Summer is here, which conjures images of swimming pools, hot dogs on the grill, and epic whiffle ball games. There’s nothing I look forward to more than warm, lazy summer days. You can’t talk about summer without talking about a summer vacation.
Some of the best memories of summer vacations when I was a kid include taking epic road trips with my mom and step-dad. We would either hop in a car or our little camper and tour all parts of the west coast.
Places like northern California, Nevada and even as far north as Oregon. Much of my inspiration of taking road trips with my family is based on those memories.
That’s why incorporating an epic road trip as part of your summer agenda is a must.
Before you embark on your own version of the Griswold’s trip to Walley World, here are seven musts to make your family road trip epic.
1. Earn reward points while you are on the go.
Although the price of gas has tapered off in recent years, if you have a family of four or larger, family road trips can be very expensive. One of the ways to benefit is to take advantage of the reward points that credit cards offer. We currently funnel all of our personal and business spending to credit cards to take advantage of some amazing reward points.
One card to consider is the BuyPower Card from Capital One. The BuyPower Card will give you 5% Earnings on your first $5,000 in purchases every year, then 2% unlimited Earnings thereafter. Take advantage of these amazing Earnings, that don’t expire, to put towards the purchase or lease of an eligible, new Chevrolet, Buick, GMC or Cadillac vehicle.
2. Have one major destination.
Anytime we take a road trip, we always have one destination in mind. Whether it’s to visit Pikes Peak, Lake Tahoe, or some national forest in northern California.
When my family and I went on our epic RV trip two summers ago, our main destination was the Grand Canyon. It didn’t matter what happened on the trip, it would be considered a success if we reached the Grand Canyon and back.
Having one major theme for your road trip gives it a general purpose so that the entire family is on board and excited about the destination.
3. Leave out the small details.
While I think it’s important to have one major destination in mind, you still can’t try to plan every single day and every single hour. You’ll drive yourself crazy.
Last year for our family’s spring break, at the spur of the moment, we decided to go to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. That was our main destination.
The part about what we were going to do when we got there? That was completely up in the air. We wanted to be spontaneous, and just figure it out as we went along. I can’t tell you how much less stressful that was, not sweating over the small details.
We still had a blast riding go karts, touring the Smoky Mountains and taking advantage of all the tourist attractions.
Take the stress out of your next vacation and be spontaneous.
4. Newer car helps.
I know, I know, I know. You’re saying to yourself, “What does a new car have to do with a road trip?” Hear me out.
I remember as a kid our car only had a cassette tape player. My step-dad would play his favorite cassettes over and over and over again. I didn’t have a personal stereo at the time so I was forced to sing along to popular songs from the late ‘60s.
Compare that to the SUV and the van that we have now which have CD players, USB ports, DVD players and TVs, which makes for much more peaceful road trips – especially if you have three crazy boys like we do!
If you are in the market for a new car, rewards credit cards like the Capital One BuyPower Card are great to invest in because you can redeem your Earnings whenever you’re ready to purchase or lease a new GM vehicle.
5. Car games pass the time.
Nowadays, tablets, DVD players and apps make trips much more enjoyable for mom and dad. But don’t let electronics be the only thing that occupies your kids’ time while in the car. Fun car games can be a blast and keep the entire family engaged.
Our boys love to play “I Spy” where one person finds something and then shares, “I spy something green,” and everyone else takes turns trying to guess what it is. We also play this game in a restaurant to pass the time until our food arrives.
Another game that is a blast on a long car ride is the Alphabet Game. In this game we take turns trying to find a sequential letter of the alphabet using road signs, license plates and buildings until we finish the entire alphabet. My middle son and I recently played this on a two-hour drive to St. Louis and he absolutely loved it.
6. Snack bags are a must.
We have three boys which are human trash disposals so if we had to stop every time we heard the words, “I’m hungry,” we would be stopping about every 7.5 minutes.
My wife and I both know that traveling with no snacks is setting ourselves up for family vacations purgatory. Snacks we pack include crackers, cookies and fruit snacks. You can also plan accordingly to bring fresh fruits and sandwiches packed in a small cooler. It is also important to pack water, juice or milk in the cooler.
Another must is packing baby wipes and a small trash bag. Kids have a knack for getting sticky hands in everything they do and believe me the car floor is a trashcan. These two items will save a ton of grief.
7. It’s About the Family
There’s nothing I want more than having the perfect family vacation, but what you consider to be perfect, might not be perfect for your wife and also for your kids. Make sure to put the family first. Make sure there’s joy in the time that you spend.
One of the things that we do at the end of each day while on family vacation is share our most favorite thing about the day and what we enjoyed the most. It’s fun to hear from our kids’ perspective what the best part of their day was.
It’s usually the simple things like, ice cream cones, a park playground or laughing at someone’s jokes.
It doesn’t always have to be epic in your eyes, just epic in your family’s eyes.
Have fun and safe driving!
Thank you Capital One for sponsoring this post! This is a paid endorsement. All opinions are my own and were not directed by Capital One. Learn more about the BuyPower Card from Capital One.
Even though I’d been a freelance writer for almost 10 years, I only recently committed to doing it full time.
And with my decision came the inevitable “I’ll-do-anything” mentality. I accepted every job that came my way, from $50 personal essays to $50/hour content marketing tasks.
After a year of this, I decided to move into full-time copywriting. It was the work I enjoyed most and I knew I could charge more than my smaller clients were willing to pay me.
So I stepped away from the “freelancer” label and become a business owner.
To do this, I needed an actual business — one with a proper name, website, packages, clear rates and a marketing plan. I wanted to start yesterday, so I dedicated the entire month of April to creating all the pieces of my business.
Here’s how I built my business in 30 days on the cheap — and have already made almost $7,000 with it.Plus, a seemingly small decision now has me completely booked for my first two months in business.
Why I Fired All My Clients to Specialize in Only One Thing
You wouldn’t pay good money to eat diner pizza, but youwouldwait in line for two hours and pay double for the best pizza in town.
Customers go out of their wayandpay higher prices for “The Best.” And “The Best” is usually created by people who specialize.
Turns out, there’s one project I love most: About pages.
A company’s About page is the most important page on its website. But businesses ignore it because it’s hard to write and even harder to get right. Even though it’s the most popular page, it often has the highest exit rate, meaning people take one look and leave your site completely.
I wanted to turn the boring page into a sticky one to help companies convert more visitors, while also building obsession with their brand.
While many copywriters offer About pages for around $500 a pop, I couldn’t find a single copywriter who specializes in it.
I now charge triple most copywriters’ ratesby offering brand strategy, customer research, one round of revisions and a professional editor as part of my flat-rate package.
How to Start a Business in 30 Days for Under $1K
I gave myself 30 days to create all the pieces I’d need to launch my business, from the name to the logo, website design and copy.
I paused all incoming client requests and gave existing clients one month’s notice I wouldn’t be able to provide certain services until after May 1.
I’ve managed website launches since 2009, so I already knew the varying pieces that go into a launch. With extra time in April, I tackled my to-do list and started building.
Step 1: Name the Business
Time: 5 minutes
Cost: Free!
I wanted a fun and quirky name with a nod to weird internet culture.
One night, as I was falling asleep, the name just popped into my head. The next morning I did a quick Google search to see if it was available. It was, andOh Hai! Copywas born.
Step 2: Set Up a Squarespace Account
Time: 1 hour
Cost: $16/month
Because I bootstrapped my launch, I didn’t have the budget to hire a designer or developer. I wanted a clean design I could easily customize.
ChoosingSquarespacewas a no-brainer. Their platform is easy to use, with gorgeous templates and quick customer support.
The Squarespace Personal plan is $16/month, but you can save $4/month if you pay $144 upfront for the year.
Step 3: Purchase a Domain
Time: 10 minutes
Cost: $20/year
I had to pay separately for the domain I wanted (OhHaiCopy.com), but I could do it all through Squarespace — without having to mess around with other domain platforms.
Step 4: Set Up a Company Email Address
Time: 10 minutes
Cost: $50/year
I’ve spent too long combining my personal email with work.
So since I was now a company, I needed a separate email to keep things neat and separate. When you register your domain through Squarespace, you can save $10 off your first year with Google Apps.
Step 5: Design a Logo
Time: 5 hours
Cost: $318
Before I could customize Squarespace to feel more like a brand and less like a template, I needed a logo.
I turned to99Designsfor help. The process was easy and I received 40 designs in four days.
I went through a fair amount of back and forth, but by the end I had a quirky logo of a llama with a yellow speech bubble that read, “Oh hai!”
With a final design to guide me, I could now make decisions on the fonts and colors on my site.
Step 6: Write All Web Copy
Time: 20 hours
Cost: Free (except for my time)
I spent about a week playing with Squarespace colors, fonts and layouts.
Because I’m a visual writer, I prefer to see my words how they’ll appear as I write. I formatted my website in tandem with writing my web copy.
This was the most fun part!Coming up with the perfect words to sell what I do was enjoyable, but also the longest part of the process. Not only was I trying to sell my services, but I was also displaying them.
I did a bunch of customer research during this time, as well. I followed the same brand exercises I use with my clients while writing my web copy.
If you’re not a copywriter and need to hire someone to do this for you, costs vary. A decent copywriter will charge at least $1,000 for a full site.
Step 7: Create an Opt-in Offer
Time: 5 hours
Cost: Free
The services I created aren’t cheap. And it’s rare for someone to stumble across a small business website, then immediately shell out over $1,000.
I needed to warm them up. To do so, I needed to get them on my email list.
The hands-downbestway to get people to sign up is to create a free offer.It could be a coupon, ebook, free consult, whatever.
I created a short ebook featuring my favorite About pages — the ones I go to for inspiration. I collated them into a PDF, usedCanva(free image editing software) to knit the screenshots together and designed a pretty cover.
I uploaded the PDF to my site, created a simple page explaining the offer, then set up aMailChimpemail account to automatically send the guide when new people signed up.
Step 8: Write Email Autoresponders
Time: 20 hours
Cost: $10/month
So what do I do with all those emails after people sign up?
I hit them with a secret copywriting weapon: the autoresponder.
An autoresponder is simply a series of emails new subscribers get on a regular basis.It’s not a newsletter you have to send and create each month. You create autoresponders all at once, then automatically send them to every subscriber at regular intervals.
Autoresponders “warm up” your leads. You can give them advice, answer questions, provide case studies or resources.
I chose to provide new subscribers a TON of great content about personal storytelling. I wrote eight emails containing everything from writing exercises to About page teardowns.
The ninth email is a sales pitch for my About page package (and includes a discount code for those who read the whole thing). The final email is another tip, plus a reminder to use their code before it expires.
After writing these sequences for a ton of other businesses, I knew these emails would result in the majority of my sales, so it was important I get them right.
I use MailChimp, which is $10/month to access its automation services. The price increases as your email list grows.
Step 9: Polish Website Design
Time: 2 hours
Cost: $340
The problem with Squarespace is even with customization, your website will look a little “Squarespacey.”
I didn’t have the budget to get the whole thing professionally designed, but I decided to hire a designer at her day rate to polish it up.
Once I finalized my copy, photos, forms and testimonials, my designer went in and added a splash of color, better text hierarchy and adjusted my photos.
She spent around eight hours on the whole thing, and I spent around two to hire and manage the process.
Step 10: Work With an Editor
Time: 1 hour
Cost: $150
I can’t afford not to have the best copyeveron my website.
The good news is, I’m great friends with one of the most talented editors on earth (she’s the editor I’ve partnered with on my About page package).
It only made sense to have her take a final pass through my site. She made sure the commas were in the right places and my story was clear and compelling.
Step 11: Create a Pop-up
Time: 2 hours
Cost: $29/month
Once I finalized my free ebook and set up the automation emails, I needed an effective way to capture new visitors after they arrived.
I usedWisePopsto create a pop-up with a catchy headline offering a free download of my About page guide. I customized the targeting options so the pop-up would only appear to visitors after they’ve scrolled through 50% of the page.
Step 12: Fix Website Bugs
Time: 15 minutes
Cost: $25
Even though Squarespace is easy to use, some of my designer’s customization required altering some code. I went ontoFiverrand spent $25 on a Squarespace developer who could help.
Step 13: Announce Website
Time: 2 hours
Cost: Free
After all the blood, sweat and tears, I was finally ready to announce my site!
I started off simply announcing it on Facebook, just in case there were any bugs or typos (I knew my friends would let me know). Once I was ready, I posted it all over social media, sent an email to my blog subscribers and wrote a post about the business launch.
Finally, I sent a personal email to old contacts and clients, which I organized into a handy spreadsheet.Here’s a templateif you want to make your own.
How It’s Going So Far
My business went live on May 3, 2016. By May 15, I’d signed on three new clients, bringing in a total of $6,900 in new business.
And because I emailed my personal network (which includes journalists), my business has already been featured on The Freelancer and The Huffington Post.
I haven’t spent any money on advertising. From my personal and social media networks alone, I’m now booked up for the next two months.
Your Turn: Will you start your own online business? Would you ever do it this quickly?
Marian Schembari is a writer, blogger and founder of Oh Hai! Copy based in Düsseldorf, Germany by way of San Francisco. She writes about travel and creativity, and spends way too much time on the Internet.
Just like there are many ways to get into debt, there’s more than one way to dig yourself out. Where some people focus on the debt snowball or debt avalanche methods, others might transfer high-interest balances to a 0% credit card, sell possessions to raise cash they can use to pay down debt, take on a part-time job to speed up the process — or some combination of all these methods.
Any of these strategies can work wonders for your finances if you’re serious about becoming debt-free and prepared to follow through with your plan. And of course, the sooner you get started, the faster you’ll finish and the better off you’ll be in the end. The longer you let your credit card balances and loans languish at high interest rates, the more money you’ll waste along the way.
But, where to begin? While getting out of debt requires a change of mindset more than anything else, there are a handful of numbers you should absolutely know before you begin any journey out of debt – and no matter which plan of attack you choose.
As with anything else, knowledge is power. And when you know your situation inside and out, it’s easier to create a realistic plan that might actually work. If you’re ready to get out of debt, it helps to know exactly “where you’re at.” The best way to find out is to sit down with a pen and paper and write down these incredibly important figures and stats:
Figure #1: The Total Amount of Money You Owe
Some aspects of getting out of debt are particularly painful, and confronting the total amount you owe can be one of the worst moments you’ll experience.
When you owe money across several credit cards and loans, it’s easy to focus on monthly payments and individual balances only. Unfortunately, focusing on each debt without adding them all up can keep you from seeing how dire your situation really is.
To get out of debt, you need to face this number head on. Start by grabbing your bills, a pen, and a piece of paper, and tallying up the total of each balance you’re carrying. While this will look different for everyone, the total amount of debt you need to keep track of includes any outstanding loans or balances you or your spouse are responsible for. This will include credit card balances, car loans, student loans, mortgages, loans in collections, personal loans, and private loans made by friends. List these debts on the left side of one page so that we can add more information as we go along.
Figure #2: Interest Rates for Each Balance You Carry
Now that you know the total amount of debt you owe, you’re in the best position to figure out which debts should be wiped out right away. The best way to do this is to prioritize all of your debts based on their interest rate. If you don’t know the annual percentage rate, or APR, you’re paying on each loan or credit card, you will need to look on your monthly statement, check your online account management page, or call your loan provider to inquire.
If some of your balances are carrying an especially high interest rate (anything over 10% APR), you’ll likely want to prioritize paying those debts off first. The math behind this strategy, commonly called the “debt avalanche method,” is pretty cut and dry: These balances are costing you the most each month. By throwing your extra cash at balances with the highest interest rate first, you can lessen the amount of interest you pay each month. Plus, you’ll create a situation where more of your repayment dollars go directly toward the principal balance of your loans.
Some people choose to take a different approach, however. Instead of paying off high interest balances first, they start by attacking loans and credit cards with the smallest balances instead. Commonly called the “debt snowball,” this strategy can help you win the crucial psychological battle of overcoming debt: Paying off the smallest balances first means you’ll score some “big wins” and start gaining momentum right away in what can be a long, discouraging process.
No matter which debt payoff strategy you use, it still helps to list each debt’s interest rate next to the balance on the page you already created. Once you know the interest rates on your loans, you can decide which debt repayment method is best for you – and which balances deserve your attention first.
Figure #3: The Minimum Payment On Each of Your Loans
No matter how you plan to tackle your debts, you need to know the minimum payments required for each and every one. If you’ve been paying your bills and debts haphazardly until now, you may not know exactly how much – or how little – progress you’re making toward debt repayment each month.
On your list of debts with their respective interest rates, create a third column where you can list each debt’s minimum payment. Once you’ve listed each minimum payment, add them up to find out the minimum payment you need to make across all of your debts each and every month.
Figure #4: The Sum Total of Your Bare Bones Budget
To dig your way out of debt, you need to put a halt to the behaviors that got you there. For most people, that means going on a spending diet, cutting the “extras” out of their monthly budget, and figuring out how to create a lifestyle they can actually afford. At the very least, it’s time to stop adding to your debt.
One place to start is with your “bare bones” budget – a budget that includes only the minimum amount of expenses and bills you need to get by each month. Generally speaking, this strategy requires you to live without all the extras – to get by without much entertainment spending, your monthly cable bill, or your bi-weekly trips to the salon. By living within a bare bones budget, even temporarily, you can free up extra cash to throw toward your debts.
Using a bare bones budget may not sound fun, but it doesn’t have to be forever, either. Once you’re out of debt and have a clearer picture of what you can actually afford, you can begin adding some of the “extras” back into your life.
If you don’t think you need to cut your spending and adopt a bare bones budget, think again. Remember that your current spending habits are what got you into debt in the first place. To change your financial situation, you need to change yourself, first.
Getting out of debt isn’t rocket science, but it does require an in-depth knowledge of your own finances. Part of the equation is figuring out exactly how much money your family brings home each month. While this sounds crazy to the financially minded, many families with more than one earner and multiple paychecks may not even know their exact earnings until they file their taxes each year.
You may know your annual salary, but to get out of debt, you need to start thinking of your income in a “monthly” context. Your bills all arrive monthly, right? You also need to be working with your actual take-home pay, not your gross salary. If you want to use your own monthly income to get out of debt, you need to know how much of it you have in your bank account to work with each month.
One way to do this is to simply sit down and add up your household paychecks during a single month. Alternatively, take your weekly take-home pay (after taxes, health care, 401(k) contributions, etc.), multiply it by 52 weeks, and divide the total by 12.
Once you know your true monthly income, you’ll have a greater understanding of what you can actually afford – and how much money you have available to pay off debt.
Figure #6: Your Discretionary Income
At this point, you should have an understanding of your total debt load, the interest rates you’re paying, your minimum monthly expenses, and your monthly income. When you compare all of those numbers together, it should become apparent how much money you could be throwing at your debts every month.
When you live on a bare bones budget, the amount of money you aren’t spending each month should grow tremendously. This “extra cash” is called your “discretionary income,” and this is where the rubber hits the road.
By throwing those extra funds toward your smallest balances or the loans with the highest interest rate, you can start really digging your way out of debt once and for all.
However, this strategy only works if you use those funds to pay down debt instead of wasting them somewhere else. To get out of debt and stay out of debt, you must truly be mindful when it comes to every dollar you make – and every dollar you spend.
The Bottom Line
If the idea of getting out of debt has you feeling overwhelmed, remember that it’s just simple math. Income – expenses = savings, right? To create a scenario where you have extra money to use towards debt repayment, you have to either a) boost your income, or b) cut your expenses. While debt might make your life overly complicated, the math behind getting out is actually rather simple.
Still, it’s almost impossible to get out of debt when you’re unaware of your total debt load, how much interest you’re paying each month, and the bare minimum amount of money you need to get by. To get out of debt, you have to face these cold, hard truths.
Getting out of debt is hard work, but it isn’t impossible. More than anything else, you’ll to face the one true enemy who keeps holding you back – you.
How did you get out of debt? Was it easier knowing all of these numbers first?
You have a few options: You can cash out the account, roll over the balance into a new employer’s 401(k), roll over the account into an IRA or leave the money where it is with your previous employer.
Before making a decision, you’ll want to consider factors like your age, current financial situation, retirement savings style, as well as your former and new employer’s plan details.
The number is even higher — 40% — for people ages 20-39.
Most financial planners argueagainstcashing out your 401(k).Here’s why: Because of taxes and penalties, you won’t get all the money you and your employer have invested.
On the other hand, maybe you need a big lump sum of cash to start your own business, go back to school or to serve as a liquid nest egg when one parent decides to stay home with the kids.
But considering all the money you’ll lose, you may be better off taking out a loan with a low interest rate.
Here are the costs of cashing out:
Your employer will generally withholdabout 20% of your balanceto pay the IRS. Plus, you’ll pay state taxes.
These immediate costs don’t factor in the money you lose when you don’t let your money grow. With a 401(k) account, you don’t have to pay taxes until you withdraw at retirement.You’re missing outon the gains your money could be making during your career by cashing out too soon.
BankRate.com has a nifty “Spend It or Save It?” 401(k) calculator. Rather than cashing out $100,000, let’s say we leave it in the account until the age of 65.
The result? Nearly $1.1 million. If you cash out now, you’ll walk away with just $65,000.
2. Leave the Money Where It Is
Another option is leaving the money behind in the same account with your former employer.
If your account has more than $5,000, you have the most flexibility to pursue this option.
Of all your 401(k) options, this is the easiest.
Your money continues to grow tax-deferred just like it did when you worked there, but you probably won’t be able to make additional contributions when you leave.
Much of this decision depends on how good your current 401(k) plan is.If the fees are low and you like your investment options, stick with it. If not, consider other options.
The downside of leaving your money is some employers charge higher fees if you’re not an active employee. You probably won’t be able take a plan loan or a partial withdrawal.
Plus, since you’re not an active employee, you may miss information on plan changes.
While you may remember this account the first time you change jobs, you might completely forget it exists by the time you’re on your third or fourth job — and third or fourth 401(k).
It’s important to keep track of all of your retirement accounts— and those pesky usernames and passwords —so you can periodically rebalance your portfolio and ensure your savings are on track.
Having multiple retirement accounts can also give the illusion of diversification. But many financial advisers say having your money spread out can make it harder to know if your investments aretrulydiverse and working together toward your financial goals.
3. Roll Over Your Old 401(k) to Your New Employer’s Plan
This may not be an option at all workplaces, so check with your new employer first.
Keep in mind you may have to wait until a probation period ends to begin participating.
Like leaving your money behind, this options allows your retirement savings to continue growing, tax-deferred. It also allows you to make additional contributions to the account, unlike leaving your money behind.
Your new employer may have a plan with lower fees or better investment options, and you’ll likely be able to take a plan loan.
Fewer accounts means you only have to look in one place to see how your money is doing and you’ll have the clearest picture of your retirement savings.
To roll over your old 401(k) into a new one, you’ll need to ask your former employer to send over the value of your old account to the administrator of your new plan.
Direct rollover: Your old plan administrator transfers the money directly to your new 401(k) account.
Indirect rollover: Your old plan administrator transfers the money to you directly and you manually add the money to your new account. You might do this if you’re in need of a short-term loan. However, this option is slightly more complicated.
When you opt for anindirect rollover, your employer will withhold 20% for federal taxes, in case you decide to keep the money.
If you roll over all the money within 60 days, the 20% will be returned to you when you file your tax return for the year.
However, keep in mind your employer is withholding 20% and you’ll need to come up with the cash elsewhere — or be penalized.
You may also pay an early distribution fee if you are younger than 59 and a half.
Again, you can send the funds directly or indirectly. If you move your funds from a traditional 401(k) to a traditional IRA, you won’t pay taxes like you would if you moved your funds to aRoth IRA.
This is a good option for folks leaving the workforceto become stay-at-home parents or go back to school, as they don’t have access to another 401(k).
An IRA allows you to grow your money tax-deferred, like your 401(k) did, but likely includes a wider variety of investment options. You won’t pay an early penalty tax if you withdraw money for college, a first home purchase or medical bills.
When considering an IRA, figure out what level of involvement you want to have in your investments. You can choose from varying levels of professional service for IRAs, but you’ll pay higher fees to have someone else manage your money.
If you’re debating between an IRA rollover and a 401(k), make sure to compare fees.
Your employer may be paying for some — or all — of your plan’s fees, and it may also foot the bill for helpful planning tools, education materials and workshops.
Your turn: Have you ever moved your 401(k)? What did you choose to do, and why?
Sarah Kuta is an education reporter in Boulder, Colorado, with a penchant for weekend thrifting, furniture refurbishment and good deals. Find her on Twitter: @sarahkuta.
Misty Kearns is an introvert from a small town who started in direct sales 10 years ago for the discount. Then she lost her job. Find out how she was able to replace her corporate income and live the life of her dreams. Tell us about your entrepreneurial journey. I started my journey through the […]
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Matt and Misty Stallard met locally over 20 years ago and later married. The couple honeymooned in California’s Napa Valley, where both would find another love: wine.That newfound taste for winemaking became more than hobby. The Stallards decided to set up shop in Stroudsburg. In October, they opened the Poconos’ first urban winery and first cidery — and you won’t find a single vineyard on the property.Named for the couple’s two children, the [...]
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Mount Airy’s slots revenue fell slightly in May as the entire state saw a decrease in revenues.The Paradise Township casino resort reported gross slots revenues of $12.6 million, a 2.2 decrease from a year ago.Gross revenue from slot machines at the state’s 12 casinos fell 1.1% in May to $208.9 million, compared to $211.2 of gross revenue in May 2015. The state received $111,448,220 in tax revenues last month from slot machine play.Sands Casino Resort [...]
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Did you have a summer job as a teenager? If you were in high school between 1974 and 1994, chances are you did, according to a 2015 study by Pew Research. More than half of 16- to 19-year-olds held a summer job in those years.
But as iconic as it may be, the summer job is slowly becoming a thing of the past. Pew notes a sharp drop in teen employment that began with the 1991 and 2001 recessions and was followed by an even steeper fall-off during the Great Recession. After each drop, the teen employment rate failed to bounce back, and as of 2014 fewer than a third of Americans aged 16 to 19 held down a summer job.
Pew blames the overall drop in teen employment on a variety of factors, including a lack of low-skill, entry-level jobs to begin with. But these days, Pew adds, students also stay enrolled in high school or college over the summer, and more teens perform unpaid community service work to put a shine on their college applications or take unpaid internships to gain targeted job experience.
Among teens that did hold a summer job in 2014, more than half worked in the service industry, with 32.3% employed in accommodation and food services (think hotels and restaurants) and another 22.5% in retail.
Here at The Simple Dollar, nearly all of us had summer or year-round jobs as a teenagers. Below, TSD writers Trent Hamm, Jon Gorey, Holly Johnson, and Drew Housman share memories and lessons learned from their first summer jobs.
Trent: Fisherman
My first summer job was providing assistance for my father’s small commercial fishing business. I helped him during most of my summers of high school.
My job was usually preparing the fishing lines that he used, then going out on the river with him and helping out with odd tasks so that he could focus on getting the boat into position and getting the lines properly in the water. That meant that during the day, I went through lines that had been used in previous fishing expeditions, untangled the knots, baited the hooks (literally more than a thousand hooks per day), and arranged all of it in boxes so that it could easily be placed in the water without further tangling.
While actually out in the boat, I was usually responsible for dropping the anchor, moving line boxes around in the boat, pulling anchor once a line was in place, and helping with navigation to the next line. When hauling in lines, I would also help with getting the larger fish into the boat. I rarely directly handled the fish, as they were usually taken directly to market.
I enjoyed the work, particularly the early morning trips out on the water to start bringing in the lines at dawn. The water would be perfectly still except for the waves caused by our boat, and everything was quiet. We would usually be in the water before dawn, so we’d have the opportunity to see a beautiful sunrise over the water. I loved the time I got to spend with my father, who was almost always busy during my childhood. I spent more quality time with him in a fishing boat than I did anywhere else during my childhood, I think.
Untangling and baiting the lines, which was usually done in the mid-day heat, often on a small table under a tree, was not nearly as fun, but it taught me the value of focusing on the task at hand no matter how simple it seemed.
I didn’t make much money doing this. My pay was usually a share of the fishing haul and there were many more bad and mediocre days than good ones. However, the other perks – spending time with my dad, those early morning boat rides – made it all worthwhile. Those summers spent fishing still occupy a nice place in my heart.
–Trent Hamm
Jon: Grocery Clerk
I loved my first summer job, as a checkout clerk at the local grocery store. I started at age 15 and kept working there part-time all through high school and into college — and if it paid better money, I’d probably still be doing it.
For one thing, I enjoyed the actual work: Bagging groceries is like a real-life game of Tetris. You have to fit all manner of shapes into a neat, compact stack — and quickly, because they just keep coming. And yet there are other dimensions, too — you can’t be breaking eggs or squishing bread or putting Clorox in with fruit. For a pretty menial job, it was pleasantly challenging, and by the end of my tenure at Market Basket, I could instantly see how every piece on the conveyor belt should fit together, like I was in The Matrix.
What’s more, you weren’t stuck doing one thing. At some point you’d spend an hour or two shagging grocery carts in the parking lot, getting some fresh air, exercise, and time alone with your thoughts. You might help an elderly person load their groceries into their trunk, and receive a wry smile or good advice. Restocking all the items people leave at the register at the last minute — it’s a lot – was a fun mission. And someone had to tend to the inevitable “clean-up in aisle 10″ and put sawdust down when a milk carton broke.
But my favorite part of the job was the people: watching the characters, talking to senior citizens and harried parents, or just giving customers a smile. I like when people come to visit me. And as a grocery bagger or checkout clerk, people literally line up to see you.
Another great perk of a job like that? I never took the work home with me or worried about it after I punched my time card. If you messed up with one customer, you’d get another chance with the next one – a fresh start every 90 seconds.
The only downside was being on your feet all day. Even as a spry teenager, I would come home aching; I can’t imagine enduring that element of the job now. (I remember when I first saw checkout clerks in Europe sitting down at the register — it was a revelation!)
Work Is a Team Sport
Finally – and maybe most importantly – I loved the camaraderie of my teenage job. I didn’t make any sports teams in high school, and I was pretty much a dork. But good, hard work can be a great equalizer.
I bagged groceries alongside popular kids and those who were even bigger outcasts than myself. The shared experience and daily grievances of a low-level retail job put us all in the same boat. I’d find myself chatting with pretty girls I’d never have the courage to speak to in school, and spending lunch breaks with kids of different backgrounds from neighboring towns – people I’d probably never meet otherwise.
We were all on the same team. And on payday, we all won.
–Jon Gorey
Drew: Running a Basketball Camp
The summer I turned 17 might have been the peak of my basketball obsession. I played non-stop, watched basketball anytime I wasn’t playing, and only slept when I wasn’t playing or watching. I had a single-minded focus on improving my skills, and no intention of getting a “real job” if it meant I had to be away from basketball.
But, unfortunately, no one wanted to pay me to play or watch basketball. If I wanted to have any spending money whatsoever, I was going to have to get creative.
I had built a small name for myself in my area by leading our team to the playoffs as a diminutive, feisty point guard. I think a lot of the young kids in the area could relate, since I was never the biggest, strongest, or fastest person on the court. Many of these kids would come up to me after games and want to chat. Remembering that, I decided to see if I could run my own mini summer basketball camps to make extra cash.
I floated the idea to some friend’s parents, and I soon had eight email addresses of potential clients. We all found a week that worked, a friend offered up their backyard court, and boom: I was in business with my first summer camp.
All my little proteges were in fourth and fifth grade. We spent six hours a day for a week learning new skills, breaking down key concepts, and developing our overall games. Everyone was tough, focused, and diligent… in my dreams.
In reality, dealing with eight rambunctious nine-year-olds for six hours a day was like wrangling cats, if all the cats also threw balls at your head, made each other cry, and fought over the water fountain. I think we spent one hour playing basketball for every three we spent yelling and playing dodgeball.
After the first day, I was frustrated. I was supposed to be molding little all-stars, not sternly telling kids that, “No, we weren’t going to be learning how to do a front flip off the trampoline into the pool, because that has nothing to do with basketball.”
But, I quickly realized that I had to let go of my preconceived notions of how the camp would go. You can never expect people to take your passions quite as seriously as you do, and it’s better to accept that rather than force something down a person’s throat. Especially with kids.
Once I loosened up a bit, I had a lot of fun. I mean, I was getting paid to play some hoops and generally have fun with an energized group of kids. It could be worse. The kids that actually wanted to learn went away with some new drills, and the ones who just wanted to have fun certainly did that.
Besides learning about how important it is to go with the flow, I got my first glimpse of a career path for myself that revolved around my own schedule, attitude, and hustle. I went on to gain more basketball training clients, but more importantly I’ve used those same techniques to help build a career that maximizes my freedom.
–Drew Housman
Holly: Summer at Subway
When I was growing up, the teen summer job was a quintessential rite of passage for most of us. Either you played in several sports and didn’t have time to work, or you picked up a seasonal side job to earn some “fun money” for the summer.
I was born in 1980, so it was the mid-’90s by the time I got my first summer job. The economy was rocking (or at least it felt like it), jobs for teens were plentiful, and the money we earned could stretch pretty far. In fact, I vividly remember filling up the tank of my first car for 89 cents a gallon, then cruising up the main drag of our town with my friends. With gas so cheap, that kind of entertainment was as affordable as anything else we could find. So, why not?
My first job was a doozy. At age 15, I was hired to work at the sandwich counter at our local Subway for $4.25 per hour. Since it was a sandwich shop, our main duties were fairly straightforward. We prepared and cut all of the fresh vegetables, cooked bread, made sandwiches, and cleaned up. That was about it.
Well, that should have been it. Although I was just 15 years old, most of my coworkers were older. A few were even adults, or “quasi-adults” — given that title due to their advanced age and definitely not for their maturity level. I was extremely naive and pretty much kept to myself, but my coworkers were constantly embroiled in a bitter power struggle or some type of controversy.
One such controversy took place when someone stole one of the small scales we used to weigh roast beef. Since no one could account for the scale, our adult manager suggested we all chip in $30 to replace it.
I only made $4.25 per hour mind you, and I had nothing to do with the scale’s disappearance. There was absolutely no way I was going to part with a full day’s pay to replace a tiny kitchen scale. I was at that awful job to make money, not to give it back for something I didn’t do.
With the approval of my mother, I refused to pay a single cent toward a new scale. “Doesn’t Subway have the money to replace it?” I thought. It was only later that I realized our boss was probably trying to cover up the situation by replacing the scale herself.
Either way, I quit that job shortly afterward. Not only did it pay almost nothing, but it came with a lot more drama than it was worth.
Summer Jobs and Lessons Learned
Summer jobs for teens might not be as popular as they once were, but they’ll always be around in some shape or form. Whether it’s yards that need mowed, children that need a babysitter, or houses that need scrubbed, there will probably always be some sort of work that an inexperienced teenager could do.
Teens might not always like the work they can get, but there are still valuable lessons to be learned in any job. And sometimes, the best lessons come from the worst jobs. You know – the fast-food jobs of the world. The places where it seems totally normal for the boss to extort pay from teenagers to replace missing or broken equipment, simply because they can.
While I never learned any valuable technical skills from that job, I did learn that the world can be an unfair place – and that some people prefer to keep it that way.
But that wasn’t all I learned. As I schlepped through several awful jobs in my teens and early 20s, I also learned I wanted something better – something more. And maybe that was the most important lesson of all.
–Holly Johnson
What was your first summer job? Do you think it’s harder for teens to get a summer job these days?
Whether you have no credit history, a short one or just want to get a jump on it, the time and effort it takes to build credit history is extremely worthwhile.
Whether it’s short, non-existent or you just want to improve it, the time and effort it takes to build credit history is extremely worthwhile.
In fact, it could save you hundreds of thousands of dollars over your lifetime.
After all, that credit score of yours has something in common with Miss Cleo’s crystal ball: It can predict your future.
Very important parts of your future, actually, like how expensive your first home will be — or whether or not you’ll be able to finance it at all.
But with convoluted rules written in as-opaque-as-possible legalese and insane interest rates on classic credit-building tools like secured credit cards,taking steps toward building a better credit history can be daunting — if not straight-up unaffordable.
That’s why I wish I’d known about this awesome tool years ago, when I was knee-deep in paperwork, collections calls and fear.
Bad Credit? You’re Definitely Not Alone
At the beginning of 2016, 31-year-old Southern California server Derrick Camber started to realize the full implications of his low credit score.
Having lost his job two years ago, Camber had to move home and sell his car to keep up with bills. In the middle of the mess, he’d let a number of debts go to collections.
Although each individual account was for a small amount — $300 here, $400 there — the cumulative effect added up quickly.
Once Camber finally checked his report, he made a shocking discovery.
“I let so much crap go,” he confessed.“I had 22 negative items across the three credit bureaus on my report.”
Although Camber had secured a new job, his ruined credit meant his aspiration to replace his car was completely off the table — even though he was now making $65,000 a year.
And since he’d never taken out a mortgage or used credit cards, Camber’s report had almost no positive accounts to counteract the damage.
He knew he had to do something. “I said OK, where do I start?”
While blowing off steam at the gym one day, Camber saw an ad for a credit-building loan through a company describing itself as a “payday loan alternative.”
It was expensive — its lowest advertised interest rate was a whopping 29%,and when Camber applied, his was much higher. But he needed to start building a positive credit history somehow.
So although he didn’t need the money, he took out a $200 loan, and promised to pay back $255 the following week.
Then he did it again. And again.
But although he’s successfully paid back 12 of these short-term loans, he has yet to see the line of credit even show up on his report, much less improve his score.
Meanwhile, he was hemorrhaging money paying toward the company’s insane interest fees — about $50 a week.
Something had to change.
Then Camber heard about another type of loan: a credit-builder loan. Although he was skeptical at first, he decided to do some deeper investigation… and soon discovered he’d found the perfect way out of his credit nightmare.
How One Man Improved His Credit History with an Awesome, Easy Tool
Camber stumbled acrossSelf Lender, an online credit builder loan with interest charges that were much easier to swallow.
Camber signed up for a free Self Lender membership and took out a $1,100 credit builder loan. Unlike a traditional loan, this one is held for him in a one-year, FDIC-insured certificate of deposit bank account.
Every month, $97 is automatically taken from his bank account to pay toward the loan — and the 12.65% APR Self Lender charges to cover its own costs.
At the end of the year, the CD will mature and unlock, and its 0.10% APY growth rate means he’ll be able to withdraw $1,101.10.
Meanwhile, his credit history will benefit from a successfully-paid installment loan with fixed payments, proving his creditworthiness every single month. Plus, Self Lender reports to all three credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and Transunion.
The account also helps diversify his credit portfolio, which has a positive impact on his score — especially since experts consider an installment loan a relatively “good” kind of debt. They’re similar to student loans or vehicle leases.
Over the course of the whole year, Camber will have paid $1,164 toward the loan, plus a small $12 administrative fee. After taking out his $1,101.10,his whole out-of-pocket cost is just about $75 — a little more than he was payingevery weekwith the other loan.
(Here’s the math, if you’re curious: $1,164 + $12 – $1,101.10 = $74.90 out-of-pocket)
What’s better, the line of credit through Self Lender showed up immediately on his report. In fact,aftersigning up for Self Lender, Camber saw a 22-point jump in just one month.
Could Self Lender Be Right for You?
If you’re trying to build or establish your credit history, you might want to consider taking out a credit-builder loan through Self Lender.
After all, it’ll cost you almost nothing, and at the end of the year you’ll have stashed away $1,100.
Heck, my credit score’s been over 700 for years now… but I’m still considering doing it.
Signing up is 100% free, and you’ll get access to your credit score and free credit monitoring — so you can watch your report and get score notifications.
The $97 monthly payments will be automatically withdrawn from your bank account — but the majority of it is going right back into your own pocket when you complete your loan.
Camber saysusing Self Lenderhas been the biggest help he’s had in getting his credit score back where it needs to be.
“My score went from a 495 to a 640 since January!” he says. Not bad for five months. He’s stopped renewing the other, high-interest loan he’d been wasting his money on, and plans for a score of 720 before September. Plus, he’ll be able to access his $1,100 CD in February 2017 — which will make for a great start on a down payment for his next ride.
“If I could have done it all over again,” Camber says, “I would have gone with Self Lender first.”
Your Turn: What tips and tricks have you tried to build positive credit history? Would you take out a credit-builder loan with Self Lender?
Sponsorship Disclosure: A huge thanks to Self Lender for working with us to bring you this content. It’s rare that we have the opportunity to share something so awesome and get paid for it!
Jamie Cattanach (@jamiecattanach) is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. Her writing has been featured in DMQ Review, Sweet: A Literary Confection and elsewhere.
PLAINS TWP. — Despite the possibility of a new round of closures for U.S. military bases and facilities, Tobyhanna Army Depot is “extremely well postured to survive into the future,” said Deputy Commander Frank Zardecki.Zardecki talked about the future of the depot in Monroe County — the largest industrial employer in the region — at a Blue Ribbon Task Force briefing Friday morning at the Holiday Inn in Plains Township.The Blue Ribbon Task [...]
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Once a month (or so), I share a dozen things that have inspired me to greater personal, professional, and financial success in my life. I hope they bring similar success to your life.
1. Jim Rohn on finding a way
“If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way. If you don’t, you’ll find an excuse.” ― Jim Rohn
The important thing to remember with a quote like this is that Rohn is referring to things that are under your control, like losing weight or spending less money to achieve financial success or tackling a difficult subject. You can do those things if you really want to do them.
It’s not always the same story when you’re choosing something that relies on the judgment of others. For example, as much as I love baseball, I’m never going to be a professional baseball player. It’s simply not happening. I don’t have the skills to be a professional baseball player.
However, if my goal is something different – say, I want to be better at hitting the ball tomorrow than I am today – then that’s something that’s entirely within my grasp. I can actually achieve that if I put my mind to it, if I commit the time and energy to it.
The truth is, though, that I often won’t do that. Instead, I’ll look for excuses. I couldn’t do it because I had to take my kid to soccer practice. I couldn’t do it because I was worn out from the day.
An excuse is just a way to give yourself permission to not bother to achieve the great things you’re capable of. A life full of excuses is a life empty of greatness.
I’m an enormous fan of Coursera, which is a website that offers free online courses on a huge variety of subjects. Perhaps my favorite course of all time on there is called “Learning How to Learn.”
The description of the course sums it up better than I can:
This course gives you easy access to the invaluable learning techniques used by experts in art, music, literature, math, science, sports, and many other disciplines. We’ll learn about the how the brain uses two very different learning modes and how it encapsulates (“chunks”) information. We’ll also cover illusions of learning, memory techniques, dealing with procrastination, and best practices shown by research to be most effective in helping you master tough subjects.
Using these approaches, no matter what your skill levels in topics you would like to master, you can change your thinking and change your life. If you’re already an expert, this peep under the mental hood will give you ideas for: turbocharging successful learning, including counter-intuitive test-taking tips and insights that will help you make the best use of your time on homework and problem sets. If you’re struggling, you’ll see a structured treasure trove of practical techniques that walk you through what you need to do to get on track. If you’ve ever wanted to become better at anything, this course will help serve as your guide.
I’ve wanted to mention this course several times on here, but I’ve not done so because the course wasn’t starting at a time that matched up well with my posting schedule. Now, however, things line up perfectly.
The next session of this course starts on June 6, which is two days after this article goes live. If you want to give it a shot, sign up. I highly recommend it.
3. Aristophanes on demagogues
“You demagogues are like the fishers for eels; in still waters they catch nothing, but if they thoroughly stir up the slime, their fishing is good; in the same way it’s only in troubled times that you line your pockets.” – Aristophanes
We currently live in a world where the media makes money by telling everyone bad news. The world is full of good news, but the media relentlessly focuses on the bad, which then convinces everyone that we are in troubled times.
As Aristophanes points out, it’s in troubled times when demagogues arise that exist primarily to further their own goals and line their own pockets. They prey on the fears of everyone else who is worried about the changes and the troubled times and tell them the words they want to hear, that things will change, that those who would take things away from us will be struck down.
And then we cede power to them. Money to them.
And then nothing changes.
Keep your eyes open for demagogues. Keep your eyes open for those who make everyone seem like the enemy. Keep your eyes open for those who use coarse language to describe others, words that do nothing to create new ideas and move us forward but seek only to belittle and insult individual people and groups.
Several years back, I was attempting to teach myself how to play acoustic guitar, and this was the song I was primarily trying to learn. (I wasn’t playing the harmonica; I was merely humming those parts.)
The song itself is pretty easy to play on an acoustic guitar. It’s also a very soulful song.
The real reason that I wanted to learn it, though, was that it was one of those songs that takes me back to a particular place and time in my life. I was about twenty years old and living in a tiny apartment. I had a beat up old record player and a pile of records that I had bought at a garage sale as a bundle for less than $5. Most of the records were awful, but a handful of them were truly great, and one of them was Harvest by Neil Young, upon which this song appeared.
I listened to those records every night as I drifted off to sleep. It was a time in my life where my worldly possessions could fit inside a single storage tub and I carried about a third of them every day with me in my backpack.
It was actually a very happy time in my life. There are some things that were much better then, just as there are some things that are much better now. Revisiting those times every once in a while feels pretty good, and this song really captures it better than anything else.
5. Will Smith on those who do little for you
“Stop letting people who do so little for you control so much of your mind, feelings, and emotions.” ― Will Smith
The television does little for you. The internet, in the end, does little for you. People on the street? They do very little for you. The people who live at the far end of the block? They do very little for you.
The people that matter are your family, your closest friends, and your coworkers (and customers). Pretty much no one else really matters that much in terms of how you live your day to day life.
If that’s the case, don’t spend a dime trying to impress those people. Don’t spend an ounce of energy or a second of thought on them. They’re not worth it.
Focus instead on channeling your energy into those that do matter. Your loved ones. Your close friends. Your professional associates. And, most of all, you.
A friend of mine who happens to be a teacher sent me this video, saying that it gives him a lot of hope for the future.
I wanted to share this because, while I am not a teacher myself, I am close friends with several teachers and professors.
The ending is just spectacular:
Education is no equalizer —
Rather, it is the sleep that precedes the American Dream.
So wake up — wake up! Lift your voices
Until you’ve patched every hole in a child’s broken sky.
Wake up every child so they know of their celestial potential.
I’ve been a black hole in the classroom for far too long;
Absorbing everything, without allowing my light escape.
But those days are done. I belong among the stars.
And so do you. And so do they.
Together, we can inspire galaxies of greatness
For generations to come.
No, sky is not the limit. It is only the beginning.
Lift off.
7. Longfellow on how we are judged
“We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
When I look at my life, I feel disappointment, if anything. I look at this gigantic list of things dreamed of, of things left undone, of things I want to do and know I can do if I take the time and make choices to allow it. I see mostly the undone, and I feel unaccomplished, like a failure.
When others look at me, they instead see what I have done. They see the things ticked off my life’s to-do list. I’ve graduated from college, built a business, had three children, own a home. I’ve helped lots of people, been involved in the community, and put myself on a path to financial independence.
It’s not as if I can’t see those achievements, but I view my life as being a 1,000 item long to-do list with the first ten items checked off. When others view my life, they don’t see those 990 unchecked items.
Of course, there’s really only one solution to that problem, and that’s to do more interesting things.
It helps me because I can start checking things off of that internal list of mine, making me feel better in terms of my own judgment. It also helps me because, as I check things off of that internal list, I inevitably also add things to that external achievement list, which lets me have more trusting and valued relationships with the rest of the world.
Time to get to work.
8. Buddha on the difference between like and love
“What is the difference between ‘I like you’ and ‘I love you’? When you like a flower, you just pluck it. But when you love a flower, you water it daily. One who understand this understands life.” – Buddha
You can usually tell the value of a relationship by the reciprocation of time, love, and energy.
At different times, everyone needs a helping hand; at other times, everyone is capable of giving a helping hand. In a relationship where people care about one another, they step up for each other, taking and giving from each other, and thus making each other stronger.
If you don’t really value the other person, then the relationship changes. The relationship centers around what you can get out of it. You take and take and take, and only give back enough to keep the engine running in your favor. Regardless of how much you’ve taken, if there ever comes a situation where you’re expected to give a little more – as is the course in a healthy relationship – you check out.
I’ve found, time and time again, that giving a large priority to the healthy relationships in life over the unhealthy ones bears fruit.
So what does that have to do with the Buddha quote? Every relationship you have with another person in your life is like a flowering plant. If the relationship is strong, the plant grows strong and offers lots of flowers to both of you. If it’s not, then one person is plucking all of the flowers and the plant is weak.
Don’t water the plant unless you’re both picking flowers. Don’t pour time and energy into a relationship if you’re not getting anything out of it. Save your time and energy for the relationships where you’re both getting something out of it.
Sometimes, you hear music that just makes you feel good all over, music that makes you want to get up and dance. This is one of those songs.
10. Henry Kissinger on the results of success
“Each success only buys an admission ticket to a more difficult problem.” – Henry A. Kissinger
When I first realized I was in bad financial shape, my initial goal was to simply get all of my bills paid. That was an easy task – I just sold off a few things and paid my bills.
After that, I wanted to get all of my credit cards and student loans and my car loan paid off. That took about a year. It was substantially harder.
After that, my goal was to get through a car rotation for me and my wife as well as pay off our mortgage in full. That took about four years. That was far harder, but we were finally completely debt free.
Right now, we’re about five years into a journey toward complete debt freedom. It’s one of the biggest, most challenging goals we’ve taken on, ever.
Every time we completed a financial goal, we found another, harder one. Every time we reached a mountaintop, we looked up and saw a higher peak.
You can look at it as depressing. I look at it as exciting. There’s always a mountain to climb, and the journey is always wonderful.
This is, hands down, the best tool I’ve ever used for breaking through writer’s block. I have never used anything like it, and it has quickly become an essential part of my everyday work.
Here’s how it works. When you load up the tool, it tells you to select a time limit – one minute, five minutes, ten minutes, or so on. I usually choose ten minutes.
Then, as soon as you click start, you’re dropped into a very simple word processor with a timer running along the top, counting down from the time you selected. When you’re ready, you start writing. Then, after that, if you ever stop writing for five seconds, everything you’ve written is deleted.
That’s right. You might be writing for seven minutes or so and get several hundred rough words written down, only to watch them go *poof* if you pause.
If you reach the end, the timer stops and you can copy and paste anything you’ve written out of the tool.
So why on earth would I use it? I use it because it puts a certain kind of pressure on my brain. I usually load it up with only the vaguest semblance of an idea and no idea how on earth I’m going to put that idea together. I usually know the first sentence or so when I click start, so I type it in immediately… and the pressure is already on. My brain tries really hard to follow that sentence up with another idea, then another, then another.
And it somehow works.
I find myself turning to this tool every time I’m experiencing any level of writer’s block. My personal challenge isn’t the core idea of an article – I have literally hundreds of those written down in various places – but weaving that core idea into something both entertaining and useful. Sometimes, it just doesn’t click. This tool seems to be very effective at making things click when nothing else is working.
12. Benjamin Franklin on preparation and failure
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” – Benjamin Franklin
For more than two years, this quote served as my desktop wallpaper on my computer, next to a wonderful portrait of Benjamin Franklin. It’s a quote that rings so true to me that it almost feels perfect, as though it cuts right to the center of some fundamental truth of life.
We don’t know what the future holds. However, if we look around, we can learn a few things about what it might contain.
It probably contains a life in which we don’t have quite as much energy as we used to. I can see it already. I used to be able to stay up all night, but now? I fall asleep in the evening every single day, whether I want to or not. It probably contains a life with potential health problems, too. It contains economic uncertainty.
On the other hand, it contains a life that’s full of a lifetime of earned experiences and knowledge. It contains experiences – or at least the opportunity for experiences – that I can’t even imagine. It offers the potential of a life without the pressures of work.
What’s the sum of all of those parts? It adds up to a wonderful life if I’m adequately prepared for it. It adds up to a pretty miserable life if I do not.
Right now, I have a great opportunity to prepare. I’m in good health. I have plenty of energy (though maybe not at the level where I can pull all-nighters any more).
If I want that great future, it’s up to me. Right now. I need to use what I have right now to lift up my future self.
We don’t just talk about weird ways to make and save money here at The Penny Hoarder — welivethem.
While penny hoarding isn’t a requirement towork here, it’s hard not to pick up some frugal habits when your work focuses on them every day.
So I was excited to learn our lead developer, Branndon Coelho, landed on a creative solution to save money on gas for his commute to work after he and his family relocated to join our St. Petersburg, Florida, office.
Adjusting to a New Commute
Before the move, Coelho was self-employed and working from home in Southern California. He was fortunate to evade the dreaded daily commute.
Coelho, his wife and their two young daughters moved across the country in their 2006 Dodge Ram Diesel Dually. They brought no other vehicle to the city, where Coelho would be commuting about five miles each day to the downtown office.
The truck is a beast, long and wide, and “has that diesel sound,” he points out. It’s not ideal for driving and parking in the city.
Coelho’s wife is home with the kids while he’s at work. She doesn’t often drive during the day, but they like her to have a vehicle at home if she needs it.
They needed a creative solution.
Save Money, Time and Headaches With an Electric Bike
Coelho’s answer to his newfound transportation question isn’t too shocking at first glance: He bought a bike.
A little more surprising, though? It’s an electric bike.
Many a health- and environmentally-conscious person will leave the car at home in favor of the cheaper, non-polluting, easy-to-park bicycle. But Coelho is the first person I’ve met to choose anelectric bicycle.
It’s the first time I’d heard such a thing existed, to be honest.
Why the throttle, instead of good, old-fashioned manpower?
“It’s too far, and I’m not in shape,” Coelho admits.
But the decision goes beyond a simple aversion to daily exercise.“With the summer heat here (in Florida), I know I’m not going to be pedaling for five miles.”
“And I don’t want to take the truck, because it’s huge and polluting and costs money in gas, and (I have to find) parking,” he explains.
“An electric bike is basically the easiest way to get here.”
Adding a battery-powered motor to the traditional transportation allows Coelho to reap the financial and environmental benefits of riding a bike — without the misery of working up a sweat that has nowhere to go in Florida’s already-saturated 90-degree summer humidity.
And the bike trumps a vehicle in convenience.
“When I just want to go to the donut shop, and I have the choice between driving the truck [and] cruising on the bike, it’s convenient to just hop on the bike and go,” he says.
He even has a trailer to tow behind the bike, so he can bring his daughters along on short trips.
How Much Can an Electric Bike Help You Save?
With no previous daily commute to compare to, the bike’s impact on Coelho’s budget isn’t straightforward.
But it’s hard to deny he’s saving money compared to driving his truck or purchasing a second vehicle.
For a five-mile commute each way, with today’s $2.22 per gallonnational average gas price, he’s saving $18.50 per month on gas alone.
If he shirked the meters and parked a car in a nearby $3/day lot, that’s another $60 per month.
Even if he took the time to find free parking, the savings would be psychological — parking the bike inside the office is much less of a hassle than finding the perfect spot for a car.
He also didn’t have to pay to insure or register his bike, as he would have for a second vehicle.
To register a car purchased in Florida, he’d pay about $130 upfront, then about $30 per year to renew.
He pays $95 per month to insure the truck and would expect to pay about the same for a second vehicle.
So, he’ll save up to $2,212 in his first year commuting with the electric bike.
And that doesn’t include the cost of buying a second car.
How Much Does an Electric Bike Cost?
As you might expect, an electric bike is pricier than its mechanical counterpart — but much cheaper than an automobile.
Coelho paid $1,750 upfront for his used bike. He shopped around and found new models between $3,000 and $7,000.
“I don’t think I’m getting a $7,000 bike,” he says, emphatically. “Even $3,000 for a bikesoundslike a lot, but when I use it to replace my work vehicle,” it’s not so hard to justify, he points out.
With a tight budget after the cross-country move, the used bike fit his family’s price range.
“If I bought a car in that range, it would be a bad car,” he says, “and, if I have a choice between a nice bike and a bad car, I’ll take the nice bike.”
The bike is also cheaper and easier to maintain than a beater car would be.
In the almost eight months he’s owned it, Coelho has spent about $640 in bike maintenance. The biggest share of it was a $500 new battery.
“If I could do it again,” he says, “I’d probably have gotten something with some kind of factory warranty,” which would have saved him the $500 bill.
As fast as an electric bike goes — Coelho’s flies up to 28 miles per hour without any pedaling — bumps in the road jolt it quite a bit more than a regular bike. A factory warranty would save money by covering basic maintenance this stress necessitates, usually for two years.
He’s spent about $200 customizing the bike, as well: a more comfortable seat, fenders to prevent splashing in the rain and differently-positioned handlebars.
If he sold the bike now, Coelho estimates he could get about $1,500.
And of course, since the bike runs on battery power, he has to plug it in. He doesn’t notice any impact on his electric bill from charging, but estimates it costs between $1-$2 per month.
What Happens When It Rains?
A bicycle is fine transportation when the weather is perfect. And a pedal-optional electric bike is fine even if the heat is sweltering.
But what do you do if it rains? It does that a lot here.
“I’ve ridden in the rain, and I just bring my rain gear,”Coelho explains.
“I imagine I’ll ride during the summer and I’ll ride during the rain, and I’ll ride during everything. As long as I have the gear for it, there’s no reason for me not to,” he says.
With about 248 annual days of sunshine, St. Petersburg makes an electric bike an attractive option.
Even its 97 days with measurable precipitation are generally mild: It never snows, and the rain most days lasts only a few minutes.
If you live in an area that sees snow and freezing temperatures, you’ll likely face the same barriers on an electric bike as you would with a pedal version. While Coelho benefits in the heat from not pedaling, you probably won’t see the same relief in the cold.
In such a case, you might consider weather-proofing your bike — and yourself — for the winter, or using an older electric model as yourwinter bike.
Other Things to Consider When Buying an Electric Bike
Coelho mentioned few downfalls to the bike.
While he prefers it over driving a car or traditional bike, he did point out, “A lot of electric bikeslooklike electric bikes, because you can see the battery, so they’re a higher theft target.”
You need a key to start the bike, but a wily thief could hot-wire it or sell it as-is, like any stolen vehicle.
Finally, the bike runs on battery power, so you have to keep it charged. Is that a hassle?
Coelho says not at all.
A port on the side of the battery allows him to charge his bike “just like plugging in a laptop.” He says some models require you to remove the battery from the bike to charge, so that would be a little more difficult.
The battery should get between 15 and 25 miles per charge, so Coelho can get to work and back each day without an issue.
Another advantage of the electric bike over a car: If the battery dies or otherwise fails you mid-trip, you’re not stranded — it’s still a bike.
There’s no need to call someone for a jump or pay for a tow truck. Just pedal!
Your Turn: Would you replace your car with an electric bike to save money?
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).
