الأربعاء، 24 أكتوبر 2018
Your Long-Forgotten Yahoo Email Could Get You Up to $375. Here’s Why
Yahoo has agreed to pay $50 million in damages and provide two years of free credit monitoring services to 200 million people whose information was stolen in the largest security breach in history.
If you thought Equifax was bad, an estimated 2.9 billion accounts were compromised in this breach in 2013 and 2014. Yahoo didn’t disclose the breach until 2016.
How much can you expect to receive if you’re one of the select 200 million?
Yahoo will compensate account holders $25 per hour for the trouble it caused them, i.e., the time it took to deal with any identity theft issues. Those with documented losses can ask for up to 15 hours of lost time, or $375. Those who can’t document losses can file claims seeking up to five hours, or $125.
But don’t go looking for your check yet. You’ll have to wait on the federal court’s approval of the settlement, which is scheduled for Nov. 29.
Once the settlement’s approved, you’ll need to fill out a claim to receive compensation. Yahoo will notify eligible U.S. citizens through email, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Just so you don’t forget how much information Yahoo still has on you.
Jen Smith is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She gives money-saving and debt-payoff tips on Instagram at @savingwithspunk.
The Penny Hoarder Promise: We provide accurate, reliable information. Here’s why you can trust us and how we make money.
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.
source The Penny Hoarder https://ift.tt/2PYwY2M
What You Should Know About Windfalls Even if You Didn’t Win the Lottery
According to Mega Millions, 36 other tickets matched five numbers for a prize worth $1 million each.
We all dream of matching numbers on that lottery ticket or a giant check showing up at our doors. We tell ourselves that a sudden windfall of $X would solve all our problems.
But would it?
If you try hard enough, you can probably think of someone you know who came into some sudden money and blew it all in just a year or two. I know I can.
It even happens to the big winners, like David Lee Edwards. He won $27 million with a Powerball lottery ticket in 2001. Thanks to lavish living and drug use, he was broke and living in a storage unit by 2006.
Think about it: That’s $27 million in just five years.
Unfortunately, it’s an all-too-common tale. The sad fact is that many people end up in worse shape after receiving sudden money than they were in before. They simply don’t know what to do with a windfall to make it a blessing and not a curse.
Let’s look at some of the basics, so you know what to do if some unexpected money comes your way.
What Is a Windfall?
The traditional definition of a windfall refers to apples or other fruit that are blown off of trees when they’re ripe. Easy pickings for the passerby.
However, the more modern definition of a windfall is an “unexpected, unearned gain or advantage.”
We’re talking about free money here, people.
Just where does this free money come from?
Of course, we think of things like the lottery first. And yeah, that most certainly counts as a windfall. But there are other sources of monetary windfalls that are far more common.
- Personal injury or other insurance settlements
- Gifts
- Inheritance
- Life insurance settlements
- Retirement lump sums
- Tax refunds
There is no set amount of money that’s defined as a windfall. For most of us, finding $5 in the pocket of our jeans as we do laundry probably wouldn’t count — though it may make our day!
An easy way to think about it is this: Could this new money seriously affect your life for a significant period of time? The answer won’t be the same for every person or family.
What to Do With a Windfall Under $10,000
Let’s be real. The most likely scenario in which you come into a windfall of extra money isn’t going to be a lottery jackpot. It will be an unexpected tax return, a year-end bonus at work or possibly a small inheritance.
While this won’t make you rich, it can certainly help out your financial situation if you let it.
Sure, a $5,000 bonus could help you install a killer home theater system in your house, but is that really the best use for it?
Do you have emergency savings? If not, setting aside at least some of your windfall for that is a super-smart way to use the money. In a perfect world, you should have a large enough emergency fund to cover your basic bills and needs for three to six months.
Other smart moves for your new money could be paying off credit card debt, investing it in a home upgrade project or putting it toward your retirement.
If that seems too difficult, try being responsible with at least half of the money and having fun with the rest. We’re all human, right?
What to Do With a $10,000 to $99,999 Windfall
Nice! Maybe you scored big on a scratch-off lottery ticket or received a nice insurance settlement. A chunk of cash in the five-figure range can definitely be a boost.
But don’t quit your job. Even at the highest end of this scale, you’re not set for life. Not even close. Trust Allison Cintins, who squandered away a $66,000 inheritance in about four years and added $7,000 in credit card debt.
The first thing to remember is you don’t have to do anything right away.
Breathe. Don’t spend the money before you have it.
Susan Bradley, author of “Sudden Money: Managing a Financial Windfall,” calls this the “decision-free zone period.”
“The decision-free zone period should be used to find out what your choices are and to think about what you want to do with your money,” she wrote.
So make a plan. While this kind of money may seem like a fortune, it’s not. However, it can be life-changing in a smaller way. When financial guru Dave Ramsey was asked what a family should do with a $100,000 inheritance, he said, “Your first goal is to be debt-free except the house and have an emergency fund of three to six months of expenses.”
Just think about how much extra income you would have if you weren’t paying off a student loan, car loan and those old credit card bills. Start there, and then if you have any left over, think about investing.
You Got a $100,000 to $999,999 Windfall. Now What?
Congratulations! This is serious money.
Coming across a six-figure windfall can be a life changer. Again, you’re probably not set for life, so don’t storm into your boss’s office just yet.
In your mind, this may seem like a nearly endless amount of money. It isn’t.
However, it is enough money to possibly pay off your student loans, mortgage and credit card debt, or start a fantastic retirement fund. At this level, you shouldn’t go it alone. Finding the right financial planner to help you make some of these decisions is crucial.
“The right planner can minimize your chances of blowing the opportunity your money presents,” Bradley wrote.
Make sure to speak candidly with your financial planner about what you want out of life. Seriously, if a trip to Italy’s wine country is on your bucket list, you can make it happen with this windfall without destroying investment opportunities.
If you’re tired of driving a car from the 1990s and want an upgrade, go for it. Just be reasonable. You don’t suddenly need a top-of-the-line Mercedes-Benz or a Tesla.
Enjoy your new gains, but run it by your financial planner first.
Just because you want to make this money last and work for you doesn’t mean you can’t treat yourself a little.
How to Handle a Windfall of More Than $1 Million
Jackpot! Now this is a bottomless pit of glorious money!
Sorry. No again. Even multimillionaires can go broke in a hurry if they’re not careful. The internet is full of stories of people who received big paydays through work or luck and lost it all.
That’s the bad news. The good news is that this kind of a windfall should, at the very least, start to set you up for life — if you’re smart about it. There are success stories out there. A good financial planner and a lawyer can help you create a plan and understand your rights. Understanding your taxes and making smart investments could set you up for life.
Then, brace yourself: Family, friends and even complete strangers will want a piece of your newfound money. Every salesperson will to try to convince you that you need a yacht or multiple properties. This is where your team of financial pros comes in. If you want to help your family out or splurge on a few items, that’s fine.
“Do your fantasy spending on paper first,” Bradley wrote. “You may find that you really don’t want all the things on the list once the exuberance wears off.”
Are you seeing the pattern here? Patience. Don’t make rash decisions the moment you receive a windfall. Take your time. If you’re married, get on the same page as your spouse. You don’t want the blessing of new money to ruin a good thing.
If you really want to make your money last, consider living off interest alone. If you invest $1 million and can get a 4% return on it, you’re looking at $40,000 per year. OK, you won’t live large, but if you continue to work and add that interest to your salary, you’ll probably do pretty well.
Consider that $1 million your seed money. It can’t grow if you deplete the seed.
If you just won $1.5 billion in the Mega Millions, you should be able to live very comfortably off a fraction of that interest.
With patience and a smart approach, your new windfall can make your life better, not worse. A rich Penny Hoarder just has more pennies to watch, and that’s OK.
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.
Tyler Omoth is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder who loves soaking up the sun and finding creative ways to help others. Despite the challenges, he’d be willing to win a lotto jackpot. Catch him on Twitter at @Tyomoth.
The Penny Hoarder Promise: We provide accurate, reliable information. Here’s why you can trust us and how we make money.
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.
source The Penny Hoarder https://ift.tt/2SfCtvl
Where should savers put their money to benefit from the rising interest rate?
The Bank of England has raised interest rates twice in the past 12 months – news that should be music to the ears of beleaguered savers.
But despite the second rise in August raising rates from 0.5% to 0.75%, most savers are yet to reap the benefits.
Seven of the 10 biggest banks have still not passed on the interest rate rise in full, according to research from Moneyfacts. In fact, the average easy-access account has risen by a paltry 0.06%. This takes the average interest rate paid to 0.59%.
With rates remaining low for now, it’s as important as ever to shop around to make sure your money is working as hard as possible. So what are the best options out there?
Easy-access savings accounts
Easy-access savings accounts provide a great way of getting hold of your money quickly, without having to lock it away in a fixed-rate bank account. However, easy-access rates are typically lower than fixed-rate ones.
Marcus by Goldman Sachs is the easy-access account with the highest rate on the market at 1.5%.
Savers can open an account online with as little as £1. However, it comes with an initial 12-month of 0.15% so your rate will drop to 1.35% after one year.
Alternatively, you could plump for the Virgin Money Double Take E-Saver Issue 8 at a 1.42% rate.
You can open this account online with an initial £1 deposit, but the account is limited to two withdrawals a year.
Notice accounts
If you are willing to wait a little bit longer to get hold of your cash, you might want to consider a notice account.
Notice accounts tend to have a higher interest rate than easy-savings accounts, but you will lose interest if you decide to withdraw your money without notice.
The Charter Savings Bank 95 Day Notice Issue 20 is currently the best notice account on the market with a rate of 1.77%. However, it requires 95 days’ notice to withdraw cash.
Tax-free saving
It is the same story for Cash Isas. Providers such as Santander, Virgin Money and the Post Office are all guilty of being reluctant to pass on rate rises to Cash Isa customers.
However, there are still some good deals out there if you are prepared to shop around, with some of the newer challenger banks offering higher rates than those on the high street. In fact, you could earn £200 more on a Cash Isa if you opt for a provider that is not on the high street, according to Moneyfacts.
The best easy-access deal currently is the Leeds Building Society Limited Issue Online Access Isa (Issue 7) paying a rate of 1.38% to savers. This account requires a £1,000 minimum deposit and you can open it online.
Alternatively, you might want to consider the Virgin Money Double Take E-Isa Issue 2 at 1.38%. However, you are limited to two withdrawals a year. If you exceed this, the bank will cut your rate.
FEATURED PRODUCT
Atom Bank’s One Year Fixed Saver at 2%
If you’re prepared to lock away your money, you might want to take a look at Atom Bank’s One Year Fixed Saver. Interest is fixed at 2%, so your return is guaranteed, unlike easy-access and notice accounts, which tend to be variable. On the downside, you won’t be able to make any withdrawals for 12 months. You can open the account with £50 and it is managed through Atom Bank’s smartphone app.
Note: rates are correct as of 12 September 2018.
Section
Free Tag
Related stories
Source Moneywise https://ift.tt/2EHiy5D
How to Increase the Average Order Value on Your Ecommerce Store
As an ecommerce shop, you always need to come up with new ways to increase your revenue.
But with that said, it’s a common misconception that you need to find new customers to generate more sales. That’s simply not the case.
In fact, there are plenty of ways to increase revenue without acquiring new customers.
Rather than trying to get more transactions on your ecommerce site, you should be focusing on tactics that increase the amount of each transaction.
Don’t get me wrong. Obviously, new customers and more transactions are great news for your business. But it’s not the only way to make more money.
What’s the average order value on your platform?
This is a metric that you should be tracking at all times. If you’re unfamiliar with average order value, abbreviated as AOV, it’s really easy to calculate.
Tactics that improve your AOV work for new customers and existing customers alike.
It’s all about how you display information on your website.
I know what some of you might be thinking. Your current average order value is adequate. Do you really need to make any changes?
Absolutely.
When it comes to what’s acceptable as an AOV, the sky’s the limit. Don’t settle for anything less. There is always room for improvement.
Use this guide as a reference for increasing your AOV. Once you apply these strategies, your ecommerce revenue will increase as a result.
Set a minimum for free delivery
Free delivery has a major impact on ecommerce conversions.
In fact, 60% of consumers will abandon their shopping carts during the checkout process if they’re presented with extra costs, like shipping.
So I’m definitely a big advocate of not placing those shipping costs on your customers.
But with that said, you don’t need to offer free shipping for every order. Here’s what I mean.
At the end of the day, someone has to pay for the shipping. It’s either going to be you or the customer.
So those shipping costs should be included in the base cost of your products.
That way, shipping is perceived as free to the customer, but you’ll still be able to cover those costs with their purchase.
If you want to increase the average order value, set a minimum purchase amount for free shipping eligibility.
REI uses this strategy on their website.
Take a look at this shopping cart.
The total cost of the of the cart is $22. But this total isn’t enough to be eligible for free shipping.
REI reminds their customers in two places on this page that they ship orders over $50 for free.
As a result, people will be more inclined to add additional items to their cart.
Why pay for shipping if they don’t have to?
Assuming the customer in this scenario takes the bait, REI was able to increase the purchase amount of this transaction by more than double the initial value.
Upsell on the checkout page
The most successful ecommerce shops find ways to upsell their customers right before they finalize the purchase process.
However, you need to be careful if you decide to implement this strategy. Here’s why.
Upsells shouldn’t take away from the initial purchase intent.
By the time your customers reach your checkout page, they already added items to their cart and want to convert. Don’t let your upsell be a distraction that eventually hinders them from completing the purchase process.
The buying process needs to be as fluid as possible with minimal friction. So don’t make the upsell be an extra step.
Let me show you a great example of an upsell from Jetties Bracelets that conveys what I’m talking about.
Based on what the customer added to their shopping cart, the website automatically generated an upsell of other items that are frequently purchased together.
If the customer wants to add these upsells to their cart, all they need to do is click one button.
This takes the value of this order from $9 to $27.
As you can see, a simple upsell on the checkout page can triple the order amount. Just make sure that it isn’t too distracting or forced upon the customer.
You still want them to convert, even if they don’t go for the upsell.
Offer package discounts
Bundle or package discounts provide an incentive for customers to spend more money.
The concept behind this tactic is simple.
You can generate more profits by focusing on your pricing strategy. Most pricing models make it more expensive to buy a singular item.
But if the customer is willing to buy higher quantities of that item, they’ll receive a discount depending on how much they’re willing to spend.
It’s the basic strategy behind “buying in bulk,” which is common for B2B companies.
However, you can apply the same method to your B2C ecommerce shop. Customers shouldn’t have to buy thousands of an item to get a quantity discount.
Look at how MeUndies accomplishes this.
They use this strategy all over their ecommerce site.
For starters, they advertise that customers can save up to 35% off items by purchasing packs.
Then, if you look at their navigation menu, “packs” is one of the five options for segmenting products.
They reinforce these discounts when a customer clicks on a pack to purchase.
For this pack of underwear, MeUndies offers a discount for buying three as opposed to just one.
However, if they buy a 6-pack, the cost per pair goes down even less. Customers will benefit from additional savings if they buy a 10-pack.
The price of one pair of underwear is $20. But if they buy a 10-pack, it’s $15 per pair.
This strategy encourages people to spend more money because it makes them feel like they’re getting a better value.
Customers can get a 25% discount by spending more money. As a result, you’ll benefit from getting a higher average order value.
Include a gift wrap option
Another way to increase the AOV of your ecommerce shop is by enhancing the value of your products.
What can you do to make your products more valuable?
One strategy that I like is the gift wrap option.
During the holidays, 82% of shoppers plan to buy gifts online. But holidays aren’t the only time of the year when people buy gifts.
People get gifts for birthdays, weddings, graduations, and retirements, as well as other milestones and accomplishments. So your gift wrapping feature should be available 365 days per year.
Look at how Target uses this strategy on their ecommerce store to increase their AOV.
On the checkout page, there is an option for shoppers to select if their order includes a gift.
If the buyer wants gifts wrapped, it’s going to cost them an additional $5.99 per item. So an order with three gifts adds roughly $18 to the shopping cart.
At this point, it’s all about convenience for the customer.
Without this option, the customer would have to get the gift sent to their house, then wrap it themselves before delivering it or re-shipping to the final recipient.
There is nothing convenient about that.
But the gift wrap option eliminates these steps and ultimately improves the customer experience. So they’ll be happy to spend more money.
Charge more for personalized items
Let’s continue talking about ways to enhance the value of whatever you’re selling.
If you can figure out how to apply this concept to your business, it can result in a major increase in revenue.
That’s because consumers say that they are willing to pay 20% more for personalized products.
You need to recognize this fact, and adjust your personalization strategy accordingly.
Check out how The Perfume Shop does this on their ecommerce site.
They give their customers a chance to get custom engravings on certain bottles.
However, this upgrade comes with at an additional cost. But as we saw, customers are willing and able to pay more for customization.
It would be unreasonable for them to expect a premium feature like this to be available at no additional cost.
Incentivize minimum spending thresholds
We talked about minimum spending thresholds earlier. Having a minimum order amount for free shipping eligibility is an example of this strategy.
But with that said, free shipping isn’t the only way to encourage higher spending with thresholds.
You can set up a discount based on spending amounts.
Here’s an example from the Rue21 ecommerce website.
Customers can take advantage of getting 30% off of their order, which is a significant amount.
However, there is a catch. In order to get the 30% discount, they must spend a minimum of $40.
This strategy works well because it also has a deadline.
As you can see, they have a running clock for when this promotion expires. So customers will feel as though they need to act fast to get this discount before it’s too late.
By combining these two strategies, Rue21 is able to increase their conversion rates while increasing their AOV at the same time.
Use BOGO
Have you heard of BOGO?
BOGO stands for “buy one, get one.” It’s up to you to decide how you want to fill in the sentence after that.
Buy one, get one free. Buy one, get one half off. You’ve got lots of options to choose from.
The reason why BOGO works so well is because psychologically, it encourages people to spend more money. After all, how could they pass on such a good deal? Here’s what I mean.
If you have a buy one, get one free sale, then that implies that if someone buys two items, they’ll get two free. If they buy three, they’ll get three free, and so on.
Maurices uses this strategy on their website.
It’s the first thing that you see when you navigate to their ecommerce homepage.
Don’t let BOGO limit your creativity here. You can run other promotions based on the same concept.
For example, buy two, get one free would encourage people to spend even more money.
Either way, this strategy can help you increase your average order value.
Give cash back
If you create a cash back system on your ecommerce site, it gives people an incentive to spend more money.
The more money they spend, the more cash back they’ll receive. Ultimately, they’ll benefit from these rewards as much as you will. So it’s a win-win scenario for everyone.
The Kohl’s cash system is a great example.
For every $25 that a customer spends, they’ll receive $5 in Kohl’s cash.
This promotion is valid on their ecommerce shop, as well as in their physical store locations. So for those of you who have brick and mortar shops in addition to your ecommerce platform, you may want to consider a similar structure.
Once customers spend money, they receive Kohl’s cash in the form of a coupon.
These coupons are automatically stored on their customer profiles.
Kohl’s doesn’t have any limit on this spending. So if a customer spends $1,000 on a transaction, they’ll get $200 in Kohl’s cash as a reward.
I know what some of you are thinking. If the cash back eventually gets redeemed, wouldn’t it lower your average order value for those future purchases?
Not necessarily. It’s unlikely that people will spend only the amount of their reward for those future purchases. Plus, you can set dates for when the cash back can be redeemed, which is what Kohl’s does. So there’s a chance not all of these rewards will even be used.
Recommend products to your customers
58% of consumers are more likely to buy from online retailers that recommend products based on their purchase history.
In addition to their previous purchases, you can also recommend products based on what your customers are browsing for.
For this strategy to be effective, it works best if you encourage people to create a customer profile. Then it’s easier for you to monitor their behavior.
It’s also effective for those of you who have a mobile app. In fact, personalized recommendations made my list of the top 10 features of a successful mobile commerce app.
When you recommend products to your customers, it speaks to them. We talked about this earlier when we discussed upselling.
But you don’t need to wait until the customer reaches their shopping cart to offer recommendations. Here’s an example from Sephora’s website.
In addition to recommending and showcasing their bestsellers, they also have a “recommended for you section” on their homepage.
The items displayed will vary depending on who is browsing.
For example, let’s say your ecommerce shop sells sports equipment.
One of your customers recently purchased a new set of golf clubs on your website. The next time they visit your site, you could recommend golf balls, tees, golf spikes, and other similar accessories.
These recommendations will ultimately help you increase your AOV.
Create a loyalty program based on spending tiers
Loyal customers spend more money.
82% of consumers are more likely to shop from businesses that offer loyalty programs.
Plus, repeat customers spend 67% more money than new customers. That’s why you need to learn how to increase sales by implementing a customer loyalty program.
However, there are so many different types of loyalty programs out there.
One of my favorite options is to create a program based on spending tiers. This is the best way to get your existing customers to spend more money each time they shop.
Here’s a look at the Nordy Club benefits, which is a loyalty program from Nordstrom.
As you can see, the benefits get better as customers reach each spending level within a calendar year. These loyalty programs reward your customers that spend the most money.
For the most part, people probably won’t spend $500 or $2,000 in one purchase.
However, they may be willing to spend an extra $50 or so on each transaction to get them one-step closer to the next rewards tier.
By encouraging them to spend more, your average order value will increase.
Conclusion
While new customers are always great for company growth, they are necessarily a requirement for increasing your revenue.
Instead of prioritizing customer acquisition, you should focus on strategies that encourage both your existing customers and prospective customers to spend more money on your ecommerce site.
The average order value is a metric that you should be tracking.
Regardless of your current AOV, I’m confident that you can improve that number.
Not sure where to start? Use this guide as a reference.
If you implement the strategies that I’ve outlined above, you’ll notice a significant boost in your ecommerce average order value.
How is your ecommerce shop taking steps to increase your AOV?
Source Quick Sprout https://ift.tt/2CDuwuH
The ‘Overstocked Default Meal’ Strategy
If you look in our pantry at any given time, one thing you’ll virtually always find are about a dozen boxes of spaghetti and about a dozen jars of pasta sauce. If we ever run “low,” meaning we get down to less than a half-dozen or so of either one, we make sure to add it to our grocery list for upcoming weeks with a “(if on sale)” note by it. If we actually do run low, which means less than two or three of each, then it gets straight-up added to the grocery list.
Why do we do things this way? Why on earth would we need to have so many boxes of pasta and pasta sauce in the cupboard all the time?
It’s because spaghetti with pasta sauce is one of our go-to default meals at our house, and thus we “overstock” it. By doing so, we save a lot of time and a lot of money.
Let’s move through this in detail.
The Idea of the ‘Default’ Meal
At our house, we have a handful of meals that Sarah and I can easily prepare and that our family all generally likes. That list includes the aforementioned spaghetti with sauce, a few soup mixes (that we often make ourselves), scrambled eggs and pancakes, and chili.
These meals have been made over and over again, probably once every two weeks or so, for years and years. Sarah and I can both prepare any one of them nearly on autopilot with minimal time.
For example, with the spaghetti, I know exactly how much water to put in the pan, exactly how long that it will take to boil (so I can just walk away and do other things and come back when the water’s boiling), and the order in which to do other tasks like set out a strainer and so on. I don’t even have to think about it, which enables me, on a busy evening, to handle other little tasks that need completing around the house.
Another big advantage is that most of these meals require only a few ingredients, which means that they’re easy on our grocery bill, something we’ll get back to in a minute.
Furthermore, most of those ingredients are shelf-stable, meaning we can keep them in our pantry without worry. I can keep all of the ingredients for a spaghetti meal, a soup mix, and chili in the pantry, and the only item needed for the “breakfast” meal is the eggs, which we always have on hand.
This adds up to a repertoire of meals that we can call upon at a moment’s notice, which is extremely helpful for us when plans go awry and eating out looks like an incredibly convenient option.
Overstocking Default Meals
Because those “default” meals are so useful for us in terms of time, ease of preparation, cost, and family enjoyment, over the years we’ve come to naturally “overstock” those meals in our pantry.
So, if you peek in our pantry, as noted earlier, what you’ll find is a bunch of spaghetti and sauce, sometimes up to a dozen boxes and jars. You’ll find a lot of pancake mix. You’ll find a lot of soup mixes – usually ones we’ve made ourselves, but sometimes store soup mixes that are similar to the ones we make. You’ll find ingredients for basic chili many times over.
“Overstocking” like this ensures that we don’t even have to think about whether we have ingredients for that meal or not. We just assume that we do and can jump into action without a second thought and can plan things with that assumption.
Since these meals are quick and can be made on “autopilot” they often serve as emergency substitutions when unexpected situations come up. Someone “forgot” their extra soccer practice? We grab a default meal instead of what we had planned. Sarah’s stuck in traffic? No problem – I can just fire up the spaghetti while helping the kids get ready for their band concert.
I don’t have to wonder whether we have stuff on hand. I don’t have to go to the store. Those meals are always ready to go.
The Financial Benefit
First of all, there’s the obvious benefit that this transforms a meal at a restaurant into a meal eaten at home. For the average American family eaten out versus the average meal eaten at home, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that we’ll save somewhere around $18 for our family of five (their data suggests $9 for a typical family of 2.5 Americans). So, that simple move of eating at home instead of eating out is $18 in savings for our family, roughly, and that matches my own experience more or less.
The nice part? It’s actually even more than that, because knowing this situation in detail enables us to tighten up the frugality and really crank out some savings.
Because we know we’re always going to want to have a lot of those staples on hand – pasta, pasta sauce, canned beans, dry beans, chili powder (and many other spices), pancake mix, soup mixes, and so on – and that all of those items are shelf stable, we know that we can always stock up big time on them.
Whenever there’s a sale on any of those items, as I noted above, we buy a lot of them. Whole wheat pasta’s down to $0.50 a box? Better buy a dozen of them. Our favorite pasta sauce is 50% off? Let’s load up the cart, boys!
Thus, every time we have one of our “default” overstocked meals, we’re almost always eating with ingredients that we bought on sale. No full priced spaghetti for us! No full priced beans for us!
Even if we’re in a situation where we need to restock those core ingredients and just haven’t seen a sale in a long time, we can always buy them in bulk, which is also a discount over the normal price of a single package.
Furthermore, it helps with coupon clipping. If I happen to spy a coupon for one of those default ingredients, I’ll always clip it. I don’t go looking for coupons, but when it’s an obvious “win” like that and I know I’ll be buying that item soon, clipping a coupon is basically cutting a dollar bill out of a newspaper page and putting it in my wallet.
Those things together reduce the cost of one of our overstocked default meals down to far below the average cost of a meal prepared at home, which means that the gap between one of those meals and the cost of a meal eaten out is even bigger. Using a “default” meal on a busy night rather than eating out likely keeps $20 in our family’s pocket, on average.
What Are Your Default Meals? What Can You Overstock?
Now, turn the tables back to your own situation.
What are your default meals? What simple meals that you prepare at home do you often turn to when you’re busy or tired, just because they’re easy to make and you like them? We have around six or seven of them, which seems to be consistent with our friends. Sit down and figure out what your default meals are, particularly the ones that rely on nonperishable and shelf-stable ingredients.
Overstock those meals. Once you’ve figured out a few default meals, “overstock” those ingredients. Wait until you see an ingredient on sale and then buy a ton of that ingredient. Throw a dozen boxes of pasta into your cart. Buy 20 pounds of rice. Whatever the ingredient is, if it’s on sale, stock up big time. Stow it away in your pantry and start slowly using it up!
Keep it overstocked. Then, add a section to your grocery list of items to pick up if they’re on sale. Keep some of those key ingredients for your default meals on there all the time, and only cross them off temporarily if you have a massive surplus at home. If you happen to see a coupon for any of those items, paperclip it to your grocery list.
Final Thoughts
For me, “overstocking” our “default” meals is one of those frugal strategies that saves both time and money. The only time it adds is another moment or two at the grocery store, and at the same time, simply having default meals at home saves us time on many busy evenings. It also saves money because we’re eating at home more and we’re able to take advantage of bulk buying and big buys of on-sale items.
Give this strategy a shot. Stock up big time on the ingredients of your “default” meals. Enjoy them over and over again so that preparation is down to an exact science. You’ll find that it’s often just more convenient to eat at home, and every time you do that, you’ll save money, too.
Good luck!
More by Trent Hamm:
- How Mastering These Six Food Staples Can Make Cooking at Home Cheap and Super Easy
- Lessons From the Average American’s Food Expenses
- Six Basic Steps Toward Easy Meal Prep at Home
- How I Shop: Specific Tricks for Your Next Trip to the Grocery Store
The post The ‘Overstocked Default Meal’ Strategy appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
Source The Simple Dollar https://ift.tt/2yvYH4a
Four Tips for Selling Yard Equipment Online (Learned the Hard Way)
Reselling an item online seems like one of the more mundane tasks in our digital world. So why does it still feel like fixing cataracts with a rusty safety pin?
Both Craigslist and eBay have been in existence in some form since 1995. Kids who were born at that time can not only drink legally by now, but possibly had their first drinks purchased by parents who made a living selling items on Craigslist and eBay. Now with options like Facebook Marketplace, LetGo, and other online second-hand stores, there are more places than ever to host an online garage sale.
The trick is getting people to follow through and actually buy something.
Since moving into our house five years ago, my wife and I have had tremendous success selling items online. The previous owners left our property filled with items they considered gifts but, more likely, didn’t make the cut when they downsized from a 2,400-square-foot house with a barn and various sheds to a two-bedroom apartment.
We sold a bedframe, box spring and mattress (we were surprised, too) for $200. to a mother and daughter on their way through town. We sold a large Weber charcoal grill ($250) to a gentleman who somehow crammed it into a Mercedes-Benz convertible. In our greatest coup, we sold a wrought iron spiral staircase — the only indoor stairs to our basement — for full price to a gentleman from Seattle who wanted them for his man cave. The sale price of those stairs paid for us to build an actual basement staircase, which are much more functional for carrying laundry than stairs you’d ascend halfway for a wedding photo.
Selling powered garden tools is another challenge entirely. When we bought the house, it came with a Sears Craftsman LT2000 lawn tractor of unknown age that turned out to be the exact wrong piece of machinery for mowing roughly 1.5 acres of pasture. The 42-inch deck was small, the two blades fared poorly in tall or slightly damp grass, and the mower belt popped loose and was chewed to oblivion any time the terrain got too bumpy… which tends to happen on mole-mounded, uneven pasture.
Selling that lawn tractor turned into a 12-month odyssey that taught me a handful of lessons about reselling this specific niche of home items. Here is that journey in four steps:
April 2017: Craftsman LT2000 riding mower $800 (or best offer)
- Lesson learned: Know your market
I posted the tractor just after buying a commercial-grade, zero-turn-radius mower built to mow the sides of turnpikes. That mower was the tool for the job, but came with a price tag that I wanted to whittle down by selling the old tractor.
There would be no whittling.
The tractor sat on Cragislist for weeks as other, newer tractors sold for roughly the same price. Those tractors hadn’t had three mower belts replaced within the last year. Those tractors had tires without slow leaks that even tire centers couldn’t identify. Those tractors were built in the 21st century, where it was clear that my Craftsman was old even by driving mower standards. There’s a strong chance that it was 15 or even 20 years old when it hit the market.
When the competition is more reliable and has less wear for the same price, it presents better value for the dollar. I priced my tractor poorly.
October 2017: Craftsman LT2000 riding mower $800
- Lesson learned: Know your calendar
Know who’s thinking about lawn maintenance in October? Nobody.
My tractor was one of just five listed on Craigslist in my area at the time, but it received maybe three bites. Craigslist customers can be a bit flaky on their best days, but an overpriced lawn tractor being sold in October isn’t going to make them less so. I decided to hold onto it until spring and try again with a new strategy.
March 2018: Craftsman LT2000 riding mower $500 OBO
- Lesson learned: Know what you’re selling
At $500, my tractor was on par with other similarly aged equipment in a flooded market. However, I posted it on both Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace and received a whole bunch of inquiries that I began scheduling as test drives.
When the first testing day came around, however, it wouldn’t start. I lost that sale and figured that a dead battery was the biggest problem. I noted this in the description and got another inquiry. This person offered to jump start it and said he’d buy it if it would start. Seemingly out of spite, it didn’t.
I changed the battery spark plugs, changed the fuel filter, and fixed a cracked vacuum hose and tried to start it up again. Nope. People will pay $500 for a used mower, but only if it runs.
April 2018: Craftsman LT2000 riding mower $150
- Lesson learned: Know your limits
By this time, I was receiving suggestions from Craigslist and Facebook posters alike. Some suggested the tractor’s solenoid was no good, others said the fuel pump, while even others suggested it might be a carburetor issue.
I hadn’t used the mower in a year at this point and didn’t want to drop another dime into it. It still had a tag on it from the last time it had been serviced, but I knew I wasn’t going to recoup all of the service hours I’d put into it or the transportation charges from when it had broken down. (P.S. — If you own a tractor of any kind, it also helps to own a utility trailer.) I just wanted it to get to a good home, and not at my expense.
When I posted the tractor to Craigslist and Facebook for the final time at that reduced price, suddenly it was the most popular 20-year-old mower in Oregon. I received dozens of queries within 24 hours, but the best came from a gentleman two towns over. He not only came in at full price, but wanted to convert it into a yard buggy for his wife, who’d developed fibromyalgia and was having a hard time getting around their 18-acre property.
I told him that it was a terrible pasture mower, but would make an excellent buggy or cart. He came to my house in a contractor’s truck with a hydraulic bed, pulled my tractor onto it with a winch (the tractor fought it all the way, locking its rear wheels in defiance), and paid me in cash. He thanked me and handed me a religious leaflet, I wished him well and warned him against driving through the blackberry bramble.
I accept that I’m no expert in these matters but, like many of us, I’m learning as I go. In the spot where that lawn tractor once stood, there’s now a brush cutter, a trimmer and a leaf blower left by the previous owners, all in various states of repair. All have been rendered redundant by a combination tool left to us by my father-in-law’s neighbor, who simply gave it and a number of other tools to him after she and her husband split.
I’ll be selling all of those redundant tools online as well, but I’ll research the market, comparable listings, and the working condition of these items in advance this time around. I probably won’t get rich doing it, but I won’t waste time or money this way, either.
More by Jason Notte:
- Our House Came With Two Goats, and They’re Heartbreaking Helpers
- From Bushels to Bottles: How to Make Homemade Apple Cider
- Want to Save Money on Your Car Insurance? Fix Your Credit
The post Four Tips for Selling Yard Equipment Online (Learned the Hard Way) appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
Source The Simple Dollar https://ift.tt/2yxCgeV
Are Business Cards Dead or a Viable Marketing Tool?
What do you consider your most important piece of marketing material? Your catalog? Your direct mail? Your advertisements? Your social media accounts? How about your business card? Is that still as important as it once was or has it been replaced with LinkedIn and other contact apps on your never-more-important smartphone? Historically, your business card […]
The post Are Business Cards Dead or a Viable Marketing Tool? appeared first on The Work at Home Woman.
Source The Work at Home Woman https://ift.tt/2PlJ2hc