The Retail Industry Is Shedding Jobs — With One Major Exception

Call it the Amazon Effect.

The behemoth online retailer’s influence on U.S. jobs surfaced in a big way in the latest jobs report posted Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Mainly, it likely kept the beleaguered retail industry from slipping into negative job growth at a time when the rest of the economy is humming right along with a 4.3% unemployment rate.

Overall, jobs in the retail industry grew 0.2% in July compared to the same month in 2016. Meanwhile, employment at non-store retailers (ahem, Amazon) jumped 5.2% — that’s a heck of lot more than the overall private employment gain of 1.6% in July.

Amazon delivered in other parts of the economy as well. Warehousing and storage jobs catapulted upwards 3.7% last month.

Amazon Has Been on a Major Hiring Binge This Year

The fact that Amazon is killing the hiring game shouldn’t be a surprise if you’ve been keeping up with our jobs coverage.

This month alone, the company aims to add 50,000 part- and full-time employees at 10 fulfillment centers after holding its Jobs Day event earlier this week. That follows Amazon’s promise to hire 100,000 people this year.

And it’s not just warehouse jobs, Amazon is also hiring tons of seasonal customer service associates to help out with holiday orders.

Good for Amazon, But How’s the Rest of the Retail Sector Doing?

Now, Amazon may have been the Atlas to the rest of the country’s retail scene last month, but for the rest of the industry, things were pretty dire.

You had some slight winners in job growth, such as car parts dealers, which added 35,900 over the last year. And gas stations nearly grew with the rest of the economy with an additional 11,800 new jobs.

Still, as you can see in that nifty chart, most retail stores have shed jobs over the last year.

The biggest loser? Electronics and appliance retailers, with their workforce shrinking just under 4% from July 2016 through last month.

Yikes. But not surprising considering Radioshack’s massive corporate auction earlier this year (admit it, you bid on the gold album of trucker songs).

Sporting goods stores and clothing stores didn’t fare well either. And nearly 3,000 well-known retail stores are slated to close this year.

So what should you do if you end up on the unfortunate end of this trend?

First, know your rights if your employer files for bankruptcy. Accrued vacation or sick leave pay might be coming your way, and retirement benefits should be fine.

Next, find a side gig until you’re able to land another full-time job. I hear Amazon is hiring…

Amazon not the employer you’re looking for? Check out The Penny Hoarder Jobs page on Facebook for all sorts (get it? “Sort,” like at a fulfillment center?) of postings.

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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Expert Says New Employment Report is Stunning, But Someone Isn't Getting Enough Recognition

Dr. Stephen Moore maintains that the economy is on the right path, and that success is down the road. But he also says there's a key player who the media doesn't want to give credit to.

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FedEx Says it Won’t Fleece You With Holiday Surcharges (Take That, UPS!)

We love to shop online. And when the holidays roll around, we really love to shop online. Who wants to battle the crowds, the cold and that stray shopping cart someone left in the only open parking spot when you can get nearly everything you need right from the comfort of your couch?

This year, FedEx will embrace the spirit of giving by not adding extra surcharges to most packages shipped during the holiday season.

Yay! Wait… what? Does that mean some companies do bump up their charges during the season of cheer?

It does. “Then he got an idea. An awful idea. The Grinch got a wonderful, awful idea.”

In June 2017, UPS announced a set of surcharges it will add to packages shipped during a “peak period.” These surcharges include:

• 27 cents on UPS Ground packaged shipped Nov. 19-Dec. 2, and Dec. 17-23.
• 81 cents on UPS Next Day Air packages shipped Dec. 17-23.
• 97 cents on UPS 2nd Day Air and 3-Day Select packages shipped between Dec. 17-23.

These charges are added to the normal rate UPS would charge during non-holiday times. These peak periods include Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmastime.

Well, that doesn’t seem very full of holiday cheer.

That’s where FedEx comes in. While the company will still add surcharges to oversize items, unauthorized shipments and packages that require extra handling, standard shipments will have no added fees during holiday rush.

Is this just a ploy to get a bigger slice of that e-commerce shipping pie? Maybe, but that’s the beauty of competition: The consumer wins.

If you want to avoid the hassle and still do your shopping online, look for ship-to-store options. Yes, that means you have to go out and grab the stuff, but at least you get your shopping done online and may not have to pay anything at all for shipping.

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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Will Easy-to-Digest FDA Labels Help Shoppers Find Cheaper, Healthier Foods?

Soon it’ll be easier to tell if the pricy food you’re paying top dollar for is really any better for you than the cheap stuff.

According to The Wall Street Journal, new Food and Drug Administration rules will require brands to change their nutrition labels to include the calorie count and and serving size in larger, bolder font, and inform consumers how much added sugar is in the product.

The FDA initially expected most large brands — those with at least $10 million in annual food sales — to complete the changes by July 26, 2018, but at the insistence of food makers, it backed off the compliance date. The FDA has not set a new deadline, but the Grocery Manufacturing Association would like it delayed until May 2021.

Some brands, like Campbell’s Soup, have criticized the push for a delay and say they are happy to comply with the original deadline. In fact, Campbell’s Soup has already started placing the new labels on its products.

“This was a philosophical decision,” Campbell Soup Co. CEO Denise Morrison told The Wall Street Journal. “Transparency is the single most important ingredient.”

Coca-Cola will make the switch to the new labels for some products this summer.

Other brands, however, don’t seem too eager to make the switch.

Kellogg, for example, supports a delay. The cereal maker said it needed more information about the requirements before it could comply with the changes, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Other FDA Nutrition Label Changes Could Be Coming

Sugar and calories aren’t the only things the FDA has on its agenda. The FDA also wants to require brands that use genetically modified organisms to say so on their products’ labels.

It lost the battle to make GMO labels a requirement last year when brands fought back, although some brands, including Campbell’s, began voluntarily to disclosing GMO use.

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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The Nation’s Smallest State Becomes the Next to Offer Tuition-Free College

Rhode Island just became the latest state to offer free community college to high school graduates.

On Thursday, state lawmakers greenlit a four-year pilot program for the Promise Scholarship, which will allow recent high school grads to attend the Community College of Rhode Island this fall without paying tuition or fees, CNN Money reported.

The new law will save students from paying roughly $2,300 per semester, the current cost of in-state tuition and fees.

The state has earmarked $2.8 million in its budget to cover the first year, CNN Money reported.

Gov. Gina Raimondo’s initial free-college proposal included two years of free tuition at both of Rhode Island’s public four-year colleges, but lawmakers scrapped that idea.

This new law follows in the footsteps of Tennessee, Oregon, Minnesota, New York and San Francisco, where free-college programs have previously been approved or are already in place.

Who is Eligible for the New Program?

All recent high school graduates in Rhode Island can benefit from this program, regardless of family income.

While enrolled in community college, students must maintain a GPA of at least 2.5. Free tuition is only granted to full-time students.

Similar to New York’s free college deal, CNN Money reported the program requires those who benefit from the free tuition to live, work or continue their education in Rhode Island after graduation, though the exact details of the stipulation have yet to be hashed out.

The Community College of Rhode Island expects about 1,200 to 1,300 students to benefit from the Promise Scholarship this fall.

Not a whole lot, but you have to keep in mind Rhode Island is the nation’s smallest state.

So, What If I Don’t Live in Rhode Island?

For the hundreds of thousands of future college students in states not offering free tuition, there are still numerous ways to get a degree without taking on mountains of student loan debt.

At these nine schools, students can graduate debt-free — though each has its own set of requirements.

Grants and scholarships can reduce — or completely eliminate — the financial burden. Here are 100 scholarships that can help.

Taking on a job while in college is another way to pay down your tuition bill. Campus Sherpa hires students to give campus tours to prospective students.

You could choose to forgo a pricier four-year school for a two-year institution — and still graduate and go off to earn a great living. Here are 10 high-paying jobs that don’t require a bachelor’s degree.

And if you skip college altogether — here are 12 hot infrastructure jobs that don’t require a college education.

Nicole Dow is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. Despite a nearly full-ride scholarship, she is still paying off student loan debt.

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 Trick Lets Me Make Money Each Month Surfing the Web Like I Always Do

How This Mom Bought All Her Kids’ Back-to-School Clothes for Less Than $40

Like many parents, I use to have a bad habit of making a mad, last-minute dash for back-to-school clothes.

My procrastination often resulted in spontaneous spending for the closest ensembles I could find and an outrageous bill that left me kicking myself later on. As a single parent, I simply had to monitor my pennies a lot better than that.

My daughters are 8 and 7, and what fits them in August will definitely be too small by December, so spending hundreds of dollars on new clothes is out of the question.

Here’s how I shop secondhand strategically — and how I put together a back-to-school wardrobe for both girls for less than $40.

I Appreciate Hand-Me-Downs and Thrift Stores

Some parents turn their noses up at the idea of accepting used clothing from others because they may feel like a charity case.

However, as a solo parent, I love the concepts of “free,” “discounted” and “BOGO” (buy one, get one). I put my pride to the side for a minute and gave it a try. And when I saw how much money I was saving from thrift shopping, I was proud to call myself a cheapskate!

I Visit Different Thrift Stores

While I love Once Upon A Child, in my small town of Newport News, Virginia, there are a few other stores for children including a Boys and Girl’s Club thrift store, a few CHKD thrift stores and several Goodwills.

I try to visit these different stores at least once to get an idea of what type of items they have. A CHDK thrift store may have way more children’s items than the neighborhood Goodwill store.

Additionally, I pay attention to the sizes they carry. Do they cater to toddlers, school-aged kids or teenagers? This helps me determine which stores are most useful when shopping for my family — and which will help me save the most money.

I Focus on Thrift Stores Close to Wealthy Areas

We all want nice things, especially for our children. I’ve found thrift stores in wealthy zip codes in my area tend to have nicer items.

Wealthy folks have the money to purchase nice items and are more likely to drop their old things at the closest thrift store. Doing a quick Google search of thrift stores near wealthy neighborhoods helps me determine where to shop first.

I Follow Thrift Stores on Social Media and Sign Up for Their Newsletters

Signing up for email newsletters, and following the Facebook, Twitter and Instagram feeds of popular children’s thrift stores like Once Upon A Child helps me take advantage of deals.

Recently, I bought all my kids back-to-school clothing at a “stuff-the-bag” sale — everything had to fit in standard shopping bags. I left with two over-stuffed bags of used, well-kept clothes for my girls:

• 14 shirts
• 1 skirt
• 1 dress
• 1 pair of shorts
• 9 pairs of pants

…all for $38.16!

Companies tend to give special coupons and deals to their most loyal followers, so email subscribers and social media fans get first dibs.

I Get Up Early to Take Advantage of Thrift Sales

And when I don’t, I regret it. When I arrived at the store for the stuff-the-bag sale at 9:15 a.m., there was already a line down the sidewalk — and the store didn’t open until 9:30!

Tons of other people want to take advantage of the same sales. Do yourself a favor and get there earlier so you can get your hands on the cutest hand-me-downs first!

I Take My Kids Shopping

While some older children may be less than enthusiastic about thrift stores, I say, don’t hide your thriftiness from your children. Take them shopping with you, and teach them to get excited about finding great deals!

My kids love to dabble in the toy and book sections, and because these items are so heavily marked down, buying them a “new” toy is not a huge money hassle for me. It could even spark a change in money habits for them that could last into adulthood.

These strategies make shopping for my children a breeze. It’s not a decision between clothes and the cable bill anymore!

Monica Leftwich is a working mom and freelance writer who loves to discuss topics like women’s health and single parenting issues. When she’s not working, she’s eating sushi, making spaghetti and meatballs for her kids, or belly dancing. Find her at monicaleftwich.com.

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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Job Jump: US Gains 209K Jobs as Unemployment Rate Falls

U.S. employers added 209,000 jobs in July, a second straight month of robust gains that underscore the economy's increasing vitality.

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The Latest SEO Trends You Should Ignore

Given that Google changes its search algorithm 500-600 times each year, it’s not surprising marketers get confused sometimes.

Speculations about the latest SEO trends run rampant and are a breeding ground for many myths.

For this reason, it’s sometimes difficult to tell fact from fiction.

Of course, the Internet provides the perfect framework for misinformation to spread at an alarming rate.

As a result, many marketers waste their energy and resources implementing useless tactics that don’t get any results.

Or worse, some implement harmful techniques that get them penalized.

It’s a bad deal either way.

In this post, I’d like to address some particular SEO trends I see many marketers fall for that are really nothing but a waste of time.

Here we go.

Keyword density is a huge ranking factor

Remember the days when jam-packing content with a targeted keyword phrase would send it soaring to the top of the SERPs?

Kind of like this monstrosity:

It made for some lackluster content and provided very minimal (if any) real value to readers.

Thankfully, those days are long gone.

Panda put an end to that back in 2011.

Since then, any SEO marketer in their right mind made sure they weren’t doing any keyword stuffing.

But here’s the thing.

It left a lot of questions regarding proper keyword density.

Obviously, keyword stuffing is a bad idea. That’s a given.

But many SEO marketers still seem to think that keyword density is a huge ranking factor.

They end up putting a lot of time and effort into getting it just right.

Just hit that perfect keyword density, and you’re good to go.

But this isn’t the case.

While it is true that keyword density is a ranking factor, it’s by no means as important as it once was.

There’s no reason to stress about it.

It’s something that you should be conscious of, but it shouldn’t command all your attention.

In other words, there’s no need to drive yourself crazy trying to reach the optimal keyword density.

This line from Backlinko summarizes it perfectly:

You have to use exact match keywords

There’s another keyword-related myth I would like to put to rest.

And that’s the idea that you should use only exact match keywords.

Let me reference the red apples example one more time:

Beyond the annoying keyword stuffing taking place here, take a look at how every use of the keyword is an exact match.

It sounds ridiculous and unnatural!

That’s not how humans talk.

If it’s unnatural, it’s not adding quality.

And if it’s not adding quality, it’s not contributing to the user experience.

The bottom line is you should use exact match keywords only when it makes sense and sounds natural.

If it makes your content sound clunky, you’ll want to ditch it or use a variation of the keyword.

The concept of always using exact match keywords is extremely antiquated and dates back to when keyword stuffing was acceptable.

But neither has a place in current SEO best practices.

Pop-ups are an automatic deal breaker

In January 2017, Google launched an update known as the “Intrusive Interstitial Penalty.”

Here’s a snippet from the Google Webmaster Blog regarding this update:

The primary purpose was to provide a better experience for mobile users, ensuring their browsing doesn’t get disrupted by ungodly pop-ups like these:

This created an uproar in the SEO community with people being deathly afraid to use any type of pop-up on their sites.

And it’s easy to see why.

Why would you want to risk it?

It was an update for which Google gave a warning several months in advance, which in and of itself is pretty rare.

I even wrote an article in late 2016 called “What Are Interstitials, and Are They Hurting Your SEO?” to give my readers advanced warning.

At the time, it seemed like a very legitimate concern.

But now that some time has passed and the dust has settled, it appears it’s not that big of a deal after all.

Most experts agree:

And I can’t even begin to tell you the number of pop-ups I still get hit with whenever I’m exploring the web or doing research.

In fact, I’m a little disappointed because I hate being disrupted by mindless pop-ups when I’m in the zone and trying to find important information.

Apparently, having pop-ups on your site isn’t the kiss of death.

But if you do decide to use them, be responsible about it.

Don’t go out of your way to interrupt the user experience, and try to make pop-ups as seamless as possible.

It’s all about inbound links

We all know links are super important.

I’ll be the first to say a great looking link profile is a thing of beauty.

But it seems too many marketers are too fixated on just inbound links and forget about outbound links.

Of course, you want authoritative and relevant sites to link to you!

But don’t ignore outbound links:

I mentioned in a post on NeilPatel.com that “outbound links or links that point to external web pages from your own site can actually impact your blog authority. Make sure the pages your links point to are relevant, useful and have good standing with Google.” 

And there are plenty of experts who agree.

In fact, Backlinko listed outbound link quality as #31 of Google’s 200 ranking factors.

That’s fairly high.

But isn’t it a disadvantage when people exploring your site are directed to an external site?

Wouldn’t it adversely affect your bounce rate and average time spent on your site, not to mention your conversions?

Well, as we all know, Google’s top priority is an awesome user experience and great content.

If you include super helpful outbound links that expand on a topic, you’ll be rewarded.

What I’m trying to say here is all links are important.

Instead of focusing solely on acquiring inbound links, you should link out to awesome resources as well.

Make it a habit.

Note: make your outbound links open in a separate tab. This increases the chance that readers will return to your site, and I find it creates an overall better user experience.

Jamming your site with affiliate links is no big deal

Ah…affiliate links.

What website owner/blogger wouldn’t want to cash in on them?

It’s one of the most efficient ways to get a nice payday with minimal energy expended.

Don’t get me wrong, I like affiliate marketing. I really do.

In fact, a lot of people completely crush it with affiliate marketing.

Just take a look at what Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income made in a single month:

This isn’t to say that making over 80 grand in a month is the norm.

But it does go to show the potential affiliate marketing has.

So, of course, some people will go overboard and stuff their content with affiliate links, assuming it’s no big deal.

And this might have been the case a year ago.

But if you’re familiar with the Google “Fred” update that took place in March 2017, you know going crazy with affiliate links is tempting fate.

Barry Schwartz of Search Engine Land took the time to analyze roughly 100 sites affected by the update, and here’s what he found:

I would say experiencing a 50-90% drop in traffic is cause for concern, and you should proceed with caution for the foreseeable future.

This isn’t to say including a few affiliate links here and there will kill your traffic, but it’s definitely something to be aware of.

Having an abundance of affiliate links signals to Google that making affiliate sales is the main purpose of your content, which could negatively affect your rankings.

Conclusion

I’ll be honest.

SEO can be maddening at times.

There are always some kind of adjustments being made to Google’s algorithm.

Some are major; some are minor. But this constant tweaking often leads to speculation.

This speculation leads to rumors, and rumors lead to persistent myths.

That’s why I thought I would clear the air about some of the most pervasive SEO trends that are actually quite useless.

I hope that putting things into perspective for you will help you focus on what really matters and help you avoid investing your time and energy into tactics that won’t bring any results.

It should also reduce your odds of incurring any ugly penalties.

In your opinion, what’s the biggest SEO myth that marketers continually fall for?

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Your Budget Is No Place for Wishful Thinking

Budgets are often presented as being some kind of magical tool that people can use that will transform their day-to-day life from an ongoing slow-motion financial disaster into a debt eliminating and wealth building machine.

Quite often, personal finance books and websites buy into this picture, too. They immediately suggest creating a budget for your spending, setting caps on all kinds of spending areas, and then showing that this budget somehow “transforms” your income into covering all of your needs and leaving you with lots of money to pay down debts and build a great financial future.

It’s exciting. It’s motivating. And it’s wrong.

A strong budget is much like a 1,200-calorie-a-day diet. If you actually manage to stick to it, it’s going to produce great results fairly quickly. If you can’t, it falls apart and becomes useless.

Part of the problem is willpower, of course, but another big part of the problem is that life is simply not fully predictable. You don’t know what tomorrow will bring, and if your budget is so tight that you have little breathing room for the unexpected, your budget will break. Just like a very tight diet sometimes dies when you have unexpected travel or a friend shares a treat with you, a very tight budget sometimes dies when you have to travel for a funeral or your car breaks down.

A super tight, super optimistic budget is doomed to failure, by definition. The simple unexpected nature of daily life is going to force you into very difficult decisions and you will eventually – and surprisingly quickly – find yourself trampling over a tight budget, much like a person quickly finds themselves shoving aside a diet that’s too restrictive.

Why do people have restrictive budgets, then? The simple reason is wishful thinking. If you envision a future where everything goes well and there are no problems whatsoever, then a strict budget will work and it will get you to your financial goals as fast as possible. Thus, the wishful thinking is twofold: Your life will go perfectly with perfect discipline and your financial goals are achievable in absolute minimum time.

The problem with that wishful thinking, as noted above, is that it begs for your budget to fail and quickly become meaningless. Wishful thinking turns budgeting into a flight of fancy rather than a really useful financial tool.

Instead, a good budget is a picture of your real spending with a few good choices thrown in. Think of it as a financial version of a diet that’s going to cause you to lose a pound a week or something realistic rather than a “beach body in 30 days” diet.

The first step in building a good budget isn’t to sit down and start writing down ideal numbers; instead, you should start by simply tracking your spending. If you have receipts and statements for the last month, that’s a brilliant starting point, as you can use that to make a baseline “budget” for the last month… in reality, it’s just a picture of how you spent your money.

In fact, your best move is to make several of these “budgets” over the course of several months. Where did your money actually go each month? This helps with figuring out things like irregular bills, like quarterly insurance payments or annual property taxes or vehicle registration, something that is often overlooked in a tight budget. It also helps you get a grip on irregular expenses, like buying gifts or traveling – these things aren’t strictly bills per se, but they are expenses that don’t pop up like clockwork every single month. Some months have minimal travel costs, while others have significant travel costs. Ideally, you’ll take several of these “spending pictures” and average them to get a picture of a true “average month” of spending.

One area many people struggle with is “categorization.” How does one organize one’s expenses in a sensible way? There are thousands of budget templates out there – here’s my own guide to a simple first budget – but you shouldn’t treat the categories they provide as written in stone. Treat them as a starting point. You can make up new ones, or divide the ones they have into pieces, or even combine pieces. Turn it into something that makes sense for you, so that you intuitively know what category each expense in your life belongs in with minimal effort or thought.

For example, rather than having a catch-all “entertainment/hobby” category, I actually split our family’s budget up into several sub-categories so that I can keep careful track of various flavors of spending there. This allows me to budget my own personal hobby spending and put some light but reasonable caps on the overall hobby and entertainment spending for our family (we’ll get to this in a second). This may make sense for some, while it may not really click for others.

Find categories that work for you. Over a few months, chop up each month’s spending into those categories. It’s then, and only then, that you can make a sensible budget going forward, one that isn’t reliant on wishful thinking.

What do you do when you have those things? Make an “average” picture of your spending. Just average out each of those categories across all of the months.

Let’s say that, in January, you spent $50 on books, and books was a line item on your budget. February had $70 in book spending, while March had $50 again, while April had only $30. You add all of those up – $200 – and divide by the number of months – 4. This gives you an average of $50 a month you spent on books. You do this exact thing for each spending category you have, and what you’ll produce is a true picture of what an average financial month looks like for you.

Now, all you need to do is put some light caps on a few of the flexible categories. In the example above, that person is “budgeting” $50 a month for books – that’s their average spending over several months. That person then creates a budget for the coming month and puts in $40 for books.

Do the same thing for every category that’s actually flexible – in other words, ones where your choice has an impact. Cut it by 10% or so. If you spend $200 a month eating out, make that target number $180 or $175 for the coming month. You get the idea.

Now, what about those less flexible numbers? Just start going through them and see if there’s anything you can trim that won’t really affect your quality of life. Maybe you realize that you almost never watch cable any more and instead you just watch Netflix. In that case, perhaps you can simply cut out your cable service and save $50 a month. Maybe you can call your cell phone provider and switch to a smarter plan. Maybe you can shop around for insurance. Maybe you realize that you’ll start saving $10 a month by buying an annual bus pass instead of a monthly one. When you permanently reduce a bill, you can reduce that matching number in your overall budget.

There are still a few things to do to really make this a worthwhile budget.

First, it’s a good idea to account for emergencies, so include a line in your budget for putting money into your savings account for an “emergency fund” and treat it like a bill. The more you put aside here, the easier it is to handle unexpected disasters. Leave that line alone and continually transfer that much money each month – in fact, automate it if you can. Then, only tap that emergency money if you need to.

Second, it’s also a good idea to add a little bit of “inflation” to irregular bills. Although you calculated an average of many of your bills, it’s a good idea to add a little bit to each of those averages to make sure you come in below budget in those categories most months. For example, if your electric bill averages $200 a month, but your bill varies a lot, it’s a good idea to budget $225 for it. There’s no need to budget the maximum amount, but budgeting a bit above average gives you breathing room.

Continuing on with that thought, when you come in under a budget category, don’t just spend that money freely. Instead, use it to cover other areas of your budget where you may have gone over this month, then bank the remaining amount for overruns in future months. Let this be an addendum to your emergency fund, in other words.

It’s important to note that this isn’t a crutch to allow yourself to consistently go over budget in your flexible spending areas. Rather, you should be making smart choices about your flexible spending areas in your budget so that you don’t go over budget during the course of a month. For example, just because you came in under budget with your electric bill doesn’t mean that it’s okay to choose to go way over budget on your entertainment spending. You should be shooting for your target in every category, regardless of the performance of other categories, and ideally coming in a bit under budget in as many categories as possible.

As you can see, a budget isn’t a place for wishful thinking; it’s a place for realistic thinking. It’s a place where you can get a meaningful picture of your spending for the coming month, see where your money is going, set some reasonable goals for your own money behavior, and plan out your steady march toward your big financial goals!

It all starts with a little realistic thinking!

Good luck!

Related Articles:

• Macrobudgeting and Microbudgeting
• 31 Days to Financial Independence, Day 5: A Living Budget
• Does Budgeting Seem Too Complex? Five Simple Alternatives That Can Bring Real Results
• The Secrets Behind Successful Budgeting

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10 Fun Things We Found at the Dollar Store to Celebrate National Dollar Day

Music on Mondays to feature Katie Rubino

Katie Rubino will perform at 7 p.m. Monday at the Dansbury Depot, 5 S. Kistler St., Stroudsburg.Rubino, a singer/songwriter from Stroudsburg, performs a mix of country and pop covers, as well as her own music. She has played guitar and written songs for four years. She has played at various fairs, festivals and events across the state, including the West End Fair in Gilbert, where, at age 13, she won the 2013 “West End Fair's Got Talent” competition. This month, Rubino [...]

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Are You Disabled and Want to Work From Home? These Resources Can Help

Though it’s difficult to estimate exactly how many Americans with disabilities work from home, about 7% of the total population of people with disabilities telecommutes some or all of the time instead of traveling to their employer’s office.

When you add the number of Americans with disabilities who hold jobs that are completely home-based, the number is likely to be much higher.

It can be a challenge to find exclusively work from home jobs whether you’re a person with disabilities or not. Adding medical considerations to the mix could make it even more difficult to find home-based work.

Here are some resources that may help.

Work-From-Home Jobs for People With Visual Impairments

1. Project Starfish is an employment platform that trains blind individuals for virtual work opportunities in high-demand business skills like social media, virtual administration, sales and marketing.

The organization also helps blind job seekers develop professional network connections with small businesses and startups that may lead to long-term employment opportunities.

According to the company’s website, participants in the Project Starfish management consultant program “work virtually from home via phone, internet, and Skype, and can be based anywhere in the United States.”

2. Entrepreneurial-minded people who want to own and run their own home-based business can apply to the Business Enterprise Program through their state’s vocational rehabilitation center.

The program gives blind individuals priority access to a training curriculum that teaches people how to run food service facilities in federal and state buildings. The program also offers interest-free loans to help them set up a coffee shop, deli, snack bar or other kiosk that sells food and beverages.  

3. Transcription jobs are popular options for people looking for work-from-home opportunities. A variety of industries, from law enforcement to legal and medical fields, rely on transcriptionists as vital parts of their workflow process.

4. Mystery shopping, survey work, phone-based customer service jobs and freelance writing are also good ways for visually impaired people to earn money.

5. Be sure to check with your local LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired chapter for work-from-home jobs in your area.

Work-From-Home Jobs for People With Hearing Impairments

1. Though many work-from-home jobs are phone-based, some don’t require workers to have or use phones at all.

2. People with limited or or no hearing may want to look into becoming a search engine evaluator with Appen, Lionbridge or Leapforce. The job is entirely computer-based and pays between $12 and $15 per hour.

3. If a search engine evaluator job isn’t appealing, consider its close cousin, social media evaluator. Keep an eye on Appen’s career page to find out when jobs open up.

4. People with a sharp eye and a love of photo editing should head over to stock photography website Shutterstock. It regularly hires work-from-home image, illustration and footage reviewers to make sure user-submitted content meets the company’s editorial standards.

Work-From-Home Jobs for People With Mobility Impairments

While some people who use wheelchairs don’t have limitations that prevent them from doing some of the jobs we’ve already mentioned, people with limited use of their hands, arms or upper body may need different types of home-based jobs.

1. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society offers a number of service, resource and job suggestions on work-from-home employment opportunities for people with limited mobility.  

2. People with upper body limitations who can use a phone (with or without accommodations) may want to check into voice-based work-from-home jobs like foreign language interpretation, customer service or tutoring.

3. Home-based writing, editing and proofreading jobs may also be a possibility using a computer with assistive software. Employment database FlexJobs is a terrific resource for finding this type of work-from-home jobs, although there are monthly and yearly service fees to access the listings.

Work-From-Home Jobs for People With Cognitive or Developmental Impairments

Work-from-home jobs for people with cognitive or developmental impairments are as varied as each person’s unique limitations and circumstances.

1. Some people with a cognitive impairment excel in fields that require technical skills.

2. Others flourish in creative or performing arts.

A vocational counselor or your state’s vocational rehabilitation center can help assess which jobs are right for you.

No matter what type of work-from-home job you’re looking for, be sure to keep an eye on our Jobs page on Facebook — we post new jobs there all the time.

Lisa McGreevy is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She loves helping readers find new job opportunities. Look her up on Twitter @lisah if you’ve got a tip or idea to share.

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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Use this Website to Get Free Food and Entertainment for Your Next Party

I love to get together with my family and friends. My primary love language is quality time, so I will use any excuse to be at a gathering of people.

The only reason I don’t host more gatherings is because of my family’s budget — hosting can quickly become expensive. So I was very excited when I discovered House Party back in 2015.

House Party lets you apply to host parties that help companies market — and consumers discover — new products. Brands work with House Party to bring awareness to their products by sending party hosts exclusive free stuff to try out and share with their party guests.

I’ve been chosen to host 11 out of the 53 parties that I have applied for, and I find that this is a great way to host parties on a budget.

How to Sign Up

You can sign up for House Party for free by filling out a short form, providing just your email address and birthdate. Once you have an account, check out the “Find a House Party” tab to start applying for parties.

In addition to parties open for application, you can view past parties and see which ones are “partying now” — meaning scheduled to occur within the next few weeks.

If you find a party that is accepting applications for a product that you like, you can apply to host by filling out a brief questionnaire.

The questionnaire usually takes just a few minutes to complete. In the application process you will agree not to sell anything from the Party Pack, to use the website to plan your party and invite your guests and to allow House Party and the sponsoring brand to use any pictures and product reviews you post to the site.

Be sure to click on the party’s page and read the information and the fine print before clicking the “apply now” button. Some parties are limited to specific states and territories. Others are limited to people over the age of 21 because of the content being advertised (this requirement is usually for brands that promote alcohol).

How to Give Your Application an Edge

After you complete the questionnaire, you will be taken to a page that alerts you that your application is being considered. Here you’ll have the opportunity to make your application “stand out now” by completing a few tasks. These tasks are optional, but I imagine that those who don’t complete them aren’t really in the running to be chosen as a host.

I reached out to the House Party staff to see what tips they could give you to increase your odds of being selected to host.

They highlighted the importance of completing those optional tasks. Brian Slattery-Gaston, Vice President of Consumer Marketing at House Party, told us how to get your application to the top of the heap.

Brian says, “An applicant can attempt to ‘Stand out from the crowd’ and show us how much they want to host!… Examples of how to ‘Stand out from the crowd’ may include activities like uploading photos and videos to the House Party Event Page, tweeting about the particular House Party, ‘liking’ the sponsor brand on Facebook, and starting a conversation on the ‘Main’ tab of the given Event page.

He adds, “Please note that taking any or all of these actions does not guarantee a host spot — all hosts for a given House Party still have to meet the hosting criteria, which includes a number of variables decided by House Party and the event sponsors.”

How to Host a House Party

When you get that email in your inbox that says, “You’re in the running to host…” the real fun begins! At that point, you have exactly 30 minutes from the time you sign in to create your electronic invite on the site and send it to the minimum number of required invitees.

Time is of the essence — if House Party has enough hosts sign in and complete their invitations before you then you are no longer in the running.

Once your invitations are sent you are officially a House Party host! You will receive your Party Pack in the mail about a week before the scheduled party date.

The idea is to have hundreds, sometimes thousands, of parties for a product happening on the same date. But you can have your party a few days early or late if you absolutely need to.

The Party Pack usually contains some combination of free products to sample, promotional items, decorations, coupons and sometimes even gift cards for your party. I have gotten packs containing coffee k-cups, mugs, t-shirts, baseball caps, beer koozies, key chains and coupons.

When I hosted a “Cooked Perfect Premium Fire Grilled Wings® Game Day Party,” the date selected by the sponsor was the day of a big rivalry game for my hometown NFL team. The party pack included miniature footballs for everyone, and we played with them during the game.

Yes, you may have to come out of your pocket for snacks for your guests, but I have received a few party packs with coupons or gift cards that covered food and drinks. Being a thrifty Penny Hoarder, I am sure you can find ways to keep your food costs cheap.

And usually the party pack provides the theme, decor and even entertainment. For example, I hosted a “Nature’s Bounty® Earthly Elements™ DIY Night” party, and the party pack provided essential oils and recipe cards to make our own body butters.

All that the sponsors usually ask for in return is feedback and pictures from your party. You have to check the website or app frequently as new hosting opportunities are always popping up.

House Party Pros

• You can score free swag, product samples, coupons, decor, and/or gift cards.

• It’s completely free to sign up and free to receive Party Packs for any party you are selected to host.

• There is absolutely no panhandling of products or soliciting sales from your friends — Just share your free stuff.

• It takes a lot of the guesswork out of your next party. The date, theme, decor, invitations and sometimes even party favors are all supplied by House Party.

House Party Cons

• More than likely you will have to spend some money out of pocket on your party. You cannot invite 10 people over to sample and discuss a great new coffee flavor without at least providing donuts.

• The party date is already chosen and may not be convenient or ideal for you. Maybe you would rather have your party coincide with your upcoming birthday, but there is a very limited window of time for you to use, share, and review your Party Pack contents. Not adhering to that window of time may impede your chances of being chosen to host future parties.

• You have to have the host notification date on your calendar and act fast if you are selected to host. Not acting quickly could result in losing your spot.

• You could apply for what feels like tons of parties before being given the opportunity to host. Unfortunately, there’s no special code to crack to determine what target market House Party and the sponsor are trying to reach. So don’t give up if it takes more than a few applications to score a host spot.

If you like to host parties, get free stuff, and share great freebies like I do, then head on over to HouseParty.com to sign up. With my application tips, you’ll be hosting a party in no time.

Shannon McCullough is an author, publisher, wife, and mother to a fearless, energetic toddler and a needy, nocturnal newborn. She has a parenting blog at FirstGenMom.com where she provides support and encouragement for overwhelmed parents like herself.

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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Eight ways for teenagers to make money

During my week of work experience at Moneywise, I was asked to investigate the various ways teenagers in 2017 could make some extra money.

As a teenager myself (I’m 16), I know that as you get older the number of things you want to buy increases at an alarming rate – I am constantly thinking about adding to my wardrobe, my bookshelf, my music library and my cosmetics cupboard, not to mention the added expense of going out more; cinema, concert and festival tickets mean that I am always feeling short of cash, despite the weekly allowance I get from my parents..

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Add to this the ominous threat of my rapidly approaching future after I leave school, which I should supposedly be saving for, and it is easy to see why I, along with most of my peers, am keen to find ways to increase the amount in my bank account.

So how can we teenagers do this? The most obvious solution is to get a part-time job – a prospect which is both exciting and very daunting. Many of my friends say they are uncertain of both where and when they are legally able to work, as well as the best places to look for employment, so I thought this was probably the best place to start my investigation.

What are the rules?

UK law states that the youngest age a person can work part-time is 13 (unless they work in television, theatre or modelling, in which case they need a performance licence). During the school term, all teenagers over 13 years of age can work part-time for a maximum of 12 hours a week, while during the holidays, 13- to 14-year-olds can work up to 25 hours a week, and 15- to 16-year-olds can work up to 35 hours a week.

There are also strict laws regarding the distribution of these hours across the week – for example, up to the age of 16, teens can only work for two hours on a Sunday. There is no minimum wage for people under the school leaving age.

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Teenagers can only start full-time work once they reach the minimum school leaving age of 16 – they can then work up to 40 hours a week. Once someone reaches 16 they are entitled to earn at least £4.05 per hour and for ages 18 to 20 the minimum wage is £5.60 per hour.

There are many laws regarding which areas of work teens can work in; as a rule, people under 18 are not allowed to work in any environment which could put their health or wellbeing at risk, however there are specific restrictions which should be checked online on the government’s website. As well as these restrictions, some local authorities have by-laws which further dictate which fields of employment teenagers can work in.

Teenagers aged 16 to 17 only pay income tax if they earn more than £113 a week.

So, with all these restrictions in place, what jobs are teenagers allowed to do? Here are eight tried and tested ways young people I know have found employment:

Work in a shop

A part-time job in a local shop is a very good way to make some extra money; anyone aged 13 and over can work in retail if they follow the restrictions on work hours for their age.

The best way to find a job is to go in to as many shops as possible along your local high street, asking if there are any vacancies for a part-time worker and handing in your CV to the manager (always try to speak directly to the manager).

It’s worth thinking about what sort of shop you’d like to work in, but ultimately the best approach is not to be picky; you could be offered a position in a supermarket, a retro clothes shop or a hair salon – you never know what will be available. Obviously, the more shops you approach, the more likely you are to hear back from one of them. Bear in mind that some stores may not want to hire teenagers as their restrictions on work hours may not suit the available positions in the shop.

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Become a waitress or waiter

From 13 upwards, it is possible to be employed as a waitress or waiter, although you can’t serve alcohol until you are 16, so it would be better to look for employment in cafés rather than restaurants. For teens between 16 and 17 years of age, it is legal to sell or serve alcohol in a restaurant without supervision if it is sold to be drunk with a table meal in a part of the premises used only for that purpose.

Working as a waiter or waitress is also a great opportunity to make money because you may receive tips on top of your hourly pay.

Become a pool lifeguard

Anyone over the age of 16 can apply for a National Pool Lifeguard Qualification course (NPLQ) with the Royal Life Saving Society. The course, which costs £150-250 depending on the provider and location, doesn’t take long to complete – around a week – and means you could be hired by any leisure centre or pool to work as a lifeguard, a job which generally has flexible hours so is perfect for students and teenagers.

The pay is pretty good too; you can expect to make about £6-£10 an hour, according to my friend who recently got her NPLQ. It goes without saying that to do the course you already need to have a high level of fitness and be a confident swimmer.

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Become a sports coach

If you are involved in any sports teams or clubs, it may be possible to be hired as a coach to younger members of the team. I know several people who were asked by their sports coach to teach Saturday morning classes. One friend, for example, makes £7 an hour coaching her local rugby under-5s team. So, if you are already part of a team, it may well be worth asking if there are any vacancies for instructors.

Babysitting

Babysitting is one of the easiest ways to make money as a teenager. If you are good with children, are responsible, and have a friendly attitude, most parents will feel confident leaving you in charge of their children for an evening.

The amount you make can vary according to who you are babysitting for, but it is typical to make about £5 an hour. I started by asking my neighbours with kids if they would be interested in hiring me as a babysitter. Anyone with younger siblings is also in an ideal situation – you can find lots of potential families to babysit for by asking the parents of your sibling’s friends. Otherwise, you could put up advertisements in local shop windows, in the local children’s library or on local neighbourhood social media sites, to notify parents that you would be willing to look after their children.

Sell old things

One way many of my friends have made money is through the mobile app Depop, which works in a way like eBay but is more informal and is very popular with teenagers.

Some people use it to occasionally sell their old unwanted clothes for low prices, but anyone with an entrepreneurial streak can use it to make a significant profit. Once you get the idea of what kind of clothes are popular on Depop, you should be able to visit car boot sales and charity shops and collect lots of interesting vintage clothes and brands at very low prices. You can then sell these clothes on the app at a higher price to make a profit. I picked up an American Apparel skirt on one particularly rainy day at my local car boot sale for £1 (the stall-owner clearly wanted to dispose of his stock as quickly as possible and go somewhere warm and dry) and then sold it on Depop for £25! With commitment, it wouldn’t be too difficult to create a small business on Depop, and many teenagers do.

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Become a dog walker

This is an especially good way to make money during school holidays when many dog owners must leave their dogs at home all day while they are at work. If you know anyone in your neighbourhood who leaves their dog at home during the day, you could offer to take it out for a walk around lunch time to give it some exercise. 

Most dog walkers charge £8-£10 for an hour’s walk, but you can earn more by walking multiple dogs at a time. You do need to be very confident handling dogs, however, as well as being prepared to clean up after them. Some councils have limits on how many dogs you can walk at a time, and a few parks require you to buy a licence if you are using the park to run a business, so check out your local council’s website to make sure beforehand.

All dog-walking companies that I contacted only employ over 18s. You could try advertising in your local library or local neighbourhood social media group.

Sell your crafts

If you enjoy arts and crafts, such as knitting, sewing or making jewellery, consider selling your work – either in craft fairs (around Christmas is a good time for these) or online, using sites such as Etsy and Folksy. These websites have small fees for selling items – Folksy, for example, charges 15p plus VAT to list an item and takes 6% plus VAT in sales commissions, but it is an easy way to get your crafts seen by people all over the world. Etsy has regulations on minors using the site – check these out online - you will need a parent or guardian’s permission.

If you have a talent for drawing or painting, you might want to consider uploading your designs onto “print on demand” websites such as Zazzle or Redbubble (you should be over 16 for Redbubble). These allow you to put your art on t-shirts, phone cases and other products, which anyone can buy from the website. Each product has a base cost of manufacture, which you can then add a profit margin on top of. For example, on Redbubble the base cost of a hardcover journal is £10, and if you used the default profit margin of 20%, the retail price would be £12 and you would make £2 profit per journal sold.

If you are interested in using your art to make money, you might also want to think about promoting it on social media – with perseverance you could gain large followings for your art account on platforms such as Instagram and Tumblr. The more followers you have, the more people are likely to buy your products off Redbubble. You could also offer to do commissions for people and charge a fee. 

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