Get Paid to Eat With Yelp’s New Cash-Back Program (No Reviews Necessary)

Yelp has saved me from wasting plenty of money on what might have been terrible meals.

The review site, which allows customers to rate their experiences with area restaurants and other businesses, is great for deciding whether a place is worth checking out or not. When I’m weighing my dining options, Yelp is my go-to site to determine if a restaurant or bar will live up to its hype and prices.

What I didn’t realize, until just recently, was that Yelp can also earn you a little bit of money.

While planning birthday drinks with my sister, I came across Yelp’s cash-back program, which rolled out in December 2016. Now I can get some info on a restaurant and earn money back? I had to know more. Here’s what I learned.

How Yelp’s Cash-Back Program Works

The program, which is part of a partnership with Empyr, is easy enough to use. Simply head to the Yelp cash-back page to sign up and enter your most commonly used debit or credit card information.

Once you’ve registered your cards, you don’t have to do anything further. Every time you visit a participating restaurant using one of your linked cards you’ll automatically earn 7 -to 10% cash back. Cash back is not available for online orders or delivery.

There’s no need to activate offers the way you do with other cash-back apps, there are no special exclusions and there’s no minimum purchase required.

Yelp will credit any cash back you earn to your primary payment card by the 18th day of the following month. You can add or remove cards and switch which card is your primary at any time by logging in to your account.

Cash back is only available at food and drink establishments, like restaurants, bars and cafes. Yelp teased its intention to add other types of local businesses to its cash-back system, but there’s no ETA on that yet.

Nervous About Sharing Your Credit Card Info?

For those concerned with the security of their personal information, Yelp’s privacy policy pledges it will not disclose your information to third parties for marketing purposes without your consent. Furthermore, it states, “When you submit credit card numbers, we encrypt that information using industry standard technology.”

That said, as with many things you sign up for online, joining will opt you in to Yelp’s “targeted offers.” However, it’s easy enough to click the “unsubscribe” option at the bottom of the first promo email you receive to prevent Yelp from sending you more.

Participating Restaurants

At launch, Yelp’s cash-back program had 8,000 businesses signed up nationwide. With new businesses joining regularly, that number is no doubt considerably higher by now. How many establishments participate near you depends on your location. If you’re in a large city like New York, Los Angeles or Chicago, you’ll have more options than someone in Podunk, Wisconsin.

In my area (Buffalo, New York), only 11 restaurants offer cash back through Yelp. However, switch to New York City, and you’ll find a whopping 415 establishments to choose from across all price points.

To find out if a particular restaurant participates in Yelp cash back and how much you can earn by eating there, go to the restaurant’s Yelp page and look for a box on the upper right-hand side (just under the photographs) that reads, “Dine here for X% Cash Back.”

If you’re scanning a list of possible restaurants, look under each establishment’s name for a green dollar sign in a circle with the phrase “X% Cash Back.” You can also filter your search results to show only “Cash Back” participants if you’re in a bigger city. Curiously, if you live in a smaller area, you won’t see this option in your filters list. You can, however, type “cash back” in the search field along with the area you wish to search.

Take the Savings One Step Further

There’s no limit to the number of cards you can link to your Yelp cash-back account, so get the most bang for your buck by linking your rewards credit cards to get extra savings on your purchases.

You can also use Yelp cash back in combination with existing restaurant promotions and coupons to save even more.

So, Is it Worth Joining?

When I took my sister to Rust Belt Bar and Grill for cocktails, I spent $10.57 and got 74 cents back. While that’s not a huge bonus, we planned to go to this restaurant anyway, so the cash back was a fun bonus.

You won’t get rich with Yelp cash back, but that doesn’t mean you should pass up an opportunity for free cash. Like similar cash-back programs, like Ebates, if you plan on spending the money on a meal anyway, it doesn’t hurt to get a little something in return. It’s like a restaurant loyalty program without the hassle of a punch card.

You only have to link your cards up once. After that, just run a quick Yelp search before you go out to eat. If you eat out regularly or frequent pricy places, you could rack up a decent amount in cash back each month. And if you’re not? Cash back is always a nice bonus when you do.

Kelly Gurnett is a freelance blogger, writer and editor who runs the blog Cordelia Calls It Quits, where she documents her attempts to rid her life of the things that don’t matter and focus more on the things that do. Follow her on Twitter @CordeliaCallsIt.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, one of the largest personal finance websites. We help millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. In 2016, Inc. 500 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the No. 1 fastest-growing private media company in the U.S.

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Inspiration from Manoush Zomorodi, Linus Torvalds, ALA.NI, Ernest Hemingway, and More

Once a month (or so), I share a dozen things that have inspired me to greater personal, professional, and financial success in my life. I hope they bring similar success to your life.

1. Martin Luther King, Jr. on friendship

“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

While King spoke these words on behalf of the civil rights movement, they have always struck me as being deeply true with regards to human friendships. We often don’t remember the true cruelty of the words of our enemies; what we remember instead is the betrayal of our friends. The people who we believed would always have our backs, who instead chose to stay silent and not be there when we needed them most.

When I read this quote, it calls me to be a better friend, to not let my friends down in their moments of need, whether intentionally and otherwise. It reminds me to keep in touch with them, to understand what they’re going through, and to be there when challenges face them.

That’s what I want out of my friends, and it is wholly unfair to expect that out of them if I am not willing to do the same.

What kind of friend are you? Are you there during the good times, but silent and withdrawn during the bad when your friends truly need help? If that is you, then you will be remembered, but not in the way you might hope.

2. Manoush Zomorodi on how boredom can lead to your most brilliant ideas

From the description:

Do you sometimes have your most creative ideas while folding laundry, washing dishes or doing nothing in particular? It’s because when your body goes on autopilot, your brain gets busy forming new neural connections that connect ideas and solve problems. Learn to love being bored as Manoush Zomorodi explains the connection between spacing out and creativity.

My mind wanders a lot when I’m doing household tasks or taking a shower or brushing my teeth. I’ll jump from idea to idea like a jackrabbit in a carrot farm.

The thing is, I don’t view that time as “boring” or think of it as wasted time. I actually view it as being pretty valuable time, indeed. It’s in that time that I make a lot of unexpected connections between very different ideas.

Most of the time, when I’m focusing on something, I don’t make those connections. I’m bearing down on a single task.

I think that you need both to come up with worthwhile ideas. You need to bear down sometimes on learning and deep understanding in order to have the raw materials with which your mind can make those connections when you’re in the shower.

3. Linus Torvalds on good and bad programmers

“Bad programmers worry about code. Good programmers worry about data structures and their relationships.” – Linus Torvalds

One of my mentors once told me – and I’m paraphrasing here – that the best way to solve a problem is to keep asking questions about the problem until the answer is obvious (or at least much simpler). If you jump straight to trying to solve it, you’ll find it incredibly difficult and the person you’re solving it for probably won’t be happy, either.

That idea turns out to be true for a lot of things in life. Almost everything we do is better served if we ask questions and try to understand the problem a little better before jumping straight to the solution.

This quote just expresses that idea in terms of computer programming. When you’re writing code, you’re working on the solution. When you’re figuring out data structures and relationships, you’re still trying to understand the problem.

Spend more of your time understanding the problem and less of your time on the solution and you’ll be better off.

4. Hidden Brain

From the description:

The Hidden Brain helps curious people understand the world – and themselves. Using science and storytelling, Hidden Brain’s host Shankar Vedantam reveals the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, the biases that shape our choices, and the triggers that direct the course of our relationships.

Hidden Brain is a podcast from NPR that presents a mix of psychology and self-improvement and science in a wonderful mix of facts and storytelling. I found myself on a very long road trip in August with a driver who wanted to listen to archives of a podcast that I didn’t enjoy very much, so I got cozy in the back seat and devoured about fifteen hours of the archives of this podcast over the course of two days.

While the entire archives of the series is worth listening to, I highly recommend the six part “You 2.0” series that was recently aired. Here, have a listen to the first part of that series:

The episode centers on a wonderful interview with Cal Newport on the value of “deep work” – focused work without interruption where you can delve deeply into a particular task. It’s something that I’ve come to find incredibly valuable in my own life, and the interview with Newport covers the idea very well, with lots of little bits to leave you thinking.

That’s just the start. I highly recommend subscribing to Hidden Brain.

5. Carl Jung on loneliness

“Loneliness does not come from having no people around you, but from being unable to communicate the things that seem important to you.” – Carl Jung

Lonely doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re alone, though being alone can certainly lead to loneliness. A person can be lonely in a crowded room.

Loneliness is simply being unable to communicate the things that are important to you. That can happen when you’re with other people, whether in a crowd or in a small group or even one on one, if you don’t think the others are ever receptive to what you have to say.

I often cure my own loneliness by finding outlets for expressing myself. I also find, strangely, that it helps to do things to ensure that others aren’t lonely, by actively soliciting conversation with people who seem lonely. I’ll ask questions of the quiet person and try to bring them into conversation… and, somehow, that makes me feel better, too.

6. Ingrid Betancourt on what six years in captivity taught me about fear and faith

(Be aware, Ingrid speaks in Spanish, but you can turn on English subtitles by clicking on the CC button.)

From the description:

In 2002, the Colombian guerrilla movement known as the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) kidnapped Ingrid Betancourt in the middle of her presidential campaign. For the next six years, Betancourt was held hostage in jungle prison camps where she was ravaged by malaria, fleas, hunger and human cruelty until her rescue by the Colombian government. In this deeply personal talk, the politician turned writer explains what it’s like to live in a perpetual state of fear — and how her faith sustained her.

What I found inspirational here is that, in her terrible journey, the idea of a light at the end of that tunnel sustained her. It kept her going through things that would have otherwise made her give up.

She found that sustenance through her religious faith. Others may find it in their family, or in a particular vision for the future.

I know this much: without something to guide you, it’s hard to achieve anything. Without a light at the end of the tunnel, it’s very hard to make it through a difficult journey.

Find your light.

7. Taekwondo

This past month, I joined a beginner taekwondo class, one within the same martial arts school that my children and wife have been members of for a while. I’ve begun by getting involved in beginner’s classes, which are meant to teach a bunch of basic techniques and really boost physical fitness.

Every single class I’ve attended has left me with a sweat-soaked shirt, so they’re not kidding about the fitness part.

Why join, aside from the family connection? Well, for starters, to add me in is pretty inexpensive since we already have a family plan, so there’s very little cost. I decommitted from a few things recently to give myself time and room for this, too. I want to get myself into better physical shape.

The main reason, though, is not so much physical, but mental. It’s an hour I can just set aside to be mindful of my body, of my physical motion, and of the moment itself. I focus wholly on the motions and basic forms that I’m doing while simultaneously wearing out my body.

It’s been great so far. I typically feel very exhausted after exercise, but taekwondo, even though I leave with my shirt soaked with sweat, doesn’t leave me exhausted. It leaves me feeling alive.

8. Ernest Hemingway on unappreciated work

“You must always be willing to work without applause.” – Ernest Hemingway

Most of the time, when I finish an article, I simply read through it, think that it’s pretty good (or, sometimes, that it’s mediocre), and submit it quietly for posting on The Simple Dollar or elsewhere. There’s no fanfare. There’s no celebration. There’s just completion… and then the realization that there’s another one to complete.

It is not the idea of applause or adulation that keeps me writing. It’s the sense that each article might reach one or two people and help them find a better path in their life, and that in all likelihood I’ll never hear from those one or two people.

I’m okay with that.

Sometimes, writing helps me dig through things I’m struggling with in my own life and, by the time I’m done drafting an article, I’ve figured out a solution, but there’s no applause for that, either.

I’m okay with that, too.

The only joy that matters is the one that comes from within. Applause always fades. Adulation always fades. Those are outside factors. What matters are the inside factors.

9. ALA.NI – Tiny Desk Concert

From the description:

The moment you get a look at ALA.NI behind the Tiny Desk, you’ll notice it in the foreground: The singer asked us to record her set using her vintage RCA Ribbon microphone, which she carries around in a small briefcase between shows. It’s a security blanket, a bit of visual branding, a statement of stylistic intent — and, not for nothing, a big reason ALA.NI’s voice carries with such warmth and intimacy.

The microphone isn’t the only element of ALA.NI’s sound that seems to have been transported from another era. The London-born, Paris-based singer draws inspiration from her uncle, a British ’20s and ’30s cabaret star by the name of Leslie “Hutch” Hutchinson, and writes her own songs in the style of the standards he sang. You & I, her debut album, reverberates from the same spirit: It captures and conveys a reverent love of early-20th-century music, while injecting those sounds with charisma and charm well suited for any era. Here, she performs four songs from You & I, before closing her set with a heartwarming, crowd-aided “Happy Birthday” to her accompanist, Marvin Dolly.

The best way I can describe the music here is that it’s a mix of a 1930s nightclub act mixed with modern folk sensibilities in about a 60/40 split. What makes it work is her voice, which is simultaneously smooth and warm and yet haunting.

The first song leads you to expect something, the second song manages to turn that on its ear, and the third shows you how important the guitarist really is, something I didn’t pick up on at first.

I absolutely love the Tiny Desk Concert series; they constantly introduce me to new music that I want to shout from the rooftops.

10. George Matthew Adams on the “self-made man”

“There is no such thing as a ‘self-made’ man. We are made up of thousands of others. Everyone who has ever done a kind deed for us, or spoken one word of encouragement to us, has entered into the make-up of our character and of our thoughts, as well as our success.” – George Matthew Adams

I was born without much money. I went through college paying every dime of it myself, either through scholarships I earned or student loans. Today, I’m on the road to financial independence. I have a stable career and a great family and a nice house. Most of my income in my adult life was earned purely through small businesses and self-employment.

I was not self-made in any way, shape, or form.

I’m not in this position if it wasn’t for my second grade teacher, who believed in me and kept me focused when I felt like a social outcast and had no interest in going back to school. I wouldn’t be here without my high school English teacher, who never let me think that my writing was “perfect.” I’m not here if it weren’t for my grandma, who gave me a journal for Christmas when I was twelve along with a booklet of journal writing prompts, and told me to fill it up. I’m not here without the constant care and love and ideas and examples from my parents.

The idea that I made it all by myself? It’s utterly ridiculous.

11. Intelligence Squared

Intelligence Squared is a Youtube channel focused on actual debate of issues shaping the modern world. It’s heavily moderated discussion by people who aren’t allowed to interrupt or shout over each other, but are given the room to share their ideas in great detail, even when they often don’t agree with each other.

One of my favorites that they’ve posted is Is the Party Over for Economic Growth?, in which Stephanie Flanders (JP Morgan’s chief market strategist for Europe), Deirdre McCloskey (US economic historian), and Tim Jackson (professor of sustainable development at the University of Surrey and author of Prosperity Without Growth: Economics for a Finite Planet). The discussion is incredibly respectful and everyone involved gets a chance to spell out their ideas, but they clearly disagree and it is through those disagreements and contrasts that you can dig deeper into their key question, whether or not economic growth can continue as it has over the last century.

Most of their videos are these kinds of lengthy debates; some are short clips from other debates with key thoughtful exchanges. Regardless, whenever a new video shows up from them, I watch. They almost always make me think.

12. Sam Harris on moral progress

“We will embarrass our descendants just as our ancestors embarrass us. This is moral progress.” – Sam Harris

It’s easy to look back at earlier generations and judge them harshly by the morals of today.

Yet, a hundred years from now, I suspect that my generation will be judged harshly by the light of that world.

People grow over time. The idea of what’s right and wrong doesn’t stay absolute, particularly as technology changes and we learn new things about ourselves and about the earth. As we learn more, we begin to see that some of the patterns of the past were wrong, and the further we travel, the more errors we see.

The moral mistakes of the past are a strong lesson for us today. They’re proof that the journey to the whole truth is an incomplete one.

This is a good thing. I hope my generation is a better steward of the world around them than previous generations, and I hope the next generation is better still, taking what they have learned from us and from new discoveries and applying them to the world to make it an even better place.

I am inspired by this idea to raise my children with a sense of curiosity and a sense of wonder, one where they will always ask whether things that they might take for granted are truly right.

The post Inspiration from Manoush Zomorodi, Linus Torvalds, ALA.NI, Ernest Hemingway, and More appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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Take Advantage of the Fall Shoulder Season at These Affordable Destinations

PayPal’s new credit card offers 2% cash back with no annual fee

Say hello to PayPal’s latest venture: the PayPal Cashback Mastercard®. It isn’t PayPal’s first credit card (remember the PayPal Extras Mastercard?), but it is the company’s first dip into the cash back pool. Consumers are extremely excited about cash back rewards right now, so this move makes a great deal of sense as PayPal tries to increase its presence with brick-and-mortar stores and compete with mobile payments rivals like Apple and Facebook.

The card offers 2% (unlimited) cash back on all purchases with no annual fee — that’s one of the highest unlimited cash back rebates on the market. (Most cash back cards offer either 3%-6% with an earning cap, or a flat rate of 1.5%.) Those stats put it head-to-head with the Citi Double Cash card and U.S. Bank Fidelity card, both of which also offer unlimited 2% cash back with no annual fee.

Cardholders can redeem cash back earnings at any time, for any amount, which is pretty flexible considering that some cash back cards require at least a $25 minimum for redemption. (Chase recently follued Rewards will live in PayPal users’ online wallets and can be spent immediately on PayPal purchases or transferred to a bank account.

The PayPal Cashback Mastercard
Annual fee	None
Rewards details	Earn 2% cash back at PayPal, Ebay, and all other purchases made anywhere that Mastercard is accepted.
Redemption options	Cash Rewards can be redeemed directly into your PayPal balance at any time, for any amount.
Variable purchase APR	16.99%, 24.99% or 27.99%
Signup bonus	None
Foreign transaction fee	3%

What’s not to love?

If you’re an avid PayPal shopper, the flexibility to redeem your rewards for any amount is incredibly attractive. But before you sign up, there are a few things you should consider.

2% cash back is great, but there are better reward rates.

If you aren’t a heavy spender, you should consider a card with higher rewards rates for certain categories. For example, the earns a whopping 6% at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year. (It also earns 3% unlimited cash back at U.S gas stations and select U.S. department stores.)

If you max out the 6% category and spend $500 a month on groceries, you’ll earn $360 cash back. In comparison, you’d have to spend $1,500 a month — three times as much — with the PayPal Cashback Mastercard® to earn the same $360 reward. The bottom line is that unless you’re spending $2,000 or more on your card each month, you might be better off with a higher-rate cash back card — even it if has earning caps.

Note: the has a $95 annual fee that’s waived for year one, while the PayPal Cashback Mastercard® doesn’t have an annual fee at all.

There’s no signup bonus.

The the PayPal Cashback Mastercard doesn’t offer a signup bonus. If that disappoints you, the is a great alternative. If you spend $1,000 in the first 90 days of opening your account (that’s around $330 a month), you’ll earn $200 cash back that you can redeem for gift cards, statement credits, or deposit directly into your bank account. On top of that, you’ll get a cash back redemption bonus of 5% every time you redeem.

If travel is more up your alley, the offers 50,000 bonus points worth $625 when you redeem toward travel via Chase Ultimate Rewards®. The minimum spending requirement is a bit steeper ($4,000 in the first three months), but the bonus is one of the most generous on the market right now.

The post PayPal’s new credit card offers 2% cash back with no annual fee appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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Feel Burned by Eclipse Glasses From Amazon? Keep Your Eyes on This Lawsuit

Did you think solar eclipse madness was over? You were so, so wrong.

A couple in South Carolina has filed a lawsuit against Amazon. The couple says they used a three-pack of eclipse glasses they purchased on Amazon to view the Aug. 21 solar eclipse. The suit says that after they used the glasses, they both started getting headaches and watery eyes.

After those initial symptoms, they started to experience blurry vision and dark spots in their lines of vision, the lawsuit claims.

The suit accuses Amazon of unfair trade practices, negligence and breach of warranty, among other claims.

Amazon’s Attention to Counterfeits: Too Little, Too Late?

Amazon announced on Aug. 13, a week ahead of the eclipse, that potentially counterfeit glasses were for sale in its marketplace. At that time, Amazon said it was removing potentially dangerous glasses from its listings.

According to the suit, Amazon released a recall notice for identified counterfeit eclipse glasses that didn’t meet safe viewing standards on Aug. 19, just two days before the countrywide event. The plaintiffs claim they did not receive a recall notice from Amazon.

Cities across South Carolina drew large crowds because much of the state was in the path of the eclipse’s totality.

We reached out to Amazon, but a representative said the company doesn’t comment on litigation.

Lisa Rowan is a writer and producer at The Penny Hoarder.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, one of the largest personal finance websites. We help millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. In 2016, Inc. 500 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the No. 1 fastest-growing private media company in the U.S.

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It Just Got Easier for Harvey Victims to Use 401(k) Funds for Recovery

You’ve seen the heartbreaking photos of Hurricane Harvey’s aftermath. As of Wednesday, the megastorm dumped more than 51.9 inches of rain and 19 trillion gallons of water on southeastern Texas, USA Today reports.

Victims are now coming to terms with the severity of the damage to their homes and personal belongings. Soon, they will be forced to face the financial damages as well.

The IRS recently announced it would make it easier for victims to tap into their 401(k) accounts to cover flood-related expenses.

While money may be the last thing on victims’ minds right now, they should be aware of what’s to come after borrowing that retirement money.

The New Rules for Hurricane Harvey Victims

On Aug. 30, the IRS relaxed the requirements for Hurricane Harvey victims who need to tap into their 401(k) and 403(b) plans.

Retirement plan providers can now allow victims to access funds for things like food and shelter through hardship withdrawal, and they don’t have to require certain documentation. Typically, hardship distributions don’t include these areas of need; the change comes in hopes of getting people help as soon as possible.

The relaxed rules also make it easier for victims’ family members from anywhere in the country to pull a hardship distribution.  

Victims of Hurricane Harvey are defined by the IRS as those whose main home or place of employment is in one of the Texas counties identified for individual assistance by FEMA on Aug. 23; a full list of affected counties can be found here.

Most retirement savings plans already allow individuals to take out loans and distributions for hardships, but the changes allow some plans that don’t already have hardship distributions to offer them to victims, TIME Money reports.

Hardship distributions don’t have to be repaid, but they’re subject to a 10% penalty for early withdrawal, and they get taxed as part of the individual’s gross income.

Those seeking to use retirement funds without facing big penalties also have the option of using 401(k) loans. When you take a loan from your retirement savings, those funds aren’t subject to taxes, but you must repay them within a certain time frame.

CNBC reports that about 80% of Hurricane Harvey victims don’t have flood insurance. For many, tapping into retirement savings for survival could be the only choice.

In 2005, Congress passed a law that allowed Hurricane Katrina victims to take qualified distributions of up to $100,000 without penalty. According to TIME Money, lawmakers may follow suit for Harvey victims, bringing at least some relief when it comes to rebuilding their lives.

Kelly Smith is a junior writer and engagement specialist at The Penny Hoarder. Catch her on Twitter at @keywordkelly.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, one of the largest personal finance websites. We help millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. In 2016, Inc. 500 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the No. 1 fastest-growing private media company in the U.S.

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Pizza Hut Celebrates National Cheese Pizza Day With Amazing $5 Pie Deal

Because National Pizza Day just isn’t enough, meet National Cheese Pizza Day, coming to a kitchen table near you Tuesday, Sept. 5.

To celebrate the purest of pizza recipes, Pizza Hut will offer $5 large cheese pizzas all day Tuesday.

To get yours, order online and use the promo code SAYCHEESE.

But that’s not all, pizza lovers. Want toppings? Pizza Hut has you covered with 50% off all “menu-priced pizza orders” (read: full price) all week. The offer is available on online orders for carryout or delivery from Sept. 5-11.

Don’t Forget Your Hut Rewards

Pizza Hut launched its new Hut Rewards program this summer, awarding users with a free pizza once they accrue 200 points. Order before Oct. 1, and you’ll earn four points per dollar you spend online, instead of the typical two points per dollar.

P.S.: If you’re wondering whether you need a large pizza, you really do. It’s the best way to get your money’s worth.

Lisa Rowan is a writer and producer at The Penny Hoarder who never met a slice of pizza she didn’t like.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, one of the largest personal finance websites. We help millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. In 2016, Inc. 500 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the No. 1 fastest-growing private media company in the U.S.

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This Guide Will Explain How to Ask Your Boss for More Flexibility at Work

Here at The Penny Hoarder, we read job posting after job posting from companies desiring workers who are flexible.

They want employees willing to work changing schedules, who can simultaneously balance multiple projects and who can sometimes carry out work outside their job descriptions.

But sometimes those companies are a little, well… rigid themselves.

So what do you do if you wish your workplace were more flexible for your benefit?

Thankfully, 1 Million for Work Flexibility, the advocacy arm of FlexJobs, has laid out a plan for you to approach your boss to get the work flexibility you crave.

“[1 Million for Work Flexibility] wants to give workers guidance around how to approach the issue of flexibility in a way that will hopefully get them the change that they need, and also in a way that will help that change be most successful,” said Emma Plumb, the director of 1 Million for Work Flexibility.

A Step-By-Step Guide to Asking for a Flexible Work Schedule

The organization has created a step-by-step guide with three phases: preparation, proposal and discussion.

During the preparation phase, you’ll want to ask yourself questions to figure out what your ideal working situation would look like. The guide suggests rehearsing your pitch with a friend during the proposal phase and asking your boss to implement a trial period for the new flex schedule during the discussion phase.

The resource also includes suggestions for what to do if your company doesn’t respond exactly in your favor. Getting a “no” doesn’t necessarily mean giving up completely on the thought of work flexibility at your job.

“Going to your boss with any request can be difficult,” Plumb said. “But it’s especially hard when you’re asking for something that could be interpreted as a sign that you are less committed to your job.

“That’s why in the 1MFWF guide, we stress how important it is to emphasize all the ways that your employer will benefit from offering flexibility. Work flexibility isn’t a perk or an accommodation, it’s a strategy for ensuring that workers can [get] their jobs done most effectively. There’s nothing less committed about that.”

Plumb said all types of workers — parents, people caring for aging relatives or ailing partners, people with physical or mental health issues, military spouses, people living in rural communities, people who have volunteer commitments, night owls, early birds, hobbyists and more — have the need for more flexible work options.

“The traditional, rigid workplace model makes it impossible for the majority of workers to succeed at their jobs and also succeed in their personal lives,” she said. “And that disconnect is not only unfortunate, it’s also unnecessary. We have all the technology we need to change the way work gets done for the better.”

If you’re looking for a new job altogether, check out FlexJobs’ employment listings which show openings from companies known for their flexible work practices, and bookmark The Penny Hoarder’s jobs page, which continuously features jobs that give you the flexibility of working from home.

While you’re at it, like The Penny Hoarder Jobs page on Facebook for more fun and interesting job opportunities!

Nicole Dow is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She really appreciates work flexibility.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, one of the largest personal finance websites. We help millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. In 2016, Inc. 500 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the No. 1 fastest-growing private media company in the U.S.

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This Site Aims to Connect People With Jobs in the Fast-Growing Pot Industry

Like it or not, the marijuana industry is growing (pun intended) rapidly.

In fact, it’s one of the fastest growing industries in the U.S. right now.

Medical marijuana has been legalized in 29 states and Washington D.C., and recreational marijuana is now legal in eight. In 2016, cannabis sales topped out at $6.7 billion in the U.S. and Canada.

And the jobs? The jobs are practically creating themselves.

Right now, an estimated 100,000 to 150,000 people are employed by legal marijuana businesses.

It’s projected that by the year 2020, the cannabis industry will create over a quarter of a million new jobs — all while manufacturing, utilities and government jobs decline.

But with so many new job opportunities pouring onto the scene, it may be frustrating for hopeful job seekers to weed through the mire and break into the industry.

And that’s exactly why Karson Humiston, a 24-year-old entrepreneur from Denver, Colorado, (saw that one coming, didn’t you?), created Vangsters.

Vangsters Helps You Find a Job in the Marijuana Industry

The new digital job platform, which functions much the same as sites like Indeed and Glassdoor, is geared specifically to jobs in the cannabis industry. Job seekers can fill out a profile to use the site’s features for free and can search through the more than 100 open positions currently on the site. Cannabis companies can pay $70 per month to have their jobs listed on the site.

While there are some opportunities for upper-level, salaried positions in dispensaries and production facilities, the bulk of these new jobs will be hourly positions for the average Mary Jane — jobs like plant harvesters, trimmers and salespeople.

“The bulk of the industry, about 75% of the open jobs, are for people in dispensaries, cultivators, brand ambassadors, and other intermediate and entry-level-positions,” Humiston, the brains behind the platform, says. “Companies don’t necessarily need a recruiter to fill these jobs, but they do need a place to showcase them.”

Humiston has been helping cannabis companies fill roles for the past two years. In that time, her recruiting team has paired 3,000 people with weed-related jobs. They hope to grow that number to 10,000 by the year 2020.

Jobs in the pot business range in pay from $10 to $15 an hour for an entry-level salesperson to as much as $130,000 per year for a “director of cultivation,” according to Time.com.

Plus, because these cannabis companies are still in the startup phase, there’s plenty of room for growth — and even equity — for those who get into the business now.

To put it bluntly, a job in the cannabis industry might not be a bad thing to look into.

Grace Schweizer is a junior writer at The Penny Hoarder.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, one of the largest personal finance websites. We help millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. In 2016, Inc. 500 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the No. 1 fastest-growing private media company in the U.S.

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Ulta’s 21 Days of Beauty Sale Has Some of the Most Mind-Blowing Deals Ever

I’ve said it before: The day I learn to fill in my eyebrows without looking insane, I will be unstoppable.

Well, now might be my moment to give world domination another shot. And if you’re anything like me, now is your moment, too. It’s time again for Ulta’s 21 Days of Beauty sale.

The beauty retailer holds the mega-sale twice a year. This time around, it runs Sept. 3-23. And get ready because every single day, a new set of trinkets promising to make you feel as polished as your favorite YouTube beauty guru is going to be at least 50% off.

But Will Ulta Really Discount the Good Stuff?

I know what you’re thinking, so I’m going to stop you right there. I swear, Ulta is not holding back on us. It has plans to discount the good stuff.

On Sept. 8, Urban Decay’s Naked Flushed palette, which retails at $34, will be yours for $17.

Two days later, you can head to Ulta.com to snag the Nars NARSissist Cheek Studio palette, which retails at $55, for $27.50. And while you’re at it, feel super luxe on a budget and get your hands on the normally $20 Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes Precision Longwear liquid eyeliner for $10.

I’m starting on the very first day in hopes of snagging the It Cosmetics Brow Power Super Skinny for $12 instead of $24.

Seriously, have you read the product description? It is “the first-ever super skinny micro-tip actually designed and measured to perfectly mimic the exact width of real brow hair with each stroke giving you truly natural-looking brows.”

How can you not buy this carefully crafted perfection?

While I don’t know if this will actually work — user error will be to blame, I’m sure — it sounds like the answer to my innermost eyebrow fantasies.

The Ulta Savings Don’t Stop This Month

Obviously, this sale is the holy grail for Ulta lovers. But we’ve already put together a whole slew of ways to save at Ulta if you somehow miss out on this sale.

Here are a couple of my favorites: I know, you’re probably thinking Ibotta is only for groceries, but you can get cash back on your Ulta purchases as well. Also, don’t forget about Ulta’s “Free Gifts With Purchase” section. It’s the perfect place to go to find new products to try while only spending on the things you already know you’ll love.

Good luck to all those who venture out and peruse Ulta’s mega-sale. May your eyebrows be forever flawless and symmetrical.

Desiree Stennett (@desi_stennett) is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. The day she masters perfect eyebrows, there will surely be a celebratory lap on Twitter.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, one of the largest personal finance websites. We help millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. In 2016, Inc. 500 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the No. 1 fastest-growing private media company in the U.S.

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Day Care Deserts Are Widespread Across the Nation. Do You Live in One?

Affording day care is a challenge many Americans face.

Nearly a third of families spend 20% or more of their income on child care, according to Care.com.

But affordability aside, what do you do when there aren’t any child care options available where you live?

The Center for American Progress recently studied child care availability in 22 states — representing roughly two-thirds of the nation’s population — and found 51% live in day care deserts, or areas with a significant lack or undersupply of licensed child care providers.

Who Are Most Affected by Day Care Deserts?

Of the 22 states studied, California and New York had the highest percentage of people living in a child care desert — 62% and 61%, respectively. Illinois (59%), Pennsylvania (59%) and Missouri (55%) rounded out the top five.

Those living in low-income, rural communities were found to be impacted the most by day care deserts.

A higher percentage of American Indian, Alaska Native, Hispanic and Latino families were found to live in communities without enough child care options compared to other races and ethnic groups.

How Does Your Neighborhood Measure Up?

The Center for American Progress has an interactive map that shows just how much your location is impacted by this issue.

For example, I live in the state of Florida, where 38% of the population lives without adequate child care availability. The good news is that much of my city, St. Petersburg, is not considered a day care desert.

Yet, the interactive map allows users to go a step further than city level. You can plug in your address to get information based on your individual census tract.

The bad news? The census tract where I live is considered a child care desert. There are only two licensed child care providers (able to care for a maximum of 76 kids) in an area where there are about 256 children under the age of 5.

What Can You Do If You Live in a Day Care Desert?

Families stuck in day care deserts don’t always have the most ideal options to help their situations. Some resort to having one partner leave the workforce to be a stay-at-home parent, while others try to alternate their schedules so one parent is always home to provide care.

Some parents, like myself, rely on low- or no-cost care from a relative or friend. For other parents, hiring a nanny or babysitter is their solution to dealing with a day care desert.

There are also parents who reserve day care spots for their kids while they’re still in the womb, those who commute to day care centers outside of their neighborhoods and families who send their tots to unlicensed child care providers.

The authors of the Center for American Progress study say government policies should be put in place to mitigate the widespread problem of inaccessible child care.

“First, the federal government must make a substantial and sustained investment that helps low-income and middle-class working families afford child care,” the study states. “Until families have the resources to afford child care, the market will be driven by parents’ ability to pay, leaving communities of color and those living in rural areas behind.”

Solving America’s day care woes isn’t going to be an easy, overnight solution, but hopefully something will be done to fix the unavailability — and unaffordability — of quality child care for so many across the nation.

Nicole Dow is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She is the mother of one.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, one of the largest personal finance websites. We help millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. In 2016, Inc. 500 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the No. 1 fastest-growing private media company in the U.S.

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5 Resources That’ll Help You Develop New Skills So You Can Get Back to Work

How to Eat and Drink Like an All-Star on a Rookie Budget at an MLB Game

How to Incorporate Social Proof on Every Page of Your Website

Every online marketer knows that the Internet is an insanely skeptical place.

It’s with good reason.

Let’s be honest.

Our space is littered with faux gurus and hyped up promises.

You’ve seen them:

“Make $500 000 with your first online course launch.”

“Give me 15 minutes, and I’ll give you a profit generating machine!”

Okay, I’m exaggerating a bit, but you get the drift. Your prospects don’t know you well, and they don’t trust you yet.

Social proof can change that.

Think about the last time you bought a product without looking at the reviews first or without a recommendation from someone you know.

Never happened, right?

That should give you an idea of how integral social proof is to easing the minds of your customers.

There is one question I get asked a lot.

People want to know where on their websites they should display proof elements.

The answer?

Everywhere.

Social proof should be splattered across your website.

The key is to have the right kind of proof on the right pages.

In this post, I’ll describe different types of social proof you can use and where on your website you can display them for maximum effect.

Sound good? Let’s start.

What is social proof?

Do you know what the herd mentality is?

It describes the way people are influenced by their peers to behave in a certain manner.

That’s the basis of social proof.

You see a bunch of people doing the same thing. You assume it’s the right thing to do. You do it too.

Now, it’s way more comforting to believe we are all independent thinkers and we take actions on our own volition.

Not true.

Of course, the pack mentality doesn’t apply to every area of life.

In business, however, you can bet it’s always at play.

And that’s good news.

It means you have the methods to ease your prospects’ anxieties and push them to make that final purchase decision.

Best of all, social proof makes your customers feel confident about their decisions.

Here’s the thing though.

Not all proof elements are created equal.

Some are more persuasive and impactful than others. Even the placement of that proof can have an impact.

I’ll give you the most compelling types and ways you can incorporate them so you have proof elements on every single page.

1. Case studies

This is by far one of the most powerful types of social proof.

Why?

It tells a complete story (if done well).

And as you know, a success story is the best kind of story in this case.

With case studies, you get a holistic view of your customer’s journey. You get to learn:

• what their life was like before they invested in you
• what prompted the purchase decision
• the obstacles they had on their way to a better outcome
• how you helped them overcome these obstacles
• the exact moment they experienced transformation
• what life looks like in the aftermath of this transformation.

Does your case study need all these elements?

Yes.

It’s way more effective than simply having a customer say

I had a great experience working with Jane, and I highly recommend her.

There is a place for that kind of proof, and I’ll talk about that later.

Where should you display case studies?

They’re so powerful they can stand on their own. I always recommend having a separate page to feature your success stories.

Like this:

Here’s another example:

Ramit Sethi executes this kind of social proof perfectly in his GrowthLab:

While you can have these on a separate page, you should also include product- or service-specific case studies on your sales pages.

You can do it in a number of ways:

• strategically embed video case studies into your sales page;
• use case studies as a response to questions on your FAQ page;
• condense the success story into a testimonial and have a “read more” link so prospects can access the full case study from your sales page.

These are just a few ideas.

2. Customer testimonials

These are much easier to put together than case studies.

Simply ask people with whom you’ve worked (and have had success) to write you a testimonial.

Like this:

Unlike with case studies, I don’t recommend you hoard all your testimonials on one page.

Why?

A testimonial doesn’t tell a whole story.

That means it won’t have much impact standing on its own. It needs to be backed by something else.

Here are some ideas for placement:

• next to a contact form
• next to a call-to-action button
• on an order form
• on a sales page, right after you’ve given the benefits of your product/service
• on a newsletter opt-in form. This is excellent for those who don’t have a large number of subscribers to use as social proof.
• on your About page.

I recently stumbled upon a site that places testimonials in a sidebar. This way, they appear on every website page.

It’s genius!

3. Strength in numbers

You’ve likely seen this one used a lot.

It works.

The most common use of this type of social proof is to have social sharing buttons on your blog posts.

It tells people this is a quality blog post that should be read.

It has the same effect as comments.

Check out this post by Brian Dean:

It has 871 comments! Now, that’s social proof.

Here’s the thing though.

Be aware of negative social proof.

If you have zero comments and zero social shares on a post, you may want to keep it to yourself.

Most social sharing tools allow you to shut off displaying the share count if it doesn’t clear a certain threshold.

Some other ways you can show strength in numbers:

• number of users
• number of downloads for software, tools, or resources
• number of subscribers

Displaying subscriber count is powerful proof.

Considering how important list-building is in business, if you have the right numbers, make use of them.

4. Endorsements from influencers

Influencers are people with massive authority in your niche.

Everyone knows them, likes them, and trusts their opinions.

Imagine getting an endorsement from one of the big players in your space. It can make your business.

How do you land such an endorsement?

1. Zone in on an influencer.
2. Get on their radar by engaging with their content.
3. Make contact via email.
4. Do something spectacular for them.
5. Ask for an endorsement.

I know, it’s easier said than done. But that’s the general path you need to take.

Don’t want to take this route?

You can also pay to play.

In other words, you can hire influencers to endorse your brand or products.

If you have the funds, it can be quite profitable.

It’s reported that for every $1 businesses spend on influencer marketing, they get $6.50 back. Those in the top 13% get $20 back.

Now, that’s what I call rock solid ROI.

After you’ve got your endorsements, you can display them on your website.

The Home page and About page are prime real estate for this kind of proof:

It tells website visitors you’re a big deal, and you’re worth listening to.

That’s what you want, right?

If someone prominent has praised you, show it off.

5. Media mentions

Have you ever seen logos of different publications splattered across some websites?

I’m sure you have. It’s commonly used.

Here’s an example:

It doesn’t have to be a formal media establishment like NBC News. It can be a popular website in your niche.

If you’ve ever been featured there (guest post, interview, etc.), you can place the logo on your website as a form of proof.

This is almost always displayed on the Home page.

Here’s a pro tip for landing media mentions.

Go to a site called HARO.

It’s a platform that connects reporters with sources. If you have expertise in an area, you can easily become a source.

On the website, click on “I’m a source.”

Here’s how it works.

And that’s it!

You have a means of connecting with reporters and getting those much-coveted media mentions.

6. Trust seals and certifications

Trust icons help customers feel safe about working with you.

Certifications have the same effect.

Sure, we no longer live in a world where credentials matter as much as results.

But many people still rely on these signals so they can feel reassured in their decisions.

Certifications that demonstrate your expertise can give potential clients a push in the right direction.

This works best for service pages.

Just look at the number of badges Kristi Hines has on her freelance website:

I bet if someone is looking into her services, it may be enough to get them over the edge.

Now, let’s talk about trust seals.

These are especially crucial for order forms.

Here are some examples of trust seals:

• SSL certificates
• privacy badges or statements
• money back guarantee
• credit card logos

These are the most common ones.

No order form or sales page should come without at least a few trust icons.

This is where money is exchanged. Your customers need to know their information is safe.

Sometimes all it takes is to have credit card iconography, like this:

ConversionXL tested a few popular trust seals to see how they fared with customers.

PayPal was the most trusted, and Visa-Mastercard was the most familiar brand.

7. Expert opinions

I get asked this question all the time:

“How can I display social proof on my website if I’m new to business and have no clients?”

That’s an excellent question.

I recognize many people may not have access to all these proof elements.

Endorsements, case studies, and testimonials are not always easy to acquire.

The simple solution?

Expert opinions.

Here’s how this works.

Let’s say you’re starting a blog on consumer psychology.

You haven’t worked in this space before, and you have no credentials.

While you work towards getting the necessary proof elements, you can feature quotes from experts in the consumer psychology field.

It tells people your topic is valid and there’s a track record of success in the industry.

It doesn’t have to be a personal testimony, and this expert doesn’t have to be connected to you.

As long as you credit them as the source of your quote, you’re good to go.

8. Popular posts and products

This is another way to have proof elements on your website when you don’t have many choices.

I assure you, it works.

You can display popular posts in your sidebar as I do:

You can also place them in your footer, like Blogging Wizard does:

Again, be mindful of negative social proof.

If your numbers are low, turn off the count feature in your popular post widget.

If you run an ecommerce store, you can display popular products, a.k.a. best sellers.

It has the same effect:

9. Reviews and ratings

This one is a no-brainer.

I bet you’ve never purchased a product on Amazon or any other online store without reading multiple reviews.

If it doesn’t have at least a four-star rating, you’d be even more skeptical and cautious.

The perfect placement for reviews and ratings?

On product pages.

This is more applicable to ecommerce stores.

Some people find it useful to incentivize customers to provide reviews. They give a freebie or credit toward another purchase.

While that’s a solid strategy, I prefer a more organic way of generating positive reviews.

I’m a big fan of customer advocacy.

This is where you deliver such a spectacular customer experience that your customers are compelled to sing you praises.

They’ll recommend you to their friends, use their social media assets to promote your business, and be your most loyal customers.

The best part?

They do it for free (no incentives or payment required).

Mobilize customer advocates, and you’ll have an organic system for generating the kind of reviews that will inspire others.

10. Client or customer list

A creative way to display social proof is to feature a client list.

It helps if your clients are recognizable names in your industry. This is even more impactful than a verbal endorsement from an influencer.

Here’s an example from Sleeknote:

Service-based businesses can do this as well:

Smart, right?

Conclusion

The premise of social proof is simple.

When you call on other people to tell your prospects how awesome you are, the message hits home more powerfully.

And when you do decide to toot your own horn, at least you’ve got the testimony of dozens of people to back you up.

Social proof isn’t something that’s just useful. It is critical.

Your customers want to see these proof elements because they want to feel confident investing in you.

You have no shortage of options.

I’ve given you ten of the most impactful ones and the best placements for them on your website.

Both service- and product-based businesses can use these elements. So can new and veteran entrepreneurs alike.

Put these proof elements to work. Engagement on your content will go through the roof, and conversion rates will improve.

What kind of social proof works best for you?

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Stopping Online “Boredom” Shopping

I’ve done it myself a few times.

You’re sitting at your computer, or maybe tapping around on your phone. You don’t have much to do at the moment – maybe you’re waiting for someone to get home, or waiting for your name to be called while you sit in the waiting room.

Whatever it is, you’re just idly checking out websites and, somehow, you find yourself at an e-commerce site. Maybe you followed a link there, or maybe you typed in a URL.

You’re there. You see something that you want, perhaps for a good price, but perhaps not.

Without even really thinking about it, you click “Buy” and, almost immediately, that item is on its way to you. The money has come out of your credit card or your PayPal account.

Then, you move on. Your family comes home or you get called by the receptionist or you decide to go to bed. Half of the time, you completely forget about the “bored” order until it arrives on your doorstep.

I call this “boredom” shopping. You’re online without any real purpose because you don’t have anything else to do at that moment. You find your way to an online shopping or auction site and discover some product you “must” have. You click “buy.” The money goes away. Soon, you have something arriving in your mailbox that you barely even want.

You have less money. You have another thing to jam in your closet. And, over time, it all adds up to a bunch of unwanted stuff and a much smaller checking account.

It’s a nasty habit, but it’s one that’s familiar to most people who spend much time online. Almost all of us have bought something when we were bored and looking at websites, something that we really wondered about later.

Such “boredom” shopping is almost always a financial mistake. If it’s repeated very often, it can turn into a big one.

Yet, in a world where internet access is so convenient and pervasive, how does one keep themselves from falling into this simple trap? The internet is always available to entertain us in a moment of boredom and it is so easy to find something we want and take action instantaneously at the click of a button.

Here are six strategies I use to keep this type of online “boredom” shopping at bay.

Keep other “worthwhile” entertainment on your phone. I always have a book to read on my phone. Always. I often check out books from the library to read on my phone using the Overdrive app, and sometimes I download free books from Project Gutenberg.

Another avenue is to simply have a fun game that you consistently enjoy playing on your phone, preferably one that isn’t full of in-app purchases. I enjoy playing implementations of board games on my phone, such as Ascension and Ticket to Ride, so I often play those during a few down moments where I feel like reading. I also read articles in apps separate from my web browser, such as Instapaper, which make it much harder to just jump straight to an e-commerce site.

The goal with these tactics is to ensure that when I’m using my phone for a quick source of entertainment, I stay out of my web browser, which is where most e-commerce on my phone occurs. In fact, I generally avoid any apps that easily allow me to make purchases. There’s plenty of entertainment elsewhere.

If you’re tempted to buy, add it to your wish list instead. Let’s say I do wind up on Amazon, eyeing something that I really want to buy. My hand is hovering over that “Buy it Now” button and I want to take action on this desire.

Rather than clicking the “Buy” button, instead simply click on the “Add to List” button and toss it on your wishlist. You’re left with the feeling that you did take action on that desire, but you didn’t actually buy it. Instead, you postponed any sort of decision on that item.

At some point in the future, you’ll find yourself reviewing that list. One or two items will still seem interesting and relevant, and those might make for worthwhile planned purchases. Most of the stuff? It’s junk. Quietly delete it from your wish list. Wonder why you ever thought you should own it in the first place.

Separate the “money = buying” connection. Many people assume that if they have money left in their account, then it must be okay to buy things. After all, that’s excess money just sitting there. With that mindset, “boredom” shopping becomes unproblematic, because you merely spent money that was just sitting there.

One effective way to do that is to put money to use in smart ways when you see it sitting in your account. Use it to make an extra payment on a debt or make an extra contribution to your Roth IRA. If that money is put to positive use, it’s not just sitting there providing a psychological temptation.

If your problem is credit card use, put your credit card on lockdown for a while. Cut up the card. Delete the number from your online accounts. Simply don’t use it. If you simply must make an online purchase, stick to a debit card and avoid credit entirely.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with buying things for yourself, but buying should be connected to life goals, not to boredom. Focus on purchases not as a way to alleviate boredom, but as a way to further an ambition that you’re already exploring.

In other words, view boredom as a trigger to try something new, not just to spend money. Boredom isn’t a state to be alleviated by the next pleasure that you can throw money at. Boredom is a state where your mind is crying out for something to apply itself to, and you don’t have to spend money to find that something. If you find yourself regularly bored, try a new hobby. Go to a meetup that seems interesting. Check out a book from the library on a subject that’s completely new to you. Engage your mind and body in activity rather than channeling that boredom into buying stuff.

Another useful strategy is to set personal goals for yourself and save shopping for the successful completion of those goals. This ties into solving the “boredom” problem. Simply engage yourself in something else you’re passionate about, set a goal for yourself within that passion, and give yourself permission to further that passion with a purchase if you achieve that goal.

For example, my wife and I have a list of camping equipment that we’d love to upgrade (sleeping bags and lanterns are at the top of the list, as our lantern is difficult to light and the adult sleeping bags are becoming really stained and worn and threadbare) and, more than once, I’ve added some of those items to an Amazon shopping cart in a moment of boredom. However, rather than simply buying them on the spur of the moment, we tie those purchases into investment of time in camping. If we spend a lot of time camping, then it actually makes sense to upgrade those items.

I’ve adopted the same approach with board games. I have decided I won’t drop a game (via trade) from my collection unless I’ve played it ten times or ten hours (whichever comes first), and I won’t add a new game until I’ve dropped one (there are a few minor exceptions to this rule, but that’s good enough).

In the end, the problem of boredom shopping is a lack of self-control. These techniques help teach some degree of self-control and enforce some restrictions so that you’re not faced with battling your own self-control, but in the end, it still comes down to you and your own self-control journey. Correcting a pattern of buying stuff in the moment out of boredom is a self-control challenge, one that, if successfully beaten, will help you with other self-control challenges in your life such as eating a better diet or exercising.

My final tip for you, then, is this: remind yourself that this is about self-control and do so regularly, with the idea in mind that self-control is hugely beneficial in almost every area of your life. Mastering boredom shopping is all about self-control. It’s a fairly narrow challenge, too, one that you can teach yourself to overcome and, in that process, realize that you have far more control over your thoughts and impulses than you ever would have believed.

Good luck!

The post Stopping Online “Boredom” Shopping appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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No Such Thing as a Free Puppy: The Costly Truth About Owning a Dog

How an 8-Month Stay in China Fixed Our Money Woes

When I was 12, I took my first trip to France. The travel bug bit and I’ve been obsessed with seeing the world ever since.

Until only recently, however, every time I began to make travel plans, an inner voice screamed, “Oh no, how much is this going to cost me?”

Although I never regretted the experiences that came with a big trip, I couldn’t help but view travel as a drain on my bank account.

But moving to China with my husband for eight months completely changed that mindset.

How Did We Move to China?

My husband, Daniel, and I got married in October 2016. We both wanted to move abroad right away before jobs, kids or a house tied us down.

Three weeks after our wedding, we packed our bags and headed to Shenzhen, China.

There are numerous agencies that can set you up with schools or programs in China. We chose Adventure Teaching because Daniel used this company when he moved to South Korea for a year right after college.

Agencies like Adventure Teaching do have a few qualifications you must meet to apply. You must be a native English speaker and have an undergraduate degree. Your degree doesn’t even have to be in English or education! I earned my BA in communication studies, and Daniel has his BS in business and public policy.

Having a Teaching English as a Foreign Language or Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages certification can help your resume stand out to Chinese schools, but it isn’t required to apply to this kind of agency.

The best part is that using these agencies costs nothing! These companies make their money from the schools seeking teachers, not from the teachers seeking schools.

How Much Was Our Salary in China?

The agency placed Daniel and me in the same primary school, which paid each of us  $1,588 per month. This would have come to $38,112 if we had stayed for a full year.

That doesn’t sound like much, but when you consider the low cost of living in China (more on that below), we lived a surprisingly comfortable lifestyle.

Each of us also had a part-time job. For an hour per week, I gave private English lessons to a small group of 10-year-olds and earned $62. Daniel worked four extra hours per week teaching English at a private learning center, earning $176 each week.

Between our full-time jobs and easy, lucrative part-time jobs, we raked in about $4,200 per month total.

What Were Our Startup Costs?

We had to pay for our flights to and from China. We used Skyscanner to find the cheapest deals possible and paid just over $3,000 for two round-trip tickets from our home in Atlanta to China.

Adventure Teaching connected Daniel and me with a Chinese company called Seadragon. Seadragon served as a liaison between us and the school we’d been placed in. The company also helped us with practical needs, such as finding an apartment and making doctors’ appointments.

While Seadragon didn’t technically reimburse us for our flights, we each received a $1,175 bonus to cover transportation costs at the end of our eight-month contracts. Thanks to that bonus, we ended up paying only around $650 for two round-trip tickets to China.

We also had to pay three months of rent upfront. Our two-bedroom apartment cost $780 per month, so that totaled $2,340. Although Seadragon paid for our housing, we had to provide that lump sum on the front end as a security measure. Because SeaDragon paid us our housing allowance, we recouped that money in the end.

There were also various little expenses, like $29 for two metro passes and $15 per month for two phone plans.

How Did We Benefit Financially?

1. Cost of Living in China Was Low

Seadragon gave us a monthly stipend of $882 for housing, meaning we had about $100 left over to use as we pleased. No money came out of our pockets to pay rent. That’s not bad, considering the median rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Atlanta was $1,700, as of January 2017. Yikes.

Utilities weren’t included in the rent, so the extra $100 usually went toward those bills. Essentially, we didn’t have to pay for utilities, either!

During the first semester, our school provided free lunches for teachers, but that policy changed at the beginning of the second semester. From then on, each meal cost 74 cents. Still not a bad deal for a lunch that included meat, rice and two servings of vegetables.

The kitchen in our apartment left a lot to be desired, so we didn’t cook much during those eight months. (Plus, I’m an atrocious cook.) Eating out didn’t put too much of a strain on our wallets, though, because we were usually able to purchase a large, tasty meal for less than $3 per person.

2. We Could Afford to Travel

Remember when I mentioned the anxiety I experienced just thinking about travel costs?

Too often, it seems people have an “either/or” mindset. Either I can be financially responsible, save for a home and start saving for retirement early or I can travel the world and have unforgettable experiences.

Moving to China allowed me to achieve both of these valid goals.

Yes, flying from America to Asia can be expensive, but once you’re in Asia, traveling around is pretty cheap. Daniel and I bought two round-trip tickets from Shenzhen to Bangkok for only $175. Thailand is a very affordable country, so buying those tickets was our big expense for that trip.

Over the course of our eight-month teaching stint, we had the opportunity to visit Thailand, Japan and various parts of China.

3. I Had Time for My Side Gig

I won’t lie, teaching ESL in China is a pretty easy job. Yes, I was in the office 40 hours per week, but I only spent 12 of those hours teaching and three hours planning my lessons. After I was finished, I could use my office hours however I saw fit.

As a freelance writer, I spent a lot of that time building my side gig.

When I was paid for a piece via PayPal, I immediately deposited that money into our American bank account. We used that account to pay credit card bills and Daniel’s student loans, and to make automatic electronic fund transfers into our IRAs each month.

Thanks to all my free time, I was able to make enough extra money to cover all our bills back in the U.S.

4. We Set Ourselves Up for the Future

Daniel and I weren’t as financially prepared as we would have liked when we first moved to China. We had no money in savings.

After our stay in China, we now have $5,600 in our savings account. We could have squirreled away much more, but we chose to live a balanced life and explore the world instead.

I’m also about to open a savings account solely for future travels. I’ll put in just $100 to get it started.

We each contributed an extra $500 to our IRAs in our eight months in China. This was on top of our usual monthly contributions.

We brought plenty of money home with us to deposit into our checking account. Daniel starts graduate school this month, so he only works part time. Thankfully, working in China also enabled us to build a solid emergency fund in case money is tight during his first semester of studies.

Our transition to graduate school life, not to mention life back in America, isn’t looking as financially stressful as I once expected.

Are you in a place where you can pack up all your possessions and move to China? Doing so could actually give you a financial leg up!

My husband and I had an unforgettable time meeting new people, experiencing different cultures (and very different food) and traveling around Asia. And we feel much more financially stable than we did before we set out on this grand expedition.

Laura Grace Tarpley is a nomad and freelance writer who runs the blog Let’s Go Tarpley!, where she shares tips about budget travel and moving abroad. Follow her on Twitter @lgtarpley.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, one of the largest personal finance websites. We help millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. In 2016, Inc. 500 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the No. 1 fastest-growing private media company in the U.S.

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