To help you on your work-at-home journey, The Work at Home Woman is giving away a $100 Amazon Gift Card! You can use this to purchase some new business books, modern office equipment or decor, a new coffee maker — whatever your heart desires! If you need inspiration — be sure to check out my […]
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In case you didn’t hear, Western Union is the subject of a class-action lawsuit. People were getting scammed, and the bad guys requested they send their money via Western Union. Apparently, a lot of people did just that.
If you were one of those people, then you have until May 31 to get your money back.
The Federal Trade Commission reported that Western Union received more than 550,000 complaints from people who had been scammed into completing a Western Union money transfer between January 2004 and August 2015.
Western Union failed to flag transactions it suspected to be criminal, according to the FTC, and agreed to pay $586 million to settle the class-action suit.
If you got suckered — don’t feel bad because many of us have at some point or another — and lost money to a scammer through a Western Union transfer between Jan. 1, 2004, and Jan. 19, 2017, you could qualify for a piece of the settlement.
If you have already reported your losses to the FTC or Western Union, a pre-filled claim form may have shown up in the mail.
If not, your best bet is to file your claim online. Start at the FTC's Western Union refund site, which will guide you through the steps. You will need to provide your Social Security number, which is why it is safer to do on the secure website than through the mail.
You do not have to pay any money or provide your bank information to get your piece of the settlement. If you receive an email or other correspondence asking you to do so, report it to the FTC, because it’s another scam.
Have as much info handy as you can, including how much money you sent, when you sent it and to whom, if possible. The more info you can provide, the better your chances of getting at least a portion of that money back.
How much money could you get from the settlement? It depends on the number of claims filed and how many the FTC can validate. Once the claims are tallied, it could take a year to see your check in the mail. It’s a slow process, but it’s better than nothing, right?
Always keep in mind that there are bad guys out there just waiting to grab your money. Keep your eyes open for scams, and do your due diligence before sending anyone money. You’ve worked hard for your money. Keep it safe.
Tyler Omoth is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder who loves soaking up the sun and finding creative ways to help others. Catch him on Twitter at @Tyomoth.
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.
Being a leader without having to work out of a cubicle? Even better!
Wayfair, the home goods e-commerce store, is hiring two levels of remote customer service managers to oversee teams of virtual consultants. The hours for these work-from-home positions are not specified.
The pay rate isn’t listed for either position, but customer service managers at Wayfair make an average of $17 to $19 per hour, according to Glassdoor salaries.
The company is looking for candidates with strong leadership experience and the ability to effectively manage remotely. That means no getting distracted by your cute K9s who want to play tug-o-war — your team is depending on you.
If management isn’t really your thing or you don’t fit the job requirements, that’s OK. Just mosey on over to our Jobs page on Facebook; we’re always posting new work-from-home jobs there.
Pay: Not specified
Responsibilities include:
Applicants for this position must have:
Apply here for the Virtual Customer Service Manager job at Wayfair.
Pay: Not specified
Responsibilities include:
Applicants for this position must have:
Apply here for the Senior Virtual Customer Service job at Wayfair.
Kaitlyn Blount 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.
One of my main motivations in my own financial turnaround was to escape the paycheck to paycheck life that we were living. I had begun to realize that people were really depending on me – not just my wife and my infant son, but my “future self” as well – and by living a lifestyle that could be so easily disrupted by unfortunate events, I was doing all of them a disservice.
What would happen to all of them if I suddenly lost my job? It wouldn’t be a good picture. We weren’t all that far from being homeless or having to move back in with my parents or Sarah’s parents if that happened. What kind of future trajectory does that give my life? It’s not one I really wanted.
What would happen to everyone if I got sick? What would happen to everyone if my car broke down? What would happen to everyone if we were suddenly robbed? What would happen to everyone if we were evicted from our apartment?
I didn’t have good answers to those questions. The truth is that our life, as it was, was incredibly fragile. There were all kinds of things that could easily cause it to shatter into a bunch of pieces.
I owed it to my infant son, my wife, my future children, and my own future self to build a much less fragile life, one that would be harder to disrupt due to an unexpected event or two. Over time, of course, that goal transitioned into financial independence, but even that goal is really just an anti-fragility goal.
So, how exactly does one make their life less fragile? Here are a number of steps I’ve taken over the years to achieve this very thing.
An emergency fund is simply cash on hand that you can use in case of an unexpected event. Typically, most of one’s emergency fund is stored in a savings account at a local bank, though some may keep a small amount of cash at home in order to cover more extreme emergencies. Credit cards generally aren’t good emergency funds because they will fail you in many events such as identity theft, natural disasters, electrical grid failure, communication network failure, and so on.
Having an emergency fund secures your life against many different kinds of small emergencies, such as a short period of unemployment, a car breakdown, appliance failure, many natural disasters, and so on. Simply having a couple hundred dollars in cash in your home or a thousand or two in cash at the bank makes those problems easy to handle when they would otherwise be rather difficult to overcome.
How can I get started with building an emergency fund? The easiest method is to simply take a little bit of money each week out of your checking account and put it into your savings account. Most banks allow this kind of transaction to be fully automated, so you don’t even have to think about it. Each week, $10 or $20 goes from your checking into your savings and you don’t even have to give it a second thought. After a year, that becomes a $500 or $1,000 emergency fund. I never shut my transaction off – if I find that my emergency fund has become unnecessarily big, I might invest some of it, but I usually just let it ride because there will always be an emergency at some point. Here’s a detailed guide to building an emergency fund if you want more details.
Personal debt creates fragility. If you put yourself into debt, you’re lashing yourself up to a monthly bill, which means that you have to be earning more money each and every month to keep the bills paid. If you don’t pay those debts, you may have things repossessed, face legal repercussions, and almost certainly see your credit score devastated. This puts additional pressure on you to keep earning money, and the consequences of unexpected expenses or a job loss become greater.
Of course, debt can be eliminated. Once you pay off a debt, you’ve lowered your monthly bills, which gives you more freedom to invest and save for the future and more flexibility in terms of life options while also increasing your ability to handle unexpected events.
How can I get started with eliminating debt? Start by making a debt repayment plan. A debt repayment plan is simply a listing of all of your debts, usually ordered by interest rate from largest to smallest (my preferred method) or by balance from smallest to largest. In either case, you make minimum payments on each debt and then make the largest possible extra payment you can afford on the debt at the top of the list each month. When the top debt is paid off, cross it off the list and keep going until all of the debts are gone.
Perhaps the best possible thing you can do to keep your career safe and secure is to keep your resume polished and strong. Having a good resume that’s attractive to employers and widely available will make hunting for a new job much, much easier. It will make the difference between success and failure if you find yourself out of a job or need to seek out a new job for any reason.
A good strong resume isn’t just one that’s updated with your latest activities, but is full of items that are relevant and interesting to potential employers. You want to make it your goal at work to take on tasks that are resume-worthy and potentially interesting to employers so you can add them to your resume, and you’ll also want to take on opportunities that bolster your educational certifications and skill set.
How can I get started with strengthening my resume? The first step, of course, is to get your resume freshly updated and available. One great way to do that is to simply use LinkedIn. You should also keep a document that contains a well-formatted resume and cover letter that mirrors the information on LinkedIn. In addition, you should look at jobs that are available in your field right now that you might be interested in and make sure that your resume addresses what those job listings are looking for. This might mean formatting your resume appropriately, but it also likely means seeking out certain kinds of resume-worthy tasks and educational opportunities at work. As you do those things, add them to your resume and keep it fresh.
When things get rough, a strong social network in your personal life and a strong professional network can help you through those challenging times. A great personal network can come through when you’re facing a personal crisis, providing help with things like emergency transportation or a place to sleep or things like that. A great professional network can do the same thing in your career, opening opportunities for you when you least expect them and also helping you transition to your next job when you need to.
Having those networks in place is invaluable when things go wrong, but it requires effort when things are going right, an effort that many people don’t put in. A strong social network and a strong professional network takes time and effort, but it can end up helping you far more than the effort and time you ever put into it.
How can I get started with building social connections and professional networks? Talk to people. Keep tabs on them by texting or calling or emailing or contacting them on social media regularly. Listen to them – don’t use this as an excuse to talk about yourself. Remember things about people and touch base with them on those things. The real key? When your friends or professional acquaintances need help, particularly when that help can be offered by you with little effort but can have a big impact on them, do it without question or expectation of anything in return. That builds goodwill, and that kind of goodwill is always a positive for you.
Just like the more financially oriented aspects of your life mentioned above, your health is also fragile. It can be hard to see it that way, especially when you’re young and really healthy, but your health will eventually slide off the rails if you don’t take care of your body from the beginning.
This has a financial implication, too. As your health declines, the cost of health care will go up and up and up. You’ll spend more on doctor’s visits, medications, devices… the list goes on and on. Having healthy life practices at the very least delays those costs and can even reverse or eliminate them.
It’s not that hard to keep your body healthy, either. Just eat more plants and don’t overeat. Walk more and find some fitness activities you enjoy and do them. It’s really not hard. You don’t need to master some sort of secret diet or secret super fitness routine. Just eat better food, not a ton of it, and move around more.
How can I get started with eating healthier and becoming more fit? When you’re loading up your plate, put more healthy things on it. That doesn’t mean avoiding the less healthy things you like – just put more healthy things on your plate and eat them first. Then, stop eating when you don’t feel hungry any more, not when you feel stuffed. Rather than just sitting around in the evening, go for a walk, or get up a little earlier and go for a walk to wake yourself up. Find some physically active things you enjoy doing and do them.
There are big bills that come around regularly in our lives, but often less frequently than once a month. Insurance. Property taxes. Income taxes. In the cycle of paying monthly bills, it’s easy to forget about those extra expenses.
Over time, even bigger expenses loom. You’ll have to replace a major appliance. You’ll have to replace a car. Those things are coming and you know they’re coming.
The thing is, those expenses often pop up and hit you hard. They wreck your financial plans for the month. They force you to go into debt. They devour your “emergency fund” (even though it’s not an emergency). They expose the fragility of your financial life.
Don’t let that happen. Plan ahead.
How can I get started with saving for upcoming expenses? Make a big list of every upcoming expense and irregular bill that you can think of, how far off those bills are, and how big they probably will be. Then, for each bill, figure out how much you’d have to save each month in order to be able to afford that expense. Planning on spending $10K on a car in five years? That’s $10,000 divided by 60, or $167 a month. Then, start putting aside that amount each month. Do it by setting up an automatic transfer at your bank from your checking to your savings. Then, when the expense comes around, you’ll already have the cash and it won’t cause you any stress at all.
My fundamental rule of personal finance is to spend less than you earn. The reason for that is simple – if you live that way, you’re always going to have money with which to pay off debts and save for the future. If you live below your means, saving for retirement is easy. Doing the big, long term things that make your life strong and secure become easy.
There’s another advantage, too. If you’re used to living below your means, an unexpected drop in income isn’t devastating to your day to day life. If you suddenly have to get a lower wage job and you’re used to living below your means, it’s just a small bump in the road. If you’re not… well, your entire life is now in tumult. That means your life is fragile, and fragility is what we want to avoid.
How can I get started with living below my means? The easiest way to do this is to just automate as much of your savings as you possibly can. Have your workplace make automatic 401(k) contributions for you. Set up automatic Roth IRA contributions from your checking account. Set up some automatic transfers from your checking account to your savings account for your emergency fund and planning ahead for big expenses, as noted above. Then, simply learn how to live on what’s left over without accumulating credit card debt. It’s that easy!
A fragile life is one that can easily be disrupted. A fragile life is a stressful life. A fragile life sacrifices a solid foundation for forgettable short term pleasures. A fragile life is something to avoid.
If you use these strategies, you’ll make your life much stronger, much more able to avoid disaster and handle unexpected events, much more likely to expose opportunities that you’re actually able to take advantage of.
Don’t let your life become fragile. If it is fragile, it’s well worth the effort to strengthen it.
Good luck!
The post Building a Less Fragile Life appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
Those of you who have been reading my blogs for a while know I’m a huge advocate of using visual elements to enhance my blog posts.
In addition to being visually appealing, images can actually improve the performance of your articles. That’s because blogs with pictures receive 94% more views than posts without them.
According to a recent study from the Content Marketing Institute, 73% of marketers say their top priority is to create more engaging content.
And 55% of these content creators are prioritizing visual content.
If you haven’t been using images to enhance your content, you should consider starting with some infographics. Even if you have included pictures in some of your old content, you can take this strategy to the next level by building custom infographics.
That’s because infographics are a combination of text and images. Research shows people follow directions 323% better if the directions include both text and illustrations.
On social media platforms, infographics get liked and shared at three times the rate of all other content.
Once you start building infographics, you will drive more traffic to your website. That’s because other people will use your custom images to enhance their own content.
As a result, you will consistently build backlinks, which will improve your SEO.
Now that you understand why you need to create infographics, it’s time for me to show you how. There are tons of tools available, but not all of them are created equal.
I’ve narrowed down the top 12 tools for building infographics.
If you want to create an infographic fast and efficiently, Easel.ly is a great place to start.
Above is a sampling of some of their top infographic templates. All you need to do is select the template you want and plug in your information.
They’ve got a template for everything. Some are designed to fit more text on the page, while others prioritize numbers from any research you may have conducted.
It’s free to use Easel.ly, but if you want premium templates, you can access over 500 of them for a fee. I recommend starting off with the free ones to see whether you’re happy with the platform before upgrading your membership.
Another cool feature of this platform is that they have community infographics built by others. You can plug your information into those as well.
The Easel.ly website features an easy to follow guide on how to create content on their platform. They also offer a live customer service chat option in case you have questions or run into any problems with the platform.
Pitkochart is another top option for beginners. The platform makes it easy to create custom infographics without any design experience.
In addition to infographics, they have other design templates as well. You can build things such as:
Some of my favorite types of infographics on Pitkochart are the graphs. It’s a great way for you to display your numbers in a custom chart.
Pitkochart also has a map feature. You can customize the color options on these maps to show how different states, regions, or countries have varying results for your discussion.
Speaking of color options, Pitkochart has many. You can select colors for each portion of your infographic, or you can choose preset color schemes.
It’s an important feature because different color schemes can impact sales on your website.
They have a library of more than 1,000 icons. You can use these without having to pay licensing fees or give an attribution to the creator.
This definitely makes things less complicated, which allows you to spend your time and effort on building the infographics.
Once you build your infographic on Pitkochart, they help you name your image so that it’s optimized for SEO. Then, you can share it directly from the platform.
They have sharing options for email, ebooks, and social media. You can get an embedd link for your website, share it with your team, or download a high-resolution version of your infographic.
Are you a student? If so, Venngage will let you use their software free. But everyone else will have to pay for the platform.
Their monthly rate is $19 for individuals and $49 for businesses. It may seem pricey, but the business membership comes with premium features such as:
If you know you want to take advantage of these features for the entire year, you can pay upfront annually and receive a 20% discount off your membership.
Venngage is great because their infographic templates are seemingly endless. With so many options, it’s less likely you’ll have similar to other infographics templates already published on the Internet.
This can make your brand stand out from the crowd.
They also group their infographics based on several categories. You can build the right image for whatever you’re trying to illustrate. Some of the top categories include:
They even have “fun data” templates to help you display your unique research in a way that’s easy to comprehend.
A list of visual design tools wouldn’t be complete without Visme.co. The platform specializes in all kinds of visual content, including infographics.
If you need to make an infographic that compares multiple variables, Visme.co has more than 20 charts and tables to choose from.
There are a couple of different ways you can input data into these visuals. Your first option is to type the numbers in manually. But if you have lots of information, you may prefer to import your data.
Another cool feature of these charts is the ability to connect with live data.
All of the templates have customizable fonts. You can change the color, size, and style of your text. Don’t see a font you like? No problem. Visme.co lets you upload your own fonts as well.
This software can help you take your infographics to the next level by making them more engaging. You can add video and audio files.
They also give you the option to embed polls, surveys, and maps. You can even add motion features, like popups, to your infographic.
Once your infographic is published, you can track how well it’s performing. The analytics tools tell you how many people saw your infographic, what type of device they used, their location, and level of engagement.
Infogram is another one of my favorites. The platform allows you to fully customize every element of each infographic you create.
In addition to infographics, you can also use this software to create:
Infogram also helps you build images specially designed for your social media channels.
Their platform has more than one million icons and images, all royalty-free.
What I like most about Infogram is their editing tool. You can drag, drop, and move every element on the screen to fully customize your design.
If you have data that needs to be imported, it’s easy for you to upload spreadsheets from Excel, Google Drive, Dropbox, etc. You can even use a cloud service or their API to set up live data integration.
They have interactive charts and maps at your disposal as well.
Ultimately, if you need a one-stop shop for all your infographic needs, you can’t go wrong with Infogram.
Even if you don’t plan on making a ton of infographics, Canva has plenty of other design tools for you to take advantage of. Those of you who are a little bit more advanced will enjoy the graphic design features offered on this platform.
One of my favorite elements of the Canva platform is the versatility it offers. You can use it on the Internet as well as your iPhone or iPad.
They specialize in photo editor, color palette, and font combinations. But their infographic building tools are just as good, if not better. You don’t need to have a design background to figure it out.
Unlike some of the other Canva tools, the infographic builder is free to use. All you have to do is create a Canva account before you get to work.
Their library has more than one million photos, illustrations, and graphics for you to choose from. If you’re not happy with their selection, you can also upload your own images.
Once your image is uploaded, you can select a font from over 130 options. They make it easy for you to change the background and color scheme too.
After you’re satisfied with your custom layout, you can save these unique templates to your account. This makes it easy for you to repurpose the same layouts for your future infographics. It’s one of my favorite time-saving marketing tools.
If you’re not satisfied with all the elements in the free Canva library, they have premium elements available for purchase.
But unlike some of the more expensive infographic tools we’ve seen, the Canva premium purchases cost only $1 at most. It’s an extremely cost-effective way to enhance your infographics.
If you want something a little bit different from the tools on our list so far, iCharts definitely fits the description.
This platform is cloud-based. It’s a visual analytics tool allowing you to organize complicated business information.
You can use iCharts to simplify data from extensive research studies. Since it’s a cloud-based platform, you can access it from wherever you are. Nothing needs to be installed on a device.
They have a feature letting you implement real-time data integration.
This option isn’t a typical infographic builder. But you can still export the charts and graphs to enhance your content with custom images.
Similar to our last tool, Skitch doesn’t necessarily build custom infographics either. But I use Skitch every day to help enhance my visual content.
Some of you may not be interested in building all your infographics from scratch. That’s OK.
If you’ve got a Mac, you can use Skitch to help you customize infographics from other sources. Here’s how you do it.
Once you download Skitch on your Apple device, which is free by the way, you can use it to take screenshots of infographics. Then you can markup specific sections with arrows, boxes, and text to make it your own.
Regular readers of my blog posts might recognize the pink arrows and annotations from Skitch. That’s what I use to mark up the images on my blog.
If you use this tool to help you build infographics, make sure you give proper credit to your image sources.
Creately is a platform specializing in creating unique diagrams for your business.
Although they aren’t exactly the same, diagrams and infographics are very similar, which is why I thought it was worth adding this tool to my list.
I recommend Creately for businesses that have multiple designers producing content at the same time.
With this software, you can collaborate with up to 20 team members on the same project with real-time updates, edits, and changes to your design.
They have over 1,000 diagrams for you to choose from. Even if you don’t want to publish your diagrams, you can use the tool for in-house projects such as building a customer journey map.
When in doubt, it’s always a good idea to use tools you’re familiar with. As a business owner, you’ve likely used Google Analytics to help you with your marketing solutions.
Well, Google Charts is another great option offered with your Google account.
Once you determine which types of data sets you want to include, you can customize your design fully. You get to select which type of chart you want to use from Google’s extensive gallery.
It’s easy to add these infographics to your website, email messages, and social media channels.
Their dynamic data feature allows you to connect your data source so the charts updated with real-time information.
Google really stands apart from the crowd when it comes to customer service. There are thorough guides to help you with the tool. Every section has step-by-step, easy-to-follow instructions.
If you’re looking for another tool for creating custom diagrams, Gliffy is a great choice to consider.
The software is extremely easy to use. You won’t need any type of design skills to build your infographics.
Everything is done with an HTML5 editor, so you don’t need to download anything to your devices in order to use this tool.
If you want to get your project done as fast as possible without building your own template, it’s no problem. Gliffy has ready-made templates. All you need to do is plug in your information.
Share your infographic with an embed link, or upload it directly to your social media profiles.
You can also use Gliffy to collaborate with your team members. Grant access to people whom you trust making edits to your design.
Not every infographic needs to be a complicated set of data.
Sometimes, it’s effective to have only one statistic or sentence displayed to stand out from the rest of your content. If that’s the case, Wordle is one of your best options.
This platform is made for creating word clouds. You can use customized fonts and templates to create these unique images.
You can even use Wordle to reinforce a point you made within the text of one of your blog posts.
Images and visual elements are more powerful than words alone.
That’s why you need to be using infographics to enhance your content. But if you don’t want to search for infographics online, the tools I’ve outlined above allow you to create your own.
Don’t get me wrong: there are dozens of other infographic building tools available on the Internet. But from my experience, these ones are the best places for you to get started.
There’s something on this list for everyone—it just depends on what you’re looking for.
Some of these tools are free, while others charge a fee. Certain tools are better for charts and datasets, while others specialize in custom images and animations.
Refer to this guide for all your infographic creation needs.
What tools does your company use to enhance your visual content strategy with infographics?
What if I told you this miraculous food costs as little as $2 per pound?
I’m talking about collard greens. Probably not the mysterious superfood you were thinking of, right?
Before they became popular in Southern culture, collard greens were a favorite of ancient Greeks and turned up on plates across the world from China to Portugal to Mexico.
They’re in the same species as broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts and cabbage. Like their kin, collard greens are some of the healthiest leafy greens out there.
At less than 50 calories, one cooked cup of this cruciferous queen boasts:
Collard greens are also rich in glucosinolates, which aid in reducing inflammation and fighting cancer cells. They contain antibacterial and antiviral properties, as well.
Ready to start bringing these leafy beauties home with you but unsure of how to cook collard greens? Try one of these nutritious recipes.
Move over kale chips — there’s a new leaf in town. I was totally surprised by how delicious these were. New party snack, coming right up! Double or triple the recipe if you have guests. They will ask for the recipe!
Total cost: $1.06
Servings: 30 chips
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet (or two) with parchment paper.
Wash and dry the collard leaves, and then break them apart from the stem into 3-inch pieces. Toss them in a bowl with olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread them out on the baking sheets, leaving a small space between each leaf.
Sprinkle with garlic (and any additional spices you choose), and then bake the leaves for 6 minutes. Then, pull the pan out of the oven and flip the leaves. I used my hands to flip them but tongs or a spatula will work.
Bake them for another 6 minutes or until crispy. They cook quickly and then start to shrivel up and turn brown, so do not overcook. The more oil on them, the faster they brown.
Store extras in a plastic or paper bag for up to 3 days.
Blending your greens into smoothies gets them in your belly raw and virtually undetected due to the sweet masking flavors of fruit. Plus, you’ll amplify your intake of nutrients by combining earth’s finest.
You’ll rethink the $6 green drink after making this adaptation of a smoothie recipe from SparkRecipes.
Total cost: $1.31
Servings: About 6 ounces, or 1 glass
Wash the collards and pull the leaves off the stem. Chop them into smaller pieces, or use pre-chopped collards. Avoid using pieces with thick stems.
Put the greens and the rest of the ingredients in a blender, and mix until creamy and the collards have been pulverized. Serve while it’s fresh.
Substitution ideas: Use pineapple or apple juice instead of almond milk; use mangos instead of pineapples; add in blueberries, avocado (this will thicken it quite a bit) or almond butter.
I fell in love with this dish and had to have the recipe after a co-worker made it for a potluck. I altered it to suit my tastes, and you can, too.
Total cost: $19.91
Servings: 6 to 8
Price per serving: $2.49
Whip out your trusty slow cooker for this recipe.
First, add the undrained cans of beans to the slow cooker. Then add the greens. They may need steaming in order to fit all of them in there. Or just cram them in; they’ll cook down.
Saute the diced onion and garlic cloves in olive oil in a saucepan on the stove, and then add to the slow cooker, followed by the potatoes.
Crumble and saute the uncased chorizo, and then add it to the slow cooker. Cube the ham and add it or the ham bone to the slow cooker.
Sprinkle cumin and pepper over the mixture, and set it to cook for 4 hours.
Get high off the savory aroma, and then settle in to enjoy a bowl of this nutritious weed soup.
No need to boil collards down to limpless versions of their former selves. Saute and dress up their bright green leaves and serve them as this scrumptious side dish from Food52.
Total cost: $3.19
Servings: 2
Price per serving: $1.60
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once it’s hot, add the olive oil, garlic and a pinch of salt. Saute until golden.
Add the greens to the pan, and toss and coat them evenly in the olive oil. Next, mix in the beer, followed by the paprika and a dash of salt. Continue to toss everything together, letting the alcohol cook off. The greens should still be tender once the alcohol cooks off.
Remove from the pan and serve accordingly. Squeeze on lime juice prior to serving.
You’ve most likely eaten collards before, and they were most likely stewed down to withered smithereens along with their trusty Southern sidekick, bacon.
Truth is, collard greens are so much better than that.
Lacing them with pork not only counteracts their nutritional value, but it also steals their righteous flavor. I mean, you should totally do it sometimes, but consider all the other versatile options they have. It’s like limiting Kim Kardashian to one hairstyle. A total disservice to the product.
You can make chips and smoothies, as discussed above, or thinly slice and ferment collards into a sauerkraut cooked with flat dumplings. Or use collard leaves in lieu of lettuce for wraps or as a taco topping.
Save leftover stalks for stews and soups or added flavor in other veggie and meat dishes. Too much work? Compost them or, if you have extra leaves, try canning.
You can sub in collards for any recipe that calls for kale.
Some traditions are worth keeping, though, such as black-eyed peas and collard greens, aka Hoppin’ John, on New Year’s Day, eaten for good luck in the coming year.
Whatever you do with your collards, don’t forget about the “pot liquor.”
When you boil down collards, the water leeches most of the nutrients out of them, leaving the remaining cooking liquid chock-full of minerals and vitamins, hence the name “pot liquor.” Do not pour it down the sink; you can use it for soup and other flavoring.
If you want to play the long game, packets of collard seeds cost less than $3 and can yield a season’s worth of supply.
So what are you waiting for? Skip the kale hype — and cost — and turn over a new leaf.
Stephanie Bolling is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She ate so much Vitamin K during the writing of this post that she can now see the future.
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.
I want to sit here and tell you how great a value minor-league baseball is and how it’s always a better deal than the money-grubbing majors.
I also don’t want to outright lie to you.
Minor-league baseball is unquestionably cheaper than the majors, with the cost of sending a family of four to a game coming in below $70. When Team Marketing Report last compiled its Major League Baseball Fan Cost Index in 2016, the average cost of taking a family of four to a game was $219.53.
But that value varies wildly by location. My neighboring town is home to the Hillsboro Hops of the Northwest League. They’re a Class A affiliate of Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks and play an abbreviated 76-game season from mid-June through Labor Day weekend.
Their home stadium, Ron Tonkin Field, is named after a late, beloved local car dealer. The team does the usual minor-league promotions, including dressing like the 1980s Portland Mavericks and hosting a kids’ home-run derby. Local brewer Bridgeport provides the beer, and the mascot is a giant pre-brewing hop.
At a glance, they’re a great deal. Tickets are $7 for the Frontier Family Berm (a general-admission section on a mound of grassy dirt where free-range kids can roam), $12 for bleacher seats, $16 for box seats, and $18 for premium seats. The nearest Major League Baseball team, the Seattle Mariners roughly five hours away, sells its lowest-priced seats for $16 (or $15 for “value games,” but they’re available at ticket resellers for as little as $8).
The Mariners haven’t made the playoffs since 2001 and have finished a season with more wins than losses just six times since. The Hops, meanwhile, have made the playoffs in three of their four seasons in Hillsboro and have won the Northwest League title twice.
However, compared to other minor-league teams, the Hops look a little pricey. The Pawtucket Red Sox, the Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, charge $6 for kids’ general-admission tickets, $9 for similar adult tickets, $13 for reserved seats, and $14 for field boxes. The PawSox are just a level away from the Major Leagues, regularly feature Red Sox players on rehab assignments, and are 45 minutes to an hour from Boston depending on the traffic. Meanwhile, the Red Sox short-season single-A affiliate Lowell Spinners just 30 miles outside the city (45 minutes from Boston by commuter rail) sell tickets for just $7 to $10.
For Red Sox fans and New England baseball fans alike, that represents a huge bargain. Compared to what the Hops are offering for that price, however, it’s a steal.
In every market, however, the value of a minor-league baseball outing varies as you shop around. The Salem-Keizer Volcanoes of Keizer, Ore. — a San Francisco Giants affiliate and the Hops’ rivals in the Northwest League — price their tickets at between $9 and $20. The Portland Pickles, a collegiate-level team in the independent Great West League, sets prices at $7 to $13. By comparison, tickets to an Oregon/Oregon State baseball matchup go for $6 to $13.
In fairness, these Oregon teams don’t have a whole lot of competition to deal with. Portland is a soccer town during the summer, with Major League Soccer’s Timbers regularly selling out (and starting at $30 at resale) and the National Women’s Soccer League’s Thorns averaging more than 17,000 per match at $10 to $70 per ticket. Beyond that, it’s a long drive for fans to just about any other location.
However, in Indianapolis — where the Pittsburgh Pirates’ AAA affiliate Indians are the only game in town — adult tickets go for $11 to $17 (kids get in for $10 to $16). In Charlotte, N.C., the Chicago White Sox’s AAA Knights play both ends of the spectrum: Regular tickets run from $8 to $19, while club seats go from $23 to $55. In 2017, the Knights led all minor-league teams in attendance, according to Flushing, N.Y.-based minor-league industry guide NumberTamer.
In markets where there’s a Major League Baseball team right next door, there’s a far better chance of getting a deal. The 10 minor-league teams surrounding the New York Yankees and Mets saw attendance fall 3.3% in 2017, despite the New Jersey Jackals of the Can Am League ($12 to $17), the Brooklyn Cyclones of the New York-Penn League ($10 to $15), and the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League ($12 to $15) all representing a far better deal than the Yankees (averaging $51.55 a ticket in 2016) or Mets ($26.02).
Even with the New York Yankees’ Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre Rail Riders ($10 to $14 — yes, AAA Yankees tickets are less than Single-A Diamondbacks seats) within striking distance and Phillies tickets sitting at an average of $41.50 in 2016, Philadelphia-area minor league teams have seen a 7.3% decline in attendance each year since 2016.
I’m admittedly down on minor-league teams. They pay for ballparks with local tax money (Hillsboro paid more than $1 million for Ron Tonkin Field), they move and fold regularly, and their novelty doesn’t always linger. For every Long Island Ducks, Somerset Patriots, St. Paul Saints, or Sugar Land Skeeters team that regularly exceeds attendance expectations, there’s a team like the Hops, which saw attendance peak at 3,774 per game in 2015 before dropping to 3,379 per game last year.
But the fact is, for the majority of minor-league teams, the price and their position (either in suburbs or in cities without major-league teams) is right where fans need it to be. A night out at a minor-league game that doesn’t require a babysitter can be a huge value for a family.
If families and fans want the best value for their dollar however, they need to treat minor-league baseball like any other commodity and shop around for the best deal.
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The post Looking for Major League Deals on Minor League Baseball appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
While such a prospect seemed laughable when the FTSE 100 hit an all-time high in January, its subsequent 10% fall has been enough to give investors the jitters
Although the UK economy continues to recover, with wage growth perking up and interest rates likely to nudge upward at some point, markets could still be destabilised by outside forces, according to Danny Cox, a chartered financial planner at Hargreaves Lansdown.
“The UK stock market is currently pretty unloved, with investors looking overseas because they are worried about the trade uncertainty created by Brexit and how this might damage economic prospects,” he says. “Unfortunately, this is set to rumble on for some time.”
Of course, stock market downturns are part of investing life, but that will be of little consolation to those who invest everything in shares and then suffer crippling losses if everything turns south.
“For long-term investors, there is no substitute for a balanced and diverse portfolio at any time,” adds Mr Cox. “Market downturns are an inevitability, but good fund and stock selections will help protect you over the long term.”
The most obvious way to guard against such a scenario is by holding everything in cash, but the downside is this means little long-term growth and minimal income generation, points out Patrick Connolly, a certified financial planner with Chase de Vere.
When you consider the consumer prices index (CPI) measure of inflation is running at 3% at the time of writing and most easy-access savings accounts are only offering less than 2% interest, the harsh reality is that anyone opting for this route will see the value of their money dwindling over time.
“The best way for most people to protect themselves from stock market falls is through asset allocation,” insists Mr Connolly. “This means selecting a wide range of investments which don’t all rise and fall together.”
For example, you can hold some money in shares to take advantage of their long-term growth potential, and some in other asset classes such as fixed-interest and commercial property that can provide you with some protection if stock markets continue to fall.
“You can achieve this diversification by either investing in all-in-one multi-asset funds, which are essentially a whole portfolio in one fund, or in a range of separate equity, fixed interest and property funds,” Mr Connolly adds.
He points out that multi-asset funds are most suitable for those with smaller investment amounts or those wanting a longer-term buy-and-hold solution. However, many such funds have high charges, as you pay for their manager – as well as managers of underlying funds.
“For those with investment portfolios of more than £50,000 to £100,000, we recommend constructing a multi-asset portfolio, tailored to their individual requirements, by picking separate equity, fixed interest and property funds,” adds Mr Connolly.
Darius McDermott, managing director of Chelsea Financial Services, agrees that multi-asset funds and targeted absolute return funds are among the best options to protect you in a stock market downturn.
However, he warns: “It is important to remember that while they might offer some downside protection, that doesn’t mean that they won’t lose you money. They will probably just lose you less money than the stock market.”
Mr McDermott also points out that if markets don’t end up suffering the expected downturn, investors won’t be fully participating in any market gains, as these types of funds will generally rise by less than the stock market.
It’s a point echoed by Martin Bamford, managing director of Informed Choice, who says investing in defensive funds will limit your longer-term growth potential.
“While they should help to protect capital values and could even grow in value during periods of stock market rises, the return from bonds is traditionally close to cash returns,” he explains.
However, given the expectations of rising interest rates, Mr Bamford suggests that defensive funds, which are weighted towards gilt and investment-grade corporate bond holdings, are likely to get hammered by falling bond values.
“Cautious investors are limited in terms of the options they have right now, as cash is really the only safe haven, despite losing value in real terms due to sustained high price inflation,” he adds.
Adrian Lowcock, investment director at Architas, the multi-manager, suggests exposure to gold and government bonds makes sense, as these have a track record of success in protecting investors in a market downturn.
“Defensive funds tend to be less volatile and more risk averse than growth or more adventurous funds,” he explains. “Generally, they tend to be more cautiously managed and their focus can be on protecting capital, with capital appreciation a secondary ambition.”
He highlights the BlackRock Gold & General fund as one he particularly likes.
“The manager, Evy Hambro, has a preference for mature, high-quality businesses, which means the fund is well placed to protect investors from falls in gold prices and the share price of gold mining companies,” he says.
This fund aims to provide a sustainable level of income and the prospect of long-term capital growth by investing in a balanced portfolio mainly of bonds, with some shares.
The fund can invest up to 35% in shares and the remainder in bonds, although the exact level of exposure can change to enable the managers to adapt to market conditions.
While the bond part of the portfolio is managed by Rhys Petheram, the shares element is run by Alastair Gunn.
| Year | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price performance in year % | 9.05 | 6.8 | 4.39 | 7.46 | 4.68 |
| Value of £100* | £109.05 | £116.55 | £121.67 | £130.74 | £136.86 |
*The £100 was invested on 1 January 2013
Source: FE, 10 April 2018
| Managers | Alastair Gunn and Rhys Petheram |
| Launch date | 4 March 2002 |
| Total fund size | £996 million |
| Minimum initial investment | £500 |
| Minimum top-up investment | £250 |
| Intitial charge | 0% |
| Performance fee | None |
| Ongoing charge | 1.37% |
| Contact details | 0800 561 4000 |
Mr Petheram’s focus is typically on higher-quality bonds of well-managed companies that he considers represent good value for money as investments. He also holds some government bonds where he sees fit.
Mr Gunn, meanwhile, picks shares from businesses he perceives as having genuine potential for both capital growth and increasing the amount of profit returned to shareholders. He also picks businesses that can produce and sustain strong and growing cashflow.
Martin Bamford, managing director of Informed Choice, says the fund’s growth over the past five years has exceeded its sector average.
“It’s one of my preferred funds in this sector and for defensive investors who don’t want to select single-asset-class funds to populate an asset allocation model,” he adds.
To use a football analogy, 2018 has been a game of two halves so far. In January, markets barely batted an eyelid as global indices remained steady.
Then February’s inevitable market correction saw the UK FTSE 100 index and the global MSCI AC World index tumble. At the time of writing in late March, year to date, they have fallen by 5.85% and 7.42% respectively*. Volatility has returned with a bang.
This makes things tricky. Now that we’ve entered the new tax year, should we invest our money in one lump sum, do we add to our portfolios little and often, or should we buy into the market dips?
Some of us may have rushed to invest in lump sums a few days before the end of the tax year. Investing this way means that you immediately have a lot of money exposed to the market, which can be good or bad in the short term, depending on which way the market moves.
Others prefer to invest monthly. This means investors can benefit from pound cost averaging, which is when you end up buying more shares when prices are falling and fewer when they are rising.
This strategy reduces volatility, particularly when you first start saving and your pot of money is relatively small. As your portfolio grows, however, the impact of pound cost averaging reduces proportionately.
Another strategy is buying on the dips. This requires a stronger stomach, but volatility also throws up opportunities, so it can be rewarding.
“Buying on the dips requires a strong stomach”
The team at investment firm Rathbones has looked at how investors would have fared over the past 10 years if they’d have a) invested a £10,000 lump sum, b) saved £83 per month, also amounting to £10,000, and c) bought in the market dips (which, for the purpose of this study, means investing £500 on top of an initial £5,000 if the market falls more than 5% in a day).
The findings are shown in the table below.
As you can see, investors would have been best rewarded if they had bought in the dips, although their portfolio would have been volatile. They would have ended the 10-year time frame with a total of £20,739.38 having invested a total of £10,000.
Lump sum investors would have earned £17,711.78, having experienced a big drop in the value of their investments at the start of the decade.
Those who were dripfeeding £83 in per month would have earned £14,369.41 although, as mentioned above, with significantly less volatility than the other two methods.
In my view, it all comes down to individual investor preferences and availability of funds. I think it also depends on what you are investing in. For more volatile assets, such as emerging market equities, dripfeeding in may be less stressful than investing a lump sum. Because when this asset class falls, it can really fall.
For instance, the Elite Rated Lazard Emerging Markets fund – which can be particularly volatile because it also has a value bias – would have rewarded investors with £19,705.72 had they placed a lump sum of £10,000 into it a decade ago. However, they would have experienced a roller-coaster ride: the fund fell almost 40% at the start of the global financial crisis in 2008 but has since rebounded some 228%.
If they had dripfed £83 a month over this time frame instead, they would have had a remarkably smoother ride with only a 20% difference in returns.
Likewise, if you are investing in a lower-risk, multi-asset fund, lump sum investing may prove to be less of a bumpy ride and more rewarding over time.
A good example is the Elite Rated SVS Church House Tenax Absolute Return Strategies fund – the difference in returns is similar at 21%, but the difference in volatility between an invested lump sum and £83 per month dripfed over 10 years is minimal.
*Source: FE Analytics. Total return in sterling terms. Correct to 29 March 2018.
Past performance is not a reliable guide to future returns. You may not get back the amount originally invested, and tax rules can change over time. Mr McDermott’s views are his own and do not constitute financial advice.
DARIUS McDERMOTT is managing director at Chelsea Financial Services and FundCalibre
