By Holly Reisem Hanna Recently, I received an email from an individual who was desperately seeking a legit, online, work from home business opportunity. This person had currently moved to a very rural area of town and was unable to commute to work. Another obstacle that this individual faced was the issue of needing money […]
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If you’re a Lyft or Uber driver, you probably already know how important it is to track your work-related mileage and expenses.
You need that information to appease the IRS gods come tax return time and to make sure you’re squeezing out every last penny in deductions.
Rideshare drivers aren’t the only people eligible for mileage tax deductions. If you drive your personal vehicle for other kinds of paid work or use it for charitable, moving or medical purposes, you may also qualify for a standard mileage rate deduction.
Back in the old days, tracking mileage meant dragging a notebook out of the glove box and hoping your pen wasn’t out of ink.
But now we live in an age of wonder where there’s an app for everything — including ones that automatically track mileage for you.
Here are five of our favorites.
This free app runs in the background, quietly logging every mile you drive, and then it generates an IRS-ready report that you can use to do your taxes.
Stride Drive also tracks expenses like car washes, parking fees, tolls and even snacks you hand out to passengers. If you’re not sure what expenses are trackable, the app will walk you through the steps to figure it out.
Stride Drive is available at iTunes and Google Play.
This app’s mileage and expense tracking features are free, but you can pay $1.50 per month to unlock additional features like cloud data backup and unlimited data history.
TripLog gives users the option of entering mileage data manually or allowing your phone’s GPS to automatically track mileage for you. It also lets you record your driving routes and view them directly in Google Maps.
TripLog is available at iTunes and Google Play.
It’s hard to believe an app this rich in features is free, but it is. Hurdlr tracks all your mileage automatically and creates real-time quarterly and year-end tax estimates so you can always see where you stand with the IRS.
Hurdlr connects to over 15,000 financial institutions, allowing users to link their Hurdlr account to their bank or credit union. Every time you use your debit card, you’ll get a notification asking if you want to track the transaction as a business expense.
Hurdlr is available on iTunes and Google Play.
If you don’t drive often for Uber or Lyft, MileIQ may be the app for you. The free version offers 40 free drives per month, though you can upgrade to unlimited drives for $5.99 per month.
Like other mileage tracking apps, MileIQ automatically captures your drives and delivers a comprehensive mileage log whenever you need it. You can classify your drives into categories like business, personal or charity and then simply swipe with your thumb to assign them to the correct list — or let MileIQ do it automatically.
MileIQ is available on iTunes and Google Play.
This free app stands out for its included rate book that allows users to quickly check mileage rates. As long as you keep your phone’s GPS turned on, Mileage Expense Log automatically tracks and logs all your drives.
If you’re a number cruncher, you’ll enjoy sorting data by date, purpose or even vehicle. Or you can export your entire database as HTML or CVS.
Mileage Expense Log is only available for iOS on iTunes and includes support for Apple Watch.
Disclosure: This post includes affiliate links. We’re letting you know because it’s what Honest Abe would do. After all, he is on our favorite coin.
Lisa McGreevy is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She likes bringing you this information, but she is not a tax preparer. Check with a tax professional for more information on mileage tracking, expenses and deductible.
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.
Yes, you read the headline right.
Let’s talk about how to make money by selling your sperm.
Don’t laugh, it’s a completely legit way for guys to make a buck — and more people do it than you think.
I mean, I can’t give you an exact number or anything, but a sperm bank in Fairfax, Virginia, puts the number of anonymous donor-inseminated births at around 130,000 over the last 30 years.
That’s more than 4,000 men a year who donate a piece of themselves for altruism and humanitarianism or for fun and profit.
So, is sperm donation a viable way for men to make some extra cash?
Technically yes.
But there are physical, ethical and emotional aspects of becoming a sperm donor that deserve careful consideration before you take the plunge.
Also, don’t expect to pop in to your local sperm bank, make a contribution and walk out with a check that afternoon.
That’s not how it works.
In theory, sperm donation sounds fun, but it’s really sort of a minefield.
Ask yourself these three questions before you decide it’s the perfect side gig for you.
Each sperm bank will have its own list of minimum physical requirements but they’re all fairly similar.
Most donation centers require donors to be:
Some of the ethical aspects of sperm donation are managed by the donation centers themselves.
For instance, U.S. sperm banks limit the number of donor offspring to 10 to reduce the chance of brothers and sisters from the same father accidentally having children of their own.
Sperm banks also regulate the age of contributors, ensuring that all sperm donors are legal adults.
Other ethical considerations vary from bank to bank and may or may not align with your particular values.
For example, most reproductive centers allow anonymous donations to protect the privacy of both the donor and the recipient family.
Those donor-conceived children will never be able to track down their father. That could be a problem because some studies suggest anonymous donations may contribute to emotional difficulties in donor-conceived children.
If you’re not comfortable with anonymous donations and want to leave the door open for a child to find you down the road, look for a sperm bank that allows open identity sperm donation.
Even if you sail cleanly across the physical and ethical bridges, there’s still an emotional component to becoming a sperm donor.
Will you be okay knowing you’ve possibly got one or more kids out in the world that you may never know?
If you had a non-anonymous donation arrangement, are you comfortable knowing that your future offspring could one day pop up to meet you? It’s a potentially life-disrupting possibility that will exist for decades.
There’s also a chance you might not be accepted as a donor, and sperm banks won’t always tell you why.
Are you prepared to be left wondering whether you weren’t chosen because they don’t need more donors with your hair color, or whether there’s a problem with your sperm?
If you answered “yes” to all three questions and think you’re ready to be a sperm donor, here’s how the process works.
First, try to track down a sperm bank that’s geographically close to you, because if you’re chosen to be a donor, you’re going to be spending a lot of time in that facility.
Next, you’ll either be pre-screened over the phone or fill out an online application.
If you pass the initial screening, you’ll be invited in for a thorough interview that takes a deep dive into your entire family tree.
Cracked contributor and intrepid sperm donor Sean Berkley had to provide “a detailed medical history for every parent, sibling, aunt, uncle, cousin and grandparent you have, as well as any children your siblings or cousins may have, going back four generations.”
After clearing all those hurdles, you’ll need to provide a sample of the goods for the sperm bank to test and evaluate.
If they like what they see, you’ll be invited to become a sperm donor and then you’re off to the races.
Remember when I said that there’s more to being a sperm donor than just popping in and leaving with a fistful of cash?
Here’s where the rubber meets the road.
The insemination process takes a lot of time and, well, a lot of sperm.
Once the recipient chooses you and your genes, you’ll have to keep up a steady supply (how clinical!) one to three times a week for six months to a year.
You’re probably thinking, “I’ve trained my whole life for this, what’s not to love?” But take a minute to do the math.
Go ahead. I’ll wait.
That’s a lot of, er, visits.
I mean, getting to eat tacos three times a week for a solid year probably sounds good on paper, too.
But being forced to do things we like on a schedule sucks all the joy out of things once the novelty wears off.
Sperm banks get this, so they’ve created a workaround to keep you coming back.
“Just to make sure you follow through [with your visits], your paychecks are kept in escrow by the sperm bank until the end of the contract,” Berkley said.
That’s right. You’ll go through interviews and tests, give specimens and samples, show up for visits and appointments, stay limber and hydrated and still have nothing to show for it for as long as six months. (Though some sperm banks now pay monthly.)
If you’ve gotten this far and are still interested in being a sperm donor (my hat is off to you), you’re probably anxious to know if there’s any money in it.
Like everything else about being a sperm donor, the amount of money you’ll make varies from center to center.
Donors at the Manhattan Cryobank could pull $1,500, while donors at other facilities might only take home $200.
Still other centers pay on a sliding scale that’s based on a variety of factors.
Just like any other side hustle, be sure to get details on compensation before you sign any contracts or make any commitments.
If you’ve considered becoming a sperm donor from all angles and still think it’s right for you, then go forth and conquer.
You know what they say.
It’s not work if you’re doing what you love.
Lisa McGreevy is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. Her browser history is a little awkward at the moment so she’s off to research baby owls and vegetable gardening.
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.
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. Arguing over frugality
2. Selling possessions before big move
3. Maximizing lifespan of blue jeans
4. Cheap deep fat fryer setup
5. Cracked tablet screen
6. Resolving debts to family members
7. Clothes during weight loss
8. Baby advice in tiny apartment
9. Car downsizing as a parent
10. Subscription service as gift
11. Roth TSP or normal TSP?
12. Basics of learning about money
Over the past few days, I took a trip out to Denver by myself to visit a family member and several friends. I had been intending to see them for a long time but had never really made the time to do so, but Memorial Day weekend offered that opportunity.
I drove out there and the thing that sticks in my mind about the entire drive is how the landscape slowly changed from the flatness of Nebraska and Kansas into the rise in altitude and the mountains on the horizon in Denver. The shift is gradual, but if you drive 100 miles or so from the western end of Nebraska well into Colorado, the change is really noticeable.
It’s funny – I can travel for several days and the things I remember about the trip are all about the landscapes and about the people I was with. Expensive meals fade quickly. So do expensive hotels. What I remember are the people and the scenery. To me, that’s a hint as to how I should plan vacations.
My hubby and I sometimes argue about my cheapness. Whenever we have date nights I usually suggest doing something cheap and I buy store brands at the store and stuff. Sometimes he gets really frustrated and says that we don’t have to live like this and gives me the cold shoulder for a while. I don’t see anything wrong with how we live and we have no debt and plenty of money in the bank. Had a big blowup the other night. Not sure what to do and hope you have some good advice!
– Monique
Marriages work when you communicate and compromise with each other. It sounds to me like there are some areas of your spending choices that are bothering your husband.
What I’d suggest is sitting down sometime when he’s not angry and discuss things. Ask him specifically what things he’s bothered by, figure out which things bother him the most, and give a little in those areas. It may be that a certain brand of product has a strong sentimental value to him, so it’s worth buying it instead of the store brand that you buy, or maybe you can agree to his more expensive date night ideas sometimes.
At the same time, make sure he appreciates the strong financial state that you’re in and that you’re deeply worried about falling into a pattern of overspending that will undo that great financial state.
There’s a happy medium between the two things you’re both wanting here. The trick is finding it together in a peaceful way.
I currently live in a 1BR apartment in Sacramento. I accepted a job in Boston with a nice pay raise and am moving there in a month. My employer is paying for some moving expenses. I am considering what items it makes sense to move to Boston and what to sell off. Part of me wants to sell everything and move with basically two or three bags of stuff and then use the moving money and the sale money to buy new stuff when I arrive. I will pay a markup to replace a lot of this stuff though. Which is the smarter route?
– Jim
If I were single and moving across the country, I would probably lean toward selling off the vast majority of my possessions before the big move. I would not want to deal with the effort of moving so much stuff and, honestly, having less stuff means you have more flexibility.
To tell you the honest truth, if I were single, I’d mostly live out of a bag or two. I might have a small apartment somewhere, but it would be basically a place to rest my head and prepare a bit of food, not a place to spend my time. I’d spend a lot of time at community events, at the library, at Meetup events, and so on. I’d barely be home, so why have a bunch of stuff at home?
In your shoes, yes, I’d lean toward a big selloff. Unless your apartment is loaded with incredibly expensive decor and you plan to decorate it with similarly expensive stuff upon arriving in Boston, transporting your possessions will probably cost more than they’re worth, especially when you include the sale value of the items.
Do you have any suggestions for making jeans last as long as possible? Do they last longer if you wear them several times between washings?
I wear jeans pretty much any time I’m not in the office and so I wear out a lot of jeans and I want them to last as long as I can. My jeans usually wear out at the ankles first.
– Roger
Jeans most certainly do not need to be washed after every wearing. Inspect them when you’re done wearing them and if they’re actually dirty, wash them. If not, then don’t wash them.
Your instinct regarding the fact that washing jeans puts a lot of wear and tear on them is absolutely right. Washing machines are the primary source of damage to a lot of garments over time, and jeans are no different.
If you’re noticing a lot of wear on your jeans near the ankles, consider wearing slightly shorter jeans or “boot fit” jeans. This used to be a problem for me until I realized I was choosing jeans that were perhaps an inch or so longer than they needed to be, so now I get jeans with a shorter inseam and I rarely have this problem.
We often have fish fries where we will fry up a bunch of fish filets and whole fish and some onion rings and fries in a deep fat fryer that’s basically a big kettle of oil with a basket on top of a propane burner. We have to replace the burner every 2-3 years and the cost of all of the propane and oil adds up. Suggestions on keeping costs down?
– Dylan
I talked to an avid fisherman who often hosts fish fries in order to answer your question and he suggested three things.
First, if you’re just using the oil to cook fish and onion rings and fries, you can probably reuse the oil a few times. He suggests saving the oil in a big resealable container in the refrigerator between uses. At some point after it cools, strain the oil through several layers of cheesecloth at once to get out all of the tiny particle matter. He says you should be able to use the oil three times using this method before you should throw it out.
Second, he strongly encourages you to thoroughly clean your propane burner every few months because, according to him, propane burners don’t usually go bad that quick and there’s probably some clogging involved due to not cleaning it. He suggested using a cleaning brush and cleaning it thoroughly inside and out and to look up a guide on how to do it for your model if you’re not sure.
Finally, he says that if you’ve got the oil heated up, you should cook plenty of fish filets because they’re quite good when reheated and you can eat leftovers. This reduces the propane cost per piece of fish. Just store them in a container with paper towels separating the layers. If you’re making fries that are just sliced potatoes dropped in the fryer, I recommend making extras of those, too, as those are good reheated as well in my experience.
I have an iPad Pro which I use so much that it’s now my main/only computer. I have a keyboard case for it and use it for email and writing and then I take off the case for lap use and reading.
A few months ago, I cracked the edge of it. There’s a crack that extends into the screen area. When you’re using it, you definitely notice the crack. It’s visible when you’re watching or reading something. However, the touch interface is just dead around the crack and it makes it hard to open the app that’s in that area of the screen and can sometimes mess up other interface issues.
When do I make the leap and just replace the thing? It still works, mostly, but the cracked part is a constant annoyance.
– Connie
The first thing I’d do is look into the cost of getting the screen repaired. Is it under any kind of warranty? Did you get a protection plan for it that might cover it?
I’d take the device to an Apple Store and have them look at it and provide an estimate for repair. If it’s high, you can also talk to independent phone and tablet repair shops, who may be able to repair it at a nice price. You may find that it is far less expensive to repair the screen than it is to buy a replacement.
If you do need to go for a replacement, do your homework first and take your time. Evaluate your needs very carefully. What does your tablet actually do for you? Are there other devices that could do all of those things at a lower price? Do you need the most current version of that tablet, or would an older one suffice?
I am a former meth user who has been clean for three years. During that time I borrowed a lot of money from family members to feed my habit. I kept track of those debts in a notebook. Now that I have a good job I am starting to try to pay them back but all of them keep telling me no and that it is forgiven and that I have repaid them by getting clean. But I am still feeling really guilty about taking their money and using it for drugs and stupid things.
I borrowed money from my older brother, my uncle, and my mom. For my brother I am going to pay him back by putting money in a college savings plan for my nephew and for my uncle I am going to do the same for his daughter. For my mom, I am going to put money in a savings account and buy her a car to replace her old beater.
What is the best way to do these things?
– David
David, first of all, I have a ton of respect for your character, not just for getting yourself clean, but for wanting to make things right. Your family is full of awesome people, too, as they seem to have just forgiven this debt that you owe to them.
If these moves will make your conscience clear, then you should absolutely do so, but you shouldn’t feel like you have to. Consider this not a repayment of debt, but a gift back to them.
It’s pretty easy to start a 529 college savings plan with a relative as a beneficiary. Just look up the 529 system in your state and start plans for each of those two children and start socking away money in there when you can until you feel things are right. If I were you, I’d keep quiet with the account until they start to move toward making plans for their post-high school lives, then I’d tell their parents first. It’s pretty hard for a parent to refuse a 529 with their kid on it as a beneficiary.
As for your mother, I’d simply sock money away in a savings account, and do it as quickly as you reasonably can so that you can replace that old car that sounds like it might be on its last legs. Just get a savings account at your local bank and start socking money away in there.
You’re making great moves here and it sounds like you have a good family around you. You’ll be just fine.
In November I weighed 415 lbs and now I’m down to 355 and I don’t intend to stop. I’ve figured out a rhythm that really works for me and I can stick with it for the rest of my life. I mostly eat what I like for supper with some portion control in mind and eat healthy stuff for other meals.
My problem is that a lot of my clothes aren’t fitting well any more – they are really clown sized on me. I intend to lose another 100 pounds in the next year, so if I buy anything that fits well right now, it will be too big in a few months too.
What’s the cost effective approach to clothes that you will only wear for a while?
– Tim
The best approach you can take is to shop for your entire wardrobe (sans underwear and socks) at Goodwill and other secondhand stores for now and only switch to buying other garments when you start to get really close to your target weight.
I highly recommend going to secondhand clothing stores that are fairly near wealthy neighborhoods, because you’ll often find that such stores are loaded with items that are high quality and practically new. I am amazed at the clothes items that can be found at secondhand stores near the pricier neighborhoods in Des Moines, for example.
Just buy whatever you like that fits. Since all of it is pretty inexpensive, you don’t have to worry about it too much. Then, in six months, when those clothes don’t fit well any more, take the whole bundle back to a secondhand store. You’re effectively renting those clothes for pennies per use.
My wife and I share a 400 square foot studio apartment. We currently are expecting a baby in early October. We considered moving but the cost of everything around here is so high that we just can’t make a larger apartment work and a house is just out of the question.
I came across some of your early articles where you describe living in a small apartment with a baby. Do you have any advice on making it work?
– Stephen
To back up a bit, in 2005, my wife and I welcomed our first child into the world. From 2005 to 2007, we lived in a roughly 600 square foot apartment with that baby and didn’t move until a second one was on its way.
The best trick you can use is to recognize that, besides a crib of some kind, you really don’t need much large stuff devoted just to your baby. You don’t need a changing table, as you can basically turn any surface into a changing table with a towel. You don’t need lots of big toys or anything like that. A baby needs love, food, clean clothes, closeness, and soft words. You can provide all of that with very little stuff.
Just focus on what you need for the baby, not what you think you should have. Quite often, a baby’s actual needs are much less than the stuff that parents are tempted to buy during the “nesting” period, where hormones are telling people to prepare their home for a baby and marketers manipulate that emotion like crazy.
Remember what a baby needs. A baby needs love, food, clean clothes, closeness, warmth, and soft words. That’s it. You don’t need a ton of space or a ton of stuff to provide those things.
The argument I’ve always made about getting rid of a vehicle is that it means our children would have to drop out of activities they enjoy. Our two oldest children are both on soccer teams for example and there are just times where it is impossible to get them both to their practices or games without two cars. One of them at least would have to drop out of soccer if we downsized a car.
– Anna
There are definitely life situations where downsizing a car isn’t the best move for you or your family. The thing that really matters is whether the question is even being considered or not, and if it is, whether it’s being considered seriously or not.
If you can point to routine things – things that actually happen on a regular basis in your life – where your current vehicle count is necessary or provides a tremendous time savings, then it probably doesn’t make sense to downsize. It sounds like you’re in that very situation when it comes to soccer practices.
For us, the real challenge would be situations where our children are sick at school, which happens every few months. I am at a loss as to how we would handle that situation. Normally, given my job flexibility, I simply go get sick children and take care of them, but if I were without a car, I couldn’t do that. We’ve brainstormed many times to try to come up with realistic solutions to this problem (and a few other similar ones) and we haven’t figured it out. So, for now, we remain a two vehicle household.
What do you think of giving someone a subscription to a service that delivers boxes of goodies each month? Are these good gifts?
– Tammy
I think the idea behind it is good. If you put in the time to choose a service that really matches their interest, then it’s worthwhile.
However, the vast majority of the time, the contents of the crate simply don’t add up in value to make the sticker price worth it. It just doesn’t add up.
Most of the time, you’re better off finding a hobby store that the person you love is really into and buying them a gift certificate to that hobby store. Figure out what they like, figure out a really good retailer that caters to that hobby with really good prices, and give them a gift certificate to that store equal to what you would have spent on the crate subscription. The recipient will then get a lot of stuff he or she really wants from that certificate rather than the mixed bag that comes in a crate.
I am a federal employee and want to start contributing to my TSP but I do not understand the difference between Roth TSP and regular TSP. The guy at work that tried to explain it just left me more confused. Which one should I pick?
– Brenda
So, you’ve gathered that TSP is the Thrift Savings Plan, which is a program for government employees to put aside money for their retirement. The way both TSP plans work is that they take money directly out of your paycheck and put it into your TSP account. Once it’s in there, there are restrictions on how you can use it, but in general, if you wait until retirement, you can use it more or less however you wish.
To understand the difference between the two, you need to step back and think about your paycheck before TSP. As it is now, you get paid a certain amount, income taxes are taken out of that amount, and you receive a paycheck after those taxes are removed.
With a traditional TSP plan, you get paid a certain amount, then the TSP money is taken out, THEN taxes are taken out, then you receive a check out of what’s left.
With a Roth TSP plan, you get paid a certain amount, then taxes are taken out, THEN your money for your Roth TSP is taken out, then you receive a check out of what’s left.
Imagine, for example, that you’re paying 20% of your salary in income taxes and you’re contributing $100 per paycheck to your TSP plan. You make $1,000 per paycheck before anything is taken out.
With a traditional TSP, you get paid $1,000, you put $100 of that into TSP leaving you with $900, and then you pay 20% income tax on that $900, which is $180. You thus bring home $720 each paycheck.
With a Roth TSP, you get paid $1,000, you pay 20% income tax on that $1,000, which is $200, which leaves you with $800. You then put $100 into your Roth TSP, which means you bring home $700 each paycheck.
So why would a person ever use the Roth TSP? Well, the Roth TSP has a really big advantage when you retire: the money you take out of that account is tax free. You don’t have to pay income taxes on it in retirement. On the other hand, when you take money out of your regular TSP in retirement, you will have to pay income taxes on that money.
Which is better? It depends really on how flush you expect your retirement to be. If you’re young and plan on contributing for a lot of years, having at least some of your money in the Roth TSP is a good idea. If you’re older and won’t have a whole lot of years to contribute and don’t have other retirement savings, then you won’t save much in retirement with a Roth TSP and the other way is the right way to go.
Honestly, though, the fact that you’re saving at all blows away the relative advantages of each plan. One might cost you a little more than the other in taxes over the course of your life, but the difference won’t be enormous unless you’re saving a ton of money.
With all else being equal, I tend to lean toward the Roth option, simply because I don’t believe tax rates will remain this low forever and I’d rather pay lower rates now. I believe rates will go up, and thus they’ll be higher in retirement, and I’ll be glad to have money in a Roth so I won’t have to pay it then.
Where should a person go to learn the basics about money? Like how to invest money and how to plan ahead for the future?
– Terry
If you’re looking for a good starting point, I’d suggest one of several personal finance books out there. My own book, The Simple Dollar, is one good entry point. It’s kind of a mix of memoir and personal finance advice.
For my own self-education on money, the most valuable books I picked up were Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin, The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey, and The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing by Taylor Larimore, Mel Lindauer, and Michael LeBoeuf.
You can get any of those books at your local library for free. Just head down there, get a library card if you don’t have one, and borrow them for a few weeks! If you find one is really useful as a reference, then consider buying it!
For online reading, a great place to start would be my own book-length series, 31 Days to Financial Independence, which is entirely free.
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 Moving, Apartment Babies, Weight Loss, Denim, and More! appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
Dollar cost averaging is a popular investment strategy that usually gets even more popular in environments like this, where all-time market highs and political uncertainty have people worried that the next big stock market crash could be just around the corner.
And while dollar cost averaging can absolutely be a good way to ease yourself into the market, it’s a strategy whose benefits are often oversold and misunderstood.
In this post we’ll explore exactly what dollar cost averaging is, what the benefits and downsides are, and what alternatives you have so that you can make the right decision for your situation.
Dollar cost averaging is the practice of investing your money a little bit at a time instead of all at once.
Let’s say that you just received your bonus and you have $4,800 that you’d like to invest for the long term. You could invest it all right away, or you could dollar cost average by investing, say, $400 per month over the course of a year.
Why would you do the latter? The idea behind dollar cost averaging is two-fold:
To be clear, this is not the same as making a consistent contribution each month or every time you receive your paycheck. That’s a good practice, but it’s technically not dollar cost averaging because you are actually investing all of the money you have available to save as soon as it’s available.
Dollar cost averaging is really for situations like receiving a bonus or inheritance, or wanting to move money from a savings account to an investment account. Rather than investing some of your income as you receive it, these situations give you an unexpected sum of money that you have to decide what to do with.
There are two big arguments you’ll hear in favor of dollar cost averaging, one of which is truer than the other.
Dollar cost averaging reduces your investment risk, which is the main benefit. By keeping some of your money out of the market for some period of time, your overall investment strategy is temporarily more conservative and less susceptible to a market crash.
There are other ways to reduce risk, which we’ll get into below, but the real reason this matters is because this reduced risk can make it emotionally easier to start investing. And since investing is such an important part of building long-term wealth, anything that helps you start is worth a look.
Some proponents of dollar cost averaging argue that it can actually increase your returns. Because you contribute a pre-defined amount of money at pre-defined intervals, you will automatically buy more shares when the stock market is down and fewer when the market is up. Which means that you should get better bang for your buck.
This is partially true. Dollar cost averaging does cause you to buy more shares when the market is down, and it can lead to better returns in a declining market. But as you’ll see in the next section, this isn’t the expected outcome.
While dollar cost averaging does reduce your investment risk, there are a few downsides to consider before jumping in.
Almost every investment decision involves a trade-off between risk and return. If you want the chance at better returns, you have to accept a larger risk of not receiving them.
The same is true with dollar cost averaging. Although it can lead to better returns in some cases, most of the time the reduced risk comes with reduced returns.
The reason is simply that the stock market goes up more often than it goes down. So by investing your money in little bits over time instead of investing it all at once, your odds of missing out on gains are greater than your odds of avoiding losses. According to a 2012 Vanguard study, investing all of your money at once would historically have produced better returns than dollar cost averaging about 66% of the time.
Nothing is guaranteed, but the fact of the matter is that dollar cost averaging will typically lead to lower returns in exchange for less risk.
One of the biggest pieces of your investment plan is your asset allocation, which is essentially how you choose to divide your money between high-risk, high-return investments like stocks and low-risk, low-return investments like bonds.
Your asset allocation is the primary way you can manage your expected risk and return, and you should choose your asset allocation knowing ahead of time that you will occasionally lose money in down markets. The big question is how much you’re willing to lose at any one time. The less you’re willing to lose, the more conservative your asset allocation should be.
Whatever you decide, dollar cost averaging by definition causes you to stray from that asset allocation plan. By temporarily keeping some of your money in cash, you are temporarily investing in a portfolio that is more conservative than you originally decided was appropriate based on your needs and appetite for risk.
So if you don’t feel comfortable investing your money all at once, it’s possible that the real problem is that you’ve chosen an asset allocation that’s more aggressive than it should be. If that’s the case, the solution may simply be to invest your money all at once into an asset allocation that’s more conservative, and therefore less susceptible to a market crash.
Finally, dollar cost averaging makes your life more complicated. Setting up and monitoring periodic contributions takes more work and more time than investing your money all at once.
And again, if you could accomplish the same end goal simply by choosing a more conservative asset allocation, it might be worth doing so simply to make your life easier.
With all of that background, the big question is this: should you dollar cost average or invest your money all at once?
Here’s my take:
Matt Becker, CFP® is a fee-only financial planner and the founder of Mom and Dad Money, where he helps new parents take control of their money so they can take care of their families. His free book, The New Family Financial Road Map, guides parents through the all most important financial decisions that come with starting a family.
The post The Truth About Dollar Cost Averaging appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
Payless. Bebe. The Limited. American Apparel. BCBG. hhgregg. Wet Seal. Gordmans.
And those are just the stores closing in 2017 so far.
If they’re not gone completely, these retailers are shutting down a large swath of their brick-and-mortar locations. The number of year-to-date retail bankruptcies has already surpassed 2016’s. The industry hasn’t looked this bad since the recession.
So that means huge going-out-of-business deals and discounts, right? One company’s loss is your personal gain, right?
Maybe not.
Hold your horses, friends. Before we get to the bargains, let’s take a moment to consider how we got here.
Shopping as we know it is broken.
It’s not just because we’re trading possessions for experiences. Yes, we’re spending more on travel and restaurant meals, but millennials — and pretty much everyone else — need clothes to wear and a new phone to take those cheeky vacation selfies with.
It’s not just because we shop online a lot (although we do shop online a heck of a lot). The wealth of shopping options online makes it easier than ever before to compare prices, return policies and shipping costs with just a few clicks. It’s now easier to educate yourself before making a purchase.
But you might be too savvy for your own good. Retailers were so desperate to get us in the door during the recession of the late 20-aughts that they trained us to never pay full price. So now, years later, you’ll wait for a BOGO or a discount (15% doesn’t cut it anymore – we want 40% off, please) or wait until something hits the sale rack three weeks after it debuts before buying.
When we do pay full price, it’s for the Forever 21 jeans that only cost $10 in the first place.
The stores trained us to shop like this, and now they’re struggling to survive.
For every direct-to-consumer brand that pops up to sell you razor blades, makeup or leggings and ship them to your door, there’s an old-school retailer calling it quits.
Most of you have probably hustled to a nearby store with “Everything Must Go!” banners covering the windows.
But once you’re inside, you find a wasteland of empty metal racks and messy stacks of merchandise. When you finally find something you like enough to buy, it’s inevitably available only in a size suited for a small child.
Whether you’re looking for clothing, shoes or appliances, is it worth digging through the end-of-days mess to try to get a bargain?
If you’re willing to try it, read these tips first.
Ecommerce entrepreneur Shannon Quinn advises doing a quick check before you make a game plan to hit a liquidation sale: Does the store sell a variety of popular name brands, or is it a private label?
If the store sells popular brands, you’re less likely to find huge discounts. Quinn says
retailers can make more money selling liquidation stock to other businesses licensed to sell those same brands.
She gives this example from when Sports Authority shut down in 2016:
“I went to their going-out-of-business sale and realized that they were only selling the Nike and Adidas products at 30% off retail. The only items in the store going for 75% off or more were Sports Authority private-label products. The sale actually wasn’t any different than some of their best coupons. Their ‘amazing liquidation sale’ was actually pretty average.”
What about brands like Aeropostale, The Limited or Payless that carry their own brands? During the downsizing process, these stores can still move merchandise around from store to store to fill racks, so you might not see huge discounts.
“Since they are a private label, you will see the best sales once they finally pull the plug and have nowhere left to sell their clothing,” Quinn warns.
And when a retailer is on its last legs, good luck finding the size, color or model you want. Waiting for the lowest price may mean missing the boat altogether.
Paco Underhill, retail consultant and author of several books including “Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping,” suggests asking two key questions to determine if it’s worth buying something in the midst of store-closing chaos — and they’re the same questions he recommends asking during a regular shopping experience:
Do you really need it? Does it really fit?
“One of the fundamental issues about shopping is that if you go somewhere and you’re buying things because the price is low rather than it’s something you actually need or will use, it’s money wasted,” Underhill says.
If the answer to either question is no, Underhill says to walk away.
If you have a gift card for a store that’s closing, don’t hold on to it until the last minute. The Better Business Bureau told WCPO that there may not be much time between when a chain announces bankruptcy or total closure and when you find the doors locked.
This is probably the one and only situation in which we’d recommend buying something just for the sake of spending. If you can’t find something for yourself, consider picking up a useful item or two to donate to your favorite nonprofit.
Underhill recalls a recent trip that took him past a nearly empty American Apparel location.
“I could see that 85% of the stuff was gone and the stuff that was left was 90% off. It was interesting to go in and see what other people aren’t choosing,” he says.
Sometimes, that joy of gawking is also consumer education. If there’s a whole rack of one particular item or style, there’s probably a good reason hundreds of customers left it behind. Have fun trying to sort out the mystery, then move on.
It’s hard to take advantage of a return policy when a store doesn’t exist anymore. Take-backsies will not apply on a liquidation deal, so be sure to try it on, test it out or ask an employee what options you have if the item breaks down the road.
It’s probably not worth trying to make a buck on a store’s going-out-of-business sale, Quinn says. “Brands that have lost so much popularity that they file for bankruptcy tend not to resell well on eBay, and saving 30% on a strong brand does not leave enough meat on the bone to make a profit.”
Yes, hearing that the superstore down the block is shutting down may stir within you the desire to hunt. But do so with caution and great skepticism. The deals may not be what they seem.
Lisa Rowan is a writer and producer at the Penny Hoarder. She also co-hosts a weekly podcast about fashion and business.
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.
“I got 99+ endorsements, and they all help prove my proficiency in key areas.”
That’s what Jay Z might say if he was optimizing his LinkedIn profile.
Hopefully you get the reference.
But seriously, LinkedIn endorsements are really important.
In fact, they’re one of the most effective ways to prove your expertise and back up your claims.
Anyone can say they possess a particular skill, but having 99+ endorsements proves that.
Before I go any further, allow me to explain this concept if you’re unfamiliar.
It’s pretty simple.
Endorsements are a LinkedIn feature that allows others to verify your skills with a single click.
Here’s a screenshot of the formal definition given by LinkedIn:
For instance, the top three skills I list on my profile are SEO, online marketing, and web analytics.
Endorsements are a simple way to prove you are not a charlatan—you’re genuinely proficient at the skills you list on your profile.
The more endorsements you have, the more legit you appear.
Ideally, you’ll want to reach 99+.
Not to toot my own horn, but that’s what I’ve achieved on the vast majority of my LinkedIn skills.
See?
Here too:
All are 99+.
Of course, you can have thousands of endorsements for a certain skill, but 99+ is the highest number that will appear unless someone actually clicks on the skill to dig deeper.
Here’s what I’m talking about:
I actually have 2,134 endorsements for SEO, but 99+ is what visitors first see.
Getting people to endorse you can open doors and unlock opportunities that might not have happened otherwise.
It’s a way to validate yourself and show you really do “have the chops.”
This is obviously appealing to those who come across your LinkedIn profile, looking to find a partner in a business project, working arrangement, and so on.
Some experts even suspect it can impact your search ranking.
The bottom line is the more endorsements you receive, the better.
In this article, I’d like to discuss some strategies to help you get 99+ endorsements on all your LinkedIn skills.
Let’s start from the top.
Most people have a wide array of skills.
And LinkedIn is more than happy to help you share them with the world.
In fact, they allow you to list up to 50.
I list a few dozen on my profile.
But you need to be selective about the skills you list at the top.
Like I mentioned earlier, the top three skills I list are SEO, online marketing, and web analytics.
This is important for two reasons.
First, it tends to be easier to get endorsements when it’s for your core skills that people naturally associate you with.
For example, I do have experience with website development. That’s true.
But I’m far more skilled at SEO.
Therefore, most people associate my name with SEO more than website development, which makes them far more likely to give me an endorsement for SEO.
That’s why I made the conscious decision to use SEO as the first skill on my profile.
Second, people tend to get overwhelmed if there is a ridiculous number of choices.
But if you place your primary skills at the top, people can zone in on those skills, which increases the likelihood of them giving you an endorsement.
I’m a firm believer in the law of reciprocity.
It’s a psychological principle I’ve discussed in several blog posts mainly in the context of conversion optimization.
Long story short, it simply means that people are inclined to do something nice for you if you do something nice for them.
But reciprocity can be applied to LinkedIn endorsements as well.
And it’s not rocket science.
Endorse the skills of others, and there’s a good chance a considerable percentage of them will return the favor.
I recommend starting with the people you’re closest to and have the tightest relationships with.
This might include colleagues, team members, previous employers, and satisfied customers/clients.
Look over the skills they list on their profiles, and add a few endorsements.
Once they see you’ve made the effort to help them, many will be inclined to help you as well.
If they know for a fact you’re adept at a particular skill, it shouldn’t be any trouble for them to endorse you.
And the beautiful thing is it’s easy to do.
It’s not like it requires a major time commitment.
Unlike personal recommendations that require someone to write a unique statement, an endorsement requires only a single click.
It’s really no big deal.
One thing I’ve learned in life, as well as in business, is that it’s important to ask.
Some of my biggest breakthroughs were simply the result of me asking for help, a favor, etc.
And you know what?
A lot of people are more than willing to help you out.
If you’re looking to raise your number of endorsements quickly, I suggest politely asking others to give them to you.
An article on Portfolium discusses a specific formula for increasing endorsements by asking.
It’s simple.
The author, Scott, created a brief message that he sent to 300 connections asking for endorsements.
Here’s what it looked like:
I’d like to point out his opening line:
What skills do you want to be endorsed for?
I think this is a more effective way to approach people than immediately asking for an endorsement—it doesn’t make you come across as overly self-serving.
After sending this message to 300 connections, Scott saw a drastic increase in his number of endorsements.
It went from a meager 28 to 302, which was an increase of over 1,000%!
The amazing thing is that it took less than 15 minutes.
Tweak this template as you see fit, and send it to as many connections as possible.
While you may not get quite the level of results that Scott did, I can pretty much guarantee you’ll see a substantial spike in your number of endorsements.
Here’s another simple way to go about asking.
It involves leveraging existing resources where people understand your skillset and know what you bring to the table.
Some examples might include your blog and email.
Here’s what you do.
First, invite others to connect with you on LinkedIn.
This is necessary because the last time I checked, only first-degree connections are allowed to endorse you.
To do this you, you could leave a CTA with a link to your LinkedIn account at the end of blog posts or in your email signature.
Then, each time you make a new connection, send them the message I discussed in the previous tactic.
One of the things I find interesting about LinkedIn is that many people seldom update their profiles.
While there are 467 million users, only 3 million update their profiles on a weekly basis.
That’s a tiny percentage.
Most people update their Facebook at least two or three times a week.
It’s usually the same with Instagram profiles.
As for Twitter, it’s not uncommon to hit double-digit updates daily.
But for some reason, most people totally forget about LinkedIn.
But that’s not how I roll.
If you look at the activity feed of my profile, you’ll notice I update quite frequently:
And for a good reason.
The more often I update, the more I’m on the radar of my connections.
This means more traffic to my profile and more opportunities for engagement, including endorsements.
What I’m trying to say is that you should make a point to consistently update your LinkedIn profile with quality content.
It doesn’t even need to be your own content.
Curated content is totally fine as long as it offers real value and scratches your connections’ collective itch.
And when you’re choosing what type of content to post, try to make sure it’s relevant to the primary skills you’re seeking endorsements for.
If conversion optimization is your thing, you might want to post something from ConversionXL.
Considering the small number of people posting updates on LinkedIn, it should be fairly easy for you to gain users’ attention when they scroll through their feeds.
When it comes to professional networking, LinkedIn is the go-to network.
While it doesn’t get as much attention or have the same user base as Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, you don’t want to overlook it.
In fact, it’s been an incredibly powerful tool for me and has helped me make several valuable connections over the years.
One of the ways you can prove you’re legitimately proficient at the skills you list is by having others vouch for you by giving endorsements.
It’s quick and easy but can have a tremendous impact on your personal brand, especially if you’re able to gain 99+ endorsements.
By using these strategies, you can effectively leverage your network to get the endorsements you’re looking for.
And who knows what opportunities this will lead to in the future…
The long-term implications can be profound.
How do you typically go about getting endorsements for your LinkedIn skills?
Americans, we have a lot of baggage.
No, I’m not talking figuratively. I’m talking about actual baggage like luggage and suitcases — the stuff airlines love to charge extra fees for when you book a flight.
And apparently, those fees are really fueling profits. According to CNN Money, passengers flying on the 25 largest U.S. airlines collectively paid $4.2 billion in baggage fees last year. That’s nearly a third — about 31% — of the $13.6 billion the airlines collectively made in profits.
The amount paid in baggage fees is up 10% from the year before.
Executives from major airlines discussed — and defended — the fees in a recent hearing before Congress regarding customer service matters across the industry, CNN Money reported.
“We view charging for checked bags as the way to keep other fares low,” said Scott Kirby, United Airlines’ president.
William McGee, a former airline executive testifying on behalf of Consumers Union, spoke in opposition, saying, “Every day there are higher and higher fees. Passengers are getting gouged.”
So, what should you know about baggage fees — and packing light — so you don’t get charged an arm and a leg trying to tote your shirts and pants to your next desired destination?
First of all, we want to make it easy for you. It’s great to use flight comparison sites like Kayak, Expedia, Travelocity, fly.com or more. But remember, those prices are based on the flight alone. This is how baggage fees tend to sneak up on you.
So, we researched the baggage policies for 12 major U.S. airlines to find out how much they charge for flights within the U.S.
This handy guide is based on standard tickets. Business and first-class passengers, plus members of airlines’ loyalty clubs, may receive discounted rates or free bags in some cases. However, an upgraded ticket or loyalty membership comes at a cost.
Disclaimer: Prices may vary based on when you book your flight.
Now the next time you book a flight, you’ll be armed with more knowledge about how much you’ll really be spending.
Southwest’s two free checked bags policy is a winner for those with significant luggage to tote. Virgin’s flat rate of $25 per checked bag is also pretty sweet.
If you’re flying on Allegiant, Frontier or Spirit, make sure your personal item will fit under the seat. If its size bumps it to carry-on luggage dimensions, you’ll end up with a charge.
And for Allegiant or Spirit passengers, you also might want to weigh your checked bags before you get to the airport. These airlines have a 40-pound weight limit before doling overweight baggage fees — instead of the 50-pound cap other airlines use.
Sure, having less suitcases will typically mean paying less to travel, but we can’t all pack light on every trip. Here are a couple packing hacks I use to make the most of limited space.
Plus, you usually end up with items that are less wrinkly, which is great, because I know you’re not packing an iron!
I’ll usually roll an entire outfit together or a few tops and then a few bottoms.
You’ll have to check your specific airline’s policy, but if that’s the case, be sure to take those items out of your luggage.
And don’t tell TSA, but there may or may not have been occasions where my daughter’s diaper bag held suitcase overflow that was non-baby related.
Nicole Dow is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She enjoys traveling on Spirit Airlines, even though they have a lot of baggage fees.
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 late on a weeknight, and there’s only one open checkout line at the grocery store.
You clutch a bottle of Pepto Bismol in one hand and a sleeve of saltine crackers in the other as the line slowly creeps toward the register.
Finally, as you will the energy to lift your items onto the belt, your stomach drops — for reasons unrelated to the items you’re attempting to buy in an efficient manner.
The customer in front of you just broke out their checkbook for a transaction consisting of $12 worth of snacks.
Yes, in this year 2017 A.D., the person in front of you plans to write a check. With a pen. On paper. For snacks.
You look behind you. You can’t see the end of the line anymore. But you can tell the masses are getting restless.
“How do grocery stores even process a check payment?” you wonder as you look to the other people in line, searching their annoyed faces for answers.
You’ve never had to ponder this question. You’ve never cared until now.
You are trapped in a circle of hell without an express lane. You’re now out of magazine covers to gaze at mindlessly as your time ticks away. This check writer is taking so long that you could have been back on your couch by now, shivering through approximately two to 24 episodes of “Game of Thrones.”
Everyone has had one of these experiences. But is check writing a financial atrocity? Or simply a minor inconvenience for debit and credit card wielders everywhere?
I’m here to tell you it’s somewhere in between.
It takes about 67 seconds to complete a transaction with a check, according to a retail expert interviewed by The Wall Street Journal for the article that inspired this post. Compare that to 25, 24 or 20 seconds for cash, credit card or debit card transactions, respectively.
But when’s the last time you saw a check transaction take a mere minute and seven seconds to complete?
That transaction clearly didn’t include a request for a driver’s license. Or the scribbling of the identification number and phone number. Or the huffy sigh of the check writer, who just wrote the wrong amount and needs to start over.
I have a hard enough time figuring out if the card terminal reads chips. If I wrote a check, I’d have to perch with my checkbook, write legibly, not screw up the amount, not rip the check when I’m tearing it out of the book, and deal with the glares of an entire grocery store.
Check writers, how can you seriously take all that pressure?
In the olden days, before credit card offers ran rampant, writing checks was routine. You carried cash to cover small purchases and pulled out your checkbook for larger ones.
But plastic is popular now.
The Federal Reserve Cash Products Office reported customers completed more than 40 billion transactions with checks in ye olde year 2000, but by 2012, rising debit transactions had cut the number of check transactions in half, to 20 billion.
And that’s a stat from five years ago. Now? Check payments are infrequent enough that they stop a retail operation in its tracks.
So why does anyone still write a check at the store?
“People who pay by check in stores say it gives them a greater feeling of security than using plastic and it is more convenient than carrying a wad of cash. They also say they feel more in control of their spending,” Robin Sidel wrote in The Wall Street Journal.
Sure, I feel like a boss when I write a check. Still, I try to save these occasions for the essentials — major expenses, like rent — and special occasions, like wedding gifts and my nephews’ birthdays.
But writing a check doesn’t feel safe. If I pay by check at a cash register, I’m essentially handing over a tidy slip of paper announcing my name, address, and routing and account numbers.
OK, the cashier probably doesn’t give two hoots and has no intention of setting up an elaborate transfer scheme to leech money from my checking account.
But paying by check means that money is likely to to float around the retailer for a day or two (or three, or five, depending on the size of the business) before the recipient deposits it and the money leaves my account.
Unless I’m keeping handwritten records of each purchase — which I would never do at the register because holy cow, how many eyeballs are staring at me right now? — I’m waiting for that balance to refresh on me.
Meanwhile, if I pay with a debit or credit card, I swipe or insert my card, pray I don’t get skimmed and usually know within an hour that the bank has accounted for the purchase.
I know — I’m in that certain percent of America that’s just rolling in privilege and has a regular paycheck to depend on. Many people without the resources or desire to keep a close electronic eye on their checking account balance turn to checks. It’s still legal. It’s just not the best method for financial stability.
Google is rife with inquiries about how long it takes a check to clear. The delay between a transaction and when funds whoosh out of your account can seem like a good thing if you’re waiting for a deposit to register in your checking account or hoping some money comes in before the check clears.
But paying with a check isn’t a reliable way to beat the clock, especially now that many retailers are taking advantage of the Check 21 Act’s electronic check-scanning system.
Trying to buy time by paying with a check might work a few times, but on the instance it fails, you’re going to end up with a bounced-check fee of about $30 — and likely overdraft fees on top of that.
In my past life as a small-business owner, I heard warning bells whenever someone wanted to pay with a check.
Most of the time, it was just an inconvenience as a small business, as we didn’t make regular trips to the bank. But sometimes, it meant a customer was trying to buy time by using a check.
My favorite interaction was with a woman who asked if I would offer a discount if she paid with a check at a large, crowded craft show.
I just looked at her with my mouth open, but my companion in this anecdote smoothly stepped in and deadpanned, “We don’t accept checks.”
The woman was shocked. “I thought you would be happy I’m saving you the processing fee on a credit card.”
Girl, no. I’ll gladly pay the 2-point-whatever percent processing fee to take your credit card from your hand, insert it into a card reader attached to my iPad and know in 10 seconds if your payment has gone through or not.
You’re not saving me any trouble by trying paying with a check. (P.S. You are my age. We both did not have bank accounts until well after the Berlin Wall fell. No?)
I’m not saying you should throw your checkbook into the fire and abandon this traditional payment method. Sometimes you need a backup plan. Sometimes, you just want to get into a time machine for a minute. Beep beep boop, see ya later, gotta go dig out my Whitney Houston cassettes and actually get out of my chair to change the channel on the TV.
But it’s time to accept the fact that checks are fading away.
Even the United States Postal Service, probably the entity most upset by the rise of online bill payment options, knows the end is nigh. It found consumers only paid 37% of their bills by mail in 2013 — down from 74% in 2003.
You want to send 37% of your bills the old-fashioned way? Go for it, traditionalists. You can keep as many checkbooks at home as you want, even though check pricing is a total racket. (If you’re still paying the bank $30 plus for a box of checks, I can’t even look at you. Our favorite online checking account, Aspiration, offers a complimentary first set of paper checks, if you’re old-school like that.)
Take your checkbook to the doctor’s office. The PTA committee meeting. The car dealership. Mail a check to your landlord. Fine.
But don’t bring those checks into the grocery store. Please.
Disclosure: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links. We’re letting you know because it’s what Honest Abe would do. After all, he is on our favorite coin.
Lisa Rowan is a writer and producer at the Penny Hoarder. She has a hard time hiding her emotions when she’s in uncomfortable public situations.
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.
