8 Content Marketing Tricks That Helped Dollar Shave Club Go Viral

Ask any North-American male aged 17-30 whether he’s heard of Dollar Shave Club (DSC).

He’ll probably say, “Yeah.”

And it’s not just dudes who know about DSC. A lot of women know about it too because they’ve bought subscriptions for the men in their lives.

Dollar Shave Club is a classic example of startup that blew up—in a good way.

What was one of the first signs of their success?

A video. A viral video.

If you haven’t seen it, you ought to check it out:

The company’s launch video, casually titled “Our Blades Are F**king Great,” quickly became a sensation on the web.

With punchlines and gags to suit a variety of tastes, the video racked up nearly 5 million views within the first 90 days.

The company’s founder, Michael Dubin, had a few aces up his sleeve to help create a professionally cut video.

The CEO studied performing arts at Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) in New York, where he learned to use the power of comedy to capture the attention of an audience.

He also leveraged his contacts from his time at UCB to bring on a director and connect with a production studio that helped keep costs low. The original DSC launch video was only $4,500.

Most brands trying to produce a tightly choreographed video like the one DSC produced would expect to spend closer to $60k.

But the viral video wasn’t pure luck. The whole thing was carefully orchestrated. But let’s be honest, most startups aren’t Dollar Shave Club.

You probably don’t have a background in theater to help you be as funny as DSC’s CEO, and it’s not likely that you’ll create something that goes on to secure over 7 million views.

But don’t get caught up on the view count. You can still be successful without trying to chase the same numbers if you break down what DSC did in their quest for a successful launch.

Here are 8 tricks you can pull from their viral campaigns to help you boost your own content strategy.

1. The power of video

Simply put, video is the best format for telling stories. You can connect with a consumer and establish a powerful emotional connection with your audience through the use of video more so than any other content format.

You can flesh out that one concept that resonates with an audience and deliver it with a voice and personality that captivates them through a one-on-one connection.

DSC use of video was a smart move, especially given video usage statistics. HubSpot shares a number of compelling stats that show why diversifying content marketing to include video is a smart move:

• 92% of mobile video consumers share videos with others
• More than a third of all online activity involves watching videos
• More than a third of consumers trust video ads
• 80% of users can recall a video ad they viewed in the last 30 days
• Enjoyment of video advertising increases purchase intent by 97% and brand association by 139%

2. Great storytelling

I’m convinced that great storytelling is crucial to a brand’s viral success. This happened at DSC.

Here’s the story (about the story) from Adam Weber, Dollar Shave Club’s CMO.

“What we’ve really focused in on since our launch video has been all about finding which new stories to tell, to what consumers, and then finding the right distribution platforms to tell them. We take our video storytelling to the obvious places. We do a lot of investment in television, which is a great place to tell a narrative with video.”

Here’s more of his explanation:

I think in the long term, as you get more into the digital places, the social outlets like YouTube, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter — those types of venues are great venues for telling stories via video. Those have become an increasingly larger part of our game plan. They offer a lot of unique capabilities that something like television doesn’t offer.

Not every aspect of a marketing strategy needs to contain storytelling, but it should be a part of your marketing strategy, and DSC’s success is proof of that. There are three reasons why it works.

1. First, stories grab the attention of the audience. When you have an impressive and captivating narrative, people will want to satisfy their curiosity—especially if the story is relatable.
2. Second, having a strong narrative helps build the trust with your audience. People trust you more when you open up and share personal stories with them. It works very similarly when brands share their narratives, and it brings the audience back for more.
3. And third, stories simply do a better job at grabbing the attention of most people over raw content like statistics or facts. Not to say those aren’t interesting at all, but you’re guaranteed to capture more interest if you can tell a story around facts and data.

3. They knew their audience

Another thing that stands out with Dollar Shave Club is their knowledge of their target audience. DSC talks to men in a pretty relatable voice, providing something that never existed when it comes to men’s grooming products.

Prior to Dollar Shave Club, a lot of the razor content and brand positioning either used a highbrow “gentlemanly” approach or painted men as hairy Neanderthals who needed blades with the edge of a katana to stay smooth.

But how long can you sell products pushing the “closer shave” approach?

Dollar Shave Club shows that when you take the time to unearth what your audience wants, you learn how to talk to them. You can create content that uses language they can relate to, with ideas that make sense.

Every content marketing strategy should begin with good, deep buyer research so you know what they want, how they want it, where to find them and how to get it to them.

4. Focused on the value proposition

No matter how hilarious the video is, all those views won’t translate into sales and revenue if you can’t connect the product to the consumer in some way. Storytelling is a good start, but so is knowing your audience.

Dollar Shave Club knocked it out of the park by staying focused on the value proposition with their messaging and content, from landing pages to videos.

When you watch the videos, you understand the convenience of never having to shop for replacement blades, and you also appreciate the price. I know, like many men do, the frustration of watching the price of blade replacements climb constantly.

Dollar Shave Club didn’t have a unique product. Razors are everywhere. Still, they developed a unique value proposition around their products and made sure to keep that front and center throughout their content marketing campaigns.

5. Easily sharable

Dollar Shave Club includes traditional media placement, like television, in their marketing strategy. But the success of the launch and rapid growth can be attributed to the shareability of their digital content.

By creating a variety of video content, along with stop-motion animations, promoted through social media, they made it easy for prospective customers and consumers to share that content with their friends and family.

It was, and still is, a perfect formula for getting content to spread. Simply create content that triggers positive emotions.

Awe-inspiring content, humor, and strong stories make any piece of content engaging and shareable.

6. Every word has a purpose

Early in the production process, Dubin had a sizable script that ran upwards of four pages. Part of the creative process meant trimming that down. It’s an approach you have to take with content, no matter the format.

If content isn’t 100% essential to delivering the message, it needs to be cut. Every word, moment, and frame of a video must have a purpose or a point.

Once the content was stripped down to its bare bones, focused only on the brand messaging, the team went to work scripting humorous content to keep the video light-hearted, but sharp-witted and funny.

People understand brand messaging, and when you subvert that, they recognize the risk you took,

says Lucia Aniello who directed the launch video for Dollar Shave Club and worked with Dubin to craft the script.

Learn to trust the funny. If you take a risk, you may get a reward.

A perfect example is the unofficial tagline of the company that acts as the title for the first video. While trying to establish a solid line that would hit the audience hard at the beginning of the video, Aniello suggested “Our blades are f**king great.”

I remember Mike’s face when I first said that line,

Aniello recalls.

There was a half a second of concern, and then whatever angel sitting on his shoulder—or devil maybe—said, “Go for it.”

7. Strategic content release

There are plenty of marketers who will tell you that Dollar Shave Club just got lucky with the content. Some would say the same for the Old Spice commercials that mixed randomness with wit and humor.

Luck certainly plays a role in any piece of content going viral, but timing is important as well. Dollar Shave Club knew this much, which is why they had some strategy for the release of their content.

In fact, the video was technically live online before it was a viral hit as the team showed it around to attract investors and to gauge reactions.

When it came time to launch, the video piggybacked on a funding announcement Dubin knew would gather plenty of media coverage. That pushed a lot of traffic toward the content and ensured it wouldn’t disappear among the countless hours of content uploaded to YouTube every minute of every day.

You have to think strategically to give your content a fighting chance. Don’t try to release content into a vacuum.

8. The content was funny

People don’t share content just for the sake of sharing it. Think about the content you’ve shared most recently. There are likely one or more reasons you did so:

• The content resonated with you on a personal level through a common thought or belief
• It was inspirational and connected with you emotionally
• It was funny or educational—or both
• You found value in it and felt your connections would also enjoy it

The Dollar Shave Club video, and much of their content marketing, revolves around an amusing, witty, self-deprecating sense of humor. It’s compelling in a Jackass/Knoxville kind of way (minus the violent shots to the groin.)

But you don’t need to have raw comedic talent or formal training to make a strong connection with your audience. In fact, if you try too hard, your message could come off as forced.

It worked for DSC because they knew their audience, but more importantly, it was the personality of the brand. There was consistency in the brand messaging and the content itself.

DSC wasn’t funny just for the sake of being funny.

Conclusion

The success of Dollar Shave Club’s content can be replicated, but it shouldn’t be duplicated.

With the right strategy, you can develop content that will captivate your audience. You just need to understand what they want and discover how to talk to them.

With that information, you can diversify and produce content in formats that will be most successful with the people you’re trying to target.

You don’t need to be funny. You just need to be authentic, sincere, consistent, and willing to listen.

What tricks can you borrow from Dollar Shave Club to increase your brand’s power?

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She Quit Her Corporate Job to Become a Professional Hula Hooper. Here’s Why

Revealed: how to cut holiday costs in 2017

Helen Knapman

Timing is everything when it comes to scoring the cheapest prices for flights and hotels in 2017, according to new research by travel search engine Kayak.

Timing is everything when it comes to scoring the cheapest prices for flights and hotels in 2017, according to new research by travel search engine Kayak.

By analysing data based on millions of searches, Kayak has found that with a little planning, travellers can save huge amounts of money.

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When the Woman is the Breadwinner: 3 Men Tell Us What It’s Like

During our first five years together, my partner Stefan and I contributed pretty evenly to our meager budget.

He was a touring stand-up comedian, and I was a freelance blogger.

Each comes with income ebbs and flows, and we just hoped one would flow if the other was ebbing.

By the time I started a full-time job that moved us to a new city in August 2015, he was ready to get out of comedy, but not sure what to do next.

He’d been sort of out of the workforce for almost five years and working for himself, so he didn’t want to just jump back into a full-time job working for someone else.

“I realized how much I liked having the freedom to work on creative projects at my own pace,” he explained. “Any kind of restaurant job or office job is just not the kind of life I want to live, so if I have the ability and the opportunity to have my creative freedom and also live a decent life, it’s kind of hard to pass up.”

“Creative freedom” also meant not needing to hustle in another creative career after clawing his way up through the last one for years.

We came up with the perfect solution for both of us: Instead of getting a job, he’d stay home and take care of the house — and me.

My new salary doubled what the two of us had been earning together. Even though our household budget remains well below average, living on one income has hardly been a financial concern.

I was more worried about the stigma of a man in his 30s staying home while his partner worked full-time.

I love our life, but I know it’s not typical. I come from a blue-collar background, where a job is considered a necessary hardship of adulthood.

My traditional roots had me wondering if we were doing it wrong. Shouldn’t we be like other couples, who both find time to work, take care of the house, raise kids, feed pets and water plants together?

Stefan doesn’t worry as much about the stigma, though.

“I don’t ever feel guilty about not working. (Our relationship) is a pretty good balance,” he explained.

“She doesn’t want me to work, and I don’t really want to work. I do check in every couple of months (to see if I should get a job). She likes the dishes to be cleaned and dinner on the table at 5:30 p.m.”

And we have time to spend with each other, which I hear a lot of couples with plants and kids and everything struggle to find.

When Your Partner is the Breadwinner

Stefan also doesn’t think our situation is so out of the ordinary.

“Everyone knows at least one family (now) that has a stay-at-home dad or a stay-at-home husband,” he said.

His understanding of what “everyone knows” is probably influenced by his progressive parents, though. His mom, Jacque Preston, works full-time as a professor at Utah Valley University, while his stepdad, Brad Fraley, is a stay-at-home husband.

Brad’s reasoning behind their decision mirrors our own:

“[My wife] can really give 110% to a job she likes,” he pointed out. And, “she’s got business ideas that she’s spinning off. The only way that works is if she has nothing else she has to do, and the two of us can really relax when she has time off. We can just hang out. That’s the life we want to live.”

Brad has been “fully supported” for about four years. Before he and Jacque met, he’d been a Tai Chi teacher in Ohio for 10 years, a job that supported him but only required a commitment of about 25 hours per week.

“When I met Jacque, I had already established a lifestyle of minimal work … I really had no intentions of working a full-time job or doing something that I didn’t enjoy for money,” he explained.

Brad said she respected that, and it was simple to negotiate into their relationship.

When his wife started graduate school in Madison, Wisconsin, he moved with her and cut his teaching down to part-time, periodically traveling back to Ohio to run workshops. Not working gave him time to assist his wife with her graduate studies and to audit classes himself.

In Madison, the couple were living on Brad’s part-time income, plus his wife’s student loans and stipend as a teaching assistant.

When I asked him if this move meant a big cut in income for them, he said casually, “Yeah, I’d say so. We were probably living on less money.”

When she took a full-time job with UVU, the couple moved to Utah, and Brad “went full-time retirement.”

At first, this move posed more of a strain on their budget.

“We were pretty broke, but within about a year we had gotten to a point where we were comfortable,” he said.

They rented cheaply, cut costs for a while, and were able to save and pay off bills as Jacque’s new full-time income boosted their budget.

“I think there are times when we both realize it would be nice to have more money, especially when we think about the future, but I think we imagine my having a job and how that would change everything, that does not seem very appealing at all.”

Stefan and I echo that sentiment. Sure, more money would always be welcome. But it would mean a lifestyle neither of us wants to live.

What Does a Stay-at-Home Husband Do All Day?

We do make what some people would consider sacrifices to live our single-income lifestyles.

We rent instead of owning homes — not so unusual for us millennials, but atypical for Brad and Jacque, each in their 50s. Each couple has a single used car. Brad and Stefan, respectively, often handle car repairs, a money-saving benefit we might not have if the men worked.

I asked Brad if he faces any stigma for the lifestyle. He responded to this just as casually as to questions about money, “I think that there probably are some, but I don’t notice them.”

“Maybe I’m just thick-skinned,” he added. “I’ve always been alternative. I’ve always lived an alternative lifestyle and lived in alternative communities.”

When people ask what he does for a living — the standard get-to-know-you question — he either says he’s a “stay-at-home husband” or a “retired Tai Chi teacher.” Sometimes, he said, “You notice them straining to be polite or accepting of that.”

Stefan answers the question more plainly. “I say I do the dishes and cook dinner, and my girlfriend works, and people get it.”

Brad also pointed out, “I actually have projects that I work on,” mostly reading, research and writing. “They just don’t make money, so I don’t go into details about the things that I like to read, or my passion studies. I just feel like I’ve got a whole life of stuff I’m doing.”

Stefan’s days are similar, though his projects are different. He takes care of the house, but, “I have a lot of free time. There are no kids here, so it’s not like I have a ton of work to do. I work on creative projects for most of my day.”

Since our move, he’s been able to pick up the hobbies he neglected for years when our nomadic lifestyle didn’t allow time or money for them: music and video production, photography, animation and graphic design.

Not working, and talking to people about not working, makes Brad realize just “how much making money is a part of a justification for being alive.”

“I actually have gotten to the point where I feel almost guilty that I’ve managed to construct my life in such a way that I’m not being ground down by excessive labor,” he told me.

But, his guilt is quickly assuaged.

“I guess I feel like other people should be more careful not to get stuck in jobs they don’t like” — but he said he tends to keep that thought to himself in polite conversation.

When You CAN’T Go to Work

While Stefan and I, and Brad and Jacque, love our respective lifestyles, I know some people simply prefer to work. And I can’t ignore those couples or families who are forced to live on a single income.

Ryan Gurnett and his wife Kelly are stuck in that situation. Ryan has been out of work for three and a half years, but not by choice.

He has a disease called Mitochondrial Dysfunction, which affects cognitive skills and energy and causes pain and gastrointestinal problems.

The disease requires energy management, so he can only be active for about an hour at a time. He’s applied for disability insurance, but that doesn’t come quick.

“Disability takes forever,” he told me. “I’ve been waiting for three and a half years, and probably still have another two years of waiting.”

What do you do when living on a single income is thrust upon you?

Ryan makes money from home doing odd gigs online, like survey sites, focus groups and UserTesting.com. He also works as a research assistant for Kelly, who is a full-time freelance writer.

He’s able to get things done during the day as long as he manages his energy.

He operates on a “one hour on, one hour off” schedule — going shopping, taking care of the house or working online to earn money for an hour, then recovering for an hour.

Gurnett also started a support group for people around his age who are not working because of chronic illness. The group meets during the day to provide some of that community he misses from work, and they watch movies, play board games, or do arts and crafts.

“I hate not working,” Gurnett said. “When other people ask me about whether or not they should leave work and apply for disability, I always tell them to work as long as they’re able to, because once you leave [the workforce], it’s hard to get back in.”

Unlike Stefan and Brad, Gurnett would prefer a traditional workday.

“It’s weird not having co-workers around,” he said. “It can feel very isolating. It can also be strange not having any structure to your day.  When you’re at work, at many jobs, you know what you’ll be doing. … Once you leave work, it’s all free time.”

And he does feel the stigma associated with his situation.

“Explaining to other people that you’re not working and your spouse is supporting the household can be humiliating,” he said.

He’s been told, “You’re lucky you have a wife to take care of you,” and he’s not happy to hear it.

Ryan’s inability to have a job is pinching the couple’s budget while they await approval for disability income.

“We are in the red most months,” he told me. “Our savings is gone and our credit is most likely permanently damaged. We now have to sell our house, and we’re moving into my parents’ basement while we wait for my disability to come through.”

To stretch their tight budget, “We’ve had to cut more coupons, shop more thriftily and often find ourselves having to decline invitations to go out with friends because we can’t afford the activities they can.”

His wife, however, understands the illness and knows he’s doing what he can.

“My wife is the reason I get off the couch every day,” he told me. “The thought of me sitting on my (butt) while she works all day helps motivate me to get what I can done.”

Your Turn: Do you know a stay-at-home husband?

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

The post When the Woman is the Breadwinner: 3 Men Tell Us What It’s Like appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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Over 50s struggle with car insurance hikes

Adam Williams

older-car-insurance.jpg

Motorists aged over 50 have seen their car insurance premiums rise by more than a third during the past three years.

Motorists aged over 50 have seen their car insurance premiums rise by more than a third during the past three years.

Research by Consumer Intelligence suggests the over 50s have seen their premiums rise faster than any other age group. Premiums increased by 10.9% in the year to November 2016, meaning prices have grown by 34% in the last three years.

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Three funds to profit from a new US President

Moira O'Neill

wall-street-sign.jpg

Following the inauguration of Donald Trump, Andy Parsons, head of investments at The Share Centre, believes three funds could reward investors over the long term regardless of the President Elect’s time in office.

Following the inauguration of Donald Trump, Andy Parsons, head of investments at The Share Centre, believes three funds could reward investors over the long term regardless of the President Elect’s time in office.

The three funds that he has picked out are:

 

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Financial firms express slowdown concerns

Gary Adams

city-of-london.jpg

Nearly half (45%) of banks and insurers have a negative outlook for the UK’s economy for the fourth quarter in a row, according to the results of the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) latest quarterly survey of 103 firms.

Nearly half (45%) of banks and insurers have a negative outlook for the UK’s economy for the fourth quarter in a row, according to the results of the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) latest quarterly survey of 103 firms.

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What a Good Financial Planner Does (and Doesn’t Do)

When just about anyone can call themselves a financial planner, it’s understandably hard for consumers to know whom to trust for financial advice.

See, unlike doctors and lawyers who have to meet certain standards in order to hold themselves out as certified professionals, there are virtually no requirements you have to meet in order to use the title “financial planner” or “financial advisor.”

As a result, there are many different kinds of people who call themselves financial planners, many of whom do very different things and provide very different kinds of services.

Which means that you, as someone looking for help with your financial situation, are left with the difficult task of separating the real from the fake with very little guidance as to who can actually provide good, objective advice, who is worth the fees they charge, and who is ripping you off.

So today I’d like to shed a little light on this topic and explain what, in my opinion, a good financial planner does and doesn’t do. Hopefully this will help you find someone who can help you make real progress, regardless of your current financial situation.

What a Good Financial Planner DOESN’T Do

1. Push Products

This is probably the biggest point of confusion around this topic.

See, things like mutual funds and life insurance policies can obviously be helpful parts of your financial plan. But they’re also products created by companies who want to make money, and those companies hire salespeople to sell those products for them.

And unfortunately, these salespeople often hold themselves out as financial planners or financial advisors, making it seem like they’re on your side – when their primary allegiance is to the companies paying them to sell their products.

So, how can you tell whether a particular “financial planner” is really just a salesperson? One way is to ask them how they get paid. If they’re fee-only, it means their only compensation comes from you, their client. If not, then they’re paid at least in part by the companies whose products they recommend.

Another way is to simply pay attention to the advice they’re giving. If they’re either advertising or aggressively pushing a particular product (cough, whole life insurance, cough), you can be pretty sure that their job is primarily to sell that product, not to give you objective advice. Or if they’re only recommending investments or insurance from a particular company, that’s probably because they’re paid by that company to make those recommendations.

The bottom line is that a good financial planner should be beholden to you, the client, rather than a particular product or financial company.

2. Claim They Can Beat the Market

If a financial planner is selling you on their ability to beat the stock market and provide superior investment returns, they’re missing the mark in two big ways:

1. They almost certainly can’t deliver on their promise.
2. Beating the market is never the goal anyways. The whole purpose of financial planning is to use your money to create a life you enjoy. A focus on beating the market is a distraction from what really matters and will likely lead to poor financial decisions.

What a Good Financial Planner DOES Do

1. Holds Themselves to a Higher Standard

While there are very few requirements in order to hold yourself out as a financial planner, there are plenty of ways for professionals to set their own bar higher and put themselves in a better position to serve their clients.

The CFP® certification is perhaps the most comprehensive and well known. In order to earn the CFP® mark you have to complete an approved financial planning curriculum, pass an exam, work as a financial planner for a certain number of years, adhere to an ethics code, and complete ongoing continuing education. It’s not perfect, but it’s the closest thing we have to a professional designation indicating a certain level of training and experience.

And there are plenty of other ways for financial planners to advance their expertise as well, from becoming an Accredited Financial Coach, to becoming an Enrolled Agent, to becoming a CFA, and more.

A good financial planner genuinely cares about being able to give you the best advice possible and seeks out training and education to help her do so.

2. Listens to You

A good financial planner cares primarily about YOU.

Instead of going on and on about all of the things he can do for you and all of the reasons you should work with him, he’ll ask questions designed to help him learn more about things like:

• Who you are
• What you care about
• What makes you happy
• Where you are now, both personally and financially
• Where you would like to be, both now and in the future

A good financial planner will spend most of his first meeting with you asking questions and listening. After all, YOU’RE the one who matters here, and it’s impossible to give you good, personal financial advice without first understanding who you are and what’s important to you.

3. Makes Recommendations That Are in YOUR Best Interest

This probably sounds obvious, but most people who hold themselves out as financial planners are not required to do this, at least not all the time.

At the very least, you should seek out someone who is a fiduciary, meaning they have a legal requirement to act in your best interest. But even that’s not really enough, because some financial advisors are allowed to be fiduciaries sometimes… but not all the time.

For example, many people who sell mutual funds or insurance are “fiduciaries” when crafting advice, but not when selling a product. So they may give good advice, but then sell you a product that costs more or is less efficient than the alternatives, simply because they’re paid a commission to do so.

In other cases, you may find someone who has an inordinate focus on one part of your finances. For example, many financial planners are heavily focused on investments and may not be equipped to give you well-rounded financial advice.

In contrast, a good financial planner has no agenda or pre-set list of recommendations. She simply listens to you and uses her expertise to help you prioritize and choose the right tools for your needs.

If you need life insurance, she’ll help you find the best coverage at the lowest price. If you need to pay off debt, she’ll help you make a plan. If you need to invest, she’ll help you choose the best accounts and best funds, regardless of which company provides them.

In other words, a good financial planner makes the recommendations that YOU need based on your specific goals and situation, without regard for any other factors.

You Can Find a Good Financial Planner

There are all kinds of financial planners out there. There are planners who focus on wealthy retirees. There are planners who focus on new college graduates. There are planners who focus on helping doctors, or parents, or widowers, or LGBTQ couples.

There’s good financial advice to be found, no matter where you are in life. Hopefully the guidelines above will help you find it.

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:

• What Is a Fee-Only Financial Advisor?
• The Ultimate Guide to Choosing a Financial Advisor
• Is This Everything You Need to Know About Financial Planning?

The post What a Good Financial Planner Does (and Doesn’t Do) appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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Start Your Own Home-Based Promotional Business for $85

Sponsored by Kaeser & Blair Kaeser & Blair is a leader in the promotional products industry, with a history and reputation rivaled by few. If you’ve ever been given an ink pen or a coffee mug with a company logo on it, there’s a good chance that product came from Kaeser & Blair. As an […]

The post Start Your Own Home-Based Promotional Business for $85 appeared first on The Work at Home Woman.

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Dislocated workers get opportunity for a new trade

Young adults and dislocated workers throughout Northeast Pennsylvania have the opportunity to study a trade without incurring the tuition costs of a college education.The Northeastern Pennsylvania Pre-Apprenticeship Training Program is being offered for out-of-school individuals, 18 to 24 years old, or dislocated workers. Those interested can sign up at CareerLink offices.The Luzerne/Schuylkill Workforce Investment Board Inc., in partnership with the Lackawanna, Northern Tier [...]

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Alpine Mountain ski area for sale

The former Alpine Mountain Ski Resort in Price Township is for sale.Realty company Michael Baxter & Associates listed the 97-acre property on Timber Hill Road Monday with a $750,000 suggested starting bid. The listing says the option exists to reopen the resort as a snowsport venue.“We’re putting it out for offers,” said Kevin Fabiano Sr., who purchased the resort with son Kevin Fabiano Jr. in 2014. The Fabianos filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy on the [...]

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State tax vaporizing E-cig businesses

They’re overtaxed and being run out of business— and now those who sell alternative cigarettes are trying to do something about the state’s 40 percent tax placed on Pennsylvania’s Vapor businesses.On Monday, the Pennsylvania Vape Association has scheduled a rally in opposition to the massive 40 percent tax that has been placed on Vapor businesses in the commonwealth.The rally is scheduled for 10 a.m. in the Rotunda of the State Capitol Building in [...]

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Monroe County mulls future use of 701 Main Street

After renovation, the large Stroudsburg corner building would have rent space and cause for county tax exemption.

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14 New Personal Finance Books to Read in 2017

Some of the most important lessons I’ve learned about money have come from personal finance books. While reading Your Money or Your Life, for example, I realized the money I earned was representative of my life force – and that each time I wasted money, I was wasting my own efforts.

Other books like The Millionaire Next Door reminded me of something I already knew – that people with modest incomes can truly become rich if they avoid consumerism and put their money to work instead.

It’s been years since I learned these core lessons on personal finance – long enough that I’m now the author of my own book about money. In early 2017, my husband and I released a book on a subject we’re both obsessed with – zero sum budgeting. In Zero Down Your Debt: Reclaim Your Income and Build a Life You’ll Love, we highlight the steps anyone can take to start budgeting, pay off debt, and build the life they’ve always wanted.

Of course, I’m not the only one who wrote a book about money this past year. If you’re looking for some financial nourishment to inspire you in the new year, check out these brand new books from accomplished authors all over the world of personal finance.

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The Recovering Spender: How to Live a Happy, Fulfilled, Debt-Free Life (Lauren Greutman)

Years ago, Lauren Greutman hid $40,000 in credit card debt from her husband, Mark. To get out of debt – and to change her life for the better – Greutman came clean to her husband and asked him for help. From there, Greutman embarked on a journey to figure out why she was spending in the first place, then created a solution that would help her family create the debt-free life they craved.

These days, Greutman is a personal finance expert and talk show regular who inspires millions of fans to examine their own spending habits. Check out Lauren’s blog or pick up The Recovering Spender for practical advice on becoming a recovering spender in your own right.

• Related: Addicted to Spending? Here’s How to Become a ‘Recovering Spender’

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Your Playbook for Tough Times: Living Large on Small Change, for the Short Term or The Long Haul (Donna Freedman)

Most personal finance advice assumes you have extra funds to work with. But what if you don’t have that luxury? What if, instead of retirement planning, you’re more worried about simply making rent each month? Your Playbook for Tough Times answers that question, providing practical advice on how to scrape by and save up when you’re not even making ends meet.

Award-winning author Donna Freedman tells you how to create a bare bones budget, stretch your pennies as far as they can go, and make trade-offs that can help you avoid further financial catastrophe. This is a must-read for anyone struggling with money in the new year.

• Related: Book Review: ‘Your Playbook for Tough Times’

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Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together (Erin Lowry)

If you’re a millennial struggling to get by in the new economy, this book, due out in May 2017, might be the answer to your prayers. In Broke Millennial, you’ll learn all about managing student loan and credit card debt, budgeting, negotiating entry-level salary, and splitting the bill with cash-strapped friends.

Lowry explains the intricacies of money from the perspective of a 27-year-old who has learned many lessons the hard way, a perspective you can’t really get anywhere else. If you’re young and not entirely sure how to get ahead financially, Lowry offers advice you can use today.

• Related: 10 Ways Real Millennials Are Saving Money, Even in Big Cities

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The Millennial Homeowner: A Guide to Successfully Navigating Your First Home Purchase (Lauren Bowling)

Ready to buy your first home? Unsure where to start? Bowling’s Millennial Homeowner will give you the low-down. Written from first-hand experience as a young homeowner, Bowling teaches you how to financially prepare for buying a home, begin your search, and determine what you can afford. With Bowling’s tips, you’ll have a dream home in no time – and one with a price tag that actually works with your budget.

• Related: First-Time Home Buyer? Check Out These Helpful Programs

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How to Be a Financial Grown-Up: Proven Advice from High Achievers (Bobbi Rebell)

Award-winning TV anchor and personal finance columnist Bobbi Rebell has some difficult truths to share. In How to Be a Financial Grownup, Rebell uses storytelling and interviews to offer specific, actionable advice on how you can stop being childish with your money – and finally become a financial grownup.

Rebell’s book includes stories and advice from inspiring entrepreneurs such as Tony Robbins, Ivanka Trump, Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary, Mad Money’s Jim Cramer, Designer Cynthia Rowley, and Macy’s CEO Terry Lundgren.

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How to Graduate Debt-Free: The Best Strategies to Pay for College (Kristina Ellis)

If you’re a student approaching college age – or a parent with kids in high school – this book is a must-read. Leaning on years of experience as a personal finance expert, Ellis offers real-world tips on escaping college without a mountain of debt.

In this book, you’ll learn how to create a personalized plan to overcome obstacles and graduate from college debt-free. As you prepare for college, How to Graduate Debt-Free could easily be the best investment you’ve ever made.

• Related: What I Wish I Knew Before Taking Out Student Loans

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Frugality for Depressives (Abigail Perry)

Frugality for Depressives offers real-world money advice for those who don’t live the perfect life. Based on a lifetime of personal experience, Abigail Perry shares the realities of trying to save and get ahead financially as someone with depression or bi-polar disorder.

If you’re struggling with mental health issues, you already know it’s not easy to follow traditional financial advice. Perry’s book lets you know you’re not alone while offering actionable tips anyone struggling with money can use.

• Related: Depression, Spending, and Bad Money Behaviors

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Small Business Finance for the Busy Entrepreneur (Sylvia Inks)

Small Business Finance for the Busy Entrepreneur offers an array of advice for any entrepreneur struggling to understand the financial side of owning a business. As a financial coach, presenter and author, Inks specializes in helping small business owners save time and money while reducing stress. Learn how to improve processes, performance, and profitability in this new book created specifically for 21st-century entrepreneurs.

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You Only Live Once: The Roadmap to Financial Wellness and a Purposeful Life (Jason Vitug)

In You Only Live Once, Jason Vitug demands we take a look at our lives and where they’re headed. Where do you want to be in five, 10, or 20 years? What is your plan to get there?

Through storytelling, Vitug teaches us how to prioritize spending, save efficiently for the future, and utilize simple tools we didn’t even know we had. You only live once, so make the time you do have count.

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Dear Debt: A Story About Breaking Up with Debt (Melanie Lockert)

If you’re ready to break up with your own debt, Dear Debt might be a painful, yet necessary, read. The author struggled with crushing levels of student loan debt before deciding to “break up” with her financial problems and create a brand new life. Learn strategies for getting out of debt faster, overcoming debt fatigue, and obtaining financial freedom.

• Related: Debt Diaries: Real-Life Stories of Debt, Bankruptcy, and Recovery

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Hustle Away Debt: Eliminate Your Debt by Making More Money (David Carlson)

If you’re trying to pay off debt with just your regular paycheck, why not give “hustling” a try? In Hustle Away Debt, David Carlson explains the world of side hustles, offering strategies and tips for anyone who wants to earn money on the side. While a part-time job might help, Carlson suggests alternative ways to make money you probably haven’t thought of.

• Related: The Art of the Side Hustle: Dozens of Ways to Make More Money

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31 Days to Radically Reduce Your Expenses (Kalyn Brooke)

When you embark on a path to improve your finances, you’ve got two main strategies to pursue to increase, in your favor, the gap between what you’re earning and what you’re spending: Earn more money, or cut your expenses. In 31 Days to Radically Reduce Your Expenses, Kalyn Brooke tackles the latter part of that equation.

All of us need to pay for groceries, utility bills, housing payments, and car insurance, but Brooke shows us how to reduce every single one of our bills over time. If you can’t earn more, you need to spend less. Let Brooke show you how.

• Related: 40 Ways to Save Money on Your Monthly Expenses

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The Personal Finance Arsenal: Tools to Save Money, Time, and Headaches (Eric Rosenberg)

If you’re sick of overcoming one financial hassle after another, Rosenberg’s Personal Finance Arsenal may be exactly what you need. Learn how to create a budget that actually works, utilize free tools that are already available, and streamline your finances to create a simpler life. Don’t delay setting yourself up for success. Instead, set up your arsenal and get started on the path to financial freedom.

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Final Thoughts

Sometimes, a good book is all we need to change the way we think of ourselves and our situation, then turn our lives around. If your goal is improving your finances in 2017, any of the books on this list can help. With a few hours of reading and a brand-new perspective, you could be on your way to your best financial year ever.

Holly Johnson is an award-winning personal finance writer and the author of Zero Down Your Debt. Johnson shares her obsession with frugality, budgeting, and travel at ClubThrifty.com.

Related Articles:

• Seven Books for Building a Whole-Life Perspective About Your Money
• Nine Quotes from ‘Walden’ That Prove It’s the Only Personal Finance Book You Need
• 15 Free Kindle Books to Inspire You to Great Things

Have you read any of the books on this list? What books would you add?

The post 14 New Personal Finance Books to Read in 2017 appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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This Man Took a Shot at Online Coaching — And Scored $1,200 in a Month

Fees muddy the waters at Walker Lake

Twenty-two years of aggravation — that’s what Daniel Dai said he got for moving to Pennsylvania. Now, he’s stuck here.Dai didn’t sign up for a private community. In fact, that’s why he bought a place in Shohola: the house near Walker Lake had nothing to do with an association.Walker Lakeshores Landowners Association disagrees.It says Dai has to pay for access to the lake — whether he uses it or not. If he doesn’t pay, [...]

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C.F. Martin to unveil new guitars at National Association of Music Merchants show

The latest announcement by C.F. Martin & Company should prove to be music to the ears of the tens of thousands attending the National Association of Music Merchants annual winter show in Anaheim, California through Sunday.The popular Nazareth-based guitar company announced that it would unveil the new Dwight Yoakam DD28 Signature Edition guitar and a D-28 John Prine Signature Edition at the popular event, the largest music industry convention in the world.C.F. Martin & [...]

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Pocono Alliance offers energy assistance programs

Your power's been shut off for days because you fell behind and were unable to pay the bills.Everything in your home runs on electricity, which means your heat, stove, running water and toilet don't work.It's a week where temperatures are in the single digits every night. If there's a windchill, it feels even colder.Unable to afford a generator, you (and your children if you have any living with you) are wearing multiple layers of clothes to stay warm.For food, [...]

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A Financially Sensible Plan for Handling Career Burnout

I faced what I consider to be “career burnout” at three points in my life.

In 2004, I was getting burned out on uncertainty. My job for the few years prior to that was based on a series of short-term contracts and I was just getting fed up with not having any sort of stability. Sarah and I had been talking seriously about children and it just didn’t feel like stability was coming.

In 2007, I was getting burned out on bureaucracy. It felt like almost all of my job centered around maintenance, bureaucracy, and travel, none of which I really wanted to do. I felt like I was constantly putting out fires and that work was taking me away from my family, but that I wasn’t doing anything of any importance to anyone any more.

In 2011, I was getting burned out by overwork. I was working eighty hours a week or more keeping The Simple Dollar running, with three young kids at home, a marriage to maintain, a home to care for. I was getting sick regularly and I was almost constantly stressed out.

In each of those situations, I felt frustrated and unhappy with my professional life. I didn’t want to continue doing what I was doing and I was genuinely unhappy with my work.

I was burnt out.

However, in each of those situations, I recovered using a number of strategies.

In 2004, I had a heart-to-heart with my supervisor and took some time off. My supervisor then went the extra mile and found a solution that enabled me to sign a much longer-term contract than before.

In 2007, I started building a number of side businesses, one of which was The Simple Dollar. By 2008, I had enough income from other sources that I was able to walk away from that situation.

In 2011, I found additional help to take some of the burden off of my shoulders, drastically cutting down on my work responsibilities and time.

Some of those situations involved wage cuts. Others involved having difficult conversations. Some involved a bit of career risk.

All of them were worth it.

Why? Having a career that makes you feel miserable every day can make your whole life feel miserable. You can quickly find yourself in a place where you genuinely feel distraught about your entire life due to the fact that work eats up such a sizable portion of one’s working hours. It can create a strong cycle of negativity that’s hard to escape from. You often feel like your only other option is financial ruin.

The truth is that you don’t have to feel distraught. You don’t have to be chained to negativity. You don’t have to feel like you’re playing with financial ruin.

Other people might simply find themselves in a career situation where they simply feel bored, as though they’re clocking in and out without any sort of challenge on their plate. Many people thrive on challenge and can feel very empty when it’s not there.

Here are ten strategies that you can apply to help you step back from the edge if you’re feeling burned out in your career, whether it’s simply just a sense of boredom or a deeper sense of unhappiness. Not all strategies work with every situation; choose the ones that fit your situation and apply them.

Remember That You Work to Live, Not Live to Work

When your job takes up a lot of your time as well as a lot of your physical and mental energy, it can feel as though your entire life is centered around your job. You can feel defined by it, and when you feel defined by something, that thing goes a long way toward indicating whether you are happy in your life as a whole. Thus, when you are defined by your job and your job isn’t going well, you can feel as though your life isn’t going well, whether that’s true or not.

The truth is that you work to live, not live to work. Your job is not the meaning of your life; it supports the meaning of your life, whatever that might be. It provides the income that you need to do whatever it is that you most value doing – your true higher purpose. Yes, in some cases, aspects of your job might apply to that higher purpose, and that’s great when it happens, but it’s not a requirement. Many people work at a job that has nothing to do with their main life values.

If you’re finding that your job is completely in control of your emotional state and that it is defining whether or not you’re happy in your life, step back for a moment and remember that you are working to support a life you want to live. The main focus here is the quality of your life, not your job.

It’s worth noting here that it’s very common, especially for younger people, to not have a central meaning in their life or a central set of values or a big goal that you’re working toward. In that situation, it’s often easy to fall into a mindset where your work provides that goal and focus for you. It becomes your center, and when your job turns negative, it can become devastating.

Don’t let that happen. Define what you want out of life independent of your job and then view your job as simply a way to make the money you need to support those things you truly want.

Take me, for example. My family is the center of my life. My professional work is important to me, but the thing that matters the most is that it helps provide the financial resources needed to make sure that my family has a good life. Aside from my family, my personal interests and hobbies rank quite high – they are central in the time I have remaining when I’m not tending to my family or my job.

By having that mindset, bad moments at work don’t become overwhelmingly bad. It becomes no different than dealing with, say, laundry. Sure, it’s inconvenient, but it’s not life-altering. Save your true concerns for the things that you’re working for.

Strangely, I’ve found that this mindset makes me more productive at work, not less. I tend to seek out tasks that I enjoy and do them with relish and the bad moments don’t cause me to fall into despair.

Talk to Your Supervisor Frankly

If you’re feeling burnt out at work, don’t let your performance fall off. Instead, talk to your supervisor and be clear about your concerns.

Unless there is extreme dysfunction in your workplace, your supervisor will try to find a way to meet in the middle regarding your concerns and the needs of the business. It is far better to put forth a bit of effort to retain a solid employee than it is to hire and train a new one.

Of course, this does rely on your own performance at work. Bringing up concerns to your supervisor when you’re already on thin ice and struggling to meet basic job requirements (like showing up, for example) will generally backfire on you unless you have other strong aspects of your job performance that you can point to. If you do your job and do it reasonably well in a non-dysfunctional workplace, talking to your supervisor is a great idea for alleviating specific concerns related to burnout.

Take a Vacation

One effective strategy for reducing burnout is to simply take a vacation where you completely disconnect from your workplace for a while. No checking emails, no social media, nothing. You’re on vacation from your job for your own mental well-being.

Take that vacation time to engage in things that are genuinely meaningful to you and can genuinely lift your mood. Don’t spend it burning time channel surfing or looking at websites. Spend it doing things that you genuinely enjoy that you don’t normally have time or energy for. Go outside and explore nature a little. Get in touch with all aspects of your life.

As you’re doing this, spend some time really reflecting on what you’re doing. Think about the idea of working to live rather than living to work, and whether or not you’ve allowed your job to take on an excess level of importance in your life.

Some jobs may frown upon taking personal vacation time. Here’s the thing, though: burning out is going to be far more damaging to the bottom line of both you and the business as compared to taking vacation time and refreshing your mind. Don’t be afraid to make the case to your boss that you need a week or two completely disconnected to recharge and be a better and more effective employee.

If Your Employer Won’t Allow a Vacation, Switch Jobs with Downtime Between Them

In general, if your supervisor discourages vacation time and the culture of your workplace discourages leave of any kind, it’s probably not a healthy place to continue working. Rather than demanding and forcing a vacation, you’re probably better off working toward switching employers and using a period of downtime between jobs as a vacation.

Sharpen your resume, focus on working on things that will bolster your resume, and quietly begin seeking other jobs in your field. When you find one, negotiate a starting date that will give you some downtime between jobs; ideally, see if you can negotiate a start date that gives you no downtime in your insurance benefits between your old job and your new one.

The purpose of this is to get yourself away from an employer that isn’t respectful of the mental and physical well-being of their employees, which is exactly what’s happening at an employer that actively discourages vacation time. That’s not a healthy state for employees and it’s not a place you want to remain at long term.

If You Are in a Big Organization, Look Into Switching Teams

One aspect of professional life that can burn people out isn’t their overall career, but the specific project that they’re working on or the specific team they’re working with. They’re stuck in the midst of a team or a project that isn’t fulfilling or is bringing negativity into their life, elements that wouldn’t be there if they were involved with a different project or a different team.

In those situations, simply looking for an opportunity to move to a different team or to a different project can make all of the difference in the world.

Some of my family members experience this in their workplace. I have several family members who work for the same employer and they often move from team to team, from shift to shift, and from specific task to specific task if they’re feeling unfulfilled in their current position. In fact, their employer even encourages this, as people will often eventually become bored and unhappy with the same task and the same team over and over and over for years.

Explore Alternative Working Arrangements, Like Working from Home or a 9/80 Schedule

Another avenue that might help rekindle your fire with your current job is an alternative working arrangement. Are there days when you can work from home at your current job and it really wouldn’t make a difference in the office? See whether or not you can move to a schedule where you work from home a day or two a week. Could it make sense for you to switch to nine hour days while taking every other Friday off? See if that type of schedule is available for you. Perhaps there’s an opportunity to switch to a different shift as well.

Sometimes, simply rearranging the balance between your work time and your personal time can make a great difference. I know that, in the past, when my work schedule has kept me away from things that were important to me, it didn’t take long for me to start resenting that job, but it was often just a simple working arrangement switch that took care of the problem.

Talk to your boss simply to see what’s possible before writing off the idea, particularly if there are large advantages for you personally in adopting a change in your work arrangement.

Intentionally Step Back from Job Aspects You Don’t Like While Leaning Into Other Areas

If you work in a job where you’re fine with much of the work but find that some specific areas are frustrating, intentionally minimize those areas and redirect your energy to the other aspects of your job. You’ll often find that if you perform very well in some aspects of your job, it’s perfectly fine to give less energy to other aspects.

For example, I used to work at a job where regular meetings were simply part of the job. I was required to attend these meetings, but they were almost completely irrelevant to my work. So, I simply started bringing my laptop with me, sitting near the back, and getting actual work done during the meetings.

No one noticed. No one really cared. All I had to do was be there for the roll call and sit in that meeting room for an hour and a half. I was able to get more of my real tasks done and during the once-every-six-months event where I was actually useful in a meeting, I was right there ready to answer the single relevant question that came my way.

Naturally, this doesn’t work at every job, but it does work well at many jobs where you have some leeway in terms of what you’re doing minute to minute.

Start a Side Gig

Another route is to simply start a side gig. A side gig is merely a small business that you start in your free time that’s usually oriented around something that you’re more passionate about, like a Youtube channel focused on a particular passion or a small woodworking business, or a skill that you have, like selling insurance or real estate.

Side gigs allow you to not only dabble in another “career,” but also to potentially develop a new income stream. What’s the advantage of having another stream of income? It makes the process of jumping to a new job much easier because you’ll still have income coming in during the jump, plus if the side gig really takes off, it can become your primary income stream.

The best part? It provides a completely different environment to explore your passions and test your skills, turning some of your professional focus away from the elements of your primary job that are burning you out.

Build a Plan for a Different Career – and Start Executing It

On the other hand, you may feel that switching to an entirely different career is the smart option. If you’re feeling burnt out on every aspect of your current career, it may simply be that it’s not the career path for you.

If that sounds like your situation, consider a career reboot. The best first step you can take is to sit down and write a career plan for that career switch, working through what you’ll actually need to make it happen as well as many of the pitfalls that can keep you from achieving that new career.

It can be a very scary leap, don’t get me wrong, but giving the option some careful consideration and planning can often show you that many of the giant potholes that you envision in that path really aren’t as big as you might think. That’s the advantage of a career plan – it can help you figure out the best path to where you want to go.

Avoid Financial Handcuffs

One final strategy that everyone should follow if they’ve even got a hint of professional burnout is to simply avoid running the risk of having “golden handcuffs.” In other words, do everything you can to minimize how much you’re financially beholden to your current job.

If you’re in a situation where the loss of your job would mean financial apocalypse for you and your family, then you’re basically in a position where you’re forced to keep working, and when you’re in that sort of situation, any small irritation can quickly grow into intense misery and pain. You’re left feeling like you’re walking a tightrope constantly at work because the cost of losing your job, in terms of your personal life, is immense.

Break out of that situation. Get a grip on your financial life. The best way to do that is to dial down your spending on non-essential things. Cut out the most frivolous elements of your spending and get ahold of your financial impulses.

The cycle that many people fall into is buying things and experiences to temporarily “get away” from the stresses of professional life. However, all that does is make the stresses worse. You’re chained more than ever before to your job.

Stop that cycle. Stop spending your money on frivolous things. Use your money to get rid of your debts rapidly and get control over your financial state. Soon, the bills won’t be breathing down your neck and you won’t feel pushed up against the wall by your job any more, and often all it takes is that change in mindset about your job to make a sense of burnout simply vanish.

Final Thoughts

Being burned out by your job isn’t a unique experience. I’ve felt it, as have millions of other Americans and billions of people around the globe. Everyone gets frustrated with the specifics of their employment at times.

The question is whether you just accept it and curl into a ball of misery or whether you take action and do something in your life to take care of the problem.

The choice is up to you.

The post A Financially Sensible Plan for Handling Career Burnout appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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Our Favorite Coupon Sites: 7 Blogs We Can’t Live Without

Ever wonder how couponing experts got started? They didn’t learn the ropes alone — they probably did a lot of reading as they learned.

(They probably had a lot of trial-and-error flubs they aren’t volunteering, too.)

Whether you want to learn how to coupon or just love getting the the most for your money, it’s always good to have trustworthy resources at your fingertips.

When it comes to the best coupon sites, we love these seven options. They keep track of the latest coupons, along with deals, sweepstakes and freebies. We think you’ll love them too!

1. Krazy Coupon Lady

Ever wondered how big-time couponers score those huge hauls for just pennies? Visit Krazy Coupon Lady to learn from the pros.

Founders Heather Wheeler and Joanie Demer don’t keep any secrets from their readers — they’re happy to share their methods. Along with listing ways to get coupons, KCL highlights deals, sales and general tips for living a frugal life.

But our favorite part might be the “brags” section, which highlights the pro-level hauls achieved by KCL community members.

2. Southern Savers

If you live in the south, Southern Savers is a must-read for regional grocery deals. Founder Jenny Martin is so good at using coupons to save on groceries for her family that she teaches occasional three-hour workshops in the South Carolina, Georgia and other nearby states.

In addition to coupons, store ads and guides, and a “frugal living” section (date night!), Southern Savers also offers a valuable Coupon Language and Lingo guide.

3. I Heart Publix

Southerners really love Publix. But don’t just wander in there on a whim. You need a savings plan!

Read I Heart Publix for deals, freebie alerts and more. There’s even a forum where you can discuss your best Publix finds with other fans.

4. I Heart Kroger

Kroger is a classic among grocery stores, but don’t assume this longtime household name is old-fashioned. Visit I Heart Kroger — yes, it’s the sister site to I Heart Publix! — for deals specific to this large grocery chain.

By the way, you know Kroger gives away something for free every single Friday, right?

5. Hip2Save

This coupon blog is so current, we can barely keep up! Online deals for retailers like Target and Amazon are included alongside supermarket-specific coupons.

The best part about Hip2Save is the HIP List. It’s a way to store coupons you’ve been meaning to use, deals you’re considering or any other HIP2Save post to your personal list.

When it’s time to print your coupons, you can select items from your HIP List. It saves time and paper!

6. Coupon Mom

Coupon Mom makes me feel like a chump whenever I walk into a grocery store without a coupon.

The site can be overwhelming at first, but start with the blog and focus on the stores where you already shop. You’ll be a pro in no time at all.

7. Coupon Pro

Recent college grad Roland is a one-man blogging machine at Coupon Pro.

Alongside store-specific deals and coupons, Coupon Pro has all the details on the latest freebies, giveaways and sweepstakes. Sharing is caring, you know.  

Your turn: What’s your favorite place to read about the latest coupons and deals?

Lisa Rowan is a writer and producer at The Penny Hoarder. Editorial intern Jacquelyn Pica contributed to this post.

The post Our Favorite Coupon Sites: 7 Blogs We Can’t Live Without appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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