Las Vegas Sands Corp. is selling its Pennsylvania casino to an American Indian tribe from Alabama for $1.3 billion, the company announced Thursday.Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem opened in 2009 on the site of Bethlehem Steel's former headquarters plant, transforming what was then the nation's largest abandoned industrial complex into an $800 million destination that lured gamblers from New York and New Jersey. Sands later added a shopping mall, performing arts venue and 300-room hotel. [...]
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الخميس، 8 مارس 2018
Sweet Deal Alert! Oreo Is Giving Away 1 Million Candy Bars — Here’s Why
It only makes sense that these sweet superstars would team up for an epic National Oreo Day celebration we can all enjoy: Oreo is giving away 1 million Oreo chocolate candy bars.
And by 1 million candy bars, I mean 1 million coupons for candy bars.
How Do I Get My Free Oreo Candy Bar?
To get your free Oreo chocolate candy bar, you’ll need to be one of the first 1 million people to sign up on its site. You have until 11:59 p.m. EST March 12 to register, but if the Auntie Anne’s birthday deal taught us anything, you’ll want to register ASAP.
If you end up being one of the first million, you’ll receive a confirmation email on or around March 16. You’ll receive the coupon six weeks after the promotion ends — just long enough to forget you signed up in the first place.
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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Scared to Invest? Afraid to Ask for a Raise? Today’s the Day to Get Over It
This March 9, I’d love to write about National Meatball Day. But it’s also National Get Over it Day, and the team thought helping you get over some of your financial fears might be more appropriate than my “How to Pay Your Way Through Life With Meatballs” idea.
Money is a touchy subject right? Making, saving, spending and protecting it elicit negative feelings in some way or another. But if you’re going to become a money master, you need to get over your fears and hesitations, and do the basics with confidence.
Here’s how to get over some of the most common money issues today.
You Hate Budgeting
Budgeting doesn’t suck. A budget is simply a plan for your income. Living on a budget doesn’t mean you eat ramen every night or move to the country. If you want to budget $200 for cupcakes this month, you can totally do that — though your conscience might convict you for anything over $20.
Don’t let past failures or fears about what you’ll find keep you from budgeting. There are flexible options for every budgeting lifestyle. For example, you could set aside a percentage of every paycheck or spend every cent on paper before you spend it in real life.
You Feel Crushed by Student Loan Debt
Much like a big meatball sub, your student loan balance can cause that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach. It may seem appealing to curl up into a ball and forget your debt exists.
Get over it. Check your balance, write it down and work on conquering it. You can find plenty of stories about normal people paying off their student loans and destroying credit card debt. You can be one of them; it just takes small steps in the right direction.
If you’re paying high interest rates, consolidation and refinancing might be worth a look.
A good resource is online lending platform Upstart, which can help you find a loan without relying on only your conventional credit score.
Unlike traditional underwriting models that use only the common FICO scoring model, Upstart’s technology looks at factors like your education and employment history to determine your creditworthiness.
You’re Afraid of Credit Cards
Credit cards require a certain level of self-control. Even the most responsible people can let credit card debt and fees get out of hand. You don’t have to let credit card fears stop you from taking advantage of the awesome travel and cash back rewards. Just get over it.
Set up autopay for your card so you never pay late fees. Pay your cards off in full every month to avoid interest, and check your statements at least weekly to catch fraud. Don’t worry — you’re protected by your bank.
Worried you’ll overspend with a credit card?
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.
The best of both worlds: You can build credit and get those sweet credit card perks, and also prevent yourself from running up unmanageable debt.
You’re Afraid to Negotiate Your Salary
Whether they make $20,000 or $200,000, people are always looking for ways to make more meatballs — I mean money. But it can be intimidating to ask for what you’re worth, especially for women.
If you’re starting a new job, don’t be nervous about negotiating your salary. It’s a normal process, and skipping it could cost you $1 million in lifetime earnings. If you’re asking for a raise at your current job, start months in advance by going above and beyond — without being obnoxious — to make it obvious to your boss that you deserve a raise.
You Have an Aversion to Online Banks
It’s 2018, people! Let’s agree that we don’t need all our banks to have brick-and-mortar locations with tellers behind bulletproof glass and pens on chains. Online banks aren’t scary, and they offer so much more than the other guys.
One of our favorites is Chime, an online bank that helps you automatically save every time you get paid.
The FDIC-insured account comes with more than 24,000 fee-free ATMs, has zero overdraft fees and doesn’t require a minimum or monthly payment.
Plus, when a portion of your paycheck is automatically shuffled away to your secret stash, well… what you don’t see, you won’t miss, right? In fact, one guy saved $800 without noticing when he opened an account. Chime also gives direct deposit users access to their money immediately, so you can get paid up to two days earlier.
Chime also has a feature that helps you save when you spend. It rounds up your purchases to the next dollar and puts the difference into your savings account, and it rewards you with a 10% bonus on round-ups each week.
Online banks usually have tip-top website security, are always available to help — even via text message — and just in case you do ever need cash, waive or reimburse most ATM fees. It’s the dawning of the age of the online bank account.
You Freak Out Each Month About Paying Those Bills, Bills, Bills
Do you have 12 alarms and reminders set on your phone to remember all your due dates? Do you scramble on the first of every month to get rent together? Are you second-guessing that decision to accept payment in meatballs? Stop it!
Work smarter, not harder. Automate your payments to eliminate the anxiety of forgetting them, and if you’re worried about having enough money in your account to cover them, you can try reducing those inescapable bills.
You’re Putting Off Investing
The market has been a little volatile this year, so it makes sense to be wary of upping your 401(k) contributions. But there’s never a better time to start investing than right now.
The sooner you start investing, the longer your money benefits from the magic of compound interest. So get over your investing fears so they don’t become nightmares down the road.
If you’re like most of us and wish your money would just take care of itself, consider starting an investment account through Acorns.
You can start small — with $5 — and stack up change over time with its “round-up” feature. That means if you spend $10.23 at the grocery store, 77 cents gets dropped into your Acorns account.
Then, the app does the whole investing thing for you.
Disclosure: This post includes affiliate links. Adding these links helps us keep the lights on in The Penny Hoarder HQ, which makes it a lot easier to play shuffleboard after a long day of deal-seeking!
This article contains general information and explains options you may have, but it is not intended to be investment advice or a personal recommendation. We can’t personalize articles for our readers, so your situation may vary from the one discussed here. Please seek a licensed professional for tax advice, legal advice, financial planning advice or investment advice.
Jen Smith is a junior writer at The Penny Hoarder and gives tips on 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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These 8 Handy Tools Can Help You File Your Taxes Online For Free
But the days of sitting in an uncomfortable, overheated office to wait for a pro to pluck away at your tax return are over.
Thanks to the power of technology, electronic tax return filing is as routine as checking your sports scores or your bank account online. With a few clicks, you can get the agony of filing your annual tax return over with — and get on with life.
Wondering where to start? Overwhelmed by promises shouted from TV commercials?
Don’t dive in — or pay up — until you read these options for filing your taxes for free.
If you live in a state that collects income tax, you may have to pay a nominal fee to file through the services below. If you don’t have to file a state tax return, chances are good you can spend precisely zero dollars to e-file.
Take a look below to see which free tax filing option is best for you.
How to File Your Taxes for Free
1. The IRS
The IRS offers two versions of its FreeFile program.
If you made less than $66,000 in 2017, you can file your federal return for free through online software.
The IRS doesn’t directly provide this service, but it partners with 13 tax preparation companies — like H&R Block and Jackson Hewitt — to facilitate your process.
Some state returns are available for free through these companies, so check for your state before choosing one to file your federal return.
If you made more than $64,000, you can e-file your taxes for free directly through the IRS. While the tool provides basic calculations, it doesn’t hold your hand through the process like the IRS’s partnerships at the lower income level.
Also, state tax prep isn’t available at this level.
2. United Way MyFreeTaxes
If you made less than $66,000 per year, take advantage of the United Way’s MyFreeTaxes program to file state and federal taxes online for free.
The site notes that 70% of Americans qualify for this free filing service, powered by H&R Block.
3. TurboTax Federal Free Edition
If your tax return is simple — maybe just one or two W-2s — filing with TurboTax online could be your best option.
In previous years, I’ve filed my federal taxes through TurboTax for free, then ponied up $30 or so to prepare my state returns. This year, federal and state tax preparation is free via TurboTax’s 1040EZ/A Absolute Zero guarantee.
If you make less than $100,000, don’t own a home or business and didn’t deal with investments or major medical expenses, this is a great option for you.
But watch out — you won’t be able to prepare and file for free if you need to report any 1099 earnings.
4. H&R Block Free Edition
H&R Block offers a free option for those filing simple returns.
Its online Free Edition allows you to e-file federal returns for free, and a state return option is now included with the package.
If you’re expecting a hefty refund, you can get an additional bonus from H&R Block.
When you e-file, choose to receive $100 increments of your refund in gift cards from your favorite retailers (think Amazon, Target and Nordstrom). H&R Block will kick in an extra 5% toward the gift card amount.
5. TaxSlayer
If a 1040EZ is all you need to file, TaxSlayer will help you do it online for free.
The Free Basic Edition offers a deduction finder, and you can add your state return at no charge.
Active-duty military members receive a free classic edition federal tax return through TaxSlayer offers.
6. TaxAct
If you simply need to file a 1040EZ/A, federal and state returns are free with TaxAct.
If you get a refund, you can choose to receive it on American Express Serve — a prepaid debit card that doesn’t require a credit check or minimum balance.
7. Liberty Tax Service
Wondering if Liberty Tax Service offers a free filing option? It does, but you wouldn’t guess it looking at DIYTax — no Statue of Liberty logos here.
DIYTax promises free, easy e-filing for 1040EZ/A and state returns.
Here’s another offering backed by Liberty Tax: ESmart Tax offers free e-filing of 1040EZ and state forms.
8. EFile
EFile.com offers free basic federal filing and advises this option if you’re single with no children and no mortgage.
If you need to file a state return and expect a refund, choose to have the fee for your state filing deducted from your refund. You can get 50% off if you file with your state when you enter the promo code “5savefile17.”
If things get complicated, EFile promises to charge for only the least expensive service you need. There’s no pressure to get a deluxe package if you won’t use all the perks.
Bonus: Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA)
Want to talk it out? Sit down with an IRS volunteer.
If you make $54,000 or less, have a disability, are elderly or speak limited English, it’s free to use the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program.
Electronic filing also is available in some locations.
Search the IRS database of VITA centers — a lot of them are at local libraries — to see if you need an appointment.
The IRS also offers Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) at some locations. It’s free if you’re over 60, and volunteers are well versed in financial concerns for retired individuals.
All volunteers are certified by the IRS, and many have professional backgrounds in accounting and finances.
Lisa Rowan is a writer and producer at The Penny Hoarder. She stocks up on antacids during tax season.
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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This is Why You Still Have to Pay Taxes on Gift Cards from Survey Sites
You probably know surveys aren’t our favorite way to make extra money, but we make an exception for when you’re just hanging out — e.g. watching T.V., riding the train, in the back of an Uber. Might as well click a few buttons and make some money while you’re at it.
Ipsos i-Say and InboxDollars are two of the rare legitimate paid survey companies out there.
These sites typically pay in points instead of direct cash, but you can use those points to purchase gift cards with actual cash value. Should you prefer cash over the cards, you can turn around and sell any gift cards you earn.
Which leads us to a common question…
Do Paid Surveys Count Toward Taxable Income?
Whatever you earn through survey sites — or any other apps you use to earn money on the side — counts toward your gross income come tax time.
A reader recently wrote to ask us about this:
“Is there any way to make money or [earn] gift cards that isn’t going to have to be filed on our taxes as income? We are very close to the cutoff of paying full price for health care for our two children…”
Short answer: Not really.
Longer answer: Taxes are complicated, but let’s quickly break it down.
The IRS files all the money you receive into tons of different categories. It taxes most of them, including those you probably expect:
- Salary or wages
- Tips
- Freelance income ← Where your app income probably fits in.
Here’s why: Yes, technically you’re receiving the income as a “gift card,” but it isn’t a gift, per se.
To the IRS, cash equivalent items look just like income, so you count them as part of your wages.
More Things That Count Come Tax Time
Because we know you like finding creative ways to make money, here are some taxable items you might not expect:
- Bartering: If you fix your neighbor’s chimney in exchange for their son mowing your lawn, the IRS wants to know the value of those lawn-mowing services.
- Gambling winnings: You have to report any money or prizes you win gambling. But you can deduct your losses. That’s one stroke of good luck!
- Hobby income: Do you make money from a blog or selling antiques? You have to report that. But you can also deduct expenses, like hosting or travel, up to the amount of your hobby income.
- Illegal activity: Did you earn money selling drugs or a stolen car this year? (Please don’t answer that.) The IRS wants to know about it. So do your local police.
- Canceled debts: Pay attention to this one. If you negotiate with a creditor about credit card debt or a hospital to reduce a medical bill, you’ll have to report it as income.
- Alimony: This counts as income in the eyes of the IRS. (Child support is different. Keep reading.)
What You Don’t Have to Count as Income for Tax Purposes
Back to that reader question… here are a few things you don’t have to report as taxable income:
- Olympic medals and prizes: Headed to the Olympics or Paralympics sometime soon? Thanks to a 2016 law under former President Obama, you won’t pay taxes on the spoils if you win.
- Child support: No taxes on child support you receive! The payer foots the tax bill on that money.
- Carpool money: If you drive in a carpool, any money you get from passengers is considered reimbursement for your expenses, not income. If you drive with a service like Uber or Lyft, however, you’ll pay taxes on that income as an independent contractor.
There are a few more untaxables, but they get pretty particular.
Bottom line: You’ll pay taxes on pretty much any money you bring in — including the stuff you get from survey sites and other apps.
If you want to keep your taxable income low, make sure you claim as many deductions as possible.
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, 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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Scam victims can’t always expect bank help
How easy is it to be tricked by crooks who steal money from your bank account? I reckon any of us could fall for a clever scam and think that the banks don’t do enough to ensure that our cash is safe from sophisticated tricksters.
On the other hand, we do have a responsibility to be wary and do everything we can to avoid becoming a fraud victim. That means not handing over our PIN or passwords.
But people will continue to be caught out as villains conjure up even cleverer and more convincing ways to steal our cash.
It happened to SM of Hitchin, Hertfordshire, late last year and left her losing around £10,000. The distressing experience prompted her daughter-in-law, FW, to ask for our help.
She says: “Just before Christmas, my mother-in-law was a victim of a sophisticated telephone online fraud. Both she and her husband are pensioners. They were at home one morning and their internet connection became very slow. Shortly afterwards, they received a call supposedly from BT Open Reach, which explained that the security of their internet connection had been compromised and that their personal information was at risk.
“They were told that they must immediately download some software on to their computer to ensure that their details remained secure. They were asked if they used internet banking, which they did, and were asked to input their details into the computer to make sure no money had been taken.”
It turned out the call wasn’t from BT and the couple had been tricked into handing over their banking details. The crooks then helped themselves and cleared out the cash from two accounts.
Would you have fallen for this? I can’t say with certainty that I wouldn’t, even though I’m constantly looking out for scams. So, I have every sympathy with SM and her husband.
But the subsequent response from the two financial institutions involved concerned me greatly. While Nationwide Building Society responded quickly and returned the stolen cash before I got involved, HSBC refused, effectively telling SM it was her own fault.
That felt like a total betrayal as she had had an account with the bank for around 50 years and actually used to work for it when it was called Midland Bank.
Nationwide’s response was exemplary. It responded quickly to hand back £6,000 that had been taken from a joint account she uses to pay for care.
It told me: “We sympathise with SM in what must have been a traumatic time. In general terms, where a customer does not authorise the transaction, we will look to refund them in full and as soon as possible.”
But HSBC proved Scrooge-like in its response.
FW reports: “Within a couple of days, it wrote to SM and told her that they considered her to be responsible for the fraud by typing in the security details and would not be returning the money or investigating further.
“She is not a wealthy woman and the £3,600 taken was money she had saved from a small pension, which she used for food, heating and so on. She was left with nothing and it caused her hardship.”
It’s preposterous that one financial institution can be understanding, while the other is not. I rang HSBC to say I thought it had failed in its duty to protect its customers, made worse by the fact that an ex-member of staff was involved.
Pleasingly, the bank responded positively and, within a couple of days, had handed the cash back. It said: “Each case is looked at individually and, following a review of SM’s case, we have decided to credit the £3,600 back to her account as a gesture of goodwill.”
That was great news.
FW says: “It is an enormous relief for them financially, but also it means the world to them that there are people willing to stand up for them.”
However, the underlying message is that if you fall for a scam, your bank may not bail you out.
HSBC says: “People should look at the finance industry’s Take Five campaign, which provides information on the techniques used by scammers, as well as giving important advice to customers on what they should do when receiving uninvited approaches, and requests to share financial information.”
OUTCOME: Victim handed back £3,600 by HSBC
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Could you make millions by self-publishing?
Publishing the first of the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy online turned EL James into a multi-millionaire and led to a Hollywood movie deal. If you are busy writing the next bestseller, read our guide to the key steps to self-publishing.
“Everybody does have a book in them, but in most cases, that’s where it should stay,” said Christopher Hitchens, the journalist and literary critic.
But if you have a half-finished novel in your bottom drawer, you may want to use your leisure time to make sure that it gets finished. After all, there is help available from a proliferation of creative writing courses to help you reach the right standard. And you can ask friends and family to read it with a critical eye too.
Once you’re happy that your book is worth releasing to the world, the next stage is to explore ways to publish your work.
There is the traditional route of sending a manuscript to a host of publishing houses – or literary agents – and hoping one takes a fancy to your work. But increasingly in the modern world you don’t need the backing of the likes of Simon & Schuster or HarperCollins.
Instead, you can publish an e-book – a digital version of your story – which can be read on a tablet, digital device or smartphone. The Publishers Association says the ebook market was worth £538 million in the UK in 2016 (the latest figures available).
Independent publishing
One popular option is to use Amazon’s self-publishing platform, Kindle Direct Publishing. Your work will be published as an ebook, with an on-demand print version, and available through Amazon’s Kindle stores within 48 hours.
You can set the price points for your book and you can reach a global audience, as the Kindle store is available in more than 100 countries. Authors can enjoy up to 70% royalties on sales, while there are plenty of options when it comes to what type of book you can produce. Comics and graphic novels can be published through the Kindle Comic Creator, while there is also the Kids’ Book Creator and Kindle Singles for short stories, typically of between 5,000 and 30,000 words.
But Kindle isn’t the only option if you want to publish your work as an e-book: there are other publishers you can use, including iBooks Author (Apple.com/uk/ibooksauthor/), Kobo (Kobo.com), and Smashwords (Smashwords.com).
But before picking a publisher, do your homework on what sort of distribution your work will enjoy and the amount of royalties you will be entitled to – while you can set the price of your book and publishing is free, commission rates do vary greatly.
Apple’s iBooks Author is available free from the App Store and includes templates to create books for iPhones, iPads, and Macs. You can then sign up and sell your books or offer them for free on the iBooks Store, using iTunes Connect.
Kobo will pay 70% of the suggested retail price that the author sets for their e-book, with a minimum price of £1.99 in the UK – you will need to include VAT in your ebook price.
With Smashwords, authors can earn 60% of the list price from major ebook retailers and up to 80% list at the Smashwords Store. Your ebook is published for free and you will receive commission on sales, receiving monthly payments for any income over US$75.
Start your own publisher
Alternatively, you could go the whole hog and start your own independent press. That’s what Karen Millie-James did when she set up King of the Road Publishing in 2016. She says that the world of publishing is “generally closed, unless you are very fortunate” and so decided to put her background in business consultancy to use.
She says: “I was ready to release my novel to the public and didn’t want to wait, so it was not a difficult decision to decide to publish my first novel myself.”
There are lots of things to consider if you want to take this approach, from registering a company to developing a website and opening a separate bank account.
Karen says: “A separate bank account will make it much easier for your accountant to prepare your annual accounts. Any monies you place into this account personally will be treated as loans to your company and when you start to receive monies from the sale of your book, you can repay yourself and it won’t be treated as taxable income. Be ready for initial outlays and financially plan for a buffer as there will always be another bill to pay as your own publisher.”
Go with the crowd
Another option is to try to crowdfund your book project. Crowdfunding publisher Unbound is dedicated to helping literary projects get the backing they need.
You pitch your book project, and if the commissioning editors like the sound of it they will work out what it would cost to produce and open it up for funding on the site. It’s then down to you to spread the word and try to drum up the funding you need to turn your book dream into a reality.
Thanks to Unbound’s tie-up with Penguin Random House, all books produced through the site are sold into the trade market and will appear in bookshops. A notable Unbound success was Paul Kingsnorth’s The Wake, which was the first crowdfunded book to be shortlisted for the Man Booker prize.
Successful independent publishing
Author David Leadbetter argues that from the outset it’s important to view your book-writing project as a business, pointing out that there is far more to becoming a successful self-published author than simply writing an interesting book. For example, you need to set aside time for spreading the word about your work.
He says: “You need to have a marketing plan too, and you may need to look at creating a brand, centered on your main character or series. You need to tell readers you exist.”
Social media can be very useful here. David used Twitter to build a following for his writing. “Learning how to use social media as a marketing tool was a big challenge,” he says. “I’d interact with other authors on Twitter, we would talk to each other and then they would retweet when I had an announcement. It helped to improve my visibility. You’ve got to market yourself, as there is no team behind you.”
Bringing in fresh eyes to help with the editing is essential too, to help cut out any typographical and grammatical errors.
Louise says: “Try to remain as objective about your work as possible. Do become attached to it, but get those professional editors and proof-readers looking at it. You need to go through all the stages that any good novel would do, to get it into the best shape.”
David agrees, pointing out that it is crucial to find “an editor that you can trust”.
A good to start when searching for a proof-reader is the Society for Editors and Proof-readers (SFEP). You can search its database of more than 700 professionals, or simply advertise your job and wait for them to come to you.
Alternatively, you can source Proof-readers by posting on social media or by using sites where people offer their services on a freelance basis, such as PeoplePerHour. However, if you do choose this route it’s crucial that you do your homework on their experience and previous quality of work as they will not be subject to the same standards as those who are members of professional proofreading bodies.
The SFEP suggests members charge around £23.35 an hour for proofreading, £27.15 per hour for editing and £31.30 per hour for substantial rewriting and editing. These rates are not set in stone though, so you may be able to negotiate a cheaper rate.
Getting the right cover is important too, as it is the first thing potential readers will see. This is something that a publishing house will sort out on your behalf, but if you are self-publishing it’s up to you.
Karen visited book stores to see what made certain covers stand out, from colours used to the design.
She adds: “It is worth spending money going to the right designer and there are many to be found on the internet. Ask around via social media platforms for recommendations as it doesn’t have to cost the earth. Then whittle down to two or three suggestions and put it out on Facebook. I did that with my first novel – red or white writing on the title – and not only did I get a huge amount of feedback, but it was fun and generated interest for the book itself.”
It really is down to you to decide just how much of the workload you want to take on when self-publishing.
As Louise concludes: “Outsource where you can, but with this model you can do as much as you like. The sky is the limit.”
“Self-publishing success is in your own hands”
David Leadbeater (left) is an example of a successful self-published writer.
David had been writing for years, but decided to try his hand writing a book specifically to be published for the Kindle. He spent a year and a half writing in the evenings after finishing his day job at a builder’s merchant, in which time he published four books.
“I had a look in the bank account and saw there was enough money in there to keep me going for two years if I quit work. It was basically now or never if I was going to make a good go of it,” he says.
Last year, his archaeological thriller, The Relic Hunters, won the first £20,000 Amazon Kindle Storyteller Award and he has sold around 750,000 copies of his 23 books.
The added control on offer from publishing independently was a big selling point to David.
“I realised that with Kindle Direct Publishing I would have full control of every aspect of the book, from the cover to publishing, and once the book was uploaded it would be easy to amend it if any errors had crept in,” he says.
“Doing it this way, your future success is in your own hands. But with a traditional publisher it’s up to a lot of people coming together to make it a success.
“You get instant feedback from readers”
Louise Ross (pictured above), author of the DCI Ryan mystery series, under pen name LJ Ross, took up writing while on maternity leave from her job as a lawyer. She published her first book through Kindle Direct Publishing in 2015 and has written five more titles in her series, selling more than 750,000 books in the process. She is now a full-time writer.
“I did what most people do, sending off manuscripts to a bunch of publishers. I got a decent response, but it was my husband who mentioned Amazon’s platform. The way I saw it was that you get to keep the economic and creative control side of things,” she explained.
“In my case, my work was a thread of romance with crime, which goes against the grain. Going down the traditional route it might have been difficult to market that, but with the indie route there are no limitations on what you want to write about.”
When the time came to publicise her work, Louise followed the example set by 50 Shades of Grey author EL James, starting a blog and releasing a couple of chapters ahead of full publication.
“I found that people were interested to see what happened next,” she says. “I had a small readership there and that was enough to get the ball rolling. You get instant feedback from readers; that’s another positive, not relying on advice filtered through from the publishers, you’re getting it directly. It means you can improve and take on the useful critique straight away.”
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Games? Books? Clothes? Seven Key Strategies for Making Expensive Hobbies Much Cheaper
As a fairly frugal person, I struggle with the fact that two of my favorite hobbies are closely tied with the idea of collecting things.
I love books. I love to curl up with a good book for many hours and get lost in them. Unfortunately, that does mean that I do sometimes buy books and over time I can wind up with a fairly big collection, which is in reality just a big sunk cost.
Similarly, I love big, long, strategic board games. I love to gather a few friends around a table for a few hours and dive deep into strategy, or even to pull out a solitaire game on a rainy afternoon and fill up a table with wooden bits and puzzles to solve. As with books, it does mean that sometimes I buy games and over time I’ve built up a rather large collection of tabletop games.
I’ve had other hobbies in the past that tended to involve buying new things regularly – golf comes to mind, most definitely, but there were other hobbies such as video games as well.
In the past, I tended to look at these hobbies as individual entities, with different strategies for cutting costs, but as time has gone on, I’ve found that most of the core strategies for keeping costs low on a hobby that gears itself toward the accumulation of things are very similar from hobby to hobby.
Here are the core strategies that I use in all of my hobbies and interests to keep my accumulation tendencies in check (more or less).
Strategy #1 – Aim for highly regarded things from the recent past rather than the latest and greatest.
When a new item comes out related to your hobby of choice, especially if it’s a high quality item that’s expected to be well regarded, it sells for a high price and is typically covered heavily in the media, particularly all media related to your hobby of choice.
I see it with books. I read several websites related to books and they’ll all be loaded down with reviews of the latest books from established authors or books of particular interest when those books come out. Right then, of course, those books are really expensive.
In a year or two, though, most used bookstores will have several copies of the big books from a year or two ago. They’re still just as good as they were then, but rather than paying $20 a book, you’re paying $2 or $3 a book.
I see it with board games, too. A new game comes along and it’s all the rage for a while. Of course, you can only find it for sale at MSRP.
Give it a year. After some play and some reviews, it’ll either continue to be well regarded or it’ll be exposed as a less compelling game without a lot of replay value. In either case, it’ll often be available for sale at a lower price at that point or available used.
This is true for almost every hobby out there. The thing that’s new and attracting a lot of attention is probably as expensive as it ever will be. Almost always, if you give it some time, the price will start to decline and you’ll see it popping up occasionally in sales.
My favorite example of this comes from the video game hobby, where really good games come out listed for $60 or so, but if you wait two years to see which games win “game of the year” awards and remain very well regarded, you’ll see those games be available for a fraction of their original cost, often with expansion packs built into the game, and they’re still just as fun as they were when they first came out two years ago.
That doesn’t mean that these items are no longer good. It just means that the premium cost of having the latest and greatest thing has faded away. For anything that isn’t actually perishable or are designed to quickly become obsolete, things that were useful a year ago are similarly useful now.
There’s also the used market…
Strategy #2 – Buy used items rather than new ones.
Hand in hand with the first strategy is simply buying those very items used rather than new and saving a ton of money in the process.
For many hobbies – video games, books, sports, board games, clothing, basically any hobby where you have stuff that isn’t consumed – there is some sort of secondary market where people buy and sell used items. You see secondhand sporting goods stores, used bookstores, used video game stores, and many websites that cater to those things as well.
Most of the time, buying an item used just means that you get a fully functional item with a minor bit of wear on it, but you pay a small fraction of the original price. Considering that you’re unlikely to completely wear out a hobby item, that’s a pretty good deal, as it’ll probably last through all of your uses.
Take a used book, for example. Unless the binding is already falling apart, it will probably function perfectly well through your reading of that book.
A used board game is the same. It’s very unlikely that you’ll play the game so many times that the components fall apart, even if the first owner put a little bit of wear on it.
The key, then, is to find avenues for acquiring used items for your hobby. Are there local stores that deal in used items for your hobby? Used bookstores? Used sporting goods stores? Clothing consignment stores? Are there any stores that sell mostly new stuff but deal with used items, too?
Similarly, you can look online for communities that deal with used items. Most hobby sites have some type of forum for selling used items, which you can use to buy those items. Plus, there are more general services like eBay and Amazon Marketplace for finding used items of interest.
Strategy #3 – Choose items that will see a lot of re-use.
One of the big advantages of waiting for a while to buy an item is that it gives you a chance to see what people think about it after some time has passed, rather than relying on fresh reviews.
Is this item still holding up after a year? Is this a board game that is still interesting and fun after a lot of plays, or does it become dull after a few plays? Is this a book that people are deeply enjoying and even re-reading or using for reference, or is it one that people often don’t finish and can’t imagine re-reading? Is this a well-made item that is standing up to lots of use, or is it breaking or showing flaws pretty quickly?
By waiting for a while, you can learn from the first wave of buyers and thus choose items that will have a lot of use for you. Items that you’ll be able to use and use and use again are ones where you’re going to get the most value for your dollar.
For me, this shows up really well in the board gaming hobby. If you buy a new release, it’s really hard to tell whether or not this is a well designed classic or something simply rushed to market with little game design and some nice components. After some time has passed, you can pay attention to later reviews and figure out whether the game holds up to a lot of play. Are people still talking about it after many, many plays? Or is no one mentioning it any more after just a play or two? Hint: you want to choose the first type and avoid the second.
With other hobbies, you may want to consider other things. For example, with computer games, I tend to lean toward long, involved single player strategy games with lots of deployability because you will get many, many hours of play from them. Many short games are finished in just a few hours, or only remain enjoyable if others are playing it online.
The factor I like to think about is “what is my cost per hour I’m going to spend with this item?” If I spend $20 on a board game and play it ten times, and each time takes two hours, that’s about $1 per hour of entertainment. For me, that’s a great value. On the other hand, if I spent $40 on a new board game release, played it twice for an hour each time, and then realized I didn’t want to play it any more, my cost per hour is $20. That’s not good. The first game was obviously the better choice, and I was able to figure that out before buying by being patient and looking for clear indications that it had a lot of replay potential.
Again, you can translate this idea to almost any hobby. If you’re considering buying a Bluray, is this one you’re going to re-watch over and over again ($15 for 6 hours of entertainment because you’ll watch it three times, $2.50 per hour), or is it just a convenient way to see a new release ($20 for 2 hours of entertainment, probably never watched again, $10 per hour)? There’s a big difference there – one is probably worthwhile, while the other isn’t.
Another element to consider is whether or not your friends would also enjoy this item in the future (see Strategy #5 for more on why this is important). If you can find an item that a friend would also really like, you will get substantially more value out of that item.
Strategy #4 – Once you’re done with something, trade or sell it rather than building a collection of dusty things.
Once you’ve finished reading a book and you’re pretty sure you won’t re-read it in at least the next year or two, take it to a used bookstore and sell it or swap it. Don’t let it sit around and gather dust if you’re not going to use it again for a while.
The same is true for a video game. You beat a game! Great! Are you going to replay it with any seriousness in the next year or two? If not, trade it or sell it now.
That same idea holds true for almost any hobby item. If you’ve used it for a while and now you’ve reached a point where it’s doubtful that you will use it again any time soon, sell it off now while it still has maximum value.
This is a far better approach than allowing such items to build up around your home under the idea that you might someday possibly use some of those items again. Holding onto those items actually has a cost. You have to figure out how to store them, and that takes up space, and that space has a financial cost. You also have to maintain them, keep them organized, move them about – all of those have time costs and, if you move, a likely financial cost, too.
When you’re done with something, even if you think there’s a small chance you may want to enjoy it again or read it again in the future, let it go. Trade it off or sell it.
Strategy #5 – Make it social, and swap items frequently with friends.
Earlier on in this article, I mentioned that choosing items that your friends might be interested in is a good way of adding value to the items that you buy for yourself. Why? If you’ve chosen something that a friend might value, then you have a great opportunity to swap that item with a friend, or loan it to that friend under the idea that you might eventually borrow an item from them at some point.
This is something I do quite a lot with my friends with which I share hobbies. If I buy a board game, I’m usually thinking of them. I’ll often loan games to friends, swap games with friends, or sell games within the local board game group. If I buy a book, I’m often thinking about loaning that book to a friend who might also like it. Right now, I’m reading two different books loaned to me by friends and I have at least two loaned out to other friends.
You can do the same thing with DVDs, Blurays, clothes, sporting equipment, woodworking equipment… pretty much anything that you could buy for any hobby that you happen to share with a friend.
If you do this well, every item you buy is worth the use of at least one more similar item, and perhaps more. If you buy a book that you and your friend are both excited about, you can lend it to your friend when you’re done. They’ll probably do the same, so you’ll be able to read a book you’re excited about without paying a dime. It gets even better if you have a larger group. What if you have three or four friends that pass those books around? Suddenly, you have three or four books to read for every one you buy.
What I particularly like about this strategy is it inherently amps up the social nature of that particular hobby. If I have a few friends that are into a hobby, swapping items related to that hobby with them becomes a social opportunity, one that strengthens our friendship. I love stopping by a friend’s house to pick up a book or a board game, because it almost always turns into a conversation about that swapped item or about something else going on in our lives. It’s a great way to generate that face-to-face social contact that sometimes eludes us.
Strategy #6 – Learn where the bargains are found within your particular hobby.
As you become more passionate about a particular hobby, it is well worth your time to really dig into a hobby and figure out what the discount retailers are in your hobby.
Almost every niche in the world has retailers that target different aspects of that niche. Many retailers will try to be full service retailers, offering lots of customer service and help in finding the right product and many other features, which is really nice if you’re starting to get into a hobby.
Eventually, though, you’re going to know what you want and many of the benefits of a full service retailer are things that you just don’t really need any more. You might choose to still support them sometimes because of the convenience or because they help grow the hobby, but there is a huge savings in discovering who the discount retailers are which can get you the items you’re looking for at the lowest possible price.
It’s often not obvious who those discount retailers are at first, because the best discount retailers usually don’t spend much on marketing to get their name out there, instead relying on word of mouth to raise their recognition. Most such retailers are vastly less expensive than Amazon.
For example, in the board game hobby, two great examples of discount retailers are Coolstuffinc and Miniature Market, which consistently have prices that are far under other retailers and they have frequent sales that drop prices even further, so if you’re patient, you can pay surprisingly little.
There are several different discount book retailers around, too, such as Half Price Books, and they often dabble in buying and selling used books, too.
The trick is finding them, and that takes patience. If you’re in a particular hobby, it is well worth your time to figure out who the best discount retailers are.
Strategy #7 – Focus on the experience, not the item itself.
Almost every hobby is launched from an enjoyable experience. You try out something, find it really enjoyable, and want to experience it more.
Maybe you really enjoyed making a few food items in your kitchen, so it launched a cooking hobby. Maybe you read a few books that really tickled your brain, so now you’re a reader.
Whatever it may be, hobbies typically come down to experiences. The trick is keeping the hobby focused on the experience, rather than letting it be converted into having a focus on stuff.
For example, rather than focusing on the size of your book collection, focus on expanding your list of books that you’ve read and enjoyed. Rather than increasing your game collection, focus instead on increasing the list of games you’ve played, or the list of games you’ve played at least ten times. That’s actually my focus in my board gaming hobby these days – I’m trying to play every game I have at least ten times before getting new ones.
Let the actual stuff be as secondary as possible. You can always borrow a book at the library or from a friend or buy one inexpensively at the used book store. You don’t need to have a giant shelf of books. Focus not on the book, but on improving your own list of “books you’ve read.”
The challenge is that it’s often much easier to find a few spare dollars to buy a new game or book (or whatever item is related to your hobby) than to find a few spare hours to read a book or play a game, so in a life where you have extra money but not enough time, buying a game becomes a lazy substitute.
Don’t let that happen. Channel that emotion toward financial independence, or toward finding ways to have genuine lasting free time so that you can enjoy your hobby instead of just throwing money at it. If you’re throwing money at a hobby without enjoying it nearly as much as you want, then it’s a sign that your time priorities are sorely out of whack, and that’s a completely separate problem to solve.
Your hobby should be about your collection of experiences, not your collection of things. The few items you have for that hobby should be ones that are purely there to help you enjoy an experience in the near future, nothing more. Collect the experiences, not the stuff.
Final Thoughts
I find that these principles are helpful with almost any hobby that I might enjoy, whether it’s reading or hiking or cooking or preserving foods or playing games or anything else. I can apply almost all of these principles to any hobby that might be expensive and find that my costs go down while my enjoyment does not.
If you have an expensive hobby, try applying some of these strategies to your own hobby and see what happens. You might just find that you can get a lot more value for your dollar than you once thought.
Good luck!
The post Games? Books? Clothes? Seven Key Strategies for Making Expensive Hobbies Much Cheaper appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
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Here Are Ways to Skirt the Pink Tax on International Women’s Day and Beyond
Today and throughout the year, there are many ways people can work to improve the landscape for women — including helping to fight inequities that put women at a financial disadvantage.
For instance, many people in the U.S pay a “pink tax” on some personal hygiene and toiletry products, like razors and shaving cream.
The term “pink tax” refers to products with pink or flowery packaging that brands believe will appeal to women.
The product inside is often identical to the company’s product designed for men, but it costs more.
The pink tax also extends to products designed for managing menstruation. Although the FDA considers tampons and pads medical devices, some states classify them as a luxury item rather than a tax-exempt necessity.
Florida was the most recent state to eliminate taxes on tampons and pads, saving residents an estimated $11 million per year.
There’s not much you can do if your state taxes these personal-hygiene products but, there is another way to avoid the pink tax on other items.
Next time you’re stocking up on razor, deodorant and other toiletries, shop by price, not packaging.
We did a little comparison shopping to learn which brands sell products to men for at a far lower price point than products for women.
Suave shampoos were priced about the same, but Dove’s Men + Care line cost less than the same products for women.
The price disparity isn’t always in favor of men, though. We found that a men’s razor was almost $14 more than the women’s version.
The bottom line? It pays to shop around no matter what your gender.
Lisa McGreevy is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She loves telling readers about how to find the best health and wellness deals, so look her up on Twitter (@lisah) if you’ve got a tip to share.
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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How to Win Big at Estate Auctions and Furnish Your Home on the Cheap
An estate auction can be as much of an opportunity to fill your home as it is to empty someone else’s.
Estate auctions buy items either from the estate sales of people who have passed away or from willing sellers looking to unload excess stuff. Items up for sale can range from small lots of blankets and kitchen wares to larger offerings like cars, boats, and mobile homes, but it’s the items in the middle that offer some of the biggest bargains.
Five years ago, my wife and I purchased our first home: A more than 2,400-square-foot, 19th-century Oregon farmhouse on two acres that also included various outbuildings, an English garden, and a sprawling goat pen complete with two goats (who were given to us as part of the terms of sale).
We’d bought it as a short sale, and the previous owners were kind enough to leave some furnishings behind, but we’d moved from a 650-square-foot apartment and had never lived somewhere with more than 900 square feet of space.
During our first week in the house, as we watched television in a largely empty room and sat on delicate antique chairs left behind by the previous owner — each chair creaking as if to warn us that they wouldn’t see another century — we knew we needed some help. Our old couch wouldn’t fit through the narrow doors and was relegated to the basement (where it remains), our living room was now one of two largely empty living rooms in the house, and our bed frame was propped up with remnant lumber after two moves in two years — including one 3,000 miles across the U.S. — had taken a toll.
My wife’s cousin, who lives just a few miles away, informed us of an estate auction near our house and took us to a low grey building in Hillsboro, Ore., that resembled a bingo hall. We signed in, got our number and, in our first night, came home with a large pine dresser ($35) that matched an armoire left by the previous owners and a swiveling armchair ($45) for my wife, who vowed to enjoy her next evening in the living room on a stable chair produced within the last century.
Over a span of three years, we went back to the Friday-night auction on an almost bi-weekly basis. We bought a sofa, two latch-front end tables/media cabinets, a coffee table, a tobacco cabinet (now just an odd end table), a record cabinet (used to store games and puzzles), a gate-leg side table, a wingback armchair, matching liquor and cocktail-glass cabinets, a bookshelf, a credenza, assorted lamps, a new bed frame, and a lingerie chest. We also purchased smaller lots that included items like Pendleton blankets, a label maker, assorted glassware, and a whole lot of kitchenware.
Within that three-year period, we spent $2,456 to fill two living rooms, a dining room, a kitchen, our bedroom, and multiple guest bedrooms. That’s roughly $819 a year, which we still considered a sizable sum. However, when even a cost-conscious furniture store like IKEA proposes simple, no-frills rooms for $1,419, spending less than $300 per room feels pretty cheap by comparison; we were able to stretch our dollars further than we imagined.
When we more recently furnished an attached guest quarters with a floor-model sofa ($1,255.80), recliner ($1,362), and coffee table ($299) that, on their own, exceeded the cost of three years at the auction, we wondered briefly why we hadn’t just gone back and started placing bids again instead.
The answer is that estate auctions, while inexpensive, are fickle. Natalie Prinslow, business manager at our local auction house — Estate Sales Unlimited in Hillsboro, Ore. — has worked at the auction house founded by her parents for 33 years and notes that items typically sell for 25% to 50% of their original retail value. She also notes that said value can fluctuate from week to week.
During an auction held earlier this year on Super Bowl Sunday, Prinslow says a couch on the auction house floor sold for $375. The next week, a couch of the exact same brand, model, and condition sold for $1,100.
“Every auction is different,” she says. “It sometimes just depends on who shows up.”
Within the last two decades, Prinslow has watched the auction crowd shift from farmers coming in to buy equipment and inexpensive home goods to tech-savvy employees of Hillsboro businesses like Intel, Genetech, and SolarWorld who are less likely to take items that need some work and more interested in ready-to-use hidden gems. It’s why nights at previous auctions have featured modernist Eames lounge chairs and ottomans selling on the same night as Mantis gas-powered garden tillers and old Sears Kenmore basement refrigerators.
Typically, however, the demographics of the auction matter far less than the actual attendance. As Prinslow pointed out, there were far fewer buyers at an auction that competed directly with the Super Bowl than there was the following Sunday when there were fewer distractions. My wife and I paid considerably more for our second auction armchair ($85) than our first ($45), simply because we bid for the former at a well-attended midsummer auction and won the latter at a sparsely attended winter auction in late February.
While the price of some goods rarely changes — Prinslow says tools typically sell for close to their original retail price, while most jewelry gets a steep discount — there are some steps worth taking to ensure you’re getting the most value for your money.
1. Check with the Better Business Bureau: If you’re going to an estate auction for the first time and want to make sure you’re getting what you’re paying for, check with the BBB for reviews and complaints.
2. Ask the auction employees for help: Employees at a reputable auction house work the auctions regularly and can tell you who owned the product, what kind of condition they found it in, and how it’s holding up.
3. Test before you bid: Estate Auctions Unlimited allows potential bidders to start cars, fire up motors, plug in appliances, and get some idea of whether or not an item is worth buying. However, even Prinslow acknowledges that it’s difficult for staff to check every item themselves in estate auctions with hundreds of lots.
Beyond that, I’ll just let you know that you’re going to make mistakes. I ended up with a dead $20 hedge trimmer simply because I didn’t take the time to test it out. We bought a tiller in January that was useless when we finally went to fire it up in April — with our mower repairman declaring it dead on arrival.
You’ll also get really excited about items and end up with adrenaline-driven purchases you didn’t know you wanted. Some work out (a label maker in a box of old Nintendo games), and some just end up back at resale (we were never going to need 16 oil lamps, even at $10).
Just remember that you’re ultimately in control of what you spend, and you can always just walk away when you’re feeling rushed or cash poor.
“It’s up to you whether or not you want to bid that high,” Prinslow says. “It isn’t like the estate sales, where you pay a certain price for something whether you like it or not… it’s in your hands.”
Related Articles
- In Praise of Old Furniture
- The Life-Changing Magic of Buying Used Stuff
- 10 Things You Should Never Buy Used
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Walmart Is Rolling Out New Meal Kits, but Are They Worth up to $15 a Pop?
From finding recipes to cleaning up, meal planning is a bit of a process –– a process I could and would love to do without if meal kits would fit into my budget.
Instead, meal planning remains a constant battle for me, and if I don’t do it on the weekend, it’s not happening –– I’ll just end up stopping for fast food or skipping meals, neither of which is a great option.
For this reason, I haven’t given up hope for meal kit services. I’m convinced something will come along and cater to those who might not mind paying for the convenience but can’t always afford it. It looks like that day has come. Maybe.
Walmart just announced it has new meal kits available at 250 stores. The retail giant plans to expand their availability to 2,000 stores this year.
New Meal Kit Options Now Available From Walmart
Priced from $8 to $15, each kit is portioned to serve two people, and you don’t need a subscription. What’s more, the kits are available on store shelves and via Walmart’s Online Grocery Pickup service. Although they can be a little pricy, Walmart’s meal kits may be an option for people on a fixed budget.
I’ve used Walmart’s same-day pickup service for other items and walked out of the store feeling just as cool, calm and collected as when I walked in, so I’m game for testing same-day pickup with the new meal kits. But if you prefer not going anywhere near Walmart, the chain has meal kits, snack boxes and farm-fresh crates available for delivery, some of which come with free shipping.
Available Walmart meal kits include four preportioned options: steak Dijon, basil garlic chicken, sweet chili chicken stir-fry and pork Florentine. And if you’re already a fan of Walmart’s rotisserie chicken –– and live close to a participating store, of course –– you can now choose some curated ingredients to combine with the chicken for a quick meal, including Thai curry chicken and chicken fried rice.
If you’re like me and want something quick and easy, Walmart’s one-step meals may be worth looking into. There are 10 options available: chicken Alfredo, cheesy ravioli bake, meatloaf, spaghetti and meatballs, chicken Parmesan, pulled beef, chicken Marsala, curry chicken, pot roast and chicken enchiladas.
While I can’t say if these are healthy options just from reading the names, Walmart claims they are “made and assembled fresh in-store daily,” which means you may avoid the sodium and preservatives you find in the frozen food section — and maybe even feel a little more satisfied for almost the same price.
Jessica Gray is an editorial assistant at The Penny Hoarder. She plans to give Walmart’s meal kits a little test drive in hopes of finally solving her meal planning woes.
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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