Sponsored by The UPS Store The holidays can be the happiest but also the busiest time of year. For small business owners, especially solopreneurs, and those who work at home, it’s no easy task to keep up with the increased demand and pace of the holiday season. Luckily, there are a few ways to take […]
The post Prepare Your Business for the Happy Holidays appeared first on The Work at Home Woman.
A few weeks ago, my 2007 periwinkle blue minivan lay unworkable in the driveway. With jumper cables in hand, my husband tried to bring her back, but to no avail.
Most people would probably be upset if their car died, but I couldn’t care less. To be honest, I’m not really a car person, nor do I drive that much anyway. Plus, I’ve been angling to become a one-car family for a while now – mainly because my older model van is starting to require pricey maintenance and repairs.
Yeah, I could have upgraded my old, bright blue minivan – with its zip tie on the bumper – a few years ago, but why? I work at home, so I have little need to drive anywhere. And my van has been great for those times I do need it – running the kids around town and random trips to the grocery store.
I’ve always had the option to buy something pricey and new, but again, why? I abhor car payments – so much so that I would probably drive a skateboard before I financed another automobile. We’ve saved up enough to pay cash for a nicer model, but I don’t see why we would.
My van would probably come back to life with a new battery, but it has other problems, too – squeaky brakes, an engine that smokes when you drive too much, windows that don’t work. I could fix it if I wanted, but I probably won’t.
To be honest, my minivan dying seems like a good excuse to conduct a one-car experiment. Before we sink any money into reviving my van, we can “try out” the one-car experience to see how it goes. And really, there is so much to gain if we can pull it off.
For starters, we won’t have to continue pouring money into a car that’s worth almost nothing. Within the last year, I paid $600 for new tires and a few hundred more dollars to get the brake pads replaced. I’ve also paid for gas and oil changes along with new wiper blades not once, but twice. If we sold this car or got rid of it somehow, I would no longer be responsible for keeping it workable and in good shape – nor would I have to pay for the labor each time it breaks down.
But there are other reasons having one car might make our lives easier (and cheaper). We’d no longer have to pay for car insurance on my van, which currently adds about $400 per year to our policy. We could also stop paying for registrations and upgraded license plate tags.
Altogether, getting rid of my minivan would save us at least $700 per year in insurance, license plates, and oil changes. And if you add on the cost of the repairs we’d need to make just to get it running again, it could easily save us $1,000 or more this year and a lot more in the future.
Lastly, we would fix a problem we can’t seem to find the answer to: Should we park the van in the driveway or the garage? In the garage, my nearly worthless van takes up half our usable space for no reason at all. But in the driveway, it’s an eyesore. By getting rid of it altogether, we would gain precious usable space either way.
Savings and benefits aside, having only one car does present some challenges in our household. Not only that, but we anticipate even more scheduling conflicts down the road. Here are a few hurdles we’ll need to overcome:
I don’t think any of these issues are deal-breakers – especially while our kids are young and their schedules aren’t packed with activities. I tend to believe we’ll do fine if we plan a little better and talk out our transportation needs ahead of time. With two cars and two kids, we rarely have to sync our calendars or discuss our plans ahead of time — but with one car, that will need to change.
As my minivan continues to languish in the driveway, we’re conducting a little experiment. If we can get by without a second car until winter without too much hassle or inconvenience, I think it’s reasonable for us to become a one-car family for the foreseeable future.
Not only will having just one car save us money, but it will simplify our lives in some ways, too. With just one car, we’ll have one less thing to keep up with, fewer bills, and a lot more room in our garage and driveway.
Just like many other decisions we’ve made, this one is about compromise. When my husband wanted to cancel cable television many years ago, I was initially stressed over the decision. But now, years later, I hardly remember what it’s like to watch Bravo for several hours each night.
Sharing a car will probably leave us feeling the same way after a while. Once a few months tick by and you relax into your new routine, the sacrifice you’ve made becomes normal and you learn to be happy with what you have.
Related Articles:
Have you ever shared a car with someone? Do you still share a car? Please share your story below.
Holly Johnson is an award-winning personal finance writer who is obsessed with frugality, budgeting, and travel. She blogs at ClubThrifty.com and teaches others how to write online at EarnMoreWriting.com.
The post The Dead Minivan Experiment: How We’re Trying to Become a One-Car Family appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
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.
“You’re under no obligation to be the same person you were 5 minutes ago.” – Alan Watts
Part of the reason that change seems so challenging is that we feel restricted by the patterns we’ve already established in life. While there might be aspects of ourselves that we want to change, we’re also often comfortable with the patterns that we’ve established. On some level, we’re comfortable with who we are, or at least more comfortable with that than the prospect of change.
The thing is, our lives really are whatever we make of it. The person we were yesterday doesn’t have to be the person we are today. We can always strive to be better. We can always improve our lives.
Don’t commit yourself to a painful future just because of the mistakes made in the past. You don’t live in the past. You live in the present, and your present self can always change your future. It starts with making good choices today.
From the description:
Who says change needs to be hard? Organizational change expert Jim Hemerling thinks adapting your business in today’s constantly-evolving world can be invigorating instead of exhausting. He outlines five imperatives, centered around putting people first, for turning company reorganization into an empowering, energizing task for all.
During the last decade of my life (well, actually, the last two decades, to an extent), I’ve wound up in more leadership positions than I would have ever expected earlier on in my life. I’ve wound up as the president of a charity, the defacto leader of a research project, the head of an internet business… sheesh.
The thing is, I don’t actually like leading. I don’t feel that I’m very good at it, so I mostly rely on everyone else on the team as a crutch. I have no idea what I’m doing, so I just go around to everyone and ask what they’re doing and just try to see where it fits together and what I can do to help it fit better.
The thing is, I think that’s really the key. A leader is just the person who tries to help everyone fit together, and you do that by listening, by putting things in place to help people fit together better, and occasionally pull out a piece that isn’t working or put in a new piece that’s needed. That’s it. The key is listening and then trying to do something about it.
If you’re ever stuck leading something, just do that. Ask everyone what they’re doing and what their personal vision is and what they want to be doing, and do your best to make all of that work together. If everyone’s happy, they’re going to try to make the project succeed and the best way to make people happy is to just listen without interruption and then try to help and try to make things fit.
“When dealing with people, let us remember we are not dealing with creatures of logic. We are dealing with creatures of emotion, creatures bristling with prejudices and motivated by pride and vanity.” – Dale Carnegie
This somewhat overlaps with the above video. People might be logical when solving some problems, but most of the time, everyone operates out of a sense of pride and pre-existing opinions. People want to feel important and appreciated.
Over the years, I’ve figured out one thing that has really, really helped me every time I’ve had to work with other people: give an overabundance of credit to others. Whenever someone compliments you, give credit to people who have helped you. When you present something, find ways to single out others for credit.
The thing is, doing that takes nothing away from you, but it gives a lot to the people that helped you. People still know and respect that you put forth a lot of effort, even when you dish tons of credit to others, but then people know that there are a lot of additional people that helped. They also know that you’re a team player, so if anything it actually helps you a little.
Every single reasonable time you can, give credit to others. Feed their pride a little, their vanity a little. There’s no drawback to it, only benefit.
I am a huge fan of bodyweight exercises – in other words, exercises you can do at home without any additional equipment that pushes both your strength and cardio health. Think jumping jacks and sit-ups and push-ups.
For many years, I used something called the “Lifetime Fitness Ladder,” which is basically just a routine of simple bodyweight exercises. The goal of the ladder was to work through the same loop of exercises every day, adding more reps over time. While it did a great job of pushing cardio health, I found that it didn’t do as great of a job at strengthening lots of muscle groups. It mostly just worked the same few muscle groups.
I tried a lot of different approaches for fixing that problem, but in the last month or so, I’ve really found the best solution for me: Darebee. It’s simply a daily bodyweight fitness routine with three different challenge levels. Each day, the challenge is far different, but it always mixes cardio exercise (meaning it gets you breathing hard and gets your heart racing) along with exercises that challenge different muscle groups each day.
All of the stuff at Darebee is free. It’s fun. It offers variety. It helps get you into shape. It requires no additional equipment. It’s really easy to just pop over there and check out today’s exercise routine.
I love it. I hope you will, too.
“In any given moment we have two options: to step forward into growth or to step back into safety.” ― Abraham Maslow
Dozens of times throughout the day, we have a choice. We can do something a little harder that builds to a better future, or we can slack off and do the easy thing.
It’s hard to consistently make the better of the two choices. It’s hard to not just kick back on the couch after a busy day. It’s hard to push yourself to grow. On the other hand, it’s easy to just slack off. It’s easy to just browse social media or some website. It’s easy to burn a weekend binge-watching a TV show or swimming in sports.
No one is ever going to make the tough choice to step forward into growth every time. That’s not going to happen. It’s not realistic. Instead, the best way to become a better person is to simply make the tough choice a little more often and to keep it in mind when you’re making choices.
From the description:
Reality isn’t something you perceive; it’s something you create in your mind. Isaac Lidsky learned this profound lesson firsthand, when unexpected life circumstances yielded valuable insights. In this introspective, personal talk, he challenges us to let go of excuses, assumptions and fears, and accept the awesome responsibility of being the creators of our own reality.
Every single person perceives the world differently. Some people see a hilltop as an adventure. Others see it as a challenge. Still others see it as something to fear.
The thing is, I want to perceive as much of life as possible as challenges and adventures, things that are joyful to overcome. However, it’s up to me to perceive the things life hands me as a challenge to relish, not something to fear.
If there’s something out there that scares you and overwhelms you, that feeling is yours and yours alone. You choose to interpret the world as you want to interpret it – as something to fear or as something to relish.
I want to relish all of it: the mundane, the challenging, even the frightening.
I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,
Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong,
The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,
The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work,
The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck,
The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he stands,
The wood-cutter’s song, the ploughboy’s on his way in the morning, or at noon intermission or at sundown,
The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing,
Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else,
The day what belongs to the day–at night the party of young fellows, robust, friendly,
Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.
The measure of our success as a nation has been our hard work and our willingness to work toward a common goal, to share that song. Voices high and low have come together to blend their voices, to make it special.
Where is that song? We need this now, more than ever. It’s so easy to just blame someone else for not carrying that tune, but when we’re blaming, we’re not singing. We’re not contributing to that American song.
From the description:
J.D. Vance grew up in a small, poor city in the Rust Belt of southern Ohio, where he had a front-row seat to many of the social ills plaguing America: a heroin epidemic, failing schools, families torn apart by divorce and sometimes violence. In a searching talk that will echo throughout the country’s working-class towns, the author details what the loss of the American Dream feels like and raises an important question that everyone from community leaders to policy makers needs to ask: How can we help kids from America’s forgotten places break free from hopelessness and live better lives?
Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance is far and away the best book I’ve read this year. It’s an incredibly insightful look at the consequences of economic inequality and how it begins to create a cultural shift over time. It’s personal, beautiful, and insightful – a trifecta that’s hard to pull off.
The thing is, there are no easy answers to the questions he’s asking, but simply paying attention to the questions and reflecting on the domino effects of globalism can bring about a lot of understanding.
I grew up in a situation not too different than J.D.’s experience. While my parents were very good people, I was surrounded by families who had gone through things much like what is described in this book and in this speech. It’s very, very easy to make a snap judgment and decide that people who make poor personal choices are somehow “bad” or personally flawed, but such outcomes are often the result of extremely uninvolved and abusive parents and a community that does very little to foster hope for a great future.
How do we fix it? I don’t know. I’m just glad that this guy is out there making it clear that cultural divides often aren’t what they seem to be.
It’s harder to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes than we like to think that it is.
“If you have an important point to make, don’t try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time – a tremendous whack.” – Winston Churchill
This is something that I take to heart when I’m writing about personal finance or some other aspect of self-improvement. If I come across a principle that really works, something that benefits my life and/or my financial progress, I’m going to want to share it. I’m going to want to do everything I can to make sure that you hear about it and understand it.
To an extent, that means repeating it. A truly important point – which, in my case, means a principle or a tactic that has really made a difference for me – is something that I don’t want to be subtle or clever about. I want to drive it home. That means hitting it home as obviously as possible, then hitting it again, then again.
From the description:
The music of Johann Sebastian Bach is essential, like air and water, for many classical musicians. Pianist András Schiff starts every day with Bach — sometimes before breakfast. “It’s like taking care of your inner hygiene. There’s something very pure about it,” he says. Cellist Matt Haimovitz notes that he’s been playing and thinking about the Bach Cello Suites for more than 30 years. He even plays them in bars.
Violinist Rachel Barton Pine began playing Bach in church at age 4. Ever since, she’s been mastering and re-mastering Bach’s set of six Sonatas and Partitas—more than two hours of solo violin music that looms like a proverbial Mount Everest for any serious fiddler. The trick is getting the details down. Bach left us with the notes but not much else. Pine recently analyzed every measure of these works, and prepared a new edition of the music with her own dynamic markings, phrasing indications, bowings and fingerings.
For this performance, Pine chose three contrasting movements from the set and plays them on her Guarneri del Gesu violin, which was built in 1742 — eight years before Bach died. She highlights the spirit of the dance in the “Tempo di Borea” (a Bourée from the First Partita). She unfolds a serene melody, just lightly accompanied, in the “Largo” (from the Third Sonata), and she closes with the intertwining “Fuga” (from the First Sonata), which sounds like three violinists in deep discussion.
Although the Sonatas and Partitas brim with technical demands, Pine says that every time she plays them, it’s as if she’s “conversing with the very best of friends.”
Turn this on and then go about your day. Play it when you’re doing ordinary chores (that’s when I like listening to classical music). It’s really good.
“The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.” – Henry David Thoreau
More and more, I’ve come to realize that this simple statement underlies so many of the decisions I have to make in my life. I’m left wondering what exactly is worth it – and what isn’t.
If I spend $5 on something, is it worth it? Every $5 I spend adds a little bit to the amount of time in my life that I’m going to have to spend working.
If I spend an hour on something, is it worth it? That’s an hour less of my life that I can spend on things that are truly important to me.
In the end, it’s all the same decision. What’s important? How can I spend as much time as possible on that? How can I spend as little money and time as possible on everything else that isn’t important? Can I keep distinguishing between the handful of things that really are important and the other things that are not?
That’s the daily challenge. Sometimes I succeed, and that’s a good day. Sometimes I fail… and that’s a shame.
Note: this would probably be rated PG-13 purely for language because of a couple of choice words. There’s nothing overly offensive (one internal thought and then a few words uttered by an angry man), but don’t watch it at the office or with younger children unless you want them to be repeating a choice word or two.
Like any great film, it gave me that emotional punch in the gut that art can really deliver, and managed to do it about four times in thirteen minutes. It won the 2016 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film and The New Yorker is essentially making it available for free via Youtube. Here’s their article on it:
Our new Screening Room short, “Stutterer,” won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film this year. It’s a thirteen-minute movie about a young London typographer named Greenwood (Matthew Needham). Greenwood stutters, to the extent that verbal conversation is difficult. When he tries to resolve an issue with a service representative over the phone, he can’t get the words out; the operator, gruff and impatient, hangs up. (For surliness, she rivals the operator in the old Yaz song.) When a woman approaches Greenwood on the street, he uses sign language to avoid talking. But in his thoughts, which we hear, he does not stutter. And when he chats online with a woman named Ellie (Chloe Pirrie) he can express himself freely, and is casual, charming, and content. When Ellie writes that she’s coming to London, he panics. How he navigates her visit provides the film’s narrative and emotional suspense.
Watch it. You won’t regret it.
The post Inspiration from Alan Watts, Henry David Thoreau, Stutterer, and More appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
“Repossession” is probably the scariest word in the financial lexicon this side of “bankruptcy.” Basically, if you bought something with a bank loan and they have a lien on it, and you stop making payments, the bank can take it back.
That means your car or your house might not be your car or your house for much longer if you fall behind. However, you’ll have more than ample warning when it comes to repossession. Here’s your guide to what repossession is, how to avoid it, and what to expect if it’s about to happen to you.
If you haven’t been making payments, well, there’s your answer. In some cases, however, it might not be quite that obvious.
For example, in some states, if you fail to maintain adequate insurance on your car, that can be grounds for repossessing the vehicle. This is especially true if you car is loaned or leased rather than owned in tandem with the bank.
If you’ve been making regular payments, the first thing you should do is call up your lender to ask why they’ve repossessed your property. Then go from there.
In most cases, yes, you can get it back. However, there are a number of stipulations to this “yes” that might turn the answer into a “no.”
For example, let’s continue talking about cars. If you have had your car repossessed, you’re going to need to pay back any missed and late payments before you get the car back. You’ll also have to pay fees and costs associated with the repossession, which likely cost your lender a pretty penny. And, in may cases, the repossession will remain on your credit report.
Before you even start negotiating with your creditor to get your property back, you need to ask yourself some hard questions about why you had your property repossessed in the first place.
If you get your property back, can you actually afford it? In the case of a car, this means not just the payment, but also the insurance, the gas, the upkeep, and everything else associated with car ownership. If the answer is no, then you’re just going to end up back where you were before. In this case, there’s not much point in trying to get your property back. You should look into other options, like public transportation or carpooling.
Another question to ask yourself is if you’re going to declare bankruptcy. Because, oddly, if you are, then it does make sense to get your car back. This is because you’ll be restructuring your debts, so you might be able to afford the car once you’ve done that. Your lender might also work with you during bankruptcy to change your payment plan to something more manageable.
Your lender can repossess a vehicle, but they can’t keep your other property that’s inside of it. You’re allowed to get all of your stuff out. They can’t sell your possessions to make up for what you owe them. This protection does not apply to things you’ve installed in the car, like nice rims or a world-class stereo system. In some states, the repossessing company has a duty to furnish you with a list of items in the car and the procedure to get them back. In other states, you have to ask.
What’s more, a repo agent can’t destroy your property to get your property. That means if you have the car garaged, they’re not allowed to break in for the purpose of repossessing your property. That’s against the law, and if they do so, it’s time for you to contact a consumer protection attorney and seek damages.
After repossession, you might still owe money on the car. And, of course, your credit rating is going to take a serious hit either way. But it’s going to take an even bigger hit if you owe money and don’t repay it.
Here’s how it works: You owe another $10,000 on the car, which sells at auction for $7,000. Guess where the lender is going to come looking for the $3,000 it lost?
The best advice is to stay on top of the terms of your loan. Then you won’t have to worry about seeing the repo man.
Related Articles
The post Repossession: When the Bank Bites Back appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
Most people won’t object to paying for most types of insurance: homeowners, health, life, auto, etc.
While most people see a need for long term care insurance, once they receive a quote and see how much it actually costs, they are immediately turned off.
But should the rate of long term care insurance be such a deterrent?
The scary reality is that there is an overwhelming likelihood that you and I will both need some sort of long term care in our lifetime.
How much of a chance? According to the U.S. Administration of Aging, over a 70% chance.
That means you have a greater chance of needing long term care than Shaquille O’neal has of making a free throw. How scary is that?
The purpose of this post is two-fold. First, to give you a sense of how much long term care may cost in the future. Secondly, to give some real life long term insurance quotes to help illustrate how much it may cost you.
That’s the million dollar question. MetLife did a survey in 2009 of estimated long term care costs. Based on their findings the average annual cost of nursing home care is now $79,935 or $219 per day. That’s up 3.3% from 2008. The average nursing home stay is about 2.5 years, which means you would need roughly $200,000 to pay those bills. That’s a little more than your DirecTV bill, huh?
What if you had to pay the entire long term care cost of pocket? Would your retirement nest egg withstand such a huge blow? Medicaid may help, but that’s only when everything is depleted. The clear solution is long term care insurance.
Annually, it typically costs about as much as a cheap used car. According to the MetLife survey: in 2009, a 52-year-old federal employee could pay $1,524 annually for an LTC policy with a $200-per-day benefit for three years and a maximum lifetime benefit of about $200,000.
Does $1,500 or $1,800 or $2,100 annually (just to throw out a few numbers) sound expensive? These premiums are certainly inexpensive compared to the staggering bills you may face if the need for LTC enters your life. Yes, there is a chance that you may never need LTC coverage. However, with advances in medicine and healthcare, we may live much longer than we anticipate before we leave this world.
If you’ve ever had an experience where a loved one needed long term care then the cost is not an issue. A client of mine shared his story where long term care insurance saved his family from financial and emotional heartache.
Suggesting how much long term care insurance one might need is tough because there are a lot of factors at work here. Much depends on the state you reside. Other factors include you current health, family medical history, and how much in investable assets you have. In addition to that, there are other variables to consider. The are four primary variables that must be considered when building an Long Term Care Insurance policy:
I decided to the seek the counsel of Tiffanny Sievers of S.I. Elder Law who advises her clients on elder issues. Here’s what Tiffanny had to say:
I typically suggest people get at least a 5 year pay out because the look back period for transfers is moving to 5 years. Although right now it is 3 years, it is going to be moving to 5 years, very soon in Illinois.
How Much of a Daily Benefit Do You Recommend For a Long Term Care Insurance Policy?
In Southern Illinois Nursing Home expenses range from $90 a day to $180 a day. Therefore I would say that the daily benefit should be no less than $100 a day and probably better somewhere around $120 a day.
How Long of an Elimination Period?
I would say 90-100 day elimination period. The reason for this is because Medicare will usually pay for the first 100 days and you want to your long term care insurance to kick in right after Medicare runs out.
How Much of a Total Payout Should One Consider When Purchasing Long Term Care Insurance?
Of course, the best plan would have no limits but something reasonable would be $200,000-$250,000 maximum payout. Like a term certain annuity, a good idea might be to make sure that your plan will pay the maximium daily benefit for 5 years.
For the most part, if you have a decent long term care insurance policy, you will not have to worry about loosing all of your assets to assisted living and or the nursing home. I recomend to all of my clients that are under age 70 that they at least try to get some coverage. You have a greater chance of becoming disabled than actually dying.
As you can see, there are many considerations that go into purchasing a long term care insurance policy. Thanks to Tiffanny for sharing her expertise!
Long term care insurance is available through most of the best insurance companies that offer life insurance. So I started with the most popular among the well known providers.
While the MetLife survey provided some good general info on the actual cost of Long Term Care Insurance, I decided to contact one of the leading providers and request an actual quote on a long term care insurance policy. The Long Term Insurance quotes I requested were for a 50, 55, and 60 year old, respectively- all assuming to be in excellent health with no benefit for a spouse. As the below chart indicates the three constants were daily benefit amount, benefit period, elimination period, and policy limit. Let’s see what the results show:
| Age | 50 Year Old | 55 Year Old | 60 Year Old |
|---|---|---|---|
| Risk Class | Select | Select | Select |
| LTC Benefit Amount | $100 Daily | $100 Daily | $100 Daily |
| Benefit Period | 3 Years | 3 Years | 3 Years |
| Policy Limit | $109,500 | $109,500 | $109,500 |
| Elimination Period | 90 Days | 90 Days | 90 Days |
| Inflation Option | 5% Compound | 5% Compound | 5% Compound |
| Stay At Home Benefit | $3,000 | $3,000 | $3,000 |
| Total Annual Premium | $1,078.65 | $1,198.50 | $1,462.17 |
Based on the findings we can derive some interesting information. First, that the total price on the annual premium increases by 11% by waiting to age 55 instead of 50. Second, the percentage increase from 55 to 60 is 22%. Thirdly, by postponing from age 50 to 60, there is a 35.6% in premium. Many baby boomers always wonder what the potential increase in premium might be by waiting, this should give some insight.
Disclaimer: You should not base these numbers as a true representation of long term care insurance premiums. This is just to be used as an example and you should consult a qualified licensed professional to give you an accurate quote based on your situation.
Even the most modest-sounding percentage based charge can have a hugely erosive effect on our wealth over time, so if you’re looking to invest for children you might want to consider ETFmatic, a robo-adviser that’s promising to waive all platform charges on its childrens accounts.
Do you love driving your car around town? There are tons of opportunities to earn money while you do it!
Whether you want to launch a new full-time career — or just make some extra money on the side — here are some great ways to turn your vehicle into a money-making machine.
If you like spending time in your car, finding the best routes through town and chatting with all kinds of new people, this is a great way to make money doing it!
As an Uber partner driver, you’re responsible for setting your schedule and motivating yourself to work — no one is keeping tabs on you. You get 80% of everything you earn as a driver (Uber keeps 20%.).
If you want to give it a try, here are a few things to keep in mind:
Here’s a link to apply with Uber.
Want to get paid to navigate your city without driving strangers in your car? Sign up to deliver groceries with Instacart!
This app and website lets people who don’t feel like battling crowds at the grocery store skip it. Instead, you’ll act as their personal shopper, picking up and delivering their grocery order.
If you’re interested in giving it a try, Instacart is currently recruiting for drivers in these two cities:
You should be at least 21 years old. To apply, you’ll take a short online quiz to ensure you can identify common grocery store items — like a lemon or an 18-pack of eggs.
After that, your city’s manager will call you to set up a time for a 15-minute phone interview to learn about your background and experience.
They tend to look for people with past customer service experience and candidates who have experience doing plenty of shopping for either their roommates, families or themselves.
Did you know some cities will pay you to carpool to work? Here are four cities that will pay you to help reduce traffic and congestion!
If you start or join a new carpool in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, you can make up to $2 per day over a 90-day period, up to $130.
In the counties near Birmingham, Alabama, drivers make up to $70 over 90 days for taking alternative transportation or carpooling.
Commuters who live, work or commute through San Mateo County, California can receive a $50 gift card for retail or online stores when they start or join a new carpool.
People who drive on the busy highway between Boulder, Colorado and Denver can make more than $75 for carpooling or vanpooling.
Working through a company like BestMark, you’ll go to car lots and pose as a potential buyer.
So you get to test drive a car, which is pretty cool.
It also means you listen to the sales pitch, which is less exciting. But then you report back on your experience and get paid!
Our CEO Kyle Taylor got his start doing automotive mystery shopping, and made $60 for each dealership visited.
Want to work for yourself on a flexible schedule as an auto mechanic?
YourMechanic offers unique opportunities for anyone who wants to work in the automotive service industry.
Instead of running an auto-body shop, this “mobile mechanic company” sends a specialist to a customer’s home or office when their car needs service.
YourMechanic has technicians in more than 700 cities nationwide and is actively hiring now in 53 cities.
The company handles marketing, scheduling appointments, ordering parts, invoicing and customer support — so all you have to do is show up when a customer needs you.
In this position, you’ll set your own hours through the YourMechanic app — as many or little as you want, any days, evenings or weekends you prefer. The company schedules service calls for you within your availability.
You’ll be doing basic repair and maintenance, “no engine overhauls or major transmission work.”
Pay is between $40-$60 an hour. You’ll work as a contractor and provide your own transportation. If you want something less hands-on, the company also has work-from-home positions.
Fill out the online application here. A service advisor will call you for a phone interview and to get you set up. Then you’ll set your hours and get to work!
If you own a reliable vehicle, but leave it sitting in your driveway all the time, turn it into an income stream by renting it!
Through Turo, you can rent your car to a community of approved drivers.
You’ll create a calendar to let travelers know when your car is available, and you’ll be notified when someone requests your car. You’ll coordinate a meeting place, or deliver the car right to the traveler at the airport or other location.
Turo will dynamically set your car’s rental price based on market value, location, time of year and other data. For a car with a market value of $10,000, Turo suggests you could earn about $1,800 a year renting it just five days a month.
You’ll earn 65% to 85% of the trip price, depending on the vehicle protection package you choose. If you provide your own commercial rental insurance, you’ll earn 90%.
You’ve seen these drivers around town. By letting companies display ads on their car, they get paid to drive their normal routes!
To qualify for these opportunities, you’ll have to drive regularly in high-traffic areas — no one wants to pay you to park their ad in the garage. When vetting advertising companies, keep these tips in mind to spot a scam.
Check out vehicle advertising opportunities with these legitimate companies:
If you’re already driving with Uber, you could earn even more money placing ads inside your vehicle with Vugo.
Your Turn: Do you want to get paid to drive around?
Disclosure: A toast to savings! Thanks for allowing us to place affiliate links in this post.
Dana Sitar (@danasitar) is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She’s written for Huffington Post, Entrepreneur.com, Writer’s Digest and more, attempting humor wherever it’s allowed (and sometimes where it’s not).
The post 7 Surprisingly Easy Ways to Make Extra Money With Just Your Car appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
You’ve studied your voter guide, talked with friends and family, and watched countless “Saturday Night Live” sketches about the election.
It’s finally here!
And to celebrate making it through what seems like the longest election ever, we’ve found some freebies and deals you can enjoy on Tuesday, Nov. 8.
Can’t find a freebie in your area? It’s not you, it’s them: Some states and cities prohibit rewards for registering to vote or doing the deed.
That’s why you’ll see offers that give something free to people who show up wearing their “I voted” sticker. It’s not the act that makes them eligible for the freebie — it’s the sticker. Get it? Slick.
See more Election-Day freebies? Let us know in the comments, and we’ll update this post!
Get a free Krispy Kreme donut by wearing your “I Voted” sticker into a store on Nov. 8. Not all locations are participating, including the entire states of Connecticut and Maryland, so check the list before you go.
“Guac the Vote” at Tijuana Flats on Tuesday by showing your “I Voted” sticker. You’ll get to choose a free small side: queso, guacamole or salsa. The chain will keep a tally on Facebook of which side is winning — in the chips-and-dip election, that is.
Zipcar members can #drivethevote on Nov. 8. Between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Election Day, select Zipcars will be available for free to voters heading to the polls or going out to celebrate. Make a reservation (do it now!) and you’ll see the discount applied once the reservation is confirmed. You’ll still pay taxes and fees on your rental.
It’s not a freebie, but it’s pretty good: Visit 7-Eleven on Election Day and pour a cup of coffee in a 7-Election cup. Scan your 7Rewards app at the register and you’ll get your coffee for just $1.
Your Turn: What’s the best freebie you’ve gotten for showing your “I Voted” sticker?
Lisa Rowan is a writer and producer at The Penny Hoarder. She voted early.
The post The Election’s Almost Over! Celebrate with These Election Day Freebies appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
Parents-to-be or new parents should jump on this deal quickly: Walmart’s offering a free baby welcome box while supplies last.
Packed with product samples, Walmart’s offer allows families to “get a head start with Baby’s development,” according to the website.
The best part? (Besides snuggling with your bundle of joy, that is?) It ships totally free.
All you have to do to get this freebie is head to Walmart’s baby registry page and click on the “Welcome Box” link near the top quarter of the page. Once the welcome box page opens, simply enter your name, your baby’s birth or due date, email and shipping address. You can opt out of Walmart emails before submitting your request.
In a few weeks, you’ll receive a box with product samples and coupons. Recipients of previous baby box offers reported getting a pacifier, wipes, a diaper, nursing pads and baby-friendly laundry detergent.
But the box is only available while supplies last, so don’t procrastinate, parents!
This free offer is separate from Walmart’s Baby Box program, which offers age-specific boxes of samples and coupons for newborns through toddlers. Walmart automatically delivers the next stage box as your baby grows; you pay $5 shipping for each.
Your Turn: Have you ever received a free Walmart baby Welcome Box? What was in it?
Lisa Rowan is a writer and producer at The Penny Hoarder.
The post Here’s How to Get Free Baby Stuff From Walmart (You Have to Act Fast!) appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
Were you a travel agent before more and more people started to book travel online?
Do you miss helping people plan vacations of a lifetime?
Then you might be interested in this news: American Express is hiring a work-at-home travel counselor.
You’ll need experience in the travel industry, and might have to work some crazy hours. But if you’re sick of going into an office, it might be a good gig for you.
As a work-at-home travel counselor, your main duty will be creating “memorable travel experiences” for cardholders by “providing knowledgeable and consultative service based on your own experiences and expert knowledge of the travel industry.”
To be eligible, you must have at least two years of recent experience selling domestic and international travel, with a strong background in international air booking. AmEx also highly prefers candidates who have experience in a call center and with car and hotel bookings.
You’ll need customer service, communication, time-management and sales skills, as well as knowledge of both established and emerging domestic and international destinations.
Applicants can live in any state except Alaska — but if you live within 35 miles of one of the company’s call centers (Lawrenceville, Georgia; Phoenix, Arizona; Salt Lake City, Utah; or Sunrise, Florida), you’ll be required to work on-site.
Since the call centers are open 24/7, your shift might be less than ideal. According to the listing, new hires will receive shifts between 5 a.m. and 2 a.m. on any day of the week — and won’t be eligible for the next shift bid until at least three months after completing training.
No word on the pay (I’ll update you if I hear back!), but if you work from home, AmEx will provide high-speed internet and land-based telephone service.
Think it sounds like a good fit? Click here to learn more.
Your Turn: Are you a former travel agent? Will you apply for this job?
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.
The post American Express is Hiring Work-From-Home Travel Counselors — Apply Now! appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
It’s early November, so what have I been doing lately? I’ve been planning next year’s summer family vacation. We’re going to Yellowstone!
November? Really?
The truth is that the fall is actually a great time to start thinking about next year’s travels, particularly if you want to enjoy the beauty of the world on a nice, tidy budget. One of the best ways to do that is to camp and, at the same time, take advantage of one of the best bargains offered to American citizens, our national park system.
The national parks of the United States contain a nearly infinite array of natural beauty, from the northern landscapes of Denali to the gorgeous vistas of Glacier, from the stunning forestry of Acadia to the unbelievable hot springs of Yellowstone. Yosemite. Grand Canyon. Joshua Tree. Shenandoah. I could go on and on and on. Suffice it to say, there is more stunning beauty to be found in our national parks than you can possibly explore in a lifetime.
Even more amazing is the fact that you can see all of this beauty on what amounts to a shoestring budget. A vacation centered around a national park can actually be very inexpensive!
So, why post this in November? It might seem a bit out of place to post this now, but the reason leads right into my first tip…
One of the biggest savings offered by a national park vacation is the fact that you can camp instead of staying at a hotel. That move alone saves hundreds upon hundreds of dollars over the course of several days of vacation.
The problem here is that many of the campgrounds in national parks and around national parks tend to fill up several months in advance, particularly at the most popular parks in the national parks system like Yellowstone. You usually can find a place to camp somewhere reasonably near a national park even close to the trip, but you’re likely to be camping a substantial distance from the park (meaning a long commute into and out of the park) or else be gunning for a “first come first serve” campground (meaning you’ll have to get lucky to get a camping spot).
The best route is to simply start planning now and reserve a spot at a campground as early as possible. Tools for finding such a campground are listed below, but the key thing to remember is to start planning ahead now.
The National Park Service currently offers the “Every Kid in a Park” program, which gives every fourth grader in the United States a free year-long national parks pass for their family. That means you don’t even have to pay an entry fee to visit those national parks that require one, further reducing the cost of a national park vacation.
The process for signing up for this free pass is very simple. Your fourth grader can do it on his or her own and will learn about the national park system in the process.
For us, the occasion of our fourth grader picking up a national parks pass means that we’re planning a vacation that centers on Yellowstone, but actually involves stops at other national parks as well for a day or two. Since the pass works for all national parks, this is a great time to plan a trip to multiple national parks for multiple days.
The idea of hitting multiple parks over the course of a number of days brings me to my next point. A national parks trip is a highly self-directed trip, which means you can do things at your own pace without having to carefully plan days or make appointments.
Most of the trails and majestic sights that you’re going to see in a national park will be there tomorrow or the day after. You don’t have to schedule things. You don’t have to rush to jam everything in on a single day or two. You can do things at your own pace.
Furthermore, there are opportunities for all different levels of physical exertion in our national parks. Most parks feature amazing sights that require almost no trail walking and there are trails and hikes available in most parks with a huge variety of different lengths and different difficulties. Some are basically walks along an elevated boardwalk for half a mile through a beautiful forest, while others might involve many miles of hilly trail hiking – and we’re not even talking about backcountry hiking. You can find something that perfectly matches your fitness level and desire to hike and you can spread different walks and hikes throughout the trip. You can even see many beautiful sights from your car window if you so choose.
Driving to a national park is actually a great way to save money on the trip as compared to flying, particularly if you’re traveling as a family. Driving allows you to pack your camping gear with you instead of having to mail it or take it through airport luggage. It also greatly enhances the freedom of the trip and allows you to make stops and side journeys along the way.
For example, on our upcoming Yellowstone trip, we’re planning on spending most of two days in Badlands National Park on our way to Yellowstone from Iowa, then spending a day at Devil’s Tower National Monument. If we so choose, we can also stop at Mount Rushmore and at Custer State Park on the way (all but Custer are free thanks to our free pass, as described above). If we flew for this trip, we’d miss all of those things.
Your local library likely has a travel section that has a ton of books on any national park or part of the country that you might wish to visit. Even if they don’t happen to have a book on your specific destination, it’s very likely that the librarian can acquire one for you via interlibrary loan.
I think that using a travel guide is still the best tool for planning a vacation, simply because it takes pieces of information that are spread out all over the place online and puts them all in one single volume where you can find everything you need.
I typically check out several travel guides during the planning stages of a vacation, such as when we’re figuring out what campgrounds we’re going to use, where we’re going to stay, and what trails and sights we might want to see. While I don’t usually mark things down in stone this far in advance, I do usually reserve campsites based on travel guide recommendations as far in advance as possible as well as make lists of recommended hikes and recommended things to see in the national park.
If possible, I’ll often check out those travel guides again close to our trip and take them with us. This can sometimes be “hit or miss” depending on other travelers, as sometimes others check out such travel guides during the summer months.
One of the biggest money savers when it comes to a national park trip is food. Rather than eating at restaurants all the time as would often happen on vacations, the entire trip is much more conducive to eating simple meals at your campsite.
While I tend to get into preparing interesting meals in a Dutch oven over a campfire, you can prepare lots of different, tasty, simple meals without any tools. For example, this article from Country Living offers a ton of simple recipe ideas that work well while camping that go far beyond simply making sandwiches for every meal (though sandwiches should be a staple – a simple sandwich is practically designed for camping).
This is another reason why driving to a national park is helpful. It enables you to take a cooler along, which you can use to keep items cool, plus it gives you a secure spot to stow food away from wildlife at night. It also makes grocery shopping easy, since you can simply go to a grocery store somewhat near the national park and fill up the back of your vehicle with food you might want to have on the trip.
The biggest cost that people bring up when it comes to a camping trip is the cost of gear. You’ll need some kind of shelter at the very least, which means you’ll either need to have a tent or come up with some other form of housing (which is likely to be much more expensive).
Here’s the thing, though: if you camp regularly and make camping part of your family’s activities (particularly during the summer), the cost per trip for a family tent and sleeping bags and other materials goes way down. Let’s say you invest $100 on a simple family tent and then buy a few sleeping bags to boot at, say, $25 each. That’s $200 in gear – expensive, right? Well, consider the fact that you can use that gear over 20 camping trips. That means your cost per trip for that gear is $10 per trip. It quickly becomes dirt cheap. (There’s also the fact that you can use sleeping bags at home for various things, such as sleepovers and for winter blankets on the coldest nights.)
Another thing worth noting about camping gear is that many people overdo it in terms of what they need. Out of inexperience, they buy everything that they think they might possibly need and then find out that they don’t need a lot of it. If you’re going on a typical tent camping family vacation, all you need is a tent that comfortably houses your family, sleeping bags (and that’s even kind of a maybe, as you can use blankets), something with which to start a fire, and a flashlight or two (which you probably already have). Additional gear is unnecessary until you can figure out why you need it, so just take it all slowly and frugally.
If I include the prorated cost of our camping gear and all of the cost of driving, eating, campground fees, and everything else, our family’s summer national park vacation will cost us substantially less than $100 a day. There’s almost no vacation we could possibly take that would be less expensive than that. Not only that, the trip offers us a unique opportunity to see the natural beauty our nation has to offer.
I consider that to be an incredible bargain, but part of that bargain comes from starting our planning the fall before our trip. If this kind of trip sounds intriguing to you, I encourage you to start planning now.
The post How We Plan Frugal Family Vacations in National Parks appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
Want to get paid to drive without taking on a full side hustle?
Visit your local Hyundai dealer for a test-drive and get a $50 gift card for Target, Amazon or Visa.
Just fill out a few prompts online, head to the dealership, and drive!
To get your gift card, visit hyundaiusa.com and click “Find a dealer” in the upper right corner. Enter your ZIP code and select a dealership. Make sure it’s the one you’ll be able to visit, since the offer will be limited to that location.
From the dealer’s website, click on the new inventory link from the menu at the top of the page (each dealership’s site varies slightly, but this page is easy to identify). Once the inventory page loads, a box will pop up asking for your contact information and the make, model and year of the car you’d like to test drive.
After entering all this information, click “Get Your Code.” Print your coupon or write it down if you don’t have a printer. You can also text the code to your phone.
Take it to the dealership you selected for your test drive by Nov. 12, 2016. A salesperson will validate your coupon so you can get your gift card.
It’s that easy!
Your Turn: Have you ever visited a car dealership for a test-drive promotion? What was it like?
Lisa Rowan is a writer and producer at The Penny Hoarder.
The post This Might be the Easiest $50 You Ever Make: Just Test-Drive a New Car appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
