Time for revival

Main Street anticipates rapid growth as investors buy up iconic buildings

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This Organization Aims to Make Pricy College Textbooks a Thing of the Past

During my sophomore year of college, I (stupidly) decided buying a concert ticket was more important than purchasing an expensive — but necessary — textbook for one of my classes.

I struggled through that semester, borrowing the book from a classmate or from the library when it was available. I eventually passed the class, albeit by a pretty slim margin.

But can you blame me? I mean, with some textbook prices hovering in the $200 range, it’s hard to wrap your head around the thought of shelling out that kind of cash, knowing you won’t be able to make even a fraction of it back at the end of the semester when you try to sell the book back to the bookstore.

And while there are ways to save on textbooks — and on the rest of your college experience — pricy textbooks can still feel like a pretty big ripoff.

But what if I told you you didn’t have to pay for textbooks at all?

What if there were a resource that would allow you to access textbooks and course materials absolutely free?

Well there is, and it’s called the Open Textbook Network.

Free College Textbooks Through the Open Textbook Network

The Open Textbook Network is an organization that aims to improve and advance the use of open textbook sharing practices on college campuses.

It maintains the Open Textbook Library, which houses a resource of peer-reviewed academic textbooks online.

The textbooks are “free, openly licensed, and complete,” meaning that students have full access to the entire text — without paying a cent.

University faculty members are invited to choose the entirety of their coursework through the network, which allows their students to avoid the high fees charged by traditional book sellers.

How Do I Use the Open Textbook Network?

The Open Textbook Network has more than 500 members across the U.S., including schools like Clemson and Ohio State.

Students of these universities can use their student email address or a URL from a faculty member to access the resources on the organization’s site. These resources include data collection tools, slide decks, instructional support and the aforementioned textbooks.

The library features textbooks on everything from chemistry to philosophy, and professors and faculty members are even welcome to write and submit their own textbooks for use in the Open Textbook Library.

If you think your university needs to become a member of the Open Textbook Network (so that you can get your hands on some free books), talk to a faculty member at your school about joining. They can go here to begin the application process.

As the network grows through community contributions and university participation, the library will continue to expand, offering more textbook and coursework options.

And who knows? Maybe someday overpriced textbooks will be a thing of the past. Then, hopefully, students will be able to focus a little less on finances and a little more on cramming for that big test.

Grace Schweizer is a junior 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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Live in the Path of the Eclipse? Your Spare Room Could Make You $500/Night

Call them the geographically blessed.

For the lucky 12 million Americans who live directly in the path of the upcoming total solar eclipse, Aug. 21 will bring a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical show.

If you’re one of them, your home is a potential gold mine. Got a spare room? Rent it out. The opportunities to cash in are simply out of this world. But you have to hop to it, because time is running out.

Tens of millions of people will be travelling and renting rooms in the solar eclipse path. They’ll flood hotels, campgrounds and Airbnbs listings. All for a rare taste of moonshadow.

Airbnb, the popular home-sharing listing platform, is seeing a huge spike in the number of people listing their spare rooms and entire homes on the eve of the eclipse.

You could be one of them. It’s not too late, if you follow our instructions.

Darkness in the Middle of the Day

First, let’s back up and get our facts straight.

As you’ve no doubt heard by now, a total solar eclipse happens when the moon passes directly between the Earth and the sun, blocking all solar light.

They’re super rare. This will be the first one on the U.S. mainland in nearly 40 years.

On Aug. 21, the solar eclipse path will cut a diagonal 60- or 70-mile-wide swath across the country from Oregon to South Carolina over an hour and a half.

NASA has a useful video here, illustrating what will happen. Here’s another video showing the path in greater detail.

Everyone in North America will be able to see a partial solar eclipse. But those in the path of the total eclipse will experience total darkness for two long and amazing minutes.

Precious Real Estate for a Three-Day Weekend

Thousands of people who have a little real estate along the path of the eclipse are cashing in, with some parking spots going for upwards of $100. In Oregon, 30 campsites were recently auctioned off for a total of $60,000, or $2,000 per campsite.

“More than 40,000 guest arrivals have turned to Airbnb to book homes along the path of totality, and there’s still time to book,” Airbnb recently said. “From Oregon to South Carolina, we have nearly 3,800 homes available along the path of totality.”

Some of the most expensive Airbnb listings near the start of the eclipse in Madras, Oregon, have been priced at up to $3,000 per night. Someone’s spare room in a small town in Oregon was going for $500 a night.

A couple more points:

 

• The Aug. 21 eclipse happens mid-morning on a Monday, so many eclipse travelers are making a three-day weekend of it.

 

• 35% of the houses listed on Airbnb for the night before the eclipse will be hosting on the site for the first time ever.

Aside from the 12 million Americans who live in the path of the total eclipse, another 75 million people live within 200 miles of it, according to U.S Census data.

Even if you just live near the total eclipse, and not directly in its path, you could still try to cash in. The biggest crowds are expected in South Carolina, Tennessee, Missouri and Oregon, based on driving models.

Here’s What You Need to Do

Clearly, time is running out. But you can still do this.

Sign up here to be an Airbnb host. This doesn’t cost anything. Airbnb takes a 3% cut of what you earn when you list your home or spare room.

Once you create an account, Airbnb has tools to guide you through the process.

You’ll write a listing for your property, with an appealing but honest description of the place. Upload a few photos of it.

Then, you’ll set a price. Airbnb has tools for that, too. To get an idea of what other Airbnb hosts in your area are charging, Google “eclipse” and “Airbnb,” plus the name of your city.

A few other tips:

• Be a good host, and make sure your place is stocked with the toiletries you’d expect at a hotel — toilet paper, soap and towels.

• Be personable. A lot of travelers turn to Airbnb for the personal touch they won’t find at commercial properties.

• Airbnb handles payments, so you don’t have to deal with money directly.

• Here are The Penny Hoarder’s six tips for being an Airbnb host.

• Hosting laws vary from city to city. Understand the rules and regulations applicable to your city and listing.

• Airbnb offers a “host guarantee” that covers damage to your property.

‘The Sky Snapped Over the Sun Like a Lens Cover’

The total eclipse will pass over or near Salem, Oregon; Idaho Falls, Idaho; Casper, Wyoming; Omaha, Nebraska; Kansas City; St. Louis; Nashville; and Columbia and Charleston, S.C.

I’m told it’s amazing.

Here’s what author Annie Dillard had to say about it in her classic essay, “Total Eclipse.”

“I had seen a partial eclipse in 1970. A partial eclipse is very interesting. It bears almost no relation to a total eclipse. Seeing a partial eclipse bears the same relation to seeing a total eclipse as kissing a man does to marrying him, or as flying in an airplane does to falling out of an airplane. Although the one experience precedes the other, it in no way prepares you for it.”

And then:

“At once this disk of sky slid over the sun like a lid. The sky snapped over the sun like a lens cover. The hatch in the brain slammed. Abruptly it was dark night, on the land and in the sky. In the night sky was a tiny ring of light. The hole where the sun belongs is very small. A thin ring of light marked its place.”

Act now, time is running out.

Mike Brassfield (mike@thepennyhoarder.com) is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder. He’s thinking it’s time for a road trip.

 

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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Lawsuit: Poland Spring Dried Up 50+ Years Ago, We’re Drinking Groundwater

If you’re willing to shell out for bottled water from a natural spring, this lawsuit has disappointing news for you.

That spring water might not be so… springy.

Eleven people have filed a class-action suit against Nestle Waters North America, the parent company of Poland Spring, claiming the bottled water is “ordinary groundwater” from a well the company drilled.

The alleged method violates FDA regulations requiring bottled spring water come from a natural spring or a well that accesses natural spring water. The suit claims that Poland Spring bottles far too much water to source from the eight springs listed on its site. Additionally, according to Courthouse News Service, the plaintiffs claim the namesake Poland Spring dried up half a century ago, thereby making the brand name itself misleading.

The plaintiffs seek at least $5 million in damages.

Poland Spring’s website contains a detailed explainer of its “100% Natural Spring Water” and includes a map showing eight spring sources throughout southern and central Maine.

A spokesperson for Nestle Waters North America stood behind the company’s sources and methods, according to a statement obtained by Courthouse News Service.

Suits against Poland Spring and its parent company, Nestle, seem to bubble up every few years. The best one in the archives may be this: “In 2003, the company was sued, also in Connecticut, because its advertising suggested that the water in Poland Spring came from a source deep in the woods of Maine when, in fact, the principal source was located near a parking lot,” Portland Press Herald writer Edward D. Murphy so eloquently stated.

Really, You Paid for Bottled Water?

While this is a class-action suit, there’s no immediate action step for consumers who feel they’ve been wronged. If that changes, we’ll update this post.

For now, it might be worth examining your water-guzzling habits. Everyone grabs a bottle of water from a convenience store from time to time, but if you regularly turn to bottles to avoid drinking tap water, you may want to explore a more budget-friendly — and earth-friendly — alternative.

And if you don’t have any qualms with your tap water, remember to fill a reusable bottle before you hit the road.

Lisa Rowan is a writer and producer at The Penny Hoarder.

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

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Lower Back Pain Costs Us $90 Billion a Year — But This Treatment Is Free

You Could Score up to $900 in Class-Action Cash Just for Getting Robocalled

If you’ve ever received an annoying, unsolicited call offering you a free cruise, you might be able to claim enough cash from a new class-action settlement to pay for that cruise after all.

The prerecorded calls in question came from a third-party company representing Carnival Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean International between July 23, 2009 and March 8, 2014.

According to the lawsuit, the calls violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. While the cruise lines deny any wrongdoing, they have proposed a settlement.

In the proposed settlement, if you received a call on your cell phone or landline during the claim period, you could receive up to $300 per call. If the company called you multiple times, you may be eligible to receive claim payments for up three of those calls. This means you could get up to $900.

While the maximum payout is $300 per call, the amount each person receives depends on how many people file claims.

It might be tough to remember which robocalls you answered back in the summer of 2009, but there is an easy way to check whether you are a part of this class-action settlement. Just head over to the claims website, choose one of the “I did NOT receive a notice and do not have a claim number, but would like to see if my phone number is a part of this settlement…” options, and follow the prompts to find out if your number is included.

You’ll immediately find out if you can file a claim. If you’re eligible, you have the option to file online or print out a claim form and mail it in. After that, you wait.

It’s not clear when the payments will arrive, but the final approval hearing will take place April 4, 2018. Any subsequent appeals could delay payments. You have until Nov. 3, 2017, to file your claim.

We’ll update you when more information is available.

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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5 Pumpkin Spice Treats for Under $5 We’re Already Obsessed With in August

It’s almost fall. You can smell it in the air. It’s the unmistakable aroma of pumpkin spice, well, everything.

If you’re the type who has been twitching uncontrollably in anticipation of pumpkin spice lattes or frantically scanning the craft beer aisle for your yearly fix of Southern Tier’s Pumking Imperial Ale, this fall will not disappoint. There are new pumpkin spice products every year, and some of them are very affordable.

Not only can you live a life full of pumpkin spice everything, but you can load up your pantry to start every morning with your favorite flavor without overspending on froufrou coffeehouse drinks. Here are five awesome items to start your day the pumpkin spice way that cost less than $5 each.

1. International Delight Pumpkin Pie Spice Creamer

Who are we kidding? Coffee has to be first, right? International Delights Pumpkin Pie Spice Creamer can turn your standard cup of brew-at-home coffee into a delicious, fall-flavored beverage. It’s the perfect way to kick off your day.

I found a 24-count box of individual serving creamers at Walmart for just $2.38. That’s just 12 cents per serving. Go ahead. Get crazy and put two in your mug, and feel the pumpkin buzz.

2. Pumpkin Spice Cheerios

You’ve been eating Cheerios since you were a baby. That’s almost guaranteed. Now, your go-to breakfast cereal has jumped on the pumpkin spice bandwagon.

Pumpkin Spice Cheerios are gluten-free and made using real pumpkin puree. Prices may vary, but you should easily find a box for under $5, unless they hit the pumpkin spice black market.

Not a Cheerios fan? It looks like Frosted Mini Wheats and Life cereals will also throw their hats in the pumpkin spice ring. Choose your favorite or stockpile them all.

3. Yoplait Light Pumpkin Pie Yogurt

A small cup of yogurt is a great addition to your morning routine. It’s light, creamy and now packed with your favorite flavor.

You can usually find Yoplait yogurts for under $1 at your favorite grocer, so Yoplait Light Pumpkin Pie Yogurt is an affordable fit to your pumpkin spice breakfast buffet.

4. Belvita Pumpkin Spice Breakfast Biscuits

Whole grains, fiber, “4-hours of continuous energy” plus a new pumpkin spice flavor? What’s not to love?

Belvita Breakfast Biscuits are an easy-to-eat breakfast option you can throw in a purse or a pocket on your way out the door. At just $2.38 for a box of five, you can afford to stock up and snack pumpkin-style all winter long.

5. Pepperidge Farm Pumpkin Spice Milano Cookies

Cookies for breakfast? Umm, yeah. Why not? You deserve a treat before noon, and Pepperidge Farm’s Milano cookies are an old favorite.

Now Pepperidge Farm has upped the ante and made them pumpkin spice. According to its website, the cookies are “the perfect balance of crisp cookies and rich, luxurious chocolate for a truly indulgent treat.”

Cookies, chocolate and pumpkin spice? Mind blown.

And at $2.98 for a 7-ounce bag, you won’t need to share.

Get ‘Em While You Can

Most of these pumpkin spice treats are only available for a limited time, so stock up while you can. You’ll be munching on your favorite flavor long after the final leaf falls.

Tyler Omoth is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder who loves soaking up the sun and finding creative ways to help others. He secretly believes that pumpkin spice is the perfect way to ruin anything. 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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Kaplan Needs Tons of People to Work From Home (Check Out Those Benefits!)

One of the largest education providers in the country is hiring dozens of remote employees for a variety of positions — and the jobs come with terrific benefits.

A huge shout out to Working Mother for first noticing these opportunities.

None of the job listings include information on pay but we’ve reached out to Kaplan and will update when we hear back.

And if none of these positions work for you, check out our Jobs page on Facebook. We post new opportunities there all the time.

MCAT Question Writer

If the idea of taking standardized tests makes you sweat, now’s your chance to turn the tables. Kaplan is hiring part-time employees to write and edit questions for the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT).

Qualified candidates will be detail oriented and subject matter experts in one or more of the MCAT sciences. You should also have strong communication skills and experience writing standardized test items.  

Job requirements include:

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant science area (advanced degree preferred)
• Excellent descriptive writing skills
• Ability to meet deadlines and communicate progress regularly
• Knowledge and comfort with modern web collaboration tools (e.g., Google Docs, Hangouts/Skype, GChat/Slack)
• Education/instructional background preferred

Apply here for the MCAT Question Writer job at Kaplan.

Inside Sales Representative

Kaplan is looking for experts in SmartPros’ learning solutions to help the company market its products in the corporate marketplace.

You’ll identify and contact companies that may be interested in purchasing training platforms. You’ll also work with Marketing on sales follow-ups and develop a regional sales plan.

Job requirements include:

• Minimum one year of solutions-oriented sales success and client satisfaction
• Minimum of one year of sales experience
• Bachelor’s degree with a focus in business
• Excellent communication, listening, problem solving and organizational skills
• Working knowledge of CRM systems and marketing platforms preferred

Apply here for the Inside Sales Representative job at Kaplan.

Insurance Licensing Instructor

Kaplan is hiring part-time insurance industry experts to teach insurance licensing classes using Kaplan-provided materials.

Instructors can choose their own schedules but most classes are taught during the day on weekdays. Class days, the length of class and class frequency vary by state.

You’ll prepare students to take their state licensing exam, address student questions and follow up as needed. Instructors may also have the opportunity to travel.

Job requirements include:

• Minimum of 5 years insurance industry experience
• Ability to train students in preparation for the state exam.
• Ability to adhere to state and company classroom rules and practices.
• Ability to effectively utilize technology (using PowerPoint presentations, entering time for payroll, internal email, etc).
• Previous teaching experience preferred

Apply here for the Insurance Licensing Instructor job at Kaplan.

Additional Teaching Jobs at Kaplan

Kaplan is also filling these remote teaching positions:

• Securities Instructor
• Certified Financial Planning Instructor
• Nurse Practitioner Adjunct Faculty (FNP or AGNP)
• Adjunct Faculty: Undergraduate Human Services
• Adjunct Faculty: Graduate Human Services

If you’re hired, you could be eligible for the following benefits:

• Vacation time
• Sick time
• Paid holidays
• Personal days
• Bereavement and jury duty
• 401(k) savings plan
• Health insurance
• Short and long term disability insurance

Take a look at Kaplan’s careers page to see all the jobs available right now.

Lisa McGreevy is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She loves telling readers about new job opportunities so look her up on Twitter @lisah if you’ve got a tip 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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$10/Month MoviePass Lets You See a Movie Every Day. Enjoy it While You Can

How much does it cost to go to the movies where you live? Probably $10, maybe $13 for a regular old 2-D movie, right?

What if you could spend that much once a month to see as many movies as you want?

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is, kids.

Movie ticket subscription service MoviePass, which once charged at least $30 per month for unlimited movie tickets, announced this week it would drop its rate to just $9.95 per month.

The shift comes shortly after MoviePass sold a majority stake to Helios and Matheson Analytics, a data firm that can crunch numbers up, down and sideways as MoviePass continues to conduct its experiment to boost theater attendance.

The trade-off for seeing unlimited movies for $10 per month? MoviePass will obviously collect data about your movie-viewing habits.

MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe, a former Netflix executive, told Bloomberg that movie theaters’ revenue struggle isn’t because of Netflix and other streaming services — it’s because of high-priced movie tickets.

His service promises “all major movies, all major theaters, no commitment,” with a network of more than 4,000 theaters. MoviePass users receive a debit-style card by mail that they use to purchase one same-day ticket at the theater per day.

AMC Wants to Block MoviePass. Will Other Theaters Follow?

AMC Theatres released a statement shortly after MoviePass’ announcement about its new pricing that said the move by a “small fringe player” is “not in the best interest of moviegoers, movie theatres or movie studios.”

AMC says its average ticket price is $9.33, and while it “is not opposed to subscription programs generally,” the company doesn’t understand how MoviePass expects to reimburse AMC for the full price of each ticket.

“AMC noted that it is not yet known how to turn lead into gold,” the release said. The company is discussing potential legal action to block MoviePass subscribers from using the service at AMC locations.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the average movie ticket price in the U.S. is $8.84.

Is MoviePass Doomed?

MoviePass sounds like it’s worth it for even the most casual of moviegoers. But enjoy it now because if AMC, the largest theater chain in the country, pulls out of MoviePass, the service may have a hard time staying afloat.

In the meantime, keep in mind that movie theaters make most of their money by charging increasingly high prices for snacks. You may only pay $10 per month to see unlimited movies, but if you pony up $10 at the concession stand each time you go for a small soda and a bag of M&Ms, you’ll be broke pretty quick.

If you’re not sure if it’s worth signing up for MoviePass, check out our list of 22 ways to save next time you’re craving that big-screen experience.

Lisa Rowan is a writer and producer at The Penny Hoarder.

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

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The Fear of Returning to Poverty

When I was growing up, my family lived on the edge of poverty – and sometimes perhaps over that edge.

My father worked in a factory most of the time, when the factory wasn’t struggling and laying people off for months at a time. Five people were supported on that factory wage – him, my mother, myself, and my two older brothers. In addition, we also provided housing for other people for long periods during my childhood – various uncles and cousins lived with us.

When the factory was closed down, my father did a number of things to keep food on the table. His primary side gig was commercial fishing – he’d keep enough for us to eat, sell some fish to individual clients, and sell the rest at a local fish market.

During my early childhood, my mother was a stay-at-home mom; later on, when that became completely financially untenable, she worked as a postal clerk to bring home additional income.

There were many times in my childhood when I felt the realities of this financial situation, even though my parents went to great lengths to shield me from it. I could tell when times were really tough. We scarcely went on any kind of vacation; the closest we came were a couple of two or three day trips to locales within a few hours’ driving distance from home. I remember a couple of very lean holidays; my parents worked very hard to make them not seem lean, but I could feel it anyway. I remember never having a car that was anywhere close to “new” and that it was always under a vague fear of falling apart. I remember hushed disagreements and money-related conversations after I should have been asleep.

Why am I speaking about this past?

The truth is that an awful lot of my financial choices in my adult life have been driven by a fear of returning to that life, or of putting my children through it.

I was lucky enough to go to college, and upon graduation I had a strong desire to “appear” financially successful, even if I really wasn’t. I wanted desperately to see myself and to present myself as financially successful. I wound up spending myself onto the precipice of financial disaster by doing so.

That experience of near financial disaster led me down a path of rather intense frugality coupled with absurd professional efforts, which was amplified by the birth of my children, a journey which led to the birth of The Simple Dollar.

Looking back, the one big consistent thing across all of this was that ever-present fear of becoming poor. I have dreaded the thought of ever returning to a state of anything close to poverty. I don’t want my children to ever feel as though their parents were anything less than reliable. I don’t want to ever feel like tomorrow will bring complete uncertainty into my life.

It’s a deep fear and a painful one. It’s driven me to make some less-than-productive choices over the years. It’s caused me to work way too hard at various points, pushing myself into illness with the stress. It convinced me to dig so deep into frugality that I began to turn into a cheapskate.

Yet, even after all of that, the fear is still there. I don’t know that the fear of poverty will ever really truly and completely go away.

It’s a dangerous fear, too. When you are driven by a fear, you never make fully rational choices. Instead, you overvalue choices that alleviate that fear in the short term and thus undervalue choices that might lead to the best long-term life. It’s like the person who is so afraid of heights that they won’t fly across the country to meet the love of their life.

Isn’t a fear of poverty helpful? One might believe that if a person is acting out of a fear of poverty, they’re most likely aiming in a direction of better financial success. Isn’t that a good thing?

Not really. As I pointed out above, something driven by fear isn’t too good at aiming itself. For a while, that fear drove me into a comically exaggerated form of affluence, where I bought into the idea that if I appeared to have my financial life together, I did have my financial life together. That led me to the precipice of a financial collapse.

Later, that same fear led me down a path of hyper-frugality, where I was doing everything possible to avoid spending even a cent. That wasn’t particularly healthy, either, as it actually began to impinge on my social life and free time.

When you are pushed by fear, you are operating emotionally, not rationally. This makes it incredibly easy to direct your efforts in directions that are very destructive to other elements of your life.

Over the last few years, I have made a number of conscious steps to help myself stop being driven by a fear of poverty and instead make more rational decisions about the various aspects of my life. Here are some of the steps that I have taken.

Forge a Self-Identity Unrelated to Money

For a long time, part of my identity was that I was proudly not anywhere near the poverty line, that I had escaped poverty, and I wanted to show that to the world. I wore expensive clothes, had nice gadgets, wore a stupidly expensive watch, drove a gorgeous vehicle. For me, a big part of my self-identity – and what I wanted to show to the world – was the fact that I was at least somewhat financially successful.

Here’s the truth: your finances really only exist to support the life you want to live and protect it from unfortunate events. A healthy self-identity is wrapped up in the life you want, not the financial underpinnings of that life.

Dress in clothes that feel comfortable and make you look good, but there’s no reason to wear expensive clothes. Own a smartphone (and maybe a watch) that functionally do the tasks you need, but there’s no reason to constantly chase the latest gadgets to show off your wealth.

(Yes, sure, there are some professions where dressing nice is part of the path to success, but that’s a small minority of professions.)

Think of yourself in terms that have nothing to do with finances. I’m a good father (I hope) and a good husband (I hope). I’m a writer. I’m a hiker. I’m active in my community. I’m a gamer. I’m a volunteer. I’m a home brewer. Adopt terms like that for yourself and think of yourself in those ways. That’s who you are. Finances just serve to support that.

This helps with the fear of poverty by building a self-identity that can’t be taken away by financial winds of change. I can no longer fear like my identity as a person is damaged if my financial state changes direction. That makes it much easier to see finances as a tool for the life I want rather than some indication as to the quality of my life.

Recognize and Call Out Avoidance

Are there situations in my life where I’m unconsciously avoiding certain situations and opportunities because of my personal hang-ups about poverty avoidance?

For example, about three years ago, I recognized that my innate fear of poverty was keeping me from helping out at a local food pantry. On a conscious level, it was something that I wanted to do. When I thought about it, I felt extremely supportive of the food pantry. Yet, I kept avoiding doing anything about it.

I realized after a while that I was avoiding it because I somehow viewed it as a connection to poverty that I didn’t want in my life. It was a completely foolish perspective, I know that, but that didn’t stop me from having those thoughts in the back of my mind.

Choosing to volunteer for the food pantry was one of the best things I’ve done in a very long time. I got to build some great relationships with other volunteers and even with some of the regular customers of the pantry. I got a powerful sense of being able to directly help people.

On a similar note, most of my career (with the exception of the leap to working on The Simple Dollar as my primary employment) has been focused around avoiding risk, which has kept me from taking many risks and has pushed me to accept some pretty poor options in my career out of a fear of a pink slip or an unhappy supervisor. My fear of poverty kept me from being much of an advocate for myself at times.

This kept me from raises at my old job. This kept me from taking on some professional challenges. This kept me from jumping on board some professional opportunities. I was too busy looking at the ground below rather than the path in front of me.

Now, I gut check myself whenever I see myself shying away from a challenge or accepting a burden. Am I doing this out of fear? Or is this actually a good opportunity for me?

Don’t Make Quick Financial Choices

Fear is an emotional response, and emotional responses often lead to quick decisions that are based on emotion rather than information and reasoning. The fear of poverty is no different.

A fear of poverty led me to spend money irrationally to make myself appear affluent, something that was often done as a snap decision. A fear of poverty also nearly turned me into a complete cheapskate that was damaging my personal relationships; again, it was a state mostly made up of snap decisions.

The best solution I’ve found to snap financial decisions is reflection. Give yourself genuine time to think about your financial choices, both before and after the fact. Are you making good money decisions? Was that spending choice you made a wise one? What could you be doing better to achieve your real life goals? Are you making “money-first” choices that are having negative repercussions in other areas of your life?

I work through these questions all the time in my spare thoughts and also in my journaling. I find that, quite often, my choices made in the heat of the moment are driven by emotions like fear and impulsive desire, and the best counter I have to those emotions is to understand them and know that they’re driving me to decisions that aren’t the best ones to make in the overall scheme of things. Gradually, those negative forces behind my decisions are ground down, leaving my decisions to better internal forces.

Allot Time (and a Little Money) for Self-Care

Whenever I feel stressed out or overwhelmed, I fall back on easy emotional responses to situations. It’s a common thing that most people do in challenging situations – their emotions take over and guide them through to the other side. The problem, as discussed earlier, is that such emotional decisions are often poor ones.

One great way to avoid this entirely is to make sure you’re taking care of yourself, no matter what’s going on in your life. Devoting some time to self-care (and even a little money) makes it much easier to handle life’s burdens effectively, without getting stressed out or overwhelmed.

Here are some of the simple things I do for self-care.

I meditate each day for at least ten minutes. This can take a lot of different forms. For some, prayer to a higher power works best. For others, repeating a single word as a mantra works. For me, I’ve found the best technique is to shut off distractions, sit in a comfortable place, and focus on my natural breathing. Breathe in, breathe out. I do this for at least ten minutes, and whenever I feel my mind wandering away, I gently guide it back to the breathing. I usually feel a little better after a session of this, but what I’ve found is that if I do this routinely, the effects gradually lower my overall stress level and make me feel less overwhelmed in busy situations. It’s not a sea change, but it’s a nice valuable step in the right direction.

I block off time for hobbies. I give myself at least one – and ideally two or three – multi-hour blocks each week that I dedicate to genuine leisure. I’ll curl up with a book and get utterly lost in it. I’ll play some giant multi-hour board game with a bunch of friends. I’ll make a batch of home-brewed beer or make a batch of homemade sauerkraut. I’ll go to Ledges State Park (my favorite park that’s within reasonable distance of my home) and walk the trails on my own for a few hours. Doing that at least once a week – and ideally a couple of times – makes an enormous difference in my well being.

I get plenty of sleep. Rather than staying up late to catch up on a television show or to try to squeeze in a household chore, I go to bed early. That allows me to sleep until I naturally wake up most days rather than being forced awake by an alarm, which means I’m naturally rested and thus am less affected by stress and a sense of overwhelm.

I try to eat a balanced, healthy diet without overeating. I try to eat a variety of things, mostly plants, mostly unprocessed stuff if possible, and not too much. It’s a diet that works well for me – the only part I struggle with is the “not too much” part as I tend to chow down on stuff that I really like. I feel worse – and much more prone to stress – when I’m not eating well.

I try to exercise every day. Usually, this takes the form of a brisk multi-mile walk or a bicycle ride or some sort of bodyweight exercises (think planks). The goal is to get myself breathing heavily and sweating but not completely killing myself, because the aftereffects of that not only leave me feeling good for at least a few hours afterwards, but doing it consistently leads to consistently better feelings and self-control.

All of those things do wonders for alleviating feelings of stress, and the end result of this type of stress reduction is that a much larger portion of my decisions are based on rational thinking rather than emotional thinking, meaning that I actually make forward progress on my long term goals and don’t short-circuit my plans because of my fears.

Add Line Items to Your Budget for Things That Bring You Joy

One key part of our family’s budget is that Sarah and I each have a line item for completely incidental spending. I usually refer to mine as my “hobby budget.”

Money within that line item can be spent by each of us with no questions asked. We can use that money on anything that we personally desire – books, games, food items, whatever – without any question.

This is beneficial in a number of ways. For one, it gives a great sense of freedom, a feeling that my life isn’t completely locked down. It lets me accentuate my hobbies and interests if I so choose.

Best of all, by having it as a line item in our budget, I know that the money I spend in this way is accounted for and isn’t going to interfere with our family’s financial future. It’s money that I can spend without fear of pushing us back into poverty.

Remind Yourself of How Far You Really Are from Poverty

One final trick that I love to use is to simply sit down and calculate our family’s net worth and then look at it in a few different ways.

Calculating one’s net worth is simple – you just add up the value of all of your assets (your savings account, your checking account, your investments, your retirement account, your home, your car) and subtract from that all of your debts. This gives you a number representing how much cash you would have if you were to sell all of your major possessions and pay off all of your debts.

One thing I really like to do with that number is multiply it by 0.03. That little multiplication trick represents the idea, supported by a lot of studies, that if you have your money invested for the long term and withdraw only 3% of the value each year, the investment should last forever, allowing you to withdraw that amount every year for the rest of your life. I call this my “annual withdrawal number.”

For me, one of the biggest thresholds of feeling like I was escaping poverty was when my annual withdrawal number began to respectably compare with the federal poverty line for a family of five, and then to pass it. In other words, unless I start pulling money out of the bank and spending it, there is no reason for my family to fall below the poverty line in almost any realistic situation.

Yes, I know that Sarah and I are not just going to fold up shop tomorrow and start living near the poverty line, but knowing that we could do this and be able to survive (even if the situation was threadbare) makes me feel a lot better. What makes me feel even better than that is that each time I re-calculate our “annual withdrawal number,” we continue to inch upward over time.

I’m leaving poverty behind, for good.

It’s Still Not Enough, But It Helps

As useful as all of these strategies are, they still don’t add up to a perfect solution. I still sometimes worry about falling into poverty. I worry that I will lose my current job and be unable to find anything else. I worry that our spending will accelerate and leave us without money in the bank. I worry that something unforeseen will hit us like a freight train and put us in a bad situation.

Nothing will ever completely eliminate those worries, I don’t think. They’re part of who I am.

However, the exercises I’ve mentioned above have helped me greatly in terms of taking the emotion behind those worries out of my financial decision making. When I choose to spend money or save money, it’s not driven by fears of imminent poverty, but of having a better life.

Good luck.

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Not Your Average Ski Bum Gig: Liftopia is Hiring a Work-From-Home Rep

If you’re a skier or boarder, you know lift tickets can be pretty expensive.

But if you become a member of Liftopia’s team, you can support your hobby this season with a substantial hourly wage.

If you’ve ever bought lift tickets online, you might have used Liftopia. The ecommerce site is the largest seller of lift tickets and a great pricing tool for ski resorts.

The company is growing quickly, and now it’s looking for a remote seasonal partner operations representative for the 2017-2018 winter season, which runs from September to April, depending on Mother Nature.

What You’ll Do as Work-From-Home Rep for Liftopia

Although Liftopia is in the business of snow, with this full-time gig, you can work shoreside in San Francisco or — even better — from home.

You’ll support the Partner Operations Team and manage phone and ticket queues. You’ll also handle some data: audit systems, handle ticket barcodes, reload ticket inventory, upload inventory and process resort closures — to name a few of your tasks.

During the season, you’ll work three to five shifts a week, which run five to six hours on weekdays and four to five hours on weekends. Either way, you won’t exceed 30 hours a week. You will, however, have to work holidays and weekends.

Note: You’ll be expected to start between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. PST, so consider the time difference if you’re over here on the East Coast like us.

Liftopia Benefits — Including Lift Ticket Deals!

First and foremost: You’ll make $17 an hour. In addition, you’ll get deals on lift tickets and receive “sweet Liftopia swag.”

If you’re based in San Francisco, great. You’ll become part of a casual, dog-friendly office environment that features Wednesday afternoon socials.

If not, you can opt to work from home in flannel pajamas in your favorite ski town.

Are You Qualified For This Work-From-Home Gig?

Liftopia seeks people who have two or more years of experience in customer service, hospitality or account management support.

You should be a strong writer and verbal communicator, and you need experience in building solid client relationships. (Tip: A sense of humor goes a long way). The company also wants you to have troubleshooting and analytical skills, which will help you roll with any glitches or changes.

So if you’re passionate about skiing, have solid customer service skills and want to work from home, check out the full job description and apply to this opportunity today — before the snow blows in.

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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The Future Is Coming, Whether You Save For It or Not

When it comes to money and personal finance, there are so many behaviors that seriously grind my gears. For example, it bothers me when people in serious debt don’t try to help themselves – as in, they’re complaining about credit card debt one minute and shopping for shoes the next. And I hate it when someone invites me out to dinner then tries to split the bill in half, even when I only had a salad.

Bank fees annoy me, and ATM fees send me through the roof. Another of my pet peeves is when people buy expensive new cars (with huge car payments) but also want to complain that they’re broke. When it comes to giant car payments, I just can’t deal.

But, if there’s one thing that annoys me about money more than anything else, it’s when people undermine others who are saving diligently for the future. They might say things like:

“Why are you even saving for retirement? The economy will crash or the world will end before you get there.”

“What’s the point of saving for college? Your kid is six!”

“Why save for college anyway? Jobs will be different once your kid reaches college age.”

“Paying off your house is dumb! The world is probably going to end, and you’ll wish you had done something fun with that money instead.”

“Who cares about credit card debt? The government is going to collapse, and it will all disappear.”

Comments like these make my brain hurt, and not just because they’re critical of my own-money saving efforts; they hurt because they’re nothing more than excuses not to save.

Why It’s Important to Save, Even if You Think the World Might End

So, why does saving matter so much? What difference does it make?

If you’ve been paying attention to the Simple Dollar at all, you probably already know. Despite what the non-savers of my generation have to say, the future we’re saving for is coming – whether we like it or not.

We may not know exactly how our lives will pan out. We don’t know whether our kids will go to college or whether we’ll live long enough to retire. But, we do know one thing: that not saving money gives us a 100% chance of missing out on the future we want.

Is saving hard? You bet. It’s difficult to do the “right thing” when your friends think you’re nuts and advertisers devote their whole careers to getting you to part with your cash. It’s a lot easier to just pretend the world is going to end and buy whatever you want – especially if your friends are all doing the same.

The thing is, I’ve been around long enough to notice that those who succeed are often the ones who march to the beat of their own drum.

My parents are a good example of a couple who did everything right at a time when many of their peers were sprinting in the opposite direction. Thanks to their abhorrence of debt and their self-discipline when it came to saving money, they were able to retire early and live in relative comfort.

My parents paid off their home in 17 years instead of 30, and they still live there to this day. They saved for retirement, set aside money to help their kids with college, and avoided debt like the plague. They bought used cars and drove them until the wheels fell off. They reused everything they could, and my mom was quick to pick up clothing or other bargains at garage sales or discount stores.

Over their lifetimes, they have lived through several recessions that rocked our economy. They’ve endured housing booms and busts, multiple wars, and the invention of mobile phones, computers, and the internet.

While many of their fellow baby boomers were buying larger homes, ignoring their retirement savings, and snatching up every new gadget or appliance that hit the shelves, my parents were hunkering down and preserving their wealth.

I often wonder if the crazy anti-saving ideas that are so prevalent today ever crossed their minds. Just imagine if they hadn’t paid off their home and chose to constantly upgrade their digs instead. Or, imagine they assumed that college wouldn’t be around or that their kids would never earn a degree anyway. What would have happened if my parents believed they would die young and chose not to save?

How would our lives be different? Would their children be as successful and stable as they are? Would my parents still be working and paying off debt? Would they have the same quality of life they have today?

It’s pretty obvious that the answer to these questions is a big, fat “no.” If my parents hadn’t been so serious about their finances, they would probably still be working and paying off debt. And there’s no way they would enjoy the stress-free financial situation they’re currently in.

The Future You’re Saving For Is Coming

No matter what anyone says, the future you’re pretending won’t happen will get here soon enough. Sure, it might look different than we think, but the money you save today will always matter – one way or another.

Retirement may look different in the future, but that doesn’t mean you won’t need investments in the bank and cash to spend. Avoiding debt can absolutely mean missing out on fancy vacations and new cars, but it can also mean never having to worry about money once you grow old.

At the end of the day, saving money gives you something that all the doomsday predictions in the world never could – options. When you have money saved for the future, you can weather recessions, job losses, housing bubbles, crappy job markets, and all sorts of other pitfalls that ruin the finances of those who choose not to save.

When you don’t save, you’re stuck with the future you’re dealt. If you wind up working until you’re 80, or struggling with high-interest debt until you die, well, it will be far too late to change by the time you figure it out.

So, save your money and ignore the people who undermine your efforts. No matter what anyone says, the future you’re saving for is absolutely on its way. And once it gets here, you’ll be prepared.

Holly Johnson is an award-winning personal finance writer and the author of Zero Down Your Debt. Johnson shares her obsession with frugality, budgeting, and travel at ClubThrifty.com.

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Are you saving for the future no matter what anyone says? Why or why not?

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How to Avoid the Salary History Question — and What You Should Say Instead

It’s standard practice for some employers to ask job candidates about their salary history during the interview process.

Hiring managers sometimes use the information as a preliminary screening tool or to determine the likelihood an applicant will accept their job offer.

However, asking workers to divulge their salary history puts the candidate at a negotiating disadvantage and contributes to the gender wage gap.

And that’s part of the reason it’s illegal for employers in Massachusetts and New York City to ask job seekers about their salary history.

Providing Salary History Can Come Back to Bite You

You may think that providing your salary history to a prospective employer is no big deal or that divulging it will make you look like a team player.

Think again.

Keeping your salary history to yourself can help you — here’s how.

1. Dodge a Lowball Offer

Once you provide your salary history, employers can use that information to calibrate the compensation included in a job offer.

For example, if you were paid $10 per hour at your last four jobs, an employer may assume you’ll jump at an offer of $12 per hour — even if they budgeted for $20.

Sure, you can (and should) negotiate for better wages, but divulging your salary history is equivalent to showing your hand at the poker table. It’s hard to unring that bell.

2. Beat the Elimination Round

On the flipside, employers may also use salary history information to disqualify you from the applicant pool if they think you expect significantly higher wages than they are prepared to offer.

Maybe you’re changing careers and are willing to work for less pay in exchange for experience. Perhaps you inherited a cash windfall that makes you less reliant on a paycheck. Whatever the reason, you need to get your foot in the door to explain.

3. Close the Gap

The gender wage gap is a well-documented issue in the U.S., and salary history requests during the hiring process may have something to do with it.

Women already make 6.6% less than their male counterparts. “If this disparity can begin from the moment you go to your first job, and it follows you throughout your career, it will never be rectified and the wage gap itself will never be rectified,” notes Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton.  

4. Choose Your Own Value

Employers determine how much someone should make based on the value they bring to the company (or at least they should). By sharing your salary history, “you’ll have branded yourself, appropriately or otherwise,” says human resources expert Liz Ryan. “You have allowed a completely different employer to set your value, no matter how different this new job opportunity might be.”

How to Sidestep the Salary History Question

No one likes to be asked their salary history, but unless you live somewhere it’s illegal, the question is very likely to come up.

Here’s how to handle it.

1. Do Your Homework

Use websites like PayScale and Glassdoor to get a general idea of what the average pay is for the job you’re interested in. That way you’ll recognize a lowball or a fair offer when you see it.

2. Knowledge Is Power

Gather as much information about the job as you can during your interview. “Verify the job’s scope before you talk about salary,” Monster contributing writer Carole Martin recommends. “It is difficult to discuss compensation before you have sufficient information about the position and level of responsibility.”

3. Practice Makes Perfect

Decide — and practice — ahead of time how you’ll respond to a request for your salary history. “The best thing you can do when an interviewer asks about your salary history is to reframe the question into what salary range you’re seeking,” says career consultant Alison Green.

(That’s why the first two steps are so important!)

No matter how you decide to handle this awkward interview situation, there’s one thing all hiring managers agree on: Never lie about your salary history.

But you already knew that.

Lisa McGreevy is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She wishes she had this advice early on in her career.

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

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10 Kid-Approved School Lunches Under $5 (We Promise, They’re Super Easy)

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Here’s How to Save on Food After the Mandatory College Meal Plan Ends

Student bank accounts: Where to find the best deals

Banks are fighting for new customers, so if you’re just starting university or college don’t delay in signing up for one of their top offers.

The start of the new academic year is upon us and many students will be moving away from home for the first time.

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Banks are desperate to get students signed up as customers as they believe if you open an account at a young age you’re likely to stay a customer for life.

This is why there are so many incentives for students to sign up with each provider. This year, there are a wide choice of options available depending on whether you’re looking to earn interest on your balance, or, more likely, eager for an interest-free overdraft and a raft of freebies.

Where can I get the best deal?

Everybody likes to get something for nothing, such as the freebies on offer for new students.

Unlike the standard current account switching incentives, you don’t have to move any existing accounts over to take advantage of these deals. However, you will be rewarded with vouchers and freebies, rather than cash.

The top deal this year, which is the Moneywise Best Buy Student Account for 2017/18, comes from Santander. Its 123 Student Current Account comes with a free four-year 16-25 Railcard. This gives users a third off most rail journeys in the UK and normally costs £30 a year, meaning the freebie is worth £120.

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When opening the account, you must register for online banking and subsequently pay at least £500 into the account each academic term – this could be your student loans, for example.

Thanks to this offer, Santander proved the most popular bank for new students in 2016. Research by CACI, a marketing and data company, shows the bank took a 41% share of the student market during the year.

The railcard is a popular option for many people, but if you travel between home and university by coach, you may prefer the student bank accounts from NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland. These accounts give users a free National Express Young Person’s Coachcard for four years, which is worth £10 a year – so £40 in total. Cardholders get a third off standard adult coach fares with National Express. You will need to sign up to online banking and receive paperless statements to get the card.

• How I’m saving or investing with my Lifetime Isa at ages 18 to 21

If you don’t travel by train or coach, HSBC’s student account offers a free £60 Amazon gift voucher plus a year’s subscription to Amazon Prime Student, worth £39. To open this account, you must be in the first year of your course and apply by 31 October 2017.

The HSBC account is the only one with a time limitation.

Top interest-paying accounts

Research conducted by Zurich shows that rather than using traditional savings accounts, 44% of students prefer to use a current account instead. So picking an account with a good rate of interest can help top up your income.

As well as having the most valuable freebie, the Santander 123 Student Current Account also pays 3% interest on balances from £300 to £2,000. This means if you maintain a balance of £2,000 or more for the full year, you’ll earn £60 in interest. Smaller balances also earn interest. If you have a balance of between £100 and £200, you’ll earn 1% and balances between £200 and £300 earn 2%.

• Eight ways for teenagers to make money

You can get a higher rate of interest from TSB – it pays a hefty 5%, but only on balances up to £500. Over a year, you would earn £25 if you keep your balance above this level.

Best student accounts for going overdrawn

Going to university often means managing your own finances for the first time, so you might want to consider getting an account with an interest-free overdraft.

This means that even if you go overdrawn, you won’t be stung with high charges or penalties. But remember these overdrafts must be agreed in advance, and if you exceed your agreed limit then you will still face penalties.

The best deal comes from Halifax, which offers an overdraft worth up to £3,000. The overdraft remains in place for the entire length of your course, plus another year after your graduation. This account also pays interest, but only at a paltry 0.1%.

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Another option is Nationwide’s FlexStudent account, which offers a guaranteed £1,000 overdraft in your first year. This will then rise to £2,000 in your second year of study and £3,000 in the third year. Nationwide also pays 1% interest on balances up to £1,000. Plus it has no charges for withdrawing cash or spending abroad – so this card is especially handy for students who frequently travel or are planning to work or study abroad as part of their course.

Top tips to keep your student finances in order

Work out a realistic budget If you’re living away from home for the first time, it can be difficult to work out exactly how much you’re going to spend. Keep track of your outgoings using a budgeting app, such as Monzo, as this will help you to plan your future spending.

Get a student job

A part-time job is an ideal way to bring in some extra cash alongside your study. Jobs in shops, restaurants, bars and call centres are popular among students. Your student union will have details of opportunities in the local area.

Make use of your student discounts

Perhaps the biggest weapon in your money-saving arsenal will be the student card provided by your university. Many major retailers such as ASOS, Schuh, Topman and Topshop offer students a 10% discount all year round. You will also be eligible for discounts and freebies at food outlets including Domino’s Pizza, McDonald’s, and Yo Sushi.

Best student accounts for 2017/18
Provider	Interest-free overdraft in first year (i)	Interest paid	Freebies
Halifax	Up to £3,000	0.1% on all balances	None
HSBC	Up to £1,000	None	£60 Amazon.co.uk gift voucher plus a year of Amazon Prime Student
NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland	Up to £2,000	None	Four-year National Express Young Persons Coachcard
Nationwide	£1,000	1% on balances up to £1,000	None
Santander	Up to £1,500	3% on balances from £300 to	Four-year 16-25 Railcard
TSB	Up to £1,500	£2,000, 2% between £200 to	None
(i) All of the providers bar Nationwide offer 'up to' overdraft figures. Nationwide is the only provider to guarantee its headline overdraft. Source: Moneywise, 2 August 2017.

“Having an overdraft facility is vital”

lewys-thomas-web.jpg

Lewys Thomas, 24, has just graduated from Swansea University. In his first year of study, he used a standard bank account but found it difficult to manage his finances. So before his second year, he opened a Santander 123 Student Current Account.

“I had been with my old bank since I was 16, but I found it difficult not having an overdraft when I fi rst started university,” he says.

• Women and Money: Tips for younger women

He estimates that he is better off by £800 over the past two years through paying zero overdraft fees, earning some interest and using his railcard to travel home and to visit friends at other universities.

“Having a student account has been vital to me. I know some friends of mine have spent huge amounts on overdraft fees,” he says.

Lewys’ advice for new students is: “It may seem obvious, but make sure you budget properly. It seems like you get a lot of money when your loan comes through, but you have to make it last the whole term.”

Moneywise verdict

There are a wide range of accounts depending on what you’re looking for. So don’t be tempted by banks at your Freshers’ Fair offering a free mug or packet of sweets for signing up to a student bank account. You can get much better deals by being clever and shopping around.

Remember you can usually open these accounts before your university term starts, providing you have proof you’re starting your course – such as your UCAS confirmation letter. You will also need proof of both your ID and address to open an account.

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