الأربعاء، 13 سبتمبر 2017
Seven steps to building a bigger pension
This Friday is Pensions Awareness Day. The aim of the day is to promote the importance of saving for the future and to alert the nation that it is not saving enough for retirement. So, in support, here are my seven steps to building a bigger pension.
1. Start investing early
Albert Einstein once said “Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it.... he who doesn't pays it.” Starting earlier gives you a huge advantage; no matter how little you have to invest, it is still worth doing.
For example, if an investor invests £1 a day for 70 years and achieves an annual rate of return of 7%, with all income being reinvested and interest being compounded monthly, the resulting pot of money is worth £685,245. If the same investor wanted to make the same £685,245 over a 50-year period, under the same conditions, he would have had to invest more than £4 a day.
2. Don't opt out – make it a regular habit
Remember to actually save into your pension on a regular basis, especially if it means your employer will contribute more too. And remember to increase your contributions as your wages increase. It is all well and good picking funds that perform well, but the best way to make a pot grow is to add money to it. The amount you save depends entirely on what you can afford, but the more you save now, the more you will have in retirement.
3. Make regular checks
Monitoring your pension is hugely important, particularly when investing in funds. By monitoring where you are invested you can ensure that you are on track to meet your retirement goal. Overtime you may also want to change the look of your portfolio. Someone who has a long time until they retire may be willing to take more risk, as their funds will have longer to hopefully outperform, despite any short-term dips. Someone who is due to retire in the next five -10 years may want to be in less volatile funds, so that their savings have less chance of being damaged by any short-term dips in markets.
4. Consolidate – don't lose your pensions when you switch jobs
It is unlikely that you will have only one employer throughout your lifetime, however, so it could be tricky to keep track of the different policies you hold. Consolidating all your pensions in one place can make it a lot easier to keep an eye on charges, but also where your money is invested. Remember to check that you won't lose any guarantees or benefits by transferring, and always check if there are transfer out charges. The government offers a free pension tracing service.
5. Reclaim missed tax relief on contributions
All UK residents under 75 receive a minimum of 20% tax relief when they contribute to a pension. This is usually automatically reclaimed and added to your investment. For example, if you were to invest £800 into your pension, £200 would be added by the government, making your total contribution £1,000 for that tax year. However, if you are a higher rate or additional rate tax payer, you can claim the extra back through your tax return. Say you pay 40% tax, the extra 20% can be reclaimed, meaning that your £1,000 contribution is now costing you only £600.
Many people are missing out on these savings. If you are one of those people, don't worry! You can write to your local tax office up to four years after the year you contributed to reclaim the missed tax relief. You will usually receive a cheque, or have your next tax bill reduced.
6. You can keep paying into your pension after you retire
Just because you have retired does not mean you have to stop contributing to your pension completely. Up to the age of 75 you can continue to receive tax relief on contributions, depending on your circumstances.
7. Save for a family member
The annual allowance for an individual is based on how much they have earned in that tax year, but did you know that someone who is a non-earner can also save into a pension. The amount a person will receive as a state pension is entirely based on their national insurance contributions through their working life. But what about those individuals that have taken time out to raise a family?
If your spouse has done so, why not save into a personal pension for them, so they are not disadvantaged in retirement?
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الثلاثاء، 12 سبتمبر 2017
Neighbor-spoofing Robocalls Are the New Nuisance
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Neighbor-spoofing Robocalls Are the New Nuisance
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TARGETCATCHUP09122017
If you frequently shop at Target for groceries and other essentials for your home, you may see a smaller tab at the register soon.
Target says it has lowered prices on thousands of items and made it easier to determine what’s on sale.
“We’ve taken a close look at the products that are most important to our guests, making sure they’re priced right daily,” a blog post explained. Target says it has eliminated two-thirds of its price and offer signage “so you can more easily spot the savings.”
The items Target has lowered everyday prices on include cereal, paper towels, baby formula, razors, toilet paper, school supplies, milk and eggs.
Target representatives wouldn’t provide further details about which items have been discounted.
“The best bet is for guests to visit their local store or Target.com to access our latest pricing,” Target spokesperson Shandra Tollefson wrote in an email.
Target’s Gradual Reinvention
Target has been rehabbing its image in the years since the credit card data breach of 2013 that scared off many customers.
House brands Cherokee and Circo have been phased out, and the Merona and Massimo lines will be next to sunset. However, in all, more than a dozen new apparel, furniture and decor brands will be hitting Target shelves in the next 18 months.
The chain, which has more than 1,800 stores in the U.S., recently purchased a same-day delivery company and began testing same-day delivery services in New York City. It also recently rolled its popular Cartwheel savings app into the Target app to streamline the customer experience.
While Target’s sales have been on the rise in recent months, it reports flat growth in the food and beverage department. Groceries made up 22% of Target’s revenue in 2016, Bloomberg’s Sarah Halzack reports, while that category made up about 56% of Walmart’s sales last year.
With grocery competition increasing — from the Amazon-Whole Foods merger to the growing presence of low-cost grocers like Aldi and Lidl — it’s time for Target to make a move.
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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Amazon Is Hiring Seasonal Work-From-Home Associates for the Holidays
There are a few things in this life we can count on: death, taxes… and Amazon’s seasonal hiring of work-from-home customer service associates.
And since it’s not tax season, and since the fact that you’re reading this post proves to me that you’ve woken up very much alive again today, that only leaves one option: It’s seasonal hiring time at Amazon.
Right now, the company is looking for part-time, full-time and seasonal work-from-home customer service associates to help during the peak holiday season.
(Psst! There’s one more thing that seems to be constant in this life: Everyone wants to work from home. If you’re on the hunt for a work-from-home job, be sure to like our Jobs page on Facebook — we post awesome work-from-home opportunities there all the time!)
Become an Amazon Customer Service Associate
As a seasonal customer service associate at Amazon, you’ll be a part of the 24/7 virtual customer service team.
You’ll communicate with customers via phone and live chat to answer questions, solve problems and resolve concerns and queries. You’ll assess each customer’s situation, set appropriate expectations, provide helpful solutions and work to resolve conflicts while upholding company values. You should be patient in stressful situations and able to prioritize and empathize with customer needs.
You must have a high school diploma or GED equivalent, at least one year of experience dealing with customers and be proficient in English. You should be able to navigate the internet, including multiple browsers, chat platforms and email tools. Basic typing, phone, computer navigation and communication skills are required.
You must have a fast, reliable, wired internet connection. Amazon will send you any required tools, including a headset.
Apply for a Seasonal Job at Amazon
There are a few different work-from-home customer service associate opportunities available at Amazon right now, including full time, part time and military-preferred. Hours, training, pay and location requirements vary slightly. Here are the details on the available positions:
Full-Time, Seasonal Work-From-Home Customer Service Associate (Military Preferred)
To apply for this position, you must live in one of the following 35 states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin or Wyoming.
Military service members and their families are preferred for this position.
This position is full time, and you’ll work up to, but no more than, 60 hours per week. Available shifts will include days, afternoons and evenings and may include weekend hours. Schedules may change during your employment. Hours may increase during peak season (Thanksgiving through mid-January), and you may be required to work on holidays. If you’re a student, Amazon will do its best to accommodate your schedule.
This is a temporary position that lasts about six months, though there may be opportunities for long-term employment.
This position pays $10 per hour and includes bonus opportunities. Training is paid and takes place online.
To apply for this position, go here.
Full-Time, Seasonal Work-From-Home Customer Service Associate
To apply for this position, you must live in one of the following 17 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah or West Virginia.
This position is full time, and you’ll work up to, but no more than, 60 hours per week. Available shifts will include days, afternoons and evenings and may include weekend hours. Schedules may change during your employment. Hours may increase during peak season (Thanksgiving through mid-January), and you may be required to work on holidays. If you’re a student, Amazon will do its best to accommodate your schedule.
This is a temporary position that lasts about six months, though there may be opportunities for long-term employment.
This position pays $10 per hour, and includes bonus opportunities. Training is paid and takes place online.
To apply for this position, go here.
Part-Time Flex Work-From-Home Customer Service Associate (Military Preferred)
To apply for this position, you must live in one of the following 34 states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin or Wyoming.
Military service members and their families are preferred for this position.
This position is part time, and you’ll work an average of 20 to 29 hours per week. Available shifts will include days, afternoons and evenings and may include weekend hours. Schedules may change during your employment. Hours may increase during peak season, when you may be required to work as many as 40 hours per week. You may be required to work on holidays. If you’re a student, Amazon will do its best to accommodate your schedule.
Being able to work a flexible schedule is required.
This position pays $12 per hour after a four-week paid training period during which you’ll make $10 per hour.
To apply for this position, go here.
Part-Time Flex Work-From-Home Customer Service Associate
To apply for this position, you must live in one of the following 34 states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin or Wyoming.
This position is part time, and you’ll work an average of 20 to 29 hours per week. Available shifts will include days, afternoons and evenings and may include weekend hours. Schedules may change during your employment. Hours may increase during peak season, when you may be required to work as many as 40 hours per week. You may be required to work on holidays. If you’re a student, Amazon will do its best to accommodate your schedule.
Being able to work a flexible schedule is required.
This position pays $12 per hour after a four-week paid training period during which you’ll make $10 per hour. A minimum of 25 hours per week is required during the training period.
To apply for this position, go here.
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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Boutique Fitness Classes Are All The Rage but Come With a High Price Tag
The regular ole gym membership is becoming passe for millennials.
Instead, according to a recent article in The Los Angeles Times, young adults’ fitness choices have become more selective, more exclusive and more expensive.
More millennials are dropping their coins on trendy classes at boutique fitness studios, the article claims, spending $30 a class at studios instead of paying $30 a month at big-box chain gyms.
“They don’t want an annual gym membership commitment and a contract,” Greg Skloot, vice president for growth at Netpulse, a company that creates mobile apps for health clubs, told The L.A. Times. “They want to be able to make physical fitness choices on demand, and they are willing to pay for it.”
The L.A. Times article discusses how the social interaction at these trendy studios is the reason some favor those fitness options.
“Millennials may be ready to forgo an alternative social activity — going out for dinner and drinking and dancing, for example — where the cost can easily run $100 or more,” the article states.
Bert Culha, co-owner of fitness studio Cycle House in Los Angeles, said classes may be costly, “but this place has become part of their social activity because a lot of our members switched from going out and partying to going out to take care of their bodies.”
As someone who struggles with working out, I find exercising with friends increases my motivation and makes the experience much more fun. However, as someone conscious about spending, I know there are other ways to get fit without spending a bunch.
Try These Low-Cost Fitness Options
You don’t have pay the costs at fancy boutique gyms or even at big-box chains to get a good workout in. Include friends in one of the options below, and you’ll increase your enjoyment — plus you’ll have a built-in accountability partner.
You could set up a home gym. It’ll cost about $100 to get it all set up, but you’ll have it for a very long time (no annual renewal costs here).
You can check out these nine inexpensive fitness options — including tried-and-true exercises like running and swimming. There’s nothing wrong with the classics.
You could also get certified as a fitness instructor — teaching yoga, for example — and get your workouts in while earning money.
Have Fun With Friends When You’re Not Working Up a Sweat
If you’re looking for other ways to socialize without sweating — or spending a ton of money — here are a few ideas:
- Keep it old-school and revive game night.
- Don’t skip weekend brunch — just do it potluck-style.
- Pamper yourselves with DIY spa products during girls’ night in.
- Organize a group of friends to volunteer together.
And the money you save from cutting down on entertainment costs could be the funds you tap into for a boutique fitness class splurge. That’s an indulgence that can make you feel good inside and out.
Nicole Dow is a staff 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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Spotify/Hulu Deal Will Help Broke College Students Procrastinate for Less
Here’s an unpopular opinion: The best part of college isn’t the frat parties, football games, freedom or keg stands. It’s the student discounts.
While everything else is part of the experience, discounts are what make the financial transition from teenager to adult a little more bearable. Life is expensive, man.
If you’re back on campus and gearing up for another school year, you’re going to need music while you study and TV shows to watch while you procrastinate on studying unwind on the weekends.
That said, you’ll want this deal from Spotify and Hulu — it gives you two great services for one low price.
Spotify Bundles Up With Hulu for a Great Student Discount
If you’re a money-savvy college student (of course you are!), then you most likely already have Spotify’s student discount. That deal gives college students premium services for $4.99 per month, as opposed to its regular price of $9.99 per month.
With Spotify Premium for Students, now with Hulu, you’ll have both music and video streaming for $4.99 per month.
In addition to commercial-free music, you’ll get the Hulu limited commercial plan, which usually runs for $7.99 per month. This plan includes hit series, movies, Hulu originals and more.
Eligible students are those who are enrolled at a Title IV accredited college or university in the U.S. and are above the age of 18. To enroll, head to Spotify’s student page and enter your .edu email address along with your method of payment.
If you already have Spotify Premium for Students, you can add the Hulu services by verifying your student status, which is as easy as entering your student email address on the website.
In total, this deal will save college students about 13 bucks a month. Over the year, that adds up to about $156 — sounds like a good idea to me!
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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The Souvenir Game: 17 Ways to Physically Remember a Moment Without Spending Extra Money
A while back, I had an experience in a gift shop that really stuck in my mind.
I was sitting on a bench outside of this gift shop waiting for my oldest child who was using a nearby restroom and I was gazing at what was going on inside the shop. I generally don’t go into gift shops that you find at museums or science centers or zoos, but I was curious and I had nothing else to do but wait for a few minutes, so I looked around what I could see of the shop from my bench.
What I noticed was two women walking around the shop. One was perhaps my age, while the other was in her sixties or so. They definitely gave off a mother and daughter vibe.
The daughter looked bored, like she wanted to just get out of the shop and leave. The mother, on the other hand, was constantly looking around the shop, wandering around, picking up stuff and examining it, asking her daughter what she thought of it (the daughter mostly just shrugged), and so on. She was clearly looking to buy something.
When my son came back from the restroom, I gave one last glance to the two women in the shop. The mother had two items in her arms and was still looking around. The daughter still looked bored. I assume that the mother bought a few items while the daughter did not.
As is often the case, when I see things like this, I file them away in my head to think about why that was happening and, often, to turn it into an article if I come to any interesting conclusions.
What I thought about was how my family (as my wife and my daughter and my youngest son were already out at the car) had gone through the exhibit (it was a really nice exhibit at a national park) and had briefly glanced in the gift shop without buying anything at all (almost as a “what’s in this room? oh, a gift shop” thing).
What was the difference? I think the big difference was that my family already had a bunch of souvenirs from the trip, so we really didn’t need or want any more.
Here’s the interesting thing, though: almost all of the souvenirs that we collected on that family trip were free. In fact, the only ones I can think of that wasn’t free or extremely close to free were a few sweatshirts bought at Yellowstone because we happened to be there during an unseasonably cold period – we brought recommended clothes, but it was about 25 F cooler than normal and we were all freezing so we bought a few Yellowstone sweatshirts.
Honestly, I had largely forgotten about that moment at the gift shop until just a few days ago when we were all looking at a few of our “souvenirs” from our Yellowstone trip and talking about it a bit. As we were looking at those items, those physical reminders of our trip, it occurred to me that most of them were either free or extremely close to it, yet those items were extremely evocative of our trip.
In short, we didn’t need to buy tchotchkes from the gift shop to remember our family’s vacation.
So, what kinds of things did we collect? What physical reminders did we bring home from our trip? Here are some of the things we actually collected on our trip that serve as wonderful memories without the credit card bill.
A travel journal
This absolutely needs to be mentioned, first and foremost. Each member of our family had a travel journal that we took on the trip with us. During periods where we were in the car (or, in my case, often before bed), people worked on those travel journals, writing down little thoughts and memories and, more importantly, affixing little reminders of what we were doing to the pages.
Our travel notebooks included many of the things that I’m going to describe below. We just stuck them right into our travel journals, attaching them to pages with tape or rubber cement. This was mixed with writing meant to remind us of things that we intended to remember from those days.
The travel journals themselves are simple things – composition notebooks that were bought for pennies during back-to-school sales and then left unused.
So, when we were out and about on our activities, we often looked for free things for our travel journals, things that would later remind us of our journey that we could easily stick in our journals. What kinds of things did we find? Most of the remaining items on this list work well in this regard.
Photographs
Like most people on vacations, we take tons and tons of digital photographs. At the end of the vacation, if we decide that we want physical copies of any of them for our travel journal, we just print a bundle of them at our local photo lab for about $0.17 a print and then add them to our journals. (Usually, we’ll leave a blank page for a photo to be added later.)
Photographs can be a great physical reminder of a particular place or activity. They’re a perfect $0.18 substitute for a souvenir postcard, which often costs $1 or more.
Free postcards
Of course, not all postcards cost $1. I have been to many places where postcards were freely given away (because, frankly, if they’re sent in the mail, they’re a pretty sweet promotion for the place you’re visiting). If I see a free postcard, I’ll often snag it.
One fun thing I like to do if I’m on a trip and waiting a few minutes is that I’ll fill out the postcard and send it to myself. I just highlight whatever I’m doing right at that moment, drop a stamp on it, and stick it in a mail slot. Then, I leave a page in that travel journal to affix the postcard, usually as a “flap” so that you can see both sides.
Restaurant and snack menus or napkins
Whenever we eat at a restaurant, we try to find some sort of physical reminder of that place. If they offer small pocket menus, those were almost always snagged. If not, then we often grab a napkin with the restaurant’s logo on it or a sticker from the waitstaff or something like that.
These are perfect to stick in our travel journals, along with a quick note about the meal that we ate. For example, when I recently looked through my travel journal from our trip to Florida a few years ago, I found a pocket menu from an ice cream restaurant that served some very unusual ice cream flavors and I noted that I loved their lavender chocolate ice cream. I had completely forgot about that restaurant until I saw that menu, and then I immediately remembered that ice cream. It was a perfect physical souvenir and it was free.
Attraction brochures and maps
If you’re going to a major attraction – say, Disney World, for example – you’ll find that they give out brochures and maps of the location, and these are absolutely wonderful to affix into a travel journal with a bit of rubber cement on the back panel so you can fold them out later on.
The same thing is true with national parks. They give out free maps and brochures at almost every national park and national monument, and these are perfect to slip into a travel journal and affix to a page.
City and (thin) state maps
Similarly, many cities and towns have free maps available at the visitor’s center, which can be incredibly handy for finding your way around town on foot (I still prefer such maps to GPS when on foot, though you can’t beat GPS in a car). They often do a great job of highlighting many of the worthwhile attractions around town, and you can always highlight the ones that you actually visited by circling them on the map.
I find that it’s fun to affix one of these types of maps to a page and then write some of my own thoughts about the attraction or the city on the facing page. It lets me see the map and pull up my own memories later, while also seeing my older reflections from a time when that event or location was very fresh in my mind.
Leaves
Whenever I go on a hike and spot an unusual tree, I snag a leaf from it. I usually try to identify the tree and then save that leaf for later attachment to my travel journal.
The best approach here is to look for a very clean, healthy leaf to take with you, and then preserve it properly when you get home. It’s pretty easy to do – you just mix together a bit of glycerin and water, cover the leaf in that mixture, then weight it down for a few days. After that, just dry off the leaf and it’ll be perfect. (You can also do it in a microwave and use acrylic spray, as described in that preservation link above.)
The trick is to make sure you remember where you found the leaf and also to store it flat until you get home. I usually put them in an envelope or inside another document to help keep it flat until I get home.
A sheet of hotel stationery
Hotel rooms often have pads of stationery in the room that include the hotel logo and, usually, the hotel address. I’ll often write a quick review of the hotel on one of those sheets, along with anything memorable that happened there, and then add that sheet to the travel journal later. It’s a nice little “before bed” routine if you’re in a hotel.
It’s actually quite fun to stumble across pages of hotel stationery from particularly memorable hotel stops, like a particularly disastrous stop we had once at a hotel in Knoxville, TN that we still laugh about (imagine everything that can go wrong or weird in a hotel that doesn’t cause permanent damage to anything and you’re probably imagining something like our night at that hotel). My rant on that piece of hotel stationery is still fun to read, many years later.
Newspapers
While it might be a challenge and a bit unnecessary to keep a full newspaper, it can be worthwhile to keep the logo and date of a particular issue, such as one you read at your hotel, or an article outlining an event that you attended or are going to attend.
Many hotels provide free newspapers in the lobby (though free newspapers at your hotel room door are less frequent these days). Many cities also have free independent newspapers that you can find in many places, and those often include listings for interesting events to boot. It’s a great way to save a fairly unbiased reminder of an event that you attended that you can accent with your own thoughts if you wish.
Ticket stubs
If your travels involve a concert or a sporting event, simply save the stub from that event and, again, add it to your travel journal. It’s a great little reminder of the event you attended, as it lists the event, the date, and the time.
Ticket stubs are quite small and easy to attach in a travel journal, leaving plenty of space for a description of an event.
As an aside, I have a close friend who basically only travels due to his fandom for the band Phish. He has a “Phish concert journal” that he keeps with all of his ticket stubs and a page or two of thoughts on each show – songs that were really good, people he met, and so on. It’s an incredibly cool item that really sums up both his travels and his fandom.
Baseball scorecard
One thing I really enjoy doing at baseball games is keeping score the old fashioned way, with a scorecard or a score sheet. Here’s how you do that. I find that doing so helps me to focus on the game being played. I’m a lifelong baseball fan, so a scorecard is a really fun souvenir for me.
You can print one out for free before you leave the house, or you can usually pick up a cheap one at the ballpark that’s designed for the team.
Beer bottle wrappers
If you’re a craft beer aficionado like me (or you enjoy wines or other beverages), saving the wrappers from those items can be a really great way to collect a memorable souvenir. I simply remove the label as carefully as I can from the bottle and, if necessary, allow it to dry off before storing it (ideally, I can get a dry label).
My children have collected soda bottle labels. My wife and I have each snagged labels from wine bottles, too. I actually like putting these in my travel journal along with a one or two sentence review of whatever it was that I drank.
Seashells
If you find yourself along the seashore, collect a few seashells – they’re great for souvenirs.
However, I suggest keeping a couple of things in mind. First, what are you going to do with the shells? If they’re just going to wind up in a box somewhere, forgotten, then take a picture of your collection at the beach and leave them there. Second, make sure they’re really clean if you keep them.
Personally, I’m picky about the shells that I bring home. I’ll save perhaps one or two of the coolest shells, and those are intended to be added to one of our gardens for decoration in some tasteful (or not-so-tasteful) way. If I’m not sure I’m going to use it, I leave it at the beach.
Small rocks
The same exact principle is true with rocks as with seashells. It’s fun to collect them if you see interesting rocks, but don’t bother bringing them home unless you’re sure you are going to actually use them in a decorative fashion. That doesn’t mean you can’t collect them during a walking trip, but simply take a picture of what you find if you’re not bringing them home and leave the rocks on site. Also, clean any rocks you’re going to keep as thoroughly as you can as soon as you can.
Our garden has quite a few rocks collected over the years – our bright red rocks from the Arbuckle Mountains are my favorites.
Coins (if abroad) and tokens
Whenever I happen to travel to another country, I like to try to find one of the least valuable coins used as currency in that country – that nation’s equivalent of the penny – and literally tape it into my travel journal. I make a game of it, as I actually prefer to find it on the ground, literally.
Because of this, I have pesos and pence and other small coinage from a bunch of countries.
Stickers and decals
Many places offer stickers and decals to children that visit and they’re often happy to hand them to adults, too. I still like affixing stickers to pages as extra decoration, usually followed by writing around the stickers.
My daughter in particular likes to get lots of stickers when traveling, as she’ll use them to decorate her school notebooks for the coming year with stickers from places she’s been. She likes the idea of having a sticker from a place in New England or a place abroad on her school notebooks to remind her of the trip (and perhaps to show off a bit).
Pens
While I’m not a big fan of cheap pens, they are a souvenir that you can often find in hotels and other places. I’ll usually grab one and add it to our “junk drawer,” so that it’ll not only serve a functional purpose in a pinch, but also serve as a reminder of a trip in the past.
A few practical tips
Quite often, when you’re traveling, you don’t have enough time to jot down lots of thoughts all the time. What I tend to do is just keep everything in a big envelope with a sheet of paper in it and then, on that paper, I add quick notes to remind me of what each item is and when I acquired it.
That way, later on, when I have a lazy hour or two or when we return home, I can actually add the item to my travel journal and write thoughts at length. In fact, finishing off that travel journal is one thing I usually do in the next few days when I get back from a trip.
If you picked up items that are intended to be used for decoration, like seashells or rocks or coins, find a good place for them sooner rather than later. If you don’t really have a place to display them, then consider just taking a few photos of the item and then disposing of the item appropriately. Just because you brought it home doesn’t mean you have to keep it.
Another tip: I like to take quick notes as the day goes along in a pocket notebook when I’m traveling. I’ll note what I ate for lunch or what specific places we stopped at. Each note takes maybe fifteen seconds, but it later provides a timeline for me to expand on a little when I actually make my travel journal.
Final Thoughts
In the end, the best souvenir I have from my trips is that finished travel journal. It’s usually an overstuffed thing, with lots of things attached to pages and lots of my own handwriting in between those items.
There are few things I can even imagine wanting as a souvenir more than my travel journals. They’re just wonderful little embodiments of all of the little things that I loved about that trip, all in one nice package.
The best part? It costs very little.
The next time you go on a trip, make a travel journal for yourself. Collect things you might want to put in there and make notes along the way in a pocket notebook, then add details later on to your own satisfaction.
Along the way, don’t be afraid to collect items for other purposes, too – seashells for your front garden, rocks for your back garden, ticket stubs and pictures to remember a great concert, whatever it might be.
Just remember that a souvenir doesn’t have to be something that’s overpriced from a gift shop. Souvenirs can be found everywhere, and they rarely cost anything.
Good luck!
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Kid’s savings special: Start to build your child’s nest egg
As your kids get older, look out for top current and savings accounts to help their cash grow.
They say saving is a habit, so encouraging children to save from a young age can instil a financial understanding that lasts a lifetime.
Start very young children off with a good old-fashioned piggy bank and then when they’re older they can choose to open their fi rst savings account. There are a range of options available depending on whether you want to deposit a lump sum, put cash aside regularly or lock the money away until your child turns 18.
Best for lump sum deposits
The Moneywise Best Buy for lump sum deposits is a children’s current account – the Santander 123 Mini current account. This pays 3% interest on balances between £300 and £2,000.
Those with smaller balances also earn interest as the account pays 2% on balances between £200 and £299 or 1% if they have between £100 and £199 in their account. You can open this account in branch or online and there is no monthly fee, unlike the adult accounts in the 123 range. It is available to all kids aged between 11 and 17, and as this is a current account they can also get a debit card in their name.
If your child is slightly younger or has a larger lump sum to save, then consider the HSBC MySavings account. This can be opened in branch and is available to anyone aged between seven and 17. It pays 2.75% on all balances up to £3,000, plus 0.25% on any balance over that amount.
Top paying monthly savers
If you’re looking to build your child’s savings by depositing cash monthly, then Moneywise’s Best Buys both pay 4%.
The Halifax Kids’ Regular Saver account accepts monthly deposits of between £10 and £100. This is available for children aged 15 or under and must be opened in branch.
The Saffron Building Society Children’s Regular Saver can be opened by post or in branch by anyone aged 15 or under. You can deposit £100 a month in this account.
Both these products only last for one year, so remember to move these funds once the accounts mature.
Lock cash away with a Junior Isa
While it is unlikely that your child will be paying tax on their savings, you may want to consider a Junior Isa if you want to lock your cash away until they turn 18. Although remember after this date they will be able to do what they want with the cash.
The Junior Isa limit for the 2017/18 tax year is £4,128, and this can be paid in either as a lump sum or on a monthly basis.
The Moneywise Best Buy is the Coventry Building Society Junior Cash Isa. This pays 3.25% to young savers and can be opened by post or in branch.
Alternatively, Darlington Building Society, Halifax, Nationwide, Tesco and TSB all pay 3%.
You must be under 18 to open a Junior Isa, but when your child reaches the age of 16 they can also open up a Cash Isa or a Help to Buy Isa. Once they reach 18, they’ll also be able to transfer their Junior Isa cash into an adult version.
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Kid’s savings special: Best stocks and shares junior Isas
Find out how Jisas work – plus our pick of the main providers.
A Stocks and Shares Junior Isa (Jisa) is an investment account for a child that protects money from income tax and capital gains tax in the same way that a regular ‘adult’ Stocks and Shares Isa does. Only parents or guardians can open a Jisa, but anyone can contribute – perfect for grandparents. The annual allowance is £4,128 for the tax year 2017/18.
The account is held in the child’s name, but the parent or guardian decides where to invest the contributions. The child can choose to manage their Jisa from the age of 16.
Danny Cox, a chartered financial planner at Hargreaves Lansdown, says: “The principles of portfolio picking for a Junior Isa are the same as for an adult Isa: spread your investment across the markets and sectors where you believe there are decent prospects for the long term and then choose good quality managers to work for you.
“The longer the time to invest, the more scope there is for parents and grandparents to be adventurous with their Junior Isa investments. For newborns, the investment world is therefore their oyster, and a higher allocation to smaller companies and emerging markets makes sense, because while volatility may be higher, so are the potential returns on offer for patient long-term investors.”
When a child reaches 18, the Jisa will become a standard Isa and they will have access to their savings. If a child has a Child Trust Fund, this can now be transferred into a Jisa. The Stocks and Shares Jisa market is divided into those that offer a wide range of investments to choose from and those that offer a limited range.
Providers that specialise in children’s investments may sound a good idea, but Moneywise research found that their Jisas are marred by high charges and limited investment choice. Foresters Friendly, One Family and The Children’s Isa have annual charges of 1.5%, 1.7%, and 1.06% to 1.66%, respectively. The Children’s Isa also takes up to 5% of your investments as an initial charge. They all offer minimum investments of £10 a month, but if you can afford to invest more than this, there are cheaper options with greater investment choice, detailed in the table below.
Which of these you pick will largely depend on how much you have to invest for the child on a monthly basis or via a lump sum. However, if you want to combine active and tracker funds using the Moneywise First 50 Funds list (see pages 80-81), then Charles Stanley Direct is our top pick for having the cheapest and most user-friendly option and allowing transfers in of Jisas and Child Trust Funds.
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True money stories from smart people: Crypto currencies - More ups and downs than the Wild West
Just when you think you’ve got your head around the new-fangled payment systems, including the fact that some Anglican churches are now taking contactless collections – a mind-boggling new digital form of currency hits the general consciousness.
Crypto currencies – specifically bitcoin and its competitor ethereum – seemed for so long to be ideas you could push to the edges of consciousness as something that couldn’t happen in our lifetime, like flying cars or Melania Trump wanting to be anywhere near her husband.
But now you can buy burgers with bitcoin – at least, you can in London’s Shoreditch district, which likes to think of itself as the cutting edge of cool (hey, I like to think of myself as a supermodel too, but that doesn’t make it so).
You can get bitcoins at ATMs in London, New York, and Japan, and they’re increasingly the currency of choice for businesses in China wanting out of government control. The value of both bitcoin and ethereum has also jumped at rates that make footballer Paul Pogba’s record-breaking transfer fee look stingy. In just the past 12 months, bitcoin has gone up by 410% and ethereum has increased by 4,000%. In the past two weeks, I’ve had hedge fund managers asking me: “What is this crypto currency thing and how can I get some of the action?”
Stories abound of fortunes made by accident through this new “virtual” money, such as Kristoffer Koch, who bought 5,000 Bitcoins in 2009 for $26.60 and forgot about them until 2013 when they were suddenly worth $886,000 and he could buy a posh flat in the centre of Oslo, Norway. Or poor James Howells, who threw out a hard-drive from a defunct Dell laptop and then, in 2015, realised that it held a digital wallet with 7,500 bitcoins worth £4 million (now well over four times that amount) – it’s no wonder investors are sniffing round any new crypto currency offering, not wanting to be left out of the potential pot of virtual gold at the end of a raggedy rainbow.
And the rainbow is raggedy, make no mistake. The new buzz-term in the investing world, “ICO” (Initial Coin Offering) is, as it sounds, the crypto currrency version of an IPO (Initial Public Offering), generally launched by 20-year-olds called Calum with a glint in their eye and no shaving equipment. The look is dress-down Friday and the business plans are similar: essentially consisting of a call to “gimme some money, it’s gonna be great”.
Many ICOs read like someone going to their bank manager for a loan, taking 20 minutes to tell him that he’ll give them money and then spending two seconds on how their business will actually make a profit.
But the risk? Phew! It’s like attempting the North Pole in a bikini. Crypto currency consultant Gary Nuttall explains: “With an ICO, you are buying the equivalent of Airmiles, or Sainsbury’s vouchers – basically Monopoly money. Unlike an IPO, it’s unregulated and you don’t own any assets at all.” That means that if the business falls apart, you’re left with nothing. Yay. What’s not to like?
So why would you even think of putting your hard-earned cash into one of these ‘businesses’? Well, it’s the promise of those vertiginous leaps that bitcoin, ethereum and a handful of other crypto start-ups have made recently. It’s the Wild West again – like the internet was when the dotcom boom broke into our consciousness in the 1990s – but this is more than that. It’s the Wild West on acid. The ICO world has more extreme ups and downs than a Kardashian relationship, and a similar likelihood of being shafted at any moment.
If you have the stomach (and money you don’t mind losing), there are potentially staggering wins to be had. As The Guardian journalist Alex Hern said in his column recently: “If I’d invested £100 in bitcoin every time I told someone else it was silly to buy them, I’d be out in the sun today instead of writing this column.”
And let’s face it, crypto currencies really do seem to be the future. They’re transparent – everyone can see how many “coins” are in circulation and who has them – and they’re outside of government control. They’re part of the new upside-down world order where corporations and technology have already overtaken sovereign nations and driverless cars are on the roads if not, yet, flying ones. It’s when the Church of England asks you to “give us this day, our daily bitcoin” that you’ll know for sure that it has really arrived.
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When You Overspend: Five Steps to Recover from a Spending Spree
Have you ever spent more money than you planned? If you’re a human who has had money at any point in your life, the answer is probably “yes.”
No matter how disciplined you are, it’s easy to get so distracted that your budget escapes your mind. Sometimes, overspending strikes without us even realizing it. Other times, you get so caught up in an event or a moment that you actively choose to forget your money goals.
Chances are good you’ve found yourself in one of the following situations at least once:
- You had so much fun on vacation that you didn’t even care how much you spent.
- You got so caught up in a birthday celebration that you blew your budget.
- You went overboard with holiday shopping because you wanted everyone to love their gifts.
- You tried to overcome boredom or a bad week with “retail therapy.”
- You weren’t paying attention and fell back into old spending habits.
While a temporary lack of focus can cause people to overspend, emotions may play a part, too. A recent poll revealed that almost half (49%) of Americans have spent more than they could afford for emotional reasons like stress, excitement, or sadness. Who hasn’t felt at least one of these emotions in the last year?
No matter the reason for a spending spree, it’s important to get into damage control mode right away. If you react swiftly and decisively, you may nip your budgeting woes in the bud fairly fast, whereas a slow reaction (or no reaction) could easily make your money problems worse.
Overspending happens to everyone, but not everyone knows how to bounce back. These five steps can get you back on track toward your financial goals quickly:
Step 1: Assess the damage.
Before you get back in the saddle, it’s important to figure out how much damage you’ve done. Did you overspend for a few days? A few weeks? Several months? Did you overspend by a few hundred dollars – or a few thousand? Before you can move forward, it’s important to answer these questions as openly and honestly as you can.
The best way to go about this is to pour through your bank and credit card statements for the last few months. Figure out which budget categories you’ve overspent in, how much you splurged, and how it might impact your other goals.
Did your temporary indiscretions leave you short on funds to pay other bills? If so, the best time to find that out is now. After all, you can’t really create a plan to fix your problems until you define what – and how bad – they are.
Step 2: Get back on the budget bandwagon.
The next step to overcoming overspending is getting back on track with your regular spending plan (if you had one). If you had a carefully planned budget in place already, it’s crucial to get back on track right away. If you weren’t using a budget, now may be the perfect time to get started.
There are several different budgeting strategies to consider, each of which comes with its own attributes. The most important step for you to take is to write down all your fixed expenses (rent or mortgage, insurance, car payments, utilities, etc.) and compare them to your income. From there, you can divvy up any additional income you have to negotiable budget categories like food and dining out, entertainment, and miscellaneous.
Ideally, you’ll want to make sure you have plenty of cash built into your budget for savings and debt repayment. If you don’t plan for savings and paying down debt in your budget, you’re not making them a priority.
Step 3: Hatch a plan to pay your debt – or yourself – back.
The overspending you need to overcome could fall into two different categories: spending money you have, or money you don’t have. Either you spent money from your own savings or you charged your spending spree on a credit card.
No matter how it went down, your repayment strategy is the same. You need to pay off your credit card bills or pay yourself back. If you’re using a budget, then you should have set some of your income aside for savings and/or debt repayment. This is where things get serious; if you want to build your savings back up or pay down your new debts, you have to follow through with your spending plan instead of spending your excess funds elsewhere.
Remember, it might take a while to right your spending wrongs. By hatching a repayment plan, you can spread the pain out over several months.
Let’s say you spent an extra $500 out of your emergency fund on a whim. If you can’t afford to replenish your savings in a single month, try spreading it out by saving $100 extra per month for five months.
If you charged an extra $1,000 on a credit card, try throwing an extra $100 on your bill every month until you’re debt-free. If your credit card carries a high interest rate, you can also consider transferring your balance to a 0% APR credit card to secure zero interest for up to 21 months.
- Related: Best Balance Transfer Cards
Step 4: Figure out what went wrong.
Once you’ve assessed the damage and come up with a feasible plan to get back on solid financial footing, it’s important to figure out what went wrong. Why did you overspend, and how can you prevent the same thing from happening again?
Whether you were excited, scared, bored, or depressed, the best way to keep your spending on track is always the same – budgeting. With a budget or spending plan in place, you have tangible spending goals to work toward every month. At the very least, you should actively track your spending so you know where your money is going and when.
If you don’t use a budget or track your spending, you’re bound to make the same mistakes over and over again. It’s also quite possible that not having a budget is the reason you overspent in the first place.
- Related: Why You Should Track Your Spending
Step 5: Look at the bright side.
So, you spent more than you planned. It’s probably not the first time it’s happened, and it may not be the last, either. At least you’re paying attention and you know where you’ve gone wrong.
A lot of people overspend for years without even realizing it. After all, the average household credit card debt for indebted households is over $16,000 this year. While much of that debt is likely due to emergency spending, some of it is the result of spending sprees that were never acknowledged or addressed.
By facing your problem head-on, you’re taking the first step to make sure your spending doesn’t spiral out of control.
The Bottom Line
Overspending happens to the best of us, but the ones who come out on top are those who don’t bury their heads in the sand. You don’t have to be perfect to get ahead financially, but you do you have to be honest.
Overspending is a problem, but its impact can be temporary if you see what’s happening and take steps to change.
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:
- Your Budget is No Place for Wishful Thinking
- Why I’ll Never Feel Bad About My Vacation Spending
- 100 Great Ways to Save Money
Have you ever gone on a crazy spending spree? How did you recover?
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الاثنين، 11 سبتمبر 2017
Enter to WIN a Prize Pack From La Señorita Jolie + Style Kit Discount
We're excited to partner with the direct sales company, La Señorita Jolie for this fabulous giveaway and discounted home business opportunity package! La Señorita Jolie, in other words, “A Beautiful Girl” is all about providing a flexible business opportunity for chic women nationwide! They are known for a casual style that is elegant and affordable. […]
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5 Time-Saving Productivity Hacks, Reviewed
Deciding to be more productive is easy. Figuring out where to start is a bit more tricky. We wanted to see how much time (and money) could be saved by implementing five of the most talked-about productivity hacks, so we rounded up a few volunteer researchers from The Simple Dollar team and put each hack to the test.
One thing to remember
Before we dive into the results, it’s important to remember one thing: productivity hacks are habits, not silver bullets.
Good habits take time to develop. If you’re looking for a magic button that will add three hours to your work day, you’ll find out pretty quickly that it doesn’t exist. Remember the first time you rode your bike without training wheels? Were you ready to hop on a motorcycle at that point? No. Productivity hacks are long-term investments that take grit and persistence, so don’t be discouraged if you don’t see major results right away.
The hacks
Meditation: Easiest to implement
Meditation isn’t just taking a break; it’s the practice of focused thought and breathing that can improve the brain’s neuroplasticity. Among other things, that means it improves the connection between the lateral prefrontal cortex — also called the Assessment Center — and the rest of your brain, allowing you to evaluate things from a more rational and balanced perspective. Meditation can also reduce blood pressure, increase attention, and even affect our genes: A Harvard study found that the body’s relaxation response can dampen genes involved in inflammatory response within minutes.
The bottom line is, when performed correctly, meditation is an excellent practice with multiple long- and short-term benefits that help us make better decisions, feel less anxious, and improve our memory.
Our researcher used three different methods of meditation in one four hour period (from 1pm to 5pm). Her goal was to emerge from each session focused and refreshed.
Meditation saved 41 minutes in one afternoon.
Here’s a breakdown of each type of meditation we used, along with a few helpful resources:
- Guided Meditation: The mind is led through a scenario.
SoMuchYoga compiled a list of the 10 best guided meditation sessions on YouTube.This is a really great introduction to the practice. - Mindful Meditation: The mind is focused on one thing.
Mindful.org is a one-stop-shop for everything you need to know about mindful meditation. - Awareness Meditation: The mind is focused on its surroundings.
Again, Mindful.org has a great explainer on the subject, along with a ton of resources to get you started.
Overall, our researcher was most impressed with just how refreshed she felt after each mediation session. The results were pretty good too: When the researcher compared the same four-hour period from a previous work day with her test, she noticed that she finished up about 41 minutes early. That puts meditation as the second most time-saving productivity hack we tested. (Cutting to-do lists came in first at 72 minutes.)
One of the most interesting things we learned is that awareness meditation, while soothing, wasn’t the most effective way to increase productivity. Our researcher found herself still very interested in her surroundings while attempting to re-focus on the task at hand.
Summary:
Time spent normally: 240 minutes
Time spent with hack: 199 minutes
Replacing to-do lists with a schedule: Most time saved
To-do lists have a major flaw: they don’t account for time. Time happens to play a major part in being productive. Scheduling your day, rather than arranging it into to-dos without deadlines, accomplishes a couple of things. First, you begin to learn more about yourself — and without that self awareness, you won’t be able to push yourself toward the next level. How effectively could a runner train without ever timing laps? Schedules also employ a sense of urgency that you don’t get with a priority-based structure. The feeling of “I only have 45 minutes to do this” is more motivating and less stressful than having three “high priority” tasks in your backlog.
To test this theory, our researcher (a full-time content writer) scheduled out every single minute of the day from 8am to 5pm, so nine hours in total. The schedule included a 30 minute lunch and two 10 minute breaks to walk around — plus a 30-minute block dedicated to checking emails and other notifications. Our goal was for the researcher to see a drastic improvement in focus and self awareness throughout the day. The results were incredibly promising.
Removing to-do lists shaved an average of 10 minutes off every task (72 minutes in total).
Our researcher was surprisingly fulfilled with the amount of work that he accomplished. He was also a bit more exhausted than usual come 5pm. Remember: Just like the first day of a new workout routine, your mind and body have to go through a period of adjustment when you make changes to your workflow.
Preparing for this hack took about 15 minutes of focused thought the night before. But it was totally worth it: The hack knocked an average of 10 minutes off every work-related task when compared to the time that was allotted for each one on the calendar. In total, 72 minutes were saved (between 8 tasks). Subtract the 15-minute investment the night before, and the researcher freed up 57 minutes.
The potential ROI for this hack is pretty similar to the others when you consider the time required to prepare. But, as you practice, you’ll become more efficient and save even more time.
Summary:
Time spent normally: 490 minutes
Time spent with hack: 418 minutes
Pro tip: schedule time for scheduling.
If don’t put quality time into creating your schedule, you probably won’t see quality results. Make sure you block out time to prepare for the upcoming day — the best time to do this is the night before — and thoroughly think through each event on your calendar, the effort it takes, and what roadblocks might arise.
Limiting technology before bed: Best long-term results
Technology is a vehicle for extreme productivity. It’s also one of the biggest time sucks on the planet. Take smartphones, for example: As of March 2017, the average American adult spends just under three hours on a smartphone every day. Setting boundaries for your technology usage is a great step toward regaining your focus (and daylight).
One of the most common ways technology kills productivity is by keeping us up at night. You aren’t your best when you’re sleepy (your brain actually cleans itself while you’re asleep), so we chose to focus on getting a good night’s rest. Our test banned laptop, smartphone, and other blue-screened device usage after 7pm because light emitted from LCDs can restrain production of melatonin and throw your circadian rhythm for a loop. The goal was, by sleeping better and waking up earlier, our tester could increase productivity on the job. And it worked.
Limiting tech before bed saved about 30 minutes thanks to increased morning focus.
Our researcher was surprised at how big of a difference this made on his bedtime routine. On a normal day, he’d usually wind down around 11pm, and it might take him an hour or so to actually fall asleep. Without the added stimulation of blue light and the distraction of notifications, Netflix, and social media, he got to bed around 10pm and fell asleep within thirty minutes.
Thanks to better sleep and an earlier start the next morning (6am), he accomplished the same amount of work from 7am to 9:26am that he normally achieves in a three-hour stint from 9am to 12pm — that’s close to a 20% boost in efficiency.
Summary:
Time spent normally: 180 minutes
Time spent with hack: 146 minutes
Limiting technology is about making rules.
The best way to prevent yourself from being distracted by technology is to set some rules. Here are a few more jumping off points to help you find the right methods for your lifestyle.
- Set a daily max for social media.
With social media, minutes can easily turn into hours. Set some rules regarding when and how often you check your accounts — you might even consider turning social media notifications off on your mobile devices during the workday. - Limit smartphone usage during work or school to calls only.
if you’re someone who spends multiple hours on your smartphone each day, you have the potential to save much more time than our researcher simply by not touching your phone. Apps like Offtime and Forest are great at tracking how much time you spend on your phone. (If you have a landline at your desk, consider cutting your smartphone off completely.) - Leave technology out of the bathroom.
As funny as it sounds, the time you spend in the bathroom is a great chance to take a quick mental break from your work. Instead of filling that time with more stimuli, embrace it, and take a few minutes to clear your head.
Breaks: Best for health and mood
This one’s pretty simple: our brains are designed to focus in intervals. After about ninety minutes, we naturally need a quick break to refresh our mind. After that, we hit the point of diminishing returns. There are all sorts of strategies you can utilize break time, but the most important factor is that you completely unplug from work-related thoughts and tasks during your break.
Our test split up both the morning and afternoon work hours with a 15-minute physical activity (we used yoga, but the possibilities are endless).
Taking breaks saved just under 15 minutes, but majorly improved the researcher’s mood.
What we learned is that it’s difficult to quantify the effects of a productivity hack like this in one trial, but compared to our researcher’s normal 490-minute work day, it only shaved off about 15 minutes in total. What was far more noticeable was the difference in our researcher’s mood and overall energy level throughout the day.
This should come as no surprise, because regular exercise, among a world of other benefits, helps reduce fatigue. Taking any sort of physical break is a proactive measure against neck pain, digital eye strain, and other ailments that can cause you to be less productive. So by prioritizing breaks in your schedule, you’re saving time that you might have lost down the road.
Summary:
Time spent normally: 490 minutes
Time spent with hack: 418 minutes
Other types of breaks to consider
- Healthy snacks (The Picky Eater has a great selection of healthy snacks that will give you a much-needed boost of energy throughout the day.)
- Read something, or listen to a podcast
- Spend time in conversation with a friend or family member
- Give yourself a neck or hand massage
Time blocking: Biggest learning curve
Like breaks, time blocking relies on the idea that our brains work best in focused intervals, but takes it a step further by dividing your tasks into equal sections throughout the day, separated by short breaks. The idea is, by capitalizing on your body’s attention span (which is different for everyone), you can find a seriously productive rhythm.
Our researcher split up a three-hour period into 25 minute bursts for work and took increasingly longer breaks after each one. Here’s a quick breakdown of her schedule:
- Work session #1 — 25min
- Break #1 — 5min
- Work session #2 — 25min
- Break #2 — 10min
- Work session #3 — 25min
- Break #3 — 15min
Time blocking actually cost an extra 28 minutes.
If you don’t like pressure, this hack might not work well for you. Our researcher felt pretty good after the first break but fell behind in the second session. That left her feeling pressured to catch up during the third session and actually made things worse. Compared to a normal afternoon, she lost 28 minutes.
Summary:
Time spent normally: 180 minutes
Time spent with hack: 208 minutes
Don’t give up on time blocking too quickly.
The general rule of thumb is that the brains works best in 90-minute intervals, but there are always exceptions. The success of this productivity hack is especially dependant on how you work. Twenty five-minute blocks didn’t pan out so well for our researcher on her first try, but 40- or 90-minute intervals with longer breaks might have been more successful. You’ll need to experiment with a few different setups to find the one that’s most effective for you. We recommend starting with the Pomodoro method.
Your turn
Our results are a combination of our researchers’ personalities and preferences — your mileage may vary. Use this research as way to jumpstart your game plan for a more productive lifestyle. Start with the productivity hack you think you could benefit from the most, and don’t be afraid to experiment!
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New Travel Cards Aim for Leisure Over Luxury
American Express and JPMorgan Chase have introduced a pair of co-branded airline cards with no annual fees and fewer frills. The new cards aim to attract casual travelers, particularly Millennials, who take leisure trips instead of luxurious excursions.
Last week saw the unveiling of the Blue Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express and the United℠ TravelBank Card. Company officials and industry analysts say the new cards are geared more toward the mass market than typical airline cards, which often have sizeable yearly fees to go along with their lavish perks.
How big a deal is no annual fee?
There are already a few travel credit cards with no annual fee on the market, but these new cards are still something of a rarity.
Premium airline cards that cater to wealthy business travelers can charge annual fees as high as $550. (By contrast, a 2015 study estimated the average annual fee for all types of rewards credit cards at about $60.)
Premium cards do come with premium benefits, though, such as complimentary lounge access and travel credits worth hundreds of dollars. Combined with generous rewards rates, these benefits usually make airline cards with annual fees worthwhile for frequent travelers.
That’s not to say that the new cards don’t offer benefits — they just don’t include free checked bags, priority boarding and other features typically offered by premium cards.
How do the new cards stack up?
The cards have some similarities beyond the lack of an annual fee. But while the United℠ TravelBank Card offers cash back that’s redeemable for travel rewards, the Blue Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express operates like a standard miles-for-purchases travel card.
Blue Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express
Annual fee
$0
Foreign Transaction Fee
2.7%
Signup bonus
10,000 bonus miles after spending $500 in first 3 months
Rewards
- 2 miles per $1 spent at U.S. restaurants
- 2 miles per $1 spent on eligible Delta purchases
- 1 mile per $1 on other eligible purchases
Travel benefits include:
- 20% savings (statement credit) on eligible Delta in-flight purchases or food, beverages, and audio headsets
- Car rental loss and damage insurance
- Global Assist® Hotline — 24/7 access to medical, legal, financial and other assistance services on trips 100+ miles from home
United℠ TravelBank Card
Annual fee
$0
Foreign Transaction Fee
$0
Signup bonus
$150 in TravelBank cash after spending $1,000 on purchases in first 3 months
Rewards
- 2% back in TravelBank cash per $1 spent on airline tickets purchased from United®
- 1.5% back in TravelBank cash per $1 spent on all other purchases
- $1 in TravelBank cash = $1 when used toward ticket purchase on flights operated by United and United Express. (TravelBank cash can be used alone or combined with select forms of payment.)
Travel benefits include:
- 25% back as statement credit on food and beverages purchases onboard United-operated flights
- Complimentary guest privileges at The Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection properties, including daily breakfast for two, Wi-Fi, and room upgrade and early check-in/late check-out (when available at select properties)
Experience vs. extravagance?
It seems that American Express and Chase are banking on simplified, scaled-down products that will appeal to occasional (but enthusiastic) leisure travelers who place more value on experience and exploration than getting VIP treatment. Time will tell whether Millennial consumers get onboard.
The post New Travel Cards Aim for Leisure Over Luxury appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
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