New fee threatens local food pantries

Diane McFadzean, founder and director of Feeding Families Ministry in Tobyhanna is getting into a bind.Her group fed about 10,000 people last year, dependent on the donations of food items and cash. Now she’ll have to pay a new fee to her primary food supplier.That organization, Second Harvest Food Pantry in Nazareth, is a bulk supplier of foods to local pantries. It gets items from food manufacturers, food processors, local farms and retailers.But Second [...]

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Broadband Rally highlights steps to improve local broadband

East Stroudsburg University, Pocono Mountains Economic Development Corporation, the Monroe 2030 Action Team, and the ESU Center for Research and Economic Development will hold a Broadband Rally in the ESU Innovation Center, on Tuesday, Dec. 13 Room 336 from 8 a.m. — 10 a.m. The purpose of the rally is to inform citizens, businesses and constituents of Monroe County of the efforts underway to provide high speed broadband to the county at an affordable cost.The [...]

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Cutting the Cord? How to Find Cheap High-Speed Internet That Can Handle Streaming Video

By Chris Brantner

One of the things that nearly everyone can agree on is cable and internet packages are way too expensive. That’s why it’s incredibly important to figure out a way to get a great deal on a reliable high-speed internet service.

If you’re a cable cutter who needs a fast connection to handle your live streaming needs, there are a few things you should know in order to get the best deal.

Shop Around

One of the best methods is to look around at all of the offers and options out there. This can be a little daunting, but this tool helps sort through all your options and will help you narrow it down.

By comparing competing offers like that, you can then use the offers as bargaining chips against other providers to hopefully reduce your actual cost. A lot of the time, internet providers will match other deals or try and meet halfway. Even if it’s only a year-long introductory deal, you can always cancel and choose another plan after the deal expires.

Find Out About Download Speeds

One of the key things you should get from the internet provider is what type of download speeds you can expect. Upload speeds are helpful too, but download speed is what will make the difference in streaming quality. Quicker download speeds mean less buffering time when watching YouTube, Netflix, Sling TV, Hulu, or any other streaming service.

The recommended minimum speed for streaming standard-definition video is usually about 5 Mbps (megabytes per second). That means if it’s just you streaming from Netflix, you can probably get by with pretty low-speed internet. But if you’re streaming high-definition video or have multiple people in your home using different services at once, you should basically add an additional 5 Mbps per streaming device.

For reference, the average internet speed throughout the U.S. is about 12 Mbps. But for the 46% of people across the world with internet access, the average is only about 5 Mbps.

Of course, if you want to stream in Ultra High Def 4K, then you’re going to need a much faster connection. For that, Netflix has you covered with its monthly ISP Speed Index rankings. (Spoiler alert: Verizon FiOS is consistently at the top.)

Check for Any Data Caps

Data caps, common on smartphone plans, are now being adopted by cable and internet providers. They’re often used to combat cord cutting, which has eroded the growth in cable subscribers, or to charge people extra if they’re downloading a large amount of content.

Basically, with a data cap, when you go over the limit you have to pay a fee for whatever you download beyond the cap.

This means if you get sucked in one weekend binge-watching every season of “Breaking Bad,” you could get to the point where you actually have to pay an additional fee on top of your monthly bill. Who wants that? Nobody. I highly recommend staying far away from any internet provider with a data cap (we’re looking at you, Comcast).

To Bundle, or Not To Bundle

One reason many people have cable is because it might seem more reasonable for them to just get the bundled internet and cable TV package. They might think it’s worth the extra money, or just don’t want to deal with what they see as the complexity of cutting the cable portion.

This is a decent option for some, but the big thing to remember is that cable cutting really isn’t that expensive or difficult nowadays. Plus, that great introductory bundle price usually shoots through the roof after the initial rate expires. So, what might seem like a decent deal today could be a really bad deal six or 12 months from now.

A lot of times if you choose to avoid the bundle, the cable companies will try to spike up internet prices. But, that’s where the internet comparison tool I mentioned earlier comes into play. You can use it to find better deals or even use it to bargain down your existing provider to a much more reasonable number. In many cases, you’ll certainly be saving money.

Should Customer Service Be a Factor in Choosing Internet for Streaming?

Maybe. But honestly, you’ll be hard pressed to find any ISP that is known for offering stellar customer service.

That being said, some are worse than others. For example, Comcast is well-known for its nightmarish customer service stories. When it comes to customer service, you may end up making a choice between the lesser of two evils.

Cutting cable is a great budgeting decision, especially with all the great options on the market that make it so much easier. But all that money saved won’t do much good if you’re blowing it on an expensive internet package. Hopefully, you’ve got a better idea now on how to search around for the best internet deal and not get taken advantage of by the cable companies.

For more info on choosing an internet service provider, check out our complete guide here.

Related Articles

• How to Cut the Cord to Cable TV and Save a Lot of Money Each Month
• Tips for Getting Cheap Internet Service
• How to Watch Football Without Paying for Cable
• Cord Cutters: How and Why Millennials Are Saying Goodbye to Cable TV

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This Woman Makes $300 Every Christmas Writing Letters From Santa

Remember writing letters to Santa Claus as a kid, asking for a tricked-out skateboard or the newest video game on the market?

Imagine, instead, that Mr. Claus wrote to you.

Each Christmas, Julie Engelhardt makes that dream a reality, surprising kids with letters from the man with the bushy white beard and the soft red suit.

Meet the Woman Who Makes Money Writing Letters From Santa

As a stay-at-home mom with two boys, Engelhardt began brainstorming ways to make a little extra cash around the holidays nearly 10 years ago.

She’d always been interested in writing, though mostly she’d written nonfiction articles for newspapers or magazines. But one day in 2008, she decided to try her hand at fiction writing and began taking orders for letters from Santa.

Since then, Engelhardt estimates she’s made between $200 and $300 each holiday season writing letters to children from Kris Kringle.

She’s written letters to the children of neighbors and friends, as well as to the children of complete strangers around the world whose parents wanted them to have an extra-special Christmas.

“Over the years and through social media, I’ve gotten to know people from different countries,” she said. “I’ve sent letters to Australia and Scotland.”

Engelhardt, who lives outside of Louisville, Kentucky, initially found customers by telling friends, neighbors and other parents about her service. Now, she also uses Facebook and other social networks. Engelhardt said she typically charges around $10 per letter.

What’s Included in a Letter From Santa Claus?

Before writing each letter, Engelhardt sends the parents a list of roughly 20 questions about their child, their family and their pets. She asks about activities the child is involved in, if the family took any vacations during the year, the child’s favorite subject in school and their favorite movies and books.

With this information in hand, she sits down to write an extremely personal letter to the child from Santa.

“I will do my best to incorporate as much as I can – that’s what makes it special,” she said. “It’s not a cookie-cutter kind of thing.”

Sometimes, the requests for letters from Santa become deeply personal. Engelhardt remembers writing letters to a little girl after her father died.

Each year, the family would release a handful of balloons to honor his memory, so Engelhardt wrote to the girl, as Santa, that her dad loved the balloons she sent him.

“Initially it started out as a way to make some money on the side for the holidays, but it has grown into so much more,” she said. “Touching a lot of people’s lives, that really meant a lot to me as well.”

What Sets These Letters From Santa Apart

Engelhardt’s letters are special for another reason, too.

When she finishes a batch of letters before Christmas, she’ll place each one into an envelope with the child’s name, address and the proper postage. Then, she drops all of those letters into a larger envelope, which she mails to North Pole, Alaska.

North Pole, a suburb of Fairbanks, was given that name in 1949 as a way to attract business or, possibly, an amusement park like Disneyland.

Today, it’s best known for its postmark. People from all over the world send bags and boxes of letters to the postmaster there. Except for the cost of postage, the postmark is free.

Engelhardt, who includes the postage in her $10 fee, said the postmark adds a special touch for young children.

“They’ll say, ‘Look, it actually came from the North Pole,’” she said.

On the back of the letters, which she types on her computer, Engelhardt will sometimes include a recipe for Mrs. Claus’ chocolate chip cookies. She has also included “Good List” certificates to let children know they’re not on Santa’s naughty list.

Engelhardt decorates the letters with stamps in the shape of snowflakes and Christmas trees, too. She signs them as Santa Claus in red or green marker.

“Anyone who has a little bit of imagination would be able to do something like this,” she said.

Because Engelhardt also worked as a substitute teacher for many years, she’d often see the letters during show-and-tell time at school. Sometimes parents would snap a picture of their child opening their letter from Santa and send it to her — their mouths were usually hanging open and their eyes were wide, staring at the paper in disbelief.

Though her letter-writing business has been steady over the years, Engelhardt has ramped up her efforts on yet another Christmas project: portraying Mrs. Claus.

She typically charges between $50 and $150 per appearance, though she also appears for free at many charity events. As a freelance Mrs. Claus, Engelhardt markets herself and mostly finds business by word-of-mouth.

Engelhardt has truly mastered the art of the holiday side gig.

“With Mrs. Claus, I’m getting calls every few days to see if I’m available,” Engelhardt said.

Pick Up a Side Gig for the Holidays

Curious about how you can make a little extra money this holiday season? If writing letters from Santa or portraying Mrs. Claus aren’t your thing, consider selling baked goods, decorating homes or businesses, or taking family photos.

You could also make and sell holidays crafts, like reindeer hot chocolate mixes or a peppermint foot soak.

If you already work full time, don’t worry – there are plenty of holiday side gig options for you. Consider starting your own gift-wrapping service or dog-sitting while pet owners are away for the holidays.

If adding a new income stream isn’t in the cards for you, there are some strategic ways to stretch your holiday budget, including knowing when to shop so you get the best prices and making discounted travel plans.

Your Turn: Would you consider writing letters from Santa to make a little extra cash for the holidays?

Sarah Kuta is an education reporter in Boulder, Colorado, with a penchant for weekend thrifting, furniture refurbishment and good deals. Find her on Twitter: @sarahkuta.

The post This Woman Makes $300 Every Christmas Writing Letters From Santa appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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Court upholds ruling barring DeNaples from doing business with Mt. Airy

The state Commonwealth Court on Friday denied Dunmore businessman Louis DeNaples’ request to alter a ruling he contends prevents companies he owns from doing business with Mount Airy Casino Resort.DeNaples sought to overturn two Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board rulings that barred him from benefiting financially, directly or indirectly, from a 2008 trust he established in his daughter’s name to oversee the casino’s operations.The trust was formed after the [...]

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Deeds Done, Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016

Hamilton TownshipTimothy M. and Kathleen A. Bellew to Adele and James F. Fitzgerald, Lot 25, "Subdivision of lands of Merlyn Trued," Tax ID 7/14/2/11, $217,000Jackson TownshipDE&S Properties Inc. (T/A) Classic Quality Homes to Brian and Edna Murray, Lot 3, "Subdivision of Lands of Robert Felins" Tax ID 08/117462, $289,000Middle Smithfield TownshipBrian B. and Jennifer K. McMahon to Peter Borshowsky, Lot [...]

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Nothing but net: The simple science of Christmas tree netters

For six decades, Howard's Old Fashioned Christmas Trees has stayed just old fashioned enough.

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Photo Essay: She Tries on Her First Wedding Dress for Mom — and It’s Magic

Inspiration from Galileo, John McWhorter, Robert Louis Stevenson, and More

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

1. Galileo on learning

“You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself.” – Galileo

At first, I thought this quote was silly. How can you expect someone to have knowledge of a topic inherently within themselves?

That’s not what Galileo is talking about here, though. Galileo is talking about the willingness to learn and other foundational elements of character. A person with poor character and habits can’t be taught to have better character and habits. All you can do is lay the information at that person’s door; it’s up to them to do something with it, and that willingness comes from within.

I am close friends with quite a few public school teachers and they all more or less say the same thing: there comes a point where it doesn’t matter how much effort you put into teaching, the student is either going to make the effort to meet you in the middle and absorb some knowledge or that student will refuse and probably fail. Some students are chomping at the bit to learn; others learn a ton on their own and barely need instruction at all. Almost universally, they feel that the biggest (and best) part of their job is reaching the people who put forth that basic effort to learn but struggle to get there.

The number one biggest thing that you can do to succeed as a person is to put forth genuine effort in whatever it is that you’re doing. That simple step alone puts you ahead of a lot of people.

2. John McWhorter on why you should learn a new language

From the description:

English is fast becoming the world’s universal language, and instant translation technology is improving every year. So why bother learning a foreign language? Linguist and Columbia professor John McWhorter shares four alluring benefits of learning an unfamiliar tongue.

I summarized his reasons for those who don’t want to watch the video.

Reason one: if you want to really understand and absorb the culture, you need to learn the language that it’s spoken in, because without that you miss almost all of the nuance of communication.

Reason two: if you speak two languages, you’re less likely to suffer from dementia and you’re more likely to be a decent multitasker.

Reason three: learning and using languages is simply fun.

Reason four: we live in an era where it has never been easier to learn a language, especially with tools like Duolingo out there.

I’ve found that learning someone else’s language – or at least trying to – is one of the most effective ways there is to build a bond with someone from a different culture. It’s almost always a fun experience, particularly when you’re also helping them to learn your language at the same time.

I once worked at a shared desk with an individual from China. He was new to the United States and spoke very halting English, though he could read it fairly well. I made it a point to have several conversations with him in English every single day, but our relationship didn’t start clicking until he started teaching me how to converse in Cantonese – his native tongue. I was awful at it and he thought this was positively hilarious. Apparently, every other sentence out of my mouth was an unintentional obscenity. It helped us to bond, it helped me to learn just a little bit of Cantonese, and it also helped me to understand him a little better.

3. Robert Louis Stevenson on judging each day

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

Over the past few months, I’ve been focusing quite a lot on planting seeds for the future. I’m not talking about literal seeds, of course, but metaphorical ones: things that won’t pay off in any real way today or tomorrow, but something that will pay off way down the road.

For me, the biggest seeds I am planting are my children. I’ve been dwelling heavily on the question of what I can do as a parent to help them to become functional, independent, successful adults. I want them to not only be able to handle adult and professional life on their own, but to want to do it. Not that they’ll forget about ol’ dad, but that they won’t need me to help them manage their daily life and that they’re making good choices on their own.

I’m also planting a ton of career and community seeds by trying to build relationships with people and break through my own natural introversion. This is hard for me – I’m just not naturally the kind of person that dives into conversations.

4. The Avett Brothers – No Hard Feelings

The Avett Brothers are my favorite musical act of the last fifteen years or so (along with Old Crow Medicine Show – maybe). I absolutely love their harmonization, their soulful Americana musical choices, and their laid back style. So, whenever they have new stuff out, I’m going to be sharing it here because their music has brought so much value to my life.

Although I absolutely adore this newest song, I almost always point people to the two brothers singing an acoustic duet of their great Salvation Song in a park on a cold day. You’re going to be struck right off the bat by the fact that it’s bluegrass-y to the core, but listen to the lyrics and how their voices harmonize and don’t be surprised if it hooks you hard.

Bluegrass music works for me because it takes concerns of the modern world and makes them timeless, or, depending on how you look at it, it’s about timeless concerns. It makes me realize that my grandparents and great-grandparents and their grandparents felt heartache and love and worries about the world, and my children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren will feel those same things, too, and it’s done entirely with the instruments they each could have used. It’s eternal. It’s the human experience. And it can be beautiful, even when it hurts.

5. Tom Bodett on the keys to happiness

“They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for.” ― Tom Bodett

Quotes like this that just break through the layers of modern life and cut things down to the basics really hit home for me.

Something to do. Someone to love. Something to hope for. That’s pretty much the definition of a good life. I put that right up next to Jim Valvano’s definition of a great day: you learn something, you laugh, and you cry.

Really, what else do you need in life? What else do you even want out of life? If you’re able to learn, laugh, and cry every day, and you have someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for… what else is there, really?

6. Ellen Goodman on normal

“Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for – in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it.” – Ellen Goodman

This is a life cycle that many, many Americans find themselves in. Don’t get me wrong, I understand why it occurs – people are chasing their dreams. I just can’t help but wonder at times whether those dreams really come from within or whether they’re delivered from outside.

In my own life, I’ve found that the greatest joy – even when I’m working hard on something challenging – comes about when I’m working toward my own dream. My own dream is financial independence. It is not a beautiful house. It is not a shiny car. It is not a $1,000 suit. It’s the ability to wake up some morning in the near future knowing that all of my basic needs are taken care of for pretty much the rest of my life and then deciding what the day is going to hold.

However, along the way to that dream, I want to be an involved father and husband and I want enough space so that I can recharge that creativity that I use to fuel my work.

That dream sometimes leads to different choices than others might make, and that’s okay. Just make sure that the things you’re working for are the things that you really want, not just what someone else tells you that you should want.

7. Time’s 100 Most Influential Images of All Time

A friend shared this image gallery with me a few days ago and I spent far longer than I should have browsing through this gallery.

Most of the images were familiar, but not all. Some shared iconic moments in history, while others simply showed everyday life. I thought of a couple that I might have included that weren’t there, but I think that feeling would be true of any such collection.

In the end, it’s a wonderful retrospective of the world over the last hundred and fifty years or so. It has a Western slant, of course, as it’s where photography was born and where it exploded in popularity so there’s much more to draw from, but these images do cover the whole world, from rich to poor, from West to East, from the variety of human experience.

Spend some time browsing through it. You’ll be glad you did.

8. Eckhart Tolle on unhappiness

“The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but your thoughts about it.” – Eckhart Tolle

I’ve learned over the years that whenever I have an emotional response to something – meaning that something makes me sad or angry or overjoyed – that emotion is almost always useless and often dangerous. Whenever I dwell on something with negative thoughts, it’s almost always useless and often dangerous.

The reality is that I have a lot of control over my emotions and thoughts. Yes, sure, sometimes emotions flood out, but most of the time, I get to actually decide whether I’m happy about something or whether I’m sad about something or whether I’m angry about something. I get to choose whether I think about things in a positive light or a negative light. It’s my choice, and when I make that choice, I end up shading how I feel about and how I respond to things in my life.

Take a person in your life. Any person. If you spend a moment thinking about that person’s positive traits – their humor, perhaps, or their honesty – you’re going to end up feeling a bit more positive about that person. If you spend a moment thinking about that person’s negative traits – their public outbursts, perhaps – you’re going to end up feeling a bit more negative about that person.

The thing is, you get to choose what you think about. You get to decide whether you’re going to dwell on their negative traits or their positive traits, and what you dwell on shapes how you feel toward that thing and how you respond to that thing. That’s your choice.

9. Dropbox Paper

I’m involved with a few different collaborative projects of different kinds. Most of them heavily revolve around sharing information and ideas – ideas for podcast episodes, ideas for visual designs, ideas for video storyboards, ideas for code structures, and so on.

These different projects have used different tools to share ideas. A couple just use email chains. A couple others use Google Docs. One seems to rely on an endless group Facebook message.

One of them, however, recently switched to using Dropbox Paper and it’s been a godsend.

Dropbox Paper is basically like a digital version of a giant piece of scratch paper where you can basically cut and paste and write anything you want. Everyone else (with a Dropbox account) can see it and edit it and it tracks the changes effortlessly.

It just works. There are other collaborative tools that are kind of like this, but this just works effortlessly for group brainstorming.

I’m trying to get some of my other projects to move to Dropbox Paper for idea sharing and brainstorming. I hope it sticks.

10. Seneca on aim

“Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind.” – Seneca

Whenever I don’t have a big goal in life, I flounder. Badly.

I’ll fall back on just going through a daily cycle that just repeats the same things over and over without meaning, without heart. As hard as I try, my thoughts eventually turn negative.

I need something big to be working on. Without that big thing, I just regress.

It’s a deep truth about who I am, and it’s something that I think is true for a lot of people (though not everyone). If I have a direction, I get enthusiastic about building plans and executing them and working my tail off. I do everything I can to move toward that destination. Without it… I just idle in place and eventually I grow unhappy.

11. Casey Neistat’s final vlog

For about a year and a half, filmmaker Casey Neistat made a daily video that served as something of a record of his life. He experimented with all kinds of different things throughout the series, trying different things and using different filmmaking techniques to make them interesting and look great.

He’s choosing to end that series, and his reasoning is great. He basically doesn’t feel that it’s challenging him any more. He’s found a formula and a routine that makes it so he can just churn out videos, and for him, the joy in doing it is in discovering, not pumping things out. So he’s moving on.

This is basically a perfect example of why financial independence is so valuable. It’s impossible to do things in that way if you’re not financially independent or at least close to it. If you need that next paycheck, it becomes very hard to move on to the next challenge in life. You’re stuck with what you have.

That’s why creative freedom often rests on the back of either poverty or financial independence. Both enable you to take risks that you can’t take if you need that next paycheck to sustain your life.

12. Mark Twain on good cheer

“The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up.” – Mark Twain

Try this. It works surprisingly well.

Go to a public event of some kind and just make yourself be social. Make it your goal to put a smile on the face of each and every person in the room, one on one. Just make that your intent when you go there.

Go around and talk to each person. Be as positive as you can, especially if they’re down. Look for positive things to say and try to lighten the mood with a bit of humor if you can muster it.

Do this with each and every person in the entire room. See if you can raise a smile.

Do you want to know a secret? When you leave that room, even if you’re really introverted and socially worn out, you’re going to feel really upbeat. You’re going to have collected a lot of smiles and a lot of good little moments and it’s going to lift your sense of well being.

Even better, over the long run, if you do it again and again, you’re going to start establishing some great relationships. People are going to be happy to see you walking into the room. They’re going to start reaching out to you on their own and including you in things and in ways you never expected.

Make it your goal to bring good cheer to everyone. You’ll be surprised how much it does for you.

The post Inspiration from Galileo, John McWhorter, Robert Louis Stevenson, and More appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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5 Side Hustles That Helped Me Earn $100,000 in 5 Years

I was 25 years old. I had no savings, I had $18,000 in student loan debt, and I was earning just $33,000 a year in an expensive city. This was not how I pictured my life.

With a 3.7 GPA earning a Bachelor’s in Finance, shouldn’t I have been earning at least $70,000 at a prestigious bank somewhere? My millennial mindset was soon corrected when my first job involved proofing prices in catalogs — something I felt a chimp could do.

After just a few months of this mind-numbing job, I realized something had to give. I wanted out. I wanted something better. When all you can afford at the end of the day is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, it’s a pretty clear sign you’re doing something wrong.

I needed more money, but I didn’t have the corporate experience to land a decent job (whoever decided that an entry-level position requires three years of experience… I have a bone to pick with you).

That’s when I decided to find a whole other avenue of income: side hustles. And I’ve never looked back.

1. Blogging

I knew that starting a website wasn’t going to make me much money initially, but I figured it was worth a try for a few months or so. Since at the time I was wasting my personal finance knowledge  on catalog proofing, I decided to start a personal finance blog called Life And My Finances.

In the first six months, I made a whopping $5. Literally pennies a day.

It was demoralizing. I knew other bloggers out there were raking in thousands of dollars a month, and my earnings were bupkis. Any sane person would have quit… but I’m sure glad I didn’t.

Over the course of the next six months, I continued writing and honing my craft — and earned more than $10,000. Since then, I’ve earned at least $1,000 a month.

How to try it for yourself:

• To start your own blog, you’ll first need to sign up with a hosting company. Don’t get scared off! This isn’t as hard as it seems.

• Be sure to choose a topic you find interesting, since you’ll likely write for many months without pay.

• Choose a topic that will actually earn you money. Some of the top-earning blogs out there relate to:
  • Money
  • DIY projects
  • Health and fitness
  • Mommy wisdom

2. Freelance Writing

While my blog was sucking wind for those first six months, I quickly discovered I could generate traffic to my site and get paid for writing articles for other well-known sites.

At first, I had to offer my services for free. Then, once I built up a portfolio of articles on other sites, I could use these as fuel in my pitch for getting paid.

On average, I earned $25 per article (roughly 3 cents a word), which helped me bring home a few thousand bucks a year. Today, it’s not uncommon to earn $50 per article once you become a little more seasoned.

How to try it for yourself:

• Start by building a long list of well-known blogs (I use the Alexa Toolbar to quickly identify popular pages — the lower the number, the better). Note their web address, the owners’ names and their email addresses. No idea where to start? Here’s a list of sites that pay $50 per article, sorted by topic.

• Go through the list from top to bottom. Let them know you’re a new blogger who’d love to write a post for their site. Pitch them three or four relevant article ideas.

• If they’re interested, write the best article of your life. This way they won’t hesitate to pay you and you’ll likely get tons of visitors to your site from the post.

3. Managing and Selling Display Advertising

In the good ol’ days (before my site was even any good), companies would offer to pay me $500 per year to display a simple ad in my site’s sidebar. I got five or six of these offers each month.

Money was good and life was easy. But, of course, that gravy train couldn’t last forever…

Today, ads are more difficult to come by and almost all blog owners need to rely on advertising agents, ranging from private individuals to larger entities like Link Vehicle, to send profitable deals their way.

At the three-year mark or so, I had a pretty solid list of advertising companies that wanted me to connect them with other bloggers.

It was a simple operation. I emailed my blogger buddies and told them I could help them make money. They’d keep 80% of the deal and I’d keep the other 20%.

Absolutely no one scoffed at this, and I suddenly became an advertising manager, earning roughly $2,000 a year with very little effort.

How to try it for yourself:

• Get established and start making money through your site.

• Keep a thorough list of companies that contact you about advertising.

• Once you develop a list of 100 companies or more, start reaching out to other websites with ad deals for them to consider. Take your cut and start earning money!

4. Building and Selling Websites

Once you go through the pains of building your first website, doing it a second time is no big deal. Not only can you build it faster, but you can also build it better.

Almost immediately after I discovered that blogging could be insanely profitable, I started blog No. 2 and blog No. 3.

Each of these sites earned me an additional $500 a month for about a year, and then I sold them for $1,500 apiece when I wanted to move onto other things. It was a pretty easy way to earn an additional $10,000 on the side.

How to try it for yourself:

• Build a .com site (these are taken way more seriously than .me, .biz, or even .net). Choose a name that clearly defines the site. If your site will be about passive income, put that in the name and URL!

• Develop traffic to the site. With traffic comes income.

• Don’t sell your site on a website-selling page. Sell it to a fellow blogger. It will be far simpler, and you’ll earn more. Not sure how to do this? The trick is to start the friendship long before you want to sell a website. Comment on their site often, email them and praise them for their work. Don’t be disingenuous. Just be yourself!

5. Manual and Skilled Labor

You don’t have to be a writer or online whiz to make money. Another side hustle I worked involved simple manual labor. You just need to know where to look and how to get started.

When I was knocking out my debt, I came up with the business idea of an eco-friendly mowing service. This was basically me sweating my butt off while pushing around my reel mower (think 1950’s mowing).

I didn’t gain a ton of clients — in fact, one of them was my nephew… and another was my sister and her husband (talk about eating some humble pie) — but I still earned $25 an hour for each yard. Over the course of the summer, I pocketed a few hundred bucks.

If you’re interested in making thousands of dollars, look into businesses like:

• Painting (interior or exterior)

• Car repair

• House cleaning

• Moving services

How to try it for yourself:

• Write down five solid skills

• Rank them from high to low in terms of potential profits

• Start spreading the word about your services through friends and family

Farewell, Debt. Hello, New Side Hustle!

Over the course of five years, I earned more than $100,000 with these side hustles. This income helped me pay off $18,000 in student debt and my entire mortgage.

Today, my wife and I live quite frugally and use the side income for real-estate investments.

But this isn’t about me — it’s about how working hard on the side can help you earn money to reach your own financial goals. What side hustle will you try?

Your Turn: How do you make money on the side? What side gigs have you tried?

This is a guest post from Derek Sall, an ordinary guy that stumbled into the extreme possibilities of side hustles. You can follow his journey at LifeAndMyFinances.com.

The post 5 Side Hustles That Helped Me Earn $100,000 in 5 Years appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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Township plans for revitalization

Smithfield Township has hired professionals to help shape the Marshalls Creek of tomorrow. Thomas Comitta Associates, Inc. (TCA) will help Smithfield draft a plan to revitalize the Business Route 209 corridor.Township officials hope a master plan would facilitate the kind of large projects that could feed the surrounding areas.“The concept is to concentrate on a couple areas initially,” said Smithfield Supervisor Brian Barrett on Friday. “The first is [...]

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You Don’t Have to Save a Ton of Money to Retire Rich — If You Start Young

Man, I blew it.

As I turn 30, I’m just starting to think about retirement.

I mean, during my freewheelin,’ travel-happy 20s, was I really supposed to think about what to do when I turned 65?

Apparently, yes. If I had, I could be sitting pretty right now. All thanks to the power of compound interest…

Which my dad definitely tried to tell me about in high school, but I was more interested in who Britney Spears was dating and how many different things I could make with a pack of ramen (the answers: K-Fed, and lots).

So if you know any about-to-be college grads, you should probably share my recent discoveries with them.

If they start now, it’s crazy how little they’ll need to save if they want to have enough money for retirement.

When Should You Start Saving for Retirement?

If you know me, you know I stopped understanding math somewhere around sixth grade.

Thankfully, there are retirement calculators to do the math for you.

I decided to go with SmartAsset’s Retirement Calculator, which accounts for taxes and inflation.

Here’s what I plugged in:

Location: Burlington, Vermont (#lifegoals)

Annual salary: $36,000 (the average starting salary for liberal arts majors)

Annual retirement expenses: $25,200 (70% of your income)

Retirement age: 65

Rate of return: 7% (fairly typical in retirement calculations)

Inflation rate: 2%

The answer?

If you start saving when you’re 21, you only need to save $100 per month, or $25 per week to have enough in retirement.

You might be thinking you’ll need more to live on than $25,200 per year — but keep in mind you’ll likely have paid off your mortgage and car by then, and you’re probably going to make more than $36,000 at the peak of your career, so your social security benefits will be greater.

This figure also doesn’t account for any employer-sponsored retirement plans. If your company offers one, definitely take advantage of it!

Retirement calculators can’t predict the future, and these numbers certainly don’t apply to everyone. They’re just estimates to inspire you to start saving now.

Because here’s the thing: If you save just $3.57 per day, you’ll be pretty solid in old age.

Since you’re never going to do this on your own — unless you’re some magical being with a wealth (ha) of self-control — I have one piece of advice: AUTOMATE IT.

Open a Roth IRA and set up an automatic transfer from your checking account each week. $25 every Monday. It’s not that hard.

I set up an automatic transfer (for a whole lot more, ‘cuz I’m old) last year; it’s the only way I’ve finally begun contributing.

So, please, learn from my mistakes — do this, and do it now!

If you want to run your own numbers (fair warning: it’s slightly terrifying), just plug them into the calculator above.

Your Turn: Do you know anybody who’s about to graduate college? Share this with them!

Disclosure: You wouldn’t believe how much coffee The Penny Hoarder team goes through. This post contains affiliate links so we can keep the grinds stocked!

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.

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If You Want to Break Your Binge-Watching Habit, Don’t Get This HBO Deal

We all have that one show we’ve been meaning to binge-watch… and this offer for Amazon Prime members makes it easier to catch up on HBO shows this holiday season.

Existing Amazon Prime members can start a 30-day HBO trial absolutely free. Access to HBO is available through Amazon Channels, which you can stream through your browser or the Amazon Video app.

When you click to start your subscription, you’ll visit a page where you confirm your account details — email, payment method and billing address — before you start your free trial.

What Happens to Your HBO Access After 30 Days?

HBO will automatically charge your card at the end of the trial period if you don’t manually cancel your subscription on your video subscriptions page.

After the trial is over, HBO costs you $14.99 per month.

I can’t decide what to watch first: “Westworld,” “The Night Of,” or the last season of “Girls.”

And I didn’t even think of all the movies available via HBO, like “The Martian,” or classics like “Home Alone.”

The holidays sound like the perfect time for a movie night at home, right?

Whether you watch something with your family or while you’re hiding from them in your childhood bedroom is up to you.

Your Turn: What will you watch with your free Amazon Prime HBO trial?

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

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This App is Actually Going to Pay Me for Staying Active This Winter

Earn $12/Hour to Advocate for Issues You Care About While Working From Home

Want to get paid to work on issues you care about?

NextWave Advocacy is hiring work-from-home political grassroots outreach representatives for telephone outreach on a variety of legislation and policies.

NextWave is a bipartisan firm located near Washington, D.C., that works with companies, trade associations and advocacy groups to educate and mobilize citizens throughout the policymaking process.

Specific legislation is confidential, but a representative from the recruitment team told TPH, “We have worked on projects such as transportation and energy, education, and pharmaceutical work.”

You’ll have the flexibility to select which projects you work on and set your schedule.

This is a work-from-home position with 20 hours a week or more. Pay is $12 per hour. It’s a great fit for college students or stay-at-home parents who want to earn extra money with a flexible schedule.

You won’t do any sales or fundraising in this position. As a caller, you would:

• Inform citizens about a political issue and identify a client’s supporters.

• Educate advocates about the policymaking process and how they can make a difference.

• Assist individuals in expressing their views in a letter and in the mail to federal, state or local officials.

• Capture compelling human interest stories from real people from all parts of the country.

• Offer opportunities to get further involved in current and future grassroots campaigns.

You can also take the three-part writing assessment any time to get paid to write letters and other communications to legislators, but the company isn’t actively recruiting writers right now.

The company works on projects year-round — this isn’t temporary work — but projects ebb and flow with politics.

“We are actively recruiting for political grassroots outreach representatives right now in anticipation for the Trump administration,” NextWave said.

To apply for this position, you should:

• Have excellent written and spoken English.

• Be “pleasant, upbeat and professional” on the phone.

• Have an interest in policy issues and a general knowledge of the legislative process.

• Prior experience in telephone-based work is helpful but not required.

To apply: Fill out the application online here.

Want to be the first to know about other fun and interesting jobs like this? Like The Penny Hoarder Jobs on Facebook to stay in the loop!

Your Turn: Have you found any interesting work-from-home jobs lately?

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).

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American Express Rewards Members: Get a Free $25 to Spend on Amazon

If you’re a member of American Express Membership Rewards, the ability to spend your points on Amazon isn’t new.

For every one point you redeem, you get 1 cent off your purchase. Which isn’t much, really.

But for a limited time, you can get $25 off your next Amazon purchase of $50 or more.

This is a targeted promotion, so it won’t apply to everyone, but it’s definitely worth checking if it can help you cross off your holiday shopping list for less!

Find Out If You’re Eligible for This Awesome AmEx Amazon Deal

Make sure your AmEx card is eligible for American Express Membership Rewards, and that you’re enrolled. Then, follow these super easy steps.

1. Link your American Express card to your Amazon account.

It’s not as hard as it sounds; Amazon walks you through the process. If you’re still confused, there’s a whole list of frequently asked questions to scroll through.

2. Shop, shop, shop!

Fill up your shopping cart with at least $50 of goods sold by Amazon.com, not a private dealer.

If you’re not sure what to get, you can always opt for a $50 gift card.

3. Check out.

Once you get to the payment page, select your AMEX membership rewards cards, then enter the number of points you’d like to put toward your purchase.

You only need to put in one point for the promotion to apply, which is what Jennifer at Deals We Like recommends.

When you get to the checkout page, use the promo code AMEX16EVER. If you’re not part of the targeted promotion, you’ll get a message letting you know you’re inelgible.

But if it works, you’ll see a $25 discount on your order.

Our director of media relations, Lizabeth Cole, tried the deal with her American Express rewards card. She was stoked it applied and says she’ll likely use it toward Legos.

What to Do If You’re Not Eligible

Don’t give up just yet.

Jennifer at Deals We Like recommends asking Amazon’s customer service about the offer, and she explains exactly how to do so (just make sure to use the right promo code for this offer).

If you’re lucky, a nice agent just might apply the deal to your card!

Your Turn: What are you adding to your shopping cart?

Carson Kohler (@CarsonKohler) is a junior writer at The Penny Hoarder. After recently completing graduate school, she focuses on saving money — and surviving the move back in with her parents.

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How Important is Money to Marriage? Apparently Not as Important as This

What’s the key to a successful marriage?

My parents have stuck together for 27 years, so I text my mom the question.

Her response: “Trust! Laughter! Compromise! Spending time together! Good conversation! Support! Emotional support!” (Yes, all of those exclamation points are necessary, apparently.)

Some would perhaps add that “spark” (which I refuse to discuss with my mother) and maybe even God — or similar religious beliefs. I’d add similar political views because after this election… yikes. Conscientiousness is also a good one.

And an adequate income would be nice, right?

What People Say is the Key to a Good Marriage

What about just helping out around the house?

My mom has always been the stay-at-home type, so she cleaned the house, did laundry, put food on the table, maintained our yard… and more.

I swear the most my parents argued about when I was growing up (to my knowledge, at least) is housework. And apparently, they aren’t the only ones.

A recent Pew Research report illuminated the trend: “More than half of married U.S. adults (56%) — both with and without children — say sharing household chores is ‘very important’ to a successful marriage.”

This might not seem surprising, but it is when you consider what the Pew study shows is not as important:

• Adequate income
• Shared religious beliefs
• Having children
• Agreement about politics.

While 46% of Americans say, yes, you need to bring home some bacon (not literally, but that would be nice, too), 61% say it’s more important to share household chores.

In fact, chores rank right up alongside “satisfying sexual relationship” at 63% and “having shared interests” at 66%.

What do I conclude from this? For all you singles: Update your Tinder profile to include, “Interested in those who do housework, cook, etc.” Delete “Looking for a wealthy banker, lawyer, etc.” But be sure to ask the important financial questions.

And for all you married folks: Perhaps worry less about your bank account and more about the dust bunnies rolling through your house.

Your Turn: Do you agree? Is doing chores more important than providing a sturdy income?

Carson Kohler (@CarsonKohler) is a junior writer at The Penny Hoarder. After recently completing graduate school, she focuses on saving money — and surviving the move back in with her parents. She prefers doing laundry instead of dishes.

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If Your iPhone 6s Turns Off for No Reason, Apple Might Fix It for Free

As if cell phones weren’t grouchy enough lately (I’m looking at you, Samsung Galaxy Note 7), they seem to be throwing users for yet another loop.

Recently, some iPhone 6s owners have reported their phones shut down for no apparent reason, which would definitely be annoying if it happened while you were trying to take a selfie. Seriously, good lighting is hard to come by. You usually only get one chance for that perfect shot.

Has your iPhone 6s shut down unexpectedly? If so, you might be eligible for a free battery replacement.

Here’s how to check.

Head to Apple’s Website

Apple’s statement explains that the bug only affects “a very small number” of devices and is not a safety issue (a.k.a, it won’t explode or catch fire).

Only devices manufactured between September and October 2015 with a limited serial number range were impacted.

Not sure when your phone was made? Just head here on Apple’s website and enter your serial number to find out if your phone is eligible.

And yes, for those of us who aren’t so tech-savvy, the website walks you through step-by-step directions to find your serial number.

If your phone is affected, all you’ll have to do is head to an authorized Apple service provider or retail store, or contact Apple Technical Support, to have your battery replaced for free.

Sounds to me like we can all return to uninterrupted selfie sessions soon!

Your Turn: Does your iPhone 6s turn off unexpectedly? Are you eligible for a free battery replacement?

Kelly Smith is a junior writer and engagement specialist at The Penny Hoarder and a senior at The University of Tampa. Her phone hasn’t exploded or randomly shut off, so she’s good.

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Happy National Cookie Day! Here are 7 Places to Get Free and Cheap Cookies

Hey, you! Yeah, you. Ready for the best news of your day?

Unless someone is proposing to you tonight, or that meeting with your boss is about you finally getting a raise, here it is:

This Sunday is National Cookie Day!

That’s right. This Sunday, Dec. 4, is National Cookie Day.

That means free cookies!

Wanna score your free sugar fix? Here’s where you can get ‘em while they’re hot (or take them home and microwave them).

1. Great American Cookies

While last year every Great American Cookies was offering free regular chocolate chip cookies, this year it’s by location only, so be sure to contact the one closest to you before heading in.

Not sure where that might be?

Enter your ZIP code or city on the company’s website to find the location nearest you.

2. Insomnia Cookies

College students, rejoice — your favorite late-night indulgence will get you a free traditional cookie this Sunday!

That’s right, you get to choose between M&M, sugar, double chocolate chunk, double chocolate mint cookies and many more for this sweet freebie.

Make any purchase in-store or online to get your freebie — delivery minimums still stand, though.

3. Whole Foods

It’s not quite free — but what did you expect from this Gucci-level grocer?

Grab a 25-cent chocolate chip cookie when you drop by Whole Foods to grab your quinoa and ground bison through Dec. 6.

4. Schlotzsky’s Deli:

The delicious deli will give away free cookies and do some good for our service members and their families.

Stop by a Schlotzsky’s Deli on Dec. 4 and grab your free small cookie with any purchase. If you can’t make it in, you can also tweet a cookie emoji to @Schlotzskys to receive a free cookie coupon via the company’s reward app, Lotz4Me. Just make sure you download it and make an account to redeem your free cookie!

Additionally, the company will give out 1,000 free cookies at United Service Organizations airport centers in the following cities: Phoenix, Denver, Houston, Atlanta and San Antonio.

If you’re already a Lotz4Me rewards member, you can also receive a free small sandwich if you try all four of Schlotzsky’s Big “S” cookie flavors in the month of December.

5. Pei Wei

When you think of Asian food, you don’t typically think of chocolate chunk cookies, but Pei Wei’s got ‘em and it wants to give you one for free on Sunday.

All you have to do is order a small or regular entree, or a kid’s meal, and Pei Wei will satisfy your cookie craving.

6. Hot Box Cookies — Columbia, MO; St. Louis, MO; Lawrence, KS

Hot Box ups the ante by giving away two free chocolate chippers on Sunday from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Just follow one of its social channels: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat. Then, just craft a post — no particular topic necessary, according to the Hot Box Cookies Facebook page — and tag the company in it to get your freebie.

7. ROCS Local Markets and Subways

If you live near one of these West Virginia-based convenience stores, snag a free cookie on the day after National Cookie Day, Dec. 5, all day long — but only if you prove you’re really in the holiday spirit.

You’ll have to sing a slightly altered version of “Jingle Bells” at the register. Cookies are totally worth the slight embarrassment, though, right?

Your Turn: Which of these free cookies will you gobble up on Sunday? Are there deals any we missed? Let us know in the comments!

Jamie Cattanach is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. Her writing has also been featured at The Write Life, Word Riot, Nashville Review and elsewhere. Find @JamieCattanach on Twitter to wave hello.

Kelly Smith is a junior writer and engagement specialist at The Penny Hoarder and a senior at The University of Tampa. She contributed to this post.

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Photo Essay: This Deserving Grandmother Won a Spa Day — and Our Hearts