The Best Free and Paid Conference Call Services

Whether you run a small startup or large enterprise, effective communication is a key to success for any business.

Email, instant messaging, traditional phone calls, and video chat all have their place in today’s work environment. But conference calls remain the best option for group communication over the phone.

Most people tend to associate conference calls with corporate environments. Workers in suits seated around the table of a glass office overlooking the city. But that perception is just a fraction of how conference call services are actually used.

Businesses of all sizes use conference calling to communicate with remote workers, colleagues in other locations, clients, and prospective leads across the world.

Whether you do this frequently or occasionally, it’s important that you’re using a reliable conference call service to facilitate these discussions.

But not all conference call services are the same. There are plenty of free conference call services that get the job done. However, some of the best conference call services have additional features that you need to pay for.

Factors like how many callers can be in a meeting, operator assistance, call recording, and video chat will impact that price.

Regardless of what you’re looking for, this guide has you covered. I’ll show you the best conference call services on the market today, as well as my methodology for how to rank them.

The Best Conference Call Services

When it comes to conference calling services, there are eight options that stand out as the best:

• UberConference
• Zoom
• FreeConferenceCall.com
• Google Hangouts
• GoToMeeting
• Vast Conference
• Webex
• BlueJeans

I’ve reviewed each one in detail below so you can figure out which one is the best choice for your needs.

UberConference

If you’re looking for a simple and easy to use conference call service, UberConference is the most logical place to start your search. I like UberConference because they have both free and paid options.

For those of you who need basic calling features for small groups, the free option is a viable solution.

At no cost, you can use UberConference for calls with up to 10 participants. You can also make an unlimited number of calls per year with this plan. The free conferencing call service comes with call recording, screen sharing, HD audio quality, HD video, and mobile app access.

The maximum duration of a free call is 45 minutes.

Larger organizations with needs beyond these limitations would need to sign up for the paid business plan, which is $15 per month (billed annually). Calls made on this plan can be up to 5 hours long. The paid plan has additional benefits like:

• Custom call-in numbers
• Call analytics
• International access for 50+ countries
• Add guest dial outs
• Custom hold music
• Voice intelligence
• Team management portal

You can also add a toll-free number to your plan for an additional $30 per month (billed annually).

The mobile app is one of the top features of UberConference. The fact that it comes standard with the free plan is a huge bonus. I like the app because it gives you access to all of the features from a mobile device, making it easy to start or join a conference call on the go. You don’t need to be tied to a desk or office to participate.

Getting started with UberConference is very straightforward. You’ll be able to start making calls immediately after signing up. If you need some assistance, you’ll find that the knowledge base and customer support provided is extremely helpful.

You might experience some static or audio quality issues with this service. But overall, I don’t think it’s enough of an issue to turn you away. The quality is still better than other free conference call services on the market.

Zoom

Although relatively new to the market, Zoom has quickly become an industry leader in the world of conference calls. This cloud-based system offers a wide range of free and paid options to accommodate businesses of all sizes.

Here’s a quick overview of the plans and pricing:

Zoom Basic

• Free
• Up to 100 participants
• 40 minute duration limit
• HD video conferences
• Web conferences
• Group collaboration features

Zoom Pro

• Starting at $14.99 per month
• Up to 100 participants
• 24 hour duration limit
• Cloud recording
• Admin control features
• Reporting tools

Zoom Business

• $19.99 per month per host (minimum of 10 hosts)
• Up to 300 participants
• Dedicated phone support
• Cloud recording transcription
• Company branding
• Custom emails

Zoom Enterprise

• Starting at $19.99 per month per host (minimum of 50 hosts)
• Up to 1,000 participants
• Unlimited cloud storage
• Dedicated customer support manager
• Executive business reviews

Zoom Basic and Zoom Pro will likely be the best options for the majority of you. Those are the best conference call services for startups and smaller teams. You could always upgrade to Zoom Business as your company scales.

Zoom stands out amongst its competitors for video conferencing and cloud conferencing rooms. You’ll definitely want to lean toward this service if you plan to make professional video presentations via conference calls.

While it’s not for everyone, Zoom Enterprise is a top solution for those of you who fall into that category. Big companies like Uber, Zendesk, Ticketmaster, GoDaddy, and Pandora are just a handful of brands that rely on Zoom for conference calling solutions.

Zoom has an extensive knowledge base as well as 24/7 phone support and live training with some of the plans. But the audio quality can be a bit unstable at times.

FreeConferenceCall.com

As the name implies, FreeConferenceCall.com is, you guessed it—free. With more than 2 billion calls made across the globe, this is arguably the most popular free conference call service on the market today.

To get started, all you need to do is create an account. You can do this in a matter of seconds.

FreeConferenceCall.com has some of the highest limitations in the industry for free plans. You can use this tool to host conference calls with up to 1,000 participants, which is probably more than enough than you would ever need.

In addition to audio conferences, FreeConferenceCall.com has free video meetings as well. The service comes with plenty of great other features and benefits.

• Ability to change presenters
• Remote drawing tools
• Recording capabilities
• Presentations
• Private chat
• Screen sharing
• International conference calling

Other conference call services out there charge extra or make you sign up for a monthly plan to access these features.

From your account, you’ll also be able to access your call history and recordings. The archives will include details and reports of these calls as well.

While the majority of people take advantage of this service for the free features, there are some paid features that you might want to consider using to enhance your experience.

• One number (no access codes) — $3.95 per month
• Toll-free number — $0.039 per minute, per person
• Custom greeting — $2 per month
• Custom hold music — $2 per month
• Extra storage — Starting at $3 per month (up to 40 GB)

I’d skip the custom greeting and custom hold music. Although some of you might want to add those to appear more professional for client calls. The extra storage is definitely something that I would consider getting if I was running low. You always want the ability to go back and access old recordings.

Another top benefit of FreeConferenceCall.com is the mobile app access. Host, manage, and join calls from your phone the same way you would from a desktop browser.

The only real drawback of FreeConferenceCall.com is that the storage capacity is limited. But as I’ve already mentioned, you can upgrade your storage at an affordable rate.

Google Hangouts

As a Google product, you know right away that Google Hangouts is a reliable service. It’s free to use, and a great option for anyone with a Gmail account (which is basically everyone).

When you navigate to Google Hangouts, it automatically connects with your Gmail account and contacts. It has Google Calendar integration as well, which makes it easy to schedule meetings with other users.

To set up a conference call, just use your browser, chrome extension, or mobile app.

This service is usually used for one-on-one meetings, but can be a viable option for smaller conference calls of up to 25 people. Google Hangouts makes it easy for you to share your screen and facilitate video conference calls as well.

To get the most out of Google Hangouts, you need to have a G Suite account, which starts at $6 per month. You might already be using G Suite, and if you’re not, you should start.

While Google Hangouts is simple, straightforward, and easy to use, it definitely has a few drawbacks that you should keep in mind.

For starters, there is no customer support if you’re using it for free. So if you have a problem or question, you’ll need to browse through user forums instead. There is no recording feature either, which seems to be standard with most of the other conference call services out there.

Personally, I use Google Hangouts at least once or twice per month. Although most of those meetings are just with a handful of people. Audio quality issues are common as well. But overall, it’s quick, easy, and free to make conference calls with this service.

GoToMeeting

GoToMeeting is one of the best paid conference call services that I’ve seen. It’s a high-quality solution for small business conference calls without too many extras or distracting features.

Unlike some of the other paid conference call solutions on the market, GoToMeeting does not have a basic free plan. However, you can try still try it out at no cost with a 14-day trial. So at the very least, it can’t hurt to take advantage of this.

GoToMeeting has three plans:

• Professional — Starting at $12 per month
• Business — Starting at $16 per month
• Enterprise — Custom pricing

The Professional and Business plans can host conference calls with up to 150 and 250 participants, respectively. The Enterprise plan is for up to 3,000 participants.

All plans come with these basic features:

• HD video conferencing
• Screen sharing
• Dial in conference lines
• No limits on meetings
• No time limits for meetings
• Personal meeting rooms
• Business messaging
• Mobile app
• Slack integration
• Salesforce integration
• 24/7 customer support

GoToMeeting also has unlimited recording capabilities as well as automatic transcriptions of your conference calls.

Overall, it’s a great choice for those of you who manage large remote teams.

Performance is where GoToMeeting stands out over the competition. Lots of free and paid conference call services out there fall short with audio quality. But GoToMeeting customers rave about the crystal clear sound and connection of their conference calls.

GoToMeeting does not have some of the more advanced features that we’ve seen from other providers. But personally, I like the simplicity. You don’t necessarily need too many bells and whistles to make effective conference calls. Plus, I think the price points for these plans provide a great value for the benefits.

Vast Conference

Vast Conference is another paid conference call service that offers a 14-day free trial. With Vast Conference, you’ll have the ability to host instant conference calls without scheduling meetings in advance. But they also offer operator-assisted conferences as well.

There are four different plan options to choose from with Vast Conference:

• Essentials — Starting at $11.99 per month
• Standard — Starting at $15.99 per month
• Professional — Starting at $31.99 per month
• Enterprise — Custom pricing

The biggest difference between the plans is the number of participants allowed in a meeting. These limits are at 10, 100, 250, and 500, respectively.

All plans have unlimited cloud recording, except for the Essentials plan, which is limited to 1 GB of storage per user.

The Vast Conference interface is very easy to use. Setting up, managing, and reviewing your conference calls will be simple for anyone, regardless of your technical skill level.

Overall, I’d recommend Vast Conference to business users that want to take advantage of operator-assisted conference calls. This really adds a level of professionalism to your meetings. The audio and video quality of calls made with this service is exceptional as well.

Like most options, Vast Conference isn’t perfect. I’m not really impressed with the mobile app calling. So you can look elsewhere if that feature is important to you.

With that said, the customer support offered by Vast Conference is second to none. Even the entry-level plan comes with world class support.

Webex

Webex is a Cisco product, so you know that the technology used to power this solution is reputable and high-quality. This is one of the best business conference call services to consider for both audio and video calling.

Here’s an overview of the four different plans offered by Webex:

Webex Free

• Free
• Up to 50 participants
• 40 minute limit on conference calls
• 1 GB of cloud storage

Webex Starter

• Starting at $13.50 per month
• Up to 50 participants
• No meeting limits
• 5 GB of cloud storage

Webex Plus

• Starting at $17.95 per month
• Up to 100 participants
• No meeting limits
• 5 GB of cloud storage
• Assign alternate hosts
• 24/7 customer support

Webex Business

• Starting at $26.95 per month
• Up to 200 participants
• 10 GB of cloud storage
• Custom branding features

The free plan is fine, but it’s pretty limited. All of the paid plans come with more advanced features like transcription recording, call-in audio, file sharing, and administrative features.

To get the best customer support, you’ll need to upgrade to the Webex Plus plan.

Overall, Webex is a great choice for small, medium, and large businesses with remote employees. I really like the way that the video conferencing is displayed in a grid view as well.

With the top-tier plan maxing out at 200 participants, Webex doesn’t really have an enterprise-level option. Although that shouldn’t be a major concern for most of you. Plans with up to 50 or 100 participants should be more than enough to meet your needs.

BlueJeans

BlueJeans specializes in video conference calls. It’s well-known for exceptional audio quality as well. This solution makes it easy for team communication from any device.

For small businesses and individuals, BlueJeans has a plan starting at $12.49 per month, which can host meetings with up to 50 participants.

They also offer an upgraded plan for $16.65 per month with conferencing capabilities for up to 75 participants. This option comes with recording features and cloud storage, which is what I would recommend.

If you need more, you can contact BlueJeans for a custom solution and plan. Although the participant limit is 150 people. This is definitely less than some of the other enterprise-level solutions we’ve seen. Although the pricing will be a bit more appealing.

Companies like Linkedin, Facebook, and Zillow rely on BlueJeans for conference calls. So it’s definitely a service that you can trust.

One of the reasons why BlueJeans has such exceptional audio quality is because it’s powered by Dolby Voice. The solution is designed to suppress background noises while giving each participant’s voice a distinct location, which makes it sound as though everyone is in the same room.

Loud talkers, soft-spoken participants, and simultaneous talking can still be heard, unmuffled. This definitely gives BlueJeans an edge over its competitors.

How to Find the Best Conference Call Services For You

There are an overwhelming amount of conference call services on the market today. Finding the best choice can be difficult.

In order to pick the top option, you need to know what to look for when you’re evaluating a potential service. This is the methodology that I used when I was researching the solutions in this guide. You can use it as well to narrow your choices.

Call Limits

The first thing you need to look at is the calling restrictions for a plan that you’re considering. These limits will be related to the number of participants allowed in a call as well as the duration of a call.

Some free plans will limit you to just 10 participants and 40 minutes per conference call. While other paid options give you up to 1,000 participants with no limits on call duration.

Pick a service based on what you need. If you have a small business with just a handful of remote employees, you probably don’t need to pay for a conference call service with a limit of 250 participants.

I’d definitely recommend finding an option with unlimited call durations. It won’t be effective or productive if you’re forced to cut meetings short based on these limitations.

Call Recording

The ability to record your conference calls is another big advantage. Not every free service comes with this option.

There are different levels of call recording capability. Some services will record the call and then force you to store it locally on whatever device you’re using. Others have cloud storage options based on your plan.

Make sure you understand any storage limits before you sign up for a plan. Otherwise, you might be forced to upgrade when you run out of space.

It’s also worth noting that some call recording plans also come with transcription services. This will make it easier for you to go back and find certain points within a call without having to search through the audio.

If you’re going to take advantage of video calling features, see if the service records the videos or if the recording is just limited to audio calls only.

Account and Call Setup

A conference call service is useless if it’s difficult to use. I rank ease of use based on two factors.

1. Setting up an account.
2. Starting a new conference call.

Signing up for some conference calling services can be completed in a matter of seconds. For example, if you’re a G Suite user, all you need to do is navigate to Google Hangouts to use it.

If you need a custom solution or enterprise-level plan, setup will be a bit more complex. In most cases, you’ll have to reach out to a sales agent, which can be a pain and kind of time-consuming.

Once you’re all signed up, regardless of the service, starting a new conference call needs to be extremely easy. How do you add users to the call? Is there a call-in service? Do you need to schedule the meeting in advance? Is operator-assistance available? These are all factors that need to be taken into consideration.

Video Conferencing

You may not always need it, but I definitely recommend getting a conference call service that includes high-quality video.

This feature can take your meetings to the next level. In addition to video, some services have features to optimize things like screen sharing and presentations. These are crucial for business collaborations with remote workers. Features like this will also make it easier for you to effectively pitch and communicate with any current or prospective clients that you’re working with.

Certain conference call services specialize in video calls. So if you’re planning to use video for the majority of your calls, look for an option that specializes in this area.

Call Quality

Your conference calls will be useless if the quality and connection is poor. There is nothing worse than being on a call when you spend the whole time saying “can you hear me?” or “please repeat that.” 

If calls are dropping, lagging, or sound scratchy, you just can’t have a productive meeting. The importance of call quality increases with larger groups.

When people start talking at the same time or some people talk louder than others, it can be difficult to keep up with the conversation.

The only way to really know how good the call quality will be is to test it out. So definitely take advantage of any free trials offered by a provider. Use it as much as possible to see if you’re happy with the results.

Customer Support

Like any product or service in any market, I always put big emphasis on customer support before I buy something. If I have an important call and something goes wrong, I need to be able to contact someone to fix the issue immediately.

Some services offer 24/7 support over the phone, while others only offer it during business hours. There are free plans that force you to start a support ticket online, which won’t solve your problem right away.

If you can’t contact a customer service representative, your conference call service should at least offer an extensive knowledge base for troubleshooting.

Price

What’s your budget for conference calls? There are free plans out there, as well as enterprise-level solutions starting at $1,000 per month.

With that said, most of you should be able to find a viable solution for less than $20 per month.

You can usually get a better deal if you opt-in to an annual contract as opposed to paying month-to-month. Just make sure you’re comfortable with your decision before you commit to a long-term contract. Always take advantage of a free trial.

Free and Paid Features

Every conference call service has additional features to make its solution seem more appealing. Some common ones include:

• International calling
• Live chat
• Call reporting
• Software integration (Slack, Salesforce, calendars, G Suite, etc.)
• Toll-free number
• Hold music
• Custom greeting
• Presentation tools
• Team management tools
• Mobile app

The list goes on and on. Some of these features will come free with plans, while others you’ll need to upgrade or add-on to get.

Basically, you need to just figure out which ones you’re actually going to use. Then evaluate the plans to see which ones give you the best value for those features.

Conclusion

At some point or another, every business will need to make a conference call. So finding the best conference call service needs to be a priority for everyone.

Here’s a recap of the best conference call services that I reviewed in this guide:

• UberConference — Best conference calling service for beginners.
• Zoom — Plans for startups, small businesses, and enterprise-level conference calls.
• FreeConferenceCall.com — Best free conference calling service.
• Google Hangouts — Simple conference calling for G Suite users.
• GoToMeeting — Best value conference calls for businesses.
• Vast Conference — Best for operator-assisted conference calls.
• Webex — Free and paid calling plans for small and medium-sized businesses.
• BlueJeans — High-quality audio and video conference calling.

There’s a mix of free and paid options on this list.

Overall, there’s something for everyone. Whether you’re an individual, startup business, large company, or enterprise, you’ll be able to find a high-quality conference calling solution using this guide.

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How to Tackle Saving for These 6 Major Life Expenses

Several times throughout our lives — when we get married, buy a house, have kids — we face mountainous expenses that require us to really double down on saving money.

Spending thousands of dollars in one swoop requires a different savings strategy than just skipping your daily lattes for a couple of months.

Here’s what to keep in mind when you’re facing expensive life events.

Purchasing a Car

Buying a new car can set you back between $20,000 and $55,000, depending on if you’re going for a compact car or a luxury vehicle. Even if you’re purchasing a used car, you may need several thousand saved up.

These steps to saving for a car will prepare you to buy your next set of wheels: figuring out how much to save for a down payment and what related expenses you need to budget for.

Buying a House

Talk about expensive life events.

Housing typically accounts for a large portion of everyone’s budget. Saving to own a home is a financial feat that can require tens of thousands of dollars upfront, not including the ongoing payments over the life of a standard 30-year mortgage.

Our guide to saving for a home while you’re still paying rent is designed to get you closer to your homeownership dreams.

Splitting expenses with a roommate can allow you to squirrel away more for a down payment, and qualifying for a first-time home buyer assistance program can reduce your initial out-of-pocket expenses.

Getting Married

Last year, the average American wedding cost nearly $34,000. That’s a lot of cash to spend on a one-day celebration — even for one you’ll cherish forever.

To help you avoid starting your marriage with extra debt, we’ve compiled 90 smart ways to save money on your dream wedding. Renting your wedding gown and going with used wedding decor could knock thousands off your expenses.

Budget-conscious couples can glean a few tips from these frugal love birds who planned their weddings under $10,000.

Having Children

Oh baby, having kids is expensive. Like, six-figures expensive, according to the U.S. Department of Food and Agriculture. 

Although it’s estimated parents will spend over $200,000 raising a child to adulthood, many new parents are stunned at all the costs that crop up in the first few years — the hospital delivery, diapers, formula, child care and more.

Cut costs when they’re young with these 31 ways to save money on new baby expenses and these creative solutions to affordable care.

Once they get older and you’re swapping Mommy and Me sessions for competitive sports, continue on your money-saving journey with these 13 ways to reduce children’s expenses after the baby years.

Paying for Your Kid’s College Education

Every parent wants the best for their child’s future. Having a college degree can open up doors to well-paying job opportunities and career advancement.

When it comes to funding your child’s education, starting early gives you the best advantage. This breakdown of five common ways to save for college will help you decide the best option for your family.

Taking advantage of financial aid packages can be a lifesaver. Make sure you fill out the FAFSA before each collegiate academic year to determine your estimated family contribution.

Retiring

Saving for retirement is another expensive life event that’s best to contribute to way earlier than you think you should. The magic of compound interest works best when you allow more time for your money to grow.

Figure out how much money you’ll need in retirement, educate yourself on ways to build your retirement savings and open a 401(k), IRA or investment account, if you haven’t done so already.

And if you’re past your 20s, 30s and even 40s and don’t have anything saved for your golden years, here’s advice on how to catch up on retirement savings.

Nicole Dow is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder.

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

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Transitioning Our Pantry from “Recipes First” to “Ingredients First”

Over the last several months, we’ve been gradually transitioning from a “recipes first” methodology of cooking to an “ingredients first” methodology. Our goal is to make our home cooking much more flexible so we can rely even more on bulk buying of key ingredients and just buying loss leaders from the produce aisle of the grocery store. I’ve written a little about this shift before and I thought a thorough update might be in order.

Let’s walk through what this is all about in detail.

How We’ve Done Things in the Past

In the past, our meal planning and grocery buying and cooking strategy was simple. It was a five step process:

Step 1: Get the grocery store flyer
Step 2: Select recipes and plan meals for the week using our calendar and the items on sale in the flyer
Step 3: Make a grocery list from those recipes, which is basically a list of recipe ingredients minus what we have already on hand
Step 4: Go grocery shopping with the grocery list in hand
Step 5: Prep meals according to the plan

This system came into being over time for several reasons.

One, we were kind of tired of clipping coupons and we found we could get much the same savings if we were careful about buying stuff from the grocery flyer of a low-cost grocer and sticking largely to store brand stuff.

Two, we knew that having a careful meal plan that took our calendar into account made it much more likely that we would prepare meals at home, which is far cheaper than eating out all the time.

Three, we knew that shopping from a grocery list was likely to help us maintain focus on that list and thus were less likely to put unplanned things in the cart.

Four, we weren’t incredibly confident in the kitchen as we moved to this plan and thus having known recipes to follow was pretty important.

This system was one that tolerated our relative inexperience in the kitchen and our crazy schedule while still finding a lot of ways to save money – cooking at home, using a low-cost grocer, sticking to a grocery list, having a grocery list full of items on sale, and so on.

There were still a few flaws with this system, though.

We often wound up with leftover ingredients in odd amounts and we were often unsure what to do with them. Often, partial packages would wind up back in the pantry or fridge or freezer and would eventually be tossed.

There were many food bulk buys that we couldn’t take advantage of because we were unsure how to use them.

Furthermore, as we became more comfortable in the kitchen, we wanted to “ad lib” with the recipes a little more.

“Recipe First” Cooking

What I eventually came to realize is that our method of meal planning and cooking is what’s known as “recipe first” cooking. In other words, our system of designing a meal plan around recipes, buying items to fulfill those recipes, and sticking tightly to the meal plan required us to find recipes before we went to the grocery store.

Basically, if you look at recipes before buying groceries, you’re doing “recipe first” cooking.

Since I’m a huge believer in simply trusting one’s grocery list to minimize impulse buys, I would often go to the store and end up buying package sizes to specifically match our recipes, and that was often a ballpark thing. Often, we’d need an awkward amount, so I’d end up buying a little too much and the excess would just wind up in the back of the fridge or the pantry.

This system also made it very hard to ad-lib. What if I wanted to modify a recipe one night? What if one or two of the neighbor kids was at our house for supper, which happens occasionally? What if a last minute change of events changes the window of time to prepare a specific recipe?

Over time, we came up with some “patches” for this, the big one being that we always had ingredients on hand for a few specific meals that we could quickly prepare any time. We always had ingredients for a simple vegetarian chili. We always had ingredients for spaghetti with sauce.

The perk of those meals was that I knew I could always buy beans in bulk and canned diced tomatoes in bulk and chili seasonings in bulk and dry spaghetti in bulk and pasta sauce in bulk (or, more often these days, tomato sauce in bulk and a variety of spices in bulk). If I saw boxes of whole wheat spaghetti for $0.50, I knew I could just fill the cart up with them and we’d eventually use them.

“Ingredients First” Cooking

Eventually, I came to realize that I wanted that kind of freedom with everything. Whenever I saw a really great sale on something I knew we used more than once in a blue moon, I wanted to be able to just stock up on it without thinking, knowing it would get used. I wanted to be able to buy some frequently used items in huge bulk so that it was incredibly cheap per pound.

This led to the overall realization that we should move toward “ingredients first” cooking, meaning that we just have a pantry and freezer full of staples and thus our meal planning is just about utilizing what’s on sale in the produce section of the grocery store while having the ability to ad-lib lots of meals.

For many quick meals, we’d just always have everything on hand. If I want to make a pot of chili, for example, I’d know that every ingredient I’d need for it is ready to go in the pantry or in the fridge or in the freezer at all times. If I want to make spaghetti, the same is true. Basically, I want this to be true for quite a few meals, and I want many other meals to be similarly ready to go whenever the fresh ingredients are on sale.

Basically, this means filling up our pantry with staples purchased in bulk, buying loss leaders from the fresh items at the grocery store, buying nonperishables in bulk particularly when on sale, and then assembling meals out of what we have on hand.

This changes the five step process above into this:

Step 1: Get the grocery store flyer
Step 2: Identify loss leaders that will make for interesting meals
Step 3: Make a grocery list from the loss leaders and from whatever’s low in the pantry
Step 4: Go grocery shopping with the grocery list in hand
Step 5: Make a meal plan based on what I have on hand and what fits our calendar

In other words, I buy the ingredients before even deciding on recipes or a meal plan. Instead, I just know I have a lot of staples on hand and that I can assemble a lot of meals from those ingredients.

The key to this is that the ingredients on hand become the constraint on deciding what to make, not what I can buy at the grocery store. I keep my shopping to bulk staples and on-sale ingredients and then use them to make something for each meal which I can figure out after grocery shopping but before cooking.

What Changes in Our Food Buying and Prep Time?

So, what does that mean in terms of actual changes in our food buying and food preparation?

Obviously, the focus changes to keeping a healthy pantry full of staples and supplementing that with on-sale produce. When we fully transition (this is still ongoing, for reasons I’ll note below), our grocery list will basically be staple refills along with on-sale fresh produce.

We’re still figuring out what staples we need to have on hand, but this is a really good list to work from that we’ve been using. Obviously, some items are in larger quantity than others depending on the types of food we make regularly. For example, we’ll always have tons of diced tomatoes and tomato sauce and tomato paste on hand, whereas we have very little need to have clams on hand.

The thing to notice is that almost everything on that list is staple foods, not prepared foods. Staple items are almost universally cheaper to buy at the store than prepared items. The more basic the item, the cheaper it is.

We still do meal plans, but meal plans can now be done after the grocery shopping. I can meal plan before or after grocery shopping. It becomes much more of an issue to make sure that the meals we plan fit our calendar rather than figuring out what we need to buy.

Our “meal prepping” is more about preparing basic ingredients for future meals and also about making duplicates of the same meal when we’re making one for supper. We’ve kind of moved away from just making lots of batches of the same meal; instead, if we’re making one meal from scratch, we’ll just make three or four of it (limited by what we have on hand) and save the extra two or three for later, which usually triggers a need to restock specific ingredients in the pantry.

For example, if I’m making lasagna, I’ll probably just go and make several pans of it at once, and the number of pans is usually limited by the ingredients we happen to have around. How many pans can I make based on what’s on hand in the fridge and pantry? This usually means we run out of something, and thus it’s a staple that I can replenish by buying in bulk next time.

I’ll also spend some time straight-up prepping ingredients for future use. For example, I’ve found that it’s a great idea to store small batches of chopped onions and bell peppers in the freezer in small containers. I can just pull them out when it’s convenient and toss them right into the skillet or crock pot or whatever. This means that every once in a while, I’ll spend an hour just chopping onions – tons of them. There are also times where I’ll just buy frozen diced onions and diced green peppers at the store when they’re on sale and divide them into smaller containers when I get home.

Lessons Learned

Ingredients-first cooking will save you a lot of money, but transitioning to it has a number of challenges and some unexpected expenses. We’re still in transition – we’re mostly doing it, but we often run into little problems and make last-minute runs to the store to fix things. While I think it’s already cheaper than our previous situation, it will get even better when we shave off the rough edges.

Here are some things we’ve learned.

Familiarity with the kitchen is absolutely essential if you’re trying to do this with time constraints. If you’re a single person or you’re retired and you don’t have a whole lot of time constraints on meal preparation, it’s not nearly as big of a deal. The reality is that we often have to get meals made in a pretty narrow timeframe, and that means that we need to be pretty adept in the kitchen at a wide variety of tasks.

The reason is that quite often, you’re not following an exact recipe. You certainly can follow recipes with this strategy, but it almost nudges you not to do so and to trust your own instincts in the kitchen. If you’re leafing through Serious Eats or AllRecipes or something like that and come up with a recipe, you’ll often not have exactly what it calls for, which means you need to be knowledgable and comfortable enough to make reasonable substitutions if you want to make it. In other words, almost everything you make becomes a slight variation on a basic recipe. You’ll almost never make the exact same pasta meal twice – it’ll slightly vary based on what ingredients you happen to have and, as you become more experienced, what flavors you want to accentuate.

A complete pantry reboot is often necessary. If you’re accustomed to just following recipes or instructions on the backs of boxes for everything that you make, it’s very likely that you’ve accumulated a lot of partial containers of things that have gradually shifted to the back of your pantry, filling it up with a bunch of junk that you’ve forgotten about.

In order to switch to ingredient-based cooking, you need to pull all of that nonsense out of your pantry and either use it up or toss it.

One good way of doing this is to get several large boxes and put everything that’s currently in your pantry that isn’t a staple in there. All of the half-used containers, all of the strange ingredients you bought to follow one specific recipe, all of that stuff – put it in a box or two or seven that’s outside of your pantry. Then, you can restock your pantry with actual staples while also trying to get through and use up all of the stuff in boxes.

Storage containers become very, very useful when you switch to this strategy. Many of the staples you buy at the store will actually just serve to refill a storage container in your pantry. We have lots of containers for different kinds of flours, different kinds of pasta, and so on.

The reason for this is that it keeps you from having a pantry full of half-empty bags and containers of various kinds. When you buy oatmeal, for example, at the store, you just bring it home, dump it in the oatmeal container, and toss the package.

Even better, this system makes it really easy to move to using the bulk bins at the grocery store. Almost always, the stuff that comes out of those bulk bins is cheaper and higher quality than the packages on the shelves. It’s definitely fresher most of the time, too.

The drawback, of course, is the startup cost of having so many food storage containers. Our solution is to go cheap at first, using cheap flimsy containers from the grocery store, and then buying better sets as holiday gifts (my wife and I have become absurdly practical with most of our gift-giving to each other, where it becomes mostly an excuse to upgrade things around the house that we use a lot). Basically, go cheap, then gradually upgrade your frequently used containers to better stuff like OXO Good Grips POP containers (my favorite for things like flour and pasta, but expensive) and these airtight spice containers.

Another thing that will happen is that you’ll constantly be learning what should and shouldn’t be in your pantry. You’ll have ingredients in there that you scarcely use and will sit for years, while you completely missed the boat on other staples. That’s why we have been often running to the store for last minute items as we make this transition.

Final Thoughts

Most Americans approach home food preparation from a “recipe first” perspective. They buy items to fulfill a specific recipe, whether it’s one found online or in a book or magazine or a recipe card or even the back of a package. While this is certainly less expensive than eating out constantly and it does require less creativity and skill in the kitchen, it does create the problem of having extra ingredients left over and you’ll also find it’s harder to always stick to the on-sale items when grocery shopping.

Ingredients-first cooking solves both of those problems, which further reduces long term food costs, but it comes with some challenges, too. It requires some skill and creativity in the kitchen, for starters, and there’s a hefty startup cost. There’s also the challenge of dealing with a pantry full of items that you need to use up as you’re “rebooting” your pantry.

In the long run, it can definitely save you a lot of money as it means that further food buying is either bulk purchasing or loss leaders from the grocery flyer, but it requires some transition if you currently have an overstuffed pantry and refrigerator.

Whether you think that “ingredients first” cooking is a good choice for you or not, it’s a worthwhile approach to understand and keep in your back pocket for times when your food costs are about to become tighter or when you want a bit more freedom in your home food preparation and want to stretch your cooking skills and creativity a little.

Good luck!

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My “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” Experience

We all have them, those moments in our lives where we are presented with a crossroad.

Where each path has the potential to lead us into a totally different result.

We all wish that we could fast forward to see which path is the best option, but, unfortunately, the only way to find out is to choose one.

I had to make one of those decisions early on in my career.

One of my earlier meetings in my career was with a gentleman who had an entrepreneurial spirit.

He could see that in me as well, and had suggested that I check out the book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki.

I can’t remember if I’d heard of the book at the time, but I was definitely intrigued.  It was a time in my life when I would read any type of inspirational story and soak it up like a sponge!

If you’ve never heard of “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”, the concept is this:

The author, Robert Kiyosaki’s father was extremely hardworking and stressed the importance of going to school, getting a degree and getting a good job.  The other dad in his life was his best friend’s father, who was an entrepreneur and who had never graduated from college, but still found ways to make a very, very good living.

As a child, Kiyosaki battled as to which dad had the better advice before finally realizing that his friend’s dad was not only much more successful, but also much happier in life.  So Kiyosaki defaulted to his viewpoint.

Reading that book, I had no idea that I would find myself in a similar experience.

Starting Off

When I first started my career as a financial advisor, I was hired as a junior broker.  That means I got paid practically nothing in salary – a whopping $18,500 a year – and then everything else I did was paid through a 50/50 split of commissions and fees with the advisor who hired me.

Yes, I got paid dirt, but at the time, I was thankful to have a job.  We were just coming out of the tech bubble, and new jobs were hard to come by.  Getting in the business at a young age, I was comforted knowing that I had a base salary to depend on, but I also relished the idea of having the potential for unlimited income.

The initial arrangement between my hiring advisor and myself was that I would go out and find “fresh meat” in the form of potential new clients, whether that be through cold calling, seminars, trade shows, or networking; basically, I was throwing anything against the wall and hoping it’d stick.

Once I found a potential prospect, the goal was to bring them into the office,where the senior advisor would then conduct the meeting and essentially close the sale.  For the first couple of months, the arrangement worked really well.  But somewhere along the way, I got more confident and before I knew it, I was not only attracting new clients, but I was also closing them.

The advisor that had hired me had good intentions of having a system in place, but we didn’t do a very good job of acting that system out.   Anyone who has ever been in sales knows that if there is a prospective client wanting to meet with you, you meet with them, whether it’s at the office, at a local coffee shop or at their home – and you do it when it’s convenient to your prospective client!

About halfway through my first year of being a junior broker, it was almost as if I was on my own.  I didn’t really need help from the senior broker, other than just to run a few different scenarios by him.

First Year Success

As my first year came to an end, my senior advisor had very little to do in the client acquisition process.   As the year was concluding, we started to re-evaluate our arrangement.  I remember it was a Friday afternoon, and he called me into his office.  This was one of those meetings that I will always remember the rest of my life.

We talked a little bit about how the arrangement had worked out and how, as his practice had grown, he felt that he needed more of an administrative assistant than an actual sales associate or junior broker.  He then told me he felt that I had done a superior job and that I didn’t need him anymore.  And although he would love to keep me on his team as his administrative assistant, he knew that it wasn’t in my blood.  He knew that I needed to be my own advisor.

So he made me the following offer and choice:

1. I could stay on his team as administrative assistant and then he would give me a handsome raise in my salary.
2. I could become my own broker.  I would stop receiving my salary but I would retain all of the clients that I had brought in myself over the past year and then I would keep 100% of all my commissions and fees going forward.

He told me to take the weekend to mull over the decision.

Decisions, decisions.

Part of me already knew what I was going to do, but like any good son, I sought counsel.  Over that weekend, I called my dad and my step-dad to see what they thought.

First a little background on each:  My father was a lot like Robert Kiyosaki’s.  My father had always preached to me to go to school, get a degree and find a good job; work hard and you’ll be successful.  On the other hand, my step-dad also went to school, but instead of trying to find a safe, cushioned salaried job, he was always in sales.  His belief was it’s always up to you to find out how much you can make.

Knowing that they both had different points of views, I thought it would be extremely helpful to hear both sides.

When I explained the two options I had, salary versus uncertainty, my dad suggested I take the salary.  His rationale was I would have a stable, predictable income, and that I can gain some valuable work experience (remember, I was only 23 at the time) and after a few years, I’d feel more comfortable to branch off on my own.

Second Opinion

When I called and explained the options I had to my step-dad, I heard a much different point of view.  He was thrilled at the idea of me being my own boss, and having some potential to truly make some serious money and have fun doing it.  He knew this was my passion, and he had all the confidence in the world that I would be successful.  I will never forget how excited he was for me.

When I think about my experience, and I think of Robert Kiyosaki  having the same experience of consulting both his dad and also his best friend’s dad on what direction to go, I feel like we were walking in the same shoes.  It didn’t take long to figure out what the decision was.

I was excited to share my decision, and Monday couldn’t get there soon enough!  When the moment had finally arrived, I remember walking into my boss’ office, excited to share with him what I had decided.

It was time to take control of my destiny; it was time to become my own advisor.  I don’t think that he was surprised at all with my decision.  I think he already knew which direction I was going before I even walked out of his office on Friday.  Sometimes you just have to take a chance, follow your gut and just go for it.

Have you had a tough life decision that you had to make that you knew would impact your life?  How did you make the decision?  Do you have any regrets?

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10 Ways to Make One Million Dollars (Seriously!)

Having a million dollars may seem like the impossible dream, particularly if you’re starting from zero. But the fact that there are more than 10 million millionaires in the US already means it’s doable. After all, if at least 10 million people can do it, so can you. A

All you really need are the right strategies and a generous helping of patience and you can do it to.

To help you in that direction, below I’ve laid out 10 ways to make one million dollars. Depending on your current financial situation, and the intensity of your effort, you can reach million dollar status in anywhere from a few years to two or three decades.

1. Choose the Right Career

The more money you earn, the more you’ll be able to save and invest. That will make the path toward one million dollars shorter and easier. For example, it will be much easier to save 20% or 30% of a $150,000 salary than will be with a $75,000 salary.

CNBC published a list of the 25 best paying jobs in America earlier this year. It should come as no surprise that a disproportionate number of those are in the healthcare field, typically doctors of one type or another.

But I whittled that list down to the top paying positions that don’t require you to have a medical degree. After all, not everyone is cut out to be a doctor.

Here’s the list, including the average salary for each occupation:

• Petroleum engineer, $154,780
• IT manager, $149,730
• Marketing manager, $145,620
• Financial manager, $143,530
• Lawyer, $141,890
• Sales manager, $137,650
• Financial advisor, $124,140
• Business operations manager, $123,460
• Pharmacist, $121,710
• Actuary, $114,850
• Political scientists, $112,030
• Medical and Health Services Manager, $111,680

These are just examples of careers known to pay high salaries. If you’re not in one now, it’s something to aspire to. And there are plenty of other career fields where you can make six figures, particularly today on the Internet.

Make it a goal, and pursue it like your financial future depends on it – because it really does.

2. Invest Early and Often

A lot of young people don’t invest early, and that’s a big mistake. It’s understandable, since so many people in their 20s graduate from college with big student loan debts. Then there’s always the pull to acquire the trappings of your desired lifestyle. First and foremost, that includes a car. And then there’s an apartment, and everything you need to fill it. Then there are those life-enriching experiences, like vacations and travel.

It’s fine to put some of your money into each of those. But at the same time, the earlier you begin investing, the more quickly you’ll accumulate wealth. Even if you start with a little bit, you’ll get yourself on track. And just as important, you’ll be getting yourself into the habit of investing on a regular basis.

But let’s spend a moment on the importance of beginning to invest early.

Let’s say you earn $50,000 per year, and you invest 10% of it – $5,000 per year. In a blended portfolio of stocks and bonds, earning an average annual rate of return of 7%, you’ll have just about $1 million by the time you’re 65.

The calculation is incredibly conservative, because it assumes your income will remain $50,000 per year for the next 40 years. It will almost certainly increase, and probably dramatically. That means your portfolio at 65 will be much higher. In fact, you might even reach the $1 million mark before you turn 50, especially if your income rises quickly.

The key to investing your way to $1 million is to start early, and to do it each and every year.

Million Dollar Secret: The More You Devote to Savings and Investing, the Faster You’ll Become a Millionaire

The higher the percentage of your income you can devote to savings and investing, the sooner you’ll be a millionaire.

In the example above I showed how you can become a millionaire by investing 10% of your income for 40 years. But if you gradually increase that percentage to 15%, 20% and even 30%, the sooner you’ll reach millionaire status.

One proven way to do that is to increase your savings percentage each time you get a pay increase. For example, if you get a 2% pay hike, increase your savings percentage by 1%. That’s how you can turn 10% into 15% in just five years, or 20% in ten years.

Aspiring millionaires don’t save and invest like everyone else. No, they go MUCH higher. It’s how so many become millionaires well before reaching retirement age.

3. Emphasize Growth Investments

I just mentioned a portfolio with an average annual rate of return of 7%. That’s based on a portfolio mix of approximately 60% in stocks, and 40% in bonds. But it’s possible to do even better.

The average annual rate of return on stocks has been right around 10% for the past 90 years . While you should have include fixed income investments, like bonds, the largest allocation needs to be in stocks if you want to become a millionaire.

A portfolio consisting of 90% stocks and 10% bonds will produce an average annual yield of better than 9%. And it’s strongly recommended when you’re in your 20s, and even your 30s.

The idea is to emphasize growth in your portfolio. Right now, fixed income investments are only paying around 2% per year. You’ll never get rich on that kind of investment. Fixed income investments do add an important safety element to your portfolio. That’s why you need to have them, though you don’t want to have too many.

If you’re not comfortable being too heavily invested in stocks, you can also expand into real estate investment trusts, or REITs. They have an average long-term return of close to 13% going back to 1978. That’s even better than the return on stocks.

Weather you invest primarily in stocks or REITs – or both – you’ll be adding the growth you need to build your portfolio faster over the long-term.

4. Use Your Employer Sponsored Retirement Plan for All it’s Worth

If you’re not taking full advantage of your employer’s sponsored retirement plan, you’re missing a major opportunity to reach the million-dollar mark. Employer-sponsored plans like 401(k) and 403(b) plans are one of the very best ways to reach millionaire status.

First, you can contribute up to $19,000 per year, or $25,000 if you’re 50 or older. And under plan rules, there’s no percentage of income limit. You can literally contribute the first $19,000 you earn to your plan. What’s more, the contributions will be tax-deductible, which means the government will be helping you fund your plan.

Meanwhile, the investment income building in the plan will accumulate on a tax-deferred basis. A 10% return on your portfolio will be 10%, rather than 7% after being reduced for income taxes in a taxable investment account. Over the long-term, that’ll make a huge difference.

But there’s another benefit that makes employer-sponsored retirement plans a must-have, and that’s employer matching contributions.

If your employer will provide a 50% matching contribution on up to a 10% contribution by you, that will add an extra 5% to your plan each year. It’ll increase your total contributions from 10% to 15% each year. Needless to say, your plan will grow 50% faster.

An employer matching contribution is like getting free money, because that’s what it is. At a minimum, you should make a personal contribution rate sufficient to produce the maximum employer matching contribution.

5. Buy a House…Or Two or Three

A house is a silent wealth building machine. Even if you simply live in the house and make the monthly mortgage payments as scheduled, you’ll be building up a tremendous amount of equity.

For example, let’s say you purchase a house for $300,000. The house doesn’t rise in value, but after 30 years your mortgage is paid in full and you own the property free and clear. That will add $300,000 to your net worth.

But at least since World War II, a house has been a way to build wealth from two directions: paying down and ultimately paying off the mortgage, and increasing property values.

According to the US Census Bureau, the median price of a new house was $124,400 in the middle of 1994. By July, 2019 the median price reached $312,800. That’s an increase of just over 250% in 25 years.

Based on those numbers, a house you purchase today at $300,000 could be worth $750,000 in 25 years. That single house purchase would get you three quarters of the way to $1 million all buy itself.

6. Start Your Own Side Hustle

If you don’t have the type of job that pays a six-figure income, one important way to work around that limitation is by starting a side business.

There are too many advantages to a side hustle to pass up the opportunity:

• You’ll have a chance to earn additional income.
• The additional earnings can be dedicated specifically to savings and investments, enabling you to build your portfolio faster.
• You can grow a side hustle to the point where it earns more money than your regular job.
• There are tax benefits to a side hustle. You can write off business expenses, and even take advantage of very generous self-employed retirement plans.

Choose a business where you’re knowledgeable, and preferably one you’re passionate about. Remember, the side hustle isn’t providing you with your regular paycheck for living expenses. For that reason, you can choose to do something you actually want to do.

And one thing that almost always happens when you do something you like is that you end up earning more money!

Which is a nice segue into Strategy #7.

7. Parlay Your Side Hustle into a Full-time Business

One of the best ways to become a millionaire is by becoming self-employed on a full-time basis. There are no limits on how much you can earn, and a successful business can often be sold for a large windfall – even millions of dollars.

A lot of people are understandably afraid to start their own business. That makes sense, because there are risks involved. The first is that there will be no cash flow when you start. If that continues too long, your business will fail.

But you can avoid that outcome if you start with a side hustle. While you’re still on someone else’s payroll, you can build up your business on the side. You’ll be able to take as much time as you need, and do what’s necessary to make it happen, all without the risks associated with making it a full-time plunge.

Once you reach the point where your site hustle is providing a steady cash flow, maybe even something close to be income from your full-time job, it’ll be time to take the leap of faith, and make it your full-time venture.

Armed with the knowledge that your business can succeed (because of your site hustle experience), you’ll have the confidence to take your business as far as your talents and effort can.

As a side benefit, special self-employed retirement plans, like the SEP IRA and Solo 401(k) can enable you to contribute up to $56,000 per year.

With tax-sheltered contributions that high, you’ll reach millionaire status in no time at all.

8. Become Friends with Other Millionaires

It’s been said that we’re all the average of our five closest friends. If at least one or two of your friends are already millionaires, you’ll have a better chance of joining them.

That’s because you’ll learn how they think and act, particularly toward money. And just knowing such people can be motivating. When you get to know and become friends with real people who are millionaires, you begin to realize the goal is doable.

What’s more, you can turn to your millionaire friend(s) for advice. And because they’re already there, you can trust you’ll be getting the right advice. There may even be times where you’ll be able to participate in wealth building opportunities simply because of the connections your millionaire friend(s) have.

If you don’t know any millionaires personally, make it a point to begin following some on the web. There are many, many highly successful people telling their stories on blogs and on YouTube. Find a few you like, and follow them regularly. And by swapping emails you might just find a real millionaire friend. It’ll be well worth the effort.

9. Avoid “Lifestyle Inflation”

Lifestyle inflation is what happens as your income and wealth rise. While that may seem like a natural progression, it actually hurt your chances of becoming a millionaire. While your income and investments are rising in value, your lifestyle is eating up an increasing percentage of both.

Lifestyle inflation is especially common with a rising income. As your income grows, you suddenly find yourself “outgrowing” your house, your car, the vacations you take, and the restaurants you frequent. You may also be tempted to join a country club, or take on expensive hobbies.

But if you want to become a millionaire in the shortest time frame possible, you’ll need to avoid going in that direction. At best it will slow you down, and at worst it may lend you in bankruptcy court. Wants turn into needs, and before you know it, you don’t know where your money is going.

If you spend any time studying people in the FIRE movement – which is a moniker for Financial Independence, Retire Early – they do the exact opposite. As their incomes grow, they keep their living expenses fixed, and expand the portion of their earnings that go into savings and investments.

If you hope to join the million dollar club, you’ll need to do the same. And that’ll require, first and foremost, avoiding lifestyle inflation.

Translation: live as far beneath your means as possible. There will be plenty of time to enjoy the good things in life once you’re a millionaire. But you’ll have to work on getting there first.

10. Stay Out of Debt

If you buy or own a house, you’ll almost certainly have a mortgage. It’s also very typical to have a loan on a new or late model car. And millions of students graduate college with student loan debts.

If you have any of those debts, you should make it a personal mission to pay them off as soon as possible. You’ll not only get out of debt, but you’ll free up your cash flow to save and invest more money.

Why you’re paying off those necessary debts, is also vitally important that you avoid other types of consumer debt. These can include installment debt for the purchase of furniture and similar items, timeshares, and especially credit cards. Each not only adds to your debt burden, but they normally carry very high interest rates.

For example, if you’re paying 20% on a credit card balance, you’re not likely to get anything close to that in investment returns, at least not on a long-term basis.

Paying off that kind of debt, and avoiding it in the first place, is the best way to take control of your income. The less debt you have, the quicker the path to $1 million will be.

Final Thoughts on Ways to Make One Million Dollars

If you’re able to use all 10 of the above strategies, you’ll likely become a millionaire in just a few years. But even if you choose to focus on just three or four, you’re highly likely to reach millionaire status at least at some point in your life.

You can choose the fast track, or the slower one – it’s up to you.

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Here’s Everything You Should Look for In a Private Student Loan

While federal student loans are the best place to start when you have to borrow money for college, there are plenty of instances where private student loans can make sense. Maybe you maxed out federal borrowing limits for the year and still need additional money to cover expenses , or perhaps your residency status disqualifies you from federal aid. Or maybe you have federal loans already but want to refinance them to get a better interest rate.

Whatever the reason, you’ll be happy to know there are a ton of lenders that offer high-quality, competitive private student loans, most of which let you compare and apply for their loan products online. However, you may be easily overwhelmed by the sheer number of loan options available, as well as the dizzying number of factors you’ll have to compare to find the best loan for your needs.

According to a College Ave Student Loans survey of 1,019 undergraduate students conducted by Barnes & Noble College InsightsSM. If you’re 1 out of 10 students in the market for a private student loan, here are the main factors you’ll want to look for:

Affordable Interest Rate

Because private student loans are offered by private companies, their interest rates aren’t set by the government like you find with federal student loans. This is both good and bad for consumers, and it all depends on your credit score and creditworthiness. Having excellent credit can help you qualify for private student loan rates as low as 3.70% APR, whereas less than stellar credit will leave you paying more.

As you search for a private student loan, make sure to compare rates among different providers. Also note that some private student loan providers like College Ave let you get prequalified for a student loan without a hard inquiry on your credit report. 

Finally, make sure you’re checking whether each lender is offering fixed interest rates, variable rates, or both. Where private student loans with fixed interest rates come with a set rate and monthly payment that will never change, loans with variable rates can cause your monthly payment to go up based on economic factors beyond your control. However, variable rates can often be lower at first, so make sure to compare options thoroughly. 

Discount for AutoPay

Also note that many private student loan lenders, including College Ave, offer interest rate discounts if you set up your monthly payments on autopay. While these discounts tend to be on the smaller side, the savings can add up to substantial sums of cash over time if you go this route.

Also make sure that, when you’re comparing student loan interest rates, you take any discounts for autopay into account. 

Repayment Term Options

While the monthly payment on your student loan is important, how long you make that payment is equally crucial. Ideally, you’ll wind up with a student loan that has a monthly payment you can afford and repay in a reasonable amount of time.

Also consider private student loan companies that let you choose from various repayment options depending on your current income and other factors. College Ave, for example, lets you choose your repayment terms. With College Ave you can make full principal and interest, interest-only payments, flat payments, and deferred payments.

Eligibility Requirements

Since private student loans are offered by private companies, they can each set their own eligibility requirements for their loans. Many have  credit and income requirements you’ll want to know and understand before you apply.

Many private student loan providers have a page on their website where they list eligibility requirements, but others list their requirements in a Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) format.

Ability to Apply with a Cosigner

Because private student loans can be difficult to qualify for when you have little to no credit or a steady income, many let you apply with a cosigner. Having a cosigner with good or excellent credit can help you not only qualify for a private student loan, but it may help you secure a low rate and best terms available.

Just remember that, if you do apply with a cosigner, that person is equally responsible for your loans. You should only apply with a cosigner if you plan to repay your loans in full. If you default or walk away from your responsibilities, your cosigner will be stuck repaying your loans no matter what.

Low Fees and No Prepayment Penalty

In addition to the interest rate you’ll pay on a private student loan, you’ll want to check out and compare the fees they charge. Some student loans charge an origination fee to get your loan started, for example. Others charge late fees and additional fees for returned payments.

You should also beware of student loans that come with prepayment penalties. Both federal and private student loans typically come without any prepayment penalties, so you should steer clear of any company offering loans with prepayment fees attached. You should be able to pay off your loans whenever you want without any financial consequences, so make sure any loan you take out won’t penalize you for doing so. 

But some companies, such as College Ave, do not charge any origination, application or prepayment fees. Make sure to shop around. 

Reasonable Borrowing Limits

The private lender you wind up with should be able to let you borrow as much as you need to finish your degree. However, private student lenders may set specific borrowing limits based on their internal procedures, your income and creditworthiness, and other factors.

Make sure any private lender you plan to work with has the capacity to let you borrow the money you need to finish your degree and graduate from school. If they don’t, you’ll want to consider other lenders with higher loan limits. 

Helpful Online Tools

Finally, don’t forget to look for lenders that offer online tools that can help you make a decision about your student loans. Student loan payment calculators can be immensely helpful as you figure out how your loan might fit into your budget and lifestyle based on your interest rate, your repayment timeline, and other factors.

Student loan refinancing calculators can also help you figure out your potential savings if you’re switching from federal loans to a private lender in order to secure a lower interest rate. College Ave even has a student loan calculator that can help you determine how long it will take you to pay off your loan considering various factors like whether you make payments in school and how much you plan to pay each month after you graduate. 

The Bottom Line

Your student loans will likely be part of your life for years or even decades to come, so this is one factor of your life you’ll want to get right from the start. As you look at loans from different lenders, make sure to think about short-term and long-term loan costs. Also think long and hard about the monthly payment you’ll end up with and how it will fit in with your monthly budget, your lifestyle, and your goals. 

Private student loans can be valuable tools if they’re used to help you earn a lucrative college degree, but that doesn’t mean they’re created equal. You’ll have to do some digging to find the right private student loan to meet your needs, but the savings and peace of mind will be worth it in the end. 

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Over 100 Places to Sell Your Stuff Online For Money

When I first became a stay-at-home mom, we went from being a two-income family to a one-income family. And even though I had planned financially for this transition, I was surprised at how quickly my savings dwindled down. To help pay for all of the activities that my daughter and I were enrolled in, I […]

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Best mortgage deals for buy-to-let investors

Best mortgage deals for buy-to-let investors Stephen Little Wed, 11/06/2019 - 07:59

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First published on 3 August 2015

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