either cut back in other areas, sink into debt, or push yourself to earn more money. Those are really the only three options out there that don’t rely on some kind of outside luck.
To me, that kind of financial pushback is a negative, one that eats up some of the diminishing returns. I might enjoy that trip to France more than that trip to Yellowstone, but that enjoyment isn’t five times as much, and when I go to France I do have this vague financial worry in my mind that doesn’t exist with the trip to Yellowstone. That financial concern further erodes any “joy advantage” that the more expensive option has.
I’ve actually talked about this very concept of diminishing returns of joy and fulfillment before. I like to use the term that Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin use for the concept – the “fulfillment curve.” In an earlier article, I quoted their book Your Money or Your Life on the subject:
“One of the deep problems of consumerism is that the average American tends toward buying more. They would rather have more stuff that, per item, they have less time to enjoy than less stuff that, per item, they have more time to enjoy.
This is connected directly with the clutter problem, also discussed here. This tendency to buy extra luxury items gradually fills a home with lots of clutter – unnecessary stuff that just sits there taking up space when the money invested could be used to help build a more fulfilling life.”
So, what is that “more fulfilling life”?
Addressing “Emptiness and Lack of Fulfillment”
Let’s go back to that quote from Peter Singer that started this article:
“We live in a time when many people experience their lives as empty and lacking in fulfillment. The decline of religion and the collapse of communism have left but the ideology of the free market whose only message is: consume, and work hard so you can earn money to consume more. Yet even those who do reasonably well in this race for material goods do not find that they are satisfied with their way of life. We now have good scientific evidence for what philosophers have said throughout the ages: once we have enough to satisfy our basic needs, gaining more wealth does not bring us more happiness.”
So far, we’ve clearly covered that consumption above a certain point brings rapidly diminishing returns in terms of joy and happiness, possibly even being completely counteracted (or more) by the relative cost of that more expensive option. Yet, in so many ways, our culture encourages us to chase that sense of “more and better.” I’ve certainly fallen prey to it at times. It’s easy to sometimes have a sense that buying that “better” thing or going for that “better” experience will bring a deep joy that I don’t currently have. Time and time again, it really doesn’t do that at all; sure, it might happen in the short term, but it rarely lasts, and it very rarely happens in the long term with enough quality to make up for that larger cost.
The key, then, is to find sources of lasting happiness and fulfillment that don’t involve buying more and “better” experiences and things.
I don’t have some magic recipe for this. I can tell you what makes me happy and brings me fulfillment – spending time with my family, learning new things, challenging my mind, exploring nature, and so on – but that doesn’t tell you what makes you happy and brings you fulfillment. It is something you have to find for yourself. All I can really do is tell you how I found those things in my own life.
One big thing that has always helped me is reflecting on and writing down my thoughts each day. I make sure to write down the best things that happened that day, which means I have to think back through my day and look at what really brought me joy. When did I feel happiest that I clearly remember?
The funny thing is, when I reflect at the end of the day, I usually don’t remember the burst of temporary joy I get from buying something or receiving something in the mail. What I remember is something like laughing with my oldest son while playing a game with him, or that feeling I had when I realized I had been lost in working on a task and when I became aware of how much time had passed, I felt great and had produced a ton of good work.
Each week or so, I like to go back through those things and see which ones continued to stick with me. Again, I find some very common patterns in the things that brought me joy that continues to resonate. They tend to involve my family. They tend to involve learning and mentally challenging myself. They often tend to involve nature. They often tend to involve achieving or completing something that I’ve invested my time and energy into. Again, those are things that resonate with me, not necessarily with you, but you’ll discover what things resonate with you by doing this regularly.
By doing that over a long period of time – I’ve literally been doing this for years on a nearly daily basis and weekly basis – you can start to see some patterns in terms of what makes you happy. When you start to see those patterns in terms of what brings you lasting, memorable happiness, you can shape your life to include more of those things and less of other things.
The thing is, literally every person I’ve ever talked to who has done something like this has discovered that the things that brought them lasting joy rarely had much cost involved at all. Sure, they sometimes found lasting joy in things that were expensive, but they just as often found it in something that was free.
Why Be Frugal or Earn More, Then?
If the “secret to happiness” isn’t found through money, then what’s the purpose of trying to earn more money or to be frugal? If you earn enough to meet your needs and a few wants and you find joy in the life you already have, why be frugal? Why earn more?
I have two answers for that: security and opportunity. When you bring in more money without expanding your spending, you add both security and opportunity to your life.
You enhance the security of the life you’ve built by having money on hand to handle life’s unexpected events and emergencies. Bad events are less likely to knock your life for a loop. If you earn more than what you need to spend to be consistently happy, then you can use that extra money to protect yourself against things like a job loss or an illness or a car breakdown, things that would disrupt that happiness.
Once you have good security, having more money on hand increases opportunity. It leads to things like the possibility of retiring early or of changing careers without having an abrupt change in your lifestyle. You can try something new with your whole life for a while without worrying so much about making ends meet and whether you can financially do it. If you’re already in a career you’re pretty happy with, you can push toward retiring early, which can either let you truly retire and pursue other things without a financial objective, or make career choices that aren’t financially wise but are more fulfilling to you (like, for instance, leaving your stable engineering job to jump into a truly exciting startup, or getting out of your current job to avoid the world’s worst boss).
Both security and opportunity bring happiness. Security brings happiness when something unexpected happens; knowing that this job loss won’t kill your lifestyle for years is an enormous relief compared to the alternative. Opportunity brings bundles of happiness because you feel much more in control of your own destiny.
Final Thought
If there’s one take-home message in this article, it’s this: spending more money won’t bring more happiness. The things that bring happiness are probably already in your life or already within your power to grasp. If you’re not sure what those things are, spend some time discovering them, and when you do know, fill your life with those things. Earning more money and being more frugal is still useful, though, because it increases the security of that life and the opportunities available to you, giving you more control than you might otherwise have.
I don’t know what your path to happiness looks like, but I hope that you can discover it and that when you do find it, you let it lead you to a great life.
The post Wealth Is Not a Route to Happiness. What Is? appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
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Want Your Free Credit Score? More Credit Cards Are Willing to Give it to You
If you’re searching for your credit score, you can put your wallet away, because you’re not going to need it. In recent years credit scores have become easier for consumers to access free of charge. Numerous websites give away free scores if you’re willing to read marketing emails from time to time. And, several large lenders and credit card issuers are also giving away free credit scores each month to their customers simply for being a cardholder.
The free credit score giveaways by credit card companies is a trend that has been growing for several years. And the momentum of free scores continues, all to the benefit of consumers. So, if you’re interested in seeing your FICO or VantageScore credit scores, you probably don’t have to look very hard.
Why Do Credit Card Issuers Have Your Credit Scores in the First Place?
It’s worth pointing out that your credit card issuers aren’t simply purchasing your credit scores to share them with you out of a sense of altruism. Your credit card issuers were most likely already accessing your credit score each month, and using that score for account management purposes, which is a very common practice.
Many of the card issuers who offer free credit scores to their customers are now simply sharing the scores they already purchased. So, it’s a secondary use of the same data.
Unlike most other lenders, your credit card issuers don’t just care about how you’re managing your specific account with them; they’re also concerned with the rest of the accounts on your credit reports.
Credit card issuers are loaning money to you repeatedly, not just once like when you take out a mortgage or auto loan. So if the condition of your credit deteriorates in the future – whether due to late payments, new collections, or other credit problems — then your card issuer may want to change the terms of your account, or perhaps even stop doing business with you altogether. That’s why they’re constantly accessing your credit score information.
Your Scores May Be Different, But That’s Fine
Because you have dozens of FICO and VantageScore credit scores, the score your card issuer shares with you may be different from the credit scores you pulled online or the scores you received when another lender checked your credit. You might even receive free credit scores from multiple credit card issuers and find that those scores don’t match either. Yet, seeing a difference in credit scores is entirely normal.
All of your credit scores are based on the same data, which is the information contained in your credit reports. If you focus on maintaining responsible credit management habits, then your credit scores should improve or continue to remain in great shape, regardless of what lender is accessing them or giving them away to you monthly.
Additionally, if the free credit scores your card issuers share with you continue to climb month after month, then all the credit scores you don’t see with regularity are most likely improving as well.
- Related: Comparing Your Many Credit Scores
Which Credit Cards Give Away Free Credit Scores?
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently published a list of card issuers who provide free credit scores to at least some cardholders, to make it easier for consumers to identify whether any of their card issuers participate.
Some big names you’ll recognize on the list include Bank of America, Barclaycard, Capital One, Chase, Citibank, Discover, US Bank, and Wells Fargo, among others. The CFPB says it released the list in an effort to “raise awareness of how consumers can access and use their credit scores to help manage their financial lives.”
Related Articles:
- Want Your Free FICO Score? Five Credit Cards That Will Give it to You
- How Often Does Your Credit Score Change?
- You Can Improve This Part of Your Credit Score Almost Immediately
John Ulzheimer is an expert on credit reporting, credit scoring, and identity theft. He has written four books on the topic and has been interviewed and quoted thousands of times over the past 10 years. With time spent at Equifax and FICO, Ulzheimer is the only credit expert who actually comes from the credit industry. He has been an expert witness in over 230 credit related lawsuits and has been qualified to testify in both federal and state courts on the topic of consumer credit.
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Amazon is Hiring More Seasonal Reps to Work From Home (You’ll Make $10/Hr)
If you’ve ever thought to yourself, “I love Amazon so much I wish I could work there,” now’s your chance.
The online retailer is once again hiring Amazonians in 25 states (seriously, that’s what Amazon employees are called).
This is a full-time seasonal work-from-home customer service job available to applicants who live in Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia, Wisconsin or Virginia.
(In case you’re wondering why you have to live in a certain state to apply for a remote job, it has to do with things like employment tax laws and work space regulations.)
The job pays $10.00 per hour for up to 60 hours a week, plus the opportunity for a bonus. The position also includes paid training.
Be aware, seasonal employees are temporary workers. While there may be opportunities for long-term employment, the job description notes that workers “may remain with Amazon in a temporary capacity for up to six months, depending on business need.”
In other words, this position could turn into a more permanent position, but it may also last only a few weeks or a couple of months.
Even so, with the company’s “dedicated resources to support your ongoing growth and development,” this customer service job is worth checking out.
Requirements for This Work-From-Home Job with Amazon
Before you rush over to apply for this job, make sure you meet certain criteria including:
- Must live in one of the 25 states listed above
- Ability to work an assigned schedule that may include weekends, any or all major holidays and mandatory overtime
- High school diploma or equivalent
- Fluent English language proficiency
- 1+ years of experience in a service environment
- Thorough understanding of how to use the internet, multiple browsers, instant messaging and email
- Computer requirements include a 64-bit operating system, Windows 7, direct high-speed internet connection via Ethernet cable and more
If you land the job, you’ll receive a contingent offer letter for employment and an email invitation to attend a Virtual Amazon Hiring Event.
Once you accept the offer, Amazon ships you out a headset and you’re ready to get started.
Amazon’s Seasonal Associate Benefits
A benefits package is available to all full and part-time U.S.-based seasonal employees, family members and domestic partners. It includes:
- Medical coverage after 90 days
- Shift pay differential
- Flexible and predictable work schedules
- Opportunities for overtime and year-round employment
When you’re ready to apply to become an Amazon Customer Service Associate, head over here to start the application process.
Good luck!
Your turn: Have you ever worked a remote customer service job? Did you enjoy it?
Lisa McGreevy is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She’s always looking for work-from-home job leads to share with readers. Look her up on Twitter @lisah if you’ve got a hot tip.
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Here’s How I Make a Good Living Without Working Full Time
Maybe you hate full-time employment.
Or, like me, maybe you find jobs interesting for a few months at most, and then you’re ready to do something else.
But hey, you still have to pay the bills, right?
So can you survive without a full-time job, or even with no job at all? You can if you develop enough other sources of income.
But it’s not that simple. You also have to know how to handle the ups and downs of life without a weekly or monthly paycheck.
I’ve worked full time for only a few months in my life (I’m 52), so naturally I’ve had to learn a few strategies for getting by without a regular paycheck.
Here’s how I manage to avoid jobs most of the time and still pay the bills. Of course, your results may vary, but here is a basic outline for how to live without a job:
1. Control Your Expenses
If you want to avoid jobs, it helps to be a bit frugal.
But looking for ways to spend less doesn’t have to mean sacrificing anything important. It can be a way to have more of what really matters.
So if you want a richer lifestyle through frugality, watch how you spend your money.
And when it comes to living without a regular job, you don’t always have to think in terms of pinching pennies.
You just have to control your expenses so you spend less than you make. If your income doubles and you spend 50% more, you’re fine, right?
When my wife and I had a higher income, we had a house cleaner, but when our income dropped, we eliminated that luxury.
On the other hand, even when we made six figures, we had a small house that was cheap to heat and maintain, because some expenses are more difficult to eliminate quickly. Here’s the important rule:
Keep your fixed expenses (those you can’t reduce or eliminate quickly) low, and you’ll be able to weather the ups and downs of irregular income.
2. Diversify Your Income
It helps to have many sources of income, so the loss of any one of them won’t send you scurrying for a job. You might write for content websites, sell used books, rent out rooms in your house and make money collecting returnable cans and bottles.
Last year, like the year before, my wife and I had more than 20 sources of income, and not one of them accounted for more than 25% of our total income. Since we controlled expenses and lived on about 75% of our income, we could have lost any one income source and we would still have been OK.
As I explained in my post on income diversification, you should also aim to diversify the types of income you have coming in.
Here’s an example of some of the things we’ve done in recent years in each of the following four types or categories:
1. Business (including freelancing): I make a little money from my websites, I write for blogs, and we both have some royalty income from books.
2. Investments: We lend money to house-flippers, invest in Lending Club loans, have rental income, and we accidentally flipped a condo for a profit. We also made money twice in three years recently by selling our home and buying a cheaper one.
3. Money-Making Projects: We’ve had a couple successful garage sales, I made $4,000 last year from credit card and bank sign-up bonuses, and more than once I’ve I sold stuff taken from a dumpster.
4. Temporary Employment (more on this in a moment): My wife occasionally finds work teaching adult education classes, and I briefly had a few jobs four years ago.
You can find many more ways to make money here on The Penny Hoarder, including 103 ways to make money at home (yes, I’m writing this at home in pajamas).
Of course, unless you have a “regular” and successful business (which sounds like a job to me), all of the examples given so far provide somewhat unpredictable income.
That’s why you should…
3. Always Have Money in the Bank
If you have enough money saved, ups and downs in income are not as big a deal.
A few years back, Google search algorithm changes caused our the income from our websites to drop in half in one day, and it continued to slide from more than $10,000 per month to about $200 per month now.
Honestly, I was stressed about that “little” change in our lives. But at least we had saved money during the good times.
You have to decide how much is enough for you, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable if we didn’t have enough savings to pay the bills for a year or two.
And even with money in the bank, my wife and I don’t wait for this or that income stream to dry up before acting. Instead we…
4. Keep Looking for New Sources of Income
I renovated and rented out the other half of a duplex we bought (we lived in the other half). It generated cash flow of about $400 per month.
Now, I’m considering discounted closed-end municipal bond funds as a way to make 6% or better on some other investment money.
You don’t need to get too stressed out about it, but you should keep your eyes open for ways to add to your income sources.
In fact, while this article is about how to live without a job, there are times when you might want to consider getting a paycheck for a while. That’s why I will sometimes…
5. Consider “Employment Projects”
I like to consider jobs as temporary projects. Apart from when you just have no other way to pay the bills, you can use them in two ways:
1. To generate low-stress income while you figure things out.
2. To prepare for future income possibilities.
When our business income was falling like a rock, I freaked out a bit, so I worked as an electric tram driver and later as a security guard. I even worked full time for two weeks at one point.
I discovered that working and having even a small paycheck helped me relax while I figured out what to do next.
It was even fun… but then it got old after a couple months. I quit those jobs and began freelance writing and making money in other ways.
Use jobs to settle your mind and to provide temporary income while you figure out how to make money without a job.
One of those other ways I made money was working for an investor who flipped houses. I was paid only $100 cash per day , but I discovered I like to paint.
That and the other skills I learned later helped me flip a condo, fix our next home (which we sold for a profit) and renovate our duplex rental unit. We also make 10% annual interest lending money to the investor.
Use jobs as a way to learn valuable skills and to make contacts. You can also use a job as training to start your own business.
However you use your jobs, if you do it right, they will be temporary.
6. Have Only Good Debt
“Bad debt” is money you owe for consumer items or anything that doesn’t improve your financial situation.
“Good debt” is income-producing or money-saving debt, such as borrowing for education that improves your ability to make money, borrowing for rental real estate, and even borrowing for your own home — assuming doing so actually cuts your costs versus renting.
The only debt I have at the moment is about $10,000 on a couple of credit cards, but that’s actually good debt. I’m in the zero-interest teaser period, and the money is parked in bank accounts that pay 5% annual interest. Hey, it will only add about $500 to our income this year, but every little bit helps.
Aim to have only good debt if you want to live without a regular job.
7. Plan for Changes
Sometimes you know you’ll be losing income, like when you plan to tell the boss goodbye. See my guide to how to quit your job to prepare for that.
But also prepare for unexpected losses of income. For example, if we move and sell our duplex, I have a list of potential ways to replace the income.
If I can’t keep up with my freelance writing (I’m tired of staring at the computer — and that income is down 50% already), I’ll dig out my plans for making money in other ways.
Just about any income stream can slow or dry up unexpectedly, so make contingency plans.
What will you do if you get injured and can’t work for a while? What will you do if this or that source of income disappears? What if you sell an investment — where will you put the money to generate income?
If you ask yourself the right questions and make a few contingency plans, you’ll have less stress when life happens.
Do that and use the rest of the strategies here, and you can ride the ups and downs of income without ever resorting to a 9-to-5 position.
Your Turn: Do you think you could learn to live without having a regular job?
Steve Gillman is the author of “101 Weird Ways to Make Money” and creator of EveryWayToMakeMoney.com. He’s been a repo-man, walking stick carver, search engine evaluator, house flipper, tram driver, process server, mock juror, and roulette croupier, but of more than 100 ways he has made money, writing is his favorite (so far).
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How Long Can You Store Food in the Freezer? This Chart Has Your Answer
Your freezer can be an incredible source of savings, or it can be the black hole where mushy vegetables and half-eaten pints of ice cream go to die.
To help you remember how long foods keep and how to properly freeze them, The Huffington Post shared this great infographic on freezing food. Who knew you could freeze yogurt? Who knew fried chicken is still good after a third of a year in the deep freeze?
With the power of this chart, you can stock up when you have coupons, during a sale or when produce is in-season, stretching your grocery budget and helping you save money.
Of course, your ability to save depends on actually using the food you freeze, and the likelihood you’ll do that is directly related to how good the food tastes after it thaws. Here are some tips to make sure your freezer food tastes like food, not freezerburn.
A Guide to Freezing Food
Don’t put hot or warm food in the freezer; you should always wait until your food is cool, according to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s extension office.
Pack your goodies into freezer bags, which are thicker than regular zip-top bags. Don’t use Tupperware or other plastic containers, since those won’t let you remove all air from the container. Flatten out the bag until the contents freeze, and then stack it with other freezer bags or even store the bag vertically on its edge.
Don’t forget to label your bags with the name of the food, the date you froze it and any other helpful information, such as measurements.
What to Freeze
You can freeze almost anything, from raw meat (between three and 12 months depending on the type of meat), to milk (three to six months) and even cookie dough (three months).
To make mealtimes easier, consider freezing pre-cooked items, like pasta sauce (12-18 months, according to the University of Minnesota’s extension office) or full meals you’ve prepped in advance, like casseroles and enchiladas.
You can either pre-bake the meals and freeze them for up to three months, or assemble them without baking and pop them straight into the freezer. They keep two to four months this way, according to the University of Wisconsin, and you can cook them without even thawing afterwards by doubling the original cook time and subtracting about 10 minutes.
For example, if a casserole was originally supposed to be baked for 30 minutes, try baking it for 50 minutes, but set a timer to check on it in about 40 minutes to make sure nothing is burning.
What Not to Freeze
Some things just don’t freeze well. Potato salad or chicken salad are on that list, as are raw and hard-boiled eggs — though you can freeze raw egg whites or egg yolks once you crack the shells open. Mayonnaise will “break” as it thaws and the eggs and oil separate, which is gross. Half-and-half will also “break” if frozen, but heavy cream is OK.
Don’t freeze any liquids in glass containers, because the liquid will expand as it freezes and perhaps break the glass, and don’t — no matter what anyone tells you — keep coffee in the freezer, unless you like your coffee to taste like the freezer smells.
Using your freezer to store food takes a small amount of planning and work, but it’s all worth it when you pull out a pan full of manicotti or lasagna and have dinner ready with almost no effort — and for pennies per serving.
For more information on what — and what not — to freeze, read the full infographic on HuffPo.
Your Turn: What are your favorite meals to freeze?
Rachel Kaufman may or may not be two dozen hamsters masquerading as one human in a trench coat.
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Would You Gamble on Your Future Earnings to Pay for College?
Imagine a world where you could afford school, and you wouldn’t have to worry about all that student loan debt interest piling up.
Sounds like a dream, right?
Well, it’s happening at Purdue University.
In 2015, Purdue announced a partnership with financial services company Vemo Education that would create a new way for its junior and senior students to pay for their educations: income share agreements.
An income share agreement, or ISA, is an arrangement in which investors lend money to students to pay for their college expenses. In exchange, the student agrees to pay back a certain percentage of their earnings after graduation. The percentage varies for each student, but Purdue’s program aims to offer percentages that make them a competitive alternative to private student loans.
ISAs have been popular in Latin America for more than a decade, according to Higher Ed Jobs, but previous attempts to introduce them in the U.S. have been largely unsuccessful.
Purdue’s ISA program is known as Back a Boiler — ISA Fund. It was rolled out in the 2016-17 academic year for rising juniors and seniors.
ISAs do not accrue interest. And because repayment is based on how much the student earns after graduation, there is no set amount the student must pay back.
Sound great? Maybe, but there’s a catch.
ISAs: Worth the Gamble?
Because you’re agreeing to pay back a percentage of your future earnings, an ISA is essentially a gamble. Some students could actually end up paying more under an ISA than they would with a student loan in the long run, depending on how much they make after they graduate.
“ISAs usually are not a good idea for students who expect to go into high-income jobs because the repayment is based on income and cannot be paid off early like traditional loans. These high earners can end up paying substantially more as a result,” said Andy Josuweit, CEO of Student Loan Hero.
Representatives at Purdue said that students who have received funding through Back a Boiler were approved if they were in good standing with Purdue, hadn’t had any adverse credit action taken against them, and had not already accumulated debt that would exceed 15% of their anticipated salary.
If you enter into an ISA, you’ll be required to submit regular income reports after graduation, including W-2s, pay stubs or other documentation to ensure that you’re paying back the proper amount each month.
According to Ted Malone, executive director of the division of financial aid at Purdue, there are consequences if you don’t meet the terms you agree to.
“Since it is a contract, it is possible to default on it by not making payments or not submitting required documentation,” said Malone. “The contract calls for demand of the maximum payable under the contract, and any standard legal remedies can be taken.”
When Does an ISA Make Sense?
So, why would I choose the ISA if it meant paying more over time and in the end?
The FAQ section of Purdue’s website explains that ISAs “could be a good alternative to private student loans and Federal Parent PLUS Loans.”
Josuweit said ISAs could make sense for students who need money on top of federal loans or don’t qualify for federal aid.
Another reason: ISAs have a defined number of years for repayment, and they aren’t always repaid in full.
Purdue’s program also would offer an advantage if I had problems finding a steady job post-graduation. There is a minimum annual income threshold of $20,000 while employed full time or seeking full-time employment to protect me. That means if I wasn’t earning at least $20,000, I wouldn’t have to pay until I was.
The advantage there would be that I could get away with not paying for the entire thing.
There is a maximum payment cap of 2.5 times the initial amount of money provided, which would protect me if I did end up making big bucks after school. In that situation, though, I could still pay less with a Federal Parent PLUS loan.
If I took time off from work to travel or start a family, my ISA repayment could go on hold for up to five years. Student loans offer you the option to go into deferment as well, but if you aren’t granted deferment and are allowed a forbearance instead, you will continue to accrue interest. Forbearances are good for up to 12 months, as opposed to the five years for the ISA.
To sum it up: If you’re likely to make a moderate to low income after school, or if you don’t qualify for federal loans, but want to avoid private ones, an ISA could be a good choice.
As always, be sure to consult with a financial adviser or a financial aid representative before making a decision about whether ISAs or any other options to finance your education.
Other Ways to Pay for College
Don’t forget, there are other alternative ways to pay for college, such as scholarships or finding a flexible way to foot the bill.
There are even some schools out there that will cover your tuition; take them into consideration during your college hunt!
But if you want to know more about paying for college through traditional student loans, check out this guide.
Good luck!
Your Turn: What do you think about ISAs as a way to pay for college? Let us know in the Facebook comments!
Kelly Smith is a junior writer and engagement specialist at The Penny Hoarder and a senior at The University of Tampa. She’s paying off her credit card debt now so she can attack her student loan payments ASAP.
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