How to Decorate Your Home for the Holidays on a Budget

You can make your house beautiful without spending much. 

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Should You Outsource Content Marketing? 11 Questions to Consider

It’s something that everyone needs to consider at some point as they become more successful.

Do you continue to do certain work yourself?

Do you hire someone to help you out?

Or do you outsource it?

There are many areas like this in any business, but one in particular is content marketing.

Creating and promoting content, especially for a new site, is essentially a full-time job.

If you have a small team, you can’t always dedicate a full-time person to content marketing efforts.

What ends up happening is that it is ignored or it’s done on a limited basis.

Without consistency, you’re much less likely to see the full results of great content.

Regardless of your specific situation, there will come a time when you will lack the time or manpower to execute content marketing properly.

So, what do you do then?

In most cases, you will have to decide whether you want to outsource your content marketing.

This is not an easy decision.

To help you make it—and make the correct one—I’ve compiled a list of 11 questions you should consider and answer.

Some of these questions are meant for potential hires, and some are meant for yourself.

I highly recommend opening up a blank spreadsheet and at least jotting down your answers to each question. 

1. Does anyone on your team have the skills you need?

Content marketing can be incredibly effective.

I’ve driven millions of visits and tens of thousands of customers using it for my various websites/businesses.

That being said,

it’s not easy.

In order to be successful in content marketing, you need to have a wide variety of skills. And you can’t just be average either; otherwise, you’ll get lost in the crowd.

If you really want to break it down, you could highlight 12+ skills that a great content marketing team needs:

Obviously, one person can have more than one skill from this list.

The best content marketers have all, or nearly all, of these skills.

I think that you can simplify it even further. Content marketers need to be highly skilled in three areas:

• Writing
• Domain expertise – are you an expert in the subject you’re writing about?
• Networking skills – do you know how to promote effectively?

It’s not very difficult to find someone with one of these areas covered.

But it’s pretty hard to find someone with two of these, and it’s even more difficult to find someone with all three. That makes a “unicorn” in the diagram above a top content marketer.

They do exist, but you need to find them.

The fact of the matter is that you’re unlikely to have one of them on your team already.

In a recent survey, 42% of companies said that they currently did not have the expertise to use content marketing effectively.

They’re not even just talking about one person having the necessary skills. These companies couldn’t find all the skills within their whole teams.

That’s how difficult it is to assemble a great content marketing team.

So, this is your first question:

Do you—or anyone on your team—have the skills and experience with content marketing to be successful?

If the answer is no, then you have no choice. You’ll either have to bring in someone new or outsource your content marketing.

If your answer is yes, you do have a choice.

Then, you’ll have to determine if it’s worth having them spend their time on content marketing while taking away from other areas of your business.

Many of the remaining questions will help you determine this.

2. What kind of budget do you have for content marketing?

Like with any other kind of marketing, the more you have to spend on content marketing, the better your results will typically be.

Since your content needs to be head and shoulders above your competition to be effective (here are some examples of epic content), it makes sense to spend as much as you can.

I’m not talking about throwing away money, but don’t pinch pennies when it comes to things like graphics and research.

In a 2015 survey, it was found that on average, B2C marketers spent 25% of their total budget on content marketing.

 

I’d say that if you have no experience with content marketing, that’s a good ballpark target.

If you have a lot of success, you can scale up your budget in the future.

I expect those percentages to continue to rise in the coming years. Another recent survey found that most businesses (60%) are increasing their content marketing spending.

Very few are decreasing their investment, which suggests that even mediocre content marketing efforts are getting some results.

Your budget will determine your options: If you have a very limited budget for content marketing, say $1,000 or less per month (and I’m including the creator’s time in that figure), you won’t be able to hire a good agency.

Typically, you’ll need to be spending at least a few thousand before an agency will take you on as a client.

However, for that amount, you could hire a freelancer. Assuming they produce really good pieces of content, you’ll be able to publish 1-2 pieces per month.

That’s not a lot, but it can get you started. Also keep in mind that if you want extensive content promotion, it’ll cost even more.

If you have a larger budget to work with, you have all options available to you, and this won’t be a limiting factor.

If that’s the case, base your decision on your answers to the other questions.

3. Would you rather work with freelancers or agencies?

If you do decide to outsource your content marketing, this is a huge decision that you’ll have to make.

You can work with freelancers, or you can hire an agency.

They can both be good options, but each has their own strengths and weaknesses.

If you’re not familiar with the terms, a freelancer is someone who is self-employed and generally works for multiple clients at the same time.

An agency, on the other hand, is more “professional.” They’ll have a full staff of at least three employees and typically have a wide variety of clients.

Price comparison: Here’s where your budget limitations might come in.

When you’re hiring freelancers, cost is all over the board. In general, you will pay less to a freelancer for the same work than you would pay an agency because the freelancer has less overhead.

However, there is a huge range in what freelancers charge.

Most of it depends on what you’re looking for.

Currently, you’ll have a tough time finding a great freelance content marketer unless you’re willing to pay more than $100 an hour (that’s the low end).

The best freelance content marketers can charge upwards of $300 an hour because there is no one else who can do what they can.

These guys know your subject in and out, are great writers, and also have contacts in the industry to help promote the content.

They’re expensive, but they get results.

However, if you can’t afford that, don’t worry. You can go down a tier or two and find freelancers who charge what works out to be $50-100 an hour.

Although they may call themselves content marketers, most are just good writers and know your subject well.

They can still produce valuable work, but expect to hire another freelancer for promotion or to do it yourself.

What about agencies? Any good agency will charge at least a few hundred dollars per hour. They can do this because they offer a lot.

They typically have an expert in every area of content creation and promotion. They’ll have an expert designer, writer, editor, and promoter. Together, the team does everything a top individual content marketer could do (and sometimes more).

In summary: You can usually save a bit by hiring freelancers, but you’ll have to do more work managing them. You can hire both cheap freelancers and agencies, but you’ll get what you pay for.

Quality comparison: There’s a lower bar to entry to become a freelancer than to start an agency.

That means that there is high variance in the quality of freelancers. There are a lot of terrible ones out there, but there are also some top notch ones.

With agencies, you also have variability, but you are less likely to come across a bad one. Most agencies are started by competent freelancers who want to grow their business, so the quality is higher on average.

What does this all mean? It means that you can get a quality result either way. But if it’s crucial that the quality is decent from the start, an agency is a safer bet.

Either way, reviewing their past work is the easiest way to see if they can deliver what you’re looking for.

Dependability: When it comes to dependability, agencies are also a safer bet in general.

Some freelancers are great. They are highly professional, will always put you first, and deliver what they promise every time.

However, others are terrible. They might drop off the map, and you’ll have no way of communicating with them.

Additionally, unless you’re one of their main clients, you risk being dropped without notice or deprioritized when something else comes up.

If you go the freelance route, you need to interview your candidates and try to get a feel for their work ethic and priorities. It’s not easy, but you’ll get better over time.

An agency has at least three people you can contact. It’s rare for them to go completely out of touch. Plus, you will be able to reach them pretty much at any time during normal business hours.

As far as always delivering their work on time, they all will have the same issues. Agencies usually have several or hundreds of clients. Unless you’re a big spender, they’re not going to lose sleep over whether or not you’re happy with them and whether or not you’ll leave.

If you have a smaller budget, it’s often better to hire a freelancer. Even if you can only spend $1,000 a month, that’s a large chunk for a freelancer, but almost nothing to an agency.

The more important you are to someone, the more dependable they will be.

4. How much of your content will contain private/personal data?

There are many different content marketing strategies that can be successful.

Some will get you to the results you’re looking for faster than others.

One aspect of content marketing in particular—transparency—is one of the most effective things you can add to your efforts.

Readers enjoy getting a behind the scenes look and getting more detail in general.

If you’re willing to share company data (that you’re allowed to share), you can increase the chances and speed of success with content marketing. It allows you to provide unique value. No one else has your personal data.

For example, you might talk about your customers.

Dating site Plenty of Fish creates some great blog posts, in which they analyze what kind of profiles get the most and least success on their platform:

 

It could also be about the results of your work.

For example, I often share traffic and profit details with you in Quick Sprout posts.

Readers find this valuable, and it increases your credibility in their eyes.

To answer the question of this section—how much of your content will contain private/personal data?—you’ll need to decide whether you have any interesting data to share and whether you’re willing to share it in your content.

The reason why this is so important to decide right now is because it will affect your final decision.

To create these kinds of posts, you need to analyze whatever data you have.

I can’t speak for everyone, but I know that I don’t want a random freelancer or agency digging around my personal data.

I also know that there are some things that I’d rather keep private.

If you decide to reveal personal data, you’ll have to do it yourself. Or you’ll probably want to get someone from your team to do the analysis.

So, while you can hand off the results of your analysis, that still leaves you (or someone you work with) with a lot of ongoing work.

If you’re in a niche where your transparency is really important, this kind of work may be required for almost every piece of content. In this case, you’ll probably want to keep your content marketing in-house.

5. Do they have an area of expertise? Is it relevant?

If you choose to outsource your content marketing, it’s crucial that you hire someone (or some agency) that will get you results.

Just for a second, let’s think about the type of marketers you might need in this situation.

Most of the marketers will have two skills—writing and networking—out of the three main skills we talked about earlier (writing, networking, and domain expertise). Those are, after all, fundamentals of modern marketing.

But the third one isn’t so easy.

To truly gain domain expertise, you need to be studying one specific topic for years. If you market to a particularly sophisticated audience, you’ll need to be even more advanced.

The biggest challenge you’ll face is finding someone who is an expert in your niche.

It’s very rare for someone to both be an expert in a niche and also have the necessary marketing skills.

Wade through the “generalists”: If you decide to hire freelancers, you’ll find a lot of content marketers who say that they can market any business.

The fact that they think so shows that they are not top-level content marketers.

All the best freelancers will have one or two areas of expertise.

When it comes to agencies, it’s a bit different.

A large agency may have content creators who are experts in several niches. However, small- to mid-size agencies who are generalists face the same problems.

Their content will not be worth what you pay.

Instead, you should look for specialists in your niche.

For example, “Gourmet Marketing” is a small agency focused on content marketing for restaurants:

That alone doesn’t mean that they’re a good agency, but at least it tells you that they understand your industry and recognize that domain expertise is important.

6. What will their content marketing process look like?

Stick around in the marketing world long enough, and you’ll start seeing buzzwords everywhere.

They’re not exactly bad. They just don’t mean a whole lot.

Some people will use these words to sound smart in order to convince you to hire them.

The easy way to screen them out is to simply get more details.

When someone mentions “content marketing,” it can mean anything. Everyone has their own picture of what it is.

One of the biggest goals of any interview you conduct should be to figure out what your candidate’s definition of content marketing is.

More specifically, how do they plan to help you?

You should be looking for specific answers that address:

• how they will determine how much content is needed
• how they will determine which type of content is needed
• who will be creating the content
• how they will encourage engagement and ensure growth over time

The two biggest challenges in content marketing are creating enough content and creating engaging content.

You need to get as much detail as necessary so that you are confident that they have the systems (manpower plus processes) in place to create content regularly with no delays, and make it engaging.

If they try to dance around the subject, move on to the next candidate.

While you shouldn’t expect specifics, all freelancers or agencies should be able to outline the main stages of their work for you.

They won’t have all the small details worked out, of course.

But if someone is a good marketer, they’ll have already done some preparatory work before talking to you and should have an idea of how to approach content marketing for your business.

7. How will they measure success?

Just like everyone has a different definition of content marketing, everyone also has a different definition of success.

In order to have a good working relationship, you need to establish reasonable guidelines for success beforehand.

If your expectations don’t match up, at least one of you will be frustrated.

It’s entirely possible for a freelancer to be thrilled that they produced X pieces of content or attracted Y links to your blog posts—and for you to be underwhelmed by those results.

Or you may not care about the same things that the freelancer or agency cares about.

If you’re most interested in email subscribers, raw traffic numbers don’t always matter much.

Before you agree to work together, determine which metrics you care about.

Make sure to go through why you care about each and what level for each metric you would consider “good.”

When you discuss your expectations, you will see whether you have any differences with the other party.

If they think your expectations are unreasonable, they can tell you why, and you can discuss the subject until you agree on reasonable expectations around their work.

If you can’t come to an agreement now, consider yourself lucky that you found out early that you aren’t compatible. It will save you a lot of stress and frustration in the future.

8. Do they give any guarantees?

Does this question look familiar?

It’s also a question that you should answer before hiring an SEO firm.

However, while an SEO firm can’t make guarantees about #1 rankings (honestly at least) because that’s out of their control, content marketing agencies and freelancers can make them.

Most freelancers and agencies know that it’s hard for you to commit a decent amount of money every month when the results could take over six months to see.

Most good content marketers (especially agencies) will offer some sort of guarantee of a result after 6-12 months.

They probably won’t promise X,000 leads per month, but they can promise that you’ll like the work that they’ve done (the content), the way they’ve done it, and the results so far (according to the metrics you’ve agreed on).

By that time, you’ll know if you are getting the promised results and will either be happy with the direction they’re going or know that you want to get rid of your content marketer.

9. How does content marketing fit into your other marketing efforts?

I mentioned that one of the reasons you might want to outsource content marketing is because you have other things to do.

What kind of things might those be?

It could be many things, including the many parts of your sales funnel.

Your most important job is to make sure that everything fits together smoothly.

There’s no point spending all your time and attention on content marketing if your products still need work.

Before you even think about hiring anyone to help you, get a good picture of how content marketing fits into your business.

Content can be useful to attract readers, but you’ll also need to convert that traffic into leads.

You can then use content to nurture those leads into customers and use even more content to help keep them satisfied so that they’ll continue purchasing from you in the future.

When you hire a freelancer or agency, most of them will focus on the top of the funnel content. They’ll produce blog content to attract traffic and leads.

That may be fine for you.

However, if you want them to produce content to support other parts of your business, that’s something you’ll have to budget for and bring up.

A freelancer may not be able to handle that extra work, but agencies usually can.

And while most content marketers will perform some basic SEO to target keywords, you need to make sure that you also start generating organic search traffic with your content.

Furthermore, you need them to understand what products you sell, which products you’re creating, and relationships you have with other companies in your nice.

They need to know this because it will affect whom they mention in content and which topics are most important to your target audience.

The takeaway: Content marketing is only one piece of your business. If you outsource it, make sure that the work you have done fits with the rest of your business.

10. Do you need a content marketer or an editor?

There’s one unique case that we need to look at with this question.

What if you have a big budget but also want to work with freelancers (as opposed to an agency)?

This might allow you to create a large volume of top notch content on a regular basis.

The biggest problem you’ll have is managing all the freelancers.

When you have a team of 5+ freelancers writing and promoting your content, things can get disorganized fast.

You’ll find that you’ll have to step in and spend a lot of time finding good freelancers, assigning topics, reviewing their work, and coordinating their promotion.

Although that’s an okay solution, there is another option.

Hire a great content marketer as your editor instead. Although this will cost more because you’ll pay a fixed fee, it’ll also free up a ton of time, and assuming you value your time highly, it’ll actually save you money.

Here’s how it’ll work.

On the Crazy Egg blog, we have several writers who contribute on a regular basis.

But I don’t spend all my time coordinating them because we have a blog editor for that.

The editor finds new writers as needed, makes sure that important topics are written about (with the right keywords), edits posts to improve their quality, and promotes them as well.

You’ll need to hire a great freelancer for this unique type of role, which will be expensive, but you’ll save money because now you’ll be getting most of the content created by writers (not full-fledged content marketers).

This process has allowed us to post daily articles on the blog for years, and the results have been great.

11. How will they keep you informed of their progress?

This final question will also save you a lot of stress and frustration.

All agencies and freelancers communicate differently.

Some won’t communicate as often as you’d like, while others will keep you too updated.

Everyone’s different, but I think a monthly report is a good frequency for checking in, in addition to communicating about any big issues that may come up.

Most agencies will send a template-based report of all the most important metrics, which is good because you’ll get used to finding important information within those reports quickly.

Most freelancers don’t have any reporting software, so it’s critical to outline to them beforehand what information is important to you and how often you want it.

This may not seem like an important issue, but it’ll save you from wondering about the status of any work in progress or worrying whether any work is being done at all.

Conclusion

Content marketing is an effective method of marketing for almost any online business.

Its importance continues to grow every year, so even if you haven’t started, you should still get going.

If you have started but are finding that you don’t have enough time to give content marketing the attention and effort needed to get the results you want, something needs to change.

The most common option is to outsource your content marketing (or parts of it).

This is a big decision that will have a significant impact on your overall marketing results, so you need to make it carefully.

The 11 questions that I’ve gone into great detail about in this post will ensure that you know whether you should outsource your marketing and how to find the right person or agency to hire.

If you’ve had any experience with outsourcing content marketing or have questions or concerns about doing it, let me know in a comment below.

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Silvio Calabi: The QX60 is Goldilocks’ Infiniti SUV

We could say that Infiniti builds crossover SUVs by the mile and sells them by the yard — there’s a size 50, 60, 70 and 80, each one preceded by the model designation QX. “X” as in x-c, for cross-country, meaning all-wheel drive, or at least the availability thereof; and “Q” because, well, Infiniti just has a thing for the letter Q. (Its very first car, back in 1989, was its Q45 flagship.) The smallest QX, the 50, is a two-row, V-6-powered [...]

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Questions About De-Cluttering, Camping Gear, Flu Prevention, Babies and More!

What’s inside? Here are the questions answered in today’s reader mailbag, boiled down to five word summaries. Click on the number to jump straight down to the question.
1. De-cluttering strategies
2. Inexpensive strategies for preventing flu?
3. First credit card?
4. Investing in companies you respect
5. Introducing people to “super frugality”
6. Deciding to have a baby
7. Cheap gear for summer camping
8. “Anticipated tax rate at retirement”?
9. Pre-marriage money talk advice
10. Interviewing for next job
11. Defer taxes or not?
12. Overcoming defeatist wife

As many of you know, I’ve been involved in a number of community organizations in my area, so when a small conference of leaders of local community organizations was organized in my area, I was thrilled to jump on board.

In my previous career, I used to go to a number of conferences and, for me, the conferences back then were mostly all about the sessions. I would bump into old friends, but the big attraction for me was listening to interesting talks.

At this conference, things flipped around. The sessions were interesting, but the best part was conversations with people, even people I didn’t know well (or at all). I’d sit down with them at lunch or in between sessions and we’d have great conversations about the various challenges we each faced in our various community groups and situations.

The best part is that almost everyone was open about some of their challenges and also very open to hearing ideas and solutions.

I took a little notebook with me and, between the sessions and conversations, I wound up filling the whole thing with notes and ideas! Will they all turn into great actions? No, but at least a few of them will, and that means it was well worth it.

If you have a chance to go to a professional conference of some kind, attend the sessions, sure, but make sure you have plenty of time to talk to people there. This is even true if you’re a bit of an introvert like myself. If you don’t know what to talk about with someone, ask them questions about themselves. That’s always a good conversation starter.

Q1: De-cluttering strategies

I was wondering if you had any experience selling your used books. i’m looking to de-clutter with a baby on the way, and i have hundreds of books, the vast majority of which are in excellent condition. I’m not sure if it’s worth the effort to sell them individually online, if i should just try to sell them in bulk to a used book store, or just donate them somewhere.
– Sandra

Unless you have signed books or hardcovers or there’s something else exceptional about the books, it’s probably not worth it to sell them individually. However, you do have a few options.

One, you could save them for a yard or garage sale. Put them out on the table, sell them for $1 or $2 each on the first day, then lower the price on later days.

Two, you could donate them. Libraries are always happy to receive donations of books that are in good shape. If nothing else, they’ll take those books and sell them in their book sales in order to earn more money. You can also donate them to Goodwill.

Three, you could make a giant list of the books and offer them for $2 or $3 each on Craigslist. This may not be worth the footwork to you, depending on your situation.

Four, you could sell or swap them at a used bookstore. Used bookstores are sometimes selective on what they take, though. They won’t necessarily just take all of your books.

Five, you could stock them in Little Free Libraries in your area. This wouldn’t earn you anything in return, but it would ensure that these books get read by people in your community.

You can also mix it up between those options, of course.

Q2: Inexpensive strategies for preventing flu?

I am looking for some inexpensive strategies besides the flu vaccine for reducing the chances of getting the flu. I am worried that this will be a bad year for it.
– Nadine

There are a number of things you can do.

First, wash your hands all the time. Wash them before every meal and every time you use the restroom. It’s not a bad idea to use hand sanitizer regularly, either, particularly after shaking hands.

Second, take some zinc supplements or lozenges. There is some evidence that zinc helps to reduce the impact of colds and other kinds of illnesses.

Third, try to avoid touching your face if you can. Avoid touching your mouth or nose in particular.

Finally, avoid crowds if you can. This is a big reason why I buy most Christmas gifts online these days, because crowded stores in December are begging for you to get an illness.

Those steps aren’t any kind of guarantee, but they will reduce your chances of getting sick this winter without spending too much (the only tip that isn’t free is the zinc).

Q3: First credit card?

I am looking for my first credit card. 25, married, one kid age 11 months, almost done with my undergraduate degree, all of my family as well as most of my wife’s family lives within a 5 hour drive, etc.

Any suggestions?
– Darren

Your first credit card should be in line with the spending you do already. Where do you get gas? Where do you shop regularly? Look for the cards available from these sources, but make sure that they are Visas or Mastercards – don’t get a full store brand card that can only be used at that particular business.

Don’t worry so much about the interest rate on such cards. You should be paying off the entire balance every single month, so carrying a balance shouldn’t be a concern to you and that’s the only way that the interest rate matters.

Just choose a card that has a nice benefit related to the place that you shop or buy gas regularly. Target, for example, offers a card that has 5% off all purchases there. Some gas stations have cards that offer a similar discount and some also have point programs that work anywhere you shop. Grab the flyers for these cards and compare them.

Q4: Investing in companies you respect

What do you think about the idea of investing in stocks of companies that make products you use and you would work there? Investing in companies you respect in other words?
– Stephen

In general, I think that’s a questionable idea. I would not use that as the basis for investment.

Why not? Why shouldn’t you invest in companies that you believe in? The big reason is that just because you like their products and would like to work there doesn’t mean that they’re actually in good shape in terms of their business. The appearance of good products and a good business reputation does not mean that the business is profitable; if anything, it might be an indication that it isn’t.

It doesn’t “reward” the company, either, though it might reward some of their employees with stock options. Once stocks are for sale, the company has already sold them in an effort to raise money and help the founders of the company “cash in” on their efforts. The buying and selling of stocks on the stock market is between two private individuals that usually have nothing whatsoever to do directly with the company.

Overall, I usually recommend that people don’t invest in individual companies at all. Following an individual company and their relative profitability (or lack thereof) and how that changes over time can require some real devotion. There’s also the issue that Wall Street is going to be able to react to bad business news far more quickly than you, so if something goes wrong, you’re going to be the one left holding the bag.

I suggest investing in an index fund instead. An index fund contains a wide variety of stocks all bundled up into one investment and with a low fee. Try something like the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index.

Q5: Introducing people to “super frugality”

My husband and I practice “super frugality.” We make about $110K per year but we have been saving half of our income in retirement accounts and investment accounts since 2002 and living off about $35K. We use every trick we know of to keep our spending low without living in a shack or driving a rusted-out car.

We are looking forward to retiring in a few years which is exciting for us but it is something that is hard to explain to our friends. Whenever we explain what we are doing to close friends they either don’t believe us or kind of chastise us for not spending that money on fun things.

I cannot think of anything more fun than waking up each morning without having to work for a living. But when I say that they agree but then they simply respond with more chastising about not buying stuff.

How can I explain things so that they understand? It is frustrating when your close friends don’t understand such fundamental things about your life.
– Megan

First of all, you don’t need their approval whatsoever to follow your plan. I think you’re fully aware of that and are just seeking to have your friends understand the path you’re already committed to, but you shouldn’t let their lack of understanding of what you’re doing dissuade you.

Assuming that you’re mostly just interested in having them understand it, simply explain that you personally value being able to retire early than things like a nice car and you’re putting your money where your mouth is. There’s really no need to explain more than that unless they want details.

Many of the negative reactions people receive to plans like this come about because people want to defend the paths they’ve personally chosen. They don’t necessarily dislike your plan. They just feel as though the fact that you’ve chosen a different plan means that there may be something wrong with the way they’re doing things and they feel an innate desire to defend those choices, and one way to do that is to criticize your choices.

Q6: Deciding to have a baby

How did you and Sarah decide that you were financially ready to have a baby?
– Thomas

To be honest, our conclusion that we were “financially ready” was a really, really poor decision. We were not “financially ready” to have a child and that’s why we had a big financial meltdown about six months after our first child was born.

Why did we think we were ready? Basically, we looked at our incomes and concluded that we were making more money than other people who had children so we must be ready to have children, right?

Wrong. So wrong. Income alone isn’t enough.

Before you have a child, you should be consistently spending less than you earn. Every single month, unless there is something really unusual that happened, something that very rarely happens. If you can’t do that now, you’re going to be in a real pickle when that baby comes and it’s slurping down child care costs, formula costs, and so on.

If you’re not able to sock away at least $100 a week right now, you’re not ready to have a child. That’s the rule I would give to everyone.

Q7: Cheap gear for summer camping

We are considering spending a month next summer camping out of our car and visiting a bunch of national parks. Do you have any cheap camping strategies that would reduce the overall cost of doing this? Sources for used tents and sleeping bags and the like?
– Dennis

You’re basically describing my ideal summer vacation. Take the kids, throw some camping gear in the car, and don’t come back for a month or two, hitting tons of national parks along the way.

As for buying things, a tent is the last thing I would buy used. A leaky tent is basically worthless as the water comes right in, as do bugs – basically everything you want to keep out. The likelihood that a used tent is leaky isn’t 100%, but it is pretty high.

I’d buy almost everything else for camping used without much question. You’ll need a few basic cooking tools (depending on what you want) and sleeping bags, for starters. If you can’t find these items used, shop around a lot before buying new, especially given the time of year. Things like pillows and blankets can just be taken from your home.

Plan on lots of simple meals and hit discount grocers near your camping place for food. When we camp, we mostly eat things like sandwiches and fruit for most meals unless we’ve built a campfire (or have a propane stove or something).

Q8: “Anticipated tax rate at retirement”?

I went to a financial advisor recently and he asked me a ton of questions about our financial situation which is a really good thing. One thing that he asked me threw me for a loop. He wanted to know what my anticipated tax rate at retirement was.

I am not planning on retiring for 20-30 years. When I do retire, I haven’t the faintest idea what tax rates are going to look like. So I shrugged my shoulders and said I didn’t know. He smiled and said we would use today’s tax rates.

How would I know any different than that? This seems like a silly question to me.
– Patrick

I think the advisor was mostly trying to get a sense of what your future views are like. Some people come into meetings like this with strong feelings about what’s going to happen in the financial future of America. For example, some people believe that America is heading toward financial apocalypse, but they have different ideas how that financial apocalypse is going to occur.

Some people expect tax rates to skyrocket in the future. Others expect them to stay low or even go lower. All of that depends on their personal political prognostications.

Of course, it’s all theoretical. No one has any idea what is going to happen with tax rates thirty years down the road. However, some people really believe in their own ideas about the future, to the point where they want those beliefs to alter their future financial planning. The advisor was mostly trying to get a sense of whether or not you had any of those strong feelings so he could incorporate them into his planning. It’s hard to say how much impact such viewpoints would have, but he was at least considering them. I consider that good from a customer relations standpoint, but it’s really hard to know how much it would have affected his advice.

Q9: Pre-marriage money talk advice

What is the most important financial thing that a couple should talk about before getting married? I’m going to get married next spring and we have gone through a bunch of books on things that couple should talk about but they are all really light on money stuff. Since money troubles are the source of most marital problems I’d like to do this right.
– Dana

If you’re asking me, I’d say that the most important conversation about money that you should have is goals and how you’re going to reach them.

For example, where do you want to live in ten years? Do you want to have kids? Do you want to have the same jobs?

When you talk through those goals and make some genuine plans together regarding them, you’re going to naturally bump up upon almost every financial detail you guys really need to discuss.

That’s why goals – and plans for those goals – make for such useful conversations. They bridge into everything.

Q10: Interviewing for next job

I am currently somewhat happy at my job. I like the work but the office politics sometimes get old and there are times where it can feel like jobs are at risk. But it could be worse.

I recently got a tentative job offer pending a background check. I have to go through a security screening process that will require at least one day off of work and probably two or three. I cannot get this job unless I pass the security screening, but it appears to be a sure thing if I pass.

I am concerned my current employer will find out about this and that will endanger my position at work. Simply going to the security interview (it’s in another state) could end up leaking back to them.

Suggestions on how to handle this?
– Geoff

If I were in your shoes, the first thing I would do is contact the potential new employer and ask about whether or not this background check would involve contact with your current employer, as that could potentially endanger your current employment.

If they promise no contact, then I’d go forward with the security interview without question. If they don’t give you that promise, you have some serious decisions to make.

If you decide to go through with it even with the understanding that they will probably contact your employer, sit down with your current employer and explain the situation, making it clear that this is a great opportunity for you. Make it clear that you are actually happy at work but that this opportunity – financially and professionally – is something you just can’t skip.

If you’re really valuable at work, you may find that you are rewarded for your value there with an immediate raise. On the other hand, it may strain things. You can never be sure, because the response to news like that depends a lot on the personality of your bosses. They may react well. They may not. You’ll be a better gauge of that than me.

Q11: Defer taxes or not?

In general is it better to defer taxes until later or not? I know that a lot of financial advice revolves around deferring taxes but why is this such a good idea? Can you explain why it is good to defer taxes?
– Sarah

It is a good idea to defer taxes if you believe you’ll be paying a lower interest rate on those taxes in the future.

Let’s say, right now, you’re in the 25% income tax bracket. That means on at least part of your income, 25% of it goes to the government.

If you manage to find a way to save that money in an account that defers your taxes – such as a 401(k) – that means that you’re able to reduce your taxes by $0.25 for every dollar you put into that account.

However, you’re going to have to pay income taxes when that money comes out of the account, and that money is going to be taxed at the rate of your current bracket or may even bump up into the next one.

Let’s say that when you withdraw, your income tax rate is in the 20% bracket. If that’s the case, you’ll only be paying $0.20 per dollar in taxes, which is better for you than the $0.25 per dollar you would have paid earlier. On the other hand, if your income tax rate is 33%, you’ll be paying $0.33 per dollar in taxes, which is worse for you.

So, in the future when you need to withdraw that money, perhaps your income will be lower than it is now – or maybe it will be higher overall. A lower income likely means a lower tax rate, while a higher one means a higher tax rate.

There’s also political implications. Politicians are going to tinker with the tax rates in the future – that’s practically a given. But will they adjust rates that matter to you upward or downward?

If you think that, overall, your rate will be lower when you retire, then you should defer your taxes for your retirement savings by using a 401(k). That will give you more money overall. If you think that your rate will be higher when you retire, then you should use retirement savings that involves paying taxes now and lowering your taxes later, like a Roth IRA.

Q12: Overcoming defeatist wife

I am at my wit’s end with my wife. I do not know how to get her to see the big picture.

Several years ago we came to a “financial bottom” like you and we decided to put me in charge of our finances. I did much like you did and implemented a firm budget with small “allowances” for both of us.

This worked great and helped us pay off our credit cards and our student loans.

The problem is that my wife then decided that we were “in the clear” and started spending more than her budget portion.

One day she will tell me how it is so frustrating that we can’t make it to our big goals like buying a house but the next day she is spending money on her credit card on something unnecessary and then we have to pay off the full balance.

She mostly says things like how it is impossible for us to achieve our big goals but then she doesn’t even try at all to get there.

It’s like she doesn’t understand the connection between the two. She understood the need to spend less when we were under pressure but now that the goal is far off she doesn’t make the connection.

I do not know how to make it clear. Help?
– Calvin

I think the answer is pretty simple. When you were in financial trouble, your financial responses were necessary to maintain your way of life. You needed to do these things or else your life was going to have some strong negative turns to it, turns that your wife didn’t like.

Now that those negative turns are no longer in the picture, there’s no threat. Now, you’re looking at future goals that aren’t nearly as urgent and aren’t nearly as threatening. They probably sound cool to her, but right now she has a choice between many things that sound appealing to her and, at least sometimes, the short term things are winning out overall for her.

In other words, your wife is more motivated by threat avoidance than by positive goals. That’s not a bad thing. It’s just how your wife is motivated.

Now, how can you work with that motivation? I think you need to make it clear that the positive future you’re taking about is inevitable, but then when she makes poor financial decisions, she endangers that positive future.

When there’s $1,000 in extra unplanned spending in a year, for example, it doesn’t allow you to retire at age 50 any more. Maybe retirement will come later, but that positive future is gone and a somewhat less positive future is endangered.

Make it clear that you will retire early at age 55 (or whatever) if there isn’t any extra spending beyond the budget. Extra spending beyond the budget that isn’t carefully planned flat-out pushes back retirement for both of you. When she buys stuff, it means both of you have to work for longer – because that’s exactly how it is.

That’s the approach I would take in this situation, anyway. Good luck.

Got any questions? The best way to ask is to follow me on Facebook and ask questions directly there. I’ll attempt to answer them in a future mailbag (which, by way of full disclosure, may also get re-posted on other websites that pick up my blog). However, I do receive many, many questions per week, so I may not necessarily be able to answer yours.

The post Questions About De-Cluttering, Camping Gear, Flu Prevention, Babies and More! appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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4 Tips for a Fright-Free Halloween at Work

How to enjoy this holiday without committing any office faux pas.

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6 Ways to Make Your Savings Last a Lifetime

Try these strategies to prevent yourself from running out of money in retirement.

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Audio: Stay Ahead of Online Thieves

To keep your identity safe, you’ll want to follow these tips.

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How to Host a Halloween Party Under $100

These party purchases will make your wallet scream – in delight. 

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First-time buyers rise as property market slows

Tom Wilson

houses.jpg

Sales to first-time buyers rose in September, accounting for 29% of all properties sold, according to a report published today.

Sales to first-time buyers rose in September, accounting for 29% of all properties sold, according to a report published today. 

This is the highest proportion of sales to first-time buyers since May, when first-time buyers also accounted for 29% of property transactions.

First-time buyers rise as property market slows

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Sales to first-time buyers rose in September, accounting for 29% of all properties sold, according to a report published today. This is the highest proportion of sales to first-time buyers since May, when first-time buyers also accounted for 29% of property transactions. Sales to first-time buyers were boosted by better mortgage provision for first- time buyers, according to the report from the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA). Mark Hayward, managing director at the NAEA, said: “We saw an average nine sales going through per branch in September, which means that for each branch, around three sales were made [to first-time buyers]. “We’re seeing a whole range of new competitive mortgage products coming on to the market, which is likely to be encouraging first-steppers to take the plunge, as well as the fact that the ‘impending’ interest rate rise has now been pushed back to next year at the very earliest.” The overall number of people looking to buy fell in September, correcting a surge in property hunters during the summer. Registrations per estate agent fell to 342 per branch, 26% lower than in July. The number of properties on the market also fell to 37 per branch, 31% fewer than in July. Hayward said sales to first-time buyers would remain subdued until “substantial numbers” of new properties are built. He noted the Housing and Planning Bill, which was announced last week, was a step in the right direction. He added: “If we could just get supply and demand to meet in the middle, the housing market would be functional again; it’s a real issue across the market at the moment. Developers are struggling to secure planning permission and labour is in short supply… It’s completely unsustainable. “There are still nine house-hunters fighting for each property and new housing just isn’t being built quickly enough.”

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Workers waste £948 a year on coffee and snacks

Hannah Nemeth

a coffee every day.jpg

A typical adult in the UK spends £948 a year on ‘invisible’ items, a new study has revealed.

A typical adult in the UK spends £948 a year on ‘invisible’ items, a new study has revealed.

The research, commissioned by investment and retirement solutions provider Aviva, found that, on average, an adult spends £18.23 a week o n items such as takeout coffees, shop-bought lunches and post-work drinks.

Workers waste £948 a year on coffee and snacks

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A typical adult in the UK spends £948 a year on ‘invisible’ items, a new study has revealed. The research, commissioned by investment and retirement solutions provider Aviva, found that, on average, an adult spends £18.23 a week o n items such as takeout coffees, shop-bought lunches and post-work drinks. Over a year, this adds up to £947.96 and over a working lifetime of 50 years, this mounts up to a whopping £47,398 a person – and that’s before inflation is taken into account. Aviva’s survey of 2,000 working adults between the ages of 18 and 68 looked at their spending on snacks such a chocolate bars, fruit and crisps; shop-bought lunches, shop-bought drinks, treats for children, newspapers and magazines, alcoholic drinks bought at lunch or after work, cigarettes and takeaway food. Young people were the worst offenders, with workers aged 18 to 24 typically spending £21.17. Aviva points out that a 20-year-old could build a pension pot of £136,000 if they were to save this money rather than spend it, assuming conservative returns. On a positive note, 70% of those surveyed were keen to change their ways, though their focus was on saving money in the short term. More than a third (35%) said they would put their money in a standard savings account, while a similar number (34%) would leave the money in their current account. Though 14% would put the money saved in a piggy bank, only 5% would invest it in a pension. Rodney Prezeau, consumer platform managing director for Aviva, said: “When we buy a coffee or a snack, we often don’t give it a second thought but it’s incredible how small change can really stack up over time. Our study found that 26% of people don’t really keep track of their spending at all, and a further 22% only keep an eye on larger purchases, so many of us may be surprised if we actually look at where our money is going. “It’s interesting that most people say they’d be willing to cut back in order to save, but most people are focused on the short term. We’d encourage people to also think about how small savings can be utilised in the long term, for example in a pension or in an investment Isa. As our calculations show, even small amounts can make a big difference.”

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Aussie invention worth millions

A HUMBLE Australian beekeeper, who used crowd-funding to revolutionise the way the world extracts honey from bee hives, made a cool $16m.

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Hate Your Job? Before You Quit, Try These 10 Strategies

Sometimes jobs are useful, so I’ve had a few dozen of them. But I have a confession to make: There’s no job in this world that I actually want.

I’m not the only one who dislikes jobs. Less than a third of American workers are “engaged in their jobs,” according to a Gallup study, which defined engaged workers as “involved in, enthusiastic about and committed to their work and workplace.”

The other two thirds fall somewhere between “eh, it’s okay,” and “my job is a living hell.”

If you’re one of these “unengaged” employees, you might wonder what you should do. But before you skip down to number 11 on this list (quitting), take a look at ten other things you can do to make your crappy job better.

1. Change Your Work

When I was in management at a restaurant (I hate restaurant work), I struggled for hours to make the week’s work schedule while also overseeing a crew of minimum-wage kids.

One day, I took the schedule home, finished it in an hour and entered three hours on my time card. I did the same thing every week after that. The owners accepted it because of the big savings they got from my more efficient scheduling.

As long as you keep your employer’s primary goal in mind (profit, in case you weren’t sure), you may be able to make changes in what you do or how you do it. Look for opportunities to make your work more tolerable, and tell your supervisors about the benefits the company will receive from the change.

2. Make Your Job Into a Business Training Course

I’ve previously written about how to use a job as business training, which you can do with most positions. Even after all these years without a restaurant job, I still feel I know enough to start and run my own restaurant.

Of course, if you eventually start a business you’ll be taking on more responsibility and possibly risking your life savings. So you should probably use this strategy only when you dislike your employer and/or want to run your own business, not when you hate the work itself.

3. Build Relationships at Work

Eighteen years after quitting my job as a blackjack dealer (I hate casino work), many of my previous co-workers are still good friends. Your workplace is a great spot to meet people and build relationships.

But it’s more than that. Several studies have shown that having friends at work is good for you. One study even shows you might live longer if you have good friends at work. Another report says 10 % of people meet their spouses at work.

4. Get a Raise

I never liked working as a blackjack dealer, but I kept that job longer than any other because the pay kept getting better. Making more money makes any crappy job more tolerable, so see my post on how to get a raise.

Of course, there are other ways to make more money from work, as suggested by the next two items on the list.

5. Sell Something at Work

At previous employers, I’ve seen coworkers sell eggs and other household products at work, and a few that even handed out business cards for side hustles they operated.

Depending on what your employer will allow, there are many other things you might be able to sell to co-workers. For example, jewelry-maker Rena Klingenberg has written about how to sell jewelry at work, with tips for putting on a “jewelry trunk show” during lunch or other breaks.

6. Find Other Money-Making Opportunities at Work

I paid off my first mortgage by renting rooms in my home, and my places of employment were great for finding renters who weren’t complete strangers.

I learned how to flip cars for a profit from a coworker, and even sold one car in the work parking lot.

I also profited from loans made to co-workers (at least I knew they had jobs).

After working part-time for an investor fixing up houses, I started loaning him money at high interest rates for homes he was flipping — and made far more money from those loans than I did working for him.

Talk to your co-workers and you might discover an opportunity or two. Maybe one has a great business idea and needs your help, or another knows about a great investment.

7. Use Your Job to Find a Better One

Networking helped 41% of workers find their new positions, one survey found. What better place to start that process than right where you are? I’ve found at least two jobs by talking to people at work.

Your fellow employees might have heard about job openings, but that’s just a start. Talk to suppliers, clients and anyone else you come in contact with through your job.

You don’t have to blatantly suggest you’re about to quit, but you can ask about the places people work and what’s happening there.

8. Use Work as Inspiration for Writing

My dozens of jobs (and 100 other ways I’ve made money) have provided a lot of material for my posts, websites and books. If you’re a writer, you might use your work experiences for either non-fiction works or as an inspiration for fictional stories.

In Scott Adam’s Dilbert comic strip, Wally was based on a real coworker from Pacific Bell. A crappy job might even inspire a great novel.

9. Take It Easy at Work

Maybe you just take your job too seriously and work too hard. That crappy job might be more bearable if you just do less.

Decide for yourself about the ethics of this approach (I would quit rather than not do the work), but Susan Adams has some practical strategies for how to get paid for doing nothing in her Forbes column.

10. Reduce Your Days or Hours

I’ve convinced several employers to cut the number of days and/or hours I worked. Once, I cut my schedule from five days to one day per week for several months. I offered the arrangement to my employer as “take it or lose me.”.

If you budget well and/or develop other income sources, this can be a great way to take a break from doing too much distasteful work. If you’re not sure that your employer will go for the idea, save this plan until you’re ready for this next strategy…

11. Quit

You probably shouldn’t just walk into the boss’ office and yell, “Take this job and shove it!” Of course, if you remember that song, you might be old enough for retirement, but even then it may be better to leave gracefully.

So use my guide to how to quit a job. Having disliked and left every one of my dozens of jobs, I’m a job-quitting expert.

Your Turn: If you have a crappy job, how do you make it tolerable?

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).

The post Hate Your Job? Before You Quit, Try These 10 Strategies appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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Lawsuit rocks Kardashian clan

KENDALL and Kylie Jenner have been slapped with a lawsuit. Island Company is suing the sisters for allegedly stealing a trademarked logo.

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The plan that could sink ‘Salims’

AUBURN deputy mayor Salim Mehajer has ambitions for The Lodge. But a new proposal could see him kicked out of his own town hall.

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Cars We Remember: Crosley and VW Beetle lover

Q: Hi, Greg, I enjoyed your article on the Crosley cars, so I want to share with your readers how a green 1952 Crosley Station wagon (see photo) was undoubtedly an unusual introduction to what would be a lifetime of VW Beetle ownership. The Crosley was purchased in 1952 for $200 for me to use traveling a few miles each way to the University of Delaware campus. Just like so many Beetles in later years, the Crosley floors were so badly rusted my dad and I had to replace [...]

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Teen’s business backed by the Jenners

A TEEN running a business two years after dropping out of school at age 14 had her story reposted by Kylie and Kris Jenner and nearly broke their website.

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