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Welcome to April, the month of rain, blooming flowers and emerging songbirds… and everyone’s least-favorite day: Tax Day.
Yes, winter has ended, but this date can still send a shiver up your spine.
Tax Day is the annual date when federal tax returns are due to the IRS. We all know it as April 15, but a bunch of stipulations throw a wrench in that date, and we have a whacky Tax Day every few years like some bizarro Leap Year.
Tax Day is April 15, right? Well, not this year.
In 2017, your federal tax returns are due April 18. Heads up: That’s next week.
Pst, if you haven’t filed yet, this free app makes it easy.
While you celebrate the three-day extension, here’s why it exists.
Annually on April 16, Washington, D.C. celebrates Emancipation Day. It honors the day in 1862 when President Lincoln signed the bill to free enslaved people in the District of Columbia.
(The more famous and broader-reaching Emancipation Proclamation would come nine months later.)
That means our nation’s capital gets a day off — everything in D.C. is closed that day.
Here’s where the holiday crosses paths with Tax Day: If Emancipation Day falls on a weekend, D.C. observes it on the nearest weekday.
So, if April 16 is a Sunday, yo’ boys at the IRS get Monday the 17th off. If it falls on a Saturday, they get off on —did you figure it out yet? — Friday, April 15.
The IRS, bless its soul, won’t push Tax Day forward on us. When the due date falls on a weekend or holiday, we get until the next business day to file.
Walk through it with me:
April 15, 2017 is a Saturday.
So, we’d wait until the following Monday to file.
BUT.
April 16, Emancipation Day, is a Sunday. D.C. observes the holiday on Monday.
So no filing on Monday.
That means Tax Day 2017 is on Tuesday, April 18.
Yes, even calendars are more complicated in IRS-speak.
A little riddle, some quick calculus and shift of your abacus, and you’ve got your due date. Easy peasy.
For 2018? We recommend Googling it sometime in January.
Your Turn: Have you filed your taxes yet?
Dana Sitar (@danasitar) is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder. She’s written for Huffington Post, Entrepreneur.com, Writer’s Digest and more, attempting humor wherever it’s allowed (and sometimes where it’s not).
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, one of the largest personal finance websites. We help millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. In 2016, Inc. 500 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the No. 1 fastest-growing private media company in the U.S.How many times do you log on to Amazon in a given week?
Follow-up question: On how many other online logins do you use the same exact password as your Amazon account?
If you’re doubling or tripling-up on passwords in an effort to remember them all, you could be putting your online safety in danger.
Some Amazon third-party sellers have recently learned this the hard way.
While Amazon hasn’t been breached in the sweeping style that has affected other retailers, individual third-party sellers’ emails and passwords used to log in to Amazon have been sold on the dark web.
That information has been used to take over the sellers’ accounts.
The Wall Street Journal explained two different types of situations that have affected Amazon sellers.
The hackers changed bank deposit information for some sellers, causing revenue from that seller’s sales to be funneled into the hacker’s bank account.
Another method seems to be targeting sellers with inactive Amazon storefronts. The hackers post fake merchandise at rock-bottom prices and again funnel the revenue into their own bank accounts.
In many cases, the hackers changed the seller accounts’ passwords so the seller can’t try to remedy the hack — or try to resolve related customer-service issues.
The hackers have also taken to adjusting the shipping window for compromised sellers’ products, hoping Amazon will deposit cash from sales before the site or customers realize no product is coming, the Wall Street Journal notes.
This method could affect Fulfillment by Amazon sellers who send their inventory to Amazon and let the site manage shipping.
The dark web has gained attention lately as a place where usernames and passwords can be bought cheaply, as well as identification sources that allow nefarious characters to collect your tax refund before you even get a chance to file your return.
Amazon Seller Central, a hub for people who sell items via Amazon, has not released any site-wide statement advising customers on this type of hack. A spokesperson from the company told the Wall Street Journal it would work with affected sellers to repair their accounts.
Want to prevent your own Amazon seller account — or any other account — from getting hacked?
Strong passwords are pretty much the only way. But you can’t just make one strong password and use it for every account for you sign up. If that password gets snatched, it could be used to access any number of accounts where you’ve lazily typed it to speed to the next step of registration.
Variety isn’t just the spice of life anymore — it’s also one of the only ways to prevent your passwords from getting stolen and used against you across your online life.
Then, be sure to keep an eye on your Amazon seller account or any other online sales accounts you maintain. If you see anything suspicious, send up a red flag to the platform’s customer service team.
Still not sure how the dark web works or how easy it is to lose control of your own information online?
Listen to episodes #91 and #93 of the Reply All podcast, which goes on a wild chase to figure out how one man’s login info was compromised. The story will have you changing all your passwords before the episodes end!
Your Turn: Have you ever been targeted by hackers? What did you do to shore up your online presence?
Lisa Rowan is a writer and producer at The Penny Hoarder.
There are few things worse than paying top dollar for a party-size bag of chips only to open them and realize that the bag is mostly air.
This extra air — or “slack-fill” — which just about every bag of chips includes, is not a scam. It’s there to ensure your chips aren’t crumbs when they make it to your mouth.
But two people are calling out the makers of Wise potato chips for its slack-filling practices in a new lawsuit filed on Monday. The lawsuit claims the food manufacturer is cheating unsuspecting customers by selling larger bags filled with fewer chips and more air than necessary.
Food and Drug Administration regulations allow companies like Wise Food to add some protective air to bags, but it prohibits “nonfunctional slack-fill.”
“When consumers purchase a package of Defendants’ Products, they are getting less product than they bargained for, effectively they are tricked into paying for air, because the Products contain large amounts of non-functional slack-fill,” the class-action lawsuit claims.
The snackers leading the lawsuit are Sameline Alce of New York and Desiré Nugent of Washington, D.C.
To prove Wise Food was violating FDA regulations by overfilling its bags with air, Alce and Nugent compared Wise bags to its competitors’ bags.
In one of the most telling examples, Alce and Nugent compared a bag of Wise Ridgies Sour Cream & Onion potato chips to a Ruffles Sour Cream & Onion chips. According to the lawsuit, the Ruffles bag was about 1.5 inches shorter than the Wise bag and held more chips by weight.
“All 8.5 oz. bags of Ruffles Sour Cream & Onion Potato Chips have approximately the same amount of slack-fill, demonstrating that it is possible to consistently manufacture potato chip products with 30% slack-fill,” the lawsuit says, emphasizing the finding that the similar bag of Wise chips contained about 67% air.
Alce and Nugent also compared two bags of Wise chips to back up their claims that the company is using slack-fill deceptively. In this example, the plaintiffs showed the 4.5- and 2.75-ounce bags of Ridgies Sour Cream & Onion are physically the same size, but the 2.75-ounce bag had far more unnecessary slack-fill than the 4.5-ounce bag.
“No manufacturing or other constraints limit (Wise Food) from filling its 2.75 oz. bag more fully or from using a smaller bag to package 2.75 oz. of chips,” the lawsuit says. “(Wise’s) 4.5 oz. bag – which itself contains non-functional slack-fill – shows that more chips can fit comfortably within a smaller bag.”
Alce and Nugent admitted that Wise did print accurate weight measurements of the chips inside on the bags. However, they said the company used larger bags than necessary and filled them with extra air. They claimed that practice tricked customers into buying Wise bags under the reasonable assumption that larger bags meant more chips.
Based on the size of the bag, the lawsuit said, customers often received fewer chips than they reasonably expected when they purchased it.
There is no doubt the issue Alce and Nugent brought up in their lawsuit has enraged others, but not everyone who has purchased Wise chips is eligible to join this lawsuit.
Currently, only those who purchased Wise chips in New York or Washington, D.C., will benefit from the suit if a judge determines Wise Food violated FDA regulations.
Alce and Nugent are suing for damages for all customers who they say were tricked by Wise. The New York lawsuit seeks $50 to $1,000 per violation, while the Washington, D.C., lawsuit is seeking up to $1,500 per violation. More specifics on dollar amounts will come as the lawsuit progresses.
The lawsuit also demands the company change its packaging to remove any unnecessary air and make it easier for customers to guage how full the bags are before purchasing them.
Your Turn: When was the last time you bought Wise chips? Did you have a similar experience?
Desiree Stennett (@desi_stennett) is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She doesn’t eat Wise chips. She’s more of a Pringles girl.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, one of the largest personal finance websites. We help millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. In 2016, Inc. 500 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the No. 1 fastest-growing private media company in the U.S.If you live in Florida or North Carolina, here’s a lead on a work-from-home job at Nordstrom you might want to check out.
The fashion retailer is hiring Seasonal Customer Care Specialists in both states. The job pays $14.65 per hour and comes with some pretty sweet incentives.
Nordstrom’s Customer Care team staffs its customer-service channels 24/7, including social media, phones, email and chat lines.
If you land a job as a Customer Care Specialist, you must be willing to work a flexible schedule that will change according to business needs and may include overtime.
Remember, this job is seasonal and designed to bring in extra workers during Nordstrom’s Anniversary Sale that runs from July to August this year.
You’ll need to pass an assessment test and also bring a few skills to the table, including:
Yes!
Nordstrom Customer Care Specialists get medical, dental and vision coverage and access to an employer-matched 401(k) plan.
There’s even a merchandise discount — just don’t spend all your paycheck at one time!
There are a couple of ways agents can earn extra money after getting hired.
Florida residents apply here, and North Carolina residents apply here.
For even more job leads and information, check out our jobs page on Facebook.
Your turn: What would you buy with your employee discount?
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.
If you give it away—offer it free—they will come.
This should perhaps be the quote to encompass the business model of freeconomics.
It’s a model that involves giving away your best content.
Believe it or not, more and more companies are integrating and seeing amazing results with freeconomics today.
At first thought, it may seem ludicrous.
I mean, how can you expect to turn a profit if you’re getting no direct return on your content?
You’re spending loads of time and exerting a ton of energy to earn a big fat $0.00.
It just doesn’t make sense.
But when you look at the big picture, giving away your best content—offering it free—makes total sense.
It’s a catalyst for business growth, and I’ve even had clients who’ve grown their businesses by as much as 290% by going this route.
Allow me to explain.
Seldom do today’s consumers whip out their credit cards and blindly make a purchase.
No, most perform a considerable amount of research beforehand.
Besides researching the product itself, many consumers want to know more about the company behind the product.
They want to be sure that the company is legit, knows its stuff, and is trustworthy.
But how do they learn more about a company?
Besides simply reading the About page on the company’s website, consumers look at content.
In fact, Demand Gen Report found
47% of buyers viewed three to five pieces of content before engaging with a sales rep.
The report also discovered that
51% of B2B buyers rely more on content to research and make B2B purchasing decisions than they did a year ago.
This means that content has become an integral part of the buying process, and it’s now a trend that’s likely to continue growing.
By making your best content easily accessible to your audience, you can pull more leads into your sales funnel, which should eventually increase sales.
This is a question posed by Vertical Response in an article discussing the benefits of giving away content.
By gate, they mean putting an obstacle in front of content (e.g., filling out a form to get it).
In this article, they point out two specific instances when not gating your content is a smart business decision.
Internationally acclaimed marketing and sales strategist David Meerman Scott says that according to his statistics,
a white paper or eBook will be downloaded 20 times and up to 50 times more without a gate in front of it.
And why wouldn’t it?
By removing the gate and making content accessible to everyone free, you’ll naturally generate more downloads.
Joe Pulizzi is the founder of the Content Marketing Institute and one of the most respected names in content marketing.
Here’s a quote from Joe regarding gated and non-gated content:
Let’s say you received 1,000 leads via your white paper download. From David’s numbers, let’s even take a more conservative 10x more downloads if we remove the gate.
This would give us 10,000 downloads with no lead data. Of all those people, let’s say that 1 percent would share this with their audiences (with a VERY conservative audience of 100 people, although most blogs get much more).
With those numbers, the total possible content reach for gated content would be 2,000 people. Non-gated content would be 20,000 people.
When you break it down, you see that gating the content would result in 2,000 people viewing the content, and not gating it would result in 20,000.
By simply giving it away, you’re theoretically getting ten times the leads.
Just think of the impact on your sales figures!
Here’s the thing with freeconomics and giving away your content.
There’s no immediate payoff.
It’s intrinsically a long-term strategy that involves making sales and growing your business over the long run.
It’s about building rapport and trust now so that you can make sales at a later date.
You could liken it to growing a crop:
When you plant a seed, you don’t expect to harvest the next day.
It takes time. But when you consider the bounty, it’s well worth it.
I realize this can be an issue for some people, considering the instant gratification culture we live in: we want results, and we want them now.
And I get it. It’s not easy spending an immense amount of time and energy working on something that will not give you visible results for six months or even a year.
But when you follow the right formula, the payoff is huge and makes way more sense than gating your content.
Long ago, I realized the power that content marketing can yield.
That’s why I’ve made valuable content the cornerstone of my marketing.
More specifically, I’ve made it a point to give away the bulk of my content.
For instance, on Quick Sprout, I offer a sizable library of free content with Quick Sprout University:
This is where my audience can find in-depth information on everything from SEO and link building to reputation management and conversion optimization.
It also provides content for all knowledge levels (e.g., beginner, intermediate, and advanced).
On NeilPatel.com, I have a free podcast called Marketing School, where listeners can learn everything they need to know about online marketing:
Of course, I maintain blogs on these sites as well.
And you know what? It has completely paid off.
Although I didn’t get massive results right off the bat, giving away content has gotten me an insane number of sales.
Without it, I doubt I would be where I’m at today.
I’m sure many of you are familiar with Gary Vaynerchuk.
He’s an incredibly successful entrepreneur, author, speaker, and a major influencer.
He also swears like a sailor and makes no apologies for it.
Gary basically built an empire from scratch largely by giving away loads of quality content (e.g., YouTube videos, blog posts, infographics, etc.).
He even wrote a post called, Why You Shouldn’t Charge for Your Best Work.
Here’s a screenshot of his opening intro that captures his reasoning behind giving away content:
In other words, this tactic allows you to create real trust and boost your brand equity so that prospects feel comfortable doing business with you.
Even though you’re not earning any money initially, you’re investing in the long-term success of your company.
Just so you’re aware of the impact that this tactic can have, I’d like to point out a handful of specific benefits:
Let’s say you’re on board with the concept of freeconomics and you understand the logic behind giving your best content for free.
This brings us to one important question.
What type of content should you create? Do certain types of content influence buying decisions more than others?
To answer these questions, I’d like to point out some additional statistics from Demand Gen Report.
Take a look at the type of content used in the past 12 months to make B2B purchasing decisions:
This doesn’t necessarily mean this is the order in which your company should prioritize its content, but it should serve as a general guideline.
Although the concept of freeconomics and giving away your best content may go against conventional business wisdom, there’s no denying the impact this approach can have.
The results are convincing.
I can speak from personal experience and say this is absolutely one of the best ways to grow your business. It’s done wonders for me.
But in order to make this strategy work for you, it requires a long-term commitment.
You need to treat it as an endurance race—not a sprint.
If you stay the course with your content marketing, you can grow your business by as much as 290%.
What type of free content has resonated the most with your audience?
What’s inside? Here are the questions answered in today’s reader mailbag, boiled down to summaries of five or fewer words. Click on the number to jump straight down to the question.
1. Inheritance question
2. Converting attic into extra bedroom
3. Tempted by individual stock investment
4. Staying motivated at work
5. Fidget “spinners” or other toys
6. How someone becomes rich
7. Dealing with divorce loneliness spending
8. Getting started with painting
9. Roth IRA or Roth 401(k)?
10. Pickling vegetables in the fridge
11. Usefulness of old money books
12. Single piece of financial advice
This entire weekend was full of beautiful weather. It practically demanded that I spend time outside, especially on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.
And so I did.
I played catch at the park with my youngest son until he chose to quit. I went on a long walk with my daughter after supper until it was almost pitch black. I did a bunch of cleaning in our front yard, getting rid of some winter detritus. I went to my oldest son’s soccer game and my daughter’s soccer game.
And is often the case after those first days of spring where you spend a ton of time outside after spending a lot of indoor time for months during the winter, I slept deeply and soundly. I knew it was going to happen, so I set an alarm for myself, one that I apparently slept through for almost thirty minutes of noise.
I feel great. I feel alive.
Let’s get to some questions.
I’m 47 and just inherited a substantial amount of money, $400,000, and about $300,000 more will be settled over the next year. I currently have secured debts of: $255k mortgages on two properties (one is a rental and to be sold when I retire), $135k second mortgage and $55k student loan. I have $50k in a Roth IRA as well as an annuity and pension. I just paid off all unsecured debt.
I’ve already spoken to another financial advisor but would like your opinion as I value it greatly.
What do you think is the best way to utilize and/or invest my inheritance?
– Nina
To answer your question, you have to fill in a lot more blanks. What are your big ambitions in life? Are you hoping to retire early? Retire at a typical time with comfort? Do a lot of traveling? Switch careers? Are you married? What is your risk tolerance like? What are the interest rates on those mortgages?
Those are questions that I don’t have an answer to, so it’s very hard to suggest what you should do with that money. I could fill in the blanks with my own answers to those questions, but then I wouldn’t be giving you advice on what you should do. If I were in your boat, I would be looking ahead at retiring in ten to fifteen years and thus I would probably lean away from investments with significant risk and strongly consider paying off all of those mortgages and then either buying another rental property (assuming that property management is something I valued) or putting the money into a target retirement fund in a taxable account, moving as much into a Roth IRA each year as I could. (Or, honestly, both.)
The problem is that, again, I’m filling in a lot of blanks with guesses from my own life, not from your life. Your best move would be to talk to a few different fee-only financial advisors who aren’t financially motivated to sell you on a particular investment and see what they think. The best ones will ask you all of those questions above and more.
What are your thoughts on converting attic space into an extra bedroom? I’ve seen estimates to do this ranging anywhere from $10K-$50K. Do you see this as a good alternative to moving houses, if the main reason for moving would be just to add another bedroom for kids/guests?
– Claire
If you’re otherwise happy with where you’re living and have an attic with reasonable headspace and a good place to put stairs leading to that attic, then it’s a great idea. However, if you’re somewhat unhappy with your current house or if adding that attic bedroom would be awkward, moving would be a better option.
Speaking from my own experience, Sarah and I looked seriously at the prospect of adding a bedroom above the garage in our house. This would require ripping the roof off of the garage and adding a second story above it, which would be accessed from the second story in our current home. The costs escalated rapidly however when we discovered that doing it safely would essentially require rebuilding our entire garage.
If you have a convenient way to add an additional bedroom to a house that you otherwise like, go for it.
My brother is an employee of a company about to have its initial public offering. I am very tempted to invest in this company. My brother is a true believer in what they’re doing and how the company is organized and I am convinced the company will rapidly increase in value in the coming years.
I’m trying to decide how much of my Roth IRA balance to invest in his company. Advice?
– Kevin
If you have a well-funded overall retirement plan and the money you invest wouldn’t sink your retirement if that individual company failed, then this isn’t a bad idea. However, if you’re already behind the pace for saving up for retirement, putting your money in something this risky is a bad idea. It’s like a batter with two strikes swinging wildly at the next pitch because he or she feels that a hit is absolutely the only way to get out of their situation when a walk will do just fine.
So, what should you do? First, I’d spend some time assessing where you are in terms of your retirement planning. Are you on pace to retire when you want to be? Are you ahead of that pace? Behind that pace? CNN Money has a great little retirement income calculator that can help you quickly figure this out.
My feeling is that if you’re currently on pace for retirement and bump up your savings, you can certainly invest in your brother’s company in a moderate way. The same is true if you’re above pace. However, you should never go anywhere near putting all of your eggs in one basket – the advantage of an index fund or a target retirement fund is that if one company fails, it’s not going to really hurt you. However, if you have all of your money in your brother’s company and it fails, you’ll be in a world of hurt. Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket, no matter how strong that basket looks.
I don’t hate my job like many people. I like it just fine and I don’t dread going to work. But when I am there most of the time I just sit around unmotivated. I have stuff to work on and I can press forward on it if a deadline is on me but most days I just stare out the window or walk around or read The Simple Dollar or something. I get the work done that I need to get done so I don’t think I’m in any danger of getting fired and my last review was good (not great but def. good). I just have zero motivation to work toward a promotion or anything. I feel like I am coasting and I can’t decide how bad that is.
– Shawn
The most powerful tool I’ve ever found for motivating myself to work when I didn’t feel like it is that I looked at the other life benefits of doing the work that I was resisting.
For example, right now, I could easily dawdle in terms of formatting this mailbag and answering all of the questions. It’s kind of tempting to just lurk on Twitter and read some things or to read a book or just to stare out the window or go on a walk around the neighborhood.
However, I know if I get this article finished and make a lot of progress on another article before my wife and kids get home, I can spend time with them completely unworried about work, plus I’ll have space later in the week for other things, plus I’m very likely to be able to bank some articles for the future (that’s how I take “vacation” time – I write articles in advance and then set them to automatically post when I’m gone).
In other words, look at your empty time not through a window of immediate feelings and desires, but as an opportunity to take on your bigger goals in life. What do you want to be doing in five years? You can be using those empty times at work to address that question.
What are your thoughts on fidget “spinners” or other such small devices for manipulating with your hands while you’re thinking? I find myself constantly fidgeting when thinking or waiting and I almost always grab something to twiddle in my hands like a large coin or a pen cap or something because it seems to help me focus. Do you think a fidget “spinner” is worthwhile for focusing?
– Eric
So, for those unfamiliar, a fidget spinner or fidget cube is a small item intended to be held in the hand to manipulate or twist around or spin as a way to relax and improve focus. Many people who need to concentrate on solving problems professionally find value in fidgeting, as do people with mild anxiety.
To me, a good “fidget spinner” is a great gift for someone, but probably not the best investment of money.
Here’s why: you already likely have a bunch of stuff around that you can fidget with. As you mentioned, a large coin works great, as does a pen cap from a sturdy pen. I often fidget by twiddling an entire pen in my hand, just kind of spinning it back and forth while I think.
My suggestion is to just find something you already have that seems to really be soothing when you fidget with it, then keep it in your pocket and have it always ready to twiddle.
Buying something to replicate an activity you can do with other things in your environment already seems redundant, but I can see the value in a device that perfectly focuses on fidgeting that’s always available in your pocket, so suggest it as a gift idea if someone ever asks you.
Can you explain in very simple terms how someone gets to be rich? I understand that some people make a lot of money but how does someone who makes like $500,000 a year turn that into having many millions in the bank?
– Sasha
Generally, people become rich by spending their money not on lifestyle things, but on things that produce more money.
Let’s say I make $500,000 a year and spend all of my money on vacations and such. If that happens, at the end of the year I have nothing in the bank.
Let’s say, on the other hand, I make $500,000 a year but I only spend $200,000 of it and leave the other $300,000 in the bank. At the end of the year, I have $300,000 in the bank, and that will be true every year thereafter. I’m at least heading in the right direction.
Now, let’s say that I make $500,000 a year, I spend $200,000 on my life, but I use that other $300,000 to buy two houses to rent out to people. I can always sell those houses again later and make my money back, but now I have two $150,000 houses that I’m renting to people. Let’s say there’s people paying rent in those houses most of the time, so I make $2,000 a month in rent. That’s another $24,000 a year.
Okay, at the end of that first year, I’ve made $500,000, spent $200,000, and bought $300,000 worth of houses. Those houses make me another $24,000. So, my overall worth is $300,000 in houses and $24,000 in rental income. Pretty good?
Well, here’s where people get wealthy. The next year, I make another $500,000 and buy two more houses with that extra $300,000 that I don’t spend. Now, I own four houses worth $150,000 each and I make $1,000 per house per month in rent, so $48,000 a year.
The next year, I do it again. I buy two more houses. I now own six houses worth $150,000 each and I make $1,000 per house per month in rent, so $72,000 a year. Over those three years, I have $144,000 that I’ve earned just off of rent, so I use that to buy another house. At the end of that year, I now have seven $150,000 houses that I own that will each make $12,000 a year in rent.
It just keeps going, year after year. Eventually, the houses are earning enough in rent that I can buy another house each year. Then another two houses each year. Then maybe an apartment building. Then maybe I open up a couple of chain restaurants. All of those things I’m buying make more and more money for me in addition to my $500,000 a year that I make.
That’s the secret to building wealth. You use your income to buy things that either go up in value or make money on their own. You then use those proceeds to buy more things that either go up in value or make money on their own. It snowballs, bigger and bigger and bigger.
The key is to always spend less than you earn. If you do that, then you’re already heading down that path! It’s just easier for someone earning a large income to spend less than they earn, but it’s not impossible for most Americans to do it. It’s just that modern life tempts us to not do it.
About a year ago, my wife abruptly announced that she wanted a divorce. She got custody of the kids and moved about an hour away to be closer to her job. I felt happy with our marriage but she obviously did not.
I am fine with the divorce proceedings and the amount of child support that I pay each month. What I am struggling with is basically just loneliness and spending.
I feel lost. Each day before things changed I felt like I had a purpose. I filled almost every hour with something related to either my career or the family.
Now, on a typical working day, I have about five or six hours that are just unfilled. I mostly just sit at home and overplan the next weekend when I’ll have the kids because that’s what I look forward to the most.
I have tried to get back into the hobbies I used to have when I was single and I have spent a lot of money on buying stuff for them but I just have no desire to do it. I sit at home and binge watch TV series and go on runs and then watch some more TV and read the internet and spend some more money at online stores.
I have read a lot of advice books on getting out of a post-divorce funk which I’m obviously in but what is really worrying me is that I used to feel like my spending was completely under control and now it’s totally haywire. It’s like I convince myself almost every day that buying something will make me feel better like I used to but it doesn’t.
– Craig
Honestly, Craig, you sound like you may have a mild form of depression, one that may have been there during your marriage but you kept so busy and organized that you didn’t notice it because you didn’t really have time to unwind at all.
If I were you, I’d have a chat with your doctor who will likely encourage you to seek some kind of therapy to work through this.
Along with that, all I can do is encourage you to take the steps that a friend of mine took after his own divorce. He has told me many times that he made himself go out and get involved in community groups, that he really didn’t want to but that if he just sat around the house he was going to dig himself into a deeper and deeper funk. Go look at Meetup.com and go to anything and everything that’s interesting. Dabble. See what clicks with you.
Good luck. Life will go on. And unless you’re bankrupting yourself and not saving for retirement, don’t get too stressed about the money concerns right now. If you right the ship in other areas of your life, I’m willing to bet that the money will come along, too.
I want to get started with painting as a hobby. I used to love painting back in high school art and felt like I was at least decent at it. I looked into becoming a member of a studio and it was scary expensive. I have some space in the guest bedroom that I could use. Do you have any suggestions for inexpensive easels, sources for canvas and paints, and so on?
– James
I actually have considered this very hobby a few times. I could definitely see myself doing this in the corner of the basement family room by placing things to paint in front of me or watching instructional videos. I did some homework on it and asked some people, and I came to the conclusion that the best place to start was with paints and equipment paired to instructional videos.
So, I came to the conclusion that a kit that was well supplemented with a bunch of online material would be perfect, and that led me to Bob Ross.
If I were getting started, I would get a starter kit of the items Bob Ross used on his show Joy of Painting, along with a simple easel and a bucket for cleaning brushes and a pack of stretched canvases.
Then I’d set up in front of my television and turn on some videos of old episodes of Joy of Painting. Start with a great starter episode, like Grandeur of Summer, and just follow along. After that, start going through the videos of old Joy of Painting episodes on Youtube and working through the ones that look interesting, pausing whenever you need to.
The point isn’t to just copy his paintings, but to eventually branch off and do your own thing. Consider the episodes to be inspirational training wheels, from which you can branch off and do whatever you want.
Once you have the basic gear (easel, brushes, and initial batch of paints), you’re probably investing somewhere around $10 per painting, but it will provide you several hours of calm entertainment (at least). That, to me, is a reasonable bargain compared to many hobbies.
My workplace now has a Roth 401(k). How does it compare to a Roth IRA? Which is the better deal?
– Jim
If your employer is offering matching contributions, then the Roth 401(k) is a better deal. The amount of money you’ll get from matching contributions blows away any edge you might get from using a Roth IRA over a Roth 401(k).
If your employer isn’t offering matching contributions, then the Roth IRA is almost assuredly a better deal because you have a much broader selection of investment houses and investments so you’re sure to save money on costs over the Roth 401(k) at work.
However, if you’re saving enough to go over the annual limit of a Roth IRA, then putting additional money into a Roth 401(k) is a good idea.
Can you actually save money by pickling things yourself in the fridge for later consumption? For example, if you’re comparing a jar of pickles at the store to pickles you pickle yourself at home, which is cheaper? Enough cheaper to be worth it?
– Aaron
I tend to think that refrigerator pickles – the kind you make in a jar that you store in the fridge until you eat them a few weeks later – blow away almost any store-bought pickles. However, the cost of refrigerator pickles does exceed the cost of cheap pickles at the store, though they’re not as expensive as the higher-end pickles at the store.
What you’ll need is a quart jar with a lid, some tap water, a little bit of vinegar (though how much depends on your preferences – I use about half a cup per jar), 2 tablespoons of salt per jar, some peppercorns (2 teaspoons or so) and garlic (a few garlic cloves) and a bit of dill seed (a teaspoon works for me, but it depends on the flavor you want) or fresh dill for flavor, and some cucumbers. Cucumbers are easy to grow, so if you can get them from the garden, this makes the pickles much less expensive.
Put everything but the cucumbers and water in the jar and shake it thoroughly with the lid on there, then slice the cucumbers into spears or discs and add to the jar until the cucumbers fill up about 3/4 of the jar. Then add water to fill the jar up to just a bit above the cucumbers but below the top of the jar. Add the lid, shake thoroughly again, and put it in the fridge for a week. The pickles will be amazing.
If you let them stay in there longer, the flavor gets stronger, but the pickle may slowly start to degrade and become soft. There’s usually this happy point where it’s got this perfect balance of flavor and texture, and I find it’s usually between 7 and 9 days.
You can always adjust the seasoning as you wish by adding more or less garlic or dill or peppercorns or add things like red pepper flakes.
My calculation of the cost of a jar like this is about $1.50 for the jar and lid (which you should be able to reuse a bunch of times), $0.50 to $0.75 for the non-cucumber ingredients, and whatever the cost of the cucumber is. You can, of course, reuse old pickle jars from the store for this.
I think it’s a money-saver, but only because I’m comparing the refrigerator pickles to the better store-bought pickles instead of the cheapest ones you can buy.
Is there any value to reading old money books or do they become useless after a few years? I picked up some money books from the 70s and 80s and some of the tips are just bizarre. Tips referring to using Ma Bell aren’t useful!
– Danny
I think that the more timeless/conceptual/philosophical ideas consistently hold true. That’s why the wisdom of people like Epictetus and Ben Franklin and Marcus Aurelius and Ralph Waldo Emerson still provide great guidance for personal finance and career choices, even today. They often spoke to principles and assumed that the reader would be smart enough to figure out how to directly apply those principles to everyday life.
It’s the specific application that becomes dated very quickly. Specific money-saving tips have a fairly short shelf life on average, though some – like food strategies – can stick around for a while. You’re spot on in pointing out that strategies for “Ma Bell” really aren’t useful these days!
I tend to value the more “timeless” books more, anyway. I think it’s quite enjoyable translating core principles into specific tactics in my own head and although I like reading lists of frugal tactics, I’m often using those tactics just as much to sharpen my own sense of how to be frugal than using those specific tips themselves.
What is your best single piece of financial advice?
– Irene
I was literally asked this question three times this week by three different people, so it felt right to include it in the mailbag!
My single best piece of advice is to spend less than you earn. If you live within your means, you will achieve financial success.
However, that doesn’t mean that financial success will instantly arrive the first month you spend less than you earn. Spending less than you earn needs to be the pattern of your life. You should do it every month, and when you do it every month that means you’ve done it for the year, and if you do it every year, that means you’ve done it over the span of your career.
It’s a person’s inability to do this one simple thing that leads to virtually all financial troubles, and it’s a person’s ability to do it that leads to virtually all financial successes.
Got any questions? The best way to ask is to follow me on Facebook and ask questions directly there. I’ll attempt to answer them in a future mailbag (which, by way of full disclosure, may also get re-posted on other websites that pick up my blog). However, I do receive many, many questions per week, so I may not necessarily be able to answer yours.
The post Questions About Inheritance, Old Money Books, Fidgeting, Pickles, and More! appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
Okay, sure. There have been times in my life I could consider myself lazy.
You know. Like the time I almost gave up on college because of a $75 parking ticket.
But when I came across this article in the New York Post which shares some of the reasons why Americans are too lazy money I almost lost it.
Because now, more than ever, it's too easy to save money. Heck, with technology, apps, and online banking, it's actually harder not to save!
If you're one of these people too lazy to save money, check out the latest GFC podcast where we outline 3 steps you can start today – yes, today! – to get your savings on track.
References in the podcast
The post GFC 089: Stop Freakin’ Being Lazy About Money! appeared first on Good Financial Cents.
You’re driving along, not a care in the world, when all of a sudden your car starts making a funny noise: Ka-chunk, ka-chunk, ka-CHUNK, ka-chunk, ka-CHUNK…
It’s an alarming noise. Sounds like it’s going to be expensive.
Do you have the money to fix it?
According to a new AAA survey, 1 in 3 U.S. drivers can’t pay for an unexpected auto repair.
The average cost of car repairs is $500 to $600, and major repairs to the engine or transmission cost a lot more. That’s why 64 million Americans wouldn’t be able to pay for repairs without going into debt.
To avoid a crisis, AAA advises drivers to save at least $50 a month for unexpected costs. (For help with that, here are our tips on how to build an emergency fund.)
The cost of repairs can soar even higher when a vehicle has been poorly maintained. A previous AAA survey found that one-third of U.S. drivers skip or delay recommended service or repairs.
Before a breakdown happens, AAA recommends you:
If faced with an unexpected repair, AAA suggests you:
Finally, AAA has these tips for maintaining your vehicle:
Your Turn: Could you pay for an unexpected car repair?
Mike Brassfield (mike@thepennyhoarder.com) is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder. He hates car trouble.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, one of the largest personal finance websites. We help millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. In 2016, Inc. 500 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the No. 1 fastest-growing private media company in the U.S.
Delaney Swink filed her taxes by hand last year.
Like the rest of us, Swink wasn’t a big fan of doing her taxes, so when she learned about a program that could help her get her taxes done for free, she was intrigued.
Swink, 22, is finishing a degree in international studies and romance languages at the University of Oregon. With scholarships and her two jobs — she’s a campus tour guide and helps organize student orientation programs — Swink said she was never really sure she was filing her taxes correctly.
This year, with the help of the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program (VITA for short), she got a refund without the annual anxiety that used to accompany tax season
“Doing my taxes myself made me feel stressed and unsure of whether I was doing it correctly or not,” Swink said. “Getting my taxes done through VITA made me feel more certain that it was all completed accurately, and it was also a very efficient, friendly experience.”
If you can’t afford to visit an accountant or tax preparer, you should know about a handy program that will provide you with free tax help this spring.
The IRS created the VITA program to help workers who make $54,000 a year or less file their taxes. The program also serves people with disabilities, workers who have a limited understanding of the English language, Native Americans and people who live in rural areas.
University and college campuses, community centers, libraries and other public spaces across the United States host the program’s clinics. The IRS certifies and trains volunteers to run these tax clinics, which local financial institutions and tax coalitions often co-sponsor.
Last year, volunteers prepared 3.7 million tax returns for free at 11,831 sites nationwide, according to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
Taking advantage of this free program is a smart move that can save you money this tax season. H&R Block charged, on average, $220 to file in 2016, according to spokesman Gene King.
If you work with an accountant on your taxes, you could pay anywhere from $176 to $457, depending on the complexity of your situation, according to national averages calculated by the National Society of Accountants. Those numbers can fluctuate by location.
Tax preparation software, like TurboTax, offer free versions for filing your federal taxes, but you may have to pay to file your state return. Plus, you won’t get the same specialized review of your financial situation.
“(Without VITA), people would either do their taxes on their own and possibly make mistakes, or they would go somewhere and pay to have their taxes prepared on their own,” said Andrew Zumwalt, a Missouri extension specialist who oversees the state’s VITA sites.
If you’re not sure whether you should do your own taxes, here are five questions to consider before making a decision.
The VITA Program at the University of Missouri is in its 13th year and typically serves 1,800 people each tax season. Since taxpayer dollars partially fund the university, one of its missions is to reach out to the community and help improve the lives of Missourians. The VITA Program helps with that, Zumwalt said.
As a side bonus, the program provides undergraduate and graduate students with real-world experience that goes well beyond tax preparation. They learn other important business skills, such as customer service and how to talk frankly with people about their financial situation.
“Often, students learn content, but the application is limited. In the tax labs, students immediately apply what they have learned. Students also gain experience from talking with clients about money,” Zumwalt said. “Money is still a taboo subject, so actually talking to real clients about real money provides an important advantage to our students when they graduate and are looking for employment.”
Though volunteers focus on helping clients file their tax returns, some go beyond that to improve the overall financial situation of people in their community.
Student volunteers at the University of Georgia, for example, follow up with clients after their initial meeting to outline key planning strategies they can use for the upcoming year.
The goal is to make next year’s tax and financial situation a little bit better than the year before, said Lance Palmer, an associate professor of financial planning, housing and consumer economics in the University of Georgia’s College of Family and Consumer Sciences.
“It is about promoting savings,” Palmer said. “Tax preparation is nice, but the goal is to help people have an overall better financial situation and plan for the future. Tax preparation simply presents the opportunity to engage with them.”
The VITA Program at the University of Georgia has been running for 12 years and serves about 900 taxpayer households each year. Roughly 70 financial planning and accounting students serve as volunteers for the university’s program, and two or three people review every tax return.
Beyond helping clients improve their overall financial picture, the program aims to correct misconceptions about tax rules and keep the market honest, Palmer said.
“We try to explain to all of our clients how the tax law applies to their current situation,” Palmer said. “We have also been able to correct many erroneous beliefs of the tax law that have developed among clients who worked with other preparers. We also serve as a second opinion on tax returns for individuals who do it themselves, but may not be too familiar with a new tax situation they have that year.”
If you’re planning to take advantage of VITA this year, you’ll want to bring some form of photo identification, your Social Security card, your tax documents from last year and any income statements (W-2s and 1099s) you receive.
You’ll also want to know your bank routing and account numbers so the IRS can direct deposit your tax return into your account.
Many VITA clinics offer convenient evening and weekend hours, and allow you to book an appointment online.
Some programs, however, serve walk-ins only, so you may have to wait in line to use this free service. To look for a VITA site near you, simply enter your ZIP code into the VITA locator on the IRS website.
Not only will VITA save you the cost of having your taxes prepared elsewhere, the program is also likely to help you get a refund. The VITA program at Temple University’s Ambler campus resulted in $428,604 in federal and $9,024 in state tax refunds in 2016. That’s across 379 tax returns, meaning the average tax refund was more than $1,000.
Since the program launched in 2008, it’s helped clients get more than $3 million in refunds.
“The clients are usually happy and many of them have come back year after year,” said Steven Balsam, an accounting professor and senior research fellow at Temple University’s Fox School of Business.
Prefer to file your own taxes from home? Here are eight free filing websites for you to consider instead. And if you still haven’t received tax forms from your employer, don’t panic: Here’s exactly what to do if you’re still missing tax forms.
Your Turn: What’s your tax plan for the coming year?
Sarah Kuta has a penchant for weekend thrifting, furniture refurbishment and good deals. Find her on Twitter: @sarahkuta.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, one of the largest personal finance websites. We help millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. In 2016, Inc. 500 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the No. 1 fastest-growing private media company in the U.S.Kelly McCausey started her entrepreneur journey in 2002. As a single mom with one son, she made graphics and websites for other home-based business owners. Not only did she work hard, but she traded hours for dollars. Over time, Kelly quickly learned there were smarter ways to build an online business. Find out how his solopreneur found the […]
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Plans to ban letting agents from charging fees to tenants have moved a step closer with the government launching an industry consultation on the move.
Around 245,000 former and existing Wonga customers may have had their data stolen, the payday lender has warned.
It says “there may have been illegal and unauthorised access to the personal data of some of our customers”, adding that it’s “urgently working to establish further details and contacting those who we know have been impacted”.
The best part about adopting a frugal lifestyle is that you can always find new ways to save money. We have more options than ever when it comes to cutting the cord to cable or choosing a discount phone provider, for example. And there are always new strategies to try, from DIY to experimenting with new recipes, growing your own food, or sewing your own clothes.
I’m willing to do plenty to save money – even if some sacrifice is required. For example, my husband and I sold our second car to become a one-car family this year. We didn’t really need the second car, we realized, so we banked the $3,000 sales price and quit paying for insurance and upkeep. Another frugal hack I use is buying nearly everything used – clothing, home décor, and kid’s toys. I don’t mind shopping secondhand, and no one in my family seems to mind, either.
Over time, all the little things we do – and don’t do – help us save a lot more. But, you know what? There are plenty of things I simply will not do to save money. Here are 10 savings hacks I will always reject – no matter what:
While I love saving money where I can, I refuse to save money at someone else’s expense. You can technically save 15% to 20% off your bill by not tipping (or under-tipping) your waiter, but I would never dream of doing such a thing.
If saving money involves short-changing someone else, count me out. Here’s what I think: If you can’t afford your dinner and a tip, stay home or choose one of the many restaurants where you serve yourself.
Once per month, we pay a cleaning service $120 to deep clean our home from top to bottom. I would really love to have them come twice per month, but $240 monthly seems steep. Alas, we decided once a month was enough and that we would do some “keep up” in between.
I could save $120 per month now by doing all the cleaning myself, but this is one splurge I can handle. The day they come and whisk through my house is easily my favorite day of the month, and I won’t give it up – even to save some cash.
I used to spend hours pouring through ads, cutting coupons, and creating a carefully-crafted grocery store strategy. Eventually, I grew tired of all the extra work. I also realized my hourly “rate” for this work was a pittance compared to how much I earn and what my free time is truly worth. Nowadays, I would rather wake up on a Saturday and relax than sit at the kitchen table sorting flyers.
I do use coupons, but only if they’re right in front of me. And when it comes to food, we still save plenty by making most of our meals from scratch and shopping sales.
Speaking of coupons, most of them are for food I don’t want anyway. Sure, you can get free cookies and cereal bars and candy, but who needs that?
I’m perfectly willing to spend more money – and forgo free or super-cheap junk foods – to feed my family well. Right now we spend around $150 per week on mostly healthy food, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
My parents were extremely frugal when I was a kid, to the point where they barely turned on the air conditioning during summer. I distinctly remember laying in a pool of sweat in my bed, miserable and praying for air.
I knew that once I grew up, things would be different. Once I was in charge of paying the bill, I would crank up the AC or turn on some heat whenever I wanted.
Now that I’m an adult, I would much rather pay a little more money for utilities than spend the hot summer months sweaty and miserable. Some savings just aren’t worth it.
We scrimp and save in certain areas so we can spend a little more in others. One area where I never regret spending money is on family vacations. Our kids are only young once, right? As parents, we want to make fun vacation memories that will last.
While a staycation can be okay, I love taking my kids to new beaches and trying new things. And if it costs a little money, so what? The family memories we make are priceless. The whole reason we live frugally most of the time is so we have enough money for big savings goals that are important to us.
I’m not willing to steal to save money, even something as small as ketchup packets or plastic silverware. I would much rather save up and pay for disposables on my own. I need to save money, sure, but I also need to live with myself. Stealing anything – even packets of Splenda – would weigh too heavily on my conscience.
Although I’m a natural blonde, I still have my hair highlighted from time to time. The bad news is, highlights are crazy expensive at salons in my area – usually $120 and up. Fortunately, one of my neighbors does the same work out of her home, and she only charges $85 for highlights and a cut.
I could maybe-possibly-potentially buy a box of color and try to do my hair myself, but I’m a little scared at the damage I would do. Plus, I want to look good!
So no, I won’t attempt to color my own hair to save money at this point in my life. Instead, I fork over $85 for professional help every five or six weeks.
Now that my kids are almost 6 and 8, some of their “stuff” is getting expensive. From school supplies to clothes and sporting goods, it all adds up. These days, they grow so fast I’m buying new shoes every few months!
I could save money by never buying them nicer clothes or by cancelling their gymnastics lessons, but I wouldn’t dare. I would rather make budget cuts elsewhere.
For the months of April and May, the home upkeep categories in our zero-sum budget are absurd. We planted some new grass seed, and we plan to lay down a new layer of mulch. We also plant a vegetable garden and summer flowers in early May. What can I say? I want my yard to look good!
While I save money by buying used stuff and choosing minimalist décor for the inside of my home, I’m not willing to scrimp much there, either. I work at home and I raise my family here. I want everything to look nice so my family can feel proud. And if that means having potted plants and hanging flowers on display – even at the cost of a few hundred bucks each year – so be it.
At the end of the day, saving money isn’t everything. More than anything else, I aim to strike a balance – and for my family to be as happy and healthy as they can be.
And, that’s the best part of frugality in my opinion – it looks different for everyone. Just like someone’s trash is another person’s treasure, everyone gets to choose where to save and where to splurge.
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.
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What do you refuse to do to save money? What would you add to this list?
The post 10 Things I Refuse to Do to Save Money appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
Hundreds of travel-booking websites have been told to clean up their act, after the European Commission and EU consumer protection bodies found many displaying misleading prices.
Of the 352 websites investigated, two thirds – 235 – displayed unreliable prices. For example:
While earning his master’s degree at the Paris School of Economics, my friend Benjamin Brew was a proponent of the “pay and pray” method, where you spend your money blindly and just hope you have enough. He admits he had no concept of saving or budgeting.
“I was a grad student and I would spend until I ran out of that month’s stipend,” he said. “Then I would borrow.”
All that changed a few years ago, when a friend recommended he listen to a Planet Money podcast about tracking expenses. Newly hired as a data scientist at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, he decided to try it.
Now, he tracks his daily spending in a spreadsheet — and it’s helped him save about $4,000 in the last 15 months.
At first, he just collected data.
“The great thing about keeping a spreadsheet is you can track every purchase and see how much you’re spending,” he said. “Then, you can figure out what you can cut out, and how much money you can save by doing so.”
When he examined his spending, Brew was surprised by where his money went.
“I used to buy two or three coffees a day and I thought that would be my biggest expense, but coffees are cheap,” he explained.
“What I really noticed was I was spending most of my money on lunches at work. I would spend $12 a day, five days a week. Now multiply that for the whole year and you have a pretty big number.”
Inspired by the numbers staring him in the face, Brew started buying less coffee and packing sandwiches. He stopped buying so much tea and so many snacks, and started questioning his purchases. Did he really need that new shirt? Did he have to go out to dinner so often?
“There’s no need to punish yourself and go without, but you can identify things that are easy to cut out,” he said. “I have a bad habit of spending on things that I don’t need. I didn’t want to look at my spending at first. But once I did, it changed everything.”
After a few months of his new spending pattern, he reviewed his savings, and noticed a big difference from a few months back — in the hundreds of dollars.
For Brew, it’s all about having money to do the things that are important to him, by cutting out the things that aren’t.
On the sheet, he divides his purchases into “descriptions,” which helps him track his spending on things like “lunch” and “dinner” and “recreation.”
Brew pays for everything with a debit or credit card, and at the end of the day, he opens his banking app and copies all the data into his spreadsheet. This manual entry, he said, is one way he takes ownership of his spending. He has to face each spending decision again, as opposed to letting a tool like Mint handle it automatically.
Brew’s spreadsheet is a simple document, and he shared a copy with me so you can try it for yourself. You can even enter a budget and the spreadsheet will tell you if you’re on track, based on your spending, or if you’re going over.
The spreadsheet template, which you can download here, is a simple and effective way to track what you spend. Each entry should contain four pieces of information:
The spreadsheet also shows you some interesting breakdowns:
Annual spending: To see how much of your take-home annual income you’ve spent so far this year, enter your after-tax annual income in the labeled box.
Daily spending: To examine how much you spent on a particular date, enter the date under “enter any date here.” If your spending for that day isn’t sustainable — if you spent that much every day, you would exceed your annual income — the cell will turn red.
Spending by category: To see how much you’ve spent on a given category, such as coffee, enter the category name under “enter description here.” Based on your spending in that category so far this year, the spreadsheet will also predict your total spending for the year, if you don’t make any changes.
Remember that $4,000 Brew said he’s been able to save in the past 15 months?
Instead of mindlessly spending it on lunch and coffee, he now puts it toward things and experiences that mean a lot to him. In February, we’re going to Vegas for our friend’s bachelor party, and he’s saving up to take his wife on a trip to China, something they’ve always talked about.
“People are always complaining that they don’t have money to do the things they want to do. Thing is, they do have money, they’re just spending it every day, and they don’t realize it,” he said.
“The money’s there, they just need to figure out a way to use it effectively. That’s where the spreadsheet comes in.”
Your Turn: Have you ever tracked your expenses? What did you notice, and did it help you change your spending habits?
Jon Silman has written for Vice, The NY Post, the Miami Herald and the Tampa Bay Times, among others. He spends too much money on books and video games.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, one of the largest personal finance websites. We help millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. In 2016, Inc. 500 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the No. 1 fastest-growing private media company in the U.S.
