Paving the way

New repaving process to target less-busy roads in Monroe County

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Skip Discount Sites. Hotels Are Offering Great Perks if You Book Directly

Quick! You need to book a hotel for your upcoming weekend getaway. What’s your first stop?

If you’re like many Americans, you immediately hit up popular booking sites like Hotels.com, Priceline or Expedia. It turns out hotels actually hate that.

Why? Hotels can’t afford to miss the tons of business those sites bring in, but their profits drop because of the commissions they pay when people book through these sites. They’d prefer you to book directly through them.

So they just lower their prices, right? Nope. They can’t do that. When they sign on with those companies, they sign rate parity agreements, which limit their ability to lower their room rates.

So how do they fight back? They up their loyalty rewards game. Some hotel chains, like Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott, have established successful rewards programs that have improved their direct-booking rates. Marriott rules the roost with a direct booking rate of over 26%.

Wyndham Worldwide Corp., on the other hand, has less than 10% direct booking. Now, it’s fighting back. Wyndham plunked a whopping $100 million into a major revamp of its loyalty program. In short, Wyndham is knocking out blackout dates and making its program more mobile-app friendly. It worked, as U.S. News & World Report ranks it the No.1 hotel loyalty rewards program.

Great, but What’s This Mean For Me?

I’m glad you asked. Hotels are frantically fighting for your business, and that means they want you to book directly with them. As you look at hotel prices, search their websites, and check out their loyalty programs. You can sometimes score discounted rates, free rooms and other cool perks. (You don’t really have to be loyal — you can sign up for any of them and snag the freebies.)

Free rooms? Free perks? Yes, please. Hotel chains are in a battle with online travel agencies, so take advantage. Check out hotel rewards programs as they get more and more aggressive in the fight for your travel dollars.

Their desperation is your savings opportunity. Go get it!

Tyler Omoth is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder who loves soaking up the sun and finding creative ways to help others. Catch him on Twitter at @Tyomoth.

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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Work Part-Time and Make $20/Hour? These 12 Careers Let You Do Just That

Are you looking to max out your backyard hammock hours and still make bank when you do have to work?

A new study by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has a list of part-time jobs that pay nearly triple the $7.25 federal minimum wage.

The best part: Job openings in those occupations are expected to grow faster in the next decade than other occupations, and most of them don’t even require a four-year degree.

Using data from the National Compensation Survey, the BLS found 19 part-time jobs that pay more than $20 an hour. To save you some time, we threw out any that required more than a Bachelor’s degree or that were projected to have fewer jobs by 2024.

As you’ll notice, a lot of these jobs are in the health care field, which we’ve highlighted in past articles as a really promising industry as our country continues to age. Plus, it’s one of three sectors with tons of open jobs right now.

High-Paying Part-Time Jobs That Typically Require An Associate’s Degree

Dental hygienist

Average hourly pay: $33.19

Projected job growth: 19%

Diagnostic medical sonographer

Average hourly pay: $31.73

Projected job growth: 26%

Respiratory therapist

Average hourly pay: $29.35

Projected job growth: 12%

Physical therapist assistant

Average hourly pay: $26.75

Projected job growth: 41%

Radiologic technologist

Average hourly pay: $25.65

Projected job growth: 9%

Practical or vocational nurse

Average hourly pay: $22.60

Projected job growth: 16%

Insurance sales agent

Average hourly pay: $20.96

Projected job growth: 9%

High-Paying Part-Time Jobs That Typically Require A Bachelor’s Degree

Registered nurse

Average hourly pay: $36.94

Projected job growth: 16%

Medical or clinical laboratory technician

Average hourly pay: $34.84

Projected job growth: 14%

Management analyst

Average hourly pay: $29.71

Projected job growth: 14%

Dietitian or nutritionist

Average hourly pay: $26.56

Projected job growth: 16%

Mental health and substance abuse social worker

Average hourly pay: $22.37

Projected job growth: 19%

Don’t see anything that piques your interest? As always, make sure to check out The Penny Hoarder Jobs page on Facebook for leads on all sorts of interesting gigs.

Alex Mahadevan is a data journalist at The Penny Hoarder.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, one of the largest personal finance websites. We help millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. In 2016, Inc. 500 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the No. 1 fastest-growing private media company in the U.S.

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These Are the Walmarts That Have Killed Ad Match, According to Readers

When we wrote about Walmart stores nixing price matching in many locations, we hit a pretty big roadblock: The company wouldn’t tell us which ones were affected.

Enter our super-awesome, wicked-smart and very good-looking Penny Hoarder readers.

We asked readers to tell us what stores had ended price match. We received more than 200 responses. Then we started compiling a map of all the Walmart stores that have reportedly forsaken the ad-matching policy.

Charles Crowson, senior manager for corporate communications at Walmart, would not confirm whether the stores on our reader-inspired list had, in fact, ended ad matching.

So far, readers have told us about 18 Walmart locations in Florida that have ended the policy, more than any other state in the U.S. New York, Georgia, Illinois and California are right behind it. We haven’t heard from anyone from Alaska or Hawaii yet.

We know there are hundreds of other Walmarts that have killed price matching, and we want to keep our readers updated. So let us know if your local store’s policy has changed via our super-quick Google form — it’s anonymous! Contact us at feedback@thepennyhoarder.com or chat about it in our Facebook comments.  

Here’s our list:

Arizona

• Surprise

California

• Carson
• Ceres
• Corona
• Eureka
• Fontana
• Long Beach
• Modesto
• Oceanside
• Poway
• Rohnert Park
• Turlock

Colorado

• Delta
• Denver
• Fountain

Delaware

• Milford

Florida

• Auburndale
• Clearwater
• Dunedin
• Homestead
• Jacksonville
• Lake City
• Lecanto
• North Port
• Ocala
• Orlando
• Pace
• Palm Harbor
• Pembroke Pines
• Plant City
• Port St. Lucie
• St. Petersburg
• Sunrise
• West Palm Beach

Georgia

• Blairsville
• Cairo
• Carrollton
• Eastanollee
• Fort Oglethorpe
• Hartwell
• Macon
• Martinez
• Toccoa
• Waynesboro
• Winder

Indiana

• Greenwood
• La Porte
• Plymouth

Idaho

• Boise
• Caldwell
• Nampa

Illinois

• Bloomingdale
• Champaign
• Chicago heights
• Forest Park
• Glen Ellyn
• Hodgekins
• Lake Zurich
• Lockport
• Naperville
• Ottowa
• Sterling

Kansas

• Arkansas City
• Wichita

Kentucky

• Elizabethtown
• Lexington
• Radcliff
• Stanford

Louisiana

• Hammond
• Kenner
• Metairie
• West Monroe

Maine  

• Thomaston

Maryland

• Clinton
• Hanover
• Towson

Massachusetts

• Brockton

Michigan

• Houghton
• Marquette
• Muskegon

Minnesota

• Blaine
• Blue Earth
• Cambridge
• Eden Prairie
• Forest Lake
• Fridley
• Pine City
• Shakopee

Mississippi

• Booneville
• Madison
• Ocean Springs
• Petal

Missouri

• Florissant

Montana

• Butte

Nevada

• Reno

New Jersey

• Neptune Township
• Turnersville

New York

• Centereach
• Farmingdale
• Johnson City
• Kingston
• Macedon
• Napanoch
• Newark
• North Tonawanda
• Oneonta
• Potsdam
• Riverhead
• Rochester
• Schenectady
• Vestal
• Vestal
• Wilton

North Carolina

• Greenville
• Kitty Hawk
• Mebane
• Mocksville
• Murphy
• Raleigh
• Rocky Mount
• Statesville
• Waynesville
• Winston-Salem

Ohio

• Cortland
• Kent
• Madison
• Salem
• Youngstown

Pennsylvania

• Bethel Park
• Hanover
• Harborcreek
• Harrisburg
• Hermitage
• Indiana
• State College
• Waynesburg

South Carolina

• Anderson
• Dillon
• Goose Creek
• Greenville
• Lake Wylie
• Rock hill
• Simpsonville
• Travelers Rest
• York

South Dakota

• Aberration
• Mitchell
• Sioux Falls

Tennessee

• Columbia
• Elizabethton
• Morristown
• Oneida
• Rogersville

Texas

• Lubbock
• Mesquite
• San Antonio
• Sugar Land
• Waxahachie

Utah

• All

Vermont

• Berlin

Virginia

• Bristol
• Locust Grove
• Louisa

Washington

• College Place
• Moses Lake
• Spokane

West Virginia

• Moundsville

Wisconsin

• Berlin
• Darboy
• Delavan
• Milwaukee
• New Richmond
• Shawano
• Sturgeon Bay

Alex Mahadevan is a data journalist at The Penny Hoarder.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, one of the largest personal finance websites. We help millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. In 2016, Inc. 500 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the No. 1 fastest-growing private media company in the U.S.

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This Savings Plan Will Make You Less Stressed About Sending Kids to College

Little Jack just popped out of the womb, and now you’re worried about him sleeping through the night — and paying for his college.

Or it could be that Jack is about to start kindergarten, and you’re thinking about saving for college.

We can’t blame you. The state of student loan debt is crazy, and you want to help prepare your precious offspring — maybe because you’re still trying to pay your own student debt off.

It might be time you look into college savings plans.

One of the most popular college savings plans is the 529 plan.

Already feeling puzzled? We’ve gotcha covered.

What’s a 529 College Savings Plan?

A 529 college savings plan is a tax-advantaged investment account, so it can grow tax free and you can take money out tax free.

Legally, they’re deemed “qualified tuition plans,” which are sponsored by state governments — in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia.

Each state offers at least one plan, and there are no income restrictions or annual contribution limits, though each state has a lifetime contribution limit, which ranges anywhere from $235,000 to $511,000.

Does that amount of money sound daunting? (I agree.) But 529 college savings plans aim to make it a little less so.

You can start a 529 plan for your kid at any time, so it’s never too late — unless they’re headed to college, like, tomorrow.

Finding the Best 529 Plan for Saving for College

There are two main types of 529 savings plans: prepaid plans and investment plans.

1. Prepaid 529 Plan

A prepaid plan allows you to lock in the price of tuition.

For example, here in Florida we have the Florida Prepaid College Plan. If you strike up a 529 savings plan this year, you’ll lock in paying the 2017 tuition rate — even when it’s 2035. However, your child must go to an in-state public school.

How to Find The Best Fit: To find the best prepaid plan, search for them by state.

Try visiting FinAid. Click the state you live in, and explore your plan options.

2. Investment College Plans

Then there are investment plans, which The Wall Street Journal recommends, especially for those with younger kids.

“With investment plans, you choose how you want to invest your funds and then you can use that money (and the earnings it generated) for a variety of educational costs at a variety of institutions,” the Journal writes.

How to Find The Best Fit: Finding an investment plan that works for you proves to be more tricky than a simple Google search. Lots of online tool can help, though.

Try using a site like CollegeBacker. The online tool allows you to set up a 529 investment savings plan — and makes it easy for family and friends to contribute.

(Does your 1-year-old really need more toys? Ask Grandma to contribute to college instead.)

You’ll start by setting up your plan. Here, you can play around with some numbers, sans calculator or Excel sheet.

For example, I type in my child’s name, Josie (OK, it’s actually my cat), who is 4 months old. I say I want to save for a public in-state (cat) university. Other options include public out-of-state university or a private university.

CollegeBacker then recommends how much I should save -- $73,700 by 2035. I can choose how much I want to contribute per month. It looks like $150 a month will cover 92% of my goal.

It’s also interesting to see that my $150 a month (which will equate to $34,200), can grow to $67,500.

Once you calculate your goal, go ahead and set up your future college graduate’s profile and build your team of friends and family.

You can always check your progress on CollegeBacker and even change your contribution rate.

Watch your 529 savings plan — and your child — grow.

Determining which college savings plan is best for you and your spawn will be up to you, but if you want to dig a little deeper into 529 plans, here’s your guide.

Carson Kohler (@CarsonKohler) is a junior writer at The Penny Hoarder. She works hard so she can give her cat a good life.

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8 Retirement Rumors to Ignore If You Actually Want to Retire – for FORBES

As a financial planner who has been around for a while, I’ve overheard plenty of wild claims about retirement and money.

If I had a dollar for every person who told me their whole life insurance plan worked like a savings account or that their variable annuity was the best investment available, I would be rich!

Unfortunately, there are long-term consequences that come with believing everything you hear. Over the years, I've watched far too many people I counseled make financial mistakes that cost them thousands of dollars.

One time, I even met with a client who asked if he could borrow from his 401(k) before he had contributed a dime. Why? Because he heard his 401(k) was one of the best ways to get a loan.

8 Retirement Rumors You Should Definitely Ignore

When it comes to money and especially retirement, ignorant rumors abound. It seems like people who don’t want to know the truth would rather just make something up and tell their friends.

If you actually want to retire, however, you have to learn to sort fact from fiction and the good advice from the bad. Here are some of the most prevalent retirement rumors you should definitely ignore:

#1: “You need {insert generic number here} to retire.”

Have you ever been told you’ll need $1 million dollars to retire? $2 million? $4 million?

No matter which of these numbers you’ve heard, these rumors are all based on some ambiguous formula intended to scare you into saving and investing more.

While you do need money – a lot of money – to retire, it’s not as simple as picking an arbitrary number and throwing in the towel once you’re there.

According to financial planner Josh Cumrine of Total Wealth Managers, your eligibility to retire is based on a lot more than your the size of your portfolio anyway.

Not only does the size of your nest egg matter, but your retirement income matters, too. How much cash flow will you receive from pensions, social security and annuities in retirement?

Then, there’s the spending side of the equation – as in, how much do you plan to spend in retirement? To ensure you have enough money to retire, you have to have a good idea of how much you plan to spend each month.

The bottom line: The amount of money you’ll need for retirement depends on a wide range of factors, and it’s different for everyone. [tweet_quote display=”Don’t let an ignorant friend or an online retirement calculator set the tone for your retirement.”]Don’t let an ignorant friend or an online retirement calculator set the tone for your retirement.[/tweet_quote]

Meet with a financial advisor to create a comprehensive financial plan that takes all your personal details into account. At that point, you’ll have a target to shoot for.

[brightcove videoID=5085410646001 playerID=]

#2: “Everything will work out fine.”

Last year, Forbes reported that “roughly 45% of working-age households have no retirement savings.” While a large part of this can be attributed to the nonexistent savings of the working poor, there is something more insidious at play when such a large percentage of people aren’t saving at all.

Unfortunately, there are far too many people who just don’t bother, either because they don’t take the initiative to sign up for their work-sponsored 401(k) plan or because they are the type who think “everything will be fine.”

According to financial planner Dave Henderson of Integrity One Wealth Strategies, the people who bet the farm on the idea that “everything will work out” are usually the ones who should worry most.

“Failing to plan is planning to fail,” he says. [tweet_quote display=”"When you don’t make retirement a priority, you’re basically setting yourself up to fail."”]When you don’t make retirement a priority, you’re basically setting yourself up to fail.[/tweet_quote]

But, it can be difficult to get that point across to a hopeless financial optimist, says financial planner Andrew Rafal of Bayntree Wealth Advisors. Some people have this “glass half full” mentality that they just can't shake.

However, no matter how big of a ‘glass half full’ mentality you exude, your plan will not just create itself.

“Future success is based on taking action today,” says Rafal. Don’t fall into magical thinking and assume things will “work out” in your favor somehow. If you’re wrong and you reach retirement age without any savings, you will wish you had planned ahead.

#3: “Rules of thumb work best.”

Financial planner Joseph A. Azzopardi of The Well Planned Retirement says he has met with too many potential clients who mention the idea that investing is too “risky.” And when he inquires why they would say that, their responses usually involve some conventional wisdom or a rule of thumb they heard somewhere.

Basically, they picked up some random advice somewhere along the way and decided to treat it like the gospel. But, 99 percent of the time, it isn’t.

“Relying on simple strategies like holding your age as the percentage of bonds in a portfolio or using the ‘rule of four’ as a withdrawal guide are terrible ways to align investment strategies with long-term financial goals,” says Azzopardi. “While some of these strategies may have worked well in the past, looking in the rear-view mirror for guidance is no way to ensure a retirement is appropriately planned for.”

Not only that, but a rule of thumb may be disastrous for your unique situation. Before you rely on generational wisdom or a rule of thumb to dictate your retirement savings strategy, sit down with a financial planner to make sure it makes sense.

#4: “I don’t make enough money to save for retirement.”

This one really irks me. While there are plenty of people living in poverty who actually cannot afford to save for retirement (let alone keep up with everyday bills), there are far too many regular earners who use their income as an excuse not to save.

Maybe they’re living paycheck-to-paycheck, so they just assume they can’t stash away any money in their 401(k). Or, perhaps they don’t just don’t care – or they think their meager savings efforts won’t amount to much.

Either way, they’re wrong. Nearly anyone who earns an average income can afford to save for retirement – even if it’s only 3 percent at first.

Financial advisor Rick Taborda of LBT Wealth Management says that, any time he hears someone say they “can’t afford” to save, he shares the story of Ronald Read.

Ronald Read was a janitor and gas station attendant who died in 2014 with $8 million in his investment portfolio.

“Mr. Read’s story teaches us that you don’t need a six-figure income to become a millionaire,” says Taborda. “All you need to do is spend less than you earn, stick to a savings plan, and invest for the long-term.”

#5: “Social security will be gone before you retire.”

Benjamin Brandt is a financial planner and the host of retirement podcast Retirement Starts Today Radio. Brandt says he has met with countless clients that claim “social security is going broke!” As Brandt notes, he typically hears this when a client wants to start collecting social security early (with a penalty). Since social security will inevitably be gone one day, they figure they’ll get it while they can.

While we get the logic, you shouldn’t base your retirement strategy on a simple rumor.

“While social security isn’t as healthy as it once was and could use some reform, it is far from going broke,” says Brandt.

According to Brandt, many people don’t realize that social security is funded through a dedicated payroll tax. As long as younger workers are contributing, there will be money left to pay out benefits. Payouts may be a lot lower in the future, but no one can say for sure.

“Don’t take a permanent reduction in your retirement benefits based on a rumor,” says Brandt. “Make all retirement decisions based on facts presented by a comprehensive retirement plan.”

The post 8 Retirement Rumors to Ignore If You Actually Want to Retire – for FORBES appeared first on Good Financial Cents.

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The Disney Store is Hiring Right Now — and You’ll Get to Work From Home

I feel like you’re all getting to know way too much about me.

So why stop now?

Here’s yet another confession: I’ve never really been to Disney.

I say “really” because my parents took me once when I was 2. They said it rained the whole time, and I cried. I asked my mom to describe it in one word.

“Washout,” she said.

However, I wasn’t completely deprived — I loved The Disney Store. The store had a big tree in the center of all of the magical toys and costumes, and “The Bear Necessities” from “The Jungle Book” seemed to always be playing on the big screen in the back. To this day, the store hooks me in.

But it’s not just me; the store is always crowded. That’s probably why The Disney Store is hiring part-time, work-from-home guest services representatives — or “cast members.”

Yes, you can work for Disney — from home, and without wearing a sweaty costume!

What It Takes to Work for The Disney Store

Let’s get the logistics aside. This is a part-time, non-exempt, work-from-home job.

Positions are available in Texas, Georgia, Nevada, Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Your primary responsibility?

“Create magical moments for guests of all ages,” the listing states. This means you’ll answer inbound calls and emails from customers. Sometimes your supervisor will have you make an outbound call, but there’s no note of cold-calling.

You’ll help these customers find solutions to issues, all while offering up a fun and entertaining experience. We’re not saying you need to break out your Donald Duck voice, but it doesn’t sound like it’d be frowned upon.

In order to handle all of this, you need to be able to effectively communicate via phone and email, juggle multiple tasks and work part as a part of your guest services team. And because this is a work-from-home job, you’ll also need access to a reliable, high-speed internet connection.

You should be open to working evenings, weekends and holidays. The Disney Store also wants someone who has previous customer service or retail experience and a high school diploma or equivalent.

Interested? You can apply to become a guest services representative on Disney’s career page. Note: You’ll have to make an account to apply.

Not into working for Disney? You can find more work-from-home jobs on our Facebook jobs page.

Carson Kohler (@CarsonKohler) is a junior writer at The Penny Hoarder. After recently completing graduate school, she focuses on saving money — and surviving the move back in with her parents.

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 Get Your Content to Rank for Seasonal Keywords

When you hear the phrase seasonal keywords, what comes to mind?

Is it Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas and general holiday-related keywords?

Well, that’s definitely part of it.

Of course, you’ll want to put the extra energy into optimizing your keywords for the holidays.

After all,

holiday retail sales during November and December brought in $658.3 billion in 2016.

This translates into holiday retail sales representing 20% of total retail industry sales.

But there’s a lot more to it than that.

When I say seasonal keywords, I’m referring to any particular time of the year when there’s a spike in a particular search phrase and when there’s a predictable increase in sales in a given niche.

Some examples include:

• Valentine’s Day
• Mother’s Day
• Father’s Day
• 4th of July
• Back to school
• Halloween

You get the idea.

See, there are opportunities abound throughout the entire year for SEO marketers.

It’s simply a matter of capitalizing on trends and using seasonal keywords to your advantage.

I would like to share with you a formula I’ve developed for identifying seasonal keywords and getting your content to rank for them.

This way, big opportunities for increasing your overall sales won’t be wasted.

Use Google Trends for research

The first thing you’ll want to do is go to Google Trends.

It truly is a marketer’s best friend and is jam-packed will all kinds of helpful insights.

To begin, type in the seasonal event you’re interested in.

I’ll use Father’s Day as an example:

After pressing “Enter,” here’s what I get:

Scroll down just a bit, and you’ll see two important sections: “Related topics” and “Related queries.”

Both serve as a great starting point because you can look at the data from previous years to determine what types of Father’s Day-related searches people use the most.

Click on the right arrow at the bottom to browse through the rest of the list:

This will quickly give you a sense of what people are interested in and searching for as it relates to a particular seasonal event.

For instance, I might be interested in “Father’s Day gifts”:

It could serve as a topic I could potentially create content around.

Plugging a broad keyword into the Google Keyword Planner

Let’s say after a little research on Google Trends, I’ve found a broad keyword I’m interested in.

I know for a fact people have searched for it in the past, so I know they’ll be searching for it this year as well.

What you want to do now is plug that broad keyword into the Google Keyword Planner for a larger list of keyword ideas.

Type it in under “Your product or service.”

Click on “Get Ideas” at the bottom:

Here’s what I get:

The first results don’t look all that great because they’ve all got a high competition level.

That’s a problem for many industries, so I’ll need to do some extra searching to find the diamond in the rough.

After scrolling down some more, I begin to see some keywords with lower competition, like this one:

Ideally, you’ll choose long-tail keywords because this means less competition and often a higher conversion rate.

This is the heart of smart keyword research.

And remember: 70% of all search traffic involves long-tail keywords.

That’s almost always your best bet.

This is a really simple example, but this formula will work for virtually any seasonal event.

Just start with Google Trends to find a broad keyword.

Then plug it into the Google Keyword Planner to fine-tune it, and find a long-tail phrase you have a strong likelihood of ranking for.

To cast a wider net, you may want to repeat the process a few times until you have a handful of keyword phrases at your disposal.

Using Ubersuggest

Here’s another tip.

Ubersuggest has a nice little feature that can give you some additional ideas.

Here’s how it works.

Go to the Ubersuggest homepage.

Type in the seasonal event.

Click “suggest.”

You’ll see this:

Now click on “Word Cloud.”

Here’s what I got:

This is another simple way to see which keywords related to your seasonal event are commonly searched for.

The bigger the word, the more often people include it in their search queries.

I find this can be a nice way to round off your keyword research, and Ubersuggest will provide you with just a bit more data.

Sometimes, you can insert one or more of these keywords into your overall keyword phrase.

Creating your content

At this point you should have an understanding of what some of the most popular searches are and have at least a few long-tail keywords.

Now, you’ll want to base your content around those searches and keywords.

I probably don’t need to say it, but you’ll want to create robust, comprehensive content that’s better than that of at least 90% of your competitors.

You’ll also want to include plenty of images and data whenever it makes sense.

I suggest doing a quick Google search to see what you’re up against to ensure you kill it with your final product.

In terms of content length, you can use this post from NeilPatel.com as a reference point.

It highlights how long your blog articles should be by industry.

You may also want to learn about the skyscraper technique from Brian Dean if you haven’t done so already.

And don’t think you have to limit yourself to a conventional blog post.

There are plenty of other content options.

Here’s what’s trending with B2B marketers in 2017:

Video marketing is scorching hot right now and is a medium I suggest experimenting with.

Knowing when to post your content

Besides simply finding the right seasonal keywords and creating killer content, it’s essential you post your content at the right time.

This is a biggie, and you need to strike while the iron is hot.

But how do you know when to post?

To find out, you’ll need to go back to Google Trends and do the following.

After searching for a seasonal event, you’ll see a series of options directly above the graph.

Click on the down arrow beside “Past 5 years.”

This will allow you to set the date and choose how far back you want to go.

I recommend searching last year’s results because it’s an easy way to tell when people really start searching hot and heavy.

Click on the “Past 12 months.”

Here’s what pops up:

All I have to do now is determine when the trend in Father’s Day-related searches begins.

In 2016, things started picking up between May 7 and May 13 and peaked between June 11 and 17.

This tells me my content needs to be ready to go by May 7 in order to take full advantage of the spike in searches.

But, of course, I’ll want to have it posted at least a couple of weeks in advance.

That’s because it can take Google anywhere from four days to four weeks to index content.

So, you’ll want to give it some time to simmer.

I tend to err on the side of caution, so I would probably aim for posting my content somewhere around April 7.

This should ensure everything has time to get indexed and claim its rightful place in the search results.

However, if you were in a crunch, you could push it to the beginning of May.

But keep in mind this could reduce your content’s impact and probably wouldn’t bring nearly as much organic traffic as it would otherwise.

Planning in advance

The key to targeting seasonal keywords successfully and raking in big traffic is to stay ahead of the game.

You don’t want to do this at the last minute. That’s only going to minimize your impact.

If possible, do some initial planning a few months beforehand.

In the case of Father’s Day, which occurs in mid to late June, I would want to start planning sometime around March or April.

This would ensure I have adequate time to perform my research, select my keywords, create my content, post it and allow Google to index it.

That way, I don’t have to rush or stress myself out.

Do whatever makes the most sense to you, but try to think ahead.

Otherwise, it’s like cramming for a huge test the night before.

Seldom does it end well.

Conclusion

Seasonal keywords are a gold mine.

And remember: this goes way beyond just the holiday season.

Depending on your niche, there are opportunities to crush it year round with seasonal keywords.

The best part is the formula is quite simple.

It’s a matter of gauging interest, figuring out popular search trends and doing keyword research like you would for any other piece of content.

From there, you just need to be sure you publish your content with enough time for Google to index it and before people start searching on a mass scale.

Have you ever cashed in on seasonal keywords before?

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10 Smart Ways to Use Leftover Sweet Corn (Smart Staple Strategies #7)

This is the final entry in a short summer series covering smart strategies for using leftover staple foods – things like rice, beans, pasta, and so on. Here’s what you do when you cook a bit too much and don’t know what to do with the rest!

Before we dig into techniques for using leftover sweet corn, let’s look back at the earlier entries in this series:

• 10 Smart Ways to Use Leftover Rice
• 10 Smart Ways to Use Leftover Beans
• 10 Smart Ways to Use Leftover Pasta
• 10 Smart Ways to Use Leftover Potatoes
• 10 Smart Ways to Use Leftover Sweet Potatoes
• 10 Smart Ways to Use Leftover Bread

Today, we’re going to cap off the series by talking about an incredibly familiar summer staple for anyone who grew up in the Midwest: sweet corn.

Throughout many Midwest states, the summer roadside sweet corn stand is simply a part of the landscape in July and August. During a good summer with a bumper crop, it’s easy to get absurd amounts of sweet corn for just a few dollars; similarly, those who grow their own will sometimes wind up with a crazy bumper crop of sweet corn.

This can cause people to find themselves with a ton of sweet corn on their kitchen table – and that often leads to the dual problem of simply having too much corn on hand and cooking too much sweet corn for meals.

What can you do with all of that sweet corn? Thankfully, sweet corn happens to be one of the most versatile foods on earth. Here are 10 options that we use.

Freeze it! There are few things better than taking sweet corn kernels, cut freshly from a cob in the summer, and freezing them for use on a cold winter day.

There are a number of ways to do this. You can simply shuck whole ears, put them in freezer bags, and remove the excess air. You can cut the kernels off of an uncooked ear and save them. Or you can cook the ears first, then cut off the kernels. (Just be sure to note whether the kernels are cooked or not.) In general, if I have some extra space when cooking corn, I’ll cook a few extra ears, cut off the kernels after cooking, and freeze them, because it’s easier to use them later, but uncooked kernels also work just fine!

Make salsa! Sweet corn kernels cut from the ear make a great addition to almost any salsa recipe. Traditional tomato salsas welcome it, black bean salsas welcome it, even unusual salsa variations will often welcome corn kernels.

Of course, you can just make a corn-focused salsa instead of just adding some kernels to another salsa recipe. I swear by this Food Network corn salsa recipe, only varying the poblano pepper depending on the amount of heat that I want (I’ll substitute in hotter peppers if I want more heat), and I actually like to use grilled corn in this rather than boiled corn, but either one actually works. It’s a great way to use a few extra ears, as you can cook them along with the ears you’ll eat for dinner.

Make soup! There are many, many, many soups and chowders that work wonderfully with fresh sweet corn. You can definitely add sweet corn to lots of different soups, from vegetable beef soup to barley soup, from chili to clam chowder. It all works.

Of course, you can make a mean corn chowder, too. I like this corn chowder recipe from Food & Wine; it’s quite easy and tastes amazing on an autumn day. It’s a great way to use corn kernels that you froze in July or August using the above freezing strategy.

Make tacos!? Yep, I’ll often use leftover kernels as an addition to taco night. I’ll season them with just a bit of chili powder and serve them in a bowl with all of the other taco ingredients.

It’s easy – just cook a couple ears of corn as normal, then cut the kernels off the ear as normal. You can save the kernels in the fridge for a few days, but when you’re ready to use them, mix them with a bit of seasoning (a dash of chili powder is great) and heat them up. They make for a great taco addition.

Make fritters! Corn fritters make for a wonderful finger food that really reminds me of home. They’re incredibly easy to make, too, if you have a fryer available.

I like this basic recipe from AllRecipes for corn fritters. It’s simple and straightforward and results in a nice golden corn fritter when you’re done. Obviously, when you substitute fresh leftover sweet corn for the canned corn in the recipe, the fritters just pop!

Make succotash! Succotash is just a mix of corn, tomatoes, onions, and lima beans with some seasonings. You simply cook those things together in a skillet and add some thyme, garlic, dill, and chives, along with some butter. It works as a great side dish with chicken, for example.

If you want a formal recipe, here’s MyRecipe’s take on succotash, but this is honestly a “throw it together with what you have on hand” type of dish, at least in my experience. If you have lots of corn, make it corn heavy; if you have lots of tomatoes, some extra tomatoes aren’t going to hurt. It’s the unique blend of flavors that makes succotash work.

Make cornbread! Yes, cornbread is actually made from corn meal, not kernels of sweet corn. However, sweet corn kernels are a magnificent addition to cornbread!

Just take your favorite corn bread mix or cornbread recipe and add half a cup of cooked sweet corn kernels right into the mix, then cook as normal (adding perhaps a minute or two to the baking). You’ll end up with a wonderful texture to the cornbread with bursts of flavor throughout!

Make pancakes! Believe it or not, sweet corn makes a wonderful addition to pancakes. When you slather them with maple syrup, the little sweetness and the texture addition that sweet corn kernels give to the cakes is something well worth savoring.

Just make pancakes as you normally would, but simply add a cup of kernels to every three to four cups of batter. This will stretch the batter a bit, enabling you to make more pancakes while also providing this unique flavor and texture.

Make salad! You can add a wonderful texture and flavor to many different salads by simply adding a cup of cooked corn kernels cut straight from the cob (or thawed from being frozen at an earlier date). Most simple dinner salads benefit greatly from the addition of corn kernels, plus there are many different salads you can make that emphasize the kernels.

My favorite corn-focused salad is this corn and tomato salad from Food Network. It’s what it sounds like – fresh corn kernels, cherry or grape tomatoes, plus some mozzarella, some olive oil, some vinegar, basil, scallions, and a bit of black pepper. Delicious!

Make a casserole! There are many, many casserole recipes that use fresh sweet corn kernels. Some serve as wonderful side dishes, while others work as main courses on their own.

I’ll mention two that I particularly love. I quite like this corn and bean enchilada casserole, made with fresh ingredients such as fresh corn kernels and beans. Similarly, one of my favorite comfort foods is this cheddar corn casserole, which uses ample amounts of cheddar cheese as a wonderful pairing with the sweet corn kernels. These are just two options – there are many, many more.

What’s the take-home message? Don’t think of that abundance of sweet corn as something you must eat on the cob right now. There are many, many other things you can do with it – you can simply freeze it for later, for starters, or you can use it in a wide variety of sweet and savory dishes.

Enjoy!

The post 10 Smart Ways to Use Leftover Sweet Corn (Smart Staple Strategies #7) appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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This Investing Strategy is Perfect for People Who Don’t Want to Risk It All

In the 21st century, we like things small.

Our headphones, computers and dogs are all shrinking. Teacup pigs are surging in popularity (at least in meme form). File compression is such a well-known part of everyday life that an entire sitcom is based on the concept.

It’s no surprise we like our investments small, too.

Why Millennials Love Micro-Investing

Investment, as a term, seems way too big for most of us. It’s too much to learn, too much responsibility, too much risk — just too much.

Micro-investing, on the other hand, is just plain adorable. Snappable, ‘grammable adorableness.

Like a pig small enough to fit inside a teacup, micro-investing is about investments small enough to fit anyone’s budget.

Yes, even yours.

Even better, this strategy typically comes through an app.

Most importantly, you don’t really have to know anything about the stock market to make this kind of investment.

Micro-investing apps let you automatically invest small amounts of money into a portfolio they craft for you. You set up a profile that lets the app know the best kinds of things to invest your money in.

Here are Some of Our Favorite Micro-Investing Apps

Through Stash, you choose portfolios based on the types of companies you want your money to support. Choose the “Clean & Green” fund to invest in green energy companies, for example, or the “American Innovators” fund to invest in tech companies.

Acorns makes it easy to invest without missing the money you set aside. It rounds up debit- or credit-card purchases to the nearest dollar and invests your digital change.

Clink lets you invest a set amount per day, week or month — a minimum of $1 a day — automatically drawn from your bank account.

Where Your Micro-Money Goes

When you invest through a micro-investing app, your money is typically going into exchange traded funds, or ETFs.

ETFs are treated like other funds in the stock market, but they include investments in several companies.

And they let investors like you own portions of shares in stocks, instead of full shares — which you might not otherwise be able to afford.

Is Micro-Investing Worth It?

If you’re even a little math-minded, you might have realized: If you invest a small amount, you can only expect a small return, right?

You probably won’t become a millionaire or retire early from investing your spare change.

Realistically, these apps could help you set aside a few hundred dollars a year. It’s nothing to write Warren Buffett about — but it’s no small feat if you’ve been living paycheck to paycheck, wondering how you can get ahead.

You could have $500 in your emergency fund by the end of the year — before the next thing on your car breaks.

Or you can use micro-investing as a first step into bigger investments.

Take the money you save without thinking about it this year, and open a larger investment account. You only need $100 to open an account with Aspiration’s Redwood Fund, which invests your money in sustainable businesses.

Or just save for one more year, and you can get yourself a teacup pig!

Whichever you choose, life is about to get a lot more Insta-worthy.

Dana Sitar (@danasitar) is a senior writer/newsletter editor at The Penny Hoarder. She’s written for Huffington Post, Entrepreneur.com, Writer’s Digest and more, attempting humor wherever it’s allowed (and sometimes where it’s not).

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Over 100 Online Platforms to Sell Your Stuff for Money

By Holly Reisem Hanna When I first became a stay-at-home mom, we went from being a two income family to a one income family. And even though I had planned financially for this transition, I was surprised at how quickly my savings dwindled down. To help pay for all of the activities that my daughter […]

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Student Loan Servicer Says It’s Owed $5 Billion, Probably Can’t Prove it

Nearly $5 billion in private student loan debt could be wiped away because of mishandled paperwork, The New York Times reports.

The National Collegiate Student Loans Trust, a collection of 15 trusts that hold about 800,000 private student loans worth about $12 billion, manages the debt in question, owed by tens of thousands of borrowers.

According to the Times, the only borrowers who may have their slates wiped clean are those who, in most cases, took out private loans to cover costs at for-profit institutions but have since defaulted on their payments.

Students who take out private loans tend to have high interest rates and few consumer protections, and the cases against them are often shoddy. The New York Times reports that dozens of lawsuits filed by the trusts were dismissed because of “incomplete ownership records and mass-produced documentation.”

Similar problems arose 10 years ago during the housing crisis, when the courts wiped out billions in subprime mortgage debt because lenders couldn’t provide paperwork to prove they were entitled to collect on debt.

National Collegiate Aggressive Collections Backfire

While National Collegiate often uses the court system to aggressively collect on delinquent accounts, it seems to only win when borrowers don’t show up the defend themselves.

Unfortunately, borrowers often don’t show up to the cases, leading to victory by default for the trusts. The resulting judgements can allow National Collegiate to garnish borrowers’ wages, Social Security checks and other income for decades.

When borrowers do fight back, though, their attorneys tend to find pages of sloppy records that often fail to prove National Collegiate can collect on the debt.

The New York Times highlighted one case in which courts erased $31,000 of one woman’s debt. The paperwork National Collegiate submitted as proof she owed the debt listed a school she never attended.

What About Federal Student Loan Borrowers in Default?

The paperwork problems the Times highlights specifically affect borrowers who took out loans from private lenders, not the federal government.

You might be disappointed that your federal student loan debt won’t be disappearing anytime soon, but there are several repayment options available to you that private borrowers cannot take advantage of. This lack of repayment options can make them more likely to default.

The most important of these options is the income-driven repayment plan, which adjusts your monthly payment based on your income. If you make 20 years of on-time payments in this program, your remaining debt could be forgiven.

If you defaulted on a private loan, consult an attorney to make sure the trust collecting on your debt is really entitled to your money.

Desiree Stennett (@desi_stennett) is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, one of the largest personal finance websites. We help millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. In 2016, Inc. 500 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the No. 1 fastest-growing private media company in the U.S.

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Some Search for Sasquatch, We Search for the Mythological Good Debt

Good debt.

For a dedicated Penny Hoarder, there are few better examples of an oxymoron. It would be pretty hard to argue that it’s ever preferable to owe money than not to, in an ideal world.

But as you may have noticed, the world we’re living in is far from ideal.

Sometimes, debt is all but unavoidable.

But is it ever sort of financially sound to take out a loan… or is it always dangerous?

Good Debt: Is There Really Such a Thing?

The old rule of thumb to vindicate debt is a simple one.

“Good debt” is the kind that will help you make more money down the line.

By that account, student loans are A-OK because the degree they buy will, at least ostensibly, help you find a better-paying job than you’d be able to otherwise.

And a mortgage might be fine, too. Although it’s not ideal to pay interest, once you pay that loan down, you’ll have a valuable asset to your name that you otherwise might not have been able to purchase.

On the other hand, bad debt is the kind that doesn’t have the potential to remunerate itself.

“When you buy something that goes down in value immediately, that’s bad debt,” David Bach, CEO of Finish Rich Inc., and author of “The Finish Rich Workbook,” told Bankrate.

That might seem pretty cut and dried.

But when you can take out over $100,000 on a possibly useless (but not always!) English degree, are student loans firmly in the “good debt” camp? After what happened with the housing market in 2008, exactly how confident are you about that whole equity thing, anyway?

Unfortunately, in this imperfect world of ours, things are rarely black and white.

Should You Take Out That Loan You’re Considering?

As a personal finance blog, we’re not encouraging you to go into any kind of debt.

No matter what you’re after, it’s almost always better to save the cash to buy it free and clear.

But since we’re stuck here on imperfect planet Earth for the foreseeable future, we did the research to figure out which types of debt are the most justifiable.

Here’s what we found out.

Mortgages

Becoming a homeowner as soon as you can is well ensconced in the annals of traditional financial advice.

That’s because experts have long assumed homes were appreciating investments — that is, they end up being worth more than you bought them for.

But after the housing crisis in 2008 left many homeowners irretrievably bankrupt, some financial gurus have had second thoughts about this assumption.

“If you look at the history of the housing market, it hasn’t been a good provider of capital gains,” Yale economist and Nobel prize winner Robert Shiller told USA Today. “Capital gains have not even been positive.”

In plain English? According to Shiller, data shows that many homeowners may break even but earn little more than that by way of returns.

Nowadays, more finance experts acknowledge that the advisability of purchasing a house has a lot to do with your personal situation.

Obviously, you need a roof over your head. But depending on where you’re living and how much money you have to spare, it might actually make more financial sense to rent. (Curious about your own situation? Here’s a calculator.)

And by the way, if you do decide homeownership is right for you, you could always save to buy the house cash. Yes, it’s possible.                      

Student Loans

Talk about complicated.

We’d love to say it’s always a good idea to invest in your education.

But there are simply too many factors at play to make that sweeping statement. And in some scenarios — such as attending a for-profit college — taking out student loans might be anything but a smart move.

“Education debt is often considered to be good debt, because it is an investment in your future,” wrote Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of college and scholarship decision tool Cappex, in an email.

“But too much of a good thing can hurt you.”

For instance, even if you’re awarded a solid and reasonable financial aid package, it’s a waste of money to squander your loan refunds on frivolous purchases.

And even if you’re only borrowing money for tuition and bare-bones living, you could be in trouble if you don’t end up earning enough to pay it back in a timely fashion.

According to Kantrowitz, who has studied and written extensively about student debt demographics, “if your total student loan debt at graduation is less than your annual income, you can afford to repay the student loans in ten years or less.”

On the other hand, if your debt exceeds your annual income, it’ll be a lot harder to make the monthly payments on a standard decade-long repayment plan. And when you opt for easier-to-foot alternatives, like extended or income-dependent repayment, you’ll significantly increase your total interest charges.

You’ll likely also still be repaying your own student loans, he warns, while helping your children enroll in college.

Yikes.

Fortunately, you don’t have to go into debt to get a college education. And no, you don’t have to go into a STEM field if you don’t want to.

Don’t get us wrong: You’ll surely have to hustle, and you might have fewer options when it comes to picking your dream school.

But when you find yourself walking across that stage debt free, you’ll thank yourself for those sacrifices.

Auto Loans

Sigh. This one hits close to home.

As I wrote here before, several years ago, I signed a loan on a 2014 Jeep Cherokee I named Desiree. I was between two years of a grad school program that was not working for me, and I wanted to get out of town — and out of my own head — as quickly as possible.

I didn’t quite have the $20,000 asking price floating around my bank account, though.

So I took out the loan, hit the road, and didn’t look back… until I did. Cringing. I wished I’d stuck with my trusty, if hiccupping, beater.

It’s well known that vehicles depreciate — that is, lose value — as soon as you drive them off the lot. And after that fateful drive, it only continues, making it extremely unlikely you’ll ever get back what you paid for it.

Classic “bad debt.” Avoid if at all possible.

If you’re bound and determined to take out an auto loan, at least do yourself a favor and go for a used vehicle.

The depreciation rate on a brand new car is exponentially steeper, which means buying one, even for cash, is almost universally acknowledged as financially foolhardy. (Desiree had a measly 1,000 miles on her, but she still wasn’t new new.)

Credit Card Debt

If there’s one kind of debt that’s basically unjustifiable, it’s credit card debt — although that doesn’t stop us from racking it up.

According to NerdWallet’s 2016 survey, the average household with credit card debt has a whole heap of it: $16,748, to be exact.

Wondering how that number can possibly be so high? It’s because revolving debt really is that insidious.

Basically, high credit card interest rates mean you’re paying extra for every single thing you purchase with them.

For instance, that reasonable pair of $75 boots might end up costing almost $100 after accruing a year’s worth of interest — calculated at a not-at-all-unheard-of 24% APR.

It’s like a reverse clearance rack. No, thanks.

Of course, most of us are funding more than $75 indulgences with our credit cards. All too often, people use them to make ends meet or on non-negotiable, high-stakes purchases. Americans might foot high medical costs with credit or use it to pay bills when cash is running low.

Then you’re deep in the cycle: You can’t afford what you purchased, which means you certainly can’t afford to get ahead of the interest you’re charged. And before you know it, you’re almost 20 grand in the hole.

Our advice? Steer clear of credit card debt at all costs, and if you’ve already got it, prioritize paying it off.  

Of course, if you learn how to use rewards credit cards wisely, they can be a great financial boon. But you have to make sure you pay off every single cent you spend before you’re charged any interest.

You Can Take Out Loans if You Want to… But Proceed with Caution

Obviously, we can’t predict all the individual circumstances you need to weigh when deciding if going into debt is the right decision.

Sure, spending a large, personal loan on an epic vacation seems totally unjustifiable. But what if it’s an aging family member’s dying wish?

And on the other side of the spectrum, a small business loan for an intricately planned venture might look like the picture of “good” debt… but sometimes, even great ideas fall through.

Like everything in life, all debt comes with risk. It’s up to you to weigh that risk against the potential benefits.

I guess that’s how this whole “financial responsibility” thing works, huh?

Jamie Cattanach (@jamiecattanach) has written for Ms. Magazine, SELF, Roads & Kingdoms, VinePair, The Write Life, Wonderfilled Magazine, Barclaycard’s Travel Blog and other outlets. Her writing focuses on food, wine, travel and frugality.

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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Save Time and Money This Week Through the Magic of Meal Planning

Meal preparation, or meal prep, is a popular cooking trend that is equal parts health- and money-conscious.

The core idea of meal prep is to plan for a set number of days (typically a week) by buying ingredients, cooking your meals or prepping your ingredients, and storing them appropriately in your kitchen for easy access. In doing so, you can save time throughout the week, limit yourself to a set amount of food/calories and stay within your food budget.

Meal Prep Can Save You Money

If you’re looking to save money — and time — in the kitchen, meal prep is the way to go. Here are just a few ways you’ll save money by meal prepping:

You can avoid going out to dinner at expensive restaurants when you’re feeling too lazy to cook. Even $8 trips to Chipotle or fast-food drive-thrus add up; you could use the $8 you spend on one meal to buy protein, like chicken breasts, for half a week of meals.

You won’t have to buy a ton of varied ingredients for different meals each night. Forget lasagna on Monday, tacos on Tuesday and steak on Wednesday. By meal prepping, you can focus on one or two meal types per week using different spices and side combos to keep your taste buds engaged all week long. You also won’t risk your ingredients or your leftovers going bad.

You’ll find yourself running your dishwasher less frequently. Rather than dirtying pots, pans, cutting boards and utensils up to three times a day, you’ll just have major dish duty once a week. The rest of the week, you’ll only have to worry about rinsing your meal prep containers and small eating utensils. Not only will this reduce your water bill, but it’ll also make an impact — small, but still important — on the environment.

Meal Prep Can Be Healthy Too

Many people choose to meal prep so they can monitor their food intake. Whether you count calories or just want to keep a food journal, meal prepping makes analyzing your diet easy and helps you maintain a healthy meal plan.

Sticking to a meal-planning calendar also means you can avoid the temptation to go out to eat during work or have impromptu ice cream for dessert.

How to Get Started with Meal Prep

If you’re new to meal prepping, there are a few things you can do to guarantee success.

Start Small

The most important thing you can do when starting any new regimen — whether it is exercising regularly, reading more or changing your diet — is to start small to avoid burnout.

Consider focusing on just one meal each day, like prepping your lunch for work all week. Alternatively, try to tackle three days’ worth of prep rather than an entire week’s worth. You can work up to your ultimate meal prep goals over time.

Buy Meal Prep Supplies

If this foray into meal prep marks a new you in the kitchen, you may need to stock up on more than just groceries. Invest in quality kitchen supplies now, knowing that you’ll earn back that money in saved expenses over time.

For example, if you will be cutting a lot of veggies, buy quality knives. Not sure where to start? GoodHouseKeeping.com has a few knife recommendations to consider.

More importantly, invest in good meal prep storage containers. Typically, glass containers are better than plastic in terms of longevity, especially if you’ll be microwaving. Buy BPA-free products, and consider things like food separation, size and airtightness, as well as whether they can go in the freezer, dishwasher and microwave. TheSweetHome.com tested several types and brands of meal prep containers to determine the best choice for serious meal preppers.

Save Money at the Grocery Store

Use our meal prep grocery store hacks to save big when buying food for meal prep.

Always make a list. Before you set foot in a grocery store, research what meals you will be prepping that week. Ask friends for meal prep ideas, or research online for popular meal prep recipes. Take stock of what you already have at home, and add anything you need to your list — and abide by it.

Don’t go hungry. Shopping with a full belly goes hand in hand with making a list. If you’re armed with a list of what you need and a satisfied belly, you won’t be tempted to grab that bag of frozen Tater Tots.

Leave the plastic at home — and use a calculator. Strand yourself at the store with just the amount of cash you are willing to spend. Make sure to use the calculator on your phone to calculate sales tax as you go. This will ensure you always stay within your meal prep budget.

Buy generic and in bulk. There is no shame in buying the generic brand for most foods. In fact, take pride in knowing you are a savvy shopper when you buy generic. Likewise, if you have enough storage at home, buy food items that don’t expire quickly in bulk. This goes for paper products, cleaning supplies and frequently used spices.

How to Store Your Meal Prep

If you have mastered the planning and the cooking portions of meal prep, you’ll now need to store your foods successfully. MyBodyMyKitchen.com offers the following tips:

Refrigerate for no more than a few days. When refrigerating, use airtight containers and consider adding fresh veggies to your refrigerated meals when you heat them up.

Freeze food you want to store for more than four days. Just remember to pull a meal out of the freezer and place it in the fridge the night before you intend to eat it — that way, it will have thawed out by grub time.

However, remember that not all foods can be stored in the freezer. Foods to avoid freezing include eggs, dairy products and cooked pasta.

Make space in your cabinets for foods that do not need to be kept cold. Consider having a dedicated and organized pantry solely for meal prep, where you can store items like protein bars, homemade trail mixes and bags of munchies.

More Meal Prep Tips

The most important thing to remember when meal prepping is to plan ahead. Research meal prep recipes that make sense for your diet and means, buy the necessary ingredients, and set aside the time to make those meals.

Many expert meal preppers set aside a few hours one day each week. MealPrepHaven.com notes that Sunday and Wednesday are the most popular days for meal prep.

Sunday meal prep could potentially get you through the whole week, but if you like to prep for just a few days at a time, you can prep the first half of the week on Sunday and use Wednesday meal prep to take you into the weekend. It’s also possible to do a little meal prep each morning or evening.

Keep in mind, meal prepping doesn’t mean you have to cook everything all at once. Set aside time to wash and cut up all the fruits and veggies you’ll be using that week and bake your proteins; then, on the day you’ll be eating that meal, you can put the ingredients together or cook up the veggies as desired.

Likewise, you can simply set aside food items in known locations (like that dedicated pantry) to make them easier to access when it comes time to cook — for example, setting aside two slices of bread in separate containers for each day of the week will give you easy access to make toast in the mornings.

When determining what you’ll eat for each meal, EatThis.com recommends abiding by the 1+1+1 rule: one protein, one starchy carb and one fresh produce item.

Need some digital support? Explore a number of helpful meal prep apps for your phone, including MealPlan Meal and Grocery Planner, a useful tool for getting organized.

Meal prepping may seem overwhelming at first, but once you’ve found a successful routine, you’ll find that it saves you time and money — and helps you reach a healthier version of yourself — in no time.

Timothy Moore is a full-time editor and doggy daddy, but he likes to devote time when he can to writing — whether it’s for his own novel or online. He is new to the Nashville area and is excited to explore the city with his partner: Go Preds!

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