Questions About Fuel Efficiency, Savings Bonds, Materialism, and More!

What’s inside? Here are the questions answered in today’s reader mailbag, boiled down to summaries of five or fewer words. Click on the number to jump straight down to the question.
1. Trading up for fuel efficiency
2. Average age of credit accounts
3. Switching to one vehicle
4. Found this great stock!
5. Canadian pharmacies
6. The “rental” lifestyle
7. Investing in treasury notes
8. Toaster oven purchase
9. Series EE savings bonds?
10. Spotify worth it?
11. Library book sale excess
12. Books on curbing materialism

I regularly spend a lot of time thinking about ideas that are really useful in shaping my life as a whole, with personal finance as a significant part of that life. The challenge for me is relating those ideas in a context so that their value to my financial life is clear.

I basically see life as a series of interconnected areas. Physical health. Mental health. Focus and concentration. Spirituality. Intellectual ideas. Marriage. Parenting. Key social relationships. Community relationships. Hobbies. Finances. All of those things are interconnected. All of those areas have at least one strong connection between each of those other areas. Your finances do not live in a bubble. I could literally write an article on the connection between any two of those things. In fact, I might actually write an article about each of those areas and how they connect to finances.

Because of that perspective, when I find an idea that’s really useful in one area, it turns out that the idea is often useful in many other areas as well because it tugs on those connections.

For The Simple Dollar, I’m interested in all of those things, but I’m particularly interested in exploring that area’s connection to finances and how that improvement lifts up one’s financial state. That goes alongside topics that are focused largely on financial benefits, like frugality topics.

The truth is that if I didn’t see those connections to finances and I didn’t realize how much the other areas of my life support good healthy financial habits, financial independence would be a far more difficult journey. While the actual mechanical steps for improving one’s finances are easy, maintaining them requires strong connections and support from the other areas in life, which is something I’ve really come to appreciate in recent years. It’s all connected.

On with the questions.

Q1: Trading up for fuel efficiency

I am trying to make a decision about trading in my vehicle for a more gas efficient one. My daily driver is a Jeep Wrangler and while I enjoy driving it, it isn’t so great on gas mileage. I currently relocated to California where gas prices are higher than my previous home in Texas. With my commute to work alone (approx. 40 miles) I spend about $100 a week on gas. My Jeep is paid off, but I’m wondering if it makes sense to trade it in for something that does a little better on the gas mileage front. Crunching the numbers, it makes sense to think about trading it in but I really enjoy having the vehicle. Any suggestions on making a decision about getting rid of something you “love” for the greater good of saving money?
– Rick

Based on my guesstimation as to the age of your Jeep Wrangler, it looks like it gets about 15 miles per gallon on average. That lines up well with your $100 a week in gas costs given your commute and the assumption that you use it for a few other things.

If you swapped it for a Toyota Prius, for example, your fuel costs go down to about $30 a week, as a Prius approaches 50 miles per gallon. Over the course of a month, that’s about $280 in savings. It’s probably going to be cheaper in terms of insurance, too.

The thing I’d ask myself when comparing the Jeep and the fuel efficient car is what exactly you get out of the Jeep that you won’t get out of the fuel efficient car, and is that difference worth $300 a month to you? That is the lens through which I would evaluate that purchase. What I usually find in situations like this is that the lower cost item often has much of what I like in the higher cost item and breaking it down to paying a lot of money for relatively minor features seems silly.

It’s also worth noting that you actually have more options here than just “keep the Jeep” or “sell it and get a very fuel efficient car like a Prius.” You also have the option of “moving closer to where you work” which saves a lot on fuel regardless of what vehicle you have and cuts down the time invested in your commute. You might also look for work closer to where you live if moving isn’t an option for some reason. There are lots of things to consider here.

Q2: Average age of credit accounts

Instead of opening a new account which would lower the average age of my credit accounts, should I increase my credit limit on a secured card? Currently it is at $800. I could deposit another $200-$300 to raise my limit.
– Stephen

It’s not the average age of your credit accounts that really matters in terms of your credit score. It’s the age of your oldest active account that matters.

There is a minor negative impact on your credit score from opening a new line of credit, but it’s minor and short lived. Often, that impact is counterbalanced by having a better debt-to-credit ratio (meaning the sum total of your credit card balances divided by the sum total of your credit limits). If you open a new card with no balance, your total credit limit goes up but your debt stays the same, this improving your credit score (this only works to a certain extent, but will definitely work if you’ve only got one card and are opening a second one).

In your shoes, I would definitely open an unsecured card if you’ve been handling the secured card well for a while. I wouldn’t close the secured card for a while, though. Leave them both open, then close the secured one (and get your deposit back) in a few years.

Q3: Switching to one vehicle

While evaluating my year-end financial moves, I wondered if I could switch down to one vehicle to cut expenses. A Google search led me to an article you wrote on eliminating one car. I’d like to give you some information and get your thoughts on it. I live alone and travel regionally for work. I bought my second vehicle in late 2017 to tow a trailer with my son’s racing kart. I can probably drop the full coverage insurance on the vehicles to save some money.

I have a 2010 Honda Civic with 248,702 miles on it. I get about 32 mpg and drove 34,529 miles last year. I had $1933.36 in necessary repairs last year. The 2018 annual insurance was $467, the 2019 cost is projected to be $594.

I also have a 2006 Honda Ridgeline with 147,422 miles on it. I get about 20 mpg when I am not using it to tow and drove 4,851 miles last year. It may be higher but I only used it when needed. I had $572.07 in necessary repairs last year. The 2018 annual insurance was $148, the 2019 cost is projected to be $301.
– Kevin

If you think it’s possible with your lifestyle to cut down to one vehicle, you probably can do so. It’s usually professional constraints or other life constraints that keep people from being able to pull it off, so if you don’t see such an issue in your life, you can probably do this.

The big issue I see is that the Civic is going to be far better for commuting, but the Civic can’t tow. Do you have any other option for towing that cart? Do you have a solution in place for what the Ridgeline does for you if you drop it?

If you do (or if you come to the conclusion that you don’t need the towing ability), then I’d drop that Ridgeline like a hot potato and keep the Civic. As many miles as you’re driving, the fuel efficiency of the Civic is going to save you a ton of money on gas versus driving the Ridgeline that much.

I think that if you drop the Civic and keep the 2006 Ridgeline and put almost 40,000 miles a year on it, the gas costs are going to be stupendous. My back of the envelope math says you’re better off keeping both cars as they are right now rather than switching to an all-Ridgeline solution.

Q4: Found this great stock!

Here’s a brain teaser for Trent: My boyfriend bought shares of MORL about two years ago and put it on automatic DRIP. Now he gets about $600 a month on average gross. I studied this stock and I just don’t really understand it, but it seems like it’s just about like printing money!! But if it is so great why isn’t everybody in it? So don’t publish this on your Q&A thing, because I want to keep this quiet. Not looking for a pump and dump scenario, just wondered your thoughts on it.
– Anna

MORL is the stock ticker name for UBS ETRACS Monthly Pay 2xLeveraged Mortgage REIT ETN. Basically, it’s a bundle of mortgages put together by UBS using borrowed money. Imagine that someone borrows $100,000 to buy an investment. They owe interest on that loan, but they’re fine as long as the investment offers a better return on that loan.

Now, imagine you used that investment as collateral for an even bigger loan, which you then used to buy control of mortgages, so that people paying their mortgage bills are actually now writing the checks to you. You can often buy mortgages at below face value – a $200,000 mortgage might be on sale for $150,000 or whatever if someone needs money fast, so if that mortgage ends up getting paid off, you make $200,000 plus the interest over the course of a few years.

This is a great way to multiply your money, but it’s really risky. If enough people stop paying their mortgages, you are in bad, bad shape because you can’t afford to pay the interest on the loans you have. The whole thing falls apart.

That’s what MORL is.

MORL is an extremely risky investment that only works well while the housing market is stable and interest rates are low. It’s double-leveraged and uncollateralized housing debt, which basically means that if people were to suddenly have difficulty paying their mortgages (like what happened in 2007 and 2008) MORL is going to tank hard. Double-leveraged essentially means it rises twice as high when things are going well and falls twice as hard when things are not going well.

I would not hold that investment for anything I was relying on for the future. If you’re playing around with investments with money you can afford to lose, sure, but that’s basically to gambling.

Q5: Canadian pharmacies

I’m curious about your opinion on Canadian (or other foreign) pharmacies. My husband used them back in the day while caring for his mother. I tried one or two and wound up (computer) virus laden. Are there any good sites for Canadian pharmacies? Is it better to go straight to Canada for better prices?
– Doug

So, here’s the deal. Bringing prescription drugs into the United States from Canada is illegal under the Prescription Drug Marketing Act of 1987. However, because of the vagaries of having to deal with every special case of people living along the US-Canadian border, the DEA and the border patrol do not really enforce the law provided you’re getting 90 days or less of a prescription filled and it’s not a narcotic. Basically, they just look the other way because it’s easier than dealing with the specifics of a case and the bad press that would come from taking away an 87 year old’s arthritis prescription or a diabetic person’s insulin.

To exploit this “loophole” – actually, just an unenforced law – a lot of online pharmacies have popped up supposedly dealing in Canadian pharmaceuticals, but a lot of them are pretty dodgy. They’re already doing something illegal but unenforced and it’s a market that reputable companies will largely stay out of because the whole thing relies on the US government not enforcing its laws. You may be able to luck out and find a reputable seller online, but there are a lot of sharks in the water because it’s actually illegal.

I’d avoid it unless you’re actually going to Canada and buying the prescription drugs in person there, buying a small amount, and then coming home. Even then, you’re breaking the law, but it’s a law that’s not been enforced for a while.

Q6: The “rental” lifestyle

We are at retirement age and are thinking about buying a 5th wheel as our home for a number of years, as we are late to the savings game. It seems that used vehicles are the same price as new, and all of them expensive. What do you think about this alternative lifestyle choice that doesn’t include real property?
– Amber

It seems reasonable. I have met many people who have retired to a camper or a trailer. Many of those wind up parking semi-permanently at a campground and serve as campground hosts, so it doesn’t seem like that unusual of a choice to me. (This shouldn’t be surprising – our family goes camping somewhere probably half a dozen times a year.)

I think the key is to be sure you’ve priced everything out and be open to part-time work, both as a way to make ends meet and as a way to fill your time. I also know a lot of retirees who find themselves without much to do to fill their hours once they’re retired.

If it seems appealing and the math works out, go for it. That’s my advice.

Q7: Investing in treasury notes

Question for you: I recently recovered some unclaimed property that I had lost to the state 12 years ago that they sold 8 years ago. I lost dividends for 12 years and lost the value the stock rose after it was liquidated. I wish to make up for my mistakes, so I was thinking of investing the money in T bills as I could use more stable investments. Do you have any opinions on T bills?
– Amy

My feelings on US treasuries are that they’re about as stable as can be in terms of an investment but the returns they offer are really low these days, so low that they’re often matched by savings accounts. They’re rock-solid and they do offer a tiny return that’s as guaranteed as can be in this world, but the return is so small that I would not bank on them as a long term investment.

You don’t want to lock your money up for many years in treasuries that are returning less than 3% unless you truly need something rock solid. At this point, I’d probably just put the money in a savings account or a money market account instead and buy them when interest rates rebound.

The question of what kind of stability you need in your overall investments is something I can’t judge without seeing your full portfolio.

Q8: Toaster oven purchase

I’m hoping you’ll evaluate a recent purchase using your ‘buy it for life’ philosophy. This detailed evaluation is overkill for a single, cheap purchase, but it would be valuable to have a good strategy for similar future purchases.

I needed a new 4-slice toaster oven and decided to buy one at Walmart during a weekly shopping trip. Given the low price, I couldn’t justify spending the time or gas on a trip to another store. I also didn’t think I’d find many quality online reviews of sub-$30 toaster ovens.

The options that satisfied the size and features criteria were a $20 Mainstays brand model or a $25 Black & Decker brand model. I was skeptical that the Black & Decker model would last 25% longer, or be 25% more effective. Second, a toaster oven is relatively simple – I doubted there was any game changing technology that B&D incorporated into this model that the cheaper version lacked. My cynical mind also suspected the B&D model was only branded as such after being manufactured in a random factory. I bought the cheaper model. What would you have done differently?
– Kevin

I would have bought the cheaper model, but I would have probably waited a week and scoped out the local Goodwill first and bought whatever I could find there, as you can usually find toaster ovens there.

Aside from the Goodwill caveat, I basically agree with your way of thinking. I might have done some homework on toaster ovens beforehand by looking at Consumer Reports or other guides, but honestly, they’re simple devices to perform a simple task and aren’t overly expensive, so you’re probably fine in this case.

While I have no evidence for it, you’re probably right on the “relabeled” Black and Decker. Many items like this are functionally identical inside and have just a slightly different case on the outside. There really isn’t a whole lot of variance in toaster oven internal parts.

Q9: Series EE savings bonds?

I have been buying series EE savings bonds for my grandson for years. My son says that they’re not a good investment right now and that a better gift for his future is to contribute to a 529. Thoughts?
– Amber

I agree with your son. Series EE get very low returns right now; they’re best in environments with high inflation and high interest rates, neither of which is true at the moment. With a 529, the money can be invested more aggressively for much better long term returns if the account manager so chooses.

My only qualm here is the “gift horse in the mouth” issue. I hope that this discussion was a tactful one. It’s hard to say from the description. I consider complaining about a gift to be a pretty rude move.

If you have a relative giving savings bonds and would rather they contribute that money to a 529 for your child’s future, thank them for the bond, wait for a while, and then have a conversation with them about how you’re saving for your child’s college education. Mention that anyone can contribute to the fund, but let the gift-giver decide what to do with their gift. It’s their choice, not yours.

Q10: Spotify worth it?

I used to listen to the radio constantly. There used to be a radio station near here that played great music of a wide variety, from rock to bluegrass. The station was sold and now plays modern bland country music. I have tried listening to other stations but haven’t found anything I like. Considering trying Spotify or XM but wary of adding a monthly fee. Are they worth it?
– Ashley

We have a Spotify account that we use as a family. It is often being streamed through speakers in our family room or in our daughter’s bedroom.

My feeling is that such an account is worth it if you listen to a lot of music and want it to just stream and mix up song selections on its own without ads. If you don’t listen very often, I wouldn’t subscribe.

My suggestion would be to try Spotify with a 30 day trial offer – here’s the link. Set a reminder on your phone 27 days from now that reminds you to cancel it if you’re not using it. Then, install the app and try using it as you would a radio. My best experience has been with an inexpensive Bluetooth speaker.

Q11: Library book sale excess

Our local library has a book sale every year where you can go in on the last day and fill up a box for $2 which I have done for years. I finally realized that I had filled up half of our spare bedroom with books I’ll never read from those sales. I would end up grabbing 4-5 that I’d actually read and 40 that I won’t. What do I do with all of these books? I don’t want to throw them away.
– Anna

My first suggestion would be to have a super cheap yard sale. If your town has a community wide yard sale, announce that you’re selling books, put them all out there for a quarter each on the first day, then knock it down to a dime each the second day, then a nickel each the third day. People will clean them up if you advertise it a little.

Another suggestion is to start dropping them in little free libraries around town. Just take some with you and whenever you see a little free library, stick one or two of those books in there. It’ll put that book in the hands of someone who will read it.

If nothing else, you can always donate used books to Goodwill or the Salvation Army. They’ll almost always accept used book donations.

Q12: Books on curbing materialism

Something I’m struggling with is my relationship with stuff. I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. I think I feel like to some extent that my worth as a person is tied up in the stuff that I have, like I can’t really enjoy books without a large personal book collection or I can’t really be a good home chef without a lot of kitchen gear. The thought of getting rid of stuff really hurts because I feel like I’m agreeing to be worse at something or less at something. I think this is a feeling you’re familiar with. Do you have any advice or any books on how to curb this way of thinking? I need to stop accumulating stuff and start downsizing.
– Jim

The easy answer would be the ever-popular Marie Kondo book, but I think you’re asking a somewhat different question than what she’s answering. I have three suggestions for where I think you’re at, ranging from the more practical to the more philosophical.

The first is The More of Less by Joshua Becker, which is definitely the most practical of the three books I’m suggesting here. Becker’s key argument is that owning too much stuff keeps you from the experiences you want to have because you’re constrained by space and clutter. Thus, take the approach that even a small fraction of your stuff represents more than a lifetime’s worth of experiences and pass on the remainder to those who will value it. It only takes a small fraction of the stuff you have to represent your life.

The second is Goodbye, Things by Fumio Sasaki, which is in the middle in that it’s a mix of philosophical and practical. This book, to me, focused on the connection between your sense of well being and the environment you inhabit and how that interconnection flows both ways. While it dives into practical steps, it focuses on how those steps reveal and promote a symbiosis between your own well being and your immediate environment.

The final book is very philosophical – Erich Fromm’s To Have or To Be? Fromm steps back from the practical but rather dives in a very thoughtful way into why we accumulate things. His argument is that we do so because we view them as a shortcut to a particular type of experience we yearn for, but that the item often serves as a substitute for that experience, an empty calorie that leaves us unfulfilled. This book ends up being an argument for experience rather than possession and I found it to be the most convincing but least directly practical of the three. Read this one to feed your thinking and inspiration; read the others for more connections to practical steps.

Got any questions? The best way to ask is to follow me on Facebook and ask questions directly there. I’ll attempt to answer them in a future mailbag (which, by way of full disclosure, may also get re-posted on other websites that pick up my blog). However, I do receive many, many questions per week, so I may not necessarily be able to answer yours.

The post Questions About Fuel Efficiency, Savings Bonds, Materialism, and More! appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

Source The Simple Dollar http://bit.ly/2Gn64Q7

Got Unused Baby Gear? Rent It Out With These Services to Make Extra Cash

How to Get a Loan for up to $100,000 in Home Renovations

Does your home need some work?

Maybe the kitchen is stuck in the ’70s. That dusty old carpet in the bedroom has gotta go. And, well, new tile in the shower would be nice…

Home renovations aren’t just for the sake of vanity. You can increase the value of your home if you’re looking to sell soon.

Adding a wood deck to your yard, for example, will cost you, on average, about $10,000. Your resale value will tick up $9,000, according to “Remodeling” magazine’s annual “Cost vs. Value Report” for 2018, so you’ll earn most of that cost back.

A new garage door? That job will cost you nearly $3,500 — but you’ll earn almost all of that back in resale value, too.

Afford Home Renovations — Without Going into Credit Card Debt

Unfortunately, you can’t walk into the backyard and pluck cash off the money tree. (Oh, yikes, that back deck is looking rough, too…)

Fortunately, there are ways to fund some light renovations to your home — even if you don’t have cash on hand.

One option is to take out a personal loan. If you qualify, you’ll typically receive your funds within a few days. Plus, the interest rates on personal loans are much lower than those attached to credit cards (which is another option, though one we definitely won’t recommend in this scenario).

Not sure where to find said loan? Pursue your options on the online marketplace Credible. Enter your information, and the site will spit out your personal loan options. It lets you quickly compare rates without visiting a bunch of sites and getting flooded with emails and phone calls.

Rates start at 3.99%. Remember: You’ll get better offers if you have a good credit score (think: around 640 or higher).

You can check out your personal loan options by entering a loan amount here (up to $100,000) and comparing rates in less than two minutes.

Now, start channeling your inner Chip and Joanna Gaines.

Carson Kohler (carson@thepennyhoarder.com) is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.

The Penny Hoarder Promise: We provide accurate, reliable information. Here’s why you can trust us and how we make money.

source The Penny Hoarder http://bit.ly/2HSLvxb

Closed Captioning Jobs that Allow You to Work-at-Home

The other night, my hubby and I snuggled down to have some quiet time in front of the TV when it occurred to us that the closed captioning feature was activated on one of the channels. As we fiddled with the remote, I began to wonder: How do all the shows and movies get these […]

The post Closed Captioning Jobs that Allow You to Work-at-Home appeared first on The Work at Home Woman.

Source The Work at Home Woman http://bit.ly/2S5GTIE

Wayne Bank supports NCC Foundation

Lewis J Critelli, president and chief executive officer of Wayne Bank, Honesdale, announced that Wayne Bank will support the Northampton Community College Foundation with a $10,000 contribution to provide scholarships through the Dual Enrollment Program for the Monroe County campus.The gift was made possible as a result of the Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program offered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, acting through the Department of Community and Economic Development. [...]

Source Business - poconorecord.com http://bit.ly/2t4q0iB

Business briefs

Weichert welcomes new team membersWilliam H. Lindaberry and Kevin Melnick have joined Weichert, Realtors — Acclaim, 2920 Route 611, Tannersville. Each Weichert franchised office is an independently owned and operated affiliate of Weichert Real Estate Affiliates Inc. Contact Charles Marzzacco at 570-629-6100 or charlie@acclaimrealty.com.Sweeney named top agent for 2018Weichert, Realtors — Ruffino Real [...]

Source Business - poconorecord.com http://bit.ly/2I1vVj5

Is the Golden Age of Credit Card Rewards Travel About to Change?

By now you’ve probably heard of The Points Guy, an individual who turned maximizing credit card rewards into a fabulous jet setting lifestyle, ultimately spawning a lucrative cottage industry aimed at helping others do the same.

With the assistance of sites like The Points Guy, RewardExpert, UpgradedPoints, and others, the stories of globetrotters enjoying lavish trips around the world entirely on rewards points have become the stuff of legend.

In such an era, it was perhaps only a matter of time before credit card issuers began revising the way such programs work — and it appears that reckoning may soon be here.

A recent report from The Wall Street Journal revealed that JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, and American Express are all considering cutbacks to their rewards programs.

The cost of such programs for card issuers has increased an average of 15% year-over-year. At Chase alone, credit-card holders had accrued $5.8 billion in rewards they had not yet redeemed as of the third-quarter of 2018, a figure that represents a 53% increase from the end of 2016.

A growing number of consumers have turned gaming the rewards system into an art form, opening multiple cards to snag large sign-up bonuses, strategically using credit cards to maximize rewards, and then closing some of the cards shortly after redeeming rewards.

All of which makes it hardly surprising that credit card companies are now contemplating ways to alter rewards programs, including scaling back upfront offers and identifying ways to boost long-term card usage.

Industry watchers say the golden age of globetrotting with the help of rewards points is hardly ending, but the industry does appear to be undergoing something of a recalibration.

“These programs are very profitable in some respects, but they’ve been hit pretty hard by people taking advantage of rewards and taking them to a level they were never intended to go to, and that cuts into profits for credit cards,” said Beverly Harzog, a consumer finance analyst and credit card expert for U.S. News & World Report.

The Broader Picture

Changes and revisions to rewards programs are not a new or unusual occurrence. They often follow on the heels of people using rewards in ever more inventive ways, said Harzog.

Additionally, rewards have been robust for many years because issuers were competing to attract the top customers — that elite group of consumers known to be big spenders. Now, however, that particular market of consumers has been somewhat tapped out, said Harzog. There are other dynamics at play as well.

“With credit loosening up a bit, we’re going to see people who don’t spend as much obtaining credit cards and card issuers are trying to make adjustments to accommodate this new demographic as well,” Harzog explained.

Jim Angleton, president for Aegis FinServ Corp, a wholesale provider of reward and loyalty cards plus programs for the credit card industry, says the topic is very timely as many of the 1,200 entities his company serves have been actively revisiting rewards offerings.

“Some are actually increasing the benefits, while a large number are lowering the bar for a less-is-best theory of adding revenues to their companies,” said Angleton. He added that MasterCard, Visa International, Discover, Diners, and J Card are all revising rewards programs, and while some of those changes may benefit the consumer, many will reduce current perks.

Smaller Sign-Up Bonuses, Less Valuable Points and More

In the evolving credit card rewards landscape, reduced sign-up offers may become more typical, and will be just one of many tweaks and changes being made.

“Credit card companies might start doing different kinds of targeted reward categories too, such as lifestyle categories aimed at niche markets like entertainment, shopping, or dining,” said Harzog. “But I don’t think sign up bonuses will be as high as they have been over the past five years or so.”

In addition, Angleton says his company’s rewards partners are tweaking the point values consumers earn for their spending. For instance, past programs have utilized a formula under which consumers received up to three rewards points for every $100 spent.

“Recently, we have noticed that the vast majority of airlines and private jet charters have reduced the reward amount down to 1.5-times the amount spent per $100,” said Angleton.

Yet another change taking place involves revised program structures designed to encourage long-term card use, rather than ditching them once rewards have been used.

“Today we see more cards using a tiered reward system that requires additional spending after the initial 90 days,” said Dan Wilke of CreditLiftoff.com.

Credit card issuers are also cracking down on those who apply for multiple cards simply to secure a valuable signup bonus. Chase’s United Mileage Plus Explorer Card is one such example. Like most Chase cards, the language of the card’s requirements explicitly state that the 40,000-mile signup bonus is only available to those “who have not received a new cardmember bonus for this card in the past 24 months.”

• Related: You Can Earn These Credit Card Signup Bonuses More Than Once

What Can Consumers Do?

With all of the changes taking place, it will be incumbent upon consumers to read contracts carefully and to do research when considering a new credit card.

“It’s buyer beware. Read the fine print. And when someone sends you disclosures, read them and see where the changes have occurred on your program,” said Cyndie Martini, president and CEO of Member Access Processing, the largest aggregator of card services for credit unions in the United States. “You will see an onslaught of disclosures coming.”

Martini also suggests actively shopping around for a card if you have a particular rewards goal in mind.

Angleton concurs, noting that airline travelers will see many changes to their credit card rewards programs and cautions that the rewards-oriented customer should begin reviewing the new terms and conditions being mailed.

“By law, all rewards members must be given up to three months’ notice that the programs are changing. They must outline clearly what the previous (as signed for) programs were and what the new services-programs are,” said Angleton. “This means that you will have up to 90 days to review your changes and either stay as agreed or opt out.”

One last tip: If you’re a frequent traveler, look into shifting to a hotel credit card, suggests Nathan Grant, credit industry analyst for Credit Card Insider. Hotel cards continue to offer some of the most lucrative rewards available when it comes to free night stays, he said.

• Related: Best Hotel Credit Cards

The Bottom Line

Daniel Gillaspia, creator of the travel rewards blog UponArriving, says the era of rewards travel is hardly coming to a close.

In fact, some credit cards have recently issued the most generous rewards bonuses Gillaspia has ever seen.

“The Captial One Venture card had a 75,000-point offer. The Arrival Plus from Barclaycard still currently has a 70,000 point offer,” said Gillaspia. “If these type of offers had come out a couple years ago, people would have been crazy about them.”

Like other experts, Gillaspia suggests that what’s now taking place is an evolution among credit card issuers designed to attract more profitable customers.

Overall, he says, there’s every indication that banks still feel obligated to offer compelling upfront value with their cards and to create products that include attractive bonus categories to reward consumer spending. As long as those two factors hold true, most consumers won’t have much to worry about.

“For those who loved to take advantage of those true gray areas and take things to the extreme with credit card rewards, things have definitely gotten more difficult for them, and will probably continue to get more difficult in the future,” said Gillaspia. “But if you’re talking about the average consumer, or even those who use these cards a little bit heavier than the average person, those people still have plenty of opportunities.”

• Related: Best Rewards Credit Cards

Mia Taylor is an award-winning journalist with more than two decades of experience. She has worked for some of the nation’s best-known news organizations, including the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the San Diego Union-Tribune. 

More by Mia Taylor:

• Four Economic Trends That Will Impact Your Wallet in 2019
• Public Service Loan Forgiveness: How to Qualify (and Why So Few People Do)
• Parent PLUS Loan Equals Another, Older Generation Mired in Student Debt

The post Is the Golden Age of Credit Card Rewards Travel About to Change? appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

Source The Simple Dollar http://bit.ly/2Gkzka8

Inspiration from The Avett Brothers, Stacey Abrams, John Wooden, 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. Dale Carnegie on conquering fear

“If you want to conquer fear, don’t sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” – Dale Carnegie

I’m an introvert. While I don’t exactly have social anxiety, my natural tendency in a group of people I don’t know well is to clam up and not say too much.

What exactly is it that I’m afraid of, though? Am I afraid that they’ll think negative thoughts about me? Am I afraid that they’ll judge me? Perhaps. But if I think about virtually every social situation I’ve ever been in, I rarely have a negative thought about anyone there unless they’re being intentionally rude or standoffish… and the truth is that me sitting quietly in the corner might very well look standoffish.

The truth is that the only bad outcome from a social event that’s even possible, provided I don’t say something monumentally rude, is simply sitting in the corner not saying anything at all. I am far better off participating in the conversation, some conversation, any conversation.

So I stand up, swallow my fear, and stop thinking about it so much. I just go over to someone else that seems to be alone and introduce myself, or I wander through and find a conversation about something that I’m at least mildly interested in. It’s time to go out and get busy.

2. Overcast

I listen to a ton of podcasts. In fact, whenever I’m not trying to focus on a specific task (work, family time, etc.), I usually have one playing from my phone, usually to a Bluetooth speaker somewhere nearby.

Overcast is hands down my favorite podcast app, for two reasons. One, it has a feature called Smart Speed that trims out some of the silence in podcasts, trimming off a fraction of a second of silence whenever a silent period comes up. It does this so intuitively that you don’t even notice, but it can shave a surprising amount of time off of a podcast listen.

The other reason is Voice Boost, which basically means that it normalizes the voice volume across podcasts so that all podcasts play at roughly the same volume. You don’t have situations where you jump from one podcast to the next and the next podcast has their voice level at half the volume of the first – it just automatically adjusts for you.

Combine that with easy podcast discovery and subscription and the ability to listen at a slightly faster speed (I usually listen at 50% faster than normal speed), it just fits what I want. It enables me to listen to an hour’s worth of normal speed podcasts in about 35 minutes or so (with the extra speed and the silence chopped out), moves from podcast to podcast seamlessly without me having to touch the volume, and helps me find new podcasts really easily while managing the ones I’m subscribed to. That’s really all I want in a podcast app.

3. George Carlin on hard work

“Most people work just hard enough not to get fired and get paid just enough money not to quit.” – George Carlin

For me, this is an inspiration to work a little harder, to go beyond what is my usual minimum level. The truth is that it honestly doesn’t take that much to stand out as exceptional because so many people really are doing just enough not to get fired. They do the mechanics of their job without much flair and they do just enough to keep their job and meet minimum quotas.

It doesn’t really take that much more effort to provide a lot of value beyond that, and when you do that, you set yourself up for raises and promotions and a much stronger resume.

Remember, a lot of your competition out there is content to just do the absolute minimum. Some of them struggle to do even that much. You don’t have to be Superman to stand out from the pack.

4. Alex Rosenthal on the joyful, perplexing world of puzzle hunts

From the description:

Welcome to the strange, deviously difficult and incredibly joyful world of puzzle hunts. Follow along as Alex Rosenthal lifts the veil on one of the world’s most complex puzzle hunts, the MIT Mystery Hunt — and reveals how puzzles can be found in the most unexpected places.

The best way to think of a puzzle hunt is that it’s a mix of a scavenger hunt and a really hard book of puzzles. Typically, there’s some entry fee, and then you and a team go out into a community to solve a sequence of puzzles that’s often a mix of real-world elements and information on your smartphone.

I really enjoy puzzle hunts. Not only are they a great way to stretch your mind and make yourself think way outside the box usually in a team environment, but you’re also (typically) enjoying both a story and a competition, as you’re competing against other teams.

This is probably the best explanation I’ve seen of what’s so appealing about puzzle hunts. If they sound appealing to you at all, see if there are any regular puzzle hunts in your community.

5. Dita von Teese on finding your niche

“You can be the ripest, juiciest peach in the world, and there’s still going to be somebody who hates peaches.” – Dita Von Teese

I intentionally chose to write The Simple Dollar in a friendly, earnest tone, something that I find is fairly rare online. It’s something that clicks with a lot of people, but it really doesn’t click with others.

And that’s okay.

The truth is that you can do something amazingly well, but if the other person doesn’t like that thing in general or doesn’t have a need for that thing, they’re still going to pass you by. You can be the best bluegrass musician in the world busking on a corner somewhere, but most people don’t want to hear bluegrass right then and will keep on walking – some might even give you a sour look.

You can never be good enough for everyone. It is literally impossible. Instead, try to be great for a smaller group of people. Be the juiciest peach in the world – sure, some people don’t like peaches, but for those who do… mmmmm.

6. Alexander den Heijer on feeling tired

“You often feel tired, not because you’ve done too much, but because you’ve done too little of what sparks a light in you.” – Alexander Den Heijer

At the end of a day where I didn’t do anything worthwhile, I always feel exhausted. The reason, I think, is that I didn’t really do anything that genuinely sparks a light in me. I just wasted time.

A good day is one in which you do some things that feel genuinely meaningful to you, whether they’re hard things or easy things.

If I spend a day watching television aimlessly or browsing the internet or playing games I’m not genuinely excited about, I can feel just dead at the end of the day. I try very, very hard to avoid that feeling. Each day that passes should have a healthy dose of meaningful things in it, whether it’s time spent with people you care about, engaging in hobbies you genuinely care about, or whatever the case may be.

Make sure that each day contains something that you genuinely care about. Never go to sleep with a tired spirit, just a tired body and a tired mind.

7. Carla Harris on how to find the person who can help you get ahead at work

From the description:

The workplace is often presented as a meritocracy, where you can succeed by putting your head down and working hard. Wall Street veteran Carla Harris learned early in her career that this a myth. The key to actually getting ahead? Get a sponsor: a person who will speak on your behalf in the top-level, closed-door meetings you’re not invited to (yet). Learn how to identify and develop a productive sponsor relationship in this candid, powerful talk.

Carla Harris uses the term “sponsor” here, but I find that what she describes overlaps heavily with what I think of as a “mentor” – someone much further along in their career that can not only help you figure out what to do in your career, but can be your advocate when you’re not around. A “sponsor” just means that the person is higher up the food chain at work than you are. In my experience, a good mentor is usually a good sponsor, too.

I was lucky enough to have three or four mentors/sponsors in my professional career. Each one helped me in uncountable ways, advocated for me when I wasn’t around, and put me in position for the next step in my life. It wasn’t a one way thing – I definitely helped them as well by taking care of things for them, too – but if any of those four people were to call me right now and ask for a favor, I’d move mountains for them. They changed my life, not just in terms of how they directly helped me, but how they advocated for me when I wasn’t around. I appreciate it more than they’ll ever know.

This is a great description of how to find a sponsor at work, but I often find that sponsors and mentors are the same people, so much of this advice works well for finding a mentor, too.

8. John Wooden on failure

“You are not a failure until you start blaming others for your mistakes.” – John Wooden

Everything in life falls into two categories: things you can control and things you cannot. The greatest mistake you can make in life is trying to divest yourself of responsibility for the things you can control by blaming the things you cannot.

Whenever something goes wrong, start evaluating it through the lens of your own actions and your own thoughts. Where did you go wrong? I will virtually guarantee you that when you make a mistake, there is, at the core, a misstep in your own actions and your own thoughts, and likely multiple missteps.

Stop worrying about what other people did or didn’t do. Focus on what you did and didn’t do. Repair that going forward. Apologize for your mistakes. Use this as a lesson so that you don’t repeat that mistake.

Everyone makes mistakes. Failure happens when you blame others for them and don’t look at what you can improve.

9. The Avett Brothers – No Hard Feelings

Sometimes, there’s a song for you in a moment when you need it.

10. Terry Pratchett on the end

“No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away.” – Terry Pratchett

Did I genuinely have a profound positive influence on someone else during my time on earth? If so, did that person have a genuine positive influence on others? How far out do those ripples go?

This is something I hold near and dear to my heart. What can I do to have a genuine and profound positive impact on someone else’s life? Something that lasts and matters and makes that person’s life better or their character better?

To me, that’s what life’s meaning really is. It’s to create as many positive ripples in the world as I can. What am I doing today to try to create a positive ripple?

11. Stacey Abrams on three questions you should ask yourself about everything you do

From the description:

How you respond after setbacks is what defines your character. Stacey Abrams was the first black woman in the history of the United States to be nominated by a major party for governor — she lost that hotly contested race, but as she says: the only choice is to move forward. In an electrifying talk, she shares the lessons she learned from her campaign for governor of Georgia, some advice on how to change the world — and a few hints at her next steps. “Be aggressive about your ambition,” Abrams says.

Even if you don’t politically agree with her, Abrams’ story is a compelling one. She was born as the child of Methodist ministers, not very well off (she tells a story of not having a car as a child), and built an impressive career and public life on the back of a lot of hard work.

The three questions? What do you want? Why do you want it? How do you get it?

Those questions pretty much get to the core of anything you want to do. If you can deeply and honestly answer those questions, they’ll guide you to almost anything you want to do.

12. Victor Hugo on educating children

“Don’t educate your children to be rich. Educate them to be happy, so they know the value of things, not the price.” – Victor Hugo

Parenting is a strange job. It really can be as easy or as difficult as you want it to be.

If you want to simply get your kids to adulthood, it’s not too hard. Put food on the table. Put clothes on their back. Put a roof over their head.

If you want to help build strong, independent adults with good character, the task becomes quite hard. You have to be that example of strong, independent adulthood with character, for starters, and you have to pay attention to what your kids are doing and have meaningful conversations and activities with them on a very consistent basis. Even then, you don’t fully shape things – you just provide some additional form to the direction in which they grow.

This somewhat ties into the “ripple” thing mentioned earlier. How can I create positive ripples in my children’s life, lifting them up to be better adults who will then have positive impact on others? That’s the challenge, and it is a real challenge.

The post Inspiration from The Avett Brothers, Stacey Abrams, John Wooden, and More appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

Source The Simple Dollar http://bit.ly/2RzRWF8

How This Couple Paid Off Debt and Saved $10K After Hitting Rock Bottom

Military Members, Vets and Spouses Can Attend This Virtual Job Fair Feb. 7

Military service members, veterans and spouses can attend this job fair without ever leaving home.

Hire Heroes USA is holding a free virtual career fair on Feb. 7 between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. EST — aka between 1000 and 1500 hours.

According to the site’s FAQ page, participants only need a computer and internet access, as employers will communicate via online chats. Updated versions of Google Chrome or Firefox are recommended for viewing and hearing employer presentations.

Attendees can register for the event on the site and upload their resumes, then search the 25 participating employers by location and positions available.

When they find a company of interest, job seekers can apply for a position or sign up for chat sessions to ask questions and learn more about the company.

Employers and attendees can also request private chats to discuss specific opportunities. Employers may offer video one-on-one chats, but these sessions are not required if job seekers don’t have access to video conferencing.

The site encourages job seekers to prepare questions to ask in the chat room and develop an elevator pitch for private interactions with potential employers.

If this virtual fair isn’t for you, check out our list of other employment resources for veterans and read additional tips from veterans about finding a civilian career.

Tiffany Wendeln Connors is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.

The Penny Hoarder Promise: We provide accurate, reliable information. Here’s why you can trust us and how we make money.

source The Penny Hoarder http://bit.ly/2MIw8Gv

Optimal Blog Design: 11 Elements and Examples of Blog Layouts and Designs

Are you trying to create the perfect blog design?

You know, one that encourages people to read your content and share it on the social web and, most importantly, gets high rankings in the search engines?

If you are trying to create a popular blog, here are the 11 essential elements (and examples of each) that you need within your blog design.

Element #1: Threaded comments

There are a lot of commenting systems out there. From Disqus to Facebook comments, the options are endless. But do you know what the best commenting system is?

Threaded comments like this.

“Why?” you may ask. Because threaded comments will typically increase the number of comments you receive per post by 16% to 33%. The more comments you receive, the more text you’ll have on each page. And the more text you have on each page, the more long tail keywords you will rank for.

Stick with threaded comments no matter what. Even if you have an active Facebook community, don’t use Facebook comments. Facebook owns that content, and it won’t help you get more search engine traffic.

Element #2: Snippets

Have you noticed that I don’t list the full post on the Quick Sprout’s blog homepage? I only show you a few paragraphs (a snippet), which prompts you to respond to the call to action “click to continue” to read the rest of the post.

You want to have snippets instead of full posts because of two main reasons:

1. People have short attention spans – you have an attention span of 8 seconds, and so do your readers. By only showing them snippets, you allow your readers to choose from a number of posts. They will scroll until they find a post that piques their interest, and then they’ll read it.
2. Duplicate content – if you place your full post on your homepage, you will create duplicate content, which will hurt your search rankings. This is another reason why you want to use snippets.

On your homepage, you can test the call-to-action text to find out which version maximizes the number of people clicking through and reading your post. I’ve tested the phrases:

• Continue reading
• Read more
• Click to continue
• Continue

The text “click to continue” outperformed the other variations by at least 10%. You should, of course, test this as what works on my blog may not work on yours.

For example, I noticed that GotchSEO uses “Continue Reading” on is blog and I would bet that he has tested many alternatives to find what performed best for him.

Element #3: Scrolling social buttons

I’ve tested a lot of social buttons on Quick Sprout. I have had buttons at the beginning of the posts and at the end, and I have asked people to tweet about a post from within the blog post. The one design that continually outperforms the others is scrolling social buttons.

Plugins like Sharebar and Flare have increased my social traffic by 27%.

Backlinko uses a nice share bar that is clean and scrolls nicely for an example.

When using a scrolling social plugin, make sure you limit the number of options to three. In other words, pick the three most popular social networks your readers are using. For me, it’s Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus.

If you add too many options, in my experience, it will decrease your social traffic.

Element #4: 11-point font size or larger

About a month ago, I wrote a blog post on how text size affects readability.

I did a test on 13 blogs, and I found that by increasing font size from 8 to 9, I was able to increase the time readers spend on site by 13 seconds. I saw another 8-second increase when I went to size 10. And I gained another 6 seconds by going to font size 11.

I have noticed that the Smart Passive Income Blog uses some nice large fonts in their headings and content. Check them out for another example I like.

Granted, this only works if you are using a readable font type like Arial or Times. If your font type is hard to read, increasing the size won’t help much.

When in doubt, use a bigger font size.

Element #5: A sidebar on the right

Have you noticed that some blogs have their sidebars on the left? Or even worse, some have two sidebars? I’ve played around with different layout types, and I’ve found that the optimal layout is to have your content on the left side and one sidebar on the right side.

This way people can focus on reading your content, yet you’ll have the flexibility of promoting other things within your sidebar. Just make sure the main content area takes up at least 60% of your design. People come to blogs to read, so you don’t want to distract them with other elements.

If you want to place your sidebar on the left-hand side, you can. But what I’ve found is that it typically decreases the number of people who read your content by 15% to 25%.

I prefer the look of a blog where a sidebar is on the right side, but it tends to convert better when it is on the left.

Here’s what I learned…

When you place your sidebar on the left-hand side, you will get more email opt-ins, and more people will read your bio and do whatever else you promote through your sidebar. But you will also get fewer people to read your content.

I’ve found that having a sidebar on the left side of Quick Sprout causes a 9% drop in people reading the blog posts. On the other hand, it increases the number of sidebar opt-ins by 13%.

Overall, I decided to place my sidebar on the right-hand side even though it generates 13% fewer opt-ins.

Why did I do it anyway? Because it increased the number of blog post reads by 9%. In the end, the purpose of a blog is to educate you through content… so why would I take that away?

Here is another simple, yet effective, example from the A Better Lemonade Stand Blog. They use their right sidebar to display their featured posts and offers in a way that is very user friendly and that does not take away from their content.

In general, you should consider keeping your sidebar on the right-hand side even though it will cause fewer conversions. People are coming to your blog to read, so your primary goal should be to make your content as easy to read as possible.

Although I recommend using a sidebar, you don’t need one on each of your pages. For example, the homepage of Quick Sprout doesn’t have a sidebar.

Consider not having a sidebar on the pages you are trying to improve conversions on or make money from. Why? Because it makes people focus their attention on the area you want—the area where you make money.

So, for my “money” pages, I tend to have no sidebars.

Also, for any page that has a defined goal, you should consider removing unnecessary distractions such as a sidebar.

Element #6: Your bio

Whether you have a corporate blog or a personal blog, you want to build a connection with your readers. Without that personal connection, people are less likely to comment or buy from you.

One way you can create a bond with your readers is by opening up. Within your sidebar, put a short bio of yourself, and then link it to your full bio.

Marie Forleo does a nice job of presenting her bio in her left sidebar (however, as mentioned above, I would suggest putting you sidebar on the right)

If you have a corporate blog, put the bio of your founders or the team that manages the blog in the sidebar. Make sure you include a picture right above your bio. People need to see you in order to connect with you.

Element #7: Email subscription options

I’ve mentioned this before: collecting emails is one of the most important things you need to do if you want to grow your traffic. Your options vary from an opt-in at the top of your sidebar to a pop-up if you want to be more aggressive.

I like the way that FireNation has their email box setup as a popup. It really grabs your attention and makes you want to input your email. Who doesn’t want financial freedom??

You’ll also notice that by offering a free e-book or a course, you’ll get a good number of email subscribers. You will also see that if you ask only for people’s email addresses instead of their names and emails, you’ll get roughly 10% more opt-ins.

For the month of June, emails made up 28% of Quick Sprout’s overall traffic. That’s not too shabby. Those users also generate the majority of my comments and social shares.

No matter what, start collecting email addresses of your readers. That way you can notify them when you publish a new blog post.

Element #8: Most popular widget

Can you guess what the most-clicked area on the blog is? It’s actually not the content.

Within my sidebar is an area that showcases all of my guides, my most popular posts, and my current hits.

That’s the most popular clicked-through area on the blog. Not only does it help drive traffic to my most important posts, but it also helps with search engine rankings because of the way I cross-link.

Check out how I Will Teach You To Be Rich uses their right sidebar to display their guides and most popular posts in the screenshot below.

You too can have this on your blog if you use the popularity contest plugin. You’ll have to get a developer to modify it so that you can have tabs similar to mine.

Element #9: Yoast SEO plugin

This is probably the simplest tweak you need to make to your blog. In the long run, you’ll notice that it will help your search engine traffic grow by leaps and bounds.

If you are running a WordPress blog, download and install the Yoast SEO plugin. If you are not running a WordPress blog, you’ll have to optimize your site for search engines manually by following the steps in this post.

Element #10: Keep your color scheme and design simple

Different colors have different meanings. Make sure you pick the colors for your blog carefully. They matter, and not just from a psychological standpoint. Some colors make it easy for your readers to read your content, while others don’t.

For example, red text on a black background isn’t as easy to read as black text on a white background.

Keep things simple by creating as much white space within your blog design as possible, and use black for your text color. There’s no need to make your design complex because at the end of the day people are coming to read your content. Your goal should be to make your content readable.

The ahrefs blog does a good job of this and keep an ultra clean blog design that is easy to read on any device.

Element #11: Images

Have you noticed that I place an image at the beginning of every blog post? I didn’t always do that, but from testing, I found that it increases the number of people who click through from my blog homepage to a post.

Can you guess by how much? A whopping 37%. All from just one image. If the image you are using is appealing, you’ll see good results. If the image you use sucks, fewer people will click through.

I prefer using stock photography images. You can also use royalty-free images, but the quality of those images typically isn’t as high.

The Duct Tape Marketing Blog usually uses some stellar images in their posts that I bet improve their click through rates as well.

Infographic: The blue print of an optimal blog design

For a visual roadmap I have also created this infographic that breaks down the blueprint of an optimal blog design. Use this as a guide to improve and optimize your blog.

Conclusion

Designing a blog that can boost your traffic isn’t that hard. All you have to do is follow the steps above. If you do, you should see an increase in traffic.

If you don’t have time to make all of the adjustments above, start with installing a scrolling social plugin and threaded comments. Those two simple changes will increase your social media traffic and search traffic in the long run.

If you implement the advice provided in this post and the infographic above, you’ll see an increase in your readership.

Trust me, it works. I’ve tested a lot of these design elements on Quick Sprout, and the tweaks helped me grow my readership to the size it is today.

Source Quick Sprout http://bit.ly/2Bg3bxb

How to Transfer Your Website to Shopify

Without a doubt, Shopify is our recommended ecommerce tool.

But what if you’re already on another ecommerce tool and want to make the switch?

I put together this guide to help you transfer your store to Shopify in 4 easy steps. In mapping out these steps below, I’ve assumed a few things:

• You already have a store built that’s generating revenue.
• You want to keep that revenue going while you build your new store.
• You have a domain that was purchased through another domain registrar and won’t be purchasing your domain through Shopify.

Let’s dive in.

Step 1: Build Your New Shopify Site

First let’s get your Shopify store built.

During this step, don’t worry about your new Shopify store conflicting with your old store. Your Shopify store will be locked behind a password so no one can see it until you’re ready to launch your new store. You’ll control when it becomes publicly accessible.

The store will be built on a Shopify subdomain which looks like company.myshopify.com so there won’t be any conflicts with your current store. Traffic and revenue will keep coming in like normal.

We have a complete guide on how to create your ecommerce store on Shopify here.

Most likely, you’ll have to build the store yourself. That means you’ll have to add the info for each product and page from your old store by hand. Yes, it’s definitely tedious but once it’s done, you’ll be so glad that you moved everything over. The benefits of Shopify drastically outweigh this one-time transfer.

If you’re transferring from WooCommerce, you’re in luck. Shopify does have an import process that should allow you to import the bulk of your product info into Shopify.

As you create your Shopify store, Shopify will ask you if you’re transferring stores and which platform you’re transferring from. If you select WooCommerce, you’ll see an import option in your store dashboard as soon as your store is created.

There’s more info on the WooCommerce import process for Shopify here.

Is there a way to import product pages and customer info from a CSV?

Yes, but you need Shopify Plus, the enterprise version of Shopify. If you’re a larger business with lots of revenue and thousands of products to transfer over, it is possible to upload all your product info at once with a CSV. There are details on which data can be uploaded and how to organize the CSV here. I highly recommend that you also import all your historical customers and order info if you have access to Shopify Plus. Getting all your core business data in one place avoids lots of headaches with reporting later.

But this functionality isn’t part of the standard Shopify plan. If you’re a small or medium size ecommerce site, you’ll have to copy and paste all the product info into Shopify one product at a time.

Another option is to use a migration app from the Shopify App Store. Here’s one called Cart2Cart. Price is based on how many products you want to import.

Shopify also has the option to hire a store expert through its Services Marketplace to help with the transfer.

Step 2: Get Your Redirects Ready

After you get your store built, it’s time to build your redirects.

There are two major reasons to build a list of redirects when transferring your store to Shopify:

• It will ensure that any customer using an old URL ends up on the correct page of your new site after the switch, so you don’t lose any revenue from people landing on dead pages.
• It’ll transfer any page authority that you’ve built for Google searches to the new URLs, helping your new store rank for search results and keep your traffic from dropping after the switch.

Luckily, Shopify has an easy way to add redirects to your new store. All the redirects will go live when you launch your new store.

You can add redirects within Shopify by going to Online Store > Navigation > URL Redirects. There’s also an option to import them as a batch.

You’ll want to create a redirect for every URL that has a different location in Shopify. For example, products in Shopify have a URL like this: company.com/products/product-name

If your old product URLs use a different URL structure, you’ll want to create a redirect for each product. Same for any other pages that have a different location in Shopify.

Check the URL path of every page and product that you create in your new Shopify store. If they’re the same as your old store, there’s nothing you need to do. If they have a new URL path, create a redirect for them.

Do I have to redirect every URL from my old site?

Not necessarily.

Here’s the rule: redirect every URL that has a clear corresponding page on the new site. 404 everything else.

What’s a 404?

That just means removing the page so that your site returns a 404 message any time someone tries to access that URL. It tells people that there’s nothing there.

A few years ago, I was very anti-404. I used to think that every single URL needed a proper redirect and I went a bit overboard on a site. Eventually, our hosting provider reached out and told us that we had too many redirects on our site, we needed to cut them down to 1,500. We had about 2,500 at the time.

They were right, we did have too many. I was paranoid about trying to help users land on the right page. I was also worried about losing any traffic from Google and I thought 404s might reduce our rankings. I was wrong on both counts.

First, users struggle a lot more with weird redirect paths than a 404. A 404 gives a super clear message: the page you’re looking for doesn’t exist. A weird redirect is really tough for a user to understand.

Second, Google prefers 404s for pages that no longer exist. It’s a clear signal for them and they don’t reduce rankings for sites that have 404s. They’ve publicly stated numerous times how they only want sites to add redirects for pages that have a one-to-one relationship.

Definitely build out your list of redirects for the pages that have changed URLs in Shopify. For everything else, don’t build a redirect and allow the page to 404 once you switch your site to Shopify.

Step 3: Go Live and Point Your Domain to Shopify

Now it’s time to go live!

It is possible to buy a domain directly from Shopify which sets everything up for you.

But I’ll assume you already have a domain with another domain registrar since you’re transferring your site to Shopify.

In this case, you’ll need to get your domain to point to Shopify so when people visit your site, they find your Shopify store.

You’ll need to log into your domain registrar and edit your DNS settings. You’ll be adding an A record and a CNAME.

Shopify has step-by-step instructions and the exact settings you need to configure here.

As soon as you save these DNS settings, your domain will start pointing to Shopify, so make sure you’re completely ready to make the switch before doing this step.

It’ll also take up to a few hours for the changes to go live completely. This is because the DNS servers of the internet don’t update instantaneously. It takes a while for them all to spot new changes. It’s very normal for you to see the change but for someone else to still get your old site. Nothing’s broken — it’s just taking some time for the new DNS settings to reach everyone.

If you have a smaller ecommerce site and you’re not too worried about having a few hours when visitors are routed to both sites, feel free to do the switch any time.

If you want a cleaner cut between the two sites, the most popular method is to do the switch during your lowest-traffic time. For most sites, it’s usually in the middle of the night on a weekend. For major sites with tons of revenue and users, that’s typically when “maintenance windows” occur. For most of us, picking the middle of the night during the week works really well. This causes the least disruption and is standard practice these days.

My advice on when to do the switch:

• If the stakes are high and you have a lot of revenue coming in, do the domain switch in the middle of the night even though it’s inconvenient.
• If you’re not too worried about the switch, do it on a Monday morning. That gives you all weak to fix gaps or put out any fires that come up with the new site. As a general rule, you don’t want to release anything on Friday because if something goes wrong, you’ll spend all weekend trying to fix it.

What happens if something goes horribly wrong?

Keep your old ecommerce site live during the transition. The domain and all your URLs will point to your new site, but you want the old stuff on standby in case something critical breaks during the transition.

What if new orders stop processing?

What if traffic plummets and doesn’t come back?

What if conversions fall off a cliff and people stop ordering even though everything technically still works?

There’s an endless list of weird scenarios that could seriously impact revenue and your business. The odds are slim that any of these will pop up, but you want a foolproof backup plan just in case.

If something horrible happens, your backup plan is to point your domain back to your old site. It’ll take a few hours for all the changes to reverse themselves but they will reverse.

I like to keep my old site for at least 30 days to make sure everything is healthy.

Step 4: Shut Down Your Old Ecommerce Site

Once everything has been switched over and you have at least 30 days of healthy activity on your new ecommerce site, it’s time to take the old ecommerce site down entirely.

Skipping this step can cause problems later on.

I personally find it easy to neglect infrastructure cleanup items. For the time being, it doesn’t cause problems. But sooner or later, I get hit with a random fire that I’m not expecting. On one site I was managing, I found old ecommerce checkouts that were still live years after they should have been shut down. Occasionally, a customer did manage to find the page themselves and use it. This created all sorts of fulfillment problems.

Not to mention the fact that you’re probably paying for another ecommerce tool at this point. Better to get it shut down and reduce your monthly software expenses.

This step should be pretty easy. Once you cancel your subscription on your old ecommerce software, that company should turn everything off for you. Other than logging into your old account and hitting the cancel button, there shouldn’t be anything else that you have to do.

Then you’ll be completely transitioned to Shopify without any loose ends to worry about.

Source Quick Sprout http://bit.ly/2S1QLmJ

Dear Penny: I Make Way More Than My Boyfriend. How Do We Combine Finances?

Dear M.,

If your boyfriend feels threatened by the fact that you make more money than him in our modern era, he can take a hike.

But don’t let me jump to conclusions and/or your defense right away. Let’s assume that your boyfriend is worried that he won’t be able to contribute enough to your household expenses.

To figure out how to combine finances when you’re living in two very different financial worlds, you need to stop thinking of your relationship as a 1 + 1 equation. Sure, emotionally and physically, it’s 1 + 1. But financially, you’ve got to work out the percentages. Splitting your expenses half and half is just not going to work.

Instead, try this method I learned from my colleague Lauren Sieben: Add both your salaries together, and then determine how much you each contribute to the overall pie.

I’ll give you an example. Say you make $50,000 per year before taxes, and your boyfriend makes $25,000. Together, you make $75,000 each year. He makes one-third of that total, whereas you earn two-thirds of the total. Therefore, he’d contribute about 33 percent of your household expenses and savings goals, and you’d contribute about 66 percent. To look at it another way: He’d kick in one-third of the rent each month, and you’d pay the remainder.

This may not be the most ideal setup for your relationship, but it’s one example to get the conversation started. When it comes down to it, you can combine finances any which way that makes you both comfortable — emphasis on both.

Be prepared to discuss combining your finances several times (before you get engaged, ideally) before agreeing on a plan. Rushing to pick a method without buy-in from both partners can lead to resentment. That being said, there’s no reason you can’t switch up your method if you figure out a better one or if one of you experiences a substantial career change.

Not sure how to discuss money matters with a partner? Write to Dear Penny at https://www.thepennyhoarder.com/dear-penny/

Lisa Rowan is a personal finance expert and senior writer at The Penny Hoarder, and the voice behind Dear Penny. For more practical money tips, visit www.thepennyhoarder.com.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.

The Penny Hoarder Promise: We provide accurate, reliable information. Here’s why you can trust us and how we make money.

source The Penny Hoarder http://bit.ly/2RwOWJv

18 Short Task Sites for Making Money from Home

If you have a little one at home — you know how difficult it can be to get things done. But just because you have a household filled with chatter and unpredictable schedules, doesn't mean that you can't work-from-home. In fact, short tasks, sometimes called, microtasks are the perfect way for busy moms to earn […]

The post 18 Short Task Sites for Making Money from Home appeared first on The Work at Home Woman.

Source The Work at Home Woman http://bit.ly/2pLWzlT

Some Thoughts on Marie Kondo

Over the last few weeks, I’ve heard from a few readers who have asked me whether or not I’ve watched Tidying Up with Marie Kondo, a Netflix series that debuted early this year. I have actually watched a few episodes (but not the full season), and what I found is that Kondo is a charming embodiment of the principles found in her bestselling book from a few years back, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.

Kondo’s focus is on decluttering one’s home using a system she calls the Konmari method. Basically, it involves going through categories of things rather than going room by room and asking yourself whether this category of item sparks joy in your life and, if so, which elements of that category spark joy. If it doesn’t spark joy, you should probably get rid of it.

For example, you might consider all of the DVDs and Blurays in your home as a “collection.” Which ones truly spark joy in your life, meaning that the thought of watching them again makes you genuinely feel happy and excited inside? Keep those. If you don’t genuinely have that feeling, you should get rid of the item.

You just simply go through that same process with each type of item in your house. Clothing. Kitchen tools. Board games. Books. Everything. The idea is that if you later decide that something is important to you, you can likely purchase it again.

There are a number of principles that this strategy has in common with good personal finance that are well worth highlighting here.

The Konmari method is a brilliant way of getting rid of clutter. It genuinely works if you take it to heart and apply it seriously. Just go through a single collection of things in your home that feels cluttered. For each item, ask yourself if this item genuinely sparks joy for you. If it does, keep it. If it doesn’t, toss it. If you’re on the fence, toss it – or, at the very least, put it in a box somewhere else, label it with a “sell by” date, and then if you never touch it between now and then, you can be sure that it’s okay to sell it.

Aim to have small collections of things. If you find that your collection of a particular item is exceeding the space you have set aside for it, that’s a perfect collection to tackle. Kondo often recommends keeping a collection at 30 items or less, which is a good target.

My own experience with this strategy has been extremely positive, though it’s mostly been small in scale. I’ve used her principles to downsize several of my own collections that I felt were becoming excessive in the past few years, and I have several upcoming projects along those lines. Each time, it has felt incredibly good to eliminate a lot of things from my possession that didn’t bring me any personal value.

And there’s financial value to be had, too.

The decluttering process, if taken slowly and thoughtfully, can produce some real financial returns while also clearing up your living space. As you’re decluttering, you’re probably getting rid of things that have financial value. Don’t just toss them unless they’re truly junk!

Instead, hit up your local buy/sell/trade group on Facebook or Craigslist and sell off some of those items. If an individual item has significant value, take it to eBay and try to get that full value. If you’re doing this in the winter or early spring, culminate all of this purging with a big yard/garage sale.

This takes more time than just tossing the items, but it offers the potential for at least some sort of return on the items.

If you find that they’re not selling, donate the items. If you can, get a receipt for the donation so you can deduct it from your taxes; if you can’t, that’s still better than just throwing the items in a landfill.

A decluttered living space often means more empty space than you thought, which means that it’s easy to move to a smaller living space with lower expenses, which saves further money. In the end, you should theoretically wind up with a living space with a lot less stuff in it. It’ll feel empty. That’s a good thing, because it’s an indication that you can afford to downsize.

It’s important to note here that downsizing your home is one of the most effective methods there is for saving a ton of money. If you can move into a smaller home or apartment, you’re simultaneously cutting down on your rent/mortgage, your utilities, and your insurance, and you’re often able to also cut down on commuting costs if you’re able to move closer to work. That can have a profound positive impact on your finances, and it’s something that’s opened up for a lot of people by using the Konmari method.

Where the method struggles, however, is with overconsumption. This article fairly accurately dives into one of the issues with her methods:

“It’s very hard to switch our mental tools, which is why lots of people, once they’ve done that clearing up and feel good about it, think: ‘I’ve got all this space on my shelves. What do I do?’ And they go buy more.”

The key thing is to remember that once you’ve actually pared down your possessions to the things that are meaningful, that doesn’t mean that you now have a bunch of empty space to fill and should fill it. Rather, it means that you should be careful to avoid getting back into that situation to begin with where decluttering seems necessary.

One good approach to this is to adopt a “one in, one out” policy with each of your collections. If you acquire a new book, then that means an old one has to go. If you’re gifted a new book, read it and then choose one of your books – either this one you just read or an old one – and pass it along to someone else. The goal is to stop increasing the total volume of the stuff you possess and instead just stick with the stuff that’s meaningful.

I am trying to do this with some of my possessions. If I’m considering buying something new, then I have to decide beforehand on something that has to go away. For example, I have a particular area where I store my board games and if I want to add another one and that space is full, one has to go away first. (It’s generally a good idea to have some extra space at all times in case I find something rare.)

This is a key part of enabling some of the benefits described earlier in the article, especially the idea of downsizing one’s home. A home with a lot of empty space is a very inefficient use of money as you have to pay to maintain, heat, and cool all of that space, so you’ll be money ahead by downsizing, but that doesn’t help if you’re going to immediately start filling all of that space again.

In short, unless the Konmari method of trimming down your belongings isn’t paired up with an ongoing strategy for minimizing additional purchases, you’ll end up right back where you were and you’ll have spent a lot of money on stuff that doesn’t “spark joy” along the way.

So, what’s the take-home? The method works well for decluttering, and if you’re smart about it, you can translate that decluttering into some money in your pocket and the possibility of a home downsize that will put a ton of money in your pocket. However, when you’re done decluttering, there’s a strong temptation to fill empty space with fresh stuff, which is inherently expensive. You need to adopt a strategy for this, and I find that a “one in, one out” strategy is really good.

Good luck!

The post Some Thoughts on Marie Kondo appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

Source The Simple Dollar http://bit.ly/2Gedchy

How to Start Paying Down Credit Card Debt Without Making Major Spending Cuts

So you have some credit card debt…

Don’t we all these days? We’re not trying to be flippant, but the data paints a picture: More than one-third of Americans have a lingering balance (more than $2,500, on average) on their credit cards despite making monthly payments, according to a Penny Hoarder analysis of Federal Reserve survey data.

What can we do?

Drastically cut spending? Adhere to a strict budget? Never have fun again?

Actually… there is one thing you can do. It’s pretty simple, takes very little time and won’t require you to change your lifestyle.

Say whaaatttt?

Yup! Look into consolidating your credit card debt.

What’s that mean?

It means you’ll take out a personal loan to pay off your outstanding balance(s). The idea is to get a loan that has a better (lower!) interest rate than your credit cards. You’ll wind up paying less in interest over time or even pay off your debt faster.

Not sure where to look for such a loan?

Credible is an online marketplace that will provide you personalized loan offers. It’s best if you have a good credit score (think: around 640 or higher), and it lets you quickly compare rates without visiting a bunch of sites and getting flooded with emails and phone calls.

Rates start at 3.99%. You can check yours by entering a loan amount here (up to $100,000) and comparing your personalized options in less than two minutes.

At first, it might not seem like this will make a huge difference, but Katherine, for example, faced $12,000 in credit card debt. The 15.24% interest rate kept her from chipping away at the principal. So she chose to consolidate with a 5%-interest, seven-year personal loan.

Over time, she wound up saving $12,000 in interest.

Carson Kohler (carson@thepennyhoarder.com) is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.

The Penny Hoarder Promise: We provide accurate, reliable information. Here’s why you can trust us and how we make money.

source The Penny Hoarder http://bit.ly/2WyBoki