House buyers in the UK will decide on the property they want to buy in less than half an hour, according to new research.
Property portal Zoopla found that Brits typically take just 27 minutes to view a property in person and to decide to buy it – about the same time as it takes to watch an episode of Coronation Street.
House buyers in the UK will decide on the property they want to buy in less than half an hour, according to new research.
Property portal Zoopla found that Brits typically take just 27 minutes to view a property in person and to decide to buy it – about the same time as it takes to watch an episode of Coronation Street.
“Hey, bartender!”
(Our speaker hiccups, belches, squints through one eye and slams a freshly drained pint glass down on the bar.)
“Lookie here, bartender. I’ve got an app on this here phone that’s guaran-TEED to piss you off.”
OK, so maybe that’s not exactly how that conversation should go. You should probably strive to adopt just the right tone when introducing your local bartender to this new app.
The new iPhone app, currently in beta testing, is called Pour Authority. It measures how much beer you’re really getting in that pint glass. Its goal is to fix the vexing problem of “beer shorting” and end the imperfect beer pour once and for all.
“Is your pint really a pint?” reads the app’s description in Apple’s iTunes store, where it’s available as a free download. “Pour Authority is a fun and simple way to measure, map, share and catalog your beer pours.”
“With our Patent Pending technology, you’ll know right away if your 16 oz ‘pint’ is really only 12 ounces.”
Pour Authority doesn’t use fancy image recognition technology or complicated algorithms, app creator Craig Robertson told his hometown newspaper, The Capital Times in Madison, Wisconsin. Instead, it uses old-fashioned geometry mixed with user-submitted information.
(By the way, we’re shocked — shocked we tell you — that a tech bro from Madison, Wisconsin, would engineer himself an app that’s centered around cereal malt beverages and whether he’s getting his fair share of them. That’s some quality American ingenuity right there. He’s disrupting the market, see? Who would have ever suspected that a university town like Madison would serve as an incubator for such an idea?)
Anyway, the app works like this:
After you select a type of glass in the app — like a standard pint or a snifter or a stein — you’re supposed to line up your phone next to your beer. You compare the image on your phone to the glass of beer in front of you. You position a slider in the app to align with the beer’s surface. The app calculates how full your glass is.
According to the app, 90% full or more is a “perfect pour.” More than 80% full is “OK.” Anything below that is “low tide.”
The app also features a map showing bar-to-bar data generated from all of its users.
Wait a sec. “Bar-to-bar data?”
Oh, man.
Donnie, the guy who tends bar at your local Bennigan’s, is just gonna love this one. Yeah, Donnie’s gonna eat this up, just you wait.
Can’t wait to see Donnie’s reaction when you whip out an app to check if he’s pouring you a proper Bud Light.
“This app is crowd-sourced quality control,” app creator Craig Robertson chirped to The Capital Times.
Robertson, by the way, runs an “iPhone development consulting firm,” because of course he does.
Food & Wine magazine sees some promise in the app:
“In the same way that negative Yelp reviews can encourage a lousy business to clean up its act,” Food & Wine wrote, “if Pour Authority became popular enough to actually influence where people drink, crowdsourced ‘pour-shaming’ could theoretically make a bar more conscious of actually filling its glasses.”
Yes, that’s right. Pour-Shaming: The next big thing.
To his credit, Robertson doesn’t want people to start haranguing their bartenders.
He told The Capital Times that he doesn’t think bartenders are intentionally cheating innocent, unsuspecting beer drinkers. Some may simply be unaware that they’re shorting their customers, he said.
He thinks the good his app could do will outstrip any potential negatives.
“I don’t think it will be so catastrophic as people think,” he said.
Still, when you belly up to the bar at Bennigan’s and you whip out that app, it might be wise to keep your iPhone out of Donnie’s reach. Otherwise, it might be going for a swim.
Your turn: Would you download Pour Authority?
Mike Brassfield (mike@thepennyhoarder.com) is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder. He expects a full pint.
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.The U.S. housing market may have bounced back from its post-recession slump, but prospective buyers can still be on the lookout for savings.
The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate decreased last week to 3.97%, according to mortgage giant Freddie Mac. This is the first time the rate has dropped below 4% since the presidential election in November.
While the housing market has been strong for sellers and competitive for buyers, a drop in mortgage rates could further encourage aspiring homeowners.
For regular consumers, the difference is likely so small that it won’t be much of a factor in deciding when to buy a home.
“The monthly mortgage payment for a home at the median price of $236,400, assuming a down payment of 20%, would be about $40 less today than a month ago,” Laura Kusisto of the The Wall Street Journal reported. But in big housing markets, like California, people purchasing a house priced at $600,000 could essentially save $90 per month on their mortgage, she wrote.
Even saving $40 per month isn’t chump change when you look at a 30-year loan: The homebuyer who waited a month for the interest rate to drop this spring could save more than $14,000 over the life of the mortgage, assuming they don’t refinance.
But if number crunchers get anxious waiting for the rate to drop further, they may miss budget-friendly purchasing opportunities altogether.
Keep an eye on the 30-year fixed mortgage rate if you’re thinking about buying. Economists told Kusisto if it drops below 3.5%, it has more potential to significantly impact volume for both homebuying and refinancing.
The recent rise — and more recent decline — in mortgage rates seems tied to the “Trump Bump,” which saw the economy boom as the country prepared for President Donald J. Trump to take office in January. Trump has promised to reshore manufacturing and create jobs, but it’s far too soon to determine the full impact of proposed policies.
In the meantime, potential homebuyers should keep an eye on the mortgage rate this summer as Fannie Mae* rolls out a new loan approval process that may benefit first-time homebuyers.
*The government owns both Fannie Mae — the Federal National Mortgage Association — and Freddie Mac — the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. Fannie Mae buys mortgages from big banks, while Freddie Mac buys them from small ones.
Your Turn: Are you thinking about buying or selling a house? Will the recent drop in interest rates influence your decision?
Lisa Rowan is a writer and producer at The Penny Hoarder.
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.It’s one thing to be looking for just any ol’ job. It’s another to be looking for the job.
You know, the one that fits into your lifestyle so you don’t dread waking up on Monday mornings.
Fairygodboss, a job-review site for women, recently launched a work-life balance guide so job seekers can determine which companies would be most ideal for them.
The site conducted a survey to find out the top priority — aside from compensation — for women looking for their next job. Flexibility came in as the No. 1 concern, above opportunities for advancement, work culture and a nice boss.
Turns out having autonomy to set your own schedule and select your own work environment is important to female professionals.
Fairygodboss found it wasn’t just women with children who desired flexibility, but all women.
The guide helps job seekers discover which companies offer part-time jobs, flexible work policies and telecommuting positions.
You can read company reviews to find out what other women have said about job flexibility at their firms. Job seekers can search for reviews based on industry or company.
One reviewer, Vanice Hayes, works at Dell and lauded the company’s flexible work offerings.
“In addition to being a Dell team member, I am also a wife and mother of two children that are involved in extracurricular activities,” she said. “Because of Dell’s flexible work solutions, I am able to leave work early to attend a game or arrive late to attend a school assembly.
“I also have the tools I need to work from home which has not only made it easy to get things done, but also allowed me to reduce my carbon footprint.”
And though Fairygodboss’ work-life balance guide is skewed to women on the job, men can also use the resource to find out which companies value flexibility as part of their work culture.
Your Turn: Is work-life balance important to you?
Nicole Dow is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder.
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.Whether you’re thinking about spring-cleaning or saving for summer vacation, decluttering can help you make extra money — and clear your head.
And let’s face it, you’ve probably got a bunch of old stuff from high school just sitting in a box in one of your closets. Maybe gathering dust under the bed?
Here are five things you can clear out of your life and sell for some quick cash this week.
Do you even have a CD player anymore? Seriously, it’s killing the vibe in your living room.
We appreciate your impeccably-alphabetized CD tower, but it’s time to dust off those jewel cases and cash in on your once-impressive music collection.
Decluttr will buy your old CDs, video games, DVDs and Blu-rays through its app. You scan the barcode with your phone, and Decluttr makes an offer.
Prices vary — usually about 50 cents to $3 per item — but you can unload your media in bulk to make an extra $50 to $100 this week. And never have to look at them again.
With Decluttr, you can sell stuff online without having to deal with individual listings and buyers.
And shipping is free. The company emails you shipping labels to cover the cost. Just print, pack your items in any box and ship it.
Decluttr’s average basket price is between $50 and $60. But if you’ve got a particularly impressive collection of dusty old media, you could make quite a haul.
We talked to one user, Gil Flores, who sold about 100 DVDs and 75 CDs and made $275, an average of $1.57 each.
Classic movies in your collection could fetch even more. Decluttr told us these are some of the current top offers:
Plus, enter PENNY10 at checkout to get an extra 10% for your trade-ins!
Here’s the link to download the Decluttr app.
Clearing your closet is usually a good bet for quick cash. You likely have a few pieces you’re willing to part with, if someone’s willing to pay for them.
If you want cash in hand today, take the loot to your local consignment store. If you can wait, sell online, and you won’t even have to leave the house.
Not ready to let those vintage pieces go? We can talk about your hoarding tendencies later… For now, consider renting them to make extra money.
You’ll get ‘em out of the house for a while, pocket some dough and have time apart to figure out whether you really want to hold onto them.
Will distance make your heart grow fonder?
There was a time when you felt like that sexy, rockin’ silhouette of Apple lore when you walked the halls with your iPod.
Now, the old device seems impossibly clunky and redundant next to your newest iPhone. Lucky for you, nostalgia fetches a pretty penny.
You can sell a sixth generation iPod Classic 160 GB to Decluttr and pocket $50.
That’s less than you might get selling on Ebay, but you get to avoid seller fees and shipping costs. And you don’t have to deal with flaky individual buyers.
Search for your model iPod, iPhone or tablet here to see how much you could earn.
You probably know you can sell gold and silver for cash; those TV commercials won’t let you forget.
But don’t be tempted by those companies.
Sell your precious metals locally for a better deal and faster payment. If you have bullion bars lying around, great.
If you’re like most of us and do not stock gold bars, try selling these items:
Yours was the hottest house on the block when you set up the latest Xbox. But more than a decade after its release, it’s tough to find games or support for the system.
Plus, you’re all grown up now, with less free time than you used to have. Dust that old thing off and get it out of your house. Make room for a globe — or whatever grown-ups are supposed to have in their living rooms.
Sell your classic Xbox 360 Premium console to Decluttr, and bank $26. More recent generations of the system could get you up to $55.
Plus, you can make even more by selling your Xbox 360 game collection. Here are some of the most popular video games, according to Decluttr:
Selling consoles to Decluttr is as easy as any other item: Get a quote, ship for free and collect your payment. If for some reason the company can’t pay what it offered for a console, it’ll send the item back to you.
Got another gaming system? Search for your items here to see how much you could get.
Getting this clutter out of your life will be a load off your mind — and a nice boost to your bottom line.
Your Turn: Are you getting your spring-cleaning on this week?
Disclosure: You wouldn’t believe how much coffee The Penny Hoarder team goes through. This post contains affiliate links so we can keep the grinds stocked!
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.Your next wine Wednesday might involve a trip to Sam’s Club.
According to Fortune, Costco is currently the largest wine retailer in the country, but Sam’s Club wants a piece of that market share.
To do so, it’s launching its own house-brand wines this year.
Will it be enough to challenge Costco’s title?
Cheap wine is something that’s important to us here at The Penny Hoarder. We’ve reviewed the famous Two-Buck Chuck at Trader Joe’s. We have zero shame in toasting to boxed wines. We even have some killer tips for finding the best wine under $15.
So, yes, we’re intrigued by Sam’s Club’s move into the wine world.
The wholesale club previously sold other brands of wine, but it recently introduced its first in-house wine, a chardonnay from California that rings in at just $8. It will add a cabernet sauvignon from Napa Valley, a Champagne and a prosecco.
Dang. Talk about fancy at a not-so-fancy price. I dig it.
In-house wines are part of a reinvention of Member’s Mark, Sam’s Club’s store brand. Over the next two years, the revamp will bring 600 new premium products to shelves, such as handcrafted sea salt caramels, lasagna and U.S.-sourced honey, Sam’s Club announced April 19.
Looks like it’s almost time for us to do another wine taste test — in the name of science and journalism, of course.
Your Turn: What’s your favorite inexpensive wine?
Kelly Smith is a junior writer and engagement specialist at The Penny Hoarder. Catch her on Twitter at @keywordkelly.
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.Are you ready to get in formation?
Beyoncé just announced a college scholarship program called — what else?— Formation Scholars.
As if the internet could love Queen Bey anymore…
If Beyoncé gave me a scholarship it's going in the header of my resume #FormationScholar
— Phylicia (@Just__Jas) April 25, 2017
Who will Spelman College's #FormationScholar be? Don't think I could love Bey more. http://pic.twitter.com/s9xuLQnoAg
— Maura Chanz (@maurachanz) April 25, 2017
We think it’s awfully generous, considering the star soon has to start saving for college for three future scholars of her own…
The Formation Scholar announcement comes near the one-year anniversary of Queen Bey’s album “Lemonade.” For the 2017-2018 academic year, the awards will “support young women who are unafraid to think outside the box and are bold, creative, conscious and confident.”
Got it in you?
The program will award four scholarships, one per college, to female students at Berklee College of Music, Howard University, Parsons School of Design and Spelman College.
Incoming, current or grad students can apply. You have to be studying creative arts, music, literature or African-American studies.
Details and application deadlines will be available through the colleges, so check these pages or contact your target school’s financial aid office for more information:
Not seeing your school or major here? Check out our massive list of 100 college scholarships — you’re bound to find the help you need!
Either way, it’s time to add “Lemonade” to your Spotify queue and celebrate one helluva year for Queen Bey. Bless up. (Am I saying that right?)
Your Turn: Have you ever applied for a weird college scholarship?
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.Looking for a company that embraces letting employees work from home?
Healthcare insurance company Cigna has 95 open work-from-home positions available as of April 25.
Healthcare experience is not necessary for all jobs, as there are opportunities available in fields like business operations, sales and IT.
I’d love to tell you what you’d be doing in these roles and how much they pay, but since these job positions are so varied — from a pharmacy account manager to a Medicaid/Medicare compliance specialist — it’s impossible to pin that all down.
However, the company says it’s “dedicated to helping people improve their health, well-being and sense of security,” so it’s safe to say the work will somehow fall within that mission.
To get a glimpse of work-from-home life with Cigna, check out this short video highlighting one employee’s experience.
The majority of these positions are full-time and offer health benefits. Some are eligible for a 401k match, short- and long-term disability, paid vacation, tuition reimbursement and other benefits.
Use the advanced search feature on Cigna’s career page and select the “work from home opportunity” filter to find the perfect job for you.
Some job listings may require hirees to live in a certain state or region.
A representative from the company told Real Simple that even jobs that aren’t listed as “work from home” may offer employees the flexibility to work remotely for one or two days per week.
Cigna ranked No. 74 on Flexjobs’ 2017 list of 100 top companies for remote jobs.
Want to be the first to know about other fun and interesting jobs? Like The Penny Hoarder Jobs on Facebook to stay in the loop!
Your Turn: Are you applying for one of Cigna’s work-from-home jobs?
Nicole Dow is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder.
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.Want to make a living as a creative freelancer? It’s a challenge — but we think you’re up to it.
Here are a few tips from our interview with “Scratch” author Manjula Martin on the complex intersection of art and money.
We’ll give it to you straight: Creative work is no pot of gold.
You can make a living at it, and a select few can even hit it big. But it’s not like clocking in and cashing a paycheck.
Publishing and journalism aren’t exactly booming industries — yet, there’s a demand for a ton of content on the internet. That means a lot of sites resort to asking for free or cheap content from writers, photographers, graphic artists and videographers.
Martin says the system needs to change — but won’t, unless we start demanding change.
That doesn’t just mean memes, tweets and protests (#paywriters). It means educating yourself so you understand the financial side of your business, what’s going on in the industry, and how to write and enforce a contract.
If you want to negotiate better rates, you need to know how and why.
If you want to hack it as a freelancer, get comfortable with the pitch.
“I talk to a lot of women who feel (insecure) in asking for more money or in offering their services unrequested,” Martin said. “So to women writers (and artists), I’d say pitch like a guy. Men pitch more, men pitch more frequently, men pitch stuff that is less refined.”
The hardest part? You’ll be rejected a lot.
It’s part of the game. Suck it up, and pitch again.
To make sure you’re making the most of your efforts, find out which outlets accept cold pitches. You can see rates for writers at Martin’s site, Who Pays Writers, and check out our list of places to find freelance writing jobs here.
Your editors and clients are probably just as squeamish about payment as you are. Someone has to bring it up, so go ahead.
“It’s perfectly OK to acknowledge there’s no standard in the assignment process for when and how you talk about money,” Martin said. “Acknowledge that, be polite and you should be fine.”
Congrats — you landed an assignment! Now a quick note: It’s going to be awhile before you get paid.
Some publications will PayPal you right away, but most will take a few days, weeks or even months to cut your check. (And, yes, plenty of places still mail actual checks.)
If freelancing is your main source of income, plan for inconsistent payments. This is especially important to remember early on, but it never stops. Even regular clients can drop off at any moment.
Here’s how to budget with an irregular income.
Your Turn: Are you a freelancer? What tips can you add for making a living?
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.A couple of years ago, I wrote an article about nine techniques I was using to teach myself patience, because patience was (and still is) one of the biggest challenges I’ve faced on the road to financial independence.
The techniques that worked for me boiled down to three things.
First, try to see situations in your life from different perspectives. Step back and evaluate things from the perspective of your future self a year from now or five years from now or 20 years from now. Step back and evaluate things from the perspective of your children, from the perspective of your spouse, from the perspective of your friends.
Second, make big goals, then break them down into tiny day-sized pieces. What can you do today to achieve this goal? This puts the emphasis on things like frugality and automation and shopping around in terms of personal finance planning, which are the more successful strategies I’ve found.
Third, put the focus on enjoying the ride rather than pining for the destination. Rather than looking for the things that are missing in your day, look for the abundance of things that are there. Don’t get fixated on the three things you choose to do without when your life is loaded with infinite avenues of entertainment and fulfillment.
Those things are great principles to live by, but they don’t always feel applicable to the struggles of day-to-day living. How do you take those overall principles of patient living and really ingrain them into ordinary daily life, especially when that life is often incredibly busy and full of distractions?
Here’s a practical checklist of things you can do regularly – daily or less frequently, depending on your needs – to develop smart patience in your life.
The first thing I do each and every day when I wake up – literally as I’m rising out of bed, using the restroom, and getting a glass of water – is to think about what I’m going to do that day. What habits am I working to improve? What tasks do I need to get done? How am I going to go to bed tonight with my life just a tick better than it was when I woke up?
For me, this usually takes the form of a to-do list, one that I keep on my phone. As I’m standing there drinking a glass of water, I’ll look at my list on my phone. It lists the things I want to keep in mind that day – habits I’m working on to improve myself and today’s key tasks. The number of things usually numbers between 10 and 15.
The habits I’m working on are ones that recur each day. I leave them on my to-do list all day long so that I see them throughout the day and check them off at night. The tasks get checked off as I do them.
How does this build patience? The thing to remember is that I’m not really looking for results when it comes to most of the things on my to-do list. Those habit reminders are not about results. They’re simply reminders of things I need to do today in order to keep bobbing in the right direction in life. Patience really builds when I combine this strategy with other ones on this list.
Whenever I have a few minutes of downtime, like when I’m driving my kids to soccer practice or waiting on the dentist, I use that time to reflect on my day so far and what’s still to come. Often, I’ll grab my phone and review that to-do list again – the one mentioned above, with all of my ongoing habits I’m trying to build on it.
Again, this just keeps me mindful of what my goals and initiatives are for today, keeping them fresh in my mind so that I don’t walk away from them because I’m not seeing results right now.
At least once a day, I take a longer block of time and actually write in a journal. I usually take one element of my life – usually something that’s bothering me or a mistake I’ve recently made – and expand on it a little, trying to dig into the core of what’s bothering me and see if there’s an applicable solution.
The advantage here is that I address little bumps in the road quickly before they develop into big problems. Impatience is often the result of processes that aren’t going as smoothly as we hoped, so by simply dealing with the little problems right away by thinking through them and coming up with good solutions, you prevent them from developing into big problems that can really freeze up the gears of progress and allow impatience to destroy what you’ve been working for.
A big part of patience is enjoying the ride rather than focusing on the destination, and one way of doing that is to simply focus on the moment. Focus on what you’re doing right now. Focus enables you to fall into a state of flow, where time passes without you even noticing it because you’re so engaged and productive. Focus also enables you to notice lots of little nuances and pleasures that a distracted mind misses, like the feel of warmth on your skin or the nuance of what a friend is trying to tell you.
The most effective method of doing this is to simply turn off your cell phone for a while. When you’re doing something that requires focus or which really rewards having your full mind at attention, just turn your phone completely off for an hour or so. Yeah, you might miss a social media update. So what? You might miss a text from someone. So? You can get back to them later. You can check social media later.
Turn off your phone when you’re settling in to work on a project. Turn off your phone when you’re about to do something fun. Turn off your phone when you’re spending time with people you love or care about. Let your focus be on the thing you’re actually doing and the people you’re actually with. Don’t let your cell phone be a crutch for your social or intellectual impatience.
One technique I’ve found that really helps with building some extra life into long-term life changes that require patience is to have “micro-challenges” on many days, where I challenge myself, just for today (or maybe for just a few days), to do something extra challenging to push myself toward a new habit or toward a long-term goal.
For example, you might simply commit to spending no money at all for an entire weekend, making do with the things you already have on hand and on activities that are free. If you’re trying to lose weight, perhaps you experiment with intermittent fasting, where two or three days a week you simply choose to eat one meal later in the day rather than three meals.
These things are mostly meant to add a new angle or some “spice” to a larger goal that requires patience and give you a fresh angle on the strategies and techniques you’re using to move toward that big goal. It’s simply a way to keep a big goal from becoming completely routine, which means that it’s easy to get frustrated with it and give up. If you keep playing around with the tactics, it’s much harder to lose patience with it.
This is an extremely simple strategy that I learned from a mentor that accomplishes a number of things at once. First, it improves your conversation skills by giving you a nice guideline to work from. Second, it requires you to be paying attention to what the other person is saying in a conversation rather than focusing on what you’re going to say next and giving you a bit of time through questioning to refine your thought. Third, it draws the other person into expressing their thoughts and ideas, making them feel important. Perhaps best of all, it teaches patience, by making you wait before you say something.
I’ve started consciously trying to use this strategy in conversations, not only to make my conversations better and improve relationships with people, but also to subtly teach myself a bit of patience in the moment. I don’t have to immediately jump in with my thoughts, no matter how important I think they might be. I don’t have to focus on me, me, me all the time. I can wait. I can listen. I can learn.
It’s so subtle and simple, yet it really does have an impact. I can feel my desire to jump into conversation streams lessening. I find myself being more interested in unpacking what the other person is trying to say and learning something from that. I find that when I do say things after doing this, the things I say are more composed and, dare I say, wiser and more considerate. It’s like a microcosm of the practice and benefits of patience.
Sometimes, we just get hit over the head with some sort of impulsive desire to buy something. Maybe we see a book in a bookstore or an article of clothing that just looks so cute. Perhaps you want to buy a new item for the kitchen or maybe you want to upgrade your cell phone. The impulse strikes you and it’s pulling hard.
Here’s the reality, though. You don’t need that item. The want is strong, but it’s not a need. Thus, there’s nothing truly urgent about it. There’s no reason you can’t wait for a little while.
My strategy is to simply wait 30 days before buying anything that’s not strictly a need. Rather than buying something, I write it down somewhere. Usually, it goes on my Amazon wish list; sometimes, it’ll go into a note somewhere.
Not only does this force me to be patient, it pushes me to draw on that patience in the moment. It also saves me a lot of money, because I often find that if I wait for 30 days on that purchase, I no longer really want that item after those thirty days. You’ll find that once that happens a few times, you begin to really doubt how true those strong spending impulses really are.
I do keep a small amount of money around for impulsive experiences, like going out with friends. You can’t predict when a friend might want to stop for ice cream or go out to a movie or something like that. That money can be spent however I want, so I can still be spontaneous. I just use this rule when I’m dealing with purchases or unnecessary solo experiences.
If you do decide to spend money on an item or an activity that you want for personal enjoyment, don’t do it right away. Instead, plan for that indulgence down the road. Plan a vacation in advance. Plan a big purchase in advance.
Doing this achieves a bunch of things at once. Obviously, it teaches you patience, but the rewards keep going. If you’re patient with a purchase, you’re going to have a lot of time to shop around and get more value for your dollar, which means you’re going to end up spending less on this thing.
Even better, if you’re patient with a purchase, you’re also going to be able to really enjoy every drop of anticipation. Rather than just splurging and getting the joy immediately, you get the fun of thinking about something that’s coming up in your life. You effectively wind up extracting a lot more joy and pleasure from that purchase.
I’d far rather plan on going out with a friend on Friday than going out today. Why? I can think about that event for a few days and look forward to it. If I go out right now, I deny myself the joy of anticipation.
One of the best things you can do when you’re working on a big goal is to look for some sort of number through which you can judge your progress. For example, if you’re working toward a financial goal, you can focus on your net worth or the total of your debt. If you’re working on a fitness goal, track your reps or your speed or your max weight or your step count. If you’re working on a weight loss goal, track your calories or your weight.
The purpose of this is to keep track of the fact that you’re making progress, even if it’s not as immediate or as intense as you expected it to be. Each time you write down a number, you can look back at the last few numbers you’ve jotted down and see that you are, in fact, making progress. Your net worth really is going up. Your weight really is going down.
I find that actually making a graph of those numbers that creates a visual line of your progress is really helpful. Seeing my progress heading in the right direction always makes me feel good, and a graph is very visual in that regard.
When you’re trying to be patient with progress towards a big goal, it’s often intimidating and overwhelming to look at the tremendous distance you have to cover. If you started at $0 and your net worth goal is $1 million, building to $10,000 net worth is a great accomplishment, but if you’re staring at the $990,000 yet to go, it seems overwhelming.
Don’t look at how far you have to go. Focus instead on that $0 to $10,000 jump, which is pretty awesome. You’ve come far and you deserve to be proud of it!
From this perspective, when you look forward, look instead at matching your progress of the last month or the last quarter rather than focusing on a huge target. You moved your net worth up $10,000 in the last six months – can you beat it over the next six? I’m actually pretty sure you can do it if you keep up with your tactics.
Again, if you’re waiting impatiently on a big goal in life, rather than staring at that goal and obsessing, step back and look at your life now compared to the disaster that it was before you started on this goal.
If your goal is financial, you’re likely in way better financial shape than you were then. If your goal is health-oriented, your health is likely better. Whatever your big goal is centered around, it’s likely that you’re far better off now with regards to that goal than you were when you started. Look at how much better that aspect of your life is!
When I look back to where I was ten years ago financially, I almost weep with joy. I used to have a career that involved a lot of travel and a lot of office work time; I now have a career flexible enough that I can spend a ton of time with my kids. I used to be loaded down with mountains of debt; I’m now debt free. I used to have a negative net worth; now it’s quite positive. My life is far better today.
Take on commitments? Yep. Few things will teach you patience quite like taking on responsibility for a long-term project in the community that needs a guiding hand.
You will constantly be faced with delays from unexpected sources. You will constantly feel like you’re taking one step forward followed by one step back. You will often feel frustrated and have this sense that nothing is happening.
Eventually, though, you’ll begin to make peace with it. You’ll begin to see that Rome wasn’t built in a day. You’ll start to realize that cool-minded patience almost always results in better decisions and steadier progress toward the result.
When you see that at work, you’ll start to practice patience in other aspects of your life as well.
There’s nothing quite like a slow-moving project that you can’t just push forward out of raw force to teach you patience.
Another aspect of being patient is that you often have plenty of time to really maximize your approach to whatever it is you’re working for. If you’re working toward a big weight loss goal, for example, focus on finding new strategies for causing your weight to drop. If you’re working toward financial independence, focus on finding new strategies for spending less or for investing more effectively. If you’re on a long journey toward completing a work project, look for ways to improve the project without a bunch of additional time or resources.
In other words, you don’t have to just sit still when you’re being patient. You can constantly evaluate the problem before you and figure out intelligent courses of action to take in order to improve your rate of progress or to improve the quality of the outcome.
I find that having a mix of strong curiosity and a natural restlessness, two things I possess, makes this strategy really effective. I’m drawn toward looking for ways to improve my situation and my progress toward my goals, even if the methods are like a drop in the bucket. Every drop matters, and I feel good when I figure out something new, even if it’s tiny.
Many of our biggest mistakes in life come from a simple lack of patience. We didn’t wait around to find out more information; instead, we jumped in head first out of pure impatience and got ourselves in trouble. We speak out about a situation before finding out all of the information. We jump into a course of action before we understand all of the drawbacks. Often, we dive into things just because they look promising at first glance.
Whenever you find yourself quickly making a decision, or you’re about to speak out against or on behalf of something you just learned about, stop. Ask yourself if you’ve really got all of the information you need to make a sensible decision. Do a little bit of homework and look at a few different perspectives on the issue.
I’m not always good at this in the moment, so I try to reflect on those moments later on – as I note above, I spend downtime reflecting on my day and the day to come. I’ve found that, over time, being patient with my words and my actions comes easier and easier. I’ve also found that having more patience with those things is almost always a benefit to my life and my relationships.
One of the surest routes to impatient action is a sense of mild discomfort in modern life. We are surrounded by so many tools for fixing mild discomfort – endless sources of entertainment, online shopping at the click of a button, the ability to call almost anyone from anywhere at any time, endless diagnoses and “medical advice” about any physical discomfort, and so on. Because of those convenient “solutions,” it’s often easy to just grab at them and make the mild discomfort go away.
The problem is that we pay dearly for living a life without any sort of mild discomfort, a life with every want attended to. We lose patience. We lose money. We lose the ability to handle lots of ordinary situations.
The reality is that wanting something and not having an immediate fix isn’t a bad thing. It might be mildly discomforting to not have the thing you want right now, but is it really that big of a deal? Usually, it doesn’t matter – that mild discomfort will vanish on its own quickly, anyway. Alleviating it directly just costs us money and drains us of our patience and our tolerance.
If something strikes you as being mildly uncomfortable, don’t treat it like a nail and hit it with the “comfort” hammer. Instead, move on with life. You might just find that the problem goes away on its own, and when you’re used to that, a lot of problems seemingly go away on their own.
At the end of the day, patience is a skill that can be cultivated over time with lots of little practices in your life, just like any other skill. Use some of these practices to cultivate your patience and you’ll find it to be a valuable tool you can rely on throughout your financial journey – and every other long journey in your life.
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The post Just a Little Patience: 14 Ways to Develop Restraint appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
Right about now, the high school seniors in your life are probably more excited than ever before to check their mailboxes.
Although the fat envelopes contain exciting news — you, yes you, are going to college! — they can sometimes yield disappointment, too.
That’s all I received in financial aid? It’s going to cost me HOW much?
If you plan to attend college in the next few years, keep reading.
Here are five expert tips for reducing the cost of college before — and after — you’re accepted.
Few of these techniques will work if you have low test scores and a low GPA. As with any type of negotiation, you need to have something the other party wants: in this case, a high-achieving student.
Craig McMahon knew this long before his daughter filled out her application forms.
Not only did he ensure she attended a high school with a “vibe of achievement in academics,” he and his wife also refrained from watching TV and using social media on weeknights to create a “perfect homework environment.”
His daughter ended up graduating from high school with a 4.25 GPA. When she applied to Arizona State University, she was invited to the honors college, which is reserved for the top 5% of students.
“That’s when the scholarships came to her,” McMahon explains. She received a full ride, and McMahon now teaches a course on his family’s strategy.
(For more on scholarships, check out this article to find out how this woman helped her son win $100,000.)
Didn’t receive the aid you were expecting? Want to play hardball with your college’s financial aid office?
Hans Hanson, founder of College Logic and author of Dissecting the Big Business of College, has some advice that might just blow your mind.
“Financial aid offices report to me that only one in 100 families knows how [to negotiate],” says Hanson. “It’s not calling up and complaining about costs; rather, it’s knowing their numbers and using them.”
The key number you need to know? The college’s “percentage of need met,” which you can find with a simple search at College Data.
Here’s why that number’s so important: When you fill out the FAFSA, the government determines your expected family contribution (EFC). The difference between that number and a college’s cost is your “demonstrated need.” And each college promises to fulfill a certain percentage of that.
It’s complicated, I know, but stick with me — this example from Hanson will help illustrate the point.
College XYZ
Since College XYZ says it meets 75% of demonstrated need, you should expect an award of $15,000.
“If your award is less than $15,000,” Hanson says, “then you can appeal based on your award being less than the college’s stated percentage of need-met. You appeal to get your fair share.”
Smart, right? So don’t just call up the financial aid office and complain about the cost; it’s heard that before. Arm yourself with information, and you’ve got a much better shot at receiving additional aid.
At the financial aid office, you can only negotiate need-based aid; you can’t request a bigger merit scholarship.
The place to do that? Admissions.
After receiving an acceptance, Hanson suggests telling the admissions office what it’ll take to get you enrolled.
“The admissions office has a job to do — and that’s to convert your acceptance into an enrollment,” explains Hanson. To incentivize you, it has one tool at its disposal: merit scholarships.
When negotiating with the admissions office, the number to know is the college’s conversion rate, or the percentage of accepted students who enroll. (These are available on College Data.)
“The lower the college’s conversion rate, the more it needs to use merit awards to incentivize families to enroll,” explains Hanson.
As an example, he highlights two schools comparable in cost, quality, location and culture: Marist College and Quinnipiac University.
Marist College
Quinnipiac University
Because “it needs to offer higher scholarships [to get] its desired level of enrolled students,” Hanson says the average scholarship from Quinnipiac is double that from Marist.
But, of course, the school will never tell you that.
“If parents aren’t savvy to this, they’ll pay extra to the college’s delight,” says Hanson. “It’s just the fact.”
Another strategy to use at the admissions office involves some healthy competition.
Did you get a bigger scholarship from a comparable school? Use it as leverage. Just note this is a formal appeal process, and you’ll need to show documentation of the higher offer(s).
Recently, Hanson says one of his clients received a $14,000 scholarship from their number-one college, and a $25,000 scholarship from a comparable one.
“Upon submitting an appeal with an attached scholarship of $25,000 from the other college, the preferred college increased their scholarship to $21,000,” he says.
“After letting them know it’d take a bit more to enroll, the admission office added $1,100 to the award.”
Over four years, that additional scholarship money adds up to $32,400 — not to mention, the student was able to attend their first-choice school!
If, once you’ve arrived on campus, you realize some of your AP classes haven’t been counted, don’t just lament about it on social media. Head straight to your dean’s office.
That’s what David Greenberg, president of Parliament Tutors, did. He convinced his dean that his previous college classes and AP credits should exempt him from some intro classes.
Because of that, he ended up graduating a semester early — and saving nearly $20,000. He’s not sure if this approach would work everywhere, but as he sagely explains: “The answer is ‘no’ to 100% of the questions you don’t ask.”
Your Turn: Did you know it was possible to haggle the cost of college? Will you try it?
Susan Shain is a freelance writer and digital nomad. She covers travel, food and personal finance (basically, how to save money so you can travel more and eat more). Visit her blog at susanshain.com, or say hi on Twitter @susan_shain.
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.By Holly Reisem Hanna I guess you could say that I was born with the entrepreneurial bug. Since the age of six — I’ve been exploring different ways to make money. I've gone door-to-door selling arts and crafts to neighbors, hosted lemonade stands, collected salamanders and sold them to the local pet shop, as well […]
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No one enjoys being judged, especially by credit reports. Of course, that’s exactly why your credit reports and credit scores exist — to give others information that may ultimately be used to judge you and your credit worthiness.
Your credit reports are full of information about your past and present credit management habits. That credit information is then used by many companies to judge whether or not they wish to do business with you, and under what terms.
You may not like it very much, but you’re probably already familiar with the fact that most lenders will take a look at your credit reports and credit scores before deciding whether to approve or deny your new loan or credit card application. To a lender, your credit reports say whether or not doing business with you is a good risk.
Yet lenders aren’t the only ones who judge you by your credit. Landlords, insurers, and employers, among others, may want to hear what your credit reports and credit scores say about you.
Credit reports, not credit scores, are often used by employers to assist with hiring decisions. “But John,” I can almost hear you saying, “My credit has nothing to do with whether or not I’d make a good employee.”
While it’s true that you might be able to do a job just as well as the next person regardless of your credit, the fact remains that your credit reports can and will often be used by employers to assist with hiring decisions, whether you find the practice to be fair or not.
Your credit reports give employers an insight into your level of responsibility — whether you have a track record of paying bills on time and managing debt responsibly, or you tend to miss payments and overextend yourself financially.
Furthermore, employers are sometimes concerned that employees with credit and debt problems could be more likely to steal from them or accept bribes or other nefarious financial incentives.
Finally, if your credit report contains issues such as collections, liens, or judgments, an employer might even be worried about debt collectors calling the office or having to deal with wage garnishments, which are headaches most employers would rather avoid.
Many consumers are surprised to learn that insurance companies routinely review credit reports and insurance credit scores.
On the surface, it’s often difficult for consumers to understand why your credit matters when it comes to home or auto insurance pricing. After all, your credit has nothing to do with your driving record, right?
However, if you look at the situation from the insurer’s point of view, it becomes easy to understand why insurance companies care about your credit. Insurance companies want to turn the highest profit possible, and they achieve this goal by paying out as little as possible on customer claims relative to the amount they collect in premiums. Studies have shown there is a direct correlation between the condition of your credit and the likelihood that you will file an insurance claim.
When you apply for an installment loan (think mortgages or auto loans), a lender will generally check your credit report(s) and score(s) only once, at the time of your application, and never again.
That’s not the case when it comes to your credit card accounts, because they can remain open for years or decades, and your credit quality could deteriorate over time while the account is still open and active.
So it makes sense that a credit card issuer would want to continue to monitor a customer’s credit over time. Your credit card issuer will periodically check your credit report data and credit score –sometimes as often as monthly – be sure that the risk of doing business with you remains the same.
If the condition of your credit begins to falter, even on unrelated accounts, then a credit card issuer might opt to change the terms of your account or may elect to close your account and suspend any future charging privileges all together.
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The post What Your Credit Report Says About You Behind Your Back appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
I recently went to hop in my car and drive to class. But after walking around in circles for a few minutes clicking the panic button to no avail, I realized: My car wasn’t there.
I didn’t get a decal before the new parking enforcement date in my apartment complex, so my car got towed. And it was going to cost me $175 to retrieve.
I walked to the bank in a panic, feeling punched in the gut as I thought about the looming damage to my emergency fund. That fund had grown over the past few months. It was finally looking good.
I felt so guilty that I didn’t use my emergency fund. I borrowed money from a friend instead.
I got my car back, but it made me wonder: What’s the point of having a rainy day fund if I never feel OK about using it?
To get to the bottom of why I felt so guilty about using an emergency fund for, well, emergencies, I talked to a few financial experts — and they helped me figure out when it’s OK to use emergency funds and when it’s not.
First things first: An emergency fund should be separate from your savings.
I know, I know. You’re probably groaning and thinking, “I have to save even more money?! But I barely get by as it is!”
But here’s how Kerri Moriarty, head of company development for Cinch Financial, explained it:
“Your savings are generally tracking toward a goal – like buying a house or taking a dream vacation or saving to start your own business,” she said. “The idea with savings is eventually you will deplete them on the goal you were saving for.”
Considering what she said, it’s clear why I felt hesitant to take money out of my account.
I had been putting a little bit away each week and feeling good about it. I was being financially responsible. Every time my weekly automatic transfer to my savings account happened, I thought, “Look at me! I’m a financially responsible adult!”
But the problem was, all that money was sitting in one account.
Because that account was also my savings, it seemed like blowing a good chunk of it on a stupid towing bill wasn’t worth it. I would have rather spent it on that trip to Greece I’ve been saving for.
By having two accounts, Moriarty says you’re more likely to manage them strategically — and monitor how close each one is to your goal amount at all times.
“Something comes up where you needed to use your emergency savings? No problem – but you definitely want to hit pause on your goal-based saving until you’re able to rebuild the emergency fund. If you keep them together, it’s harder to know exactly where you stand,” Moriarty said.
OK, so now you (hopefully) know why you should have separate bank accounts for your emergency fund and your savings. Good job!
But you know when that thing called “life” happens? I know. I just love it too… except when it throws everything into utter chaos and disarray.
There are the obvious moments when it makes sense to pull money from an emergency fund, like when you lose your job, or you’re hit with bereavement costs or emergency home expenses like a leaky roof or broken window.
But what about those gray area moments, like when my car got towed? When is it time to pull money from your emergency account to cover the costs? Well, many financial experts agree that you should ask yourself three questions about your situation:
1. Is it unexpected?
2. It is urgent?
3. Is it necessary?
If the answer is “yes” to all three, then it would probably be a good time to pull from your emergency fund. If you answer “yes” to one but “no” to the others, then you might want to reconsider.
So, let’s go back to my personal example.
Was my car being towed unexpected? Totally.
However, it was something I could have prevented. Did that I mean I was supposed to bite the bullet and pull that money from my monthly budget?
A gray area like this is where the other questions can be great tie-breakers.
Since my car is my primary source of transportation, I needed it ASAP to get to class and work. So, it was urgent.
Most importantly, it was necessary. My professors would’ve likely knocked a few points off my participation grades had I skipped class, or my job could have fired me if I didn’t show up. No thanks.
With those three points in mind, I should’ve used my emergency fund money to recover my car.
Now, a different example: It’s Dec. 20, and you just realized that Christmas is nearly here (maybe you’ve been living under a rock for a few months).
That said, you need to buy a gift for Suzy, Stacy, Steve, Grandma Fran, your neighbor’s cousin, your cousin’s cousin and so on. But crap! You haven’t even started shopping and are already low on cash.
Is it necessary? I mean, unless you want to never be invited to another family Christmas ever again, yes. OK, maybe you aren’t actually buying gifts for everyone and their brother (literally), but it’s easy to feel like you have to drop a huge wad of cash during the holidays — even though you don’t.
Is it urgent? Well, duh. Christmas is in five days.
It is unexpected? NO! You had over 300 days to save and plan for your Christmas gift giving. Sorry, don’t even think about touching that emergency fund.
While every situation is different, it doesn’t hurt to walk through each question and consider your situation from multiple perspectives.
If you’re still unsure if you should take money out of your emergency account, hopefully, you have an alternative option.
Brian Davis, co-founder of financial blog SparkRental, suggests using your checking account before withdrawing from an emergency account — and using emergency funds a last resort.
If you have enough discretionary funds in your budget to cover the cost of your dilemma, consider using these funds first, Davis recommends.
Davis suggests readjusting your budget afterward by eating out and drinking less, and watching movies at home instead of heading to your local theater.
However, if you’re someone who sticks to a strict budget each month and doesn’t allocate much “fun money,” this solution might not be so feasible.
That being said, if you have an emergency account, use it. And don’t feel bad about it!
Life happens. And if you’re preparing for it, you have every right to take care of yourself when it hits hard — because we all know it will.
Your Turn: Do you have an emergency fund? Have you ever withdrawn any money from it?
Kelly Smith is a junior writer and engagement specialist at The Penny Hoarder. Catch her on Twitter at @keywordkelly.
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.More than one in three buyers have seen their offer on a first home fall through because their deposit was too small to secure a mortgage, according to new research by Nottingham Building Society.
Tens of thousands of readers have had their say on the best and worst financial providers in the UK, and we can now reveal the shortlist for the Moneywise Customer Service Awards 2017.
The Customer Service Awards recognises the country’s most trusted and best-respected financial services companies.
