South crowns homecoming court

East Stroudsburg High School South crowned Brandon Dixon and Genni Martinelli as their homecoming king and queen on Friday at the campus in East Stroudsburg.

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PM East crowns court

Pocono Mountain East High school celebrated homecoming at the campus in Swiftwater on Friday. [BOB SHANK/POCONO RECORD]

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Self-Employment Tips From a Real Handyman Who Earns up to $3K/Week

Working as a handyman doesn’t sound like a lucrative business to most people. I can see why: The average maintenance and repair worker made about $37,000 in 2016, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

But what if I told you how one handyman earns $3,000 per week? Would that make you reconsider this business?

My husband, John, has been working in construction for more than 15 years. He specializes in painting, drywall and general handyman services, including plumbing, carpentry, deck repair, general appliance repair and ceiling fan installation.

After so many years in the business, he’s willing to take on just about any project.

Here’s how John has developed his skills and built his business to the point where he can earn up to $3,000 a week as a handyman.

Do You Need Certifications to Start a Handyman Business?

This is probably the first question you have, because many high-paying jobs require some sort of degree or certification program.

You can get many types of certifications in the construction field, including a degree in construction management or certificates in electrical work; plumbing; heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC); or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

John doesn’t have any of these certifications.

Instead, he has learned through self study and experience while working with other tradesmen, and he’s a jack of all construction trades.

How to Make More Money From Your Handyman Services

Ready to earn higher pay as a handyman? Here are the strategies John recommends:

1. Work for Yourself

The average handyman’s salary includes the wages of people who might work for the government, large construction companies, college campuses or apartment management companies.

To bring in the big bucks, you’ll have to work for yourself. While this rule may apply to many industries, it’s particularly true in construction, where employers often take a large cut of the rates they charge clients.

2. Charge a High Rate for Professional Service

You’re not just selling a handy services — you’re selling yourself.

Clients are hiring you to work inside their homes for a few hours or a few days. They’ll want someone who’s professional, trustworthy, reliable and punctual — and they’ll likely be willing to pay more for services they know they can count on.

By returning calls promptly, being professional and always showing up on time, you can charge a higher rate than someone who doesn’t take their business as seriously. Your clients will be happy to pay it.

3. Find the Right Clients

To charge a high rate, you have to find the right clients. If someone only cares about price, they aren’t for you.

There are plenty of folks willing to pay more for better service — those are the people you want to work for.

John goes on plenty of bids — visits to the client’s home to look at the project and provide a cost estimate — where he knows he won’t get the job no matter how much he sells himself.

Some people only care about price, and they will always go with the lowest bidder.

Clients who want more than a cheap price will want to know a little bit about John’s history, the exact steps he’ll take to get the job done. They’ll often ask for references from previous clients, who can emphasize his professional qualities and the value of his service.

Successful bids require getting to know the client. They can last anywhere from 30 minutes to one hour.

If you develop a rapport with the customer and earn their trust from that initial consultation, they’ll have a hard time turning you down, even if your price isn’t the lowest bid.

4. Hire a Crew

No matter how high your rate is, you can only physically do so much work each week. By hiring other handymen to do some of the work, you can focus your attention on completing the work more quickly, finding other projects, advertising and growing your business.

Often, the more people you have working for you, the more money you’ll be able to make.

Note: If you have a crew, you’ll need to workers’ compensation insurance. Prices and guidelines will vary by state, so  look into the details before growing your business.

What a $3,000 Week Looks Like for a Handyman

The more jobs John has lined up, the more money he’s able to make in a week. Here’s what his schedule looks like during a sample $3,000 week:

Monday to Wednesday

Rental property turn: Turning a rental property is kind of like flipping a house or apartment, with the goal to get it ready to rent out rather than to sell.

This home needs its walls freshly painted, appliances installed, drywall repaired, ceiling fans hung, light fixtures replaced and more.

The total pay for the job is $4,400. John hires crew members to do some of the work and he works on the job site himself for three days.

John profits $2,200 over the six days it takes to complete the job.

Thursday

Popcorn ceiling removal: A client needs a popcorn ceiling removed in her kitchen on a day’s notice. John heads over early one weekday morning and works for four hours.

He profits $150.

Thursday and Friday

General handyman services: A new client just moved into her house and needs help with general tasks. John hangs ceiling fans, installs a security door, hangs pictures, mounts a television and more,.

He earns $350 in less than two days.

Saturday

Painting: John lines up a painting job with another client. He arrives at the client’s home at 6:30 a.m., paints the family room, kitchen and dining room for 11 hours, and comes home.

He profits $450.

Total profit for the week: $3,150

Miscellaneous Time Spent on the Handyman Business

Keep in mind this weekly schedule doesn’t include the time John spends on advertising or invoicing.

He wakes up early each morning to advertise (e.g. posting ads on various sites, responding to emails, working on his website) and spends another 30 minutes each evening sending bids and invoices to current and prospective customers.

Running a handyman business does not give you a 40-hour workweek!

What a Low-Income Week Looks Like

In this profession, your income might not be consistent. Self-employment can be a constant battle between feast and famine. While business is great some weeks, plenty of weeks John’s income is significantly lower (and others when it’s higher!).

For comparison, a week where John has fewer jobs lined up results in a much lower income. Here’s a sample week with a low profit.

Monday

Two bids: The weekend was slow, but John received one phone call for a bid on Monday morning.

While on the bid, he gets another call from a new client. He visits that home later in the day and sends the client a breakdown of the job via email that evening.

Tuesday and Wednesday

Drywall repair and ceiling painting: A regular client is fixing a house to make into a rental property. He needs John to repair drywall in two of the main rooms and paint the ceilings in the garage and kitchen.

It’s 15 hours of work for a profit of $250.

Thursday

Advertising and networking: John doesn’t have anything scheduled today, so he focuses on advertising and looks for ways to grow his business.

He hands out a few business cards to real estate agents in the area, follow up on all pending jobs and call previous clients to see if they need additional work.

Friday

General handyman services: Luckily, John has a few go-to clients who usually need something done whenever he is available.

These projects can be anything from repainting a laundry room to hanging ceiling fans and replacing light bulbs. John contacts one of these customers and books six hours of work for $180.

Total profit for the week: $430

The Challenges of Self-Employment

As you can see, being a self-employed handyman is not a quick or easy way to earn a living.

It can take years to build a handyman business to the point where you have more good weeks than bad, so it’s smart to save a substantial amount of money before starting your own business.

John recommends having at least six months of living expenses saved before striking out on your own.

In addition to low-income weeks, John faces other obstacles.

When we moved to a new area, he had to grow his business from the ground up. With no connections to family or friends who could help John find work, he needed to work hard to grow his business and generate referrals from satisfied clients.

He also sometimes can’t complete scheduled jobs because of the weather.

One February, our entire city shut down for a week due to ice on the roads. He’s also had to reschedule two outdoor deck jobs due to rain and humidity.

When the weather is bad, business slows down drastically, as home repairs usually aren’t the first thing on people’s minds.

For us, though, the benefits of running a handyman business far outweigh the challenges. Once John has a steady stream of clients, we know business will be more consistent and we’ll be seeing a lot more of those $3,000 weeks!

Sarah Brooks is a personal finance writer and blogger living in Charlotte, North Carolina. Combining her bachelor’s degree in finance with her passion for writing, she’s been able to make a career out of doing what she loves from the comfort of her home!

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

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7 Smart Ways to Use Your Time to Earn $100+ per Hour

How much money do you make if you put in an extra hour at work?

If you’re on a fixed salary, nothing. If you’re paid by the hour, you might earn some overtime pay. But there are only so many hours in a week, so you’re better off thinking about how to get more money for your time, not putting in more time.

Here’s an example: Instead of working that extra shift, implement a plan to get a raise.

If it takes you 10 hours of preparation to get a $40-per-week raise now instead of in a year, you made an extra $2,080. That’s more than $200 per hour for your effort!

In addition to making more money from your job, activities outside of work can pay well for your time.

Here are seven creative ways I came up with for how to make money — and they pay at least $100 for an hour’s work.

1. Switch to an Online Bank Account

My wife and I were earning 0.61% interest on our savings account, and 0.45% on our checking account, both of which are pretty good rates compared to some banks. But we could do better.

When I switched to an online account, I started earning 1.05% interest on our money. It took less than an hour to set up the account and transfer the money.

That promotion is over now, but if you’re looking for a deal like this for yourself, check out Aspiration’s Summit checking account.

You can set it up in about 15 minutes, and you’ll earn 1.00% interest on your balance of $2,500 or more. For balances less than $2,500, you’ll earn 0.25%, which is still more than the average savings account.

If you keep healthy balances in your savings and checking accounts, it can be worthwhile to move money to accounts that pay more. And remember you’ll earn that extra interest for years to come.

If we keep this latest account for three years, I figure I’ll have earned at least $300 per hour for the time I spent switching to a new bank.

2. Collect Credit Card Sign-up Bonuses

Wondering how to make money with almost no work?

If you have a decent credit score, you can get sign-up bonuses for opening credit card accounts.

You may get offers in the mail already. If not, just Google “credit card sign-up bonuses.” Which ones should you apply for? Here are my criteria:

• A bonus of at least $100

• A spending requirement of $1,000 or less (some are as low as $500)

• At least three months to meet the spending requirement

Typically, you’ll spend less than 10 minutes applying online and a few minutes activating the card when it arrives. Put the card in your wallet, and use it until you hit the spending requirement.

That part takes no extra time — you have to use some card to pay for your normal purchases, right?

In one six-week period last year, I made $670 from credit card sign-up bonuses. I spent no more than a few hours on this project, so my rate of pay was at least $200 per hour.

3. Open a New Bank Account

Chase Bank recently sent me a coupon offering a $175 bonus to open a savings account. I went to a local branch, and 30 minutes later my account was open. After I left the money in my account for the three months the offer required, it took 20 minutes to close the account.

I made $150 more than if I had left the money in its original account, and it took me just 50 minutes of work — which works out to a rate of $180 per hour.

Keep an eye out for offers in your mail and email, and check out our list of the best bank promotions for offers of up to $300 for opening a new account.

4. Lend Money on Real Estate

If you know people who invest in real estate and you have substantial cash in the bank, you might have an opportunity to make a great return on your money with very little work.

My wife and I have friends who flip houses and regularly need money quickly.

Banks don’t lend on projects like these, and they don’t close loans quickly in any case. We do both. The result is thousands of dollars in interest for a few hours reviewing paperwork and a few emails back and forth with an attorney.

Be careful if you decide to try this kind of investment. We have three rules that have kept us safe so far:

1. Never lend more than 70% of the value of the property.

2. Always have a first mortgage on the property.

3. Have an attorney prepare and/or handle everything.

Sitting in our bank account, the money earns about 1% annual interest (and that’s a good return), but investors pay us 10% and guarantee five month’s interest even if the house is sold more quickly than that.

I figure we make at least $400 per hour for our efforts versus leaving the money in the bank.

5. Rent out Rooms in Your Home

I paid for my first home by renting out rooms. Once the mortgage loan was paid off, the rental income covered all the bills and gave me extra cash to spend.

Living with other people doesn’t work for everyone, but if you own a home, it is perhaps the easiest way to make a lot of money. Plus, unlike the other projects suggested here, you can keep collecting money every month for years, with little additional effort.

Think of it this way: If you rent out a bedroom for $100 per week, is it going to take you more than an hour per week to deal with the tenant? Not likely.

At one point I was collecting more than $800 per month of rental income from the home I lived in. I spent a few hours each month nagging renters to clean up after themselves or to pay on time, so I made at least $200 per hour renting rooms.

If you don’t want tenants in your space all the time, try short-term rentals with Airbnb.

Good hosts with a desireable space can earn hundreds — or even thousands — of dollars a month.

(Hosting laws vary from city to city. Please understand the rules and regulations applicable to your city and listing.)

6. Get a New Insurance Policy

Many of the best ways to make good money for your time involve cutting your expenses. After all, if you find a way to get the same thing for $100 less, you have exactly $100 more to spend on anything else you want — or to put toward paying off debt.

When I switched insurance companies for our car and home, I spent an hour checking rates and another hour at the agent’s office.

The savings amounted to $145 per year, which would seem to put the project below the hourly pay target of this article. However, savings like these continue every year without additional effort. If we stay with this company for three years, I will have saved more than $200 per hour I spent getting new insurance.

7. Cut Your Housing Expenses

Part of the reason my wife and I moved last year was to reduce housing-related expenses. We bought a house, but you could save if you rent, too.

Again, the big advantage of savings like these is they’re not a one-time benefit. If you find an apartment that costs $200 less per month than your current place, and you stay there for three years, you’ll have $7,200 more to put toward other items in your budget.

It’s not always practical to move, but there are other ways to save on housing-related expenses, too.

Try these home improvements that can save you hundreds of dollars per year. For example, you can swap incandescent bulbs for compact fluorescents in less than an hour and save about $100 per year on electricity.

Finding ways to reduce regular expenses is one of the easiest ways to free up spendable income.

As for our move, it was cheap (We used our own van and bought a home just 80 miles away.), and we now spend at least $1,300 less per year in housing expenses. Plus we kept our previous home and now earn rental income.

Although I can’t calculate the time involved with any accuracy, I’m sure we beat the $100-per-hour target for our effort.

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

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

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How to Earn Extra Cash With Vintage Magazines… and a Pair of Scissors

I once sold a stack of old “National Geographic” magazines at a rummage sale for a few bucks. Now I wonder if I gave up an opportunity for a much bigger profit.

Why? I’ve since learned a smarter way to make money with old magazines. It starts with a pair of scissors — but we’ll get to that in a moment.

People get nostalgic when they see old magazines, especially issues featuring specific events — like a royal wedding. Or from meaningful dates — like birthdays and anniversaries.

Because of this nostalgia, they’re willing to pay for them. In fact, I searched “old magazines” on eBay and saw over 30,000 results! When I sorted by bidding action, the following three listings topped the page:

• 11 “Good Old Days” 1965 magazines in newspaper form. Highest of 27 bids: $50.36

• “Sports Afield” January 1939 and “Field & Stream” 1940 with an article on Clark Gable. Highest of four bids: $11.00

• 1955 “Modern Man” magazine (nude Betty Page and Marilyn Monroe photos). Highest of two bids: $20.49

OK. These look pretty good. If you find a big stash in your grandpa’s attic, you might make a nice chunk of change, but you won’t get rich with most old magazines.

If you want to earn even more from your old reading material, read on.

How to Make the Most Money From Vintage Magazines

Turns out, you might make a lot more money cutting up those magazines than selling them whole. The old advertisements inside are sometimes more valuable than the magazine itself.

Michael Franco of Pick 4 Profit says he makes money with vintage ads by putting them in plastic sheet covers or dollar-store frames and selling them online and at flea markets

He suggests displaying them in an antique booth or at flea markets.

“People will drop $5 to $10 for one ad,” he says.

For an ad that “really stands out,” Franco suggests buying an 8-by-10-inch photo frame at the dollar store to display it. You could “sell those for $15 to $20,” he says.

Franco says these types of advertisements are easiest to sell:

• Vintage cars

• Trains

• Alcohol

• Food

• Guns

• Sports-related items

• Mid-century modern furniture

The magazines don’t even have to be that old, nor the ads flashy.

On his website, Franco displays a Nike ad from a 1990s Chicago newspaper. It features Michael Jordan and Spike Lee — he sold it on eBay for $23. He also displays one he sold at his antique booth for $12. It featured a Paul McCobb chair, and he cut it from an old grocery store magazine.

Franco certainly isn’t the only one doing this.

Kevin O’Hara, a British picker, says he made $480 from one magazine. It was a 1957 copy of U.K. Vogue he bought for about $27. It  had over 150 advertisements. He suggests you buy famous magazines from the 1980s or older on eBay, and start clipping.

Other places to find old magazines include:

• Used book stores

• Library sales

• Rummage sales

• Thrift stores

• Flea markets

• Antique shops

• Attics

• Basements

How Much Money Can You Really Make Selling Ads?

To see whether these pickers’ experiences are easily replicable, I went to eBay again and searched “vintage ads.” I narrowed the 200,000 results down to 8,400 by clicking “Auction” and sorted by “Number of bids: Most first.” I found these:

• Monarch Coffee ad from a 1924 “Ladies Home Journal.” Highest of five bids: $3.01

• Lucille Ball RC Crown Cola ad. Highest of five bids: $7.50

• Farrah Fawcett Wella Balsam Shampoo ad from 1977: Highest of three bids: $11.50

Making a $3 or $11 sale may not sound like much. But these are single pages torn from a magazine, and none of them were framed. Plus, the $4 to $6 the sellers were getting for shipping is probably an additional profit, because it doesn’t cost much to mail a piece of paper.

How to Sell Your Vintage Ads

Ready to get started? Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

• If you want to sell online, setting up a new account on eBay is easy enough. Good photos of your ads are also easy to create with just about any digital camera.

• Check current auctions to get an idea of pricing before setting your price or minimum bid. You might want to experiment with selling just the ads versus framing them first to see which brings in more cash.

• If you sell at flea markets, a frame is probably a good idea. A guy buying an old car ad for his man cave probably wants to be able to hang it on the wall as soon as he gets home.

• If you know an antique store that accepts consignments, the owner might be interested in your vintage ads as well. However, you’ll probably pay half of each sale as a commission.

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

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

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Your Workout Equipment Should Help You Kick Butt, Not Slap You in the Face

Feeling the burn during your workout: great.

Feeling the burn because your workout gear snapped at you: not great.

Fitness Gear resistance tubes, sold by Dick’s Sporting Goods, were recalled this week because of reports that they could break and strike the user. You don’t necessarily have to tone down your overzealous workout manner, but you should check the model numbers on any resistance tubes you have at home.

Dick’s explains on its recall website that the recalled tubes were sold in kits of three to five tubes and ranged from 5 to 30 pounds of resistance. Model numbers STA00560, STA00561, STA00562, STA00563, STA00564, STA00565, STA00566, STA00567 and STA00568 are included in the recall.

There have been 12 reports of tubes breaking, and in two of those reports, the broken tubes struck the user. In one report, the user fell when a tube broke.

I have been wracking my brain for jokes to make here, but let’s be real: It takes serious energy and motivation to get off the couch and squeeze in a workout. I can’t bear to laugh at someone who got hurt trying to work on their fitness.

What to Do if Your Resistance Bands Got Recalled

If you have the affected resistance bands, return them to your nearest Dick’s store for a full refund. If you don’t have your receipt, you’ll receive store credit in lieu of a cash refund.

Similar Fitness Gear resistance bands on Dick’s website are priced at $15 to $20 each or $40 to $80 for a set.

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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Hop Onto This Chance to Become a Professional Beer Drinker (Yes, Really!)

Here’s the scene: You drag yourself into work on a cold, dreary Friday morning.

It’s been a long week, and the boss is busting your hump to get that big project done, even though the weekend is mere hours away.

So you get to work and crack your first beer at 9 a.m. Then a second. You’ll have a few more before noon.

That didn’t go like you thought it would, did it?

Yes, that could be an average Friday if you land a part-time job with Meantime Brewing Company as a professional beer tester.

Become a Beer Taster and Get Paid to Sample Suds

Full disclosure, this job is located in Greenwich, east of London in the U.K.

So if you can’t jet across the pond once a week in your private jet or handle cold, rainy weather, this job isn’t for you (but there are tons of others posted on The Penny Hoarder Jobs page on Facebook).

Meantime is looking for an experienced beer drinker who can tell an IPA from a pale ale, work with a team and provide consistent informed feedback on the suds they are tasting.

You’ll work three hours a week, on Friday mornings. The specific salary is not listed, but the listing says it is “competitive… with beer benefits.”

You don’t need a college degree, but you will need to be well versed in the English language and understand beer terminology. BeerAdvocate is a good starting point for brewery newbies.

To apply, join LinkedIn, then write a 30-word post about why you should get the job with the hashtag #pickmemeantime. Meantime will review your profile to see if you’re truly beer-worthy and then will pick three candidates for a taste test.

Cheers!

Didn’t land the job? There are still plenty of ways to drink good beer for cheap.

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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Florida Colleges Are Stepping Up to Help Those Affected by the Hurricanes

It’s been an active hurricane season, to say the least.

First Harvey sat on Houston. Then Irma barreled through the Caribbean and made its way up Florida and into Georgia. And Maria followed, leaving Puerto Rico and other islands paralyzed.

Now, many of us are wondering how we can help — including Florida’s Gov. Rick Scott.

Earlier this week, Gov. Scott asked that all Florida colleges and universities offer in-state tuition to students from Puerto Rico.

“I am also asking all Florida state colleges and universities to offer in-state tuition to any student who was displaced from their home in Puerto Rico to make sure we are doing everything we can to help these families,” Scott said in a press release.

Florida’s colleges and universities are following suit, including the state’s (and country’s) largest university, University of Central Florida.

The Orlando Sentinel reported UCF is offering in-state tuition to its current 120 students from Puerto Rico. For context, the average out-of-state student at UCF pays $11,200 per semester whereas the average in-state students pays about $3,200 per semester.

Osceola County School Board Chairman Kelvin Soto suspects more displaced Puerto Rican residents will arrive in Central Florida over the next year — up to 70,000, he estimated — and this decision will help those students transferring or starting as freshmen as well.

Across the state in St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg College sent an email out to its students Thursday evening. It read, in part:

“With the recent devastation caused by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, SPC President Tonjua Williams has decided that the college will be offering in-state tuition rates to displaced students from Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Houston area. Additionally, the college’s $40 application fee will be waived for these students.”

If you’re a student who’s been affected by one of the recent hurricanes, be sure to contact your school’s admissions department to see what tuition, fee reductions and other relief are available to you.

Carson Kohler (@CarsonKohler) 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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Need a Job for the Holidays? Kohl’s Is Hiring Now — Here’s How to Apply

It’s nearly October, which, in retail time, means Christmas is upon us.

I know. It makes me cringe, too. I can’t quite stomach the idea of already squirrelling away extra money for holiday shopping.

But, on the bright side, this means a ton of retailers are ramping up holiday hiring — including our go-to discount retailer, Kohl’s.

Last year, Kohl’s hired something like 69,000 temp workers to handle the chaos that is the holidays.

This year it’s not announcing any numbers, according to CNBC. It’s simply hiring, which is good enough for us.

The retailer is looking for sales associates, who will assist customers; distribution associates, who will pack, sort and ship products from the distribution center; and freight associates, who will unload merch and move it to the sales floor.

A major perk to signing on as a seasonal worker is that you’ll be able stash away some extra money with a weekly paycheck — and you’ll get a discount. That’ll help you conquer your holiday shopping list. Glassdoor estimates an average hourly pay of $8.71 for sales associates.

Plus, Kohl’s is known for keeping seasonal hirees on full time. Last year, it boasted that 14,000 of its seasonal folks turned full time following the holiday rush.

If you’re interested in joining Kohl’s for Christmas, it’ll be holding hiring fairs on Oct. 7 in more than 200 location across the U.S.

You can find all the information you need on Kohl’s holiday and seasonal hiring page.

And if you want to find more seasonal opportunities, including some work from home, you bet we’ll be posting our favorites on our Facebook Jobs page.

Carson Kohler (@CarsonKohler) is a junior writer at The Penny Hoarder. If you snag one of these positions in St. Petersburg, Florida, you’ll likely see her aimlessly wandering around Kohl’s, trying to check items off her Christmas shopping list.

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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Meals in Minutes: Bacon Egg and Cheese Breakfast Cups

By Holly Reisem Hanna One of the biggest challenges of being a work-at-home mom is finding that ever so delicate balance between work life and home life. For myself, and many other women out there, cooking and cleaning house becomes a never-ending task which depletes our valuable time and energy. To help put the focus back […]

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U.S. Households Have $16.8K in Credit Debt. Here’s How to Consolidate It

So, you’ve got credit card debt up to your eyeballs. You’re hemorrhaging money on interest payments to your buddies at Chase, Citibank and Capital One.

You’ve got to get out from under that burden. It’s time to get smart and refinance your debt.

Consolidate it. Make your evil black hole of debt more manageable. Get a personal loan with a low interest rate, and use it to pay off the balances from your high-interest credit cards.

Now, having said that, debt consolidation isn’t for everyone. It’s a long process, not a magic wand that’ll make your debt disappear. (Presto! Chango! Debt be gone!) The advantage here is, you’ll save some serious coin on interest payments, freeing up cash to pay down your debt.

We talked to some financial experts about this, and here’s what we learned. If you want credit card debt consolidation to work for you, you’ll need to take the following six steps:

1. Make a Budget

Most importantly, make a budget you can actually stick to.

Maggie Johndrow, a financial advisor with Farmington River Financial Group in Hartford, Connecticut, encourages her clients to spend 30 days tracking what they really spend. What seem like small costs — going out for lunch or coffee every day — may add up over time.

“Being honest with yourself is the first step to successfully paying down debt,” she said.

Here’s a Penny Hoarder strategy for budgeting. Streamlining to one main payment method — paying with all credit, debit or cash — makes it easier to to track your expenses.

“Just wrapping loans into a lower-rate package isn’t going to help if there isn’t an underlying balanced budget,” says Warren A. Ward, a certified financial planner with WWA Planning & Investments in Columbus, Indiana. “The temptation of ‘extra’ cash is just too much for some people.”

2. Lose Your Credit Cards

Quit using them. Cut them up or lock them away.

Seriously. Put yourself on a spending diet. If you can’t pay cash for it, you don’t need it.

Just don’t close all your credit card accounts, which could hurt your credit score.

“By closing existing cards, your available credit line shrinks, hurting your debt-to-credit ratio,” Johndrow says. “You’re better off paying off your credit cards and then simply not using them.”

3. Decide If Credit Card Debt Consolidation is For You

Debt consolidation is most effective for high-interest debts like credit cards. (The average U.S. household is carrying nearly $16,800 in credit card debt.)

This is important: To successfully pull this off, you should be able to pay your debt in three to five years, the typical length of a debt consolidation loan.

“Take into consideration your ability to repay the debt that you’ve accumulated,” advises Josh Gehring, a senior vice president with the Bank of Oklahoma. “Create a plan for yourself that you can realistically afford.”

Figure out what you owe. Sign up with a free service like Credit Sesame. It’ll show your balance on any unpaid bills, credit cards or loans.

If you really can’t repay your debt, consider bankruptcy as a last resort. Here’s the skinny on filing for bankruptcy and how it affects your life.

“A bankruptcy sticks on your credit report for many years, and it may not deal with all your debt,” Gehring says.

Talk it over with a financial adviser, a banker at your bank or someone whose judgment you trust.

4. Compare Your Debt Options — and Choose Wisely.

If bankruptcy is a bridge too far for you, check out your other options.

Debt settlement: You could sign up with a debt settlement company that promises to persuade your creditors to take less money than they’re owed. Beware, though. Debt settlement companies often charge high fees and can hurt your credit score.

A balance transfer card: If your credit is good, apply for a zero- or low-interest credit card. Then transfer the balance from your high-interest cards to your new card. To entice you, these balance transfer cards will offer you a super-low annual percentage rate (APR) — for a certain period of time. Then a double-digit interest rate kicks in.

A personal loan: Get a loan from a lender at a lower interest rate. Use that loan to pay off your high-interest credit cards. Then you repay the lender a fixed amount every month for a set time period, usually two to five years.

“Personal loans tend to have lower interest rates than credit cards,” Johndrow said.

An easy place to start is Even Financial, which can help you borrow up to $100,000. Type in your info, and it compares interest rates from several lenders. There’s no charge for this. Rates start at 4.99%, and repayment plans range from two to four years.

Another option to check out is Lending Club, a social lending platform that lets you apply for credit from the general public. You can borrow $1,000 to $40,000 from groups of people who each invest a little bit into your loan. Rates start at 5.99%.

Here’s our look at how Lending Club works.

5. Adulting

Congratulations! Now that you’ve got a debt consolidation loan, do yourself a favor and don’t miss your monthly payments.

“Paying your credit cards on time accounts for 65% of your credit score,” Johndrow says.

6. Save for a Rainy Day — or Maybe a New Phone

One last thing. Get into a habit of saving up for major purchases instead of whipping out some plastic and buying something on the spot.

Sure, you’ll have to wait. But the things you really want are worth waiting for, aren’t they?

Stash and Acorns are two popular apps that offer easy, automatic ways to start saving and investing. They’re really useful for tricking your brain into saving more. You’ll save without even realizing you’re doing it.

At the very least, you’ll want some kind of emergency fund. Here’s our guide on how to start one.

If you’re drowning in credit card debt, your worst option of all is this: Don’t do anything. Just keep on paying all that interest, month after month.

“My main piece of advice is, don’t wait. You’ve got to take action as quickly as possible,” says Josh Gehring, who supervises nearly 60 banks for the Bank of Oklahoma.

“If you feel like you have a debt problem, you do.”

Mike Brassfield (mike@thepennyhoarder.com) is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder. He knows a lot about debt, based on personal experience.

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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Need Money Now? This Free App Pays You for the Hours You Worked Today

Twiddling your thumbs and waiting around for payday isn’t the most pleasant experience.

And when you think about it, it’s not really fair. You put in your 40 hours last week — maybe even some overtime — but now you’re waiting another week for that paycheck?

And rent’s due. You’re calling it entirely too close on your electric bill, and you just don’t want to have to pay those late fees again.

Or maybe you have a surprise vet bill threatening to go to collections or need $100 to get an emergency plane ticket to visit your family.

OK, so you don’t have a ton of options we can (legally) recommend. But you’re not totally out of luck just yet.

A Few Ways to Get Paid Before Payday

A lot of people opt for a payday loan. By a lot, we’re talking 12 million Americans.

However, payday loans are just a quick fix, one that’s sent many people spiraling into a financially unhealthy cycle, owing 400% in interest in some cases.

(If you’re already in that rut, we’ve got five tips to help you find relief.)

Another option is simply hustling hard for some extra money. We corralled 10 ways to make money within the next 24 hours. Nope, they’re not all glamorous, and they’ll all take some hard work, but you can get the money you need.

Other than that, what else can you do?

Well, there’s a new financial tech company aiming to eliminate this frantic, downward-spiral feeling. It wants to pay workers when they work — not at the end of a paycheck cycle.

How to Get Paid Before Payday (Without a Payday Loan)

Enter Activehours.

The idea behind the program is to pay employees for the work they’ve already done— and when they want it. Rather than waiting for their next payday, employees can use Activehours to go ahead and get paid for, say, the eight hours they already worked today.

It also works for salaried workers, as long as they’re not working from home or moving between several locations for work.

The idea sparked with Ram Palaniappan back in 2007 when he wrote a personal check to an employee to help them avoid racking up late fees. That’s when he realized how unfair the two-week pay cycle is, which was established back when everything was done manually.

So Palaniappan built a website to help his employees. Now, as of 2012, his idea has become available nationally.

Thousands of employees from Apple, Bank of America, Chipotle, Home Depot, Starbucks, Target, Whole Foods — you name it — are using the service to avoid getting wrapped up in late fees and overdraft fees. (Banks collected $6.4 billion in fees last year.)

Now, with anything like this, we recommend not using it as crutch. Think of it more as a temporary brace to help you to get to the next month and position yourself to break that paycheck-to-paycheck cycle.

Step-by-Step, Here’s How Activehours Work

In order to use Activehours, you’ll need to meet a few requirements.

These include:

• Direct deposits from your employer into a checking account
• A regular pay schedule (weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, monthly)
• A fixed work location or an online timekeeping system at work.

Is that you? Go ahead and download the Activehours app.

You’ll create a username and password, as well as a touch ID and a four-digit PIN.

A note on security: Activehours has strict security measures, like 256-bit encryption. If you don’t know what that means, it’s on the same level of security — if not more secure — than what your online bank uses.

Next, you’ll need to give Activehours access to your location, so it can see when you’re coming and going to work — that you’re actually going. You can also opt in for notifications, so you’ll know when your pay is available.

Now you’ll want to set up your information, including the timesheet system your workplace uses, as well as your payday information. You’ll also need to connect your bank account (you know, so you can get paid).

Within one to two days, you’ll be good to go.

On your dashboard, you can see your Activehours earnings, which is based on how many hours you’ve put in. You can choose to cash out at any time.

Do note, though, that if you make, say, $10 an hour, your Activehours pay will likely be a little lower. That’s because it calculates in your taxes and deductions. That way, once payday comes around and Activehours automatically takes back what you’ve already claimed, it won’t leave you in the red.

And no, Activehours doesn’t charge interest or require fees. If you’re feeling kind, you can choose to tip the service, but the amount is your call.

If you’re in a crunch this month and want to go ahead and get paid for the hours you’ve already put in, Activehours can be the perfect temporary fix. (But remember, we want you to break this paycheck-to-paycheck cycle!)

Carson Kohler (@CarsonKohler) is a junior writer at The Penny Hoarder. She wishes this service had been around when she was in college…

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

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These are the People Everyone Secretly Hates Running Into at the Airport

If you’re planning to partake in the miracle of flight in the near future, this is for you.

For frequent flyers, this list is a reminder of your pet peeves — and that we share them.

Others of us out here are baffled by these Disney families, bachelor parties and other annoying airport amateurs, bumbling through the terminal like they just woke up on a new planet.

For traveling families, bachelors, et. al… This is a public service announcement.

Don’t be that guy.

These 10 faux pas are hard to watch, annoy every traveler and can cost you money every time you fly.

Avoid them, and you can skate through the airport with the grace of a pro like George Clooney in “Up in the Air.”

1. That Guy Who Comes to Security Completely Unprepared to Get Through Security

A frequent flyer can always spot this annoying amateur in the security line.

They’re wearing boots with 18 snaps or shoes that lace up the ankle a la 1887.

Their laptop’s buried at the bottom of their bag, so it’s impossible to remove without displacing piles of underwear.

They’re decked out in as many metal accessories the human body can hold.

They’re wearing a cardigan under a sweater under a coat and don’t realize all have to come off — until they’re in the perfect position to stall the entire line.

Unless you’re a ‘90s sitcom character, flying isn’t something that comes up last minute. You know it’s going to happen.

Prepare accordingly: Wear comfortable slip-on shoes, stash the accessories for later, stick with a couple light layers and keep your laptop away from your unmentionables.

2. That Guy Who Has No Idea What’s Allowed Through Security

Complicated as FOX News or whoever might make it seem, airport security basically has two rules:

1. Three ounces (or less) of liquid.
2. No weapons.

Still, you’ll see this scene any time you fly:

A dumbfounded family in matching Hawaiian-print shirts stands by as TSA agents confiscate giant bottles of sunscreen, salon-grade shampoo, liquor, pocket knives and ninja throwing stars from their carry-on bags.

First of all, you’re not a ninja.

Second, even if you are, you’re on vacation.

Read the guidelines, leave the weapons at home and use hotel shampoo.

3. That Guy Who Never Stops Complaining About the Cost of Flying

“I’m going to write a letter,” is an actual sentence I heard on an airplane in the 21st century.

The guy in front of me was upset about the bag-check fee he’d paid upon arriving at the airport. Letter-writing upset.

Hidden fees are a serious pain… when they’re actually hidden.

Airline fees rarely are, though.

They’re listed on your confirmation page, in your confirmation email, in your follow-up reminder emails, in that text the airline sends you at 3 a.m. when it can’t sleep…

“U up? btw Checked bags cost extra.”

Frequent flyers not only know about fees in advance, but also how to avoid paying them.

Savvy travelers rarely pay full price to fly.

Instead they cover flights and those pesky fees with miles and points.

You can accrue points from a lot more than just flying, too. Shopping portals, online surveys, dining programs and credit cards can also offer travel rewards. Here are a few of our favorite ways to earn travel rewards:

• For Penny Hoarders who don’t charge that much each month, the Barclaycard CashForward™ World Mastercard® can help you earn 1.5% cash back on all your purchases. You’ll get a $200 bonus if you spend just $1,000 in the first 90 days — that’s enough for a frugal flight!

• E-miles lets you earn points to use towards airlines, hotels and services while you travel. Just sign up with your email address, and you’ll earn points by watching ads, signing up for free services, taking surveys and more.

• Our favorite cash-back app, Ibotta, lets you earn rebates when you book hotels. For example, 3% cash back on HotelTonight and 4% back on Hotels.com. Just sign up and book through Ibotta.

4. That Guy Who Completely Misunderstands the Point of Carry-Ons

Carry-on bags and personal items are allowed on a plane — with explicit guidelines.

If for some reason you should fail to check them before arriving at your gate, most airlines have a simple compliance test: Your bag must fit inside a box.

It’s like those block puzzles we give toddlers. The triangle block goes in the triangle hole.

If your baby tries to put a triangle in a circle, she’s going to have to gate check it and probably pay the extra fee.

Save yourself the hassle and some money: Read your airline’s guidelines and measure your bags at home.

And while you’re fitting things into places, remember: One carry-on bag goes in the overhead bin, and one personal item goes under the seat in front of you.

Don’t bogart the overhead bin with your extra bulk.

5. That Guy Who Cuts Ahead of Their Boarding Zone

There’s a number on your ticket, usually labeled with “Zone” or “Boarding Zone.”

That’s your boarding zone number.

If you don’t know what it means, I’ll explain. But just in case you forget, your gate agent will also explain it — several times — before they start the boarding process.

You share that number with a group of passengers, and it indicates the order in which you board the plane.

Your gate agent will call a number, and passengers who hold a ticket with said number can line up and begin boarding the plane.

Passengers with other numbers on their tickets should not line up at this time.

It’s sort of like the DMV. Or Applebee’s. Or kindergarten.

Just wait for someone to call on you.

6. That Guy Who Doesn’t Understand the Seating System

Speaking of kindergarten, let’s review numbers and letters.

To keep it easy, we won’t count any higher than 40 (in most cases), and we’ll keep the alphabet to just A through F.

Do you need me to slow down? I know you think you know the alphabet; you’re an adult.

But you must not. Because you’re sitting in my seat.

No, I’m definitely right. That’s my seat. Yours is across the aisle. Yes, I’m very sure, because that’s an A, and this is a F.

And while we’re working on cracking the code of the row number/seat letter combination…

You don’t have to stop at every row to check whether it’s your row. The numbers are in the same order on every plane. The same order they’ve been in since the beginning of time.

If you’re in row 22, don’t check the seats behind row four.

Keep the line moving, and slow down a little when you see double digits.

7. That Guy Who Loads up at the Duty-Free Store

One of the best kept travel secrets is you’re allowed to take food through airport security.

Somehow the message isn’t getting out.

TSA has not banned food.

Pack your own snacks, and stop complaining about the airline’s exorbitant prices. That complaint hasn’t been interesting since the ‘80s.

Related: Water bottles also are allowed — sans water.

As long as you down your water before passing through security, take the bottle with you. Fill it up at a fountain before you board, and avoid the airport shop’s pricy water.

Finally, bring your own inflatable neck pillow, if you must. You look like a dork with that brand-new one clamped around your neck, sporting the logo of the local sports team you don’t care about.

8. That Guy Who Stands as Soon as the Plane Lands

OK, personally, I hope the amateurs never stop doing this because it’s so much fun to watch.

But here’s a warning for your sake.

Once a plane lands and even after it taxis to the gate, you’ve got at least 15 to 20 minutes before you’re getting off the plane.

If you’re in the back half of the plane, probably longer.

Don’t stand — you have nowhere to go. Sit down.

You probably can’t even stand all the way up.

You’re going to smack your head on the overhead bin, then stand crooked and grouchy until it’s time for your row to move forward.

Chill out, check your Instagram notifications and let your mom know you’ve landed safely.

9. That Guy Who Packs More Than He Needs

Avid travelers won’t check a bag if they don’t have to.

It often costs more, takes extra time and comes with the risk of the bag not arriving in the same city as you. They also know heavy bags and bulky stuff like neck pillows are difficult to haul through an airport.

A pro never packs more than what’s needed.

You don’t need 27 outfit options with coordinating shoes for the weekend. You can probably skip some of the beauty products for a couple of days, too.

Pare it down to basics. Save yourself time, money and miserable glares from your fellow passengers.

10. That Guy Who Touches Your Seat

Confession. This whole post is really just my way of sharing this message with the world: Don’t touch my seat.

Watch the flight attendants walk down the aisle. Where are their hands? They’re not grabbing my seatback for balance — that would be rude.

They reach up — to the overhead bins — to steady themselves. You can do that, too.

Also, don’t grab my seat to pull yourself into a standing position. That’s what your abdominal muscles are for.

And your kids’ feet? Get ‘em the f*** off my seat.

Dana Sitar (dana@thepennyhoarder.com) is a senior writer/newsletter editor at The Penny Hoarder. Say hi and tell her a good joke on Twitter @danasitar.

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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Amazon Will Pay You $10 Just for Trying Out its Music Streaming Service

Most music streaming services have no problem giving newbies at least one month for free to convince you the service is worth paying for.

It’s a simple marketing tactic. The free month lures you in with the hope you’ll fall in love and pay the $9.99 monthly fee for the rest of your days.

That’s what happened to me with Spotify Premium and, for a few months after Beyonce’s “Lemonade” came out last summer, TIDAL.

Amazon, the relative newbie to the music-streaming game, has joined the fray with a sign-up offer that it hopes will sway you to try its service, Amazon Music Unlimited.

Not only will Amazon give new customers a free month of its paid streaming service, but it will also pay you to try it.

Try Amazon Music Unlimited, Get $10 in Your Amazon Account

Here’s how it works: Head over to Amazon and start the free trial before 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on Oct. 6.

Once you sign up, you should see your $10 appear in your account. You will also get an email confirming that you received your money.

You won’t want to drag your feet for too long when deciding what to spend your newfound riches on because the $10 credit expires at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on Oct. 31.

You should also know the credit only applies to products sold by Amazon. So make sure you see “sold by Amazon.com” on the product detail page before you buy. The $10 credit won’t work if you try to spend it on items sold by third-party sellers who use the Amazon marketplace.

This offer can’t be combined with any other offer. For most of us, that’s no problem. This is the best Amazon sign-up deal out there right now.

The only exception is for students. While you won’t get $10 back, Amazon’s two student discount offers are both better deals if you plan to keep your Music Unlimited account after the free month.

When the free month with Amazon Music Unlimited is over, Amazon Prime members will pay $7.99 a month, while non-Prime members will pay $9.99 each month to continue the service. If you want to avoid this fee, you can cancel your trial at any time, even right after signing up, and still get your credit and 30 days of free music.

Desiree Stennett (@desi_stennett) is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. As you know, she is shackled to Spotify Premium for life.

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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Handy With a Baby Wrench? IKEA’s Latest Move Could Mean Extra Cash for You

Are you a bemästra at putting together Poängs? Perhaps you’re ljushuvud at building Läckös?

Unless you’ve been living under a sten, you’ve probably come into contact with the Swedish furniture darling IKEA at some point in your life.

And if you’re a whiz at putting together their Swedish-named, simple-yet-oh-so-frustrating furniture, have we got a job opportunity for you.

IKEA has gone and bought TaskRabbit, the gig site that matches workers with those needing a quick job done, for an undisclosed price with plans to close the deal next month. The app will still operate as an independent company within the IKEA Group.

“We will be able to learn from TaskRabbit’s digital expertise, while also providing IKEA customers additional ways to access flexible and affordable service solutions to meet the needs of today’s customer,” IKEA Group president and CEO Jesper Brodin said in a news release. (Yes, his name is two letters away from Odin. Metal.)

IKEA will offer TaskRabbit services to customers already beleaguered from navigating the labyrinth-like warehouses in the U.S. and United Kingdom, but some of the 27 other countries with an IKEA presence could follow, the release stated.

Sure, it’ll be good for us normal folks who cringe when we open those IKEA instructions. But it also means more opportunities — and serious cash — for potential “taskers” who don’t.

I mean, we already know you can make $2,000 a week on TaskRabbit. But here’s some more evidence that the demand for IKEA-building services is sky high.

We Need You to Build Our IKEA Furniture — For Our Sanity

This corporate move will give you more chances to make sweet moolah, but it will also afford you the opportunity to leave a positive mark on mankind. Our sanity, marriages, friendships and physical well-being depend on it.

Here are some thoughts we at The Penny Hoarder HQ have had building IKEA furniture:

“WHY DON’T THESE INSTRUCTIONS HAVE WORDS?”

“I’m gonna need more beer.”

“$@#&, I PUT IT TOGETHER BACKWARDS!”

“I don’t think my marriage is going to survive this.”

“(Throws stupid baby wrench.)”

Emphasis was not added. As you can see, the demand for IKEA taskers is absolutely there. So go and register as a tasker if you have the patience we seem to lack.

Just so you know we’re not IKEA haters here, we absolutely love their cheap and delicious dining options. And here’s Penny Hoarder illustrative designer Kristy Gaunt on the thrill of a piece of IKEA furniture:

“Even if there’s some frustration in putting it together, I ultimately saved money buying it, and there’s a sense of accomplishment of, ‘Heck yeah, I put that together’.”

Alex Mahadevan is a data journalist at The Penny Hoarder. He once got lost for an hour in an IKEA after dilly-dallying away from the floor arrows. He left with a bed he never actually put together.

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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Making Youth Sports Affordable: A Playbook for Parents

An estimated 45.7 million American children ages 6-17 take part in one or more sports. For many of their parents, those athletic endeavors can cost thousands of dollars each year. In fact, spiraling costs receive part of the blame for participation numbers declining 9% over five years.

But there’s good news. While you can’t put a price on physical fitness, teamwork, and character-building, it is possible to lower the cost.

Making Youth Sports Affordable: A Playbook for Parents is here to help the families of young athletes cut their expenses, trim their budgets and life-hack their way to a sensible spending plan.

Table of contents

Costs and benefits of youth sports
Swapping vs. shopping/used vs. new
Fundraising: In person and online
General advice

Costs and benefits of youth sports

Between league fees, uniforms and equipment, lessons, and transportation, some parents can wind up paying four figures per year (or more) for every young athlete in the family.

Costs of competing

TD Ameritrade surveyed parents of children currently or previously participating in competitive youth sports to see how much they spent per child per month.

Meanwhile, advocates point to physical, emotional and academic benefits that many children derive from participating in sports. The Aspen Institute cites statistical research comparing children who start playing sports at an early age with children who don’t play sports.

Fortunately, you can help your children enjoy the benefits of youth sports without emptying your wallet every season. Consider the following money-saving strategies when you put together your game plan:

Back to table of contents

Swapping vs. shopping/used vs. new

Think of buying sports gear the same way you look at buying clothes — in a race between your wallet and your child’s growth spurts, the growth spurts have a head start. That’s why it’s important to save money at every opportunity, which includes buying uniforms a little on the big side in anticipation that your children will grow into them.

The exception is athletic footwear. You want your child’s shoes and cleats to fit as closely as possible to help prevent injuries.

Growing into their gear

Err on the side of “one size up” when it comes to uniforms and equipment, because kids can grow fast from age 5 until puberty.

Other ways to cut costs include swapping gear with other families and buying used instead of new. Ask around to see if your fellow sports parents have set up a swap program or if your community has a used sporting goods store. You may be able to find pre-owned gear on craigslist, eBay, freecycle.org, and other all-purposes websites, but the internet also has a number of sports-specific sites, such as:

• sidelineswap.com
• swapmesports.com
• playitagainsports.com

(Play It Again Sports also has locations across the U.S. and Canada.)

Parents of multiple sports kids should consider reusing clothes and gear that belonged to older siblings. Unfortunately, children may object to the term “hand-me-down,” just as they would “used” or “secondhand.” If so, why not try some alternative phrasing?

• “Broken-in”
• “Gently used”
• “Pre-owned”
• “Repurposed”

Back to table of contents

Fundraising: In person and online

From car washes to bake sales, we’ve all seen fundraising campaigns for youth sports teams and leagues. If you’re considering this strategy, here are some tips:

• Why not get creative? A talent show might draw more attention than yet another cookie dough sale.
• Seek sponsorship. Financial support from a local business can be a godsend for youth sports.
• Check with your local government to see if you need a permit for a fundraising event. Your city or county may have regulations dealing with anything from water usage (a red flag for car washes) to food safety (a red flag for potluck dinners).

On the other hand, technology offers new methods for fundraising that don’t involve elbow grease or government paperwork. Digital fundraising platforms you can use to help your child’s youth sports team include:

FlipGive

The “shop to support” service FlipGive lets you create an online shopping mall featuring prominent retail brands. The retailers donate a percentage of purchases made through your online store back to your team. Also, you can invite friends and relatives to shop at your store. FlipGive claims to have helped teams earn more than $10 million in cash back.

Qgiv

If you’ve ever held a fundraising event, you’re probably familiar with the refrain “Sorry, I don’t have any cash.” The nonprofit donation platform Qgiv addresses that problem by giving supporters the option of making donations by credit card, whenever and wherever it’s convenient for them. Qgiv has a 97% client retention rate and guarantees increased online fundraising.

fiverr®

If you want some professional help, fiverr® provides an online marketplace of freelance services including fundraising. Other services include website customization and social media campaigns so you can enhance your team’s online presence.

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General advice

Consider limiting weekend tournaments.

Between registration fees, park fees and travel costs, a single weekend tournament could cost a sports parent hundreds of dollars, if not more.

Play for local teams rather than travel teams.

Travel teams, also known as club teams, can be hugely expensive. You could try to defray costs by carpooling or — in the case of elite-level teams that crisscross the country — redeeming airline and hotel rewards earned with your credit card. Still, staying local will help you avoid those excessive travel costs altogether.

Be wary of big-ticket items.

Every sports parent wants the best for their kids, but the costs of professional instructors and expensive, brand-new equipment just aren’t realistic for many families.

Register early if possible, and don’t be late.

Ask about early registration discounts when you sign your child up for a sports league. By the same token, you may face late fees if you don’t register on time, so be punctual.

Be a role model of responsibility.

Above all else, don’t justify overspending by thinking of youth sports as a financial investment.

While there are many benefits to playing sports, very few kids make the journey from youth sports to high school to college to a lucrative professional career. Consider boys basketball: According to NCAA data, only 3.4% of high school players wind up on NCAA teams, and those college players then have a 1.1% chance of turning pro.

Also, remember the basic concept of youth sports as an exercise in character-building. The life lessons your child learns from you, as a financially responsible adult, are at least as important as the lessons he or she will learn on the field.

The post Making Youth Sports Affordable:
A Playbook for Parents appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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