Are You Clever and Creative? Earn Hundreds By Writing Slogans and Taglines

Can you sum up a product in a sentence? Think of something funny — and not another joke about too many candles — to put on a birthday card? Make a point in few concise words?

If so, you might be able to make money writing slogans.

Companies sometimes need new corporate taglines, advertising slogans and jingles. Bumper sticker and greeting card makers want cute, endearing or funny thoughts to put on their products. When these businesses need help, they sometimes collect submissions from freelance writers or run contests that anyone can enter — including you!

Writing Corporate Slogans and Taglines

Product slogans can be very short, like Nike’s “Just Do It.” They’re rarely much longer than Hallmark’s “When you care enough to send the very best.”

Although companies usually have their own teams of writers and marketers, they often run competitions that pay big prizes to outsiders who can come up with a catchy line. Watch for these opportunities on television and in print, but your best chance of finding them may be online. Try one or more of these platforms:

• Slogan Slingers helps companies create slogan contests in which their registered writers compete. It’s free to sign up as a writer, and the company claims you can “make up to $999 per contest (minus our small admin fee).”

• Get a Slogan is a “crowd-sourcing platform that brings in custom, creative and catchy slogans from a variety of sloganeers.” Companies come to them for help, and writers submit their ideas. It’s free to sign up, but you initially have only “qualifying” status. Once you obtain “qualified” status, you’ll receive $50 for each of your winning slogans.

• Freelancer.com has a section devoted to slogan-writing projects. The projects are  sometimes run as contests.

For ideas about how to craft a catchy tagline, look over lists of some of the best advertising slogans and think about what makes each one work.

If you Google “slogan contest” plus the current or upcoming year (to weed out expired contests from the results), you’ll notice that government and nonprofit organizations may have even more slogan contests than companies. Many of these are open to children as well, so get your kids writing!

For example, Kentucky’s Secretary of State holds an annual slogan contest for students in grades 6 through 8. The kids have to write a slogan about voting or elections. The 2014 first-place winner earned $1,000 for “Don’t stay home and think you might. Go vote now, the time is right!” Even the third-place winner received $400 for “There’s nothing sweeter than to elect your leader!”

Writing Greeting Card and Novelty Slogans

Nadia Ali wrote the slogan, “Nicotine Challenged,” for use on lighters — and earned $100. That’s $50 per word!

Ali wrote the slogan for Kalan, a gift and novelty seller that mostly does edgy stuff I can’t repeat here. However, their unusual products might be good writing opportunities for you! The Kalan Idea Factory accepts submissions through their Facebook page. Most recently, they were looking for greeting card ideas for next Valentine’s Day.

Oatmeal Studios is a card company that pays for outside submissions — and you don’t even have to be able to draw. Describe the visual elements of the card, and their artists will take it from there. Their submission guidelines include the following tips:

If you find yourself wondering whether a line is funny or not, read it to a few friends and see if they laugh. From a creative perspective, go wild! Keep in mind your target list of people you send cards to.

Here are the occasions you’ll want to consider:

• Birthdays (especially 21st, 30th, 40th, 50th and 60th)
• Belated birthday
• Get well
• Thank you
• Miss you
• Congratulations
• Anniversary
• Retirement

Unlike some card makers, Oatmeal Studios doesn’t want puns, poetry, gross ideas or mean ideas, so keep it clean for your best chance of a payday.

Steve Gillman is the author of “101 Weird Ways to Make Money” and creator of EveryWayToMakeMoney.com. He’s been a repo-man, walking stick carver, search engine evaluator, house flipper, tram driver, process server, mock juror, and roulette croupier, but of more than 100 ways he has made money, writing is his favorite (so far).

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.

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How This Recent Grad Paid Off $14,000 in Student Loans in 7 Months

My name is Kelly Russell, and I have $92,670 in student loan debt.

It’s not as bad as it sounds, though. Last October, that number was $104,105. I also paid off the remainder of my $7,000 car loan in September.

We’ve all seen plenty of articles with titles like “How I Paid Off $20,000 in Student Loans in Two Years,” and these stories are worth celebrating. Paying off your student loans is a huge accomplishment, no matter how big they are.

But while the average student loan debt is around $30,000, many of us have a much higher balance. Whether it’s from attending a private university or deciding to pursue graduate school, paying off a six-figure student loan means playing in a whole other league — especially when that loan doesn’t result in a six-figure salary.

If you’re facing a massive negative number, know that you’re not alone and you can pay off that balance before you hit retirement age. Here’s how I’m working on paying off my student loans — without making a huge salary or working two jobs.

How I Racked Up More Than $100,000 in Debt

I graduated from a small private college in 2011 with about $35,000 in student loans. I went straight into grad school, and my lender deferred my loans. Since I didn’t have to make regular payments during the three years I worked part-time toward my master’s degree, I didn’t — and it was the biggest mistake I ever made.

I was always fully aware of my loans and the amount of interest that was accruing on them. But for some reason, I wanted to pay off a big chunk of my loans all at once. This sounds great, but in reality, it meant that while I was building up that extra money in my savings account, my loan balances were growing even faster due to interest — which, for most of them, is 6.8%.

In my defense, I did pay almost $15,000 upfront while I was in grad school for various expenses, including tuition, parking passes and those vague student activity fees. It didn’t directly add to my loan balance, but it did mean I couldn’t put that money toward paying off the loans — so the balance kept on growing.

Chipping Away at My Debt

Last fall, I awoke from my delusion of paying it all off at once and decided to get serious about paying off my debt. In September, I paid off the remaining $7,000 on my car loan so I could focus solely on my student debt.  

In October, I put $6,000 toward my student loans. In the following months, November through April, I paid an average of $1,400 a month toward my student loans. In seven months, I knocked $14,400 off my student loans. If you include my car loan, I paid off $21,400 of debt between September 2014 and April 2015.

However, if you look at my total balance in October and now, you’ll notice that the difference is only $11,435. Why? Even as I’m paying down my loans, interest continues to accrue and add to the balance. It’s like taking 14,000 steps forward, then 3,000 steps back.

My Most Effective Debt-Reduction Strategy

Here’s the thing: I don’t earn a six-figure salary (not even close!) and I don’t work multiple jobs. I have my 9-to-5 job and occasionally do some freelance work on the side.

But I do have a secret savings weapon: I live at home. Yes, at the age of 21, I moved back in with my parents. I’m now 25, and I plan on staying put for at least another year. Drastic student loan balances call for desperate measures.

While I would love to live on my own or with a roommate, I’ve consciously prioritized paying off my student loans. Not only does living at home let me avoid paying Massachusetts rent costs, but I also do not have to pay for food or utilities. And instead, all of that money can go straight toward my loans.

This might not be an option for everyone, and I know how lucky I am that I’ve been able to move home. But if your family’s open to the idea, try it for at least a year. It might seem like a big sacrifice now, but it will be well worth it when you’ve paid off your loans in five or 10 years instead of 15 or 20.

Create a Budget and Prioritize Loan Payments

A budget helps you see exactly where your money is going. Take your monthly income and look at what it needs to cover — the essentials — plus what you’d like it to cover — hobbies, socializing, etc. Look at what you absolutely must put toward your student loans each month, and then find ways to boost that amount by cutting down on other expenses.

Decide what expenses or nice-to-haves, like a cell phone plan or cable, you can cut from your budget to pay back more of your loan each month. While I splurge occasionally, I don’t spend a lot of money on shopping or going out to bars with friends. Instead of buying a new shirt I don’t really need, I put that money toward an extra loan payment each month.

Pick a Payment Method

Most people focus on paying off their loans in one of two ways. With the snowball method, you focus on paying down your smallest loans first. Each month, you pay the minimum amount on all your loans, except the smallest one — you put as much money as possible toward this loan. Once you’re finished paying off the smallest loan, you move on to paying extra each month on the next smallest loan.

In contrast, the avalanche method involves putting more money each month toward the loan with the highest interest rate. It may take longer to pay off that loan because it may have a higher balance, but you’ll save more money overall by knocking down the total amount subject to the highest rate of compound interest. Once you’ve paid off the loan with the highest interest rate, you shift your focus to the loan with the second highest interest rate.

Other than living at home, my main strategy for paying down my debt is similar to the avalanche method. Each month, I make a little more than the minimum payment for each of my loans, and then I put larger sums toward my two loans with the highest interest rates — . Coincidentally, these two loans also have the highest principal balances.

In addition, instead of making one big payment each month, I break the “loan payments” section of my budget into four amounts — one payment for each week. This strategy helps keep my interest amounts a bit lower. Making payments more than once a month means less accrual of daily interest, so more of each payment goes toward the loan’s principal.

Paying off a six-figure student loan balance isn’t going to be easy, but I’m on my way. If you’re facing a similar amount of debt, I’d love to hear your strategies for paying it off!

Kelly Russell is a marketing professional with a goal of paying off her student loan debt in five years. She currently resides in Massachusetts.

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.

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Replace These 6 Beauty Products With Coconut Oil and Save $360 per Year

Most people have heard about the health benefits of cooking with coconut oil. But did you know you can use coconut oil as a beauty product?

It’s true: switching from your standard beauty products to coconut oil can save you tons of money and give you the same (and sometimes better!) results as high-end products.

I’ve replaced six everyday beauty products with one $3 jar of coconut oil from Walmart and have saved more than $30 per month — that’s over $360 a year. Here are the products I replaced, and how I used coconut oil instead.

1. Body Moisturizer

What I Used to Buy: Oil of Olay Body Moisturizer ($8)

Coconut oil is most famous for being a skin moisturizer. In tropical regions, where coconuts grow, locals have been using coconut oil for centuries to protect their skin from the harmful effects of sun and heat. Coconut oil is made up of medium-chain-length fatty acids (triglycerides) that enhance the moisture barrier of your skin, softening and protecting your skin from dryness.

How to Use It:

• Spoon out a small (teaspoon-sized) chunk of solid oil and rub it between your hands until it melts
• Start with less than you think you’ll need. If you use too much, your skin may not be able to absorb it all.
• Massage the melted oil into your skin

2. Lip Gloss

What I Used to Buy: Eos Lip Balm ($3)

Coconut oil is a natural source of vitamin E, which promotes skin growth, repair and smoothness. Vitamin E not only makes lips shiny and soft, it repairs cracked and chapped lips. Since it’s all natural (and good for you), you don’t have to worry about accidentally ingesting toxic chemicals.

How to Use It:

• Use your finger to rub small circles on the solid oil in the jar, until it melts on your finger.
• Dab the oil on your lips.
• Use it under or over lipstick, or all by itself.

3. Shaving Cream

What I Used to Buy: Skintimate Shave Gel ($3)

All the properties that make coconut oil a great moisturizer make it a great for shaving. Not only does it condition your skin while you shave, but since it’s an oil, it’s water resistant, so it stays put while you make sure you’ve given yourself the perfect shave.

How to Use It:

• Bring your jar of coconut oil in the shower, so the heat will melt the solid oil.
• Pour a small amount of liquid into your palms.
• Smooth on any area (even sensitive bikini areas) you want to shave.
• Not only does the oil protect against nicks and cuts, it’s clear — which makes it easier to avoid shaving any existing wounds.

4. Exfoliating Cream or Body Scrub

What I Used to Buy: Garnier Exfoliating Cream ($5)

You know those scaly heels and elephant-skin elbows? Tackling these problems is where coconut oil really shines. Use the oil on its own or create a coconut-oil-and-sugar scrub, suggests About.com Beauty Expert Julyne Derrick.

How to Use It on It Own:

• Scoop out a small chunk of oil.
• Immediately start rubbing the solid oil into your heels or other rough-skin areas.
• Coconut oil is naturally grainy as a solid. As it melts, those granules soften and transform into a smooth liquid. As you rub solid chunks of coconut oil on your skin, the granules will exfoliate while the emerging liquid moisturizes.

5. Makeup Remover

What I Used to Buy: Sephora Makeup Remover ($8)

Some drugstore makeup removers can be harsh on sensitive skin. Coconut oil is a safe and natural alternative — and it even removes waterproof mascara.

How to Use It:

• Scoop out a pea-sized amount of coconut oil and rub it between your hands until it melts.
• Soak up the liquid oil with a cotton ball.
• Swipe the cotton ball over your face to remove makeup.

6. Hair Conditioner

What I Used to Buy: Dove Deep Moisture Conditioner ($5)

Coconut oil contains proteins that help strengthen and smooth your hair. It’s particularly effective at repairing split ends and restoring a natural shine. Since it doesn’t contain any of the chemicals found in many hair conditioners, you don’t have to worry about coconut oil stripping away your hair color.

How to Use It:

• Bring your jar of coconut oil into the shower with you to allow the heat to melt the solid oil.
• Pour the liquid into your palm and massage through your hair.
• Rinse thoroughly and be careful not to use too much oil on your scalp or in your bangs. If you don’t rinse thoroughly enough, your hair could appear slightly oily when it dries.
• Tip: Coconut Oil is great for making hair shiny and soft, but not great at detangling. Be careful when combing after conditioning with coconut oil.

Tammy Banfield is a professional lifestyle blogger and freelance writer. When she’s not scouring the world (and the web) for the best ways to save money and live better, she can be found running with her dog and organizing her next book club meeting.

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.

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Parents: Tired of Paying Big Bucks for Toys? Sign Your Child Up to Test Them

The other day I was browsing in what was marketed as a “smart” toy store. I was curious about “smart toys,” toys that have their own electronic intelligence, so I went in to check it out.

After rolling my eyes at a hot-pink vacuum cleaner toy (seriously, what is this, 1950?), I came across a Mars Rover Barbie. Despite her sexy astronaut uniform (as if that would be necessary on Mars, people), I thought she was an interesting option. The only problem was the hefty price tag. “Have Barbies always been almost $20? I am in for a real surprise when my daughter gets a bit older!” I thought.

Then again, what if I didn’t have to buy my daughter a new Barbie? What if I could get it for free — or, better yet, what if she could earn it herself?

A Cool Job for Kids: Toy Testing

It sounds crazy, but it’s entirely possible. Many legitimate toy companies hire normal kids to be toy testers. If you want your child to be one, the age range seems to vary depending on the application, but typically companies are looking for toddlers through preteens. The company will either send your child a toy to review or ask you to take them to a toy lab at the company’s headquarters.

Interested? Here are three tips to help your child land the gig:

1. Get a Jump on the Competition

These jobs are hard to find. They pop up unexpectedly, so you should always be on the lookout. As journalist Samantha Christmann explained, be proactive by emailing toy companies directly and asking about opportunities. For example, you can email your contact information and your child’s name and interests to playlab1@fisher-price.com to find opportunities at Fisher-Price.

2. Prowl Social Media

Follow toy companies on Facebook — both major ones and smaller players. For example, the toy company Step 2 posted on its Facebook page that it was looking for kids to test a Thomas the Tank Engine bed. The company wanted to send the bed to several families to try out. The families got to keep the bed for free in exchange for a product review.

I spoke with Krystal Butherus, a blogger who was selected to test the Thomas the Tank Engine bed after hearing about the opportunity in a blogger Facebook group. Krystal advises anyone who wants to get a toy testing opportunity to set up a blog and social media accounts “to show influence if you’re interested in being a toy tester. Word-of-mouth marketing still seems like a big deal to brands, and it’s worthwhile if you actually use the product and enjoying sharing the information with your friends and family.”

As another example, The Warehouse toy company in New Zealand gives its prestigious toy testers $200 worth of toys plus $8,000 cash for their families! To snag one of those jobs, kids had to buy a toy from their store and upload a video of themselves playing with it and explaining why they’d be a great toy tester.

If you want your kids to land similar opportunities, make sure they are comfortable in front of the camera and have no problem selling their skills! It’s a great opportunity for them to learn about marketing and the power of social media all while hopefully getting tons of free toys.

3. Curate Your Online Presence

As Butherus advised, you should have a strong online community to be a toy tester, even if it’s just an active Pinterest page, to be more desirable to toy companies. The bigger online reach you have, the more likely it is that you will be selected as a toy tester.

If you want to do this regularly, prepare your blog by reviewing toys that you already have. That way, you can use these posts as a portfolio to show companies that you write well and review products thoroughly.

When doing a review, be sure to describe the product in detail, including the size, the color, and the age group it’s designed for. Make sure to mention any special or unique features. Have your kid play with the toy for about a month before posting the review, so you can comment on how it held up to wear and tear.

Also, don’t be afraid to mention if you weren’t happy with a toy. Remember, many toy tester jobs exist to check on the safety and reliability of a product, so it’s an important job but also one that involves a bit of risk. Make your reviews honest and reliable, and the companies will thank you.

While it might seem like these jobs are too good to be true, many kids out there are not spending $20 for Mars Rover Barbie. Instead, they can put that money in their college funds and enjoy playing with free toys instead.

Catherine Alford is a full-time blogger, personal finance freelance writer, and mom of twins. She writes about how to balance life and a budget all across the web including on her own site, Budget Blonde.

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.

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How to Budget When You Rely on Cash Tips: This Bartender’s Smart System

When you rely on tips for your income, it can be hard to save money.

I’ve been a bartender for years, like about 550,000 other people in the U.S., according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. When you go home with cash every day, it seems to burn a hole right through your pocket.

And from one day to the next, you have no idea how much you’re going to make. On my worst shift, I owed the restaurant $45 (gotta love those dine-and-dash folks). But on my best shift, I made more than $1,000 (a politician and his lawyer team hit the bar hard the night before he was sentenced).

I have a friend who absolutely relies on getting the occasional group that tips $700. His other four shifts barely pay for gas to work. With those fluctuations in pay, it can seem nearly impossible to set a budget.

Over the years, I’ve developed several strategies to get you off the financial roller coaster and on to a life of greater security. Here’s how to manage your budget when you rely on cash tips.

Look at the Bigger Picture

First, start keeping track of your income. You’ve got to know where you stand.

Track every dollar you actually make, after tipping out other staff (but before buying post-work shots). Write it down in a journal or spreadsheet after every shift, which you should do anyway in case of an audit.

Total up your income for 10 weeks, then find your average weekly income. This process helps smooth out the differences between individual shifts.

If you’re working at your job long enough, do another 10-week average, and compare it to the first 10 weeks to see how much your income varies. Now you can determine a margin of error for your budgeting.

Pick the lower of the averages, and base your budget on that figure, just to be safe.

At my most recent job, my 10-week average only different from my average of the next 30 weeks by $3, which is exceptionally consistent. That might be a rare case, but I expect you’ll find your income to be more consistent than you’d think, as long as you take the longer view.

If you change jobs, keep track of your weekly income, including the time you’re out of work. You want to know how you’re doing in the profession generally, not just at one job.

Save Creatively

While you’re gathering this data, it’s not too early to start saving and making a crude budget. Many in the service business do something like this:

Immediately Set Aside 10-15% of What You Make Each Shift

This is to help with taxes; set aside even more if you can.

Since most servers only make $2.13 per hour or so, with the rest as tips, they’re often stuck with a large tax bill every year. Start planning and saving for it now so you don’t have to sell your car (or live in it) later.

Deposit Larger Denominations in the Bank

Different people choose different bills. I deposit all $100, $50 and $20 bills and use them to pay rent and buy groceries and other necessities.

This way, you’ll use most of your earnings to build up your checking account and cover fixed expenses.

Pay All Day-to-Day Expenses in Cash

You can feel the impact on your wallet more when you use cash than when you just swipe a card. I use $5 and $10 bills for most purchases.

When Paying in Cash, Never Use Change

Always pocket your change and throw it in a jar at home. This is the DIY version of those checking accounts that round up and transfer the difference to your savings.

Change adds up fast. For years, when I was living more hand-to-mouth, this stash was my rainy day fund, and it saved me several times.

Now I use it to fund travel. My most recent jar netted me $600 to use for a trip to Costa Rica.

And as you save change, keep your eye out for valuable coins.

If You Can Afford It, Put Away All Your Singles

Mike Zaunbrecker, a server and bartender in Austin, Texas, puts every dollar bill he gets into a big empty protein powder canister. This helps him save even more quickly than my change jar.

I like to use change to build up my fun/travel fund, and singles to build up my savings account. Figure out which system works best for you.

Save for Something Specific Using a Wine Bottle

Alana Ramirez, a former hostess and server in Austin, Texas, saved for a trip to Hawaii by stuffing every $20 bill she earned into an empty wine bottle for months. When the time came to buy her ticket, she smashed it open.

A wine bottle helps keep your hands off your savings, since you really need to commit to breaking it to get access to your money.

But What About Paychecks?

Out of 12 or so restaurant gigs in my life, only two paid tips in the form of a paycheck cut every two weeks.

Even if you do get a paycheck, you likely don’t get a check consistent enough to base a budget on. After all, the paycheck is just your tips from a week or two, which can be quite variable.

Enter Even. The app costs $3 each week, but there are no other charges. It analyzes your past paychecks and comes up with an average for you, which it reworks every month for accuracy.

If you get a bigger paycheck, the app takes the extra money and holds it in a separate account, and if you get a smaller check, it uses that account to cover the difference.

If you don’t have enough in your “savings,” Even fronts you the money and makes up for it with the next larger paycheck. It’s not a loan, and you don’t pay interest or have to pay the money back at a certain time.

With Even, you get the same amount of money every week or two, and you can budget without having to worry about big income swings.

Take Control

Once you have a good idea of what you’re making and have developed nearly automatic savings habits, structure your finances into whatever system works best for you.

Make a budget that takes into account what you can really expect to earn, and put your cash to work by building up savings and investments. That way, you don’t fritter away all your hard earned money on shots of Jameson. (Just some of it.)

Jeff Morrison is a bar manager and freelance writer from Austin, Texas.

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.

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No Credit History? No Problem: 7 Ways to Build Your Credit From Scratch

Did you know it’s possible to not have a credit score?

I’m not talking about a score of zero. I mean a nonexistent credit history.

When you go to check your credit score (for free, of course) on a site like Credit Sesame, it’ll tell you there’s not enough information to generate a score.

Others will say you have incorrect information — even after you’ve triple checked it.

The experience can be incredibly frustrating because, after all, you need good credit history to be approved for new credit accounts, but you need active accounts to build good credit history.

Sound like a familiar dilemma?

This Catch-22 is common, whether you’re new to the world of credit or your positive accounts have been idle too long for them to appear on credit reports.

Regardless of the reason, if your credit file is thin or non-existent, here are some of the best ways to build your credit history.

1. Start Slow

Building credit history is like building muscle: You have to be strong enough to walk before you can run.

If you try to apply for a bunch of credit cards at the same time right off the bat, you don’t just risk rejection. Your credit score might actually suffer, because every time you apply, your would-be creditor makes a hard inquiry on your report.

Since overdoing it at the start is a rookie mistake, multiple hard credit inquiries within a short time can negatively impact your score. Plus, it’s easy to get in over your head with credit card debt if you’re charging purchases to multiple cards at the same time.

Starting slow will encourage you not only to be a responsible credit user, but also to carefully choose which cards you apply for — and many have great benefits.

Here are some of the best cash-back credit cards to apply for once your credit is stronger. Prefer to travel? Here’s how to choose the right travel rewards credit cards for you.

2. Piggyback (Responsibly!)

If you have a trustworthy person with great credit in your life, you could ask to become an authorized user of one of their accounts. (If you’re young and starting out, a parent’s account is a good option.)

But be careful: If the account holder doesn’t pay the bill, your score could also get hurt. Plus, you might not be able to remove yourself from the account, tying you to a negative credit impactor.

Ask the card issuer exactly what will be reflected in your history. Also, make sure not to go wild with someone else’s credit card!

3. Try a Secured Card

A secured credit card is similar to a debit card — you put down a collateral cash deposit and can use that amount in credit.

However, unlike a debit card, secured cards — at least, good ones — report your payment, balance and other relevant behavior to credit bureaus. The creditor might reward your good standing with a credit line increase, and you’ll build some credit history.

You can also  check with your credit union or bank about getting one of their credit cards, but shop around — some charge exorbitant fees or, worst of all, don’t report to the major credit bureaus.

4. Ask Your Bank for a Loan

Banks and other small private lenders might offer you a low-risk loan, even if you have little or no credit.

For instance, you could purchase a CD from your bank using one of these loans. You wouldn’t own the account until you paid it off, but once you did, you’d have some savings and a credit history boost, just for the price of the fees and interest on the loan.

5. Talk to Your Lenders

It always pays to ask questions.

To set up an account, some lenders might be willing to review nontraditional data, like your rental history, or utility or installment purchase plan payments. You can then use your new account to begin to build a more “traditional” credit file.

6. Keep Using Your Plastic

Most of us know bad credit information falls off reports after seven years.

But did you know good information falls off after 10 years?

Even consumers with good credit history are at risk of losing it if they pay off all of their accounts and don’t touch them again.

Instead of celebrating by cutting up your cards once you pay them off, use them — but keep paying them off.

You could even set up autopay on each card for a small monthly bill, like Netflix or your cell phone plan. Then, pay off your cards in their entirety each month.

7. Keep Tabs on Your Credit Score

Once you become a “real person” with a credit score, you’ll want to keep tabs on that score. The best way to do this is through a free service. (No, you shouldn’t have to pay to see your score).

We use Credit Sesame. It’ll reveal your score as well as walk you through steps to keep hiking that number up, which will help you in the long run.

You’ll reap the credit rewards and keep your history active — without paying a cent of interest!

Jamie Cattanach is a contributing writer for The Penny Hoarder and a native Floridian. She’s passionate about learning, literature, chocolate and finding ways to live the good life as cost-effectively as possible.

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.

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Dave Ramsey is Wrong: Why You Should Use Credit Cards Instead of Cash

Financial guru Dave Ramsey says, “Responsible use of a credit card does not exist.” He advises using cash instead.

While he may have good advice to offer in other areas, here Ramsey is just plain wrong. I never pay interest on my eight cards, I don’t spend more just because I’m not paying cash, and I’m measurably better off financially thanks to credit cards.

Yes, some people can’t handle credit and should use cash, but plenty of people use their cards responsibly, and there are many great reasons to use credit cards instead of cash.

10 Reasons Why You May Want to Use Credit Cards Instead of Cash

Here are 10 reasons you might want to ignore Ramsey’s advice and use credit cards.

1. Protection on No-Return Items

A few months ago I was overbilled for a computer repair. Only when I disputed the charge with my credit card company did the manager of the business finally adjust the charge. I like having a credit card company to help me out at times like this.

Some stores don’t allow returns, or specify that clearance items are non-refundable. If you pay cash for these items and have a problem, you’re usually out of luck.

But if you pay with a credit card, you can file a dispute. Just because the company says “no refunds” doesn’t mean you should pay for something that doesn’t work, so never pay cash for items that can’t be returned — use a card.

The Fair Credit Billing Act lets you withhold payment on things that are damaged or of poor quality — it’s not enough that you change your mind or bought the wrong size.

It’s important to note, as BankRate.com points out, that there are a few catches. You have to first try to resolve the matter with the seller, the item has to cost $50 or more and the law says it has to be bought within 100 miles of your home.

Fortunately, credit card companies rarely enforce the last two stipulations so you can usually dispute charges for items that cost less than $50 and those bought far away or online.

2. Cash-Back Rewards

I just received a $25 check for points I redeemed on one of my cards. But it can be difficult to keep track of all the rules for cash-back rewards, so I use my PayPal Business Debit card for most purchases.

I never have to make a phone call or fill out a form online; the 1% cash back is deposited automatically in my PayPal account every month.

When it’s that easy, why would I want to pay cash and give up the extra money?

If you can keep up on the rules and revolving categories that some rewards programs have, you can do much better.

Some cards pay up to 5% for certain types of purchases one month, and switch the reward to another category the next month.

You can also get creative with rewards cards to boost the balance and earn more.

3. Signup Bonuses

My wife and I made $800 from credit card signup bonuses this year. We had to spend a certain amount to qualify, but we use a card for all our normal purchases until we hit the mark and get the bonus; then we retire the card.

Here’s a question for Ramsey: If we never pay interest (we pay our bill in full every month), and we never buy too much just because it’s on a credit card, are we really better off financially by paying cash and giving up the $1,000 we’ll make this year in bonuses and rewards?

If you do chase after bonuses, you might be tempted to cancel your cards after getting your cash. But closing accounts can hurt your credit score. I close them anyhow, because the score bounces back in time and we aren’t planning to get a mortgage loan, so having a perfect score isn’t important.

But if you do worry about those dings to your score, just keep the cards but stop using them instead of cancelling them. Or, if they have fees, cancel them just before the annual fees are due — in my experience, when you give the reason for canceling, the credit card companies often drop the fee.

4. Extended Warranties

Some cards offer extended warranties on the items you buy. For example, my American Express card offers up to an additional year on many items.

When blogger Xin Lu’s PlayStation 3 died just after the manufacturer’s warranty period had ended, American Express picked up the cost of repairs. “AMEX’s extended warranty saved us several hundred dollars,” she wrote on WiseBread.

It’s a good reason to use the right credit card to purchase electronics, appliances and anything that has a short warranty period (five years or less). Keep the original receipts in case you need to file a claim.

5. Safer Travel

Having been robbed in Mexico, and having once lost five $20 bills on an Ecuadorian dance floor, I now carry very little cash when traveling.

Cash makes you a target for criminals, and if it’s lost or stolen you’ll never see it again. If a credit card is lost or stolen you’ll be liable for $50 at most, as long as you report the theft within two days. Some cards offer zero liability.

Also, who wants to run around the streets of some unfamiliar place looking for a place to trade in those dollars? Credit cards are safer and more convenient in many places.

6. Better Exchange Rates

When my wife recently visited Spain, she exchanged some dollars for euros at the airport. Ouch!

Airport kiosks often offer poor exchange rates and charge high fees. Credit cards offer better rates of exchange, according to a recent study.

To avoid extra costs, choose a card with no foreign transaction fees. Here’s a list of some of the best travel cards.

7. Rental Car Insurance

When I traveled to Colorado last month, I rented a car for a week. The rental company’s collision damage waiver would have cost me $140 for the week, but I declined. Instead, I put the rental charge on one of my credit cards that offers car rental insurance as a free benefit.

You’ll want to read the rules carefully if you use your credit card rental car insurance instead of buying that damage waiver. Not all types of rentals are covered, and you still could be liable for some damages even if you do have this insurance. But it works for me, and saves me a lot of money.

8. Other Travel Benefits

There are many other benefits to using a credit card when traveling, at least if you have the right one. Here are some of the travel-related benefits offered by various credit cards, according to WiseBread:

• Extra baggage loss insurance
• Emergency interpretation services
• Medical emergency transportation assistance
• Credit card loss protection
• No baggage fees
• Tracking assistance for lost luggage

Of course you can also get airline miles for booking flights with a card. You can even use credit cards to get free access to airport lounges. Check out the benefit guides that came with your cards to see what’s available.

9. Expense Tracking

Credit cards give you a way to track expenses. Receipts can easily get lost, so it’s nice to have online statements as a backup. Some card issuers keep those records around for a long time. Discover Card statements stay online for seven years.

Tracking business expenses for tax deductions is an obvious advantage of paying by credit card, but there are other expenditures you might want to track. For example, you’ll need to track any charitable contributions to deduct on your tax return, so use a credit card. You’ll also need to document expenses for a rental property, if you have one.

If you ever lose a box of old receipts during a move (or worse, a fire), get online and print out copies of those old credit card statements while they’re still available.

10. Convenience

If you pay cash for everything, you have to make sure you always have enough currency on you. That means repeatedly stopping at the bank to replenish your funds when they get low. It also means keeping track of how much is in your wallet so you don’t have an embarrassing moment at the cash register.

Plus, you have to make sure you get the correct change — mistakes can happen. It’s simply easier to whip out a credit card and swipe it.

Cash or Credit: The Verdict Is In

To sum up the case for credit cards, here are the benefits of using cards instead of cash, based on my experience this year:

• About $800 in credit card signup bonuses
• About $200 in cash rewards from credit cards
• Savings of $140 on a car rental
• Successfully disputed a charge because I paid with a credit card
• Safer overseas travel for my wife thanks to her credit cards
• Better currency exchange rates because of her credit cards
• Easier tracking of expenses
• Extended warranties on several purchases
• No interest paid on my credit cards
• No fees for my credit cards (except one — but that gets me a free night at a Hyatt)
• No extra purchases versus what we would have bought for cash
• Convenience

And yet Ramsey says, “There is no positive side to credit card use.” He thinks credit cards are nothing but trouble, but I think the guru has failed to make his case. The verdict is in on credit cards: Not guilty.

Steve Gillman is the author of “101 Weird Ways to Make Money” and creator of EveryWayToMakeMoney.com. He’s been a repo-man, walking stick carver, search engine evaluator, house flipper, tram driver, process server, mock juror, and roulette croupier, but of more than 100 ways he has made money, writing is his favorite (so far).

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.

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7 Unexpected Places You Could Find Cash and Valuables Around Your House

While most people associate treasure hunting with pirates, Penny Hoarders know better. There’s treasure all around us; we just need to know where to look.

In a previous post on treasure hunting at home, we looked at 11 hidden places in and around your house or apartment. Once you’ve exhausted those secret spots, it’s time to get outside and expand the search.

Here are seven more places around your home to check. Who knows where you’ll discover hidden or lost valuables and money?

1. Garage

Not quite in the house and not quite outside, the garage is a common hiding place for all sorts of things. Look in the rafters, in the attic if there is one, and in any and all cabinets and containers.

In 2012, officials in Carson City, Nevada, made some interesting discoveries while inspecting a house left behind by a recluse who died with no nearby relatives. They found $12,000 in cash in the house, but soon that amount looked paltry. In the garage, neatly wrapped in aluminum foil, was $7 million in gold coins.

Check out any old tool boxes you find in the garage. Some tools might be sold as useful items or, if they are old and interesting, as collector’s items.

There are other things sometimes left in tool boxes. Consider the man in England who one day looked through his deceased father’s old tool box and found a handful of old coins he later auctioned for £30,000 (about $38,000 U.S.).

2. Backyard

When we were kids, my brothers and I filled a plastic container with little toys, coins, and other items, and buried it under a tree in the backyard. We planned to dig up our “time capsule” years later, but when we tried we never could figure out where it was.

It might be there still, and if it remains there another 40 years the coins and toys will probably have value as collectibles.

Valuable discoveries in yards are not uncommon. In early 2014, while hiking out of their backyard, a California couple found a buried treasure worth $10 million: six metal cans, each filled with rare gold coins.

A metal detector can help you find buried valuables. Hidden currency is often in a container made partially of metal, like a jar with a metal top.

Also, people typically level the ground after burying things. The loose soil on top compacts over time, creating a noticeable low spot, so watch for small depressions in the yard.

Burying things under the edge of a cement walkway or driveway is also common.

3. Garbage and Recycling Bins

Excited that the dealers from “Antiques Roadshow” were coming to his town, a man brought in a violin he had plucked from someone’s trash. Maybe it was worth a little something, he thought.

As it turned out, once cleaned up, his junk-picked violin was worth around $50,000. Apparently it was a creation of Giuseppe Pedrazzini, a famous Italian violin maker.

If you see something interesting sticking out of a neighbor’s garbage bin, why not grab it? It’s fair game once it’s discarded.

If you live in a condo development, as my wife and I do at the moment, watch that dumpster for treasures. Here, the residents tend to generously put anything of value alongside the dumpster instead of in it. I’ve sold some of the things I’ve found there, and we eat every day at a beautiful wooden table that was discarded next to our recycling bin.

4. Garden

Over the years I’ve read quite a few stories about buried treasures in gardens. I’m not sure I would want to hide valuables where people are likely to dig, but perhaps homeowners figure they’ll be the only ones digging in their garden. Plus, the soil is already loosened, so a garden is an easy place to bury things.

Use a metal detector to avoid having to dig up your whole garden. If you can find old photos of your home, you might discover parts of the yard that used to be a garden — search these spots.

Gardens can be wild places, and sometimes things get lost in the weeds. Coins and tools fall from the pockets of gardeners, and on occasion even statues get lost.

Wait… statues? That’s right — a man in England found a statue worth £20,000 (about $25,000 U.S.) behind overgrown bushes in a garden.

Closer to home, a friend of mine found an entire wood-burning stove half-buried in the dirt in the garden behind his new house.

5. Barns and Sheds

Barns, sheds and other outbuildings around a home are natural places to hide things and good places to continue your treasure hunt. You might find valuable items left behind by previous owners.

When my wife and I bought a place in Colorado, the detached garage/storage building behind the house was bursting with random appliances and tools.

My neighbor sold the scrap metal for me, but I still wonder about a classic oil stove we found. It looked old enough to be a collectible antique. I probably should have had it appraised before we moved and left it to the next owner.

People also purposely hide things in outbuildings. At a house I owned in Michigan, I had a shed with a floor made of loose cement tiles.

If someone lifted the one that was three back and four over from the southwest corner, and dug into the dirt a couple inches, they would have discovered my old coin collection in a plastic peanut butter jar. A simple metal detector would have revealed the location of that little treasure.

My coins are no longer there, but I’m certainly not the only one who has hidden a collection — and people who hide things often die without revealing all of their hiding places.

Old pump houses are another place to investigate. In years past, when people didn’t trust banks as much, they hid gold coins in false water lines. Look for pipes that don’t actually go anywhere or connect to others.

Who knows what might be out there in your shed or barn?

7. Foundations

Treasure hunters look at the foundations remaining at old homesteads to determine where the front steps and porch would have been. Why? That’s where people most often sat down to rest, so it’s also where coins most often fell out of pockets and got lost in the grass and dirt.

If your own home is old enough, there might be some valuable coins where people sat generations ago. Get out that metal detector and shovel.

If you expand your concept of treasure, you’ll likely find more of it. I recently helped a friend clean out a house he bought as an investment. Two guys in a pickup truck stopped by and offered to take many of the things that were in the yard, and we filled their truck.

They planned to sell the load to a scrap metal processor for a couple hundred dollars — something the previous owner could have done before he lost the house to the bank. You can do the same with any metal objects you find around your home. Whatever you discover, there just might be a buyer!

Steve Gillman is the author of “101 Weird Ways to Make Money” and creator of EveryWayToMakeMoney.com. He’s been a repo-man, walking stick carver, search engine evaluator, house flipper, tram driver, process server, mock juror, and roulette croupier, but of more than 100 ways he has made money, writing is his favorite (so far).

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.

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These 5 Budgeting Myths are Total BS. So Stop Using Them as Excuses

Most people don’t really keep a budget, even though we know we should.

And if you do use a budget to track your finances, chances are it gives you only a rough idea of what’s going in and out of your bank account. Am I right?

That’s the boat I was in not long ago. I had a “budget” set up — and I use that term loosely here — but it wasn’t really helping me manage my money.

I had always believed that actually setting up and maintaining a good budget would be a huge project, one I didn’t have time for. But my wife and I could see we were heading toward a financial cliff and really needed some help.

Without even realizing it, we were spending a lot more than we were bringing in every month. We were overdrafting our account at least once a month, and our credit card balances kept creeping higher.

I knew something had to change.

So I decided to dive in and give budgeting a shot, and I quickly realized budgeting isn’t nearly as bad as most people make it out to be!

A lot of the things I had believed about budgeting were either exaggerated or simply not true. And once I got past those misconceptions, I was able to use a budget to finally see our whole financial picture, identify where we needed to make improvements and come up with a plan to get us back on track.

Here are five myths I believed about budgeting that held me back from reaching my money goals — and how to get past them.

Myth #1: Setting Up a Budget is Complicated

Does the idea of setting up a budget feel complicated?

Nothing could be further from the truth! Creating a budget can actually be simple: At its basic level, it’s nothing more than a list of the money coming into your life and the money going out.

While I use Excel to manage my budget, you’ll want to use a platform that feels comfortable for you. Explore other systems like Mint, EveryDollar or You Need a Budget. They all have free versions!

EveryDollar is my favorite because it feels most intuitive and user-friendly. It also has a mobile app so you can track your budget on the go. You can pay for small extras if you want, but the main budgeting tool is free.

If those options sound daunting, it’s perfectly OK to use a piece of paper and pencil.

At the top of your budget, write your net monthly income (that’s your take-home pay after taxes), and underneath, write the expenses you have every month. BOOM! Just like that, you have a simple budget!

Now if you want, you can get fancy and start adding details like gross pay or credit card balances. You can add as many details as you want, and you probably will add line items as you go along and get more comfortable with your system.

But the truth is, none of that is really necessary. All you need to do is list your income — what’s coming in — and expenses — what’s going out.

If you’re avoiding creating a budget because it feels scary and intimidating, do yourself a favor and keep it simple.

Myth #2: You Have to Be Good With Numbers

If you passed second grade math, you can set up a budget. All it takes is a little addition and subtraction!

Once you’ve listed your income and expenses, add them up separately. You’ll see your total income — which is really only applicable if you have more than one job, or if your significant other also earns a paycheck and you combine your money — and your total expenses.

After that, simply subtract your total expenses from your total income. If you end up with a negative number, you know you need to start cutting down on your expenses.

If you subtract your expenses from your income and come up with a positive number, congratulations! You’re already a lot further ahead than I was at this point, and that’s worth celebrating.

Myth #3: Budgeting Takes Too Much Time

The truth is, creating a budget does take a bit of a time investment… at first. When you start out, you’re not only learning how to budget, you’ll also need to really look at and record how you spend, which requires some thought.

But after the initial set-up, it will take very little time each month to update your budget, especially if you keep it simple as I’ve suggested.

I usually spend half an hour at the end of every month updating my budget, adding what I earned and spent that month, as well as looking forward to what I expect to earn and spend the next month.

That’s it! And that half hour has made a huge difference in my life. It has helped me learn to control my spending each month, which means less stressing over money.

Myth #4: Budgeting Means I Won’t be Able to Have Fun Anymore

Think budgeting means cutting out everything fun in your life, and living on just the bare essentials?

It doesn’t have to!

Instead, think of budgeting as planning how much you’re going to spend so you don’t run out of money before the end of the month. That way, you can spend money where and when you want to, without wondering whether you’ll have enough to pay the rent.

If you like to go out to eat every day, that’s fine! Just put it in your budget. If you want to go to the movies at least a few times a month, that’s OK, too — just put it in your budget.

All you’re doing is setting the money aside to make sure it’s there for that activity.

Some people might complain, “But that takes all the fun out of everything! I want to be spontaneous!”

If that’s you, work some spontaneity into your budget. If you look back at your spending habits and notice you’ve spent around $200 a month on activities you didn’t expect, then budget $200 the next month to use for that “fun fund.”

The trick here is prioritizing. If you want to have that $200 a month to use however you’d like, it means you won’t have $200 to spend elsewhere. And if that’s $200 you need to buy groceries, you might have to scale back your “fun fund” a bit.

Knowing how much you have to spend and how you usually spend it will help you make choices in line with your priorities.

Myth #5: But… I Already Have a Budget

No, you don’t. Not if you set it up six months ago and haven’t looked at it since.

That’s exactly what I did before I truly began keeping a budget. It was a rough framework, yes, but not enough to actually help me control my spending.

Looking at your finances once isn’t enough; you need to update your budget every month for it to be effective. That’s the only way you’ll really be able to see where your money goes, versus where it should go.

It’s like financial guru Dave Ramsey says: “Tell your money where to go every month instead of wondering where it went.”

It’s not only effective, it also feels good.

Tom Gordon is a freelance writer and recovering spendaholic living in Las Vegas with his wife and three incredible sons. He has developed a passion for common-sense, real-world ways the average American can save and earn extra money, and wants nothing more than to share that passion with the world.

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.

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10 Cities Where Your Paycheck Will Go the Furthest

Struggle to Save Regularly? 4 Tools That Turn Loose Change into Savings

I don’t know about you, but it’s virtually impossible for me to save regularly. My ends don’t meet nearly enough for recurring transfer to a savings account, and as a freelancer, I’ve learned to live with an irregular cash flow.

So how can I save the money I know I should be putting in the bank?

While there are lots of ways to make a little extra cash or trim a little spending to squirrel away into your emergency fund or toward a big purchase, it’s easier to build up that money when you don’t notice it disappearing from your budget.

That means putting away a little at a time, in increments you’re not going to miss, but that will add up to a considerable total. That’s right — you’re going to be hoarding pennies.

4 Apps That’ll Help You Save Money

If you’re like me and struggle to save regularly, try one of these free apps and services that build automatic savings into your daily life.

1. Digit

Digit is a service that links to your checking account, monitoring your daily spending habits and income history.

Every two or three days, it uses that data to identify a small amount of money, usually between $5 and $50, it can safely set aside, then transfers that money to your new FDIC-insured Digit savings account.

The company is so confident in their math that they have a no-overdraft guarantee! If they get the calculations wrong, they’ll cover your overdraft fee.

When you want to access your money — whether it’s to pay for a financial emergency or because you’re ready to make a big purchase — you simply message Digit, and it transfers the money back to your checking account within 24 hours.

What makes Digit great is its flexibility. You’re not locked into a recurring dollar amount or  frequency. I’ve been plunged into the red enough to realize that regularly scheduled bank savings transfers aren’t for me! The company’s goal is for you to “save money without thinking about it.”

Digit is free for the first 100 days; after that it charges $2.99 a month.

Digit has mobile apps for both iPhone and Android devices. The service works with more than 2,500 banks in the U.S.

2. Acorns

Ever wanted to start investing, but worried that you didn’t have enough money?

Acorns is a mobile app for Android and iOS that lets you invest the leftover change from each transaction using your credit card, debit card or checking account.

Every time you swipe your card, Acorns will automatically “round-up” what’s left to the nearest dollar. If you don’t want to automatically round-up every purchase, you can manually choose your round-up transactions.

I usually round up any transactions where the cents are over $0.50, like my $3.60 cup of coffee. I find this keeps me from taking too much from my checking account because I’m so eager to round up enough to invest. Rounding up 40 cents here and 25 cents there moves me swiftly enough to $5 so that I can begin investing without putting myself into the red.

Unfortunately, Acorns doesn’t offer any overdraft protection guarantees, so you’ll need to manage it a little more closely than Digit.

Once you have accumulated $5 worth of round-ups, Acorns will transfer that money from your checking account and you can invest it into your chosen portfolio.

Acorns offers five types of portfolios, ranging from “Conservative” to “Aggressive.” They consist of various stocks and bonds, “diversifying across multiple asset classes,” similar to a mutual fund.

Not a banking wizard? Are you totally lost when it comes to the stock market? Acorns makes it easy to invest by removing the responsibility of choosing individual investments or worrying about trades. You don’t need any previous investment knowledge or history. Simply choose your portfolio based on your age, income level and how aggressive you’d like to be with your funds.

You won’t grow your money overnight, but you’ll see real-time returns on your investments. Like with any investment, your losses and gains are subject to market fluctuations. With a Conservative portfolio, I turned $15 into $19 within a few weeks.

You can withdraw your funds at any time within three to five days, and it took the full five days for the funds to hit my bank account.

Downloading Acorns is free, but you will pay a low fee to invest. If you have less than $5,000 in your account, you’ll pay $1 per month. Investors with more than $5,000 will pay 0.25% per year.

The cool thing about Acorns is that you’re not simply monitoring your assets, you’re creating them. It’s a great place to store those leftover pennies from your Netflix and Hulu payments. Just round-up your transactions to the nearest dollar and let Acorns do the rest.

3. Keep the Change

It’s easy to see where Acorns got its inspiration; Bank of America’s Keep the Change savings program has been around since 2005. Every time you make a purchase with your debit card, Bank of America rounds up the next dollar and transfers the difference to your savings account.

To join the Keep the Change program, you’ll need to a Bank of America checking account, savings account and debit card, but if you’re already a customer, it’s a good option. You can even monitor your extra savings through the Bank of America mobile app.

This program takes some of the worry out of saving, since it’s all automatic. You do have to be mindful, though, and start thinking of your purchases in whole dollars, or you might overestimate how much is left in your checking account.

4. Way2Save

Wells Fargo offers a special Way2Save savings account that transfers $1 from your checking account into your savings each time you make a debit card purchase, pay a bill online or make an automatic payment from your checking account. If you choose, you can also set up automatic daily or monthly transfers.

As a Wells Fargo customer, I’ve found both pros and cons to this account. It’s nice not to manage the savings at all, since the program takes such a small increment automatically.

The money in that savings account also acts as optional overdraft protection for your checking account, though since it takes money out of your checking account, it can also cause overdrafts if you’re not careful.

Sometimes the money moving out of my checking account and into my savings account leaves me with a negative balance, so it gets pulled back out of my savings and back into my checking account — resulting in zero savings.

However, this overdraft protection is optional and situation is pretty rare for me, occurring only when I use my debit card more than usual and not often enough for me to discontinue using the program.

I have saved a substantial amount of money using Way2Save, easily the most I’ve ever been able to save with a bank account. Plus, it’s convenient because I can manage it within my Wells Fargo mobile app.

These programs won’t replace the hard work of creating and sticking to a budget, but they do help you capture little bits of extra money and turn them into savings. If you struggle with regular saving like I do, try capturing your extra pennies this way and watch them start to add up.

CJ Reid is a writer, blogger, small business owner and consummate penny hoarder. When not freelance writing or editing, she is flipping furniture or doing transcription work.

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.

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