Smokin’-Hot Growth, Good Salaries and Cheap Rent: These Cities Have it All

Hang with the Bigwigs as a Remote Coordinator for this Exec Search Firm

How are you at juggling?

Not the bowling-pin variety (although if you can do that, I’m totally impressed), but schedule juggling. As in, can you keep track of multiple travel arrangements, meetings, paperwork and more for high-level execs at multinational companies?

If you’re a master organizer, pencil yourself in for this remote recruitment coordinator job posted by search firm Korn Ferry International.

As a member of Futurestep, a division of Korn Ferry, you’ll deal directly with job-hunting executives, helping them coordinate travel, interviews and other logistical issues associated with starting a new job when you’re the CEO of a Fortune 500 company (or a similar leader).

Your salary will depend on which area of the country you live in, although the position pays a minimum of $35,000 per year, according to Futurestep Project Director Christin Davis.

You’ll be expected to work typical business hours, although overtime may be required.

Not the job for you? No worries. There are plenty of other gigs on our Facebook Jobs page. We post new opportunities there all the time.

Work-From-Home Recruitment Coordinator at Korn Ferry

Responsibilities include:

• Scheduling and coordinating all aspects of the recruitment and hiring process for executive job candidates
• Conducting research and tracking candidates throughout the recruitment process
• Sending compliance forms and letters, ensuring their accuracy
• Performing administrative duties like answering the phone, faxing and handling email correspondence

Applicants for this Korn Ferry job must have:

• Two or more years of complex scheduling experience (one year with Applicant Tracking System is preferred)
• Two or more years of experience in a corporate team and matrix-managed environment (at least one year in the staffing, human resources or recruiting industry is preferred)
• At least two years of experience with business software like the Microsoft Office suite (especially Outlook)
• High school diploma (bachelor’s degree preferred)

Benefits:

• The company provides your laptop and any technology necessary for the role, Davis said.

Apply here for the work-from-home recruitment coordinator job at Korn Ferry International.

Tiffany Wendeln Connors is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder.

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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New Guidelines Say Protect Babies From Sun Now to Prevent Skin Cancer Later

I’ve never met a kid (or an adult, for that matter), who enjoys being slathered in sunscreen before going outside.

They squirm and wiggle so much that it’s tempting to just give up, stick a hat on ’em, and hope for the best.

But the next time you take your child to the pediatrician for a wellness checkup, don’t be surprised if the doctor reminds you about the importance of sunscreen and other ways to protect your child from too much exposure to the sun.

New guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommend physicians begin counseling parents on skin-cancer prevention for children as young 6 months old.

The volunteer panel of national experts in disease prevention say advising parents of the risks of exposure to UV radiation could reduce their risk of skin cancer down the road.

Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the U.S., according to the task force.

While anyone can develop skin cancer, people with fair skin, light hair and eyes, freckles and those who sunburn easily are at increased risk.

Organ-transplant recipients and people with skin moles, HIV infection or a family history of skin cancer are also vulnerable.

Protecting Your Child From Skin Cancer

There are a few ways to protect your child from harmful UV radiation.

• Regular application of broad-spectrum SPF 30+ sunscreen (no matter how much they squirm)
• Stay in the shade instead of direct sunlight when outdoors
• Avoid bright surfaces like snow and sand that reflect UV rays
• Cover exposed skin with clothing and wide-brimmed hats
• Avoid the sun during peak UV hours of 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. standard time and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. daylight saving time.

Like learning to brush their teeth, developing good skin-cancer prevention habits while they’re young will serve your children well into adulthood.

Lisa McGreevy is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She remembers the days when people basted themselves in baby oil and fried on a lawn chair. Don’t do that.

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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Trent’s Frugal Picks: 12 Low-Cost Options I Seriously Like

Quite often, I’ll get messages from readers asking for a good “bang for the buck” or low cost recommendation for a particular type of product. Often, it’s hard for me to give a strict recommendation, as I’m usually just using a store brand or something I happened to find on sale once and I can’t say based on my experience that this is really good value; I just know that it does the job for the price.

Having said that, there are some products for which I have actually tried lots of variations at lots of different price points and discovered that they provide a lot of value for their low price. Here are twelve of those specific recommendations. If you’re looking for an item of that type, consider the items listed below to be my personal recommendation for a very good value for the price.

The prices listed are the normal prices on these items. I’ll buy them at normal prices, but if they’re ever on sale below that level, I’ll stock up.

Automobiles: Toyota

My starting spot for any automobile purchase is to carefully examine the Toyota model in the type of car I would be purchasing. There are several reasons for this, the big one being that Toyota is consistently #1 in terms of reliability among all car brands, even higher-cost brands like Lexus and BMW and Infiniti. Toyotas tend to hold their value and tend to last a very long time, so they’re the brand I look to first when shopping around.

In my own experience, Toyotas in particular (and Hondas to a somewhat lesser extent, but far better than most other companies) are simply reliable vehicles, and that’s my primary concern when buying a car. A reliable vehicle simply means that, on average, it’s going to work when I want it to for more miles than other vehicles assuming I keep up with the regular maintenance, and that’s really all you can ask for. Our experience with Toyota reliability in terms of bang for the buck is unparalleled, and the Consumer Reports data matches up well with our own observations.

I have had positive experiences, or have close friends with positive experiences, with automobiles made by Honda, Kia, and Subaru as well, brands which also rank well on the Consumer Reports data shared above. Those are the brands I look to next if I can’t find a late model used Toyota available in the model that I’m looking for.

Batteries: IKEA ALKALISK alkaline battery ($1.99 per 10 pack for AA), available at IKEA

These are tremendously good batteries for $0.20 a pop, almost unbelievably good. They seem to last and last and last in almost any device that you put them in, and although they’re not rechargeable, it is rather easy these days to recycle them if you’re environmentally conscious, as many stores and recycling centers have places to deposit batteries for recycling. I’ll often buy these as the batteries I use in items that might leave our home, such as grabbing a few batteries for someone’s device that they might take home with them or for a gift-related occasion.

If you do wish to use recyclable batteries, I give a nod to Sanyo eneloop rechargeable batteries. They’re not the cheapest, but they hold charge so well that they’re almost indistinguishable from single-use batteries, and if you just leave the charger in a wall outlet, the process for swapping them out is easy. Just pull a few fully-charged batteries out of a drawer, put them in the device that needs batteries, then put any used-up batteries right into the charger until the light turns green, and when you notice a green light, toss those batteries in the “battery” drawer. The initial cost is high, but the cost per use after that is nice and low.

Dishwasher Detergent: Kirkland Signature Premium Dishwasher Pacs ($0.10 per load, from Costco) or Member’s Mark Ultimate Clean Automatic Dishwasher Pacs ($0.10 per load, from Sam’s Club)

We are Sam’s Club members (because there isn’t a Costco reasonably close to our house, so the choice is kind of made for us), and my hands-down preferred dishwashing soap is the large tub of Member’s Mark Ultimate Automatic Dishwasher Pacs. At a little less than $0.10 per load, these are about the cheapest pacs I’ve found anywhere and they do a stellar job, better than virtually anything else I’ve tried.

The only ones I’ve tried that are comparable are the ones from Costco (specifically, Kirkland Signature Premium Dishwasher Pacs) that I’ve used when visiting friends, which are basically identical in terms of function and cost. They’re just as good as the Member’s Mark ones, as far as I can tell, and come in right at $0.10 per load.

Honestly, I’ve tried and I can’t make decent homemade dishwashing soap that cheap. I can make some batches that are notably cheaper per load, but they do not work as well. I’ve also made homemade batches that work just as well, but they’re not any cheaper per load.

This is one of those cases where the best deal really is found at a warehouse club, whether you’re a Sam’s Club member or a Costco member. This is an automatic buy for me from Sam’s Club whenever I visit, because it just doesn’t get better or cheaper per dishwasher load.

Disposable Razors: Dorco

I’m not going to get into the debate over disposable razors versus double-edged safety razors versus straight edged razors versus just growing a beard. There are advantages and disadvantages of both, mostly oriented around safety and time and other factors. I am personally partial to a Merkur double-edged safety razor when I have time to shave well and really want to look and smell good, but I use a cartridge/disposable razor for my daily quick shave when I’m just going to be at home working or doing only light things outside the house.

Dorco is the best “bang for the buck” option I’ve found in terms of quality disposable razors. They’re the cartridge manufacturer for Dollar Shave Club, but it’s cheaper if you just buy a pile of cartridges straight from them instead of subscribing to the shave club, because you can decide for yourself when to get more and you can make a big bulk purchase. They offer razors designed for men and women with several different variations.

Over the years, I’ve figured out how to get a lot of uses out of a single cartridge. My favorite tactic is to shave in the shower using a wet shaving technique with a bit of soap (my face is very wet and mostly under the water when I shave). When I’m done, I rinse out the razor, then run the razor in reverse direction up my arm with a bit of soap on it, literally the opposite of how I would move it if I were shaving, which is a simple way to gently re-hone the blade, and after the shower I take a few seconds to dry it off with my towel. This enables me to get dozens of uses out of a single cartridge. By now, I can feel when it’s time to replace the cartridge, as it starts to get a little rougher when shaving, though it doesn’t nick me or anything – it just feels rougher on the skin.

So, this is the system I use. Most days, I use a cartridge razor and quickly wet-shave in the shower, honing the razor on my arm and then drying it off as described above. On special occasions, I’ll take my time and shave with a safety razor, which gets a bit closer shave and definitely has a nice smell without being very costly, either.

Dry Pasta: Barilla, Ronzoni, or store brand, whichever is cheapest

I’ve tried lots of different kinds of pastas over the years, including even making it myself (honestly, I like homemade the best, but unless you have an automatic pasta maker, it’s pretty time intensive). What I’ve found is this: if you cook it according to package directions, add a healthy dash of salt to the water, leave it just a little underdone, and accompany it with some sort of tasty sauce or other ingredients, almost every dry store-bought pasta is perfectly good. The cheapest store brand dry pasta is about 80% as good as any other brand – they’re all really pretty close.

So, I honestly often choose Barilla, because it’s a low-cost type of pasta and there’s a Barilla factory not too far from where I live, so I like to believe it’s a form of “buying local,” at least for me. Usually, Barilla’s price is at least comparable with the store brand.

For people not in my area, I encourage you to just choose the least expensive option, which in my experience is usually either Barilla, Ronzoni, or store brand, depending on the store and the situation. All of them are perfectly good pasta, though none are as good as homemade.

Laundry Soap: 1 cup of washing soda, 1 cup of borax, and 1 cup of soap flakes (48 loads, roughly $0.03 per load)

My preferred laundry soap – which costs about 10% as much as buying Tide at the store – is simply a cup of washing soda powder, a cup of borax, and a cup of soap flakes in a plastic container, tossed around until thoroughly mixed, with a measuring teaspoon in there. Whenever a load of laundry needs to be done, just toss in a teaspoon of that powder mix and it’ll get nice and clean.

While the prices aren’t as good as what I can find locally, you can buy washing soda, borax, and soap flakes on Amazon. Together, these ingredients add up to a cost of about $0.05 per laundry load by my quick back-of-the-envelope math. You can cut that price by buying bars of soap and grating them.

This mix does a stellar job cleaning laundry, leaving it comparable to smell and coloration to most detergents I’ve used. The only time I’ve found a use for detergent is when you’re dealing with an actual stain, in which case I rub a few drops of detergent straight into the stain, which takes care of the problem. For normal dirty laundry, this laundry soap mix does the job perfectly and far cheaper than anything I’ve found on store shelves.

Pasta Sauce: The least expensive without high fructose corn syrup, usually Classico, or tomato sauce and diced tomatoes mixed with herbs

There are really two routes to go when it comes to pasta sauce. One route is to make it yourself, which I’ll do sometimes by adding herbs to a can of tomato sauce and a can of diced tomatoes. This is usually the cheapest route, but not always, as the total cost hovers somewhere a little north of $2.50 (assuming I’m using dried herbs at home or fresh ones out of our garden). You can also do this easily with your own tomatoes from your garden, which takes more work but tastes amazing. I don’t really have a strict recipe other than mixing a can of sauce, a can of diced tomatoes, and some herbs and other ingredients together until it tastes good – usually dashes of basil and oregano and ground black pepper.

The other route is to buy a prepared pasta sauce, but so many of the low cost pasta sauces add high fructose corn syrup to the sauce, and that’s just something I strive to avoid. The health cost of just adding a bunch of needless sugar or corn syrup to your diet isn’t worth the little bit of savings one might get from a cheap pasta sauce, so I glance at the inexpensive ones and buy one that doesn’t have HFCS or added sugar in it. Often, the one that ends up in the cart is Classico brand, as many of the less expensive options (like store brand, Ragu, and many of Prego’s offerings) include high fructose corn syrup or sugar as an ingredient. The modern American diet already has too much sugar in it which is leading to a diabetes epidemic; why have a bunch more in a food item that doesn’t even need it to taste delicious?

Pens: Uniball Signo 207 ($0.50 each, Amazon)

All I really want from a pen is that it doesn’t leak, it writes when I pick it up so I can actually use all of the ink in the pen, and it doesn’t leave big ink globs all over the paper. A lot of super-cheap pens do at least one of these things, and many do more than one of these things.

The Uniball Signo 207 doesn’t; it’s the cheapest pen I’ve found that doesn’t leak ink everywhere, writes virtually every time when I pick it up, and doesn’t leave big ink globs on the paper. For me, that’s worth paying $0.60 for a pen that’ll write for several weeks.

The worst problem I’ve ever found with these pens is that every once in a while, you’ll get one that skips when you write, and you can fix that by simply taking another one that works and swapping the heads on them, which takes about five seconds.

There are similar pens that you can sometimes find for this price, like the Pilot G2, but this one is consistently the lowest priced “good” pen out there, and thus I use it all the time.

Shampoo: Whatever’s on sale

For me, the solution to inexpensive hair care is to keep a short, simple cut that simply doesn’t require much care. I keep my hair quite short so that I never have to use much shampoo or conditioner to clean it and there are minimal ill effects from using the “wrong” shampoo or conditioner.

So, my solution is to simply buy whatever’s cheap or on sale, put it in a pump bottle, and use a single pump to wash my hair. I often end up buying brands like Pert or Suave or whatever the store brand is.

When my hair was longer, I frequently had dandruff issues if I used the wrong shampoo. Now that it’s short, I just use very little shampoo or conditioner on it – in fact, sometimes I don’t even use any at all – and it seems to never matter what shampoo or conditioner I use. Nothing really causes dandruff, and I think it’s because I don’t use much hair care product. Because my hair is short, oil levels in the hair tend to be a minimal issue, too.

The secret is just keeping it short by getting it cut regularly, which I usually do myself.

Toilet Paper: White Cloud Ultra ($6.27 for 12 rolls of 231 sheets per roll, or roughly a cent per five sheets)

For me, the threshold of good toilet paper is that it doesn’t disintegrate and doesn’t feel like sandpaper. Once we pass that threshold, I go for cheap, and the best bargain I’ve found that clearly passes that threshold is White Cloud Ultra.

It’s cheaper per sheet than a lot of store brand scratchy toilet paper, but it’s soft and absorbent and doesn’t fall apart at a single touch like cheap toilet paper often does. It’s everything I need, and it’s cheap enough that even sale prices on other toilet papers that aren’t scratchy don’t come close to this price.

Warehouse Clubs: The most convenient one for you

As I mentioned earlier, Sarah and I are Sam’s Club members, simply because there isn’t a Costco or BJ’s close enough to our home to warrant a membership. I can drive about 15 minutes to one Sam’s Club and about 20 minutes to another one, while the nearest Costco is an hour away.

Having said that, I’ve shopped at Costco and BJ’s in the past and… honestly… the differences between the three warehouse clubs in terms of the shopping experience and prices is pretty minimal, enough so that if I lived near all three of them, I’d probably choose one out of pure convenience and use that for most bulk buys.

What if they were exactly equal in terms of convenience? I’d slightly lean toward Costco because of their employment practices, but factors like large crowds at one versus small crowds at another would be enough to sway me in a different direction, as I prefer not to wait in checkout lanes or have to wait to go down crowded aisles.

All warehouse clubs, in the end, offer the same thing: they offer strong prices on bulk buys of many product types, though the prices aren’t constantly better than your local discount grocery store. You have to shop at both and watch the prices.

Wines: Charles Shaw Blend Cabernet Sauvignon (red, $2.99 per bottle) or Charles Shaw Pinot Grigio (white, $2.99 per bottle), both available from Trader Joe’s

Colloquially known as “two-buck Chuck” or “three-buck Chuck,” the Charles Shaw store brand of wine from Trader Joe’s is what I call good to very good wine at a spectacularly low price, with the blend cabernet being the best red wine option and the pinot grigio being the best white option to my taste buds. I would have no hesitation serving these wines at dinner parties if there were no other options (meaning a guest didn’t bring a bottle), and I’m happy to have them on hand for family meals, as Sarah and I will often enjoy a glass of wine with dinner. With these bottles, it reduces the cost of a glass of wine well below a dollar.

Now, are these the best wines in the world? Absolutely not. Are they pretty good wines that are very consistent and pair well with lots of meals? Absolutely.

If there is interest, I might make this into a semi-regular feature on The Simple Dollar. If there’s a particular product type you’d like me to look at, please follow me on Facebook and send a quick message, which is the most effective way to reach me.

Related Reading: 

• The ‘Buy It for Life’ Compendium, Volume 2
• 30 Generic and Store-Brand Items I Use – and Five I Don’t
• 12 Simple Frugality Tips that Just Work

The post Trent’s Frugal Picks: 12 Low-Cost Options I Seriously Like appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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Why You Should Think Twice About Buying Something Because It’s on ‘Sale’

Today’s retail competition is nothing short of ferocious.

While many stores battle bankruptcy threats, they must also go toe to toe with new, web-savvy competitors almost daily.

So the pressure is on to keep prices low and the discounts flowing. That is, until shoppers catch on.

Consumers’ Checkbook, a nonprofit with publications in seven cities, sent a team of four to conduct weekly price checks on more than 350 items at 19 major retailers over a 10-month span. The team discovered “disturbing” pricing at 17 of the 19 stores sampled.

“Many sale prices — even those that advertise big savings — are bogus discounts, with the same price called a sale price more than half the time,” the report, led by executive editor Kevin Brasler, stated. “For several chains Checkbook found most items we tracked were offered at a false discount every week, or almost every week we checked.”

Checkbook discovered “usually misleading” sales at JCPenney, Kmart, Kohl’s, Macy’s, Neiman Marcus and Sears, which offered sale prices more than 75% of the time.

“At Neiman Marcus and Sears, 10 of the items we tracked at each retailer were on sale every time we checked for 10 times,” the report noted.

Add up the offenses of all 17 of the 19 retailers examined and you’ll find that items were listed as “on sale” 57% of the time, “meaning that more often than not they promoted prices as discounts that weren’t really special prices,” the report explained.

The only two retailers to pass the deceptive pricing test were Costco and Bed Bath & Beyond, both of which “consistently conducted legitimate sales.”

The organization found similar results when it conducted a test in 2014 and 2015, though that study was smaller and included fewer stores.

“This practice of having constant sales is much more prevalent than it was three or four years ago,” Brasler said by phone.

He said that appliances, mattresses, and rugs and carpets are some of the long-standing worst offenders for being on forever-sale.

Sales Quest: Savvy Retailers vs. Smart Shoppers

Consumers’ Checkbook claims the practice of consistently offering sale prices manipulates shoppers.

“If something is being offered at a 60% discount, what’s the point of comparing prices elsewhere?” Brasler’s summary of the report asks.

The Penny Hoarder noted this deceptive pricing influence during our annual review of Black Friday advertisements. When we cross-checked major retailers’ ads against manufacturers’ suggested prices for big-ticket items, we found there weren’t too many deals worth waking up early to grab.

Eric Jones, co-owner of deals site Best Black Friday, said clothing, small appliances and home goods are often on sale in part because we keep buying them to use in everyday life.

“Those really good deals draw you in, and stores hope you’ll pick up some hand towels or a T-shirt” or another item that helps them make up the profit they lost on the sale item, Jones explained.

His site has conducted comparisons to see which stores repeat deals every Black Friday (Answer: almost all of them). But the Black Friday moniker is showing up at other times of year now, from Spring Black Friday at home and garden stores to Prime Day shoved into the middle of summer.

Repeated sales delude shoppers into thinking they can get good deals all the time, Jones said.

“You can’t have a good deal every single time,” he explained. “That’s not a sale price, that’s just a regular price.”

Jones’ top tip for sleuthing deals over duds: Check a retailer’s price against Amazon. If it’s similar or lower, it’s probably a good deal.

“It’s clear that retailers know they can’t complete on price with online competition,” Brasler said. “It’s not just competition with Amazon, but other outlets, too. They can’t compete on price so they create the illusion of having low prices.”

And it works.

Brasler said major retailers have more and more data available to confirm that offering constant sales works to drive traffic — at least for now.

“Everyone is guilty of this as a shopper,” Brasler said of falling for these ploys. “Everyone wants to feel like they got a bargain, that they can afford to buy more.”

Lisa Rowan is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder.

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 Woman Wanted More Time Off — Here’s How She Negotiated With Her Boss

How to Use Balance Transfer Cards to Score 0% APR on a Big Purchase

Eastburg's Weis Markets to offer online shopping

Weis Markets on North Courtland Street in East Stroudsburg has begun offering its customers online ordering and curbside pickup.The parent company is rolling out the service, called Weis 2 Go is in 25 locations including the East Stroudsburg store. Other stores include the Lehigh Valley.Weis 2 Go Online Shopping allows customers to order online and pay through a secure PayPal system or at the store with curbside checkout. Each order is hand-picked by trained personal shoppers [...]

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This Nonprofit Will Literally Pay You Up to $60 Just for Saving Some Money

We all know building habits is hard.

And few are harder to build than the habit of saving money.

But what if someone paid you to save? Would that get your attention?

We recently discovered a program that’s paying 14,000 people to save money. And you could be next…

Why Saving Money Matters

In 2001, a nonprofit organization called EARN was founded in San Francisco.

Its mission? Help local low-income families save for big-ticket items like a house or a college education.

Over more than a decade of running the program, however, EARN discovered its users weren’t motivated by those big goals. They were motivated by having something to fall back on.

“What changed for them the most was having that money in the bank,” says Shana Beal, director of communications for EARN. “It gave them confidence and hope that things could be better.”

And they were right to feel that way.

Families with savings between $250 and $749 are less likely to be evicted, miss housing payments, or receive public benefits after a job loss or health issue.

“We call it the ‘savings cushion’ of $500,” Beal explains. “Without that, if you get a flat tire and you use your car to get to work, you could end up getting fired. Having that money in the bank really increases your financial resilience.”

How SaverLife Pays You to Start Saving Money

Unfortunately, nearly half of Americans don’t have access to such a savings cushion. So EARN decided to help people build one incrementally, and on a national level.

In October 2016, it launched the EARN Starter Saving Program, which incentivizes people to save small amounts of money. Since the program’s inception, it’s helped users save more than $1 million.

The platform recently rebranded as SaverLife, and now has 14,000 active savers.

Its flagship program is called “Save $20, Get $10” — and just like it sounds, it’ll give you $10 for every $20 you save.

I know, I know; it sounds too good to be true. But stay with me… here’s how it works.

1. After signing up for a free SaverLife account, you’ll connect your savings account from your current bank. (The same way you would with, say, Paypal or Venmo.)
2. For six months, you’ll put at least $20 per month of your own money into your savings account. You’ll also receive weekly emails with tips and strategies from SaverLife’s financial coach.
3. At the end of each month, SaverLife will analyze your bank account to see how much you managed to save.
4. When the six-month period is over, it’ll deposit an additional $10 for every month you successfully saved at least $20.

In other words? If you were vigilant in saving every month, you’ll end up with a total of $180: $120 of your own money, plus $60 from SaverLife.

“What’s crazy is that most of our savers go way above that amount,” says Beal. “The average increase in wealth is $465.”

Even better, you could gain a long-lasting financial habit. Six months after finishing with the program, 84% of participants say they’ve developed a savings habit and are saving more than when they’d started, Beal explains.

How to Start Saving Money With SaverLife

The best part about SaverLife? (OK, aside from the free money?) It’s super easy to join.

The only eligibility requirements are that you’re at least 18 and have an email address and U.S. bank account.

SaverLife connects with more than 9,000 institutions, so if you don’t have a bank account yet, check out this list for some solid suggestions.

As for security, the site “uses the same encryption and security standards as banks,” says Beal.
“SaverLife only tracks your transaction amounts, and doesn’t store your online banking credentials.”

And, if you don’t want to participate in the program anymore, you can unlink your account at any time.

Ready to sign up? Follow these steps.

1. Visit SaverLife and enter your name and email address.
2. Connect your savings account by logging into your bank’s online portal.
3. For the next six months, deposit at least $20 per month into your savings account.
4. End up with $180 — and hopefully a savings habit to last a lifetime.

Right now, SaverLife is also offering a special bonus: Save at least $50 from your tax return, and you’ll be entered to win weekly prizes of $100 each through May 11, 2018.

Then, when tax season is over, you could enter its essay contest to win an additional $5,000.

What’s the Catch?

I know what you shrewd Penny Hoarders are thinking: There must be a catch. But I’m happy to report there isn’t one.

“We’re not trying to make any money,” says Beal. “We’re not stealing anybody’s data or trying to sell anybody’s product. Our mission is to see more people feel financially confident and stable — and make a better life for themselves through saving.”

The organization doesn’t need to charge fees because it’s privately funded: mostly through grants from organizations like The MetLife Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, J.P Morgan Chase and Capital One.

And though SaverLife is a fairly new program, EARN has been around for nearly two decades. It received a score of 70.91 (out of 100) from Charity Navigator for “financial health” and a score of 100 for “accountability and transparency.” It also has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau.

“Saving is something that everybody wants to do tomorrow,” says Beal. “It’s something that’s really long term and may not be at the top of your priority list when you have to feed a family tonight or get to work tomorrow…  

“But if you sign up and commit to finding that $20, it will change your life — it will give you that freedom and peace of mind today.”

Susan Shain is a freelance writer and digital nomad. She covers travel, food and personal finance (basically, how to save money so you can travel more and eat more). Visit her blog at susanshain.com, or say hi on Twitter @susan_shain.

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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