30 Free and Cheap Tools to Help You Blog Like a Pro on an Amateur’s Budget

Whatever your reason for starting a blog, you’re faced with an overwhelming number of options to do it.

You don’t want to go the cheap route and wind up with an amateur-looking blog.

And you don’t want to waste money on something you could get for free — or do yourself.

You can practice first on a free blogging platform, but if you want to look professional, you’ll likely move on to self-hosting.

Here are the best budget-friendly tools I’ve discovered over five years of blogging with WordPress. Use these resources to blog on a budget — without looking like an amateur.

Web Hosting for as Low as 99 Cents

You’ll find endless blog hosting options, but most blogs use one of these select few:

1. GoDaddy

The Penny Hoarder special rate: $0.99 for your first domain (12 months).

2. HostGator

Introductory rate is $5.95/month, paid for a three-year term ($214.20).

3. Bluehost

Introductory rate is $3.49/month, paid for a three-year term ($125.64).

WordPress Themes for Less Than $100

Unless you have a sweet hookup or an established brand and business, don’t waste money hiring someone to design your website from scratch.

To set yourself apart for a fraction of the cost, choose from thousands of WordPress themes. You’ll find them at any price point you want — from FREE to hundreds of dollars.

Bloggers I love overwhelmingly use these themes, which you can buy for under $100 each:

4. Genesis

This premier theme from Studiopress is the base of operations for a ton of additional designs called “child themes.”

5. Thesis

The popular theme from DIYThemes uses a unique visual template editor that lets you control your site’s design and functionality without touching any code.

6. X Theme

This theme comes with four entirely different, yet totally customizable “Stacks.” Each one is easy to manipulate for a completely unique design.

I also found these simple themes from Paul Jarvis. They’re all simple to use and focused on content. And they come at a good price:

7. Ponder

FREE! A theme that showcases your words — and only those — on the front page.

8. Contents

$39 as of this writing, but looks like it’ll increase to $49 soon. A visually appealing blog for writers.

9. Nada

$39 as of this writing, but looks like it’ll increase to $49 soon. A theme with no features — easy to use and fast to load.

10. Photos

$39 as of this writing, but looks like it’ll increase to $49 soon. Designed for photographers.

Free WordPress Plugins to Customize Your Blog

Because WordPress is an open-source program, developers create plugins to add almost any function you need to your blog.

Most plugins are free, and you can install them with one click through WordPress — an affordable alternative to hiring a developer.

These are my favorite free WordPress plugins:

11. WP Editorial Calendar

Get a calendar view of your publishing schedule.

12. SEO by Yoast

Easily optimize each post with keywords, a title and a description to increase search traffic.

13. Bottom of Every Post and Top of Every Post

Use one of these to add text to each post. Encourage readers to subscribe, share or check out a certain page on your blog.

Because plugins add code to your site, they can affect the functionality of your theme and the loading time of your site. Choose tested plugins that will give you the most benefit — and use them sparingly.

Free Graphic Design Tools

Customize your blog to showcase your personality or personal brand.

Use a custom header, buttons and logos.

If you want to create your own, use a free photo-editing site. These are my favorites:

14. Canva

Canva is a graphic design tool made especially for social media and blogging. Create and download your images for free, or add premium elements for $1 per download.

15. PicMonkey

Touch up photos or create a design from scratch with this free tool. For more options, upgrade to PicMonkey Royale for $4.99 a month.

16. 99Designs or Crowdspring

Outsource the design through these online marketplaces to find quality, affordable designers.

On each site, designers will offer ideas, and you choose your favorite. Cost will vary, but this could be a smart way to save money by testing a number of lesser-known designers versus hiring someone outright.

Free Sources for High-Quality Images

You don’t have to be a photographer or dish out a lot of money to wow readers with the images on your blog. Here are some places to find free high-quality photos:

17. Creative Commons

Through this search engine, you can find photos licensed for free use around the web. Note the specific license of photos you choose, and attribute accordingly.

18. Pexels

This free stock photo site has a limited selection, but you can download high-quality images for free without attribution.

19. Unsplash

All photos on this site are licensed under Creative Commons Zero — you can use them however you want, for free, without attribution or permission.

20. Death to Stock

Subscribe for free for a pack of lifestyle imagery in your inbox each month.

21. MorgueFile

Browse the archives for unique, high-quality free photos. You can also use this site as a search engine to find paid photos on a variety of sites.

Free Blog Writing Tools

One simple way to look professional without spending extra money is to write great blog posts.

These tools can help you do that:

22. Soovle

Use this keyword tool to find the most-searched words and phrases. Include those in your headlines and content to help more readers find your blog.

23. HubSpot’s Blog Topic Generator

This tool helps you find headlines and blog post ideas on what you want to write about.

24. CoSchedule Headline Analyzer

Enter your headline idea into this tool to find out whether it’s strong enough to catch readers’ attention.

25. Grammarly

Install this browser extension to check your writing for small mistakes you and your spellcheck might miss.

26. Hemingway

This free editor helps you clear your writing of complicated, meandering sentences. Readers will appreciate your more concise posts!

Free and Easy Ways to Promote Your Blog

Whew! You have a blog.

Now you need readers. Building a website is challenging, but promotion is a never-ending feat.

Thankfully, it doesn’t have to cost any money — just time. Use these free tools for blog promotion:

27. Mailchimp

Use this service to set up an email list to communicate with your readers outside of your blog. It’s free up to 2,000 subscribers.

28. Hootsuite

Save time by writing and scheduling social media posts all at once.

Hootsuite lets you schedule posts for Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and more. You can also read these platforms feeds all in one place.

29. Buffer

Also for social media management, but limited compared to Hootsuite.

I love Buffer for its cleaner interface and integration with other apps. It’s great for sharing interesting posts and resources.

30. Google Docs, et. al.

Networking and guest blogging is your strongest promotional tool as a new blogger. Use Google Docs, Spreadsheets and Drive to keep track of your efforts and collaborate with people in your network.

Your Turn: What tools do you use to save money on your blog?

Disclosure: A toast to savings! Thanks for allowing us to place affiliate links in this post.

Dana Sitar (@danasitar) is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She’s written for Huffington Post, Entrepreneur.com, Writer’s Digest and more.

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Laundry Sucks. But a FREE 141-Ounce Jug of Detergent Sure Doesn’t

Raise your hand if you like doing laundry.

Yeah, that’s what I thought… nobody does.

The washing and drying part isn’t so bad, but folding is the worst.

And, to top it off, laundry is expensive.

Even if you’re lucky enough to have your own washer and dryer, you have to account for the water, electricity and, of course, pricy detergent.

Until today… because we just found out how to get a huge container of All Free Clear laundry detergent — enough for 94 loads — for FREE.

Just follow the steps below.

How to Snag Your Free Laundry Detergent

The secret? Sign up for a new cash-back shopping site called TopCashback.

This site gives you cash back when you shop at any of its 4,000 partner retailers. And, unlike other cash-back sites, it gives its entire commission to you.

Translation? Its rates are the best in the biz.

There’s no minimum threshold to cash out, and you can request your money as often as you want — either via bank transfer, Paypal or gift cards.

Like we said, you’ll also get a 141-ounce bottle of All Free Clear detergent — just for signing up.

This colossal container is free of dyes and perfumes, recommended for sensitive skin and good for up to 94 loads of laundry.

And since you can have multiple accounts in each household, you can get more than one bottle by having your roomies or partner sign up, too.

Follow these steps exactly, and you’ll have yours before you know it.

1. Click here to sign up for your free TopCashback account. Note this offer is valid for new members only.

2. After signing up, you’ll be redirected to a page that says “Free Laundry Detergent.” Click the “Get Cashback” button.

3. Once redirected to the product’s page on Walmart.com, add the All Free Clear detergent (141 ounces) to your cart. Make sure it’s the only item in your cart, or you won’t receive proper credit.

4. Check out and pay as normal. Select the “free store pickup” option, so you don’t have to pay for shipping.

5. Swing by your nearest Walmart and get your detergent from the customer service desk.

6. Within 14 days, you’ll see a credit for $11.63 (they even cover your tax!) in your TopCashback account. You can immediately request your cash via Paypal, a bank transfer or an Amazon gift card.  

This offer runs from now until July 20, 2016.

Click here to sign up for TopCashback and get your free detergent today!

Your Turn: What’s your least favorite part about doing laundry?

Sponsorship Disclosure: A huge thanks to TopCashback 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!

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.

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Investing in International Stocks: Does Your Portfolio Need a Passport?

If you’re an American, is investing in the U.S. stock market good enough on its own? Or do you need to invest in international stock markets as well?

Which route leads to better returns? Which involves less risk? What are the pitfalls to avoid? And if international investing is worth it, how much of your money should you keep abroad?

In this post we’ll dive into all of that, exploring the pros and cons of international investing to help you figure out whether it’s right for you.

Pros of Investing in International Stocks

Diversification

Diversification is a fancy sounding word, but all it really means is that you benefit from not having all your eggs in one basket.

If all of your money is invested in one company, your returns are completely tied to the fortunes of that company. But if you spread your money out over 1,000 companies, even a few bad apples won’t hurt you.

In fact, diversification is the one free lunch in investing. It’s the only way to decrease your investment risk without sacrificing any expected return.

And adding international stocks increases your diversification. You’re simply invested in more companies in more places, which means you’re more likely to have the best-performing companies in your portfolio and the worst-performing companies will have even less of an impact.

Lower Risk

There are certain risks that are specific to international stocks, but when combined with U.S. stocks there’s a good chance that they will decrease the amount of investment risk you face.

Vanguard published a paper in 2012 that looked at several aspects of international investing, and one of the things they found was that a global portfolio was less volatile than holding either U.S. stocks or international stocks alone.

While there’s no guarantee that trend will continue, if it does then it means that including international stocks in your portfolio makes for a smoother ride. There will still be plenty of ups and downs (there’s no way to remove that completely), but they won’t be as large as if you hold only U.S. stocks.

Potential Rebalancing Bonus

Because the markets are constantly moving, over time your investments will drift away from your target asset allocation. Rebalancing is the process of bringing your portfolio back in line with your original plan.

It’s a good practice that leads to better risk-adjusted investment returns. But for the most part it leads to slightly lower absolute returns, simply because it means you’re regularly selling the investments that are performing best in exchange for the investments that are performing worse.

However, when you have two investments that provide similar returns but rise and fall at different times, rebalancing between them can actually produce a higher return with less risk than either of the investments on their own (see here for the math).

Since U.S. stocks and international stocks have similar expected returns, but usually will not move in lockstep, having both in your portfolio and rebalancing between them creates the possibility of better returns with less risk. And who doesn’t want that combo?

With that said, the correlation between these two investments has increased recently, and that dampens this effect. And since we can’t predict the future, there’s no guarantee that this will continue to be a benefit.

Cons of Investing in International Stocks

Increased Cost

In general, it’s more expensive to invest internationally. For example:

• Vanguard’s Total U.S. Stock Market Fund (VTSAX) costs 0.05% to own each year.
• Vanguard’s Total International Stock Market Fund (VTIAX) costs 0.12% to own each year.

In that example, the difference is small, though present. In other situations it can be more significant. I often review 401(k)s that offer an extremely low-cost U.S. stock market fund, but only a mid- to high-cost international stock market fund.

Since cost is the single best predictor of future returns, this is an important factor to consider. At a certain point the extra fees will outweigh any potential benefit.

Increased Complexity

While the financial industry would have you believe that good investing is complicated, the truth is that the best investment plans are often the simplest.

“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.”
– Albert Einstein

Adding international stocks introduces one more piece of your portfolio you have to track, understand, and believe in. If the additional complexity makes it harder to stay organized and stick to your plan, it may actually lead to lower returns.

On the other hand, the existence of all-in-one investments like target date retirement funds can make it easy to invest in international stocks and still keep things very simple. If that works for you, then this point is moot.

How Much Should You Invest in International Stocks?

If you want to invest in international stocks, how much of your money should go there?

The first task is to decide on your overall asset allocation. What percentage of your investments do you want in stocks in general, versus more conservative investments like bonds?

Then you can look at just the stock portion of your portfolio and decide how much of it you want in international stocks versus U.S. stocks.

Vanguard’s research suggests that a minimum of 15% of your stocks should be invested internationally, with the maximum based on global market capitalization. According to the MSCI All World Index, 47% of the global market is outside the U.S., so that would set your cap.

Personally, I split my stocks 50/50 between U.S. and international, because it’s simple and it’s close enough to the actual ratio.

To decide for yourself, consider first whether the complexity is worth it for you and what you’re comfortable with. Then look at the options available to you. If your 401(k) doesn’t have good international options, it may not make sense to force it. You could always balance it out with your IRA — but again, managing that complexity might do more harm than good.

On the other hand, maybe you have good, low-cost, all-in-one funds or target-date funds available to you that make it easy. In that case, you don’t even have to worry about the percentage since it will be handled for you.

In the end, investing in international stocks can certainly produce some benefits, possibly in the form of better returns with less risk. But there’s no guarantee, and there’s certainly no right answer. So feel free to do what’s both comfortable and easiest for you.

Matt Becker is a fee-only financial planner and the founder of Mom and Dad Money, where he helps new parents take control of their money so they can take care of their families. His free book, The New Family Financial Road Map, guides parents through the all most important financial decisions that come with starting a family.

Related Articles:

• How to Choose Investments in Your 401(k)
• 10 Things You Need to Do Before You Start Investing
• The Most Important Investment Decision You’ll Ever Make

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5 Money Lessons for Kids That Totally Work for Adults, Too

We learn some of our best lessons during childhood.

Do you remember your mom or dad giving you a weekly allowance, paying you a few bucks for doing chores or encouraging you to put your spare change in a piggy bank?

You may or may not have realized it at the time, but these were money lessons. And they were great ones.

They taught us how to spend, earn and save money the right way — and also began preparing us for the financial realities of adult life.

Although most of us are now in charge of our own money, there’s still a lot we can learn from our younger years.

Here are some money lessons for kids you can apply to your life as an adult.

1. Give Yourself an Allowance

For many of us, getting an allowance was our first taste of financial management.

Yes, we could (kind of) buy what we wanted, but we also learned how quickly we could spend money if we weren’t careful.

These days, children receive about $67.80 per month in allowance — up 16% since 2012.

But it’s not all about the money. An allowance is a tool many parents use to teach their children about financial responsibility. And it’s a tool you can continue using as an adult.

To start, calculate your discretionary income. This is all the money you have left after paying your bills and buying essential items, like food and clothing.

Based on the total, allocate a weekly or monthly allowance amount you can spend on anything you want — 10% is probably good.

I’ve tried this lesson many times.

My biggest takeaway? Stick to your allowance by using cash. Once the cash is gone, try not to spend any unnecessary money until you give yourself another allowance.

2.  Use Money Jars

Think of them as less-cute piggy banks.

Parents use this method to teach their kids how to organize money. For instance, one jar can be for saving, another for spending, and a third for emergencies.

As children collect cash and coins, they can divvy them up among their different jars, watch their funds grow and spend appropriately.

It’s similar to the old school envelope method, and is perfect if you need a little bit of help budgeting.

To do it, set up different bank accounts for your money — or get literal and use actual jars.

Either way is fine, just make sure you have a system for differentiating your “jars.” This can be as simple as renaming certain savings accounts “Car,” “Vacation” or “Wedding.”

3. Manage Your Lunch Money

Back in the day, if your mom handed you $10 per week for lunch money, you had a few options.

You could’ve spent half of it on Monday, and the remaining $5 over the rest of the week. Or you could’ve spent $2 per day and kept everything equal.

Or you could’ve played it smart and bought school lunch for three days, brought lunch from home for two days, and pocketed the leftover money — until your mom or dad took the cash back, of course.

I was more of an option number two girl — and I still am, as an adult.

As soon as I got a job, I gave myself a weekly lunchtime spending goal of $25. I could spend it any way I wanted throughout the week, but I couldn’t go over my budgeted $25.

If you want to incorporate this money-saving method into your life, start by setting your own weekly lunchtime spending goal.

Try to stay within this budget as much as possible — unless you’re starving. In that case, give yourself more lunch money and try again.

4. Review Shopping Purchases

Did your parents ever take you grocery shopping and explain the financial reasoning for buying certain items over others?

Perhaps the generic brand of cereal was the best buy because it was cheaper and tasted just like the name brand. Or maybe it made more sense to buy toilet paper in bulk because of the cost savings.

If you weren’t paying attention back then, don’t worry. It’s still not too late for you to learn this money lesson.

Next time you go grocery shopping, study what you’re buying.

Don’t just pick up the first carton of eggs you see. Take some time to compare the price, quantity and brand to another carton of eggs to make the better selection.

Continue this process all the way down your grocery list. It may be time-consuming at first, but if you keep practicing, you’ll be a shopping review pro in no time.

To take it even further, compare prices and quantities at several stores to see where you’ll get the best deal.

5. Play Monopoly

Monopoly is a fun way for children to learn money management and real estate basics.

The game is simple: If they’ve earned enough cash through playing, they can purchase property, build homes and eventually build hotels.

Based on their financial situations, they may also have to collect or pay rent, pay income tax, and — if things go really badly — declare bankruptcy.

Sound familiar?

Monopoly teaches us adults the importance of investing, spending money wisely and saving for a rainy day.

Is buying Baltic Avenue really worth it, or is it better to hold on to your money a bit longer in the hope of buying Park Place?

Your Turn: What money lessons from your childhood can you apply in your adult life? Are there any you think wouldn’t translate well?

Meghan Williams (@meggsndbacon) is a freelance writer armed with a laptop, thesaurus and positive attitude. When she’s not writing, you can find her reading a book, playing piano or spending time with friends and family (her two cats included.)

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How to Earn $75/Hour Working From Home as a Baby Planner

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your entrepreneurial journey. Entrepreneur is in my blood, so my journey started in the womb. I am the daughter of super creative “parent-preneurs”. My parents chose to build (multiple) businesses to live a life of freedom. My view on “work” was completely crafted from our family entrepreneur […]

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Why I’m Glad I Resisted the Urge to Become a Stay-at-Home Mom

Anyone with small children knows what a huge challenge working and raising kids can be. Each hour you spend away from your kids is one you’ll never get back, and the financial costs of paying for childcare can be high enough to wipe out most of your wages to boot. And for a lot of parents, the costs that come with working aren’t even close to worth it.

• Related: Is Working Worth it When You Have Kids?

I was 29 years old by the time I was pregnant with my first child — and thus, well into my working years. I had a steady job in an in-demand industry where I would probably never have to worry about being laid off or downsized. But on the flip side, I didn’t make a ton of money – only around $36,000 for a job that required 40 hours of work per week or more.

Weighing the Costs of Staying Home

Based on the price-shopping we had done already, we knew that full-time childcare for our newborn would run around $125 per week. At that price point, the cost of full-time daycare for one child would consume more than 25% of my take-home pay.

Plus, working in my specific job and industry meant dealing with some other expenses I couldn’t quite escape. Buying and maintaining a business wardrobe became rather costly – with suits, sweaters, dresses, and shoes needing to be replaced all the time. Plus, I drove back and forth to work each day, which meant we needed a second car and the gas to power it. Lastly, our busy and hectic lifestyle left us relying on conveniences all the time – conveniences that cost money.

• Related: Nine Strategies for Cutting the Cost for Convenience

So for a while, we wondered if I should quit my job and just stay home with our newborn. If I were a stay-at-home-mom, we reasoned, we could avoid the costs of daycare altogether and save money in nearly every area of our lives.

Since I’d be home, I could plan meals and make them from scratch. Since I wouldn’t need to report to work every day, I could stop buying expensive businesswear and suits. And maybe, just maybe, we could even become a one-car family.

All of those savings would add up, we argued, maybe to the point where they made up for the wages I’d lose from leaving my job.

Still, something kept nagging at the 29-year-old me – and that something was the future. Sure, the 29-year-old me might not make a lot of money after paying for childcare, but daycare isn’t forever.

What would happen when my kids went off to school? Because of the unique nature of my job, I knew I wouldn’t be able to get it back several years down the line if I left. And just like anyone else, I knew it might be difficult to find a new job after spending five to eight years outside of the workplace.

Plus, I worried how we would ever get ahead with one income – and about the stress my husband would endure as our household’s sole provider. I wanted to be the best mother I could be, yes — but I had other goals, too, for both myself and my family.

I wanted to be able to pay for our children’s college education. I wanted our family to travel together. I wanted to save enough money that we wouldn’t have to struggle like so many other parents we knew. And while I didn’t want to spoil my children, I never wanted them to go without, either.

This was a scenario I hadn’t encountered before, and I wrestled between what my family wanted today – and what we might want more in the future.

And I must admit; every day was a struggle at first. The thought of leaving my job absolutely terrified me, and so did the idea of a “future me” having to start a brand-new career in my mid to late 30s.

Then again, the idea of leaving my children in childcare all day made me want to puke.

But I couldn’t have it both ways, and I knew it. So, I had to choose. And in the end, that’s exactly what I did. I chose work.

Choosing Work, and Making the Best of It

The years when my children were babies are almost a blur now. Two years after my first child was born, I had a second daughter at age 31. Having two children in childcare meant that the numbers were even fuzzier than they were before. Still, I knew it was the right decision – even if my take-home pay was paltry at the time.

Sometime after our second daughter was born, my husband and I found the time to launch a business on the side as well. That meant working even more hours – nights and weekends – to get everything off the ground.

And in 2012, I was able to quit my full-time job and work on my freelance endeavors and side business full-time. Yet, I continued to enroll my children to daycare so I could put in a full work-week like we planned. Anyone who works at home with toddlers running around is an absolute saint in my eyes, because there is no way I could do it.

• Related: Five Reasons it Pays to Be a Work-at-Home Mom

But once I started working on my business at home, some things did get easier. Instead of hurrying home each day after work, I could leisurely pick up my kids from daycare when I was done. And instead of working nights and weekends at an office away from home, I could pour extra hours into my business at home while my kids were in bed.

It wasn’t always easy, but I was making it work. And in the end, I can honestly say I’m glad I went through it and chose not to stay at home with my kids.

Why? Because the future I worried about so much is finally here.

Say Hello to the ‘Future Me’

Later this year, my youngest daughter will start kindergarten and join her older sister for a full day at school. The bus will pick them up at the end of the driveway at around 8:10 a.m., only to drop them back off at home at around 4 p.m.

All of a sudden, I’m that “future me” I worried so much about – the one I knew would be out searching for a job after years on the sidelines, and feeling like I had lost it all. If I had been a stay-at-home-mom all this time, I would be absolutely lost at this moment. But because I continued to work, I know exactly where I am and where I’m going.

Plus, the fact that I worked all along meant my husband and I were able to pay off debts and really start saving for the future. Because I worked, we have well over five figures saved for our children’s college educations, despite the fact they’re only 5 and 7 years old. Because I worked, I have my own small business and a portfolio so thick I can give any potential client 100 excellent samples of my work at the drop of a hat. Because I worked, we were able to build a huge nest egg for retirement, have been able to take vacations fairly often, and never had to worry about how, or when, our bills would get paid.

Is it harsh to crave all those things over spending the first five years at home with my children? Maybe. But I feel that way nonetheless.

Making Peace with My Decision

Now that my kids are growing up, I long for the days when I could cradle their small bodies within my arms. I miss the simplicity of caring for a child who only wants love, food, and shelter. And, truth be told, there are times when I’m sad that working full-time meant missing out on so much.

But when I look at where we are now as a family, almost all of that guilt fades away. Instead of a mom who’s desperate to reinvent herself, my children have a mother who knew who she was all along. And instead of a lifestyle scraped together with one income, we have a financially fruitful future to look forward to – one where my kids are already a step ahead.

The right answer is different for everyone, but I’m glad I resisted the urge to stay home even though daycare costs were high and time was at a premium. If I had to do things over, I hope I would have the courage to make the same decision again. It wasn’t an easy decision for us to make, but I feel confident that it was the right one.

As of today, the 36-year-old woman I’ve become is not scared or the least bit worried about our future. Instead, she is eternally grateful for the wisdom of a 29-year-old who knew more about her future than she could have possibly realized. Above all else, she knew herself.

How did you decide whether to have one parent stay at home? Do you regret your decision to go back to work or stay home with your kids?

Related Articles

• Our 15 Most Powerful Tactics for Reducing the Cost of Raising a Child
• Can You Live On One Income?
• An Experienced Frugal Parent’s Guide to Child Care
• The Type of Stay-At-Home Parent You Are Makes All The Difference

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This Guy Sold His Old Music Collection — It Made Him Over $320

In college, I liked to show off my movie collection.

The shelf stood proud in my living room, not far from my TV. It was like a status symbol — in my mind, at least. When people came over, they knew they had options.

Over the years, I’ve amassed about 100 movies and TV shows on DVD and Blu-ray.

Looking back, I’m not sure which status it might have bestowed on me. At what point do you cross the line from hobbyist to hoarder?

But I was proud of it.

A decade later, the collection is less something I brag about and more something I’m forced to deal with every time I move.

So far, it’s been easier to wrap my movie shelf in packing tape and shove the whole thing into a U-Haul than to actually sift through and decide what’s worth keeping.

But I’m getting married this year, so maybe I’m finally feeling like an adult. Maybe.

My fiancee and I have been listening to The Minimalists podcast lately, and it’s making us look twice at all the junk we have lying around.

The podcast raises the question, “Does this add value to my life?” If not, why keep it?

These DVDs and Blu-rays used to, in one way, add value to my life. But now, they just collect dust in a cabinet.

But now I’ve found a way to make them literally add value to my life.

The Easiest Way to Sell My Clutter Online

Even though I hate the clutter, I hate the idea of throwing away perfectly good movies way more.

And I don’t want to just dump them at a thrift store. I paid good money for those once!

There are a few ways I could go about selling them.

I could list everything individually on Amazon or eBay — but for dozens of titles, that sounds like a nightmare.

I’ve seen some people do OK selling CD and DVD collections on eBay. But even those aren’t guaranteed to sell. And if they do, I’d have to deal with shipping and, potentially, an annoying buyer.

Extra closet space doesn’t seem worth the trouble.

Instead, I tried Decluttr.

Decluttr buys your old media and electronics. The service saves you the hassle of managing a listing, handling payment and dealing directly with buyers.

They accept CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays and video games, plus hardware like cell phones, tablets, game consoles and iPods.

It looked like a simple way to unload some of our junk, so I decided to give it a try.

How Much Can You Make on Decluttr?

I had no idea what to expect going in.

I’m a huge movie fan, and even I haven’t touched most of these DVDs, Blu-rays and Playstation 3 games in years. Would they be worth something to anyone else?

I did some research, and other people who have sold their collections to Decluttr report getting about 50 cents per item.

One user, Gary Clements, told TPH that he recently sold 620 CDs to Decluttr for an average price of 52 cents each — for a total of $323.97!

He wanted to unload his massive collection before moving and said the website was easier than hauling it to a local store.

While he reports an average of about 52 cents per CD, Clements said some of his “relatively obscure classical and jazz CDs” commanded a higher price.

He sold a recording of Schubert’s “Winterreise” for $4.19 and Jack DeJohnette’s “New Directions” for $4.50.

Gil Flores sold about 100 DVDs and 75 CDs — he had so many, he said, that he’s not certain of the exact number anymore — and made $275.

Flores had tons of media just sitting in his garage, because he’s moved everything he wants to watch or listen to over to his digital library. He was ready to clear it out — and why not make some money while you’re at it?

My collection was less impressive, but I had 86 items to sell. It could definitely add up.

I downloaded the Decluttr app and used my phone’s camera to scan the barcode of each item I wanted to sell. The app gives you an instant offer.

For most of my DVDs, the offers were consistent with my research — between 10 cents and $1 each.

A few surprised me.

I got a $2.10 offer for “MacGruber” (the 2010 Will Forte “Saturday Night Live” spinoff movie) on DVD. I can’t believe I just let it sit on the shelf for six years! I only watched it once, but not for lack of trying. My friends just don’t get the humor.

These are some of the best offers I received:

• Grand Theft Auto: V (PS3) — $6.81

• “Hot Rod” (Blu-ray) — $4.50

• “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” (DVD) — $1.88

• Flip Skateboards: Extremely Sorry (DVD) — $1.42 (I was stoked they paid so much for something so niche!)

• “Full Metal Jacket” (Blu-ray) — 75 cents

• “World War Z” (Blu-ray) — 74 cents

• “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” (DVD) — 50 cents

Altogether, Decluttr offered $54.60 for a combo of 86 titles, including DVDs, Blu-rays and a few PS3 games. Shipping is free, and they take everything in one order, up to 500 items.

Not a bad way to make a little extra money.

More recent and easier-to-sell titles command the highest offers. Reddit users discussing the service note offers of up to $3, $4 or $5 for a few titles in each order.

With about standard prices, a few things about Decluttr stood out and made me choose it over similar services.

It Pays Cash, Fast

While you might earn the same amount of money selling to Amazon Trade-In, it only pays in Amazon gift cards.

Decluttr pays in real dollars, via Direct Deposit, and the payment hit my bank account the day after the company accepted my order.

Best Prices on Electronics

When we compared offers from similar marketplaces, Decluttr came out on top for prices on electronics.

For example, we asked Decluttr for a quote on an iPhone 4, which my coworker has been thinking about selling. The site quoted her $75.

Compare that with just $31.85 in her pocket through Glyde, which quotes a marketplace range, connects you with a seller, takes a 15% cut and charges $1-$6 for shipping.

Just for kicks, we looked up what a 32GB iPhone 5 would go for — it could net $120! The same item would only get $45 from competing site Gazelle.

Decluttr also offered me $55 for my 32GB Playstation 3 game console. I recently upgraded to a PS4, so I only use the PS3 for Netflix — might as well get paid for it (and have six months of Netflix free).

Free Shipping

Speaking of sending your order, did I mention Decluttr covers it for you?

Once you accept the offer, the company emails you an order pack with shipping labels to cover the cost. Just print the labels, pack your items in any box and ship it.

Make it easy and free for yourself, and ask for a box from your local grocery store. They’re usually happy to hand them over — and it’s environmentally-friendly.

I packed my DVDs in a box I got at the nearby dollar store. You can use any box you have lying around the house.

Easier Than Selling Direct

I’ve held onto these DVDs for years, partly because selling items directly on Ebay and Craigslist is a ridiculous hassle.

As Flores put it, when he found out he could sell his clutter with a simple app, “A problem became nothing.” The hassle is gone.

My main goal was to get rid of these things. That’s what Decluttr is really good for.

You don’t have to manage several individual listings and wait to catch a buyer’s interest.

You don’t have to deal with sales, payment and shipping for dozens of buyers.

And you don’t get stuck with those duds in your collection absolutely no one wants to buy. Typically, you can unload your most unsellable items through Decluttr.

Practically Guaranteed Sales

It was much easier getting offers for my movies from Decluttr than it would have been to find a seller for each in the market.

Decluttr reports that they make an offer on nearly every item customers scan — over 97% of barcodes are usually accepted.

Who’s looking for a “Stripes” DVD, if I’m being honest with myself? I mean, someone should be: It’s a classic.

Get Cash for Something You’d Otherwise Throw Away

Fifty four bucks might not sound like much, but it’s basically free money for something I would’ve either thrown away, donated or left unused in a box in the closet.

And, Clements pointed out, when you get rid of CDs, you don’t even lose the media. He still has access to any music he wants through iTunes.

Even with a relatively small clearing out like I did, the extra money can add up! And my experience isn’t unusual. According to Decluttr, the average basket price is between $50-$60.

Will Decluttr Accept Your Items?

As you might expect, it would be a pretty big risk for Decluttr to guarantee money for your items, sight unseen.

They’ll determine the final amount you receive after they look at the items you ship in.

All of my items were accepted, and I received the full payment of $54.60 after Decluttr reviewed my order.

Almost all items will be accepted, users report. Decluttr boasts a 97% acceptance rate and operates on a “reasons to say yes” strategy when going through your stuff.

Here are a few helpful tips from Decluttr’s terms and conditions: All items must have a barcode, and artwork must be intact and in good shape — no tears, marks or stickers.

However, it doesn’t matter if the disc itself or the case is slightly marked. When you ask for quotes for electronics, be clear about their condition.

Decluttr’s site explains what “good,” “poor” and “faulty” condition mean, so make sure you get a quote based on the honest condition of your items.

The company guarantees to pay the first price a customer was offered for any electronics, or the customer can request to have the item(s) sent back for free, no questions asked.

Overall, scanning barcodes into an app and packing the movies into a recycled box was simple enough work to earn $54.

I think we’re really going to enjoy this minimalist thing.

Better get to work on the spare closet next.

Know anyone who needs a surfboard?

Your Turn: Do you have a collection of CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays, video games or electronics laying around?

Sponsorship Disclosure: A huge thanks to Decluttr 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!

Matt Wiley (@wile_style) is assistant editor at The Penny Hoarder. Find him skateboarding around Tampa Bay and frequenting local breweries, dingo in tow.

The post This Guy Sold His Old Music Collection — It Made Him Over $320 appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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Dads’ nagging saves families £220 million a year – enough to buy 150 million pairs of socks

Tom Wilson

angry-dad.jpg

Families typically save £220 on utilities when Dads nag about wasting energy, claims a new survey from a utilities provider.

Families typically save £220 on utilities when Dads nag about wasting energy, claims a new survey from a utilities provider.

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Deeds Done

Chestnuthill TownshipFannie Mae (By Atty, A/K/A) Federal National Mortgage Association, KML Law Group PC (Atty) to Glen H. and Nicole A. Ruehle, Lot 9, Section 1, Sunnybrook, $276,400Hamilton TownshipFrank K. Asante and Catherine T. Sam to Kulwinder Singh, Usha Singh, Pamela K. Moore, Lot 12, Section 1, The Meadows, $230,000Jackson TownshipMichael Browne and Lynda Sledzik Browne to Viktor Rozumnyy and [...]

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Besecker's Diner: A North Fifth Street institution

Food service in recent decades became a more crowded industry in the Poconos, according to one local business manager.“There are a lot more restaurants here than there used to be,” said Mickey Besecker, who runs the family-owned Besecker’s Diner at 1427 North Fifth Street. “It used to be a couple of diners and local restaurants — there’s a lot more restaurant chains now.”The economic landscape has seen change. New businesses came [...]

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Does Budgeting Seem Too Complex? Five Simple Alternative Strategies That Can Bring Real Results

Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve had an affinity for numbers. My father loves telling this story about how when I was seven, I corrected a guy’s math off the top of my head… of course, that correction worked against my father and cost him some amount of money. I love playing with numbers in spreadsheet programs and I even enjoy writing computer programs to manipulate numbers – after all, that’s what I did for a living for years and years.

At the same time, I know that there are a lot of people who don’t have that same affinity. Their gifts and talents lie elsewhere, and tables and rows of numbers don’t come easily to them.

The idea of a budget – one of those formalized budgets that you see in personal finance books – seems like torture. Rows and rows of numbers and calculations and estimations… for some people, that alone is more than enough to push them away from a valuable tool.

Here’s the thing, though: that’s really only one way to budget. There are other ways to organize your money and make sure that you come out on top without looking at lots of numbers. It’s inevitable that you’ll have to look at a few numbers, but nothing that exceeds what can be done on a piece of scratch paper.

Here are five methods for budgeting that don’t require tons of numbers to get you on top of your financial game… but, first, there are a few key principles to know that apply to all of these budgeting strategies.

Core Principles

All of these strategies have one big feature in common: they don’t require you to look at tons of numbers to get your finances in order. For some people, that can be invaluable. However, walking away from those numbers comes with some real challenges, challenges that are addressed by traditional budgeting but might be overlooked with these strategies.

So, here are four things that you should take to heart if you try out any of these budgeting methods.

First, don’t use credit cards until you can make these budgets work. Just don’t use them. The purpose of a budget is to make sure you’re living within your means and a full budget can do that quite well, but when you’re eliminating the numbers, you’re eliminating a few of the guardrails that can keep you from overusing a credit card. The best thing you can do is simply cut credit cards out of your life for a while until you’re really sure that you’re spending less than you earn on a month by month basis.

Second, budgeting requires time and patience, much like riding a bike. Your first attempt might not go all that well, but that doesn’t mean budgeting doesn’t work. It means that, just like when you were learning to ride a bicycle, you need to pick yourself up and try again.

Third, tracking your spending is incredibly useful, even if you’re not number-friendly. Simply looking back through all of your spending, even without adding up the numbers, can give you a real shock when you realize how you’ve spent so much of your money. It’s well worth it to spend some time every month going through your receipts, your bank statements, and your credit card statements to see all of the places where your money has gone.

Finally, there is no quick path to riches. It doesn’t exist. You’re not going to budget for three months and suddenly find that all of your financial problems have resolved themselves. What you will find, however, is that some of your problems have started to abate and that if you keep it up, they will eventually disappear. This isn’t a sprint – it’s a marathon.

Now, onward with the strategies.

Subtraction Budgeting

Subtraction budgeting is probably the easiest form of budgeting that there is. It’s nothing more than a bit of addition and subtraction that you can do on a calculator on the back of an envelope, and in fact most people do some form of this already.

It’s easy. Just add up all of your bills in a given month. Then, take the amount you bring home and subtract from that the total of your bills and then subtract an additional amount for savings. The remaining amount is how much you can spend in a given month.

The “savings” part serves a few purposes. For one, it helps to cover you in the event of an emergency, like a car breakdown. It can also be used to cover irregular bills, like insurance. You’ll want to stick that “savings” part directly into your savings account.

But how much savings? One good way to do it is to save as much as you have to freely spend. So, if you have $400 left over after paying your bills, save $200 of it and use the remaining $200 to spend freely.

I suggest leaving the amount that you’re saving in your checking account and moving it over at the end of the month, simply as accidental overdraft protection. Just remember that you need to keep your balance above that amount.

When doing this, it’s important to remember all of your bills, including ones that are paid automatically. If you forget the automatic bills, you’re very likely to find yourself overdrafting.

This is so easy, anyone who can manage addition and subtraction on a calculator can do it. You’re just adding up numbers, then subtracting a few numbers, and that’s it. It tells you how much you have to spend.

Cash Budgeting

One challenge that people sometimes have with budgeting is that the money isn’t directly in their hands. It’s abstracted, in the form of credit cards and checks and debit cards, so they can sometimes lose track of things and not truly grasp how much – or how little – they have available for spending. When that happens, it’s incredibly easy to make financial mistakes.

One great approach to solving this problem is to move to cash budgeting, which is sometimes also called envelope budgeting.

This one’s also very simple (which, I suppose, is the theme here). You just do all of your budgeting in cash, or as much of it as humanly possible. You cash your check, take it home, sort out all of the dollars and cents, and then directly use that cash for everything.

Yes, for bills, it’s easier to put it into your checking account and use online banking most of the time. However, for things like entertainment or groceries, cash is incredibly easy to use.

For the sake of convenience and for online purchasing, it can make sense to use some of the cash to fund a prepurchased credit card. That card can potentially be used to pay for small recurring bills like Netflix.

What’s the advantage of doing this? If you do budgeting this way, you see exactly where every single dollar goes. There’s no question about where your money is going because you see every dime and hold it in your hands.

Over the course of a pay period, you can literally watch your money deplete over time. The dollars and cents get spent on all kinds of things – food, household supplies, rent, utilities, entertainment (and probably more on entertainment than you realized), and on and on and on…

When you see the money going out like that, you often start to realize that maybe some of the things you’re spending money on aren’t the wisest of choices, which is the real benefit of budgeting.

Proportional Budgeting

This is a very clever simple budgeting technique, first introduced widely in the excellent personal finance book All Your Worth, written by Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi.

The idea behind this kind of budgeting is to split all of your spending into three categories – needs, savings, and wants. Things that fall into the “needs” category include basic utilities, taxes, mortgage or rent, basic food, basic transportation, and insurance. “Wants” include things like entertainment (cable and Netflix, for example), additional food (like high quality stuff or eating out), extra rent or mortgage for a large home or apartment, extra costs for an expensive vehicle, and so on – in other words, anything that goes beyond covering your basic needs.

Proportional budgeting means that you split your money among these three categories in a very clear way. For example, you might want to spend 50% of your money on needs, 30% on wants, and 20% on savings – you could describe that as a 50/30/20 budget. On the other hand, maybe you’re well off and spend only 20% on need, 50% on wants, and 30% on savings – a 20/50/30 budget.

This type of budget gets right down to the crux of two important personal finance issues that people should address in their lives.

First, it helps people clarify the difference between needs and wants in their life. The truth is that even the most frugal people often spend a lot of their money on wants, even if they define them in their head as needs. Home internet access? It’s a want. Cable television? A want. A big house? Most of that is a want. A brand new car? Anything above a reliable late model used car is a want.

Because of that, it often helps people realize how large of a portion of their money is spent on fulfilling personal wants and keeping up appearances. It turns out that for most people a lot of their spending is devoted to things that really aren’t necessary in life. It’s spent on stuff that is there to make life more pleasurable and the truth is that none of that stuff is needed. For me, looking at things from this perspective became something of a call to get smarter with my spending and to spend less on fulfilling minor wants.

I ended up spending a lot of time thinking about how some of the things I spent my money on that would be qualified as a “want” was really important to me (like home internet access) and other things were not (like buying a Gatorade at the convenience store or buying golf clubs).

In the end, proportional budgeting is really most useful as an exercise to look at how you’re actually using your money. As you’re putting it together, you’ll really gain a great insight into where your money is going which sets up a great opportunity to reflect on those choices.

Two Bank Budgeting

“Two bank” budgeting is built around the concept of paying yourself first. In fact, that’s exactly what’s happening – you’re putting money in the bank for yourself before you do anything else with your money.

With this type of budgeting, you start by opening a checking account at a second bank. It’s in this account that your actual paycheck will be deposited in the future, so the next step is to instruct your workplace to deposit your check into this account rather than your normal one.

Once that’s in place, you instruct your new bank to automatically transfer money into your old account a few days after you’re paid. So, if you’re paid every two weeks on a Friday, set up an automatic transfer to occur the following Wednesday or so.

Here’s the trick – you don’t transfer the full amount of your paycheck. Instead, you just transfer most of it – maybe $100 less than your actual paycheck.

So, let’s look at a full example of this. You get paid $1,000 every two weeks. This money now goes into a checking account at a new bank. Then, a few days after that, $900 gets automatically transferred into your normal checking account. $100 remains behind in the new account each paycheck.

What happens next? You live off of the money in your normal checking account to cover the things you need and want in a given pay period. The money left behind in the other account stays there until you have an emergency or face a big expense. In other words, it serves as an emergency fund / car replacement fund / down payment fund … or whatever big purpose you might have for it.

Essentially, the purpose of all of this is to automatically enforce savings in a place where it’s not easily accessible. You can’t just go to your local bank or use your ordinary ATM card to tap this money – it’s at another bank, almost completely out of mind until you need it.

It also forces you to live on a little bit less money than before. This isn’t a bad thing; it simply requires you to chop off some of your least important expenses.

Automatic Budgeting

If you like this idea of automating your savings, you can take it to a grand scale and go with full automated budgeting.

To do this, you need a bank with a robust online banking system and, ideally, the ability to create “sub-accounts” to make things a little easier. Capital One 360 is a great example of this type of bank.

All you do with this kind of budgeting is set up every single bill to be paid automatically, so you don’t have to worry about it. You simply set up all of your bills to be paid automatically close to the due date, as well as set up savings transfers that happen automatically.

What about extra spending, or spending on things that have an uncertain amount, or spending that happens in stores? The best method for that money is to transfer it to a central checking account, out of which you only spend money on things like food and household supplies.

At this point, this is basically the kind of budgeting that we use for our family. Almost every bill is paid automatically, and money goes automatically into separate savings accounts for various specific goals (like our next car replacement cycle) and for our overall investments for financial independence. We also set money automatically aside for “free spending,” too.

Once you’ve got this set up, it’s about as easy as can be. For us, paying bills amounts to checking the account once a week or so to make sure everything is good or to transfer money from our “free spending” account into our main checking account.

The one big trick is that if a bill is suddenly larger than normal or someone makes some bad spending choices, this whole thing can go off the rails and you can start racking up some overdrafts. You have to have good control over your spending for this to work – and a good buffer in your checking account is a good idea, too.

Another strong idea here is to make sure you have sensible overdraft protection, ideally hooked up to a savings account with a healthy balance. That way, if you do make a mistake of some kind, it’s not going to impact you in a seriously negative way.

Final Thoughts

Each of these strategies has benefits and flaws. Some are very simple to calculate but don’t provide a whole lot of nuance or help in your day-to-day decision making. Others take a ton of up-front work but help a lot with day-to-day choices.

The overall point is this: budgeting doesn’t have to be a giant spreadsheet. It doesn’t have to be endless lines of numbers. It doesn’t have to be endless calculations.

In the end, a budget is merely a tool to help you to reach a point where you can easily spend less than you earn, start paying off your debts, and start saving. All of these approaches manage to do that without overwhelming you with numbers.

If a bunch of columns and rows overwhelm you, don’t worry. There are other approaches. Good luck.

The post Does Budgeting Seem Too Complex? Five Simple Alternative Strategies That Can Bring Real Results appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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Five Steps You Should Take Immediately After Doing a Balance Transfer

If you’re tired of struggling to pay off high-interest credit card debt, performing a balance transfer can be an extremely smart idea. With a balance transfer credit card, you can score 0% interest for anywhere from 12 to 21 months. If you use that time properly and really attack your debts, you could emerge from the experience entirely debt-free – or at least, much better off than when you started.

Still, signing up for a balance transfer credit card and transferring your high-interest debts may not be enough. If your effort stops there – and you don’t take any additional steps to improve your situation – you could easily find yourself worse off by the time your new card’s 0% APR introductory offer ends.

Five Crucial Steps After You Complete a Balance Transfer

If you want to use a balance transfer credit card to get out of debt and stay out of debt, you’ll need to perform several key steps even after your balance transfer is complete. Whether you’re considering a balance transfer or just completed one, here’s what you should do next:

Step 1: Make sure balances on your old credit cards and loans are down to zero.

When you transfer balances from one loan or credit card to a balance transfer card, it’s crucial to make sure your old balances are zeroed out. Occasionally some rogue interest or a small part of the balance will fail to transfer to your new card and linger in your old account — where it quietly can rack up late fees or penalties while you’re more focused on paying down your new card. Make sure to pay off any remaining small balances on your old cards or loans right away.

While it might be tempting to close down your old cards, it’s a smarter idea to keep them open (with a zero balance) provided they don’t charge an annual fee. Because the FICO scoring method uses the length of your credit history to determine part of your score, keeping old accounts open can improve your score. Likewise, closing old accounts in good standing can shorten your average credit history and actually damage your score in the short term.

• Related: What Happens When You Cancel a Credit Card?

Step 2: Stop using your credit cards altogether.

Getting out of debt becomes easier when you’re not paying interest on your purchases, but the task can quickly become impossible if you keep using your credit cards for regular spending. When you’re using a balance transfer credit card to make headway on your debt, the best thing you can do is quit using your credit cards altogether.

Some cards – like the Discover it® – offer a 0% introductory APR on purchases for a certain length of time, and those offers can be tempting. But it’s important to remember that interest will begin to accrue the second your introductory offer is up. In the case of the Discover it®, you get 0% APR on purchases for only six months.

The best thing you can do is transfer your balance to one of the better balance transfer credit cards, then stick all your cards in a sock drawer for safekeeping. If the temptation is too great, you can even cut them up; you can always request a replacement card once you’re finally debt-free. Remember, you’re not going to get out of debt if you keep digging a deeper hole.

• Related: Back in Debt? A Strategy to Pay It Off for Good

Step 3: Create a written monthly budget.

A desire to get out of debt is crucial if you want a balance transfer to work in your favor. Yet, it’s also important to figure out what got you into debt in the first place. What happened with your spending that led you to the point where you needed a balance transfer? And how might you change those behaviors?

For most people, tracking their spending and creating a written budget – at least temporarily – is the smartest way to get a handle on their spending problems. If you want to make a change, the first step to take is to figure out where you’re going off track – and how to change it.

Tracking your spending – as in, getting out your last few months’ bank statements to see where your money is going – is a crucial component of this journey. Once you see where your spending has caused trouble in the past, you can begin each month anew with a written budget that sets realistic spending limits but reins in the areas where you tend to go off track the most.

• Related: Money Management 101: Why Everyone Should Track Their Spending

Step 4: Figure out how much debt you can pay off.

Once you have a handle on your spending and income, it becomes a lot easier to figure out how much debt you can feasibly pay off during your card’s 0% introductory period.

Let’s say you owe $8,000 in credit card debt and just transferred it to the Chase Slate®. Because the Chase Slate® doesn’t charge a balance transfer fee for the first 60 days, your new credit card balance is the same $8,000 you owed before. And per this card’s introductory 0% APR offer, you now have 15 months to pay off your debt for good.

By dividing your $8,000 balance by 15 months, you’ll see you need to pay around $533 each month to become debt-free during your new card’s introductory offer. If you can’t pay that much, you’ll want to pay as much as you can to get your balance as low as possible before the introductory period ends. Remember, regular interest will begin to accrue once your card’s 0% introductory APR runs out.

• Related: Debt Payoff Calculator

Step 5: Create a contingency plan to follow toward the end of your card’s 0% APR introductory offer.

If you won’t be able to become completely debt-free during your card’s introductory APR period, it’s crucial to create a backup plan toward the end. If your card offers 18 months with a 0% introductory APR, and you won’t have the whole balance paid off before it ends, you’ll want to start shopping around for another offer around 16 months into it.

That’s right; there are no rules that prevent you from transferring a balance at 0% APR to another balance transfer credit card. Plus, there is nothing wrong with this strategy provided you’re not spending on credit any longer and you have launched an actionable and realistic plan to get out of debt – and stay out.

By shopping around for a new offer as your old offer ends, you can start the process over and buy yourself even more time to become debt-free without paying a dime of interest.

The Bottom Line

If you’ve just completed a balance transfer and want to make the most of it, these steps can help. Remember, transferring a balance to a card that offers 0% interest for a limited time isn’t enough to get you out of debt on its own. To create the debt-free lifestyle you really want, you need to identify your spending weaknesses, attack your debts with fervor, and, most importantly, stop digging.

Credit Card Directory

The following directory highlights some of the best balance transfer credit cards and offers currently available. Sort by card type, benefits, and offer details.

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The post Five Steps You Should Take Immediately After Doing a Balance Transfer appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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How to Make Your Own Kombucha for Less Than $1 a Bottle

I was first introduced to kombucha by my high school English teacher, and once I tasted that sweet yet tangy deliciousness, I was instantly hooked.

Refreshing and healthy, my thirst for kombucha was limited by its cost, about $4 a bottle. Just walking past the beverage cooler often made my wallet hurt. Thus, I stuck to consuming this fermented favorite in moderation.

As delicious and refreshing as kombucha is, paying $4 a bottle seemed crazy expensive, especially since it’s tea, sugar, water and bacteria. There’s a reason Whole Foods is lovingly called Whole Paycheck, and kombucha is exhibit A.

Thus I began the journey to saving money by brewing my own kombucha.

What Do You Need to Make Your Own Kombucha?

Gathering materials is pretty simple. You likely have most of the ingredients and equipment already in your kitchen. I know I did.

Water? Check. Tea? Yep. Sugar? Got that, too.

Scoby (also dubbed a kombucha mother; it’s a colony of bacteria and yeast that looks like a pancake)?

OK, so I didn’t have that, but you can easily buy one, get one from a friend or even make your own from scratch or the remnants of some store-bought kombucha (unflavored works best). Sites like Craigslist and local DIY communities are also great places to look for a scoby.

As for equipment, you’ll need a quart jar, coffee filters and a rubber band.

Thanks to my voracious coffee habit (I prefer French press, but there’s the Mr. Coffee for rushed mornings), a salvaged Classico spaghetti sauce jar and several sturdy rubber bands from broccoli I bought at the grocery store, I was in business.

What If You Don’t Have Any of That Stuff Already?

Let’s take a step back though, as not everyone will be as fortunate to have most of the necessities on hand.

If you have to buy all of the ingredients, there’s a $6-$20 startup cost depending on how fancy you want to get with your sugar, tea, jars, etc.

Here’s a sample breakdown:

Black tea (20 bags): $3

5-pound bag of sugar: $3

Scoby, jars, coffee filter, rubber band: Free-$14

That small investment will get you through at least the first 10 quart batches, probably more, which works out to $1 or less per 16 ounces, or about 6.3 cents per ounce.

A 12-pack of 16-ounce bottles can cost you up to $170, though even the $50-80 range isn’t cheap. Sure, it’s healthier than soda, but that’s pretty steep. Even scaling down to 8-ounce bottles, a 12-24 pack runs about $30-45.

Even if we assume you have to buy all your supplies and get a mere 10 quarts from them, that’s a 50-75% minimum savings when compared to the store-bought variety.

Is It Hard?

Kombucha, I discovered, isn’t as difficult to produce as it may seem.

The initial activation took about 15-30 minutes. Check out this recipe or video to get started.

The first culturing session takes roughly 30 days, and it’s pretty hands off. Ideally, store your jar at room temperature and out of direct sunlight.

My tea spent a month on the top shelf of my pantry nestled between a bottle of Kahlua and a fifth of Jose Cuervo. Hey, you can’t survive on kombucha alone.

Water Kefir: Another Cheap, Easy Fermented Drink

My kitchen curiosity was piqued. What other delights awaited the empty Ball jars decoratively displayed above my stove?

Enter water kefir. No, that wasn’t a typo. You’re probably familiar with milk kefir from wandering the grocery store aisles, and water kefir (compare to a beverage like La Croix or Zevia) is a reasonable facsimile.

It’s essentially liquid fermented by bacteria and yeast grains. As the name suggests, water kefir ferments, well, water — sugar water, to be exact.

If you think kombucha is simple, water kefir is even easier. Just brew up a batch of sugar water, let it cool and plunk in a few gelatinous water kefir grains. A much shorter fermentation time later — about four days — you’ve got your first batch ready for flavoring and bottling.

Unfortunately, harvesting water kefir grains from scratch isn’t quite as easy as with kombucha, but it’s quite affordable, with some grains costing as little as $10. A quick Amazon search yields loads of results.

So what do you actually use water kefir for? It’s perfect as a base for drinks and foods, ranging from homemade “sodas” to desserts, and even toppings like salad dressing.

Add some lemon juice, and you’ve got lemonade. A few teaspoons of vanilla extract and you’ve transformed that water kefir into cream soda.

One of my favorite concoctions? The Shamrock Water Kefir Shake, which is a delightful combination of avocado, kale, mint extract, honey, coconut milk (I substitute almond milk), ice cubes and water kefir.

Sure, the mixture may sound odd, but it’s amazing. Pro-tip: be heavy-handed with the mint extract and honey to offset the garden undertones from the kale.

Like a kombucha scoby, water kefir grains can be reused in subsequent batches, and they actually multiply. I inherited a batch from a friend who needed to discard excess grains, so mine were free — ask around in case anyone you know has extras!

Could Kombucha and Water Kefir Help You Save Money?

Both drinks are packed with probiotics. Once I began consuming probiotic-loaded drinks on a regular basis, let’s just say I found my three-a-day probiotic and digestive enzyme regimen unnecessary.

If you’re a fellow probiotic fan, you know all too well just how pricy a bottle can be, and these fermented beverages helped alleviate the need to purchase those dietary supplements. I now had a near-limitless supply, plus the satisfaction of knowing I made it.

The Drawbacks of Making Your Own Kombucha and Kefir

Kombucha for a fraction of the price, nixing probiotics from your shopping list… by now you’re probably asking yourself “what’s the catch?”

Like anything living — and yes, to quote Dr. Frankenstein, “it’s alive” — booch and kefir need caring for. You have to feed them, or brew a new batch at regular intervals.

For kombucha, this means about a week to a month, but with water kefir, it’s every day or two. With water kefir especially, if you’re not quickly drinking what you’ve amassed, you may run out of bottles. If you’re getting overwhelmed, check out this guide to taking a break.

Still, it’s a small price to pay for the probiotic and savings benefits. At least you don’t have to walk your kefir when it’s freezing or raining outside.

Your Turn: Have you tried brewing your own kombucha or water kefir? How did it go, and did it help you save money?

Disclosure: A (kombucha) toast to savings! Thanks for allowing us to place affiliate links in this post.

Moe Long is a Durham Movies Examiner, and Contributing Writer for AXS, Cliqist, and Blasting News. When he’s not writing, you can find him drinking way too much coffee, listening to vinyl and watching “The X-Files” reruns.

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