8 Gold ETFs to Buy Anytime

Whether you are bullish or bearish on gold, these are the funds to buy to play yellow metal.

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Google Alphabet: 3 Reasons Why Good Companies Reorganize

Other companies might want to take a cue from the smart folks in Mountain View, California.

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Battle For Supremacy: Robo-Advisors Versus Financial Advisors

Robo-advisors have brought simplicity to the investment world. Are financial advisors obsolete?

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9 Ways for Investors to Cash In on Home Improvement

With the recession firmly in behind them, more homeowners are improving their houses again.

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5 Ways to Buy Big Data Stocks

Data creation is expected to only increase in the years ahead, creating an investment opportunity.

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6 Back-to-School Shopping Stocks to Buy

Teenagers are picky, but these six companies are bound to have the brands students like the most.

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New Android Phones: Less Google-App “Bloatware” Equals Less EU Scrutiny

Android Central is celebrating an apparent decision by Google to require fewer pre-loaded apps on forthcoming Android handsets. The site sees this as a strike against “bloatware,” the term often used by insiders to describe pre-loaded software. According to the report, “Google...

Please visit Marketing Land for the full article.

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How to Deal With Money Shaming

Someone giving you grief? Tips for keeping your cool. 


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Video Game Arbitrage: A Step-by-Step Guide to Reselling Popular Games

I’ve played video games my whole life. It can be an expensive hobby, but as an adult, it’s easy to see where you use your knowledge of video games to make money instead of just spending it!

New video games hit the shelves all year, but the biggest announcements are made during E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, every June.

Since the end of this year’s E3, hordes of fanboys and fangirls have been itching for the chance to get their hands on the upcoming titles Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo previewed. However, great games usually sell out months before they actually arrive in stores, and are often hard to get for weeks afterward.

That’s where you’ll make your money: Preorder popular games, then sell them for anywhere from $50 to $150 or more in profit. Here’s how to identify, buy and resell high-profile, limited-edition video games — whether you do it year-round or just during E3.

1. Identify High-Profile Games With a Lot of Positive Hype

For this strategy to work, you’ll need to pick popular, in-demand games.

Big games often have a “Special Edition” or “Limited Edition,” usually with some kind of collectible item or downloadable content you can’t get anywhere else. They usually cost between $100 and $150, or even more — but they can sell for almost double if the demand is high enough.

Review popular gaming sites to get an idea for what’s popular. Some big sites to watch for E3 coverage include:

• E3 Insider
• Kotaku
• IGN

Also do a search for “E3 coverage” or “E3 highlights” to get a feel for the big upcoming titles.

For example, Fallout 4 Pip-Boy Edition was announced at E3 for Xbox One, PS3 and PC at $119.99.

2. Preorder Your Games

You can preorder games at nearly any store that sells them, but Best Buy is a great bet because of the Gamers Club Unlocked membership they offer.

For $30, you get two years of 20% off new game purchases (including preorders!), among other benefits. With the average limited-edition game running over $100, you make up the cost in no time.

Best Buy usually has a site dedicated to E3 preorders, so you can easily find all the new games. For example, here’s the 2015 E3 site. To make the most of your purchase, earn cash back by buying through a portal like Ebates or Discover Deals.

I already had a Gamer’s Club Unlocked membership, so here’s what it cost me to buy Fallout 4:

Starting price = $119.99

Gamer’s Club Unlocked membership = -$24

5% cash back using Discover Deals = -$4.80

Total cost = $91.19

3. Sell Your Games

After you’ve received the email confirmation for your preorder, you can either sell it immediately, or wait until you have the game in-hand to sell when it’s officially released.

Either option works, but the best time to sell is always when the game or preorder is sold out, because you’ll make the most money.

Sell the Game Immediately

The most popular way to sell your games is through eBay.

The site has a few rules for presale items. You must meet all of the following criteria:

• Guarantee that the item will be available for shipping within 30 days from the purchase date. Be sure to clearly state this information in your listing

• Clearly indicate in the listing that the item is a presale item.

• The handling time specified in your listing should reflect the time from the end of the listing until the item is shipped to the buyer. Be sure to specify the correct handling time in your listing.

You can also sell presale games on local gaming forums, Facebook pages or Craigslist.

With the exception of eBay, you’ll most likely get paid when you can deliver the game. That means there’s a chance the person might also be able to preorder and change their mind about buying your game. So unless you sell on eBay, you might want to…

Sell the Game On (or Soon After) Its Release Date

The day of a game release, most people don’t (or can’t) pick it up off the shelf and buy it — they either walk in and pick up the game they preordered earlier, or walk away with nothing because everything is sold out!

After you pick up or receive your game in the mail, take pictures of it unopened and post your listing on eBay, gaming forums, Facebook or Craigslist. Gamers who missed out are usually willing to pay a lot more than the listed price to play the game on release day.

In either of the above cases, here’s how to set up your eBay listing.

Compare prices from other listings by filtering for other Sold and Completed listings to “Sell one like this” using an “Auction” post. See how much similar games sold for and consider what you paid for your game to come up with a starting price.

Going back to our Fallout 4 example, eBay listings were topping out around $290, which comes out to:

Selling price = $290

Purchase price = $91.19

eBay seller fee (10%) = $29

Total profit = $169.81

Not bad for a single game. Imagine how your profits could increase if you’re able to preorder multiple copies!

Stores often limit preorders of big titles, but you could buy more using another family member’s account or buy the same game for another console, such as XBox One, PS4 or PC).

Your Turn: Will you take advantage of high-profile game releases to preorder and resell video games?

Disclosure: We have a serious Taco Bell addiction around here. The affiliate links in this post help us order off the dollar menu. Thanks for your support!

Amanda Edades is an engineer living in Anchorage, Alaska.

The post Video Game Arbitrage: A Step-by-Step Guide to Reselling Popular Games appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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How to Save Money on College Textbooks

Photo: Santa Monica College Bookstore

Over the last few days, I’ve heard from a handful of college students that are facing the start of their fall semester in college and are looking for smart strategies for trimming their expenses when it comes to textbooks. Here’s an example message from Jen:

I just priced out my books for fall semester and the total was $950 from the campus book store. Even on Amazon they are really expensive. There has to be a better way to do this.

You’re right, Jen. There is a better way to do this. Over the past few years, I’ve had a lot of younger friends and family members ask me for help in finding cheap textbooks for them and here are the strategies we’ve used that have really worked.

Check Your Syllabus First

The usual routine that people go through when buying college textbooks is that they head to their university bookstore – or, more often these days, the online bookstore for their university – and search for each of their classes. For each, there’s likely a book or two or three listed, so you’ll just add them to the shopping cart and pay.

That’s a mistake. The first place you should look is at your class syllabus that lists the textbooks for the class.

Why look for the syllabus? The syllabus will usually indicate which books are actually required and which ones are optional. It will also usually indicate whether the most current version of the book is necessary or whether older versions are clearly acceptable.

Just by looking at the syllabus, you might cut the number of books you need to buy and, at the same time, expand the number of editions that can fulfill your needs, making it easier to find used books.

Ask the Professor if Older Editions Are Acceptable

If a professor has a syllabus that lists a specific version of a textbook, send your professor a quick email (or, if you’re in class on the first day, raise your hand). Simply ask whether previous versions of the textbook are acceptable and, if so, which versions.

In many of my classes, previous versions of a textbook were perfectly acceptable, up to a certain point. Usually, each version of a book has a few changes, but over a number of editions, those changes accumulate and significantly alter the textbook.

Most professors are fine with the students using the previous version of the book or even an earlier version than that. You just need to make sure what versions actually work for the class.

Check the University and Community Libraries

Once you’re certain that you know what books are needed for the class, start checking the university and community libraries.

For a lot of classes, this won’t be helpful, but for some classes, such as literature classes or some history classes, the library may in fact have the book that you’re looking for.

If you can find books you need from the library, the book becomes free, at least for a while. A friend of mine was able to check out a book for his English Lit course from the community library and renewed it twice, meaning that he was able to keep it for the full time that he needed it for the course.

Use Occupy the Bookstore

So, you’ve finally realized that you do have to pay for some of your books. If that’s your situation, I highly recommend using Occupy the Bookstore, a free Google Chrome add-on that will make this whole process much, much easier.

Just add the extension to your browser at the link above, then head to the website of your university bookstore. Look up the books you need for your classes. As you visit the page for each specific book you need, the extension will pop up, giving you a long list of options for other places to buy the book – and that list is sorted by price by default.

What I usually suggest that people do is use Occupy the Bookstore, find the book they want, then browse the list for the first store that they trust (like, say, Amazon) and buy from there.

Rent, Don’t Buy, Most of Your Books

Many online sources for textbooks, such as Chegg, offer rentals rather than purchases. It’s a simple process, really – you pay a lower price than you otherwise would, they send you the book, and you have to send it back at the end of the semester. Then, they’re likely to “rent” that book again to someone else at the start of the next semester. Most of these stores usually have a “buy” option if you realize that you’ll actually need the book beyond the semester.

• Related: Best Apps to Save You Money in College

For most of your classes, you won’t actually need or want that book for longer than a semester, so this kind of service not only saves you something like 60% on your textbook, it also gets rid of that textbook for you at the end of the semester so you don’t have to deal with reselling it.

I actually rented a couple of textbooks using a very early textbook rental service near the end of my college career and found it to be very useful and a great money saver.

If You Must Buy, Try to Buy Used

If, for some reason, you have to buy a textbook instead of simply renting one, try to find a used version of that textbook. Most online textbook sellers – Amazon included – offer used versions of the textbook at a discounted price.

Sure, sometimes you’ll get a book with margin notes and highlights in them, but those things are pretty easily ignored, especially since you’re really just after the text and images of the book.

Buying a used version of a textbook will save you a surprising amount of money. I was largely a used textbook buyer in college and I often found that I was saving as much as 60% by buying used books. (Of course, back then, I mostly had to rely on notes tacked onto bulletin boards around campus rather than the Internet.)

If You Must Buy New, Try an eBook

Sometimes, the worst possible scenario happens. A class requires a brand new version of a textbook. Used ones aren’t available. The professor will not allow older editions of the book and has assignments requiring the new edition.

It happens. It’s frustrating. It’s going to wallop your pocketbook, no matter what you do.

The solution here is also pretty simple. If you find yourself in that kind of situation, just buy the electronic version of the textbook. The electronic versions are usually substantially cheaper than the print version of the book and it’s far easier to search through it for specific terms when you’re studying.

I’m old school – when I’m studying, I still prefer print. However, I’ve also studied using electronic sources and, honestly, if you’re in a studying mindset and know how to turn off distractions, they work fine.

Share Books with Friends

Another approach worth considering is sharing a textbook with a friend who is taking the same class as you. If you’re both taking that class, you can just buy one textbook and share it, splitting the cost.

The biggest problem with this approach is that there will probably be a key point or two during the semester where you both want to use that textbook at the same time. For example, the night before a test, you both may want to use that book.

The solution here is to study together, so if you consider following this kind of plan, make sure that the person you’re sharing the textbook purchase with is a person you can study with in a conducive fashion.

Sell Your Unnecessary Books at Semester’s End

At the end of the semester, provided you didn’t buy an ebook or rent a textbook, you’re going to be facing a decision. Do I need to keep this textbook or not? Will it help with my future classes or with my career?

If you decide to keep it, good. I found several textbooks to be useful references during my early career and was glad that I kept them around.

If you decide not to keep them, sell them during that gap between semesters. There are a lot of avenues for selling books, but it makes sense to go where the people are and sell in a high-traffic place like Amazon or Craigslist.

You won’t recoup all of your investment, but you will recoup some of it, and that money will come in just in time to buy the next semester’s books.

Final Thoughts

College textbook buying is an expensive routine for every student. Textbook manufacturers charge ridiculous prices which can really add to the financial burden of postsecondary education.

However, we live in a world of (mostly) sympathetic professors and easy access to information tools that can make it easy to locate and buy used textbooks. Take advantage of those tools and use them to shave some serious money off of your textbook expenses.

If doing so can help you reduce your student loan burden, even by a few hundred dollars per semester, that will add up to thousands over the course of college and thousands more in saved interest over the subsequent years.

Good luck!

The post How to Save Money on College Textbooks appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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Stocks Hit Worst Day in Months after China's Plunge

Global stocks are down Friday after the U.S. stock market had its worst day in 18 months.

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The Golden Path To Programmatic Premium

Looking for premium programmatic success? Columnist Melody Gambino outlines the steps brands and publishers need to take to create an engaging premium programmatic environment.

Please visit Marketing Land for the full article.

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Is Your Bank Account in the Red? Here's What to Do Now

If you overdraw your account, take these steps to get it back in the black. 

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Want More ROI From Your Social Programs? Take A Look In The Mirror

When it comes to telling your brand's story, your customers often do it best. Columnist Jordan Kretchmer gives some examples of brands that are successfully integrating social into the customer journey.

Please visit Marketing Land for the full article.

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4 Ways to Recover From Summer Overspending

And make sure you don't do it again. 

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WordPress 4.3 Brings Improved Password Security, Easier Text Formatting

Latest release, named "Billie" in honor of famed jazz singer Billie Holiday, also adds easier menu changes, site icons and more.

Please visit Marketing Land for the full article.

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How to Start Working as a Virtual Assistant

By Kelli Bhattacharjee For more and more individuals, the days of working in an office cubicle under humming fluorescent lights are drawing to a close. In some cases, employers are saving money by downsizing office space and attracting a strong workforce by offering work at home opportunities. In other cases, individuals are making the choice […]

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10 Cool College and Advanced Degrees That Lead to Fun, Lucrative Jobs

A master’s degree in medieval and renaissance studies? What were you thinking?

OK, maybe you joined the Society for Creative Anachronism years ago and started dressing up in a suit of armour to attend every renaissance festival within a hundred miles — and you even add the traditional “u” to “armor.”

In other words, maybe this is what you want to do, even if the job opportunities are limited.

Sure, some degrees don’t lead to riches. But not everyone is cut out to be a doctor or to pursue the most popular degree, the MBA. So what are your other, more interesting options?

Some of these cool degrees can lead to fun jobs, and a few might result in a decent paycheck, too.

1. Beatles Music

At Liverpool Hope University in Liverpool, England, you can get a Master’s Degree in the Beatles, Popular Music & Society.

The university says, “This MA will examine the significance of the music of The Beatles in the construction of identities, audiences, ethnicities and industries, and localities…” The 73-word single-sentence description goes on, making the coursework sound less and less interesting, but you probably get to listen to some good music.

What’s a degree like that worth? Who knows, but the college says it’s good for you if you’re “working in the fields of popular music studies, cultural studies, social anthropology, politics, gender studies and musicology, among others.” In other words, plan on teaching.

2. Game Design

Want a better video game and a better job? Get paid to design your own games.

You might design for game consoles like Xbox or PlayStation, or you could create products for computer and mobile users. Either way, you’ll work with a team of engineers, programmers and artists.

Many colleges offer the necessary education. If you want to get your degree from home, look over reviews of the best online video game design degree programs.

Average annual pay for video game designers is close to $57,000, according to Payscale. The top 10% average $95,000 per year. And sometimes you’ll be getting paid to play games.

3. Scuba Diving

If you enjoy diving, you might love this degree from Florida Keys Community College in Key West. The college says the Associate in Applied Science Degree: Diving Business & Technology is a “pathway to” these possible jobs:

• Divemaster
• Scuba instructor
• Commercial diver
• Public safety diver
• Research diver
• Underwater photojournalist

Salary statistics for some of these positions are difficult to find, but the BLS says the median annual wage for commercial divers is $45,890, and that rises to $84,370 for the top 10% of divers. Are you ready to dive into a new career?

4. Puppetry

To get a master’s degree in puppetry from University of Connecticut, you’ll study “Advanced Rod Puppet Theatre” and “Trends in Contemporary American Puppet Theatre,” and take dozens of other courses with “puppet” in the title.

Classes in puppet arts started at UConn in 1964, so this is a well-established program. You’ll put on shows at the college and around the country.

Where will you put your degree to work? UConn says graduates “appear in, build for and manage internationally recognized television programs (such as Between the Lions) and films, write books, design toys, teach children, and direct prominent schools and museums.”

But be sure you love the work; Indeed says the average salary of a professional puppeteer is just $28,000.

5. Adventure Education

Here’s what Plymouth State University says about their Bachelor of Science in Adventure Education:

Surrounded by New Hampshire’s rivers, lakes and mountains, you will have the opportunity to explore skills in wilderness expedition, ropes courses, whitewater kayaking, rock climbing, mountaineering, backpacking and winter camping.

What jobs can you get with this degree and how much will you make? The university suggests you can find “careers in outdoor/adventure leadership, outdoor/adventure education, state and national park outdoor education, therapeutic adventure, environmental education and recreation.” Check out this list of outdoor jobs for some ideas.

There’s no good data on wages, but if there are no job prospects, you’ll at least be ready to survive in the wild.

6. Animation

The odds are good you can already draw better cartoon characters than those on South Park, so you might be ready for a career in animation.

A number of schools offer this degree. For example, Regent University in Virginia offers a Bachelor of Arts in Animation, and if you want to takes classes online, you can get a Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Animation from Full Sail University in Florida.

Once you have your degree, put your talents to work in film, television, video games or other media. Payscale says the median annual salary for animators is $50,213.

7. Decision Sciences

“Decision Sciences is the discipline that integrates functional business fields with analytical concepts and modeling, process improvement and computer based quantitative tools to make critical decisions; thus enhancing complex decision making processes and decision support,” according to the College of Business at the University of North Texas.

And if you understood that sentence, you’re probably the right person for this emerging field.

But the field is new enough there seem to be differences of opinion as to what it’s about. Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania, which offers a Bachelor of Science Degree in Decision Science, says, “The interdisciplinary field of Decision Science seeks to understand and improve judgment and decision making of individuals, groups and organizations.”

In any case, if you love psychology and numbers, you can become an analyst with this degree. GlassDoor says the average salary for decision science analysts is $79,299.

8. Turfgrass Science

For some people, there’s nothing like a day out on the golf course. If you’re one of them, here’s a way to spend more time out there: get a Bachelor of Science in Turfgrass Science from Penn State. They’ve had a turfgrass program since 1929!

If you want to get to work sooner, they have a two-year technical program that’s designed specifically for aspiring golf course superintendents.

The university says your associate’s or bachelor’s degree will qualify you for work as a golf course superintendent, athletic field manager, grounds manager or foreman, and industry salesperson.

Payscale says the median annual wage for golf course superintendents is $52,111. And maybe the bachelor’s degree will help put you in the top 25%, for whom the median annual wage is closer to $70,000.

9. Arctic Engineering

Would you like to work in the great white north? Then you might want a Master of Science Degree in Arctic Engineering from (where else?) the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

The school says, “The arctic engineering program trains graduate engineers to deal with the challenges of design, construction and operations in cold regions of the world.” Just be sure your significant other is onboard for this one, because you’ll probably end up living and working someplace very cold.

How much will you make? Simply Hired says the average annual salary for arctic engineering jobs is $59,000, while Indeed says the average is $93,000. Since they arrive at their averages from job postings on the sites, you now know where to look for that job when you graduate.

10. Astrobiology

If you loved the movies “ET” and “Alien,” and you have a few science degrees under your belt, maybe it’s time to add a Ph.D. in Astrobiology from Penn State. According to the program description, “Astrobiology is a field devoted to the exploration of life outside of Earth and to the investigation of the origin and early evolution of life on Earth.”

Once you’re working in astrobiology research, you’ll make about $75,000 per year, according to the average of job listings on Indeed. NASA also has listings of available astrobiology jobs. And hey, when you find ET, tell him to phone home.

Your Turn: Would you consider any of these uncommon degrees?

Steve Gillman is the author of “101 Weird Ways to Make Money” and creator of EveryWayToMakeMoney.com. He’s been a repo-man, walking stick carver, search engine evaluator, house flipper, tram driver, process server, mock juror, and roulette croupier, but of more than 100 ways he has made money, writing is his favorite (so far).

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Woolies’ $700 million money pit

HARDWARE chain Masters is soldiering on despite pressure on Woolworths to dump the loss-making venture, which is getting crushed by Bunnings.

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How Donald Trump brings in over $250 million a year

Donald Trump's financial disclosure revealed that the celebrity politician isn't only making his money through real estate or the TV shows the public has grown to love. Here are nine ways Donald Trump makes his money:

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