But Iama Penny Hoarder, and this recent hubbub might convince me to change my ways…
In the name of environmental conservation,IFLSciencesuggests we should pee in the shower.It could mean saving 579 gallons of water per person, per year.
The calculations are flying around the internet. Judging by aBuzzfeed reader surveythat suggests more than 80% of people already pee in the shower, I’m guessing some folks are all too happy to share science that supports their controversial hygiene choices.
But conservation often means saving money, so I wanted to learn more.
How to Save Money by Peeing in the Shower
The logic goes: If you pee in the shower, you can avoid flushing the toilet. The water you’re already running in the shower will wash away your urine.
If you shower once per day, that’s one less flush, which saves between 1.3 and 3.5 gallons of water per person per day.
A family of four would save more than 5,000 gallons of water each year — andup to $0.42 per day or $153.30 each year.
That’s nothing to sneeze at. (We’ll have to discuss your sneezing hygiene in a later post:mask face emoji:.)
And you can save money on toilet paper, too.A few twists and bends of the torso, and your shower becomes a fancy DIYbidet— no assembly required.
If you’re already peeing in the shower, do these savings justify your behavior? And if you don’t, would you update your daily routine to save money on your water bill and toilet-paper costs?
“Urine is not sterile, even before it comes out of you and gets contaminated by your skin. Bacteria are present at low levels in the urine of healthy people, Evann Hilt of Loyola University of Chicago reported,” according toScience News.
However, the research also suggests this bacteria probably won’t make you (or your family or roommates) sick. Just don’t let it run across any wounds.
What About the Pipes?
Toilets drain “black water,” which contains waste from feces, urine, toilet paper and other things you’re allowed to flush.
Showers, bathtubs, sinks and your washing machine, on the other hand, drain “grey water,” which contains far less waste.
Can you damage your plumbing by yellowing up your shower’s grey water?
“Aside from it beingnotthe most sanitary thing to do, [peeing in the shower] is not going to generally clog your shower drain,” said Sarah Green ofAdvanced Plumbing Commercial & Residentialin St. Petersburg, Florida.
Green explained shower water drains down the same line as the toilet. As long as it drains properly, you shouldn’t have an issue.
But, “you don’t want that sitting in your tub,” she warns, because it could cause a stink.
As for saving money, Green says the effect would be minimal. She says those who follow the “if it’s yellow, let it mellow” rule are probably saving a lot more.
I’ll add they also don’t ever have to worry about standing in their — or anyone’s — urine.
Your Turn: Would you pee in the shower to save money?
Dana Sitar (@danasitar) is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She’s written for Huffington Post, Entrepreneur.com, Writer’s Digest and more, attempting humor wherever it’s allowed (and sometimes where it’s not).
Square Mile Cider Company is giving a lucky winner 10 acres of land in honor of the company’s namesake Oregon pioneers.
The land, which theOregoniandescribes as “high desert, covered in sagebrush and surrounded by hills,” is in Brothers, about an hour’s drive southeast of Bend and is worth about $6,500.
How to Win 10 Acres of Land in Oregon
The contest is open to legal residents of the following states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, Nevada, Oregon, Texas or Washington. You also have to be at least 21 years old.
Entering is easy:All you have to do is submit your name, phone number and state of residence on theonline sweepstakes form.You can also enter by text or mail.
But figuring out what to do with your 10-acre plot might be a bit harder.
“This property likely cannot be built on or developed in any way,” the contest rules say in all caps. The plot is zoned for Exclusive Farm Use (EFU).
If you’d like to try your hand at farming, thezoning specificationincludes the raising of honeybees along with the growth and sale of Christmas trees.
Despite the restrictions, contest entrants still have it way easier than the original settlers — you won’t need oxen, a wagon or river-fording skills to explore this land.
Your Turn: Will you enter to win this free 10 acres?
Lisa Rowan is a writer, editor and podcaster living in Washington, D.C.
For a period of time in the early 2000s, I had very, very little money to live on. It was during my final years in college and I had chosen to cut my student loans to the barest minimum I could while still keeping a roof over my head and food on the table. I packed as many credits into my studies as I possibly could and also worked at two different jobs and I lived in this tiny, tiny off-campus apartment. Most of my possessions could fit into a single plastic tub, with the exception of a really old computer that sat on a plywood desk that I salvaged out of a dumpster.
My one single treat during those days was a cheeseburger at Wendy’s about once a week. The rest of the time, I ate free food on campus where I could find it or else ate ramen noodles (cooked on a hot plate using a beat-up old pot) or bananas at that tiny apartment.
I was still quite far from finishing my degree program. Most of my days were filled with going to class, studying at the library, going to another class, going to work, going to another class, studying some more, going to some meeting on campus where I might be able to scavenge some pizza, then heading home. On the weekends, I mostly met with study groups, went on a free “date” with my girlfriend (who later became my wife), and read books from the library or rode around on my bicycle when I had free time.
I didn’t have a car because I couldn’t afford one. I had to meticulously budget in order to afford a bus pass.
At one point, I literally cried with joy when I found out that the local grocery store was having a 12 for $1 sale on ramen noodles, which meant that I actually had something for each meal for the next week. Without that, I would have been skipping meals.
The biggest memory I have from that time – and it’s something that’s reflected in the journals I kept during that timeframe – was that I walked through life very robotically, almost like a zombie. I didn’t have much hope that things would improve for at least a year or two. I was making it through college by the barest of margins and it felt like the end was nowhere in sight. I had classes, I had work, I had studies, I had sleep, and that was about it aside from a few free hours on the weekends, and then the cycle repeated itself.
In short, I felt utterly hopeless. While there was this far off dream of a better life, things really didn’t seem like they were going to get better any time soon.
What changed? How did I get through this?
The truth of the matter is that my boss at one of those jobs really cared for me a lot. He was always asking how I was doing. He’d sometimes give me food, including one time where he went and bought me a sack full of burgers from a restaurant and pretty much demanded that I eat them.
More than that, though, he listened, and he gave me some of the best advice that I ever received.
He told me of his experiences during his younger years, how he went through several years of barely scraping by without a whole lot of hope for the future, and he told me some of the things he did to get through it.
The number one thing? Find some meaning. Don’t just wander through all of this mechanically without any real hope that things will change. If you do that, nothing will change and you’ll keep doing this until something inevitably breaks.
He offered me some suggestions on how to do that. I followed up on some of them and, later, figured out others that worked for me.
And I made it. I began to feel positive about my life again. My grades responded, too, putting me on the dean’s list for the first time. I graduated and found a great job and found myself on a much better path.
I made it through that hard period, and the key reason that I was able to do so was that I actively sought out meaning in my day-to-day existence. I realized that I wasn’t just here to scrape by.
So, how do you find meaning in a financially challenging life, when it feels like you’re always going to be scraping by and there’s no real hope for the future? Here are twelve things that I learned from this experience, twelve things that I still keep near and dear to my heart even after building a very strong financial life for myself.
Figure Out What Truly Matters to You
This seems like a “nebulous,” “feel good” question, but it’s actually very specific. Why, exactly, are you continuing in this routine? What is your reason for not just walking away from all of it?
If you can’t come up with a reason, why not just walk away?
Most likely, if you give that question some time, you’re going to come up with a few reasons why you keep going, whether you see them immediately or not. Perhaps it is a matter of personal pride. Maybe you have people that you love who depend on you. Maybe there is a long term goal in the distance, but it seems very far away.
Use those reasons as the start of building something positive for yourself. Every day, when you wake up, remind yourself of the reasons you’re doing this.
Think of your daughter’s happy laugh and how you have the chance, this very day, to help her have a less worried childhood.
Think of the big goal that you’re working toward, and think of today as a measurable percentage of your march toward that goal. If you have three years to go, today alone is 0.1% of your goal – and tomorrow when you wake up, that day will be a little bit more than that.
Whatever the real reasons are behind your journey, put them front and center in your mind. Don’t be afraid to feel good about those reasons. Draw joy from them, motivation from them.
Every single day, the thing that inspires me the most to keep chugging through my to-do lists is my wife and my children. I will do whatever I can to give them a happy life. Seeing my children able to play without a care in the world… that’s something that many children don’t have, and it’s something I can give them with my steady effort.
What’s your reason for doing this? Bring it out, into the open, and let it inspire and motivate you.
Use Prayer or Meditation as a “Mental Cleansing” Tool
One of the things I learned early on when I was trying to break out of that “zombie routine” of just working and going to classes and sleeping without any meaning is that I was basically so surrounded on all sides by personal stress and worry that I often didn’t even really see it. I was just kind of resigned to it.
Any technique you can grab ahold of to break through that layer of constant stress is going to be a useful one. For me personally, meditation and prayer were the keys to breaking through.
The practice that really worked for me – and still works – is so simple. I just spend some time sitting in a quiet place and I make a conscious effort to clear my mind of everything. If a thought tries to invade, I consciously banish it. I’ll do this for twenty or thirty minutes, but when I first started, doing it for even five minutes was hard.
What I found is that this technique is insanely effective as a kind of “mental cleanse.” It left me feeling less stressed and more capable of dealing with that stress. Rather than feeling just locked in place, I felt prepared to try to do something about my situation, and that feeling made a huge difference in terms of taking on many of the other strategies listed here.
Expose Yourself to New and Challenging Ideas Every Single Day
This might seem like a strange strategy, but bear with me for a minute.
For me, a big part of that “zombie routine” was simply feeling very alone in the world. I felt very much swept away by currents outside of my control and my understanding, as though my life was set up and automated by some outside forces that I didn’t understand.
Over time, I made a conscious effort to try to understand those forces. I spent months studying economics in my spare time, then I studied a lot of philosophy. I turned off the television and read some challenging books, ones that really made me think.
And, gradually, my situation began to make more sense to me. I began to realize that much of what was happening in my life was a result of my own personal choices, in many different ways. Not only did I choose to follow this path, I also chose how I reacted to life situations. The more I learned about the world around me, the more in control of my own life I began to feel.
Which brings me to my next strategy…
Learn About and Practice Stoicism Rather Than Hedonism
So, let’s define these two terms, first of all.
Hedonism is the pursuit of pleasure and sensual self-indulgence. It’s about choosing the thing in the moment that provides the most pleasure. Most of American culture is focused on hedonism.
Stoicism, on the other hand, is the idea that most of our pain and suffering (from non-medical reasons) is due to errors in our own judgment and that we are capable of fixing those errors ourselves, leading to a better life.
By default, most people practice some form of hedonism. They think about what the most enjoyable thing in the moment happens to be and they usually do it. When they do choose something else that isn’t the most pleasurable thing, they hate it – it’s why people hate their jobs and why people end up feeling like they’re stuck in a rut.
Stoicism, on the other hand, is all about reflecting on why you feel this way about things and trying to reserve emotional judgment. Rather than just hating something, figure out why you hate it. Rather than just desiring some particular pleasure, figure out why you desire it.
The more you do this, the more sensible the uncontrollable things in your life become and the easier it becomes to handle them and even find joy in them.
Hedonism never brings that lasting sense of understanding and contentment. If you come home, flop on the couch, and turn on your laptop or your television to “lose yourself” for a while, that’s pure hedonism and it will never bring lasting joy, just momentary pleasure. The first step on this journey is to figure out why you do that. Why do you flip on the television? What is it that you’re seeking that you’re not finding in other parts of your life? That’s the first step in a very long journey that will bring you to a much deeper peace with the world.
Use Every Free Community and Public Resource You Can
People who find themselves walking a very narrow tightrope in life often can’t afford even the slightest mis-step. If something small goes wrong, like a car problem or losing a shift at work, things can collapse immediately.
The thing is, society actually helps people in that situation a lot. There are tons and tons of organizations and people that really want to help those who are in this situation, doing the “zombie walk” that I described above.
Food pantries. Clothing pantries. SNAP. The list is very very long once you start digging.
These services can provide you with free food, help with your rent and utilities, and so on.
Many people don’t take advantage of this out of a sense of pride, but here’s the thing: you are the exact person that people want to help. People want to give you these things so that you can get out of your rut. Not taking it is like walking away from a gift someone has thoughtfully given you.
Take advantage of these services. Give yourself some breathing room in your financial situation, and then use that breathing room to build an emergency fund and pay a few bills. If you use it well, a bit of financial breathing room brings about a little more and a little more and a little more until your life dramatically changes, and often all you need is that helping hand to get started.
Focus on the Moment – And What You Can Take Out of It – As Much as Possible
Almost every moment affords you some opportunity to prove yourself, some opportunity to learn, some opportunity to build a relationship, some opportunity to put yourself in a better position than you were in before.
If you’re in a classroom, for example, focus on learning. It’s an opportunity for intense learning that you won’t get elsewhere, so use it. Take advantage of the moment.
If you’re in a social situation, work on building a relationship with someone. It’s an opportunity for building connections with people, so take advantage of it.
If you’re at work, focus on learning new skills or performing your tasks as well as you can. It’s an opportunity to improve your skill set and impress your boss, so take advantage of it.
Every single moment is an opportunity. Focus on the moment at hand and what you can get out of it. The more you focus, the better off you’ll be.
Reflect on Your Abundance – And Share With Others
Even in the moments where I really felt locked into place with nowhere to run, where I was just walking through an endless cycle of days with seemingly no hope, I still had an abundance of good things in my life.
I had good health. I had an opportunity to work toward a college degree. I had a handful of people who really cared about me – my parents, my girlfriend, and a few mentors. I had a mind that was capable of learning things. I had the infinite little pleasures that a day can give, from the feel of sunlight on my arm to the feel of grass under my feet.
Even in my lowest moment, I had so much.
Rather than spending my time thinking about all of the things that I do not have, I’m much better off reflecting on the many, many, many things I do have. Doing so simply makes life more joyful and makes me feel more in control of things.
Focus on Improving Yourself Every Day
Every single day, devote some time to improving yourself so that, over time, you slowly become much more able to move out of your current position and into something better.
There are infinite ways to improve yourself. You can exercise. You can take an online class. You can work on a particular skill that you use in the workplace. You can build a new skill. You can read a challenging book related to something that you might need to tackle professionally.
All of those things serve to put you in a slightly better position at the end of each day than you were in at the start of that day. Sure, it might just be one more handhold in a long climb up a mountain, but with each step higher and higher, you can begin to really see the changes.
Make self-improvement part of your routine. You’ll never regret it.
Look at Jobs and Classes as Opportunities, Not Burdens
Your job is an opportunity, not a burden. You get paid for your time, sure, but every moment when you’re at that job is an opportunity to build a skill, to help a customer, to help a coworker, to build your own reputation in a positive way. The more you do that, the more likely it is that you’ll see a promotion in the future or be ready to move to another job that offers more opportunity and pay.
Your classes are opportunities, not burdens. They provide an opportunity to learn something about the world around you, something that will be useful even if you don’t directly see it. Classes directly related to your potential career are obviously useful, but so are the others as well as they teach you peripheral things that help you connect your core skills to others. They’re also opportunities to get to know peers and professors, too.
When you feel beaten down and stuck in a financially challenging situation, these things can feel like burdens, but they’re not. They’re opportunities. Try as hard as you can to see every moment at work and every moment in the classroom as an opportunity to make yourself better and make your life better.
Cut Out Your “Escape Hatches”
Everyone needs some downtime, but when people start to get locked into a routine that they feel as though they can’t escape from, they begin to fill every spare moment of their time with “escape hatches.” They spend spare moments looking at websites, watching Youtube videos, watching television, playing video games, or other things like that, things that mostly serve to help a person “escape” and not have to face the challenges of life.
Cut those escape hatches out of your life as much as possible. Use that time for anything that’s self-improving, whether it’s building a skill or building a personal relationship or improving your health.
“Escape hatches” are the most obvious form of hedonism in life. They’re a momentary minor pleasure, an escape from life that feels good at the moment, but just dumps you back where you started in even worse shape than before because you’ve just lost all of that time. Minimize your “escape hatches” and you’ll end up with a much better life in the long run.
Get Adequate Rest, But Rise When You Wake Up
Good sleep is an incredibly powerful tool for feeling good about your life. It helps you focus. It gives you energy. It recharges your batteries. A good night of rest each night is vital.
The catch is that many people do not listen to their body when it comes to sleep. The best way to sleep is to go to sleep when you actually feel tired. Don’t lounge in front of the television when you’re tired – go to bed, turn off the lights, and go to sleep.
In the morning, set an alarm as an emergency backup, but try to reach a point where you awaken on your own. The first time you’re awake enough to realize what’s happening, get up and get out of bed and start your day. Don’t lay there and doze or else you’re just going to mess with your body’s natural cycles in a way that is going to make the day more challenging.
Go to bed when you’re tired, and don’t use devices to distract you and keep you awake in bed. Wake up naturally and then get up without lounging around. You’ll approach the day in a much more positive and productive fashion.
Talk to Someone Who Will Really Listen
During my most financially challenging period, I was lucky to have five or so people in my life that I could talk to about my challenges – my parents, my girlfriend, and my mentors all had their ears open to me when I needed it.
Not only did they listen to my concerns about life, they also offered a great deal of useful advice (which provided the backbone for this article) as well as other forms of assistance, particularly in the case of my mentors, as I discussed at the start of this article.
In the end, though, it was the relief of being able to talk through my worries with someone who was actually listening that made all the difference.
If you don’t have this kind of relationship in your life, then one of the most valuable things you can be doing with your time is building up those kinds of relationships. You need mentors and truly close friends, as they make all of the difference in the world when you’re in a very challenging spot in life.
Final Thoughts
For me, these strategies worked in concert to help get me through the most financially challenging time in my life. Thanks to these strategies, I was eventually able to complete my studies, get a great job, and eventually build my own business and begin to walk the path to financial independence.
Was it easy? Absolutely not. Things like this are never easy. If they were easy, though, no one would ever find themselves in a challenging position.
You have the tools you need to break free of your financially challenging state. The key to all of it is to find meaning in your life and find enough breathing room to begin making changes, just a little at a time at first, but eventually bigger and bigger ones until you have the life you want.
In fact,the average full-time employee pays $276 per month — or about$3,300per year (!) — just to go to work each day,according to this brand-new CareerBuilder survey.
That’s right: Go ahead and take $3,000 right off the top of your annual salary. And considering the survey’s numbers are post-tax, it’s an even bigger percentage than you think.
Yikes.
The Hidden Expenses of Going to Work
Earlier this year, CareerBuilder surveyed 3,031 full-time U.S. workers online via Harris Poll to see how much they spent on various work-related expenses.
The short answer:way more than anyone thought.
The hefty annual total includes expenses you’d expect, like transportation and lunch. But CareerBuilder also covered less obvious costs, like pet care and expenses associated with finding a job in the first place.
Many work-related expenses are non-negotiable— after all, you need to go to work to earn the money to pay them, not to mention the other bills you incur!
“The cost of work is often what the rest of your budget is centered around,” said Rosemary Haefner, chief human resources officer at CareerBuilder.
She saysknowing your total work-related expenses can help you figure out how to make cuts.
“You can vow to carry lunch to work every day, stop buying coffee out, look for cheaper business clothes. Managing those costs can help account for others, like commuting and child care, which won’t subside.”
So where exactly does all that money go?
Here’s how workers spend cash on getting to their jobs:
Transportation: About $25 a Week
If you’relike most Americans, you probably drive to work.Indeed, 84% of the survey’s respondents reported a driving commute.
Driving, of course, carries expenses — most obviously, fuel.
Luckily,63% of drivers report spending less than $25 on gas each week.
But the study doesn’t mention other driving expenses, such as vehicle maintenance and insurance — not to mention depreciation of the new cars with which so many of us insist on decorating our driveways (beaters forever!).
Think public transit’s a more economical option? Think again.
While it’s certainly greener,almost half (47%)of those surveyed who take public transit to work every day said theyspend $25 per week or more on transit.
Lunch and Coffee: About $30 a Week
We were happy to see thatalmost a full three-quarters of respondents brought their lunch to work.Way to go, Penny Hoarders!
Obviously, food has a cost, even if you purchase it at the grocery store and prepare it at home.
But lunchbox PB&J is almost certainly cheaper than your office cafeteria. Case in point: Of those who bought their workday meals,half spend $25 or more per week on lunch… and 13% said they spend $50 or more.Ouch.
Coffeerepresents a small but ubiquitous expense — just under half of workers indulge in visiting a coffee shop as opposed to brewing at home.
And while71% reported spending less than $10 per week on their java, that means 29% spends more.
And for 3%, that number is $25 or higher.Hipsters.
Child and Pet Care: About $125 a Week
About a third of parents with children under the age of 18 pay for day care (as opposed to using free after-school services or strong-arming a sister or brother into the job).
But more than a third of those who do pay for day care pay dearly: $500 or more per month.In some towns, you could rent your kid her own apartment for that!
CareerBuilder found most people don’t have to pay for pet care during the week, or at least not very much. Of the workers who said they have pets, more than 50% reported paying $10 or less per week for their care.
Clothing, Shoes and Accessories: About $8 a Week
This one’s a little less solid, because you can wear many clothes in your non-work life — even if you decide they’re specifically for work.
But you might not want to wear a suit and tie to the gym or the baseball game, and there is something to be said about “dressing the part.” Even at casual companies, you probably need to havesomenice clothing for interviews and meetings, and everyday workwear will eventually grow threadbare.
Clothes are expensive.Almost half of respondents admitted they spend more than $250 per year on work-specific clothing, shoes and accessories — and close to a quarter spend over $500.
The swankiest 2% of responders spend more than $2,000 per year on clothing.Hope that whole “dress for the job you want” thing works out, because you’re gonna need those paychecks!
If you spend $400 in a given year on clothes you wear for 50 work weeks, that comes to about $8 per week… just to avoid being nude at work.
Finding a New Job: $200 a Pop
While most responders (81%) said they didn’t incur costs while looking for a new job, those who didreallydid: $200 or more.
Clothing, transportation and travel represent the bulk of that sum, but responders also spent cash on networking events, recruiters and printing services.
Can we all just agree to send links to our LinkedIn profiles and PDFs in place of paper resumes, already?
How to Avoid Paying Just to Go To Work
Although some of these weekly totals might seem small (what’s $30 to avoid eating PB&J every day?), you could be missing out on way better ROI than cafeteria food.
For instance,if you put the $25 you spend on weekly lunchesinto savings insteadstarting at age 21, you would have enough to retire on by 65.
That’s more than enough incentive for me to bring a brown bag almost every day.
Of course,working from homewill help you avoid transportation costs.
But you’ll probably still need child care if you’ve got kids — to say nothing of theseother hidden expensesyou probably haven’t considered.
You might consider starting a side hustle to help mitigate the “tax” you pay just getting to your primary job… but evenside jobs come with hidden costs.
I guess we’d better get used to it: Nothing in this life is free.
Not even earning money.
Your Turn: What work-related expenses do you have? What are some of the ways you get around them?
Jamie Cattanach is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. Her writing has also been featured at Word Riot, DMQ Review, Hinchas de Poesia and elsewhere. Find @JamieCattanach on Twitter to wave hello.
Every London borough now has properties for sale costing more than £1 million, with the exception of one area of east London, a new survey has revealed.
Every London borough now has properties for sale costing more than £1 million, with the exception of one area of east London, a new survey has revealed.
Whether it’s the exotic thrill of hearing or speaking another language, eating unusual dishes, or just experiencing another culture, the allure of wandering foreign lands calls to you. But when you add in the amount of time you’d need to take off work to fly across the ocean, along with the expense of said flight and potentially unfavorable exchange rates, your enthusiasm might drop a bit.
The answer to your international wanderlust lies a whole lot closer — and a whole lot cheaper — in Canada.
Consider flights. Los Angeles to Tokyo? Starts at $650 for a nonstop 12 hours. New York to Paris? A 10-and-half-hour nonstop will set you back $2,000 right now. One layover will get you closer to $650, but adds precious time.
A quick search on Hopper, meanwhile, shows any mix of midsummer and fall flights from New York City, Los Angeles, or Denver to Vancouver, Montreal, or Calgary ranging from $250 to $500 — almost all of them nonstop and getting you from place to place in no more than six hours. (And a lot less jet lag on either end.)
Add to those benefits the current state of the American dollar in Canada. As of early June, you could buy one Canadian dollar for 76 cents in U.S. currency. That means that $10 cheeseburger and IPA just cost you $7.64; the $150 Book of Mormon ticket, $115; and the $250 hotel room, $191. You’ll get a 24-cent discount on every dollar north of the border, so it’s up to whether you want to go budget on a super-budget, or splurge and add a little luxury. (Balcony to mezzanine, perhaps?)
Canada makes good financial sense. And with almost 4 million square miles from Pacific to Atlantic open for exploring, most any international travel fancy can be passport-stamp-certified amid the country’s 10 provinces and three territories.
Let’s start with the most obvious international yearning: a trip to France. Canada implemented official French-English bilingualism in 1969, so you’ll have opportunities to test out your “Bonjour, mademoiselle” across the country.
If you’re beyond basic pleasantries, head to Québec, where French is the sole official language. Walk the walled city of Old Québec, whose cobblestone streets and stone churches manage to look more European than even some actual cities in Europe. Opt for a stay at Le Monastère des Augustines. The holistic health-focused boutique hotel, a heritage site set within the walls of North America’s first hospital north of Mexico, features an ancient cloister that dates back to the 17th century.
Parts of Quebec City manage to look more European than many actual cities in Europe. Photo: Pierre Phaneuf
More European feels can be found all over Canada. Dreaming of countryside vineyard-to-vineyard tasting tours like you might in Italy, Spain, or France? British Columbia’s wine country — a four-hour drive east from Vancouver — is diverse and growing fast. In 25 years, the industry has expanded from 17 grape wineries to 255. And it’s a good thing. British wine critic Steven Spurrier of Decanter magazine says, “For me, wine is the three ‘Ps’: the place, the people, and the product. British Columbia ticks all three boxes with exuberance, elegance, and conviction.”
Need to scratch a Euro-contemporary arts and culture itch? You may know Montréal for its International Jazz Festival (June 29-July 9), but it’s also home to Complètement Cirque (July 7-17): 10 days of dancing, jumping, spinning, stunting, juggling, and madcappery by troupes from across the world. Year-round, catch an act at TOHU Pavilion, North America’s first circular circus arts performance space.
For a Celtic cultural infusion, head east to Newfoundland, home of popular bands such as Great Big Sea, Connemara, and Irish Descendants. The trad music and festivals found in abundance around Nova Scotia (particularly Cape Breton) and Prince Edward Island will also speak to your Gaelic heart.
Seeking an Asian culinary expedition without the 24-hour trans-Pacific flight? Foodies, you’ve found your spot. Richmond, B.C., just south of Vancouver, has been coined the Asian food capital of North America. Trade in your Friday night sweet and sour Chinese delivery for a weekend on “Food Street,” which features three blocks with about half of the 400-plus Japanese, Malaysian, Vietnamese, Thai, and Korean restaurants in the city. From morning to night, you can taste dishes like miso black cod or bibimbap with banchan, hitting a different country at every meal.
If Greenland or Norway have made your bucket list because you want to see polar bears and the Northern Lights, you can find tours geared toward both in Northern Canada’s backcountry. This part of the world is home to approximately 60% of the world’s polar bears, according to Polar Bears International, and the Yukon, in particular, consistently lands on top-10 lists for the best places to see the ethereal aurora borealis.
Even beachgoers can be satisfied in Vancouver, just over an hour north of Seattle. Relax below Carribbean-esque palm trees at English Bay Beach, spike a volleyball to the sand like you might in Rio de Janeiro at Kitsilano Beach, and bare all your skin French Riviera-style along the 4.8 mile-long public and legal “naturalist” Wreck Beach.
If you feel like you have to buy a new laptop every few years, you’re not alone.
Applehas publicly stated that itsMacBook laptops last for about four years,on average. I’ve used both PC and Apple products, and I also find I need to replace my laptop every three or four years.
But Apple also notes its productscanlast “significantly longer” than the average estimate.
With laptop prices at Best Buy running anywhere from $149 for a simple Chromebook to $1,599 for a powerful MacBook, it’s to your advantage tokeep that tech running for as long as possible.
Why Laptops Wear Out
To understand how to make a laptop last, you first need to understandsome of the biggest reasons why laptops wear out:
Overloading: The laptop has too many processes running at the same time.
Overheating:The laptop gets too hot.
Battery death:The laptop’s battery stops working, meaning the laptop only works when it is plugged into an outlet.
Wear and tear:Wearing out the keyboard, getting crumbs and dust stuck in the keyboard or dropping the laptop a few too many times.
I’ve had laptops fail for all four of those reasons. (And sometimes for a combination of reasons, like the laptop that overheated for months before the keyboard started to wear out.)
Although there are temporary fixes,once the laptop has started its slow death, you’ll eventually have to get a new one.
To make your laptop last as long as possible, you need to think aboutpreventing the problems before they start.
How to Prevent — and Solve — Common Laptop Problems
Let’s take a look at some of the best ways toprevent common laptop problems, fromlowest to highest cost:
1. Delete Files
Cost: $0
One of the easiest ways to keep your laptop at peak performance is to make sure its hard drive isn’t full of photos, videos, book-length PDFs and other large files.
There are a lot of technical reasons whysaving too much stuff to your laptop can overload your machine,but let’s keep it simple and say that if you give your hard drive too much to carry, it’ll slow down — or stop working completely.
So take a look at what you’ve got on your computer, andstart deleting stuff you no longer need.
Consider transferring items that you want to save but don’t use every day (like photographs) to an external hard drive. Using cloud storage such as Dropbox or Google Drive doesn’t always help as much as you’d think, since the cloud sync process still takes up valuable hard drive space.
Don’t forget theDownloads folder,which probablycontains files you didn’t even realize were there.Remember that PDF menu from the restaurant you thought about visiting a year ago? It’s hanging out in Downloads, taking up space. Delete it!
A word of warning: It’s OK to uninstall some types of programs, like games you no longer play. However,don’t go around deleting every program you don’t think you use, especially if you don’t know what it is.Your laptop uses some of those programs, and uninstalling or deleting them can seriously damage your performance.
2. Look at What’s Running
Cost: $0
On the subject of “what’s your laptop using?” take a minute tocheck out what applications your laptop is running.Too many applications running simultaneously can slow down or crash your system.
Type Command+Option+Escape (on a Mac) or start Task Manager in Windows, andsee what applications your laptop is runningright now.
I just learned my laptop was running both iTunes and Adobe Acrobat, even though I wasn’t using either of them. I closed both.
3. Learn About Malware
Cost: $0
Running malware on top of all the other applications can seriously slow down your machine — and cause all kinds of other problems. (There’s a reason why it’s calledmalware.)
I lost a hard drive to an accidental malware downloadonce and ended up paying a couple hundred bucks to the local tech shop to get as many of my files restored as possible.
Solearn how to avoid malware.It hides in spam email attachments, in unsavory download links and in disreputable ads. Sometimes just visiting a website triggers a malware download.Cnethas a good “how to avoid malware” guide, so start there.
4. Install Upgrades
Cost: $0
You know how your laptop keeps asking you if you’d like to install upgrades, and you keep clicking “remind me tomorrow?”
Go ahead and install those upgrades.They’ll keep your programs running smoothly — which will put less strain on your laptop.
5. Keep Your Laptop Cool
Cost: $0-$30
How do you know if your laptop is overheating?Listen for the fan.
Every laptop will run its fan once in a while, but if you hear the fan every time you use the laptop, your laptop has overheating issues.
Many laptops overheat whenthe bottom half of the laptop— the part where all the computer parts live —gets too hot.Yes, I know that’s also the part you put directly on your lap. Yes, that’s part of the problem.
The last time I had a laptop with overheating issues, I temporarily solved the problem by takingfour plastic bottle lids(like the kind you get from bottles of water or soda) and placing one lid under each corner of the laptop.This kept the laptop cool by allowing air to flow underneath the laptop.
Eventually, that laptop would only work when it was on top of its four bottle caps — but I got a lot of extra use out of that machine before it finally died.
My current laptop spends a portion of its workday on a wire cube (that I use as a “standing desk”), which also allows air to flow under the machine. You can createfree, quick fixeslike these from stuff you already have in the house, or you can purchase laptop cooling pads and stands — anything to keep that underside cool.
I’m not expecting any of us to stop putting our laptops on our laps; after all, that’s where they were literally designed to go. However, thinking about where your laptop spends its day can help youcreate as many cool resting spots as possible.
6. Clean Your Laptop
Cost: $10
A dirty laptop is an unhappy laptop — anda dirty laptop can quickly become a broken laptop,if you get too much dust and pet hair and food residue in there.
As with the other tips on this list, you want to think of this as prevention, not problem solving. If you’re cleaning your laptopafterdust bunnies have clogged the fan, your machine may already have taken on some damage.
Sothink of laptop cleaning as regular maintenance, not something you only do when something goes wrong.
One of the simplest ways to clean a laptop is witha can of compressed air.I used to be able to clean the dust out of my laptop by carefully removing all of the keys, unscrewing the bottom cover and using the compressed air to carefully blow dust out of all of the internal crevices I could find.
Some laptops may still let you do that, but others are not designed to be taken apart (and that’s probably a good thing, given how easy it is to mess that up).
How To Geekhas a great guide onhow to clean a laptop,both for laptops that can be taken apart and for laptops that can’t. Read that guide to get started, and pay attention to the warnings: If you blow too much air at a laptop fan, for example, it could break.
7. Buy a New Battery
Cost: $10-$30
If your laptop’s battery dies, you might be able tobuy a new battery.This depends on the brand and model of laptop you’re using.
If you’ve got a laptop where the battery is covered by a removable panel, it should be pretty easy togo online, search a site like Amazon for a battery designed for your laptop’s make/model/year and pop that battery into the machine.
If you’re using a MacBook or another laptop that is not designed for battery removal, it’s notimpossibleto replace the battery, but it isexpert-level. You’re better off taking your Mac to the Apple Store, asAppleInsiderexplains:
Depending on the model, users without coverage canexpect to paybetween $129 and $199 for out-of-warranty battery servicing. Apple provides one year of warranty coverage for free, while the three-year extended Protection Plan starts at $249.
I’ve replaced laptop batteries before, and it’sa good way to tell whether the problem is really with the battery or with your laptop.(In one case, the battery was fine but the laptop was no longer able to charge it, which meant no amount of new batteries would solve the underlying problem.)
Laptop batteries are relatively inexpensive, so consider giving that a try before making the decision to buy a new machine.
8. Pay for a Tune-Up
Cost: $40-$150
If you don’t feel comfortable or knowledgeable enough to prevent your laptop problems before they start, you can alwaystake your laptop to the pros.
Best Buy’s Geek Squad and Apple’s Genius Bar both offer laptop tune-ups, although Apple only provides this service to laptops under its AppleCare warranty.
You can also look for other local services in your area — but make sure tocheck for reputabilitybefore you give somebody access to your laptop.
A good tune-up will do a lot of the same things on this list: clean your laptop, remove malware, free up space on your hard drive, upgrade programs and so on.
Yes, it’ll cost a little money, but it’s cheaper than the cost of a new laptop!
Your Turn: How long do your laptops usually last? Do you have tips to keep laptops running for as long as possible?
Nicole Dieker is a senior editor at The Billfold, and her work has also appeared in The Toast, The Write Life, Boing Boing and Popular Science.
While some people suffer an identity crisis in their 40s, new research from specialist financial services group Just Retirement suggests that those in their 40s experience a 'mid-life pensions crisis'.
While some people suffer an identity crisis in their 40s, new research from specialist financial services group Just Retirement suggests that those in their 40s experience a 'mid-life pensions crisis'.
By Holly Reisem Hanna On any given day, I’ll receive an email asking, “How can I work from home … now!?” While I can offer up some general suggestions on different work at home paths, without knowing your background, expertise, passions, and skills, it is tough to offer up a concrete recommendation. With this said, […]
Source The Work at Home Woman http://ift.tt/1S6GPf8
I don’t know about you, but when I was a kid, I definitely had fantasies of growing up to be a private eye.
In my dad’s favorite action movies, the PI was always romantically featured, hunched in a darkroom, working late into the night to develop the photos she’d surreptitiously snapped.
When the images floated up at her out of the chemicals, it was clear her hard work paid off: She knew the bad guy’s secrets, and everybody would be safe soon.
…OK, maybe it’s just that I was decent with a camera andreallyhad a thing for Easter egg hunts.
Either way, as a 26-year-old, I don’t often find myself creeping around trying to find and report clues.My career took a slightly different path — one featuring a lot more computer screens than film negatives.
That’s why I was so thrilled when I found out: Sneaking around? There’s an app for that.
And you’ll even get paid to use it.
Want to Earn Money Online with QuickThoughts?
If you’re ready to make your childhood spy dream a reality — or at least to make a couple bucks just playing with your phone — here’s how:
Download QuickThoughts for Apple or Android. Fill in your name, email address and demographic info. Signing up is super quick and painless.
Then, the app will prompt you to search for surveys and missions (the fun part!) to earn money toward your first $10 Amazon gift card.
For surveys, you’ll answer a few more demographic questions when the app finds one for you, just to double-check your eligibility — but even if you don’t qualify, you’ll earn 10 cents just for trying.
If you already think that sounds pretty awesome, get ready to have your mind blown.
QuickThoughts also uses your phone’s GPS to send you on local events or “missions,” where you’ll complete location-based surveys and activities to provide customer feedback.
The app will prompt you for either a live-action challenge close to your location, or one to do at your own pace next time you’re out and about.
You might report on the agonizing line you’re sick of standing in at the pharmacy, or snap a pic of your local grocery store’s cute seasonal display.
Got beef about a dirty public restroom? Here’s your chance to let your voice be heard.
As soon as you complete these location-based missions, you’ll see your rewards populate in the app.
Whether you’re playing PI or just filling in surveys,once you reach $10, you can cash out for an Amazon gift card in the same amount. Easy — and fun!
Why This Paid Survey App is Way More Awesome Than We Expected
At first glance, this might seem a lot like your average paid survey app.
But it’s way, way better.
First of all, QuickThoughts even does the plain old survey part better than most apps we’ve seen.
Your earnings aren’t a negligible few cents, either.You’ll get $1-$3 for every survey you complete, and 10 cents every time you even try to qualify.
The app scans paid surveys from over 1,000 sources, and you find out if you’re eligible pretty early — without answering the same question a thousand times, so it doesn’t feel like a waste of time.
Plus, when the app finds a survey that fits, it tells you exactly how long it’ll take and how much of a reward you’ll earn.
My very first attempt garnered me $1, and even though the app told me it’d take eight minutes, it really took closer to five.
The rewards you earn show up instantly in your account. As soon as you’ve accrued $10 — not hard when each survey’s so well-paid — you can cash out for an Amazon gift card (read: money you will actually use).
It doesn’t hurt that the app is beautiful, either.
Plus, the “missions” are a unique addition, and super fun — even if people look at you a little funny for taking random pictures atWalmart.
Either way, you’ll have your voice heard and you may even help improve stores’ customer service and cleanliness. If you’re like me, you’ll feel like a super-cool secret agent.
Just don’t wear a trenchcoat when you head out on your mission. I know you want to… but you might just give yourself away.
Your Turn: Will you try this app to earn extra cash for going on super-secret missions?
Disclosure: Here’s a toast to the affiliate links in this post. May we all be just a little richer today.
Jamie Cattanach is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder, but she’d probably quit to be a PI. Her writing has also been featured at DMQ Review, Hinchas de Poesia and elsewhere. Feel free to reach out to her on Twitter: @jamiecattanach
Share one of the images provided onFind Your Calling’s site, OR a “photo of you (with or without friends) wearing your high school, college, or soon-to- be college gear.”
In the caption, include a link to FindYourCalling.com and the hashtags #findyourcalling, #graduationmonth and #scholarship.
Also mention “what you are excited for next; e.g., excited to start business marketing, excited to move, etc.”
3. Two deadlines remain:June 19 and June 26— so publish your Instagram photo ASAP.
There’s no limit to the number of times you can enter eachscholarship, but you can only win once.
If you’re selected, Find Your Calling will notify you within a week of the deadline. It’ll feature you on its blog andsocial mediachannels, so note that, “by winning a scholarship, you agree to an interview and headshot.”
Your Turn: Which one of these scholarship contests will you enter?
Susan Shain, senior writer for The Penny Hoarder, is always seeking adventure on a budget. Visit her blog at susanshain.com, or say hi on Twitter @susan_shain.
Companies like Google & Nielsen are hungry for data on web usage trends — what sites we visit, how long we’re on Facebook and other stats. So they’ve started to pay regular people to share this information with them.
And the best part? Once you’ve signed up, you’ll be paid in PASSIVE INCOME!
There are a number of these apps out there (and we’ve covered a few of them before). The way it works is you install the app on your smartphone and the company pays you for every month you keep it installed.
It doesn’t interfere with your data package and you don’t have to answer a bunch of survey questions every month. Just install the apps and forget about them.
The reward?
If you download all five apps, you could earn an extra $420 or more every year! Not too shabby, right?
Here are the five apps you need to sign up with…
1. Smart Panel ($75/Year)
This app’s purpose is to collect anonymous statistics from your phone to help your favorite web sites, apps, tech companies and mobile carriers give you better services and more features.
It’s run by Verto Analytics, a trusted analytics firm. Here’s how it works…
1. Unfortunately, you can’t download the Smart Panel from the app store — you’ll need this promo link. But it’s free to download.
2. Once you’ve qualified and downloaded the app, the company will give you $5. If you keep it installed for at least two weeks, you’ll earn another $10. Then for every month you keep the app installed, you’ll get another $5. In total, you can earn up to $75 for the first year!
You can redeem your rewards via PayPal or an Amazon gift card.
2. Nielsen Mobile Panel for iPhones Only (Up to $50/Year)
You know the company that tracks TV ratings?
Apparently they also want to measure the popularity of websites and online videos.
“In order for us to report accurate data to the mobile industry, we use Nielsen’s proprietary applications and profiles to measure the normal activity of your phone, tablet, or other mobile device. All data transmitted is encrypted and anonymous. All you have to do is download the Nielsen Mobile App or install our profile, depending on your device, and then continue using your mobile device as you usually do – that’s it! The Nielsen Mobile software is undetectable and will not affect your device’s performance or battery life.”
Want to give it a try?
1. If you have an iPhone, Nielsen will pay you $50/year to keep its app on your phone. Sign up here on your iPhone — you can’t directly download it from the app store.
2. Once you’ve registered, the company will send you instructions on how to install the app. After completing installation, you’ll be asked to restart your phone.
As a member of the Nielsen Mobile Panel, you’ll earn up to $50/year just for using your phone like you normally do.
3. Media Insiders Panel (Up to $15/month + $5 Bonus after 12 weeks = $185/year)
This company has an ongoing project to help media companies better understand how consumers use, view and share TV, social, digital and mobile media.
Media Insider Panel’s app “measures activities conducted on a device, such as sharing, viewing, clicking, chatting, downloading and more. The app also listens for TV shows, and, using technology of Gracenote, Inc., identifies which TV shows was captured.”
Also, at no time is a member’s personally identifiable information ever publicly shared or released, nor will the company ever interact with you via social media.
If you install the app, Media Insiders Panel will pay you $5/month per device. And you can install the app on up to three devices. Plus they’ll send you a $5 bonus after the 12th week.
2. Install and activate the MI Mobile app on your device(s).
3. Watch your email for important information and instructions on next steps.
Here are the supported devices:
Android™ smartphones and tablets running Android version 4.0 or greater, and aren’t rooted. The Kindle Fire HD also is supported, but not the first generation Kindle Fire.
iPhone®5, iPad®, iPad mini®, and iPod touch® devices running iOS 5.0 or newer.
Note: You’ve got be a US resident, 13 years or older and have a valid email address.
4. Screenwise Panel ($8 after first week, $2/week after that = $110/year)
The panel is designed to help Google better understand web and mobile usage — such as what times of day people browse, how long they stay on websites and use apps, as well as what types of sites and apps are popular (or not).
As a Screenwise Trends panelist, you’ll add a browser extension and/or mobile meter that will share with Google the sites you visit, apps you use and how you use them.
Screenwise promises it runs in the background and won’t slow anything down.
The company will give you $8 after you’ve been signed up for seven days, and you’ll get an additional $2 every week after.
The “cash” rewards come in the form of gift cards (you can pick between Walmart, Papa Johns, Barnes & Noble, and a bunch of others).
MobileXpression is a research company that studies internet trends and reports to their clients about the popularity of different mobile phone websites.
The company is currently looking for a few thousand of us cell phone users to share some of the websites we browse on our mobile devices.
All sharing is done with special software installed on your phone and it doesn’t require any real work from you. You can also uninstall the software at any time if you decide you no longer want to participate.
This one can be downloaded on most smartphones/tablets. After you’ve had it installed for one week, you get to play an instant rewards game for a prize (everyone wins something).
I won a $25 gift card to Amazon, but some of the other prizes include iPads & Samsung TVs.
2. Download the software. It’s pretty easy and runs in your phone’s background, just like any other cell phone app. The site says it will have no affect on your phone’s performance.
3. Send your data. This step doesn’t really require any work from you — the software automatically sends the relevant data to MobileXpression.
The company doesn’t monitor your phone calls or personal information, but it does check out web pages you view, links you access and usage times for certain device activities (e.g., text messaging, call lengths and web browsing).
4. Collect your rewards. After it’s been installed for seven days, you can play their instant rewards game — you’re guaranteed to win something.
Shares, seen as riskier than cash because of their volatility, have proven this belief with some aplomb over the last five days, skittering in most unpredictable fashion due, no doubt, to next Thursday’s EU referendum – perhaps you’ve heard about this?
Shares, seen as riskier than cash because of their volatility, have proven this belief with some aplomb over the last five days, skittering in most unpredictable fashion due, no doubt, to next Thursday’s EU referendum – perhaps you’ve heard about this?
Every SEO, webmaster, and digital marketer has apowerful toolat their disposal.
I would go so far as to say that this tool is amust-have.You can’t do SEO without it.
What is this powerful tool?
It’sGoogle Search Console, or GSC for short (former Google Webmaster Tools, or GWT).
GSC is a free service provided by Google to manage your website’s search functionality. The search console is a collection of reports and tools that help you rectify errors as well as strategize and optimize your search engine rankings.
I want to show you exactly how you can use this powerful tool to improve your SEO.
Putting it bluntly, GSC is to SEO what oxygen is to humans. You need it. Your site can’t live without it.
The article you’re about to read will put you in a graduate-level intensive study of GSC. Once you understand the information shared here, you’ll become a GSC ninja.
And it’s going to make ahugedifference in your SEO.
First, let me give you a quick overview. The article is pretty long, so you’ll want to set aside a good half an hour to read it.
The article is divided into sections and subsections, based on the the GSC menu:
I’ll give most of my attention to the first four sections: Parts A through D. Parts E and F are important but mostly self-explanatory.
Part A: Search Appearance
The Search Appearance section helps you visualize what your website would look like in the search results.
Please be aware that there are many code snippets such as rich cards, rich snippets, and different types of framework such as Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) as well as the usual HTML corrections that can help your website stand out and look ultra informative in search results.
Here is what each element in this section represents and how you should use it to your search advantage.
(a) Structured Data
Structured data (in the form of rich snippets), when programmed into the HTML code, marks up your content so that Google can categorize and index it better. Google uses it to serve up “rich” results.
SERP results that look like this are usingstructured data:
I searched for “blackberry sauce” on Google.
The image above contains the first four results.
Look at the results carefully. Two results, 3 and 4, look “richer” because they contain ratings, votes, and reviews. The fourth result even displays the calorie information.
Which result would you be tempted to click on? It depends on what you’re looking for, of course, but I headed straight for results 3 and 4.
Why? Because the rich results told me that the site would not only help me learn how to make blackberry sauce but also provide reviews from people who have made it before.
Plus, I know how long it will take me to make it. I can also have the confidence that other people did it and liked it. And I can even find out how many calories I’ll be consuming when I eat it.
See the power?
Visually, rich results will help you bring in the traffic.
Currently, Google supports rich snippets for the following:
Articles (AMP-only, I’ll get to this later)
Local Businesses
Music
Recipes
Reviews
TV & Movies and Videos.
That may not seem like a huge list, but you’d be surprised to see how much rich information you can add to your site.
It makes ahugedifference!
How to leverage Structured Data for SEO: Ask your developer to build rich snippets into all of the mentioned features available on your website. Ask them to refer toSchema.orgfor code snippets and help.
How does the GSC > Search Appearance > Structured Data section help?
It tells you where you have gone wrong with your rich snippets codingandprovides you with a tool that helps you test live data (see the blue button in the image below).
(b) Rich Cards
Rich Cards are a new invention by Google. They work like Structured Data (see (a) above in case you haven’t been paying attention) but are visually more appealing. Check this image out to learn the difference between rich snippets and rich cards:
When your content is visually appealing, it may translate to heavy user engagement, thereby increasing your traffic and sales. Google currently allows users to deploy rich cards for Recipes and Movies.
How to leverage Rich Cards for SEO: As in the case with rich snippets, ask your developer to build rich snippets into either recipes or movie information, if you host such information.Refer this page for sample code snippets.
How does the GSC > Search Appearance > Rich Cards section help?
It tells you where you have gone wrong with your rich cards coding and informs you how many cards you can enhance. Like in the rich snippets section, Google equips you with a tool that helps you test live data.
The Data Highlighter is an excellent substitute for Structured Data, and you don’t need a developer to write the code snippets in your HTML.
It marks up the same content that Structured Data does.
That being said, this tool has limitations. You have to write the tags individually per URL. Basically, if you have thousands of pages on your website, it can be a pain.
How to leverage Rich Cards for SEO
Click on “Start Highlighting.” A pop-up will appear.
Enter your URL, and choose the data you want to highlight (articles, events, reviews, local business, movies, products, restaurants, TV shows, etc.).
Once you’ve made your selection, Google will render the page in GSC and allow you to highlight the relevant data.
You now have to select the text or images per page that you want to highlight. You can highlight titles, images, category, and ratings.
Google will then prompt you to highlight data in other pages as well and help create page sets.
Here’s a helpful video for a tutorial on this feature:
(d) HTML Improvements
HTML improvements is a report that reveals any problem areas that Google has discovered while crawling/indexing your site.
Here is a list of issues that may surface in this report:
Duplicate/long/short meta descriptions
Missing/duplicate/long/short title tags
Content non-indexable by Google
How to leverage HTML Improvements Report for SEO:
It’s simple. Just fix the problem areas that Google has reported.
Here are some basic SEO rules that you may already be aware of:
Ensure titles are up to 70 characters long (or up to 612 pixels in width).
Ensure descriptions are about 160-165 characters.
Each page must be supported by a unique title and description.
Google should be able to crawl all pages you want to rank in SERPs. Ensure that critical content is not blocked by robots.txt or .htaccess files.
(e) Sitelinks
Sitelinks are automatically generated by Google. You can’t necessarilychangethese because Google uses its algorithm to decide when and how to display them.
Accelerated Mobile Pages is a technique that allows developers to build fast-loading HTML and JS pages. It is based on open source specifications.
The idea behind AMP HTML is to make web pages render quickly on mobile devices. The number of people using their mobile devices to browse the Internet is growing exponentially. Google introduced AMP HTML to help website owners remove any pages loading sluggishly for mobile devices.
How to leverage AMP for SEO:
Embrace the technology. Ask your developer to get up to speed on AMP, and then convert your regular HTML into AMP HTML.
This section digs deeper into your rankings and reports on links to your site, how your keywords are ranking, penalties imposed by Google, mobile-friendliness, etc.
There’s a lot in this section. I consider it to be the most valuable section of GSC for SEO actionable data.
(a) Search Analytics Report
The report digs deep into your site and shows you how often the site showed up in search results.
The report even displays clicks per keyword, how each keyword ranked geographically, its click-through ratio, and more. Here’s an image with each category broken down into parts and how you should leverage each feature or filter to improve your SEO:
Thenumber of clicks per keyword. This helps you learn how each keyword ranks in the search results and how many clicks it received. You can build backlinks, add/optimize content, or create specific landing pages to increase the number of clicks per keyword.
The totalnumber of impressions per keyword. This helps you understand how users interacted with a keyword. For example, a high number of impressions and a low number of clicks implies that your page title or description is not well written or that you have not built in rich snippets.
CTR (click-through ratio) is reported as a percentage. It is basically theCTR:Impressions ratioexpressed as a percentage.
Checking the Position box tells you thesearch position per keyword. For example, position # 120 implies that ? particular keyword landed on Google SERP #12. You can then optimize keywords and pages based on the keywords you want to rank higher.
The Queries filter helps you search specific keywords from within the results, check how one keyword compares with another, and sort the keywords. The filter tool gives you a deeper insight into each keyword. Use this filter to drill down into the keywords and improve the performance of those that already rank high.
The Pages filter helps you filter URLs, compare one page with another (excellent forA/B split testing), and sort out pages in terms of clicks. Use this feature to figure out your top, middle, and worst performing pages, and then deploy SEO to improve their rankings.
The Countries filter comes into play if you are targeting a global audience. I’ve experimented with this,translating the Quick Sprout blog into 82 languages,and have seen some amazing results. This filter helps you filter your site performance by country and compare site rankings between two countries.
The Devices filter shows you the devices, including desktop, tablet, and mobile, used to access your site. You can compare search figures between the devices to get advanced insights. Use this filter to optimize your site for devices often used to access your website. For example, if mobile devices make up most of your searches, you can focus on improving your mobile user experience and creating faster loading pages.
The Search Type filter reports the volume of searches for web, images, and videos. Let’s say you own an art gallery but are ranking low for image searches. You can then optimize your alt tags and image titles to help improve your image search rankings.
The Dates filter helps you set up a date range. You can compare site performance between two date ranges, just as you would do in Google Analytics.
(b) Links to your Site
This section reports the websites that link to your URLs and the keywords used by most backlinks.
You can gain a lot of valuable insights from this report.
Here are the two biggest takeaways:
You’ll know whether you should bedisavowing backlinksthat look suspicious (pharma or drug enhancement sites, adult themed websites, foreign language sites, PBNs, thin content sites, link farms, unrelated spammy sites, and other sites that practice black-hat SEO).
You’ll get a good perspective on who is linking to you and what they’re linking to. This information can help you increase the number and quality of backlinks by targeting similar sites or by increasing engagement/advertising on the sites that already link to you the most.
(c) Internal Links
This section reports on the number of internal links pointing to a page.
Here’s how you can use this report in SEO:
Many internal links to a web page inform Google that this is an important page. As a result, that page should rank higher than other pages for keywords present on that page.
You should focus on building internal links to important pages that do not have any or many internal links pointing to them. Avoid sending all your links to the “about” or “contact us” page. Instead, use internal links to strengthen your deep internal pages, such as content-rich articles or information pages.
Pages that have internal links pointing to them, but have been deleted or renamed, should be identified and redirected (using 301 redirects).
(d) Manual Actions
This report informs you when Google penalizes your site for any spam or black-hat techniques.
Keep in mind that a “manual action” is different from an algorithmic penalty. Algorithm penalties are automatic and will not be reflected in this section. Manual penalties, on the other hand, are more severe and require you to take extensive action.
After fixing the reported issues and ensuring your site contains meaningful content, you must file a reconsideration request to get your site ranking back in the SERPs.
This section is applicable only if your website serves translated/modified-for-a-country or regional content for users in different geographies beyond your main location.
For example, if your website attracts viewers from the UK, you may want to present a UK-English version to visitors from that area.
Or if you sell to customers from France and Germany, you should translate your website into those languages for better targeting.
In such cases, your web developer will employ the hreflang tag to inform Google to serve the appropriate page according to geography.
This GSC section reports on the accuracy of your hreflang tags. This information can help you fix and optimize your coding.
(f) Mobile Usability
This report lists problems that might be keeping your website from delivering a positive web experience on mobile devices.
Google reports on elements that are too close together, content that is wider than the screen, content for which the viewport is not set, and other places where the text is too small to read.
Everything in this report matters. Mobile optimization is a significant ranking factor, and your website needs to be totally up to par.
For SEO purposes, fix all the issues reported, and make sure that your website delivers a great experience on every device.
Part C: Google Index
This section reports on how Google is crawling and indexing your website and keywords.
(a) Index Status
The indexation status displays the URLs indexed by Google, blocked URLs (by your robots.txt) and any URLs that have been removed.
If you come across pages that are not indexed or blocked, you can find out what’s happening on your end and correct the errors.
If there are any indexation issues, you may want to examine your robots.txt file or look into the accuracy of your sitemap.
(b) Content Keywords
This section reports on the keywords in your content and their significance in search results.
Drilling down into each keyword will help you understand the top pages where that particular keyword or its variants are situated.
The report helps you understand the keywords and pages that are not ranking well. Such reports help you optimize your content by introducing keywords and variants in the title, headers, alt tags, on page SEO, tags, and content.
(c) Blocked Resources
Google needs complete access to your javascript, CSS, JQuery, image files, etc., in order to index and render your pages correctly.
If you block Google from accessing any of these resources either by disallowing access in your robots.txt file or by any other means, you will stop Google from indexing and rendering your pages to viewers.
This section informs you where the blocked resources are hosted.
Unblock whatever is necessary to enhance your search engine rankings.
(d) Remove URLs
Some areas of your website must be kept private and away from the prowling eyes of the search engines.
For example, you may want to prevent search engines from crawling your members’ private data, third-party content, or content that is of no value to your viewers.
The tool in this section informs Google that its bot must not index such URLs. After filling in the “Temporarily Hide” field, you can specify whether you want to remove the URL from the cache or search results or both. You can even temporarily hide URLs and make them indexable later.
Removing URLs containing thin, valueless, and third party content can really improve your SEO, and blocking search engines from accessing your members’ private data will help protect your brand.
Part D: Crawl
This section reports on Googlebot’s website crawl rate, the errors it picked up, sitemap, robots, URL parameters, and the indispensableFetch as Googletool.
(a) Crawl Errors
Here’s what you’ll see in this section:
the last date Google crawled your site
server errors (Request Timed Out or instances of your site blocking Google)
Soft 404 errors (the URL does not exist, but the server does NOT return a 404 page)
URL pointing to a nonexistent page
URLs that redirect to an irrelevant page
URLs that are blocked for Googlebot mobile
Fixing any errors will help improve your SEO.
(b) Crawl Stats
Crawl stats report on Googlebot’s daily crawl on your website, pages crawled, kilobytes downloaded, and the time it took to download a page.
Not all of this information is actionable, but there are some things that you want to pay attention to.
As a whole, this report shows how active Googlebot is on your website and how heavy or light your pages are.
I’m assuming you have already usedPage Speed Insightsfor tweaking your loading speed and are adding fresh and helpful content on a regular basis. If not, run your website through this test, and make any improvements that it recommends.
(c) Fetch as Google
The Fetch as Google tool allows you to test the way Google fetches your URL and renders it.
Here’s how to use theFetch as GoogleTool:
Enter the URL you want Google to fetch.
The Fetch Button checks whether the URL connects and whether the tool encountered errors, redirects, or any security loopholes. It checks the code but does not render the page.
The Fetch and Render button fetches the page (and checks for all the issues mentioned above) and renders it.
You can fetch the page for Desktop, Smartphones/Handhelds and even check the Mobile XHTML/WML (older hypertextual computer languages for mobile). cHTML for mobile is mostly used on Japanese mobile phones, so you may not have to use this feature.
After you Fetch and Render a page, you should, if required, submit it to Google for indexation.
Google can return any of the following statuses:
Complete: Google successfully crawled your page.
Partial: Implies that you have blocked Google from accessing some of your coding resources such as Javascript or JQuery, etc. These should be unblocked; otherwise, Google cannot render your page correctly.
Redirected: You set up a redirect to another page (maybe because you may have deleted the page or some other reason).
Not Found: Google could not find the URL on the server.
Not Authorized: Google (and other viewers) have been blocked from accessing the URL.
Blocked: Your robots.txt blocks Google from accessing your URL.
Error: Some error prevented Google from accessing the URL.
When should you use the Fetch as Google tool and resubmit pages for reindexation?
After fixing any of the statuses described above
After optimizing a page with copy, images, or videos
After adding a new category/sub-category to your site
Whenever you optimize your site for mobile (select the Fetch for Smartphones option)
When you change your sitemap.xml or your robots.txt files
When you set up 301 redirects
When you buy an SSL encryption, which changes your http into https
(d) Robots.txt Tester
The robots.txt file (http://ift.tt/1jLiEV5) informs search engines about the pages theyshouldcrawl (and those theyshouldn’t).
When a crawl bot looks at this page, it will crawl anything that’s not disallowed.
For example, you don’t want search engines to view your CGI-BIN, admin login, Forgot Password, members’ private data, and some other areas of your website.
The robots.txt Tester section tests your robots.txt file and reports errors and warnings. It also allows you to test pages to check for any blocking.
(e) Sitemaps
A sitemap.xml is a critical part of SEO. It informs search engines about the URLs on your site along with the date they were changed. It helps search engines crawl and index your URLs efficiently.
This section in GSC allows you to submit Sitemaps. It also informs you about the number of URLs that were submitted and indexed.
Essentially, the tool helps you fine-tune your sitemaps.xml file to ensure all your URLs are indexed.
(f) URL Parameters
Quick warning: Work on this section only if you know how to code. Otherwise, you should ask your web developer to handle it for you.
URL parameters are values that are dynamically entered per URL. For example, if you own a product website that sells globally, you may set a Country parameter that differentiates pages that should be served in different geographies.
This GSC section allows you to tell Google how to handle your URLs.
Like I said earlier, this is a technical area, so don’t go near it without your web developer. Setting the wrong parameters can ruin your SEO.
Part E: Security Issues
Security issues are a big concern with nearlyanywebsite today.
Google takes the issue very seriously. You may have seen warning screens like this one:
Google also displays these warnings in the SERPs.
Sometimes, websites are flagged for phishing.
If your site has been compromised, hacked, or is simply vulnerable to hackers, you’ll find out about it in this section.
If, on the other hand, you see this message, you’re clean.
What if your siteishacked?
Check out this video.
Hacked sites can be costly to fix, both in time and money. Thankfully, Google has a helpful tutorial on the process,which you can explore here.
Here is the process summarized:
Part F: Other Resources
“Other Resources” is a collection of Google’s tools, helpers, and testers.
Here is a list of all these pages as summarized in GSC:
Learn to create a great website with valuable content and have it findable in Google Search.
I consider all of these resources helpful but not essential.
Don’t feel like you have to spend a lot of time on each of them. For example, if you’re not selling any products on your website, then you have no need to check out “Google Merchant Center.”
Choose the ones that are most important to your business and SEO, and focus on those.
Here are my four main suggestions, in order of importance:
Pagespeed Insights: Use this tool to improve your site loading time, and make an instant improvement in SEO.
Google My Business: If you run a local brick-and-mortar shop, check this out. It’s essential.
Structured Data Testing Tool and Structured Data Markup Helper: Once you’ve mastered the basics of SEO, move on to structured data to further enhance your website.
Webmaster Academy: You can never learn too much about SEO, right?
Conclusion
If you’ve read through this guide, you know more about GSC than most people on the planet.Even better, you can use this information to improve your SEO, your website, and your business.
GSC is a powerful tool, and the more you learn how to use it, the better an SEO you become. So what do you think, are you going to start using it to improve your rankings?
