10 Frugal Summer Vacation Ideas for People Who Dont Fly

The summer travel season can be a letdown if you don’t like to fly. While your friends are packing their bags and jetting off to amazing locations abroad or across the country, you’re stuck at home wishing you could snap your fingers and magically land on some tropical beach.

But, you don’t have to stay home and watch Netflix all summer if you refuse to get on an airplane. There are many beautiful sights and cities here in the U.S., and plenty of ways to reach them without walking through body scanners and hurtling through the atmosphere.

If you want to get out of your geographic area and see another part of the country, Amtrak has an entire page dedicated to deals. Since train travel is fairly cheap and can offer beautiful views of the countryside along the way — that you can actually sit back and enjoy while someone else does the driving — it can perform double-duty as both a mode of transportation and a fun part of your journey.

Feel like a road trip? Gas prices are predicted to be at their cheapest levels in 12 years this summer, so why not pack up the family car and hit the road, Griswold style? If you don’t have a car or don’t want to subject it to a cross-country trek, you can consider renting a car with unlimited miles — or even an RV — and plotting a course to some must-see sights. With a loaded trunk and the kids in the back, you can enjoy the scenery and some family fun as you drive to your destination — and, best of all, you won’t have to pay for airfare or rent a car when you get there.

Summer Vacation Ideas for People Who Don’t Fly

Whether you decide to take a train, car, or even a boat, here are some frugal attractions to consider in every corner of the country.

Visit a national park

To celebrate the 100th birthday of the National Park Service, you can gain free entry into any national park April 16-24, 2016. But even after this week, you can easily turn a national park visit into a frugal vacation or weekend getaway.

Use FindYourPark.com to search for national parks and local accommodations, whether it’s in your immediate area or on the other side of the country. From Rocky Mountain National Park and Yosemite in the West, to Great Smoky Mountains or Dry Tortugas in the South, to Acadia in the Northeast, National Parks offer landscapes to please nearly everyone, nearly anywhere in the country.

While the cheap campsites inside these parks fill up fast, much of the time, and depending on the park, you can find affordable lodging nearby. Think a rustic cabin, a family-friendly motel, or a historic bed and breakfast right next to one of America’s natural wonders – some of the most scenic places on earth.

Go camping (or even glamping)

Whether you’re visiting a local campground or a state or national park, camping is always a frugal option – and summer’s the perfect time to do it. If you don’t have the right equipment on hand — tent, sleeping bags, cooler — see if you can borrow gear from a family member or friend. And even if you have to buy a tent, it’s still bound to be cheaper than airfare or paying for a pricey hotel.

If you don’t like roughing it, you can also try “glamping” – a form of camping that lets you enjoy the outdoors, but with some of the comforts offered by hotels and resorts. Luxury camping company Under Canvas offers a few glamping resorts at National Parks across the U.S. While you’re still technically “camping,” these resorts offer access to real beds and an on-site staff.

• Related: A Basic Guide to an Inexpensive and Incredibly Fun Family Camping Vacation

Visit a regional theme park or water park

While Disney World may call itself the “happiest place on Earth,” there are more reasonably-priced theme parks and water parks within driving distance of just about anyone in the United States.

In the state of Indiana, for example, you’ve got Holiday World Theme Park & Splashin’ Safari – a great theme park destination for the entire family. Not only do they offer free soft drinks and sunscreen, but they have one of the best water parks in the entire Midwest, and there are plenty of affordable places to stay nearby. Lake Rudolph Campground, for example, adjacent to the park, offers inexpensive rentals on everything from campsites to cabins and even rental RVs.

Next door in Ohio, you’ll find the family-friendly King’s Island as well as the iconic Cedar Point, which is often considered the “Roller Coaster Capital of the World.”

Six Flags theme parks are a touch pricey, but certainly cheaper than a trip to Disney, and they’re all over the country – including locations in California, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Texas.

If you have kids in tow, you can also consider a road trip to the Wisconsin Dells, a theme and water park haven in the middle of Wisconsin. There, you’ll find extremely affordable lodging options in addition to world class parks and attractions.

• Related: A Look at Our Inexpensive Vacation in Wisconsin

Go ‘shelling’ in southern Florida

If you love the beauty of shells and enjoy scouring the beach for some treasures of your own, a trip to Southern Florida may be in order. Dubbed the “shelling capitals of the world,” Sanibel and Captiva Islands have long been known as ideal destinations for shell collectors and enthusiasts.

According to information provided by the Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel, the area’s geography and east to west orientation of the water puts it in the perfect position to catch shells of all shapes, varieties and colors. Since many shells arrive fully intact, you can save money by scouring the beach for your very own souvenirs.

After gathering your own share of shells, you can also visit the Bailey Matthews National Shell Museum, the only museum in the U.S. dedicated to shells and mollusks.

If you need a rental car, Hotwire.com offers car rental options for as little as $11.95 per day. Pick up an affordable rental on your way to southern Florida, then shell your day away without a care in the world.

Athens, Ga.

The college town of Athens, Ga., is known for its music scene, and it’s no wonder — this is where R.E.M., the B-52s, the Indigo Girls, Widespread Panic, and many other bands across every genre got their start. However, that’s not all this eclectic and diverse city has to offer. From wildly inexpensive food and hotels to award-winning bars and nightlife, Athens offers a nocturnal culture of its own. Visitors to Athens can also go to the State Botanical Garden of Georgia and the Georgia Museum of Art for free, making Athens a great stop for a family trip, too.

The college town of Athens, Ga. has a great music and dining scene that won’t break the bank. Photo: Georgia DCA

Southern California

Home to five of America’s top 25 beaches, including La Jolla Shores, Coronado, and Carlsbad, the eternally sunny stretch between Los Angeles and San Diego makes for a perfect getaway — and a fairly cheap one, if you avoid staying in LA or its pricier suburbs.

After all, whether you enjoy swimming, surfing, reading, or just building sand castles, the beach itself can provide hours of free entertainment and relaxation for the whole family. So let one of these beautiful sandy stretches be the focal point of your vacation, instead of the expensive tourist traps of Hollywood. (Bonus: Amtrak’s scenic Surfliner route services this area.)

Lodging options in seaside cities like Oceanside, Encinitas, or Costa Mesa, Calif., can be fairly inexpensive even near the water. And Costa Mesa, next to Newport Beach, is also running a promotion that could make your summer getaway free this year. The sweepstakes will run from April 1 to May 15, 2016 and the winner will be chosen on May 30, 2016 (you can fill out the entry form here). Winners will receive two nights at Ayres Hotel & Suites, a pair of passes to Disneyland, and a $1,000 American Express gift card, among other prizes.

Discount cruises

While flying is the most obvious way to get out of the country, you can also cruise away from the coast – no plane required.

“One of the most frugal ways to travel this summer for people who don’t like to fly is to embark on a dream cruise with Carnival Cruise Lines,” says John Drabkowski, founder and CEO of Red Hot Cruises. Their 24 ships “feature musical performances, casinos, comfortable stateroom accommodations, and delicious food and drink,” he adds.

And if you think you don’t live near a cruise port, think again. Carnival cruises depart from cities like Galveston, Texas, Long Beach, Calif., Mobile, Ala., Norfolk, Va., Seattle, Baltimore, and Charleston, S.C., as well as bigger and more obvious ports such as Honolulu, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, and many cities in Florida, making cruising a viable option for people who live nearly anywhere in the country.

Lake Chelan, Wash.

While Seattle is known for its dreary and rainy weather, Lake Chelan, which is just three hours east, boasts more than 300+ days per year of sun. Because of its location, Lake Chelan is also an easy “one-tank getaway” for much of the Pacific Northwest.

Lake Chelan is home to more than bright and sunny weather, however; the area has 24 separate wineries, water activities including water skiing, jet skiing, and boating, and plenty of mountains and valleys perfect for hiking and sightseeing. Meanwhile, local businesses offer an array of activities for sports junkies, including zip lining, skydiving, and paragliding.

Lake Chelan’s website offers a list of hotels, resorts, and campgrounds if you need a place to stay nearby – and some of the options are downright cheap. Rooms at the local Midtowner Motel, for example, start at just $92 per night during peak summer season, and $62 for late summer and early fall.

Jekyll Island, Ga.

If you live anywhere in the south or the lower Midwest, you’re probably within driving distance of the beautiful Jekyll Island on Georgia’s southern coast. Thanks to the many bike trails, miles of beaches, historical buildings and landmarks, and wildlife, you’ll never run out of free things to do here.

In addition to some top-notch resorts, Jekyll Island also boasts its own 18-acre campground where you can park an RV or pitch a tent under the stars. If you want to stay in a hotel but keep it on the cheaper side, Jekyll Island is also home to a Holiday Inn Resort and a Hampton Inn & Suites.

‘Mayberry’

If you’re looking for a quintessential American getaway, look no further than Mount Airy, N.C. The hometown of Andy Griffith and known as the inspiration behind Mayberry on the “Andy Griffith Show,” Mount Airy offers a bundle of perks and activities for families looking to enjoy quality time on the cheap.

Attractions include the Mayberry Courthouse, a history museum, the Andy Griffith Museum, and an iconic downtown. Plus, you can enjoy 15 local wineries, three state parks within a 30-minute drive, and so many affordable dining options you won’t be able to choose.

The Bottom Line

When you want to have good, clean family fun, you don’t have to go somewhere far-flung. The United States is home to a wealth of sights and attractions you just can’t find anywhere else – and there’s bound to be one or more you can reach by car or train.

All of the beauty, wonder, and fun you can imagine is just a train, car, or boat ride away.

What are your favorite attractions in the United States? Do you have anything else to add to this list?

Related Articles

• Why I’ll Never Feel Bad About My Vacation Spending
• 25 Ways to Save on Summer Travel
• Five Cheap Vacations to Take This Summer

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This Customer Complaint is Nearly 4000 Years Old and Its Hilarious

“I’m going to write a letter!”

We’re familiar with this cry of outrage, a cliche at this point.

It comes from a disgruntled mother, old man or time-wealthy millennial after a retail establishment fails to offer a baby-changing table, honor an expired coupon or hire their friend.

We value our right to complain to the businesses that wrong us so much that we dedicate entire apps and websites to it.

But the customer complaint was not invented with Yelp or passive-aggressive tweets.

It is, apparently, nearly as old as written language itself.

The British Museum displays the oldest known written complaint — inscribed in a clay tablet in Mesopotamia almost 4,000 years ago.

The Oldest Known Written Complaint

A man named Nanni wrote the letter in 1750 B.C. in response to a sub-standard delivery of copper ingots from a merchant named Ea-nasir.

I’ll give you a second to recall seventh-grade history class.

And because I already looked it up on Wikipedia, I’ll explain that copper ingots are chunks of copper ore. Nanni would have been buying the raw material for his contemporaries to use to create tools, cookware and other things you’ve seen in museums.

Ea-nasir promised high-quality copper, but when Nanni’s servant arrived with payment, he deemed the copper “not good.”

Instead of remedying with an apology or a coupon for free ore on his next visit, Ea-nasir rudely told the servant, “If you want to take them, take them; if you do not want to take them, go away!”

The bad service infuriated Nanni so much that he created this tablet, inscribed with a lengthy complaint.

What do you take me for, that you treat somebody like me with such contempt?

Think of the manpower deployed to administer this complaint!

A guy like Nanni isn’t carving out letters himself. So at least one man was involved to inscribe this tablet.

That man had to be literate, which wasn’t common in Mesopotamia. He also had to find a clay tablet, which weren’t incredibly hard to come by, but you certainly couldn’t pick one up at the corner store.

Someone must have tried to stop Nanni from his frivolous use of resources and man-hours. But he was just so mad.

Nanni dictated, and someone inscribed this tablet — full front and back, by the way. Then someone had to deliver it.

This isn’t a huge Mount Sinai-style tablet, at least. It’s just 4.6 inches tall by about 2 inches wide. It’s like a thick iPhone covered in cuneiform writing.

But it still required at least one guy, maybe a horse and maybe one of those carts they ride behind the horse. I’m picturing a guy in a cart making last-minute additions to the tablet on his way, not paying proper attention to the road.

That’s at least three people and a horse to get this message to the merchant. And there’s no sign of a reply from Ea-nasir.

That should make you a little less angry next time your local restaurant’s Yelp profile takes a few extra seconds to load.

You can rest easy knowing you’re not alone: The disgruntled opinions of the masses have been falling on the deaf ears of the likes of Big Copper for millennia.

Your Turn: Have you ever written a letter to complain about customer service?

Dana Sitar (@danasitar) is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She’s written for Huffington Post, Entrepreneur.com, Writer’s Digest and more, attempting humor wherever it’s allowed (and sometimes where it’s not).

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Insurers may block annuity sales

Rachel Lacey

empty-nest.jpg

As the government publishes more details of its plans to create a secondary market for annuities from April 2017, frustrated policyholders are being warned that some insurance companies may not allow them to sell up.

As the government publishes more details of its plans to create a secondary market for annuities from April 2017, frustrated policyholders are being warned that some insurance companies may not allow them to sell up.

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I Paid Off $11K in Student Loans in 4 Years Making $15/Hour. Heres How

As a young person, getting on top of your money lets you take control of your life.

Your best friend asked you to be in her out-of-state wedding? No problem! You got in a fender-bender? Bummer, but no problem.

And it definitely feels like successful adulting when you can write a rent check without anxiety.

Plus, nothing is quite as satisfying as paying off a student loan AND still being able to pay all other bills, put food on the table and go out to celebrate.

I should know — I’ve paid off nearly half of my student loans.

I graduated in 2012 with about $24,000 in student loans, which is just about average for my class, and I’m proud to have knocked out $11,000 of that debt in less than four years.

It seems incredible when I think about it: I’m 25, live on on my own and only make $15 an hour.

My situation is average — I don’t have any unusual skills or strategic moves to help me.

So how do I do it? Budgeting.

How to Budget to Pay Off Debt

I started making a budget a few months after my loans went into repayment.

I was constantly worried I wouldn’t have enough money — partly because I didn’t know where it was going!

I knew I made enough to cover rent and my normal expenses, but adding student loan payments made me feel like I was in constant danger of not being able to pay an important bill.

Something had to change.

So, I started budgeting by following these simple steps, which I’d recommend to anyone… student loans or not.  

1. Track Your Spending

For a week, a month, whatever. Track everything.

Keep a list, and add to it every time you pull out your wallet, whether it’s on a spreadsheet or a simple notepad.

Become aware of your spending habits. You need to know exactly where your money is going.

Bonus: You might decrease your spending just by being more attentive. I didn’t want to write down a $1 snack at work, so I didn’t buy it. That was $1 more dollar I could put towards my loans!

2. Set Some Financial Goals

Come up with a few short- or longer-term money goals, and write them down.

Maybe you want to put as much money possible each month toward your student loans, like me. Or maybe your goal is to go on a dream vacation, build a six-month emergency fund or stop living paycheck to paycheck.

My long-term goal was to fully pay off my student loans, and each month, I aimed to pay at least $50 more than the minimum payment.

3. Analyze Your Spending

Go back to your tracked expenses, and examine them.

What did you spend the most money on? Are you happy with how much you spent?

Be honest with yourself. Does your spending match your goals?

If not, it’s OK. Mine didn’t. Just acknowledge where you’re overspending and move forward.

After realizing how much I spent eating out, I said goodbye to Panera, and hello to bagged lunches.

4. Build a Budget

During extensive Googling (I may have been procrastinating), I found YNAB, or “You Need A Budget” — which I love.

But all you really need is a way to plan what you want your money to do for you, whether that’s an Excel spreadsheet, YNAB, Mint or even pen and paper. Use what’s comfortable.

First, enter how much money you have now. Not what you anticipate having, but what you have now.

Next, list where your money goes: rent, car repairs, fun money, groceries, student loan payments, retirement savings, etc. It can be as detailed or simple as you want.

And don’t forget an emergency fund! (Says the girl who had an unexpected root canal. Ouch.)

Here’s a more in-depth guide to creating a budget.

5. Give Every Dollar a Job

This is a YNAB mantra: Make sure to budget all of your income. Every. Last. Cent.

Your monthly bills are straightforward. And by looking at your list from step one, you can anticipate how much you’re going to spend on groceries and restaurants.

But the real trick is planning for less common expenditures, like car registration.

You’ll eventually use every dollar you have, so plan for it. Prioritize your categories, and make sure every time you get paid, you give all those dollars a job.

6. Be Vigilant with Your Spending

Record every transaction.

The list you started with was good practice, but now you have to make it a habit. Making a budgets is relatively easy, but it’s not a “set it and forget it” deal.

Check your categories to see how much money you have available before shopping or going out.

Recently, I bought several T-shirts at Target. I hadn’t planned on it, but I looked at my budget, saw I had enough money in my clothing category to cover the cost and went for it. Guilt-free impulse buying for the win!  

If you go over your budget by a few dollars here and there, it’s fine. Pull money from a different category, and learn from it.

I adjust something pretty much every month. Recently, I had to pull some money from my grocery category and put it into my household goods category because I ran out of toilet paper, paper towels and Clorox wipes all at the same time. Whoops!

7. Be Realistic

A budget is not set in stone. Setting realistic expectations is the secret to successful finances.

You know you. If you know you’ll want to splurge on certain things, don’t stress. Instead, build it into your budget.

I set aside enough money to go to two movies every month. It removes the guilt and makes it easier to stick to my plan. I don’t feel like I’m missing out, and I’m still putting as much as possible towards my loans.

Being realistic is the only way to make your budget stick.

What Will Your Budget Help You Achieve?

Budgeting is simpler than you think, and it helps you achieve your financial goals much faster.  

Realizing I’d about halved my student loan debt in less than four years was an amazing feeling!

You probably won’t always perfectly stick to your monthly budget, but it’s OK. Just adjust as needed.

But make sure you’re only spending money you already have, even if it’s tempting to pull out your credit card.

You have the power to take control of your money. All you have to do now is start.

Your Turn: Do you set a monthly budget? How do you manage your money?

Emily Wynn is a young professional passionate about helping her peers figure out their money. Often, personal finance seem overwhelming, but she’s on a mission to show it’s not.

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Homes on London Marathon route up by 15%

Hannah Nemeth

marathon-river.png

Whether you’re taking part in this weekend’s London Marathon, or are viewing it as a spectator sport, take a closer look at the properties you’ll spot along the 26.2 miles that will be covered.

House prices have gone up on average by 15.6% year-on-year along the London Marathon route, with the average price of a home now hitting £712,416 – £95,997 more than last year, according to research by online estate agent HouseSimple.com.

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Reduce Reuse and Recycle: 11 Earth-Friendly Ways to Save Money

We all know the slogan: “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.”

But what you might not realize is that the three R’s can help you save money — and in some cases, even earn a little extra cash.

In addition, reducing your consumption, reusing items that might have outlived their original purposes and recycling what’s left will help keep unnecessary waste out of our landfills. Sounds like a win-win situation, doesn’t it?

To help celebrate Earth Day, here are some ways to save money and save the planet while you’re at it.

Reduce

The easiest way to save money while minimizing your impact on the planet is to reduce what you buy. By buying less stuff, you’ll spend less money and use fewer resources.

It takes practice and can require tough decisions, but the savings can be well worth it.

Try these strategies to reduce your purchases:

1. Buy Only the Food You Need and Use What You Buy

Americans waste 40% of the food they buy, according to Harvestright.com. That’s nearly $200 a month for a family of four!

And wasting food doesn’t just waste your money. It also wastes all the energy and water used to produce that food.

Reducing your food waste isn’t too difficult, with a few simple strategies.

Make a list before you head to the grocery store, and stick to it.

Use your warehouse club memberships wisely.

Only buy in bulk when you know you’ll use all of an item — especially when it comes to perishable foods.

Learn how to properly store food to make it last longer, and get creative with your leftovers. You’ll use more of your food and toss less of it, saving you money and reducing waste.

2. Before You Buy It, Make Sure You Need It

When you see something in the store that you just have to have, take a moment to decide if you really need it.

Before you buy anything, ask yourself three questions:

Do I really need it?

Needs and wants are very different.

If you find yourself coming up with far-fetched reasons to make the purchase or you can’t think of a specific use for the item, it’s probably not something you truly need and you can leave it on the rack.

If you decide it is something you need, ask yourself…

Do I have room for it?

Before you put the item in your cart, decide where exactly you will place or store it, or else leave it in the store.

If you know where you’ll keep it, ask yourself…

Will I use it or wear it?

Plenty of things we buy with the best of intentions end up sitting on a shelf or cluttering a drawer because we don’t ever use them.

Make sure any item you bring home has a specific use and fills a need for you.

3. Choose Items With Less Packaging

Product packaging makes up more than 30% of the waste stream in the developed world, according to the EPA.

To address this issue, companies like Unilever and Nestle have committed to reduce the packaging of their products. If you shop smart, you can help to reduce packaging waste, too.

Buy things like cereal and nuts in bulk to cut down on cardboard, plastic and glass consumption.

And when you’re buying products you can’t find in bulk packages, look for ones with minimal or recyclable packaging.

Reuse

If you’re anything like me, you’ve got a bunch of stuff hanging around that you’re no longer using because it’s worn out, broken or has lost its luster.

You don’t want to send it all to the landfill, but you have no idea what else to do with it, so it just keeps cluttering up your house or garage.

Here are some ways to upcycle common items I’ve found accumulating around my family’s house.

For even more ideas, check out some of the recommendations from these DIY blogs.

4. Repurpose Old Furniture and Appliances

Furniture can last a long time, but if it’s damaged or has outlived its original purpose, you don’t have to get rid of it. There’s still plenty of life in it if you’re willing to get creative and do a little manual labor.

Turn an old coffee table into a storage ottoman or use an end table to make one of these fun LEGO tables for the playroom.

Mounting your TV on the wall but don’t know what to do with that bulky old entertainment center? Make a play kitchen for the kids or turn it into a console.

If you’re renovating, repurposing projects can help you save your budget and create a unique living space. An old dresser can become a centerpiece in your bathroom. Reclaimed shutters make a lovely cottage-style headboard.

Don’t know what to do with your old appliances? Refabdiaries.com has several makeover and upcycle ideas to get you thinking outside the refrigerator… er, box.

5. Give Old Clothes a New Life

If you don’t wear certain items in their current state, a little refashioning can help bring them back into your wardrobe rotation.

If your T-shirt collection is getting a little out hand or your favorites are starting to look a little worse for the wear, you don’t need to donate them or throw them away.

Get creative and you could have some new skirts, a reusable grocery tote, or a nice warm quilt.

Need more ideas? Here are 39 additional ways to upcycle your T-shirts, including several no-sew options for those of us who are sewing-challenged.

Sweaters with holes or stains or too many nubbies for your taste can be reused, too. Craftsy.com has some projects for them, including totes, fingerless gloves and slippers.

If those craft ideas don’t suit you, put your empty glass jars to use and make sweater vases (a double upcycle!).

You could even start your own business, like Charlotte Reid Besaw, who makes and sells cozy mittens made from thrift-store sweaters.

6. Put Cardboard Tubes to Work

These pesky little tubes from toilet paper and paper towel seem to multiply around our house. We’re constantly collecting and recycling them, so I wondered what else we could do with them to give them a little more life before heading to the recycling bin.

With a little research, I found dozens of ways to put them to work around our house.

Store extension cords and other cables that tend to get tangled and take over the junk drawer.

If you have a fireplace or backyard pit, create kindling logs to get your fires going quickly. Gardeners can start seedlings in them.

Need to entertain the kiddos? Today’s Parent has some great craft ideas.

You can also spend a rainy afternoon making a birdfeeder, have a performance with cute owl finger puppets or create a masterpiece.

7. Revive Glass Jars and Bottles

A lot of the food and drinks we buy come in glass jars and bottles.

I’ve been hoarding pasta sauce jars for years with the intention of eventually reusing them around our home. And I always feel bad tossing wine bottles because I know they’d make lovely chandeliers.

If you’re looking for creative ways to reuse glass containers, there is plenty of inspiration out there.

Love displaying fresh flowers around the house? Make some wine bottle or hanging window vases.

Wine bottles also make lovely lights or lamps. Or if you prefer candles to light your room, these glass jar votive holders will come in handy.

Instead of buying new decorative items for your kitchen or bathroom, use some empty glass jars to make soap dispensers, candy jars or flour and sugar containers.

Don’t have time to get crafty? Sell your wine bottles to other crafters or winemakers.

8. Do More Than Read Those Books

If you’re like me and have bins and shelves full of books that you’re probably never going to read (or read again), why not let someone else reuse them?

Sell them on Amazon or at your local used bookstore and make a little cash. If you’d rather get a tax deduction, donate books to a literacy organization, local school or library.

If your book aren’t worth much or if you’re not interested in selling them, use them to cover your Kindle, make wall shelves, a purse or a phone docking station.

Want more ideas? Here are 10 more ways to repurpose your book collection.

Recycle

Besides tossing recyclable items into your recycling bin, there are several other ways you can recycle stuff around your house you can’t use or reuse.

9. Get Paid for Your Metal

If you have a collection of aluminum cans, copper tubing from a household renovation or any other metal objects, you could cash in by taking them to a recycling center or scrap metal dealer.

10. Do Good with Your Shoes

I have a closet full of worn-out but still somewhat wearable athletic shoes. I didn’t want to throw them away, but I wasn’t quite sure what else to do with them.

It turns out Nike’s Reuse-A-Shoe program will grind up old athletic shoes and use them to create new surfaces for playgrounds, athletic fields and sports courts.

Your gently-used but rarely worn dress shoes, pumps and heels won’t make a good running track, but you can donate them to organizations like Soles4Souls or the Cinderella Project to give your shoes some extra miles and help those who are less fortunate.

11. Sell Stuff to Someone Who Will Use It

Anything you have that’s gently used and gathering dust could make you money and get a new life in another home.

This is a double-whammy: You’re recycling an item you don’t use to someone else, who is reducing his consumption by buying used instead of new!

Sell clothes, toys and childrens’ items, small appliances, furniture and more on Craigslist or local garage sale groups.

Your Turn: Have you tried any other strategies to save money while living a little bit greener? Share your tips in the comments!

Ami Spencer Youngs is a freelance writer and yoga teacher, raising her career alongside two boys under three. Learn more about her life and her writing at Writing Her Life or on Twitter at @writingherlife. 

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Heres One More Reason to Convince Your Boss to Let You Work From Home

Listen, we totally understand why you want to work from home.

It’s awesome!

Yoga pants, easy access to snacks you actually want and a cat stationed firmly on your lap while you type all make the work day so much more survivable.

It’s an even better deal for moms, who can use work-at-home flexibility to be more available for all their kids’ needs — and antics.

But in celebration of Earth Day, we want to highlight one more reason working from home is awesome: It’s way, way better for our planet.

Go Green: Work From Home

Although it seems obvious, we don’t often consider how much greener the workday is without a commute.

After all, we each spend nine days a year on average battling the 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. rush — which makes for a lot of emissions.

In fact, if U.S. workers who both hold telework-compatible jobs and want to work from home did so just two days a week, we’d save nearly 52 million gallons of gas and 2.6 million barrels of oil annually, according to Global Workplace Analytics via FlexJobs.

Functionally, it’s equivalent to both taking 88,000 vehicles off the road and reducing highway wear and tear by 1 billion miles per year.

These numbers probably aren’t exact — it’s hard to draw rigorous, scientific conclusions from something based on estimates and ever-changing human behavior!

But it’s certainly eye-opening to see how quickly the fossil fuel savings would add up… even if we worked from home for less than half the workweek.

Plus, think of what you could do with all the money you’d save on gas.

So maybe walk into your boss’s office this Earth Day and see if you can convince them to let you work from home. If going green isn’t enough motivation, you might talk about how much more productive you’d be from the couch. It’s science!

Psst — part of the reason we understand why working from home is so great is because we get to do it here at TPH… and we’re hiring!

So if you’re looking for a remote-friendly job, check out our careers page. You might just find a perfect fit.

Your Turn: Why do YOU want to work from home?

Jamie Cattanach (@jamiecattanach) is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. Her creative writing has been featured in DMQ Review, Sweet: A Literary Confection and elsewhere.

The post Here’s One More Reason to Convince Your Boss to Let You Work From Home appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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Current account switching hits record high

Tom Wilson

A record 125,000 people switched their current account this March, with customers flocking to Santander, Halifax and Nationwide.

A record 125,000 people switched their current account this March, with customers flocking to Santander, Halifax and Nationwide. 

Some 310,000 people have ditched poor value bank accounts in the first quarter of this year, 20% more than in the final three months of 2015.

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House sales surged in March to beat stamp duty hike

Hannah Nemeth

house-rise-graph.jpg

The number of property transactions jumped dramatically between February and March 2016 before the 3% stamp duty on additional homes came into effect on 1 April, according to new data.

The number of property transactions jumped dramatically between February and March 2016 before the 3% stamp duty on additional homes came into effect on 1 April, according to new data.

HMRC reports that the number of residential transactions was 74.8% higher in March 2016 compared with February 2016.

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Get on the electoral roll to boost your credit score

Helen Knapman

electroal-role.jpg

Many young people are damaging their chances of getting credit, with only one in five (22%) adults aged between 18 and 24 registered on the electoral roll, according to new research.

Many young people are damaging their chances of getting credit, with only one in five (22%) adults aged between 18 and 24 registered on the electoral roll, according to new research.  

Of those surveyed in research conducted for credit card provider Aqua, not one 18-24 year old thought they could be declined credit because they aren’t on the electoral roll.

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Heres How to Save $10 On Your First Walmart Grocery Order

We just found a new, easy way to save money on groceries.

Walmart will give you $10 off your first online grocery order of $50 or more now through November 1, 2016.

That’s 20% off a $50 grocery bill!

Enter the code REALEASY to get $10 off.

And you don’t have to lug kids or a cart around the store. Just fill your cart online and choose a delivery time. Your order will be ready when you get to the store.

Depending on your location, they may deliver your order to your car, or you could get free home delivery.

Plus, after you create your account, you can share your referral link to give friends an extra $10 off, and get another $10 credit yourself.

Refer up to 10 friends in a year to save $100 on groceries.

Save 54% on Groceries at Walmart

Any time you shop online, we recommend using a cash-back site to earn rewards for the money you spend.

Offers change daily, so check Cashbackholic to find the site offering the best deal.

For example, BeFrugal is offering 8% cash back when you shop Walmart.com through its portal. Plus, you can get a bonus $10 if it’s your first time using the site.

With Walmart’s deal, that’s a total of $26.80 off — or, $50 in groceries for The Penny Hoarder Price of $23.20!

• $50 – $10 = $40 (Walmart Grocery discount)

• 8% of $40 = $3.20 (BeFrugal cash back)

• $40- $3.20 = $36.80

• $36.80- $10 (BeFrugal’s first-time customer discount) = $26.80

• $50- $26.80 = The Penny Hoarder price of $23.20!

Try these other deal-stacking tips to save more every time you shop.

For more tips, read our full post on money-saving secrets for Walmart shoppers.

Your Turn: Do you shop for groceries online? What are your favorite tips?

Dana Sitar (@danasitar) is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She’s written for Huffington Post, Entrepreneur.com, Writer’s Digest and more, attempting humor wherever it’s allowed (and sometimes where it’s not).

The post Here’s How to Save $10 On Your First Walmart Grocery Order appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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Five Big Reasons Why Its So Hard to Make Financial Progress and Strategies for Overcoming Each One

While I love writing and talking about all of the benefits of financial independence and financial progress, I’ll be the first to admit that the path is difficult. Although the ideas behind personal finance are easy, actually putting them into practice is incredibly hard. That’s why more than three quarters of Americans live paycheck to paycheck and only a tiny sliver of Americans manage to accumulate enough wealth to be able to retire in comfort, let alone retire early.

The concepts are easy. Actually making it happen? It’s very hard.

Why is it hard, though? Why do so many people dream about and plan for financial success, but so many people fall short along that path? Having spent almost an entire decade turning around our disastrous financial situation and then moving along the road to financial independence while writing and learning about personal finance all along the way, I’ve found that there are five big reasons why people find it hard to find financial success.

Let’s dig in.

Reason #1 – Spending Money Offers Positive Short Term Feelings, While Saving Money Does Not

Let’s be honest: it’s fun to buy something new, something you really want. There’s a certain amount of pleasure that comes from buying a latte or buying a new gadget or buying a book or buying some new clothes or buying a game or whatever it is that you enjoy spending your money on.

The problem with that is that the positive feeling rarely lasts. You drink the latte and move on with your day. The new clothes wind up in the closet, mixed in with the rest of your wardrobe. The new gadget either becomes a part of your ordinary life or winds up forgotten in your home. The good feeling goes away and you’re left with more of the ordinary.

Of course, we rarely think of that in the moment. We think of the desire we have and the short term pleasure we’ll get … and then we go for it, to the detriment of our long term plans. A day later, the purchase is forgotten, but the money spent leaves a hole in our pocket. The money is gone and we gained exactly nothing that lasts.

Here are three strategies for moving beyond this trap.

Spend your free time on free and inexpensive things that you personally enjoy. In other words, rather than spending money on things that bring you that burst of short term joy, spend time instead. Drop some of the things in your life that you spend time on that don’t bring you joy – like maybe the time spent on some of your least favorite television shows or time spent aimlessly visiting websites – and add in things that do bring you joy.

Reflect often on the drawbacks of spending and the benefits of saving. I do this kind of reflection when I’m in the shower or when I’m driving somewhere. I think about some of my most recent purchases and recognize that the joy from the purchase didn’t really last, and then I consider that I’d prefer to have that money in my checking account right now instead. I think about how that money would actually be another step toward my big goals instead of something that’s forgotten a day or two later. This is a mental conversation I have with myself quite frequently.

Alter your social circle. If you find that your social circle is regularly part of the reason why you’re spending money without a plan and without consideration for the future, then consider altering your social circle. Having a circle of friends is a powerful thing, but it should not come with a price tag. Encourage your friends to do things that don’t require additional expense, such as having dinner parties at home or potluck dinners instead of going out. If you do like going out, focus heavily on the specific things you like doing and bow out of the other things. The idea here is that social interaction shouldn’t require you to drain your wallet. Good friends don’t cost very much.

Reason #2 – Financial Goals Typically Take a Long Time to Achieve

If you have a big overarching financial goal that you’re working towards, chances are that you’re looking at something that’s not going to be completed for a long time. That time is probably measured in years or even in decades.

A long time, indeed.

Humans aren’t exactly the most patient of creatures, either. When you start considering things on the scale of years or decades within your life, it’s pretty easy to start losing touch with that goal. It becomes a vague “someday” goal, one that has little impact on our day to day life, and because of that, it’s very easy to just walk away from such a goal and completely give up on it.

It can simply feel like you’re “never” going to get there, so why bother?

Here are three methods of getting past this obstacle on your path to financial success.

Focus on “microgoals” on the scale of a day, a week, or a month. Rather than focusing on the enormous overall goal all the time, focus instead on “microgoals,” ones that can be completed in a day or a week or a month. As long as the end result contributes to your overall goal, they can be quite useful.

Microgoals can take a lot of different forms, from trying to establish better life patterns, pushing toward specific milestones, or even tangible projects that cause you to spend less or earn more going forward.

For example, you might choose to set a goal of spending no money on your favorite hobby for a month. On the other hand, you might set a goal of bringing your savings up to $5,000 by the end of the month. Or, you might try something like air sealing your home this weekend to cut down on future energy bills.

All of those projects contribute toward positive financial goals and they give you something much more tangible to focus your energies on. As the saying goes, the devil finds work for idle hands to do, so keep yourself from being idle.

Look at the change you’ve already made, not the distance to the goal. When you’re working toward a big goal, it’s tempting to keep your eyes on the prize. After all, this is all about where you want to go, right? You’re moving in a positive direction. Why would you want to look backward?

Well, the big benefit of looking backward is to see exactly how far you’ve come. Where were you at a year ago? Six months ago? Even a month ago? How have your account balances improved? How much has your debt dropped over that relatively short period of time? What about since the start of your goal?

The thing is, when you see that you’re actually doing this, that your financial state has improved by leaps and bounds, and that you’re making real progress toward the big goal, it starts to feel a whole lot easier to make it to the big goal.

Focus on building positive life routines that make financial progress into a foregone conclusion. This is very much in parallel with the idea of microgoals, but it’s just a bit of a tweak on that idea. Rather than setting a strict goal for yourself, you simply repeat a very specific thing over and over and over again, every day, until it becomes your new normal. If you do that with a lot of specifics in your life, you’re going to slowly transform your life into something that marches toward your goal with ease.

Let’s say, for example, that you eat out a lot. You decide to cut out eating at fast food places and at “casual dining” restaurants, leaving your eating out solely for special occasions at great restaurants. You focus on this change one day at a time, which means that you make a lot of meals at home, pack lunches to take with you, and so on. Over time, this becomes the new natural for you – the idea of going to Taco Bell or Noodles and Company even every once in a while begins to seem a lot less appealing.

Our lives are full of routines like this that can be tweaked for our personal benefit. We can tweak our spending routines, our commute, our diet, our morning routine, our bedtime routine, and on and on and on. Tweaking those things can add up to some real benefits, especially if you keep working on the tweak until it becomes your new normal.

Reason #3 – Financial Goals Are Often Very Passive After the Initial Actions

One thing that happens with almost every financial goal is that there’s this big rush of initial action to get things in place, but once that’s all done, progress toward the goal tends to run almost completely on autopilot.

That’s a great thing in terms of consistency, but in terms of feeling connected to the goal and really feeling like you’re working toward something… it’s not so great. That long “passive” period can leave you feeling very disconnected from your goal and can easily turn into disenchantment and abandonment of that goal. If you’re not in touch with it, it’s easy to start wondering why you’re putting that money away at all, and from there it’s easy to simply quit.

The trick is to find ways to stay connected with your big goal even during your long trek through the peaceful valley of slow progress. Here are three tools for doing just that.

Work on big, active projects that result in savings. One great method of keeping yourself focused while you’re in that valley of slow and steady progress is to find useful projects to work on, ones that have results that can be helpful for your overall goal. Since almost every financial project leans heavily on the concept of “spending less than you earn,” finding ways to spend even less is a great way to accelerate almost every financial goal.

What kind of big, active project causes you to spend less? Doing things like making lots of meals in advance and freezing them, air sealing your home, doing your own home repairs, adding home insulation, and doing your own car repairs all lead to reduced expenditures, both in the short term and in the long term.

They’re all big projects, of course, but that’s kind of the point here. If you throw yourself into a big project that happens to have a result that involves spending less money, then you’re going to have more money free to push yourself toward your goal faster than before. That’s a great thing.

Similarly, work on big, active projects that result in increased income. On the flip side of “spending less than you earn” is the earning component. If you increase your earnings, you’re also going to find yourself accelerating toward your big financial goal.

There are many, many ways to earn more, but they all tend to require a lot of sustained time and effort. You can start a microbusiness in your spare time, like launching a Youtube channel. You can work toward earning a degree or earning more certifications. You can simply put your nose to the grind at work and build up your standing there in an effort to get a promotion. All of those things work. All of those things can put more money right in your pocket.

The challenge is devoting the time it takes to make those things happen. The reason everyone doesn’t inflate their income is that not everyone is willing to devote their time and energy to it. For those who do, there are many, many routes to earning more money out there.

Get involved socially with others who are working on these kinds of big projects. Look around your community and see if there are any entrepreneurial groups, professional groups, or do-it-yourself groups in operation. One great place to look for such groups is meetup.com; another is your local library. Then jump into those groups.

What you’re going to find there are people motivated and willing to take on big projects with the strong potential of saving or earning money for themselves. If you’re attracted to the idea of increasing the gap between what you spend and what you earn and you’re willing to take on big challenges to get there, you’re going to find some value in those groups.

The real advantage, however, is the social surroundings. With such groups, you’re going to find yourself socializing and associating with people who are focused on building their income or on saving money. Those attitudes are going to rub off on you over time and encourage you to take on these kinds of big projects yourself.

Reason #4 – Financial Goals Can Seem Impossible to Reach

When you sit down and stare a big financial goal right in the face, the sheer number can leave you feeling intimidated.

When you look at a goal that requires you to have ten times your annual salary in the bank – or even more, in the case of things like retirement savings – it can feel like you are never going to make it to that goal. Ever. It feels completely out of reach because you’re looking at a number that’s an order of magnitude more than anything you’ve ever dealt with before in life.

Many people respond to that by giving up. By not even trying. And, because of that, they miss out on many great things in life.

Here are three useful strategies to apply if you find yourself feeling as though the sheer size of your goal makes it impossible to reach.

Break your giant goal down into smaller stages that seem possible but still seem challenging. The end result might seem enormous, but what about the first milestone toward that goal? Does that seem overwhelmingly large?

If you haven’t already done this, break your big goal down into smaller milestones, preferably in such a way so that the first milestone feels like it is within reach in the next year or so. Each subsequent milestone should have a similar gap behind it. The idea here is to sketch out a series of milestones, ideally a year apart or less, that you can reach if you put in some effort and that gradually move toward that giant goal that’s far off on the horizon.

For example, if retirement savings is your goal and you need to save $1,000,000 in thirty years, you’re going to have to sock away somewhere around $10,000 a year on average to make it there. So focus on that milestone. You need to save $10,000 this year to make your big retirement goal. So, how can you contribute $10,000 to your retirement savings this year? It’s still a challenging goal, but it’s not a seven figure goal.

Think about what you’re working for beyond mere finances and how you can use non-financial approaches to help achieve your goal. It’s easy to get stuck in the trap of thinking of financial goals as something that’s purely about dollars and cents, but the truth is that most of our spending follows in the wake of our other lifestyle choices. When we choose to live in a certain place, our reasons are usually numerous and only a few of them typically have anything to do with finance.

Rather than focusing on the dollars and cents, sit down and start thinking about the other aspects of your life. What things are genuinely important to you? What things do you spend time and money and energy on that are less important to you? Are you happy with where you’re living? Are you happy with your job?

Often, shifting your life in a way that makes you feel more content can really help make big goals seem more possible. You’ll find yourself more energized to reach for milestones and to set up projects that can improve your financial pace.

Adjust your goal to make it more realistic if it feels completely overwhelming. In the end, it may simply be true that the goal you’ve set is just too big. Even when you break it down into milestones and dig through your life to find new approaches, the goal is just not attainable without some kind of miraculous intervention.

If that’s the case, don’t be afraid to tone down the goal a little bit. Consider postponing the goal for a few years, giving you more years to work toward it. Consider ways to reduce the target you’re shooting for. Consider staying in your current career – or in the workforce in general – for a bit longer.

The idea isn’t to abandon your big goal, but to tweak it enough so that achieving it feels at least possible. I tend to find that these adjustments work well hand in hand with the milestone idea I discussed earlier, as adjusting a goal until the milestones look possible is a great way to start off a project.

Reason #5 – Life Always Seems to Intervene

One big final reason why it’s hard to make financial progress is, well, ordinary life. Murphy’s Law. Whatever you want to call it.

No matter how wonderful your plans are, sometimes life just intervenes. You lose your job. Someone gets sick. Your car needs replaced. Your hot water heater fails and floods your basement.

And, with that, your plans start to go awry. The path you were on is suddenly diverted and the big goal seems farther away than ever. It begins to feel impossible.

It doesn’t have to be this way. You can take action now to protect your progress toward your big goal. Here are three things you can do.

Build an emergency fund. Cash is king. Having a pool of money available to be used solely in the event of an emergency makes it so much easier to roll through a job loss or a car problem. You don’t have to abandon goals or cut back on your progress toward goals, either.

It’s easy. Just set up an online savings account with the online bank of your choice (Ally and Capital One 360 are both solid choices), then set up an automatic transfer once a week into that savings account. Just transfer a little bit – $10 or $20 or $50 or whatever works for your budget. Then wait.

When an emergency happens, you don’t have to panic. You don’t have to go into debt. Instead, just calmly transfer money back from that emergency fund into your checking account and deal with it.

Some people like to use a credit card for this. That’s a bad idea because it won’t work in an identity theft situation, plus you’ll be dealing with the credit card debt which will knock your goal off track. Use cash.

Weed out unnecessary risk in your life. What things in your life pose the highest risk of knocking you off of your path toward your goal? Is it your health? Maybe your car is on its last legs. Perhaps you have friends that convince you to make mistakes of all kinds.

Whatever it is, minimize that risk in your life. Alter your social circle. Be proactive about your car problems. Get some exercise and eat better. Work on getting a more stable job. Know your public transportation options.

The fewer obvious risks you have in your life, the better. You can make yourself much less likely to be knocked off the path.

Plan for upcoming challenges. Many of life’s challenges can be seen well in advance. You know that property taxes are going to be due quite regularly. You often know when a car is going to need to be replaced. You know in advance when insurance bills are going to arrive. Plan for those things!

Start setting aside money right now for those kinds of planned events. If you’d like, you can even use the same plan as you use for emergency fund savings – just transfer more each week than you’ll need for all of these upcoming known expenses so that the rest can be present for emergencies.

This way, those known expenses won’t knock you off of the path to success that you’re on.

Final Thoughts

No matter what obstacles you perceive to be standing in the way of the big goals in your life, there’s always a way around those obstacles for those who really want something better in your life. Don’t let these challenges to your financial progress stand in your way.

Rise above it. Achieve your goals. Walk right past these obstacles into the life of your dreams.

The post Five Big Reasons Why It’s So Hard to Make Financial Progress – and Strategies for Overcoming Each One appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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Manchester Building Society savers should check balance is below 75k

Tom Wilson

piles-of-gold.jpg

Manchester Building Society is in discussions with the financial regulator to secure its long- term future, as losses of £4.9 million in 2015 have created “uncertainty” for its 18,000 depositors.

Manchester Building Society is in discussions with the financial regulator to secure its long- term future, as losses of £4.9 million in 2015 have created “uncertainty” for its 18,000 depositors.

The building society has stopped lending money to new customers, and is generating its income from existing loans.

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Blimey! The Queen Wants to Pay Someone $72K to Run Her Social Media

Though the Queen of England may have turned 90 years old today, she’s no luddite.

She’s got a Twitter account and a Facebook page; no Snapchat yet (but really, does anyone over the age of 19 actually understand that little ghost and all his swipey screens?).

The Queen’s a busy dame, however, and she doesn’t have time to tweet and post the day away.

So Buckingham Palace is on the hunt for a Head of Digital Engagement, who will be responsible for the Royal Family’s social media accounts.

And they’re willing to pay a pretty pence for it: up to £50,000, or $72,000 U.S., per year.

Intrigued? Here are all the dignified details.

How to Get Paid to Be the Queen on Twitter

Though we’re pretty sure the Royals are looking for a Brit to take the role, it doesn’t specifically say that in the job listing.

What they do require?

Experience managing “social media networks for a high profile organisation” (that’s right, get ready to replace all your “z’s” with “s’s”!) and an ability to “lead, develop and inspire others.”

In addition to the hefty paycheck, the job comes with free lunch and 33 days of annual leave — that’s more than six weeks.

Oh, right: And access to the Royal Family and their events. So I assume, anyway… I mean, how are you supposed to tweet about it if you’re not there?

Personally, all I really want to know is: Does Prince Harry come with the deal?

‘Cuz if so, I’m bloody in.

Your Turn: Do you think this job sounds like fun?

Susan Shain, senior writer for The Penny Hoarder, is always seeking adventure on a budget. Visit her blog at susanshain.com, or say hi on Twitter @susan_shain.

The post Blimey! The Queen Wants to Pay Someone $72K to Run Her Social Media appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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300000 predicted to resell their annuities

Kyle Caldwell

Eggs-for-sale.jpg

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has estimated that 300,000 annuity holders will cash in their contracts when new legislation comes into force next April.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has estimated that 300,000 annuity holders will cash in their contracts when new legislation comes into force next April.

The prediction, which will bring in a tax windfall of £960 million in the first two years after the changes have been introduced, was made in a paper released on Wednesday by HMRC.

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How Those Annoying Airline Fees Actually Help You Save Money

Travelers love to complain about airline fees — so much that U.S. senators are even introducing an act to combat them.

The Forbidding Airlines from Imposing Ridiculous (FAIR) Fees Act is actual legislation in response to airlines having “increasingly charged consumers fees for basic aviation services” in recent years.

The “basic” services mentioned include checking a bag, or changing or canceling a flight.

But I’d argue these fees aren’t “ridiculous” at all. They’re actually key to saving money on almost everything.

Wait, What?

I’m a capital-F Frugal traveler, and as such, I rarely pay extra fees.

I avoid checking a bag, or even bringing a carry-on when it costs money. I bring my own snacks, don’t care where I’m seated and provide my own in-flight entertainment.

All I usually need out of a flight is to get to my destination.

Everything else is an extra, and I’m happy to have the option to forgo it to save money.

Any Penny Hoarder should be.

How Added Fees Help You Save Money

Airline passengers are inclined to feel an injustice when they’re hit with these extra fees.

Many people feel like an airline takes advantage of their need to travel by tacking on fees for every little thing.

But look at it the other way: Think of those fees as costs removed from the price of your ticket.

Instead of charging everyone one higher rate and handing out extras for free, airlines can bring their prices down overall and recoup costs by charging people who use additional services.

Hate paying $25 to check a bag? You have the option to pay less if you travel light. If checked bags were free, you’d pay the same amount as other passengers, regardless of your baggage.

I fly low-cost carriers who don’t offer free drinks or snacks. Think about how much that saves the airline — savings they can pass on in the form of cheaper flights.

Instead of a $350 ticket, I’ll pay $200 and fork over $6 if I want pretzels 30,000 feet in the air.

Why You Pay Extra for Guac

Airline fees are probably the most noteworthy — and sometimes, most painful — fees we face.

But the logic of extra fees extends far beyond travel.

Do you hate paying $1 to add guacamole to your burrito? Or 50 cents for a side of sour cream or extra salsa?

It’s annoying, right? You’d think Chipotle would be able to survive without your pocket change.

The point isn’t that guacamole costs a lot. But the price you pay to add guac helps keep the cost of the burrito down in the first place.

If you want a cheaper burrito, you don’t have to add it.

And I’m glad I don’t have to pay extra for my burrito because you order guacamole every time.

Do You Want Convenience or Savings?

Yes, it feels better when everything you want is included.

You feel cared for, instead of nickel and dimed. And there are no surprises at the register.

Businesses know that, and some use the all-inclusive option to attract customers.

You don’t pay for extras at Qdoba, so skip Chipotle if you prefer not to budget for your preferred ingredients.

You don’t pay to check bags on Southwest, so choose that airline instead of a low-cost carrier if you need four pairs of boots for your trip.

But I prefer Chipotle’s quality, and Southwest rarely has the $150 round-trip flight I can find through Allegiant or Spirit.

As with a lot of things in life, you can choose between the convenience of having everything included or the savings of paying only for what you use.

I prefer to go for the savings. But mostly, I’m glad I have the choice.

Your Turn: Do you prefer all-inclusive rates or fees for extras?

Dana Sitar (@danasitar) is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She’s written for Huffington Post, Entrepreneur.com, Writer’s Digest and more, attempting humor wherever it’s allowed (and sometimes where it’s not).

The post How Those Annoying Airline Fees Actually Help You Save Money appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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Whats It Like to Live on $1 Million a Year or $7 an Hour? 4 Men Open Up

We seem to be continually curious about this question: What is life like for the wealthiest Americans?

We watch TV shows, read blog posts and follow Snapchat feeds about it, trying to get a taste of what life would be like with more money.

Election years tend to turn our attention to the other end of the spectrum, as well. What is it like to live below the poverty line?

That question is particularly top of mind this year, as presidential candidates push for a higher minimum wage, laws roll out to provide better benefits for working families and new tax plans are, as usual, as varied as the melting pot of people who would live with them.

Life at Every Income

To illustrate life across income levels, Esquire asked four men, each of whom supports at least one child, about the lives they can afford.

The magazine chose four annual incomes in particular:

• $1,000,000: what it calls “the true starting point of real wealth”

• $250,000: the line politicians draw between the upper and middle classes

• $53,000: the median household income for American families

• $20,000: the federal poverty line for a family of three in the U.S.

Here’s a sampling of the responses.

The Frugality of the Rich

Tim Nguyen, 35, is the CEO/Co-founder of BeSmartee, a DIY mortgage marketplace. He earns $1,000,000 per year.

Contrary to the picture we get from Rich Kids of Instagram or “Real Housewives,” millionaires tend to be frugal folks.

As Nguyen illustrates, to earn and manage a lot of wealth, you have to be smart about money.

Yakov Villasmil, 41, is a real estate agent in Miami who earns $250,000 a year. He keeps a similarly tight budget to Nguyen, where he’s aware of every expense.

But even at this upper-class income level, his family’s budgeting strategy is more familiar to those of us in the lower brackets. He notes expenses for transportation, gas, rent, groceries and subscriptions to streaming services like Netflix and Pandora.

His monthly budget falls much higher than many of ours, probably: $7,000.

But it doesn’t seem absurd.

The Difference Between the Haves and Have Nots

Where the line is truly drawn between the “rich” and the “poor” is that both of the men on the rich side of our income scale say there’s nothing their family needs that they can’t afford.

And for those things they want — Nguyen wants to help his parents retire, and Villasmil mentioned a $10,000 watch — both respond as though it’s only a matter of time and planning.

For many of us, what we want and can’t afford remains a set of fantasies we’ll never realize.

Life for the Average American Family

Median household income in the U.S. is $53,657 per year. So, what does life look like for an average American family?

Michael Greene, 48, is a concierge for a property management group in Brooklyn. He earns $53,000 per year and supports his wife and three children.

Greene’s budget sounds familiar: $150 per month goes to BJ’s Wholesale Club to buy in bulk for his family of five.

Their weekly grocery bill is frugal, between $100 and $125, well below what the USDA considers a thrifty food plan.

When it comes to what his family needs but can’t afford, Greene said “a ranch-style home.” The family currently rents in Brooklyn. He doesn’t specify the size of their apartment, but at $1,000 per month, it’s probably not spacious.

And the luxury he wants but can’t afford? A Volvo. A six-seat family car “with a little TV in the back for the kids.

Greene says he doesn’t stress about money. An average American income puts his family on a tight budget with few luxuries, but it keeps them comfortable.

Debt and Savings Below the Poverty Line

Demetrius Campbell, 25, earns $7 per hour plus tips as a bar-back in Chicago. He’s a single father of two girls.

Campbell is the only one of the four men who says he does not keep a budget because his income and expenses are unpredictable.

One of the starkest differences from Campbell to the other men, however, is his debt.

Nguyen reports “less than 10 grand” in debt and none from credit cards.

Villasmil reports $7,700 in credit card debt he’ll pay off by the end of the month.

Greene has about $7,000 left in student loan debt.

Campbell can’t definitively name all the money he owes.

“I’m in a lot of debt,” he explains. “I have traffic tick­ets, hospital bills, old phone bills. I’m pretty sure that my debt from the tickets alone is roughly $3,000.”

He has no credit cards. And while past-due bills and traffic tickets may sound like plain irresponsibility, they’re par for the course below the poverty line.

Campbell explains:

“By the time you get the money to pay the ticket, the fine has doubled. Then you get another one and can’t pay that one. Like, I’m on a boot [booted vehi­cles] list, and I got the money to get off the list, but my car got towed that morning, so I had to pay half that money to get it out of the impound. It just keeps going like that.”

Below the poverty line, saving is a distant fantasy.

At 25, Campbell says, “Retirement is a long ways from now.” He has to pay off his debts and be “in a better place” before setting aside money for his kids to go to college.

In contrast, both “rich” men report, interestingly, they don’t plan to retire in a traditional sense. They intend to continue managing real estate and other investments well into old age.

The desire to “always be working,” as Nguyen put it, seems to be a luxury of white collar work.

Worrying About Money

Villasmil does worry about money, “Every single day. Every single minute.”

But he doesn’t worry about not having enough to pay the bills. He worries about his “next move,” how to make more money to reach the income that will allow his family to live the life they want.

Nguyen worries about money “maybe once a week.” With the ability to forecast earnings and plan for future spending, he says he has little to worry about.

And how often does one worry about money while earning minimum wage?

Unsurprisingly, Campbell says, “Always. Living like this is hard to do.”

Your Turn: Do these experiences surprise you? What are your perceptions of life at various income levels?

Dana Sitar (@danasitar) is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She’s written for Huffington Post, Entrepreneur.com, Writer’s Digest and more, attempting humor wherever it’s allowed (and sometimes where it’s not).

The post What’s It Like to Live on $1 Million a Year… or $7 an Hour? 4 Men Open Up appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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Prepare for a lengthy retirement as Queen celebrates her 90th birthday

Helen Knapman

As the Queen turns 90, Moneywise warns that it’s vital you plan for your retirement now as it’s unlikely you’ll still be working until 90 as our Monarch has done.

As the Queen turns 90, Moneywise warns that it’s vital you plan for your retirement now as it’s unlikely you’ll still be working until 90 as our Monarch has done.

read more

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Spring Clean Your Way into Extra Cash!

By Emily Belcher Spring has sprung, and many of us are experiencing the need to purge our homes. It always amazes me when I do a deep clean and organization binge on our house. For someone who tries not to buy unnecessary items, we sure do always seem to collect them! I always feel such a […]

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Clueless About What to Do After Graduation? This New App Might Help

“At Social Media High, Facebook is the all-star quarterback, Twitter is the school paper’s editor in chief and Snapchat is the mysterious, Harley-riding transfer student.”

“That makes LinkedIn the nerd who skips prom for the mathlympics. Yet, like in every great John Hughes movie, the underdog actually belongs in the in-crowd.”

That’s Joanna Stern’s brilliant introduction in her recent Wall Street Journal article encouraging professional adults to use LinkedIn more.

And with the launch of the LinkedIn Students app, the same advice may apply to college students, as well.

“Using insights from LinkedIn’s database of over 400 million professionals, the brand new app helps you discover jobs that are a best fit for graduates with your major, companies that tend to hire from your school and the careers paths of recent alumni with similar degrees,” explains Ada Yu in a company blog post.

Are you panicking daily, wondering, “What career is right for me?” You might want to try this app.

What is LinkedIn Students?

“Think of it as your personal job exploration guide, providing tailored jobs related recommendations [sic] based on real data from the career paths of hundreds of millions of successful professionals,” Yu continues.

Because the job search process can often seem overwhelming, LinkedIn designed its app to be used in manageable, daily chunks.

I already have an awesome job (you can work at The Penny Hoarder, too!), but I still decided to give it a spin.

What Using the New LinkedIn App is Like

If you already have a LinkedIn profile, signing up is easy: Just confirm your university, major and expected graduation date.

The interface then presents you with a set of five screens — each with a different piece of career advice on it — which you have to swipe through. (How millennial of you, LinkedIn!)

The first has a relevant career, complete with a brief description, median salary and several alumni in the role.  

It’s followed by a recommended LinkedIn blog post, a company often recruiting at your school, a selection of alumni with your major (so you can presumably examine their career paths), as well as a specific job opening you might want to consider.

To me, it seemed like swiping through the set of five screens is supposed to be your daily career exercise.

Some of the ideas were repetitive, and not all of the information was relevant, but it did seem like a painless way for college students to kickstart their career searches.

And like LinkedIn says, it’s a smart way to “chip away at your job search checklist in any of your in-between moments — walking between classes, waiting in line at the coffee shop or taking a study break.”

You’re already on your phone all the time anyway — you might as well give your career a boost while you’re at it!

Your Turn: Will you download the LinkedIn Students app?

Susan Shain, senior writer for The Penny Hoarder, is always seeking adventure on a budget. Visit her blog at susanshain.com, or say hi on Twitter @susan_shain.

The post Clueless About What to Do After Graduation? This New App Might Help appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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