MAKE MONEY ONLINE POSTS: 03/07/18

الأربعاء، 7 مارس 2018

Met Ed lags in power restoration

Power outages are nightmares for homeowners, but nobody is complaining more than Met Ed customers. They have their reasons.The company, one of the two servicing Monroe County, reported 23 percent of their customers as of Wednesday morning were still without power following Friday’s storm. Conversely, PPL, which has more than twice as many customers, reported three percent outages.And with the ongoing storm, those numbers may get worse.“We will [...]

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FDA did not issue new statement on vaccines and autism

Some health websites have misrepresented the fine print on an old vaccine label to falsely claim that the "FDA announced that vaccines are causing autism." Vaccines do not cause autism and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration did not make any new statement this week about the long-debunked claim.Autism was listed as one of many "adverse events" on the 2005 label of Sanofi Pasteur's Tripedia childhood vaccine for diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis. When the vaccine was first approved, [...]

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This Simple Trick Helped One Man Go From No Credit to a 700 FICO Score

If you look at your dog and he stares back at you probably wondering, “Why do you keep me in this tiny cage of an apartment?”, you might start thinking about buying a house.

But if you have no credit history, it can be hard to do adult things like get a mortgage, negotiate insurance rates or even rent a bigger apartment for Fido. The easiest place to start building good credit is with a credit card. But how do you qualify for a credit card with no credit?

A secured credit card may be the route for you.

What Is a Secured Credit Card?

A secured credit card is a great way to rebuild if you have damaged credit or no credit at all. You put a deposit down as collateral, and the bank gives you a credit card with a limit that’s around the same amount as your deposit. The bank essentially uses your deposit as your line of credit.

So if you put $200 down, your credit line on most secured cards will be $200. Keep in mind that once you deposit that cash, you generally can’t withdraw it until you cancel the card, so make sure you don’t need that money any time soon.

Unsecured credit cards, on the other hand, only have the cardholder’s promise to repay.

Make a Secured Credit Card Work for You and Your Credit Score

Like unsecured cards, secured credit cards charge interest, so you still need to pay them off on time and in full every month to avoid fees.

To make your secured credit card work in your credit score’s favor, you need to know what a credit score is and follow some simple rules:

Pay your bills on time.
Keep your credit usage below 30% of your credit limit.
Don’t open multiple cards at a time.

How Does a Secured Credit Card Build Your Credit Score?

The issuing bank reports your activity to at least one of the major credit bureaus, so after using and paying your card off for a while, your credit history and score will grow.

That’s what Matthew Ramachandran did when he was 18. He put a $400 deposit on a Bank of America secured credit card, which helped him grow his nonexistent credit score to a 700 in eight months. Asked about his tips for using secured credit cards to build credit, Ramachandran said, “I always used less than 30% of my credit limit.”

After hitting that 700 credit score, he canceled the secured card and got approved for an unsecured Chase Visa with travel rewards. Now he now makes business purchases with unsecured cards to get travel rewards. He even stayed at the Ritz-Carlton in Hawaii for five nights with his points.

All thanks to that first secured credit card.

How to Get a Secured Credit Card

You can visit a bank or apply online. If you’re a credit union member, you may want to check there first because they often offer lower interest rates and waive annual fees.

If you have a bankruptcy on your record or a history of missed payments, the bank may not approve you for a secured credit card. If you’re denied, you have a legal right to know why. You can contact the card issuer for that information.

If you find that the card issuer rejected your application due to an error on your credit report, you can — and should — dispute the error with the credit bureaus. Once the issue is resolved, you can contact the card issuer to reapply.

How Much Will a Secured Credit Card Help my Credit Score?

There’s no hard-and-fast rule on how to use a secured credit card to build credit. The key is to keep usage low and pay off your balance in full every month.

Worried you’ll overspend or forget to pay your bill? A new app called Debitize basically turns your credit card into a debit card, for free. With it, you can connect any credit card to a checking account.

Whenever you swipe your credit card, Debitize pulls the same amount of cash from your bank account. It stores the cash for you until it’s time to pay your credit card bill. Then it pays that bill for you a week before the due date.

Card issuers want to keep you as a customer, so they’ll usually offer you an unsecured card if you’ve made about a year’s worth of on-time payments.

Disclosure: A toast to savings! Thanks for allowing us to place affiliate links in this post.

Jen Smith is a junior writer at The Penny Hoarder and gives tips for saving money and paying off debt on Instagram at @savingwithspunk.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.

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7 Rules I Learned After Going Broke in Real Estate Investing

The following is a real-life story submitted by a fellow blogger.

Creating long-term wealth in real estate investing is about understanding the rules and not going broke.

I owned seven houses by the time I was 24-years old. I was all-in on the dream of real estate riches and driving a Porsche Boxster. I was pulling in almost six-figures a year from rents and a full-time job.

Two years later, I was broke.

That’s why I can relate to Jeff’s story of the lessons he learned investing in real estate. He learned very quickly some real estate riches are too good to be true.

I still believe wholeheartedly in the power of real estate as a long-term generator of wealth.

I haven’t quite built my real estate empire back to its former glory, but I’ve created a consistent source of cash flow that will grow over time.

If you’ve ever dreamed of starting in real estate investing, dreamed of making millions in property, you need to avoid the scams and myths sold by the infomercial salesmen.

You need to understand the seven real estate rules which will create long-term wealth.

How I Got Started in Real Estate

I started as a commercial real estate agent during my third year of college.

I had always been drawn to stories of real estate riches by developers like Sam Zell and Donald Trump. I loved the idea of taking a piece of raw land or a building and turning it into a cash register.

Selling commercial real estate was only the beginning. I wanted to be a developer, an investor, an owner.

The market for commercial properties had yet to rebound in 2002 but the residential market was booming. I saw the promise of fast appreciation and easy money through financing and decided to make the switch.

I started buying single-family houses with 10% down on money I saved while serving in the Marine Corps and when I got my first job in corporate finance. I focused on… ‘inexpensive neighborhoods’ where I could buy run-down properties for half the price I’d have to pay in nicer parts of town.

I figured I could still get decent market rents on houses which cost ten or twenty grand less, so the returns would be larger.

That would end up being my first mistake.

But I was hungry so I busted my butt fixing up properties, refinancing to cash out on the improved value and putting the money into another property.

I was going to be rich.

My Real Estate Empire Starts to Crumble

In the space of three years, I built up to six properties, plus my own home. At one point, I estimated my properties at just over half a million dollars with about a fifth of it in equity.

Maybe I wasn’t rich by some definitions, but it wasn’t bad for a 24-year old just out of college.

Then everything started to fall apart.

My six rental properties were producing consistent cash flow, but only because I was doing most of the work myself. I was my own electrician, painter, and property manager. You get the idea.

The Des Moines market is fairly small and it’s difficult finding a property manager to handle single-family properties.

I found a few companies, but all wanted to charge upwards of 15% on the gross rental income. This would have meant paying out almost all the cash flow from the properties since mortgage payments ate up most of the rents.

Property management was out so I was stuck doing it myself along with juggling a full-time job and night classes for my master’s degree.

The downside to less expensive properties on the other side of the tracks was constant tenant headaches, complaints by city housing inspectors when the properties were abused, and missing work evicts a tenant in court.

I started neglecting my properties.

Like a stock investor in a bear market, I avoided even thinking about my houses. When a tenant moved out or evicted, the property might sit vacant for a month before I spent the week necessary to remodel it and get it back on the market.

Empty houses meant I was paying out-of-pocket to cover the mortgage payments, and it couldn’t last.

I started missing loan payments and destroyed my credit score. That meant no more refinancing and no more easy money from the bank.

Burned out and completely disillusioned, I started selling properties for whatever I could get.

It was 2006 and the market was starting to drop out of the real estate bubble so sometimes it meant selling a house just to pay off the mortgage.

Real Estate Investing Myths I Learned the Hard Way

I still own a couple of rental properties and believe in the long-term value of real estate investing. Unfortunately, there are a lot of myths out there, too many 3 a.m. infomercials selling hot strategies to get rich quick.

First, real estate is not a get-rich-quick investment.

The real stories of real estate riches are created over decades, even generations. Donald Trump’s father was already a successful real estate developer and Sam Zell has been managing properties since the early 1960s.

The average annual return on commercial real estate equity is 12.6% according to the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT) on data back 40 years.

That’s a solid return, but not something that’s going to make you a millionaire overnight.

The only people getting rich quick on real estate investing are those selling the strategies to unsuspecting investors.

Another myth in real estate investing is that it’s a cash register, just ring the bell and watch the cash flow.

In fact, most of your return is in the tax advantages and long-term appreciation on properties. If you’re leveraging your properties with debt, then the majority of your rents are eaten up by mortgage payments and property management.

Perhaps the biggest myth though is that real estate is a source of passive income.

You might be able to hire a property manager, turning your properties into passive income, but this is out of the question for a lot of individual investors. There just isn’t enough cash flow during the early years of growing your real estate empire to afford professional management.

7 Rules to do Real Estate Investing (the right way)

Few investments have created as much family wealth as real estate but it’s easy to fall for the myths and scams. Making money with rental properties, I mean creating real assets that will make you long-term rich means avoiding these myths.

real estate investing the right way

Real Estate Rule #1 – The first thing you need to do is learn how to find the fair value of a property before you buy it. Any investment can be a good deal for the right price but it’s not always easy finding that price for real estate.

Find at least five similar houses that have sold within the last year in the same neighborhood. You can usually find this through the county assessor’s office or through sites like Zillow.
Divide the sales price of sold houses by their square feet and then average the number.
Multiply this average price per square foot by the living space for the property you want to buy for a fair value estimate of how much it’s worth.

Real Estate Rule #2 – Estimate how much managing the property is going to cost down to every detail.

This means averaging out market rents in the area, deducting for vacancy and property management. Until you get a good idea of other costs like utilities and maintenance, be conservative with your estimates.

Prepare three estimates of your cash flow for each property. One estimate should calculate all costs at the worst-case scenario, the highest you think they could be over a given year.
Be realistic about the time you’re able to put into managing your own properties. Consider building in at least part-time help with maintenance or management.

Real Estate Rule #3 – Buy only quality properties in which you’d be comfortable living. You’ll get better tenants and will have lower vacancy. You never know, if things don’t go as planned, you might end up living in one of your rentals.

Real Estate Rule #4 – The 3 a.m. infomercials will tell you the secret to real estate riches is to put on as much debt as possible and buy as many houses as quickly as possible.

This strategy makes for exciting PowerPoint presentations but only leads to burnout and bankruptcy.

Real Estate Rule #5 – Take it slow, buying a couple of houses in your first year and getting a feel for how much it takes to manage real estate. You’ll build a long-term business and avoid getting in over your head.

Real Estate Rule #6 – Consider joining or starting a real estate investing club along with other property owners. This has helped me immensely while rebuilding my fledgling empire.

Find other property investors through real estate agents, contractors and online.
Try to find people with skills in different aspects of real estate from agents to contractors, lawyers, and property managers. Putting your skills together means everyone doesn’t have to be an expert in everything.
There are different ways to set up the group from formal associations where you pool your money for investments to informal groups where you simply trade ideas and help each other with services.

Real Estate Rule #7 – Finally, diversify your real estate investments as much as possible.

The cost of a single property means many individual investors are stuck owning one property type in one market. That means all the risk of a downturn in the type of real estate or within the local market.

Buy different property types including residential, office, storage, leisure and warehouse.
Buy in different markets across the United States if possible.
One way to diversify your direct real estate portfolio is through owning REITs or real estate crowdfunding which allows you to buy an equity position with a few thousand rather than tens of thousands.

Like any investment, real estate can make you wealthy if you know how to avoid the biggest traps.

Being a long-term investor in property is about understanding the rules that will keep you from losing your money like I did. Don’t let the story keep you from following your real estate dreams though. I still invest in rental properties and will be rich again, someday.

Joseph Hogue worked as an equity analyst and an economist before realizing being rich is no substitute for being happy. He now runs five websites in the personal finance and crowdfunding niche, makes more money than he ever did at a 9-to-5 job and loves building his work from home business.

The post 7 Rules I Learned After Going Broke in Real Estate Investing appeared first on Good Financial Cents.

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Energy Tax Incentives 101: Let the Government Pay You for Buying Green

The U.S. government wants you to save energy and is willing to back it up with programs that encourage conservation efforts. Discover these tax incentives now.

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Card Skimmers Are Evil and They’re Stealing Our Debit Info More Than Ever

Scammers lurk in the shadows waiting to compromise your debit card. They use skimmers on ATMs to steal your debit card number and hidden cameras to snag your PIN.

Chances are, you know someone who’s been duped. It might even be you.

Incidents in which debit cards were compromised at ATMs, gas pumps and point-of-sale machines rose 10% in 2017, according to a report from FICO. Generally, these types of fraud occur when a scammer attaches a skimming device to a card reader that captures and stores the number of every card that slides through it.

“ATM skimming is an over $2 billion problem globally,” Martin Bally, vice president and chief security officer at Diebold Nixdorf, told CNBC in September.

The only answer now is to stay home, watch Netflix and give up on the outside world, right? If only it were that easy. Since we have to face the outside world sometimes, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

How to Protect Yourself From Debit Card Fraud

Scammers will leave you high and dry to pick up the pieces while they revel in the fruits of your labor. So not cool.

Here’s how to keep those thieves away from your hard-earned cash.

Answer the Age-Old ‘Debit or Credit?’ Question With Ease

Knowing when to use a credit card or debit card could save you a lot of hassle. Consider using your credit card for online purchases, dining out, buying gas, big deposits and automatic payments. Credit cards generally offer more protection against fraud and limit your liability for unauthorized charges.

Check Where You Swipe

Avoid remote or out-of-sight gas pumps and ATMs. These are easier to tamper with and more likely to have skimmers attached. Your safest bet is to seek an indoor ATM or a gas pump in the cashier’s view.

Also, if the card reader looks sketchy, don’t use it.

You’ve Got Two Hands. Use Them!

Scammers sometimes install hidden cameras near their skimmers in an attempt to get the PIN that matches the card number they just stole. As a precaution, use your other hand to cover the keypad as you enter your PIN.

Keep Your Bank in the Loop

If you travel or plan to make big purchases, give your bank a call and share your intentions. Doing this regularly can limit your risk of fraud and help your bank identify irregular activity sooner.

Use the Tools Online Banking Affords You

Check your activity and scan for any irregularities, especially if you bank online. Most banks offer text or email alerts for low balances or unusual activity. Use those. Your bottom line will thank you.

Don’t Wait. Report Your Loss Now!

If your debit card wasn’t stolen, you’re not liable for any fraudulent charges if you report the unauthorized activity within 60 days. If you report it after 60 days, chances are you can be reimbursed for most of the charges made in the first 60-day window. Any charges that could have been prevented if you had called within 60 days might not be reimbursed, according to the Electronic Funds Transfer Act.

Protect your plastic. It’s the cool thing to do.

Stephanie Bolling is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She once stopped at a Podunk gas station in a pinch and got her card skimmed. Never again.

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How to Use YouTube Live to Grow Your Business

How active is your company when it comes to social media marketing?

It’s great if you have a Facebook profile, Twitter account, and Instagram page, but if you don’t have a presence on YouTube, you’re missing out on an easy way to generate new leads.

YouTube can also help you make more money from your existing customers. Ultimately, it’s one of my favorite platforms to use for growing a business.

One of the reasons why I love YouTube is because it’s easy to repurpose the content using it. Rather than making the same videos for all of your platforms, you can first upload it to YouTube and then share it on your other pages.

For example, I like to include videos from my YouTube channel in some of my blog posts. But you can also add YouTube content to your other social media profiles, email newsletters, or any page on your website.

Uploading and sharing videos on YouTube is a great start, but it’s not quite enough if you want to optimize the growth of your business. You also need to jump on the live video bandwagon.

YouTube has more than 1.5 billion active monthly users. When it comes to streaming live video content, it’s one of the most popular options available.

YouTube Live is second on the list, by a marginal amount, only to Facebook, which has more than 2 billion active monthly users.

If you have never streamed a live video on YouTube or new to the platform, I can help you out. And if you’ve been streaming content on YouTube Live but think your approach could use some improvement, this is the perfect guide for you.

I’ll teach you how to grow your business with YouTube Live. Here’s what you need to know.

How to start a YouTube Live video stream

Let’s begin with the basics.

Before you can focus on your marketing strategy, you need to know how to start your stream. YouTube has a detailed tutorial on how to do this, but I’ll cover some of the highlights and give you some extra pointers.

Step #1: Verify your account and identity

If you haven’t launched a live video yet, YouTube needs to make sure your account is legitimate before your first stream. If you’ve got a special occasion you want to stream for soon, you should get your account verified right away.

They use your phone number to verify your identity. You can either get a text message or a phone call with an access code.

For the most part, this should be pretty quick. But with that said, it could take up to 24 hours to verify some people.

Step #2: Set up your encoding software

While you may be ready to start your first stream, you’re not quite able to do so just yet. You need to download the YouTube encoding software before you can start streaming.

Depending on what device you’re planning to use, there is different software for each one. Some of the most popular software and devices verified by YouTube are:

Webcam devices from your laptop or desktop computers
Mobile Capture
Mobile Live
AirServer
SlingStudio
Gameshow
Epiphan Webcaster X2
Elgato Game Capture HD60

There are some other options, but this gives you an idea of how versatile their streaming is. If you’re planning to go live from multiple devices, you’ll need to download and install an encoder for your first stream on each new device.

Step #3: Add basic info to your stream

Once all your encoding software is configured, you’re ready to get started. Add some basic information to tell users about your stream.

This part is pretty easy. Add a title to your stream that explains what you’re doing. Here are some examples to steer you in the right direction:

These titles make it obvious what each stream is about. Don’t be mysterious or ambiguous with this info.

Keep your title short. You’ll be able to add a more detailed description as you continue adding more basic information.

Next, you’ll select a category from the following list:

film & animation
autos & vehicles
music
pets & animals
sports
travel & events
gaming
people & blogs
comedy
entertainment
news & politics
how-to & style
education
science & technology
nonprofits & activism

Based on the industry of your business and what your video is about, I’m sure it will be easy for you to find a fitting category.

Finally, make sure you set your privacy to public. Otherwise, you won’t be able to reach a large audience.

Step #4: Review your stream options

I recommend you enable the DVR settings of your live stream. Not all of your viewers will be present for the start of your live video. You want to give them an opportunity to start from the beginning so they can view all your content.

Next, you’ll select the latency. Low-latency works best if you want faster chat communication with your audience.

Make sure your chat is enabled as well. You definitely want the viewers of your live stream to have the option to send you messages in real time.

You can also add various cards to your live stream. These cards can be used to:

promote videos
showcase playlists
advertise another channel
raise funds for a nonprofit organization
link to a website (that’s approved by YouTube)
create a poll for your audience

These options can help you create a more authentic and engaging interaction with your live audience.

Promote your products and services

Now that you know how to use live video, you’ve got to figure out what kind of content you’re going to stream. One of the first things you can do is promote your top products.

It’s no secret your company is trying to make money. You don’t need to be deceptive with this approach. You’re allowed to showcase your products.

One of the best ways to do this is with a product demonstration.

Depending on your company, you may have some products that need some extra explanation. Let’s say you’re selling something like a remote control drone.

It’s a cool way to show your current or potential customers how to use and operate something they may not be familiar with. Plus, people would rather watch videos about your products than read about them:

In addition to educating and informing, these videos can also help you drive more sales.

Some members of your audience might not be aware that you offer this product until they see it on YouTube Live. That tutorial could inspire them to make a purchase.

You can also use YouTube Live to build hype and anticipation for a new product.

Give demonstrations for products that haven’t launched yet. This will keep your audience anxiously waiting for the release date.

If you really want to get your audience excited, run a contest or promotion, giving away some products.

Getting the viewers from your live video stream to participate in contests and giveaways can help increase your brand awareness. This is especially true if the promotion is run via social media.

Live stream during events

When should you go live?

I hear this question all the time. While there’s no right or wrong answer to it, there are certain times when you should definitely be going live.

Anytime your company is running, hosting, or attending an event, you should stream it to your YouTube Live audience.

Live events are so important that the YouTube dashboard even has a separate menu tab for them as you navigate through your live streaming options.

Why is this is such a big deal?

That’s because 67% of people who watch live videos are more likely to buy a ticket to an event after watching a similar event via live video.

So if you’re in the entertainment industry, this is an awesome way to increase ticket sales. But it can be relevant to any other business that profits from various events.

Think outside the box here. An event doesn’t have to always be something major, like the Super Bowl or a sold out concert.

You can stream live content of smaller events. Maybe your company is attending an industry trade show or setting up a booth at a college job fair.

Anything that gives you an excuse to promote your brand and gives your audience something new and entertaining to watch is worth streaming via YouTube Live.

Offer exclusive content

Show your customers something they can’t see every day.

Piggybacking on our last point, if you were attending an event, you could stream behind-the-scenes content as opposed to the event itself.

This will give your audience a sense of exclusivity. They get to see something that others don’t have access to.

Again, try to get creative here. If your company manufactures products, stream a video tour of your production facility during a workday.

Allow your audience to sit in on a meeting with your marketing team or give them access to your offices. All of this will help them get a better understanding of how your business operates.

Plus, people are drawn to behind-the-scenes content.

This type of video is a great way to ensure your audience tunes in. Once you get them hooked, they’ll continue watching your live streams in the future.

Keep your audience engaged

Don’t be boring.

You need to have a plan going into each live video stream. If you just go out on a whim and decide to stream something without a plan, it may not be entertaining.

If your audience isn’t entertained and engaged by your content, it’s not going to benefit your business. In fact, it may have the opposite effect.

One of the great parts about YouTube Live is that the platform offers many ways to keep your audience engaged. It’s up to you to take advantage of the built-in features.

Refer back to the streaming options I outlined earlier. Use those as engagement tools.

For example, let’s say you’re trying to build hype for a new product.

You can create a poll about this product. Ask your customers whether they like it. Find out what kind of features they want to see.

Giving your audience an input as far as your product lines are concerned will certainly help you grow your business. Customers who participated in the poll will be more willing to buy something they had a say in.

Marketers across various industries believe live video content helps them create a more authentic interaction with their audiences.

You can take advantage of this benefit as well if you focus on engagement.

Not only will people be excited to watch your live videos, but they’ll also be interested in buying whatever you’re selling. It’s your job to make that happen during those streams.

Conclusion

If your company has an active presence on YouTube, that’s great. But if you really want to grow your business, you’ve got to start using YouTube Live.

Live video content is on the rise. You need to follow the newest marketing trends if you want to keep up with your competition.

We know that 82% of consumers would rather watch a live video from a brand than see a social media post.

No more excuses.

Now is the perfect time for you to start streaming live videos via YouTube Live. Follow the quick tutorial I provided in this post to get your account set up and ready for streaming.

After that, start planning the content you want to broadcast.

Promote your products and services. Stream live events. Offer exclusive content, such as behind-the-scenes footage.

No matter what kind of video you’re streaming, audience engagement needs to be your top priority.

If you apply these tips to your marketing strategy, you’ll be able to create brand awareness, acquire new customers, and get your existing customers to spend more money.

What type of content are you streaming on YouTube Live to help promote and grow your business?

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Winter Is Here — and This App Will Help You Make Money Shoveling Snow

I wish I could start this article with, “We’ve all had to do it…”

But, fortunately, I’m a Floridian, and I’ve never had to shovel snow. From what I’ve heard, some people find it real pain — a job happily pawned off to any willing being.

On the other hand, what if you’re that willing being? You might be able to make some good money from a hearty dusting.

Even 50 Cent has shoveled snow.

I’m going out to shovel snow and see if I can make me a few extra dollars today. I’m charging more if they want to take pictures

— 50cent (@50cent) December 27, 2010

And so has Daniel Miller, CEO of an app called Shovler.

It’s kind of like Uber — but for snow shoveling — and since its release in December 2016, more than 15,000 people have registered to become snow shovelers, according to Miller.

How Did the Shovler App Get Started?

Miller shoveled snow as a teenager and always thought it was the perfect gig: People are appreciative, you get a good workout in, and it’s actually kind of fun.

Plus: Pay ain’t too shabby.

He came up with the idea of Shovler in the winter of 2015, when his parents were hanging out in Florida and wanted a clear driveway upon returning home to New Jersey. A full-on plow service wasn’t necessary, and, other than that, they had a hard time finding someone.

“It just dawned on me that there are lots of people in similar situations, especially the elderly, that just want to hire a snow shoveler on demand for the days they need one or want to take a break from shoveling themselves,” Miller writes in an email.

He’d always seen those apps about solving what he calls “minor problems” — like delivering food a few blocks away. “But nobody has fixed this major logistical nightmare that people have every year,” he says.

For him, the app seemed obvious. Why hadn’t it been invented years ago?

How Much Money Can You Make Shoveling Snow?

Enter: Shovler.

The app went live for iOS and Android at the beginning of December 2016, and approximately 15,000 snow shovelers have registered with it across the U.S. and parts of Canada, according to Miller.

Those who are in need shoveling services enter their requests into the app. The registered shovelers get pinged when a job’s available nearby.

Pay is calculated by an algorithm that takes the depth of snow and the size of the property, as well as other factors, into consideration. In general, though, typical rates range from:

$20 to $35 for a car parked on a city street
$30 to $75 for up to a two-car driveway that fits three cars in length, an average walkway and an average sidewalk in front of a house
50 cents to $2 per square feet for a city sidewalk or small parking lots (for businesses)

The Shovler app takes 20% of each job (though there are promo codes out there for 10% off), and the human shoveler gets the rest.

Miller says shovelers have made up to $200 per gig this past year. He says the app also hosts customers who tip generously, some tacking on a 50% tip.

“Shovelers love the app because they get paid by the job, not the hour,” Miller says. “That really gives them the ability to earn $50 in an hour if they are quick.”

Shovelers get paid after the user rates the job or within 24 hours — whichever is faster.

How You Can Sign Up For Shovler

The app is available across the U.S. and in parts of Canada, but its most popular cities are Boston, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Milwaukee, Minneapolis and New York.

Signing up is easy — and a lot easier than awkwardly knocking on your neighbors’ doors or giving them a ring.

So why not make some money off the most recent dumping of the devil’s dandruff?

Carson Kohler (carson@thepennyhoarder.com) is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She’s currently chillin’ in 70-degree temps at The Penny Hoarder HQ in sunny St. Petersburg, Florida.

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Personal Finance and Pride

When Sarah and I were shopping for houses, there were some houses that I essentially wouldn’t even look at. I’d look at the picture and then quickly find some reason not to bother with even visiting that house.

Why? Pride. I wanted a house that I would be proud to own and proud to have people come and visit.

Here’s the thing, though: my best friend lives in a very dilapidated house, one that he knew was a complete fixer-upper. It was almost scary to visit him at first, but I still did. Now, it’s looking like a nice house, but even if it still looked beat up, I’d still visit him.

I didn’t think of him as weird or as a lesser person because of the house he bought. I thought of him as my friend, who wanted a fixer-upper to live in.

In the end, it was really my weird sense of pride that drove us to avoid a number of houses in our home search, and it was pride that probably helped us pick the house we live in now.

Pride cost us money. Pride cut off options.

When I was young, we didn’t have a whole lot of money. There were points when we were probably eligible for some kind of assistance. I know quite well from the words of my parents that they didn’t want such assistance, even though the entire program was pretty much designed for the situation they were in. I’m very sure that they never even looked at the option with any seriousness.

The thing is, their lives would have been much easier had they looked for every resource available, but pride kept them from doing so.

Pride cost them money. Pride cut off options.

Over and over again, pride becomes a financial obstacle to people. From the house they live in to the car they drive to the clothes they wear to their actual financial decisions, pride comes to the forefront and helps guide financial choices.

But what is pride, and is it misplaced here?

The best definition of pride I’ve found is this one:

Pride is a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one’s own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired.

Pride adds up to three things in one here, so let’s break them down.

One part of pride is a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one’s own achievements, which is something I’m on board with. If you’ve worked hard to achieve something in your life, you ought to feel good about it, and that good feeling is often going to push you toward more good achievements.

The second part of pride is a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, like, for example, a parent being proud of a child’s achievements. To me, this is less important. I can understand pride in one’s parenting efforts, but feeling proud because someone else did something is a bit of a stretch.

For me, it’s the third definition that’s the real problem. The third part of the definition of pride is a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from qualities or possessions that are widely admired. Right here, pride ceases to be about you and instead begins to center itself around what others think of you. It’s no longer about your values, but about the values that you think others have.

This wheels right back around to one of the most fundamental rules of personal finance, in my view: You have to stop worrying about what other people think.

That’s a hard thing to do, particularly if you’re a social person. We all want to be perceived as having value. We all want others to think well of us and want to interact with us in positive ways.

The thing is, if you live by reasonable values – and really live by them – that will happen anyway.

Think about the people in your life that you really, truly respect and like. If you really drill down into those people and think about what you respect and like about them, it’s usually that they have some sort of internal values that they live by and that those values are the core of the things they’ve achieved and how they interact with other people.

When I think of people I really respect and admire and like, they’re just good people, and it’s not because they dress well or have a beautiful house or anything like that.

It’s because they’re kind. It’s because they treat other people well. It’s because they take basic care of themselves. It’s because they’ve worked very hard to achieve things in life, whether those things are financially lucrative or not.

I immediately think of a guy in the community in which we live. He’s an older, retired fellow. He spends most of his time doing volunteer work and is usually wearing this old, red, beat-up (but clean) hooded sweatshirt and jeans. He’ll talk to anyone and, in fact, makes a point to grab people who seem like they need someone to talk to and take them out for coffee and a chat and he just listens to them.

Do I care that this guy dresses in clothes that look like they came from a Goodwill rack? Do I care what kind of house he lives in? Do I care what kind of car he drives? No, no, and no.

I admire this guy because of who he is and the values he has and the fact that he acts on them. That has nothing to do with any of his physical possessions.

I also think of that best friend of mine that I mentioned earlier, the guy who bought the run-down house that was almost scary when I first visited it. I didn’t turn up my nose at him because of his house choice. Instead, I was happy to visit it, because I knew of the quality of the guy that lived there.

When I go through, in my head, all of the people I really care about, my care for them and respect for them wouldn’t change if they drove a brand new car or a dilapidated rust bucket. It wouldn’t change if they dressed in a $5,000 suit or a sweatshirt with a hole in it. It wouldn’t change if they lived in a mansion or a trailer.

For me, a much approach to pride is to have pride in your achievements, have lesser pride in the achievements of those closest to you, have little or no pride in your possessions or what others think about them, and have a set of core values that govern how you act in the world. Treat others as you would like to be treated. Keep yourself clean and presentable, but let your character speak the loudest. Be friendly and listen to other people, and help them when there is an opportunity.

You can certainly take pride in living by those values, as long as the pride doesn’t drive you away from those values.

If I had taken that approach to pride earlier in my life, we would probably live in a different house right now. I certainly would not have purchased the first car that I did (though my current automobile, a car we purchased off of Craigslist secondhand almost a decade ago, would probably still have been a smart buy).

Instead, I would have put more effort into trying to live by my values, first and foremost. Spend less than you earn. Treat others as you would like to be treated. Listen and ask questions and be friendly.

Those kinds of things are harder than simply buying showy possessions, but when you live up to them, you don’t need possessions to win friends and influence people.

Take pride in who you are, not what you possess. Take pride in what you’ve accomplished, not the things you’ve bought. Take pride in what you can make out of the opportunities in front of you, not in your ability to turn up your nose at some of those opportunities. You’ll find that when you take that perspective, a lot of things in life just click together smoothly.

Good luck.

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Can MoviePass Save You Big at the Cinema? A Tough Critic’s Review

Social Media Will Try to Bankrupt You – Here Are Four Tactics to Stay Solvent

Finally, a kind word for millennials: According to a study from Allianz Life, this much-maligned group is in fact setting itself up “to be in better financial shape than other generations.”

The study of 3,000 Americans revealed that millennials have good savings habits and that 77% feel “financially confident.” That’s the good news.

The bad news: Social media is messing with their heads.

Allianz recently released some additional data from the November 2017 study. Nearly 9 in 10 (88%) of millennials say they think social media encourages people to compare their lifestyles and wealth with other people’s – and 57% admitted they’ve spent money they hadn’t planned to use because of things they saw on social media.

Problem. In a perfect world, we’d just feel happy for our friends and respond with emoticons rather than shopping.

Spoiler alert: The world isn’t perfect. We’re buffeted from birth with commercials, billboards, product placement and other buy-buy-buy messages.

Here are four simple, effective tactics to help you break that cycle.

1. Take a break from social media.

Out of sight, out of mind, right? If you don’t see that new smartphone or sports car, you’ll be less likely to come down with a bad case of I-want.

That said, it can be hard to break the habit of keeping track of family and friends via Facebook, Instagram, or other platforms. Give it a try, starting with just one or two days away from the virtual meetinghouse.

Can’t do it? Allow yourself a set amount of time – say, half an hour after dinner – and set a timer to keep yourself honest.

Best-case scenario: You find you don’t miss Instagram et al. as much as you thought. In that case, stay gone – and use the time you would have spent in more practical and satisfying ways.

Another option: Develop a new lens for the loot you see on social media. Practice saying this phrase out loud: How nice for them – but right now, that trip to Cabo isn’t in my budget.

Remember, too, that people put the best stuff on social media and they curate the heck out of it. That perfect beach shot may not reveal the clouds that rolled in an hour later, the sand fleas, the trash along the waterline, the parking ticket your bestie got because she lost track of time.

You also don’t know what this picture-perfect life costs. Mr. or Ms. EnvyMyLife could be dodging creditors and/or fighting about money with their spouse. That’s a stressful way to live, to say nothing of the opportunity cost of spending every penny you earn.

2. List your life goals.

Where do you want to be in 10 years, or even in two? As many answers exist as there are individual circumstances. A few popular examples: Traveling. Being debt-free. Living in a new place. Raising a kid. Turning a passion into a fulfilling career.

Having a plan for the future means envisioning what that future could look like. Don’t know how to get started? Consider this saying: “What would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?” Write down your answers, then start brainstorming ways to achieve them.

Do this with friends or secretly, on a whiteboard or a legal tablet. Some people call this a vision board, others call it a life map. Call it whatever you want, or don’t call it anything at all – but do create one. It’s hard to work toward a future if you don’t have any goals.

Your dreams might sound completely different than those of your family and friends. They’re your goals and you don’t have to justify them – or even to share them. But you do have to speak them out loud to yourself.

Related: 12 Key Principles of Goal-Oriented Personal Finance

3. Build a budget.

Incorporate those dreams into a spending plan that works for you. While you’ll want to prioritize things like retirement savings and debt pay-down, leave room for goals like travel, parenthood, homeownership, or whatever floats your boat. (Maybe owning an actual boat is one of those goals. Your dreams may vary.)

First things first: You shouldn’t be shopping for a Chris-Craft if you’re carrying a lot of debt or haven’t saved a dime for retirement. But every budget should include a “fun” category, for dinners out, movies, sporting events, and other not-strictly-necessary things that make our lives better.

Create additional categories that fit your life – a college fund if you’ve just had a child, say, or setting aside a certain monthly amount in order to start your own business in five years.

The 50/30/20 budget works for a lot of people: Spend no more than 50% of take-home pay on essentials (housing, food, etc.), 30% on wants and 20% on saving (debt service, putting money away for emergencies or retirement).

Feel free to tweak it in ways that also work for you. Perhaps you can cut food and housing costs by learning to cook or living with roommates, or reduce transportation and insurance spending by keeping your car for 10 years or more, or even becoming a one-car household.

Other budgeting tactics exist, too. Find one that fits.

4. Look for help.

Resisting the dominant paradigm is easier when buddies have your back. Surely not all of your friends are overspending their way through life. Find pals who can look beyond the here and now, and start talking.

Talk about those life goals. Talk about ways to pay down debt. Talk about how to live the best lives you can on the money you currently have, without losing your dignity or your hopes for the future.

Talk each other down when you’re tempted to bust the budget. Talk about your dreams, and list the steps you’re taking to achieve them.

Look for help in other ways, too. Visit message boards and blog forums devoted to escaping the consumerist mindset. Read books on personal finance and those that focus on building the life you want. (Pro tip: Look for them in the library – and if you can’t find the titles you want, request an inter-library loan.)

The Bottom Line

Social media is a great way to stay in touch with what friends are doing and saying. It’s also a chance to share personal finance tips, or to get the support you need from other frugalists who, like you, want to get control of their cash.

Use social media in other money-smart ways, too. Looking for a reliable used car? Put it out there! You may find that someone’s hairdresser’s cousin’s next-door neighbor is selling a two-year-old vehicle that’s mostly been driven to church and the grocery store.

The e-universe could also help you meet your household’s needs for little or no money. Check out resources like Facebook yard sale pages or one of those “Buy Nothing Day” groups and watch your dollars s-t-r-e-t-c-h.

But when your screen looks mostly like a parade of Things You Haven’t Got, leading you to play catch-up, then it’s time either to back away or to adjust the way you interact with social media. The tactics listed above will strengthen your resolve to live your own life and achieve your own dreams, vs. trying to keep up with someone else’s.

Veteran personal finance writer Donna Freedman is the author of “Your Playbook for Tough Times: Living Large on Small Change, for the Short Term or the Long Haul” and “Your Playbook for Tough Times, Vol. 2: Needs AND Wants Edition.”

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