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الخميس، 2 نوفمبر 2017

Political fight brews between Pa. towns, wireless firms over 5G antennas

Wireless carriers are pushing controversial legislation in Harrisburg that would give them nearly unfettered access to telephone poles, streetlights and publicly owned rights-of-way across Pennsylvania as they wire out cellphone dead zones and prepare for next-generation 5G services.The bill is part of a national trend by telecom carriers to make it easier to boost capacity on wireless networks for data-hungry smart phones. At the same time, many local officials are livid about the [...]

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Need Fast Money? Make $266 in 30 Minutes (Without Even Leaving Home)

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8 National Sandwich Day Deals to Honor the Most Genius Food Creation Ever

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Bruegger’s Tempts Caffeine Addicts Everywhere With Unlimited Coffee in 2018

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This Carrabba’s Deal Indulges Your Italian Food Cravings Today and Tomorrow

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Are Jean Chatzky’s Retirement Savings Benchmarks Realistic?

“Today Show” financial editor Jean Chatzky tweeted on Wednesday what appeared to be a simple bit of retirement planning advice. “By the time you’re 30, aim to have 1x your annual income set aside for retirement,” she tweeted. “At 40, 3x; at 50, 6x; at 60, 8x; and by retirement, 10x.”

However, Twitter clawed back with snark, sarcasm, and outright disbelief.

“Are you aware how irrelevant this advice is for actual 30-year-olds up to their ears in student debt?” tweeted Jillian C. York.

“Please post the access codes for the portal to this reality of yours,” quipped Owen Southwood.

“To be fair, at 30 I’ve saved my annual salary from when I was 20 so that’s great,” joked Todd Gregory — who added that, at 20, he was a sophomore in college working part-time and racking up student loan debt.

Chatzky later acknowledged that those savings benchmarks – which were actually developed and recommended by retirement giant Fidelity – might seem high, or even unattainable, to most Americans, but that the whole point was to aim for them.

“Seeing your many reactions to the benchmarks,” she tweeted. “I get it. They’re outrageous in an era when many can’t save at all. The point is to aim. And to start saving something — whatever you can — as soon as you can.”

So, are those benchmarks unreasonable? Let’s take a look.

The average salary for Americans age 25 to 34 is roughly $39,000, so let’s use that as the “Age 30” savings benchmark. If someone saved 10% of a $35,000 salary for eight years starting at age 22, they’d have $38,824 saved up by age 30, assuming an average 7% growth (using Bankrate’s compound savings calculator).

That’s pretty darned close to the benchmark.

The trouble, of course, is that 10% can be really, really tough to come by in your 20s. Student loan payments might be siphoning hundreds of dollars a month from your bank account, and the cost of housing — particularly in big, booming cities, where you may need to locate yourself to take advantage of job opportunities in your fledgling career — commands an ever more unhealthy share of people’s incomes.

How about reaching three times your salary by age 40? The average salary for Americans age 35 to 44 is about $49,400; three times that is roughly $148,000. (Yikes. I’m 41 and, even after a raging stock market the past few years, I definitely don’t have $148,000 laying around. I guess I’m more of a 30-year-old at heart?)

If our example worker above started their 30s with $38,824 in their 401(k), and kept contributing 10% of their income to retirement — let’s say they averaged $45,000 a year throughout their 30s, socking away an average of $4,500 a year — would they hit the benchmark?

Just about — they’d be up to $145,417. Still, that’s someone who’s done literally everything right and dodged many misfortunes. They’ve worked 18 straight years without ever getting laid off or laid up with a disability, and they’re still a few thousand short of Chatzky’s Age 40 benchmark.

And what about someone who spent their 20s struggling to get their career off the ground, or paying down student loans — or simply having too much fun to think about the future?

Starting from $0 at age 30, that same worker would need to save $9,900 per year to reach $148,000 by age 40 — or roughly 20% of their salary.

The Catch 22 is this: Your 20s and 30s are perhaps the most important, powerful years for your retirement savings strategy. Every dollar you save then has decades longer to grow and create more long-term wealth for you. But it’s also the time in our lives when retirement seems the most abstract, a far-off impossibility, and often when we can least afford to put money aside.

Related: What to Do When Saving Anything Meaningful for Retirement Seems Impossible

Still, don’t freak out if your savings are nowhere near those numbers. Fidelity developed these benchmarks as a very basic rule of thumb — that won’t apply to everyone — making these assumptions: “You start saving a total of 15% of your income every year starting at age 25, invest more than 50% of your savings in stocks on average over your lifetime, retire at age 67, and plan to maintain your preretirement lifestyle.”

The benchmarks are to be considered “milestones along the way,” said Adheesh Sharma, director of financial solutions for Fidelity Strategic Advisers. “And don’t worry if you are not always on track. The later milestones are the most important, and there are things you can do along the way to catch up. Of course, the earlier you take action the better.”

The later milestones may be more important, but they’re also even harder to hit. People tend to earn more in their 40s and 50s, as they climb the career ladder, so having saved six times your salary at age 50 is more than many of us may ever imagine.

Responding to a Twitter user who was pushing 50 and saw no possibility of hitting the milestone, Chatzky offered equal parts solace and motivation: “I know. But at 50, you’ve still got 15ish good working years to save. If you’re way off consider big changes – not latte, but lifestyle.”

I know. But at 50, you’ve still got 15ish good working years to save. If you’re way off consider big changes – not latte, but lifestyle https://t.co/M3ukU4dpnw

— Jean Chatzky (@JeanChatzky) November 2, 2017

By age 50, she’s saying, simply cutting back on your morning coffee shop run may not cut it anymore, and more drastic lifestyle changes might be in order — like downsizing your home, getting rid of a car, and cutting cable, among other big behavioral shifts.

Pour Some Ketchup on Your Retirement Savings

If you don’t feel like you’re on track with your retirement savings goals, here are some ways to play catch up:

Max your match: Make sure you’re getting every cent of any employer match available to you. This is free money your company is offering, and it can help you bump up your savings rate — from, say, 6% to 9% — almost painlessly. And yet, 30% of workers under 30 continue to leave at least some of this money on the table, missing out on billions of dollars each year.

Automate your retirement savings: Don’t just save “what’s leftover” at the end of the month, because most of us will find a way to spend money sitting in our bank accounts. Pay yourself first — your retired self, that is — by deciding what you should be contributing to retirement and having it automatically deducted from your paycheck or bank account before you even see the money.

Learn to live on less: Saving more of your salary is an obvious way to accelerate your retirement savings, and both IRAs and 401(k) plans allow you to contribute more after age 50. But it carries another benefit: Learning to live on less of your income can lower the savings benchmark you need to hit, as it prepares you to live a leaner life in retirement. If you can save 30% of your income in your 50s and 60s and still get by, then you’ll only need to replace 70% of your salary in retirement to maintain the same lifestyle you’re accustomed to.

Related: How to Retire Quickly

Everyone’s Retirement Is Different

The fact of the matter is, it’s simply impossible to distill useful retirement advice into 140 characters on Twitter. Everyone has different expectations for retirement, different savings capabilities, and different career paths, family obligations, and priorities along the way. And many retirees simply do what humans do best: adapt to new conditions and make it work, regardless of how much they’ve saved.

Yet it’s clear that too many Americans are under-prepared for retirement, and your nest egg isn’t going to build itself. So start with what you can, as soon as you can, and work up from there.

Related Reading:

So what do you think: Are Jean Chatzky’s benchmarks attainable? No matter what your retirement savings goal is, do you think it’s helpful to have milestones to aim for along the way?

The post Are Jean Chatzky’s Retirement Savings Benchmarks Realistic? appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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20 Ways to Invest $100

The Danger in Comparing Your Financial Progress to Others (and What to Do Instead)

Sometimes, I’ll get a message or an email from a reader that starts off like this…

Hi Trent! Love your site! I have a financial problem that I hope you can help me with. I’m 33, my wife is 30. We have a combined income of $300K. We own a home worth $700K and have about $1.5M in stocks and cash.

Right off the bat, I can’t help but compare myself to that story. Sarah and I are both a bit older than that. Our combined income is substantially lower than that, and we don’t have that level of net worth, either.

Are we failures by comparison?

Don’t get me wrong, I relish getting messages from everyone, regardless of their financial state. Everyone has financial struggles, regardless of their income level or how diligently they save. We’re all trying to improve our own situation. I know that I do so when I’m thinking about and writing an article for the site. I’m sure that you’re thinking about the same when you’re reading an article on the site – if not, why are you here?

That doesn’t change the fact that, sometimes, I have my own personal reactions to the stories I hear. Quite often, they make me reflect on my own life. What would I do if I were in that situation? What can I learn from that situation about my own life?

And, yes, sometimes, I can’t help but compare my own situation to theirs.

When I read a story in which the person sharing it has seen a great deal of success, even if they happen to be struggling in the moment, I still can’t help but wonder whether I’m doing things right.

The thing is, we all make those kinds of comparisons sometimes. We look at the lives of the people around us and compare ourselves in certain ways. Is our house as beautiful as our friend’s house on Drury Lane? Are our kids as polite and well-mannered as the children of other people seem to be?

It gets even worse when we go online and can read the stories that others share of their own lives. If you see a tale of someone who earns three times as much as you do in a given year and has ten times the net worth, it’s pretty easy to fall into a pit of self-doubt.

Am I a failure by comparison?

Now, sometimes, comparisons like this can drive us to improve ourselves and improve our outcomes, and that can be a very good thing. However, just as often, such comparisons lead us into areas of very negative personal reflection, often pushing us to simply give up on our progress or make poor emotionally-based decisions in the heat of the moment.

For example, if I’m feeling outpaced by a neighbor, I might buy something just to make myself feel “equal” for a moment, even if, in truth, that might put me even further behind.

If you ever find yourself feeling jealous or envious, I find that there are two really useful strategies to nip those feelings in the bud.

First, remember that true costs and sacrifices are hidden. While you might see a person’s financial success, you don’t see the endless years of studying and preparation. You don’t see the late nights of work. You don’t see the strain on personal relationships. You don’t see the debt load that’s being carried. You don’t see any of that.

Instead, all you see is the expensive house that they’re living in, and you transpose that onto your own life, where perhaps you’re not facing most of those burdens.

Take us, for example. We don’t have a huge debt load hanging over our heads. We have a solid marriage. We have careers that offer great flexibility, even if they don’t offer world-breaking pay.

So, when we see someone with a home like we’ve always dreamed of, we still tend to transpose that home into our own lives. Why can’t we have that home? Maybe we can have that home… (which, of course, leads to a path of bad financial choices).

Another factor worth nothing is that people don’t always tell the full truth, especially when anonymous and online. People tell false stories about themselves and their financial state all the time online. I’m fairly confident that at least a few mailbag questions over the years have come from readers mis-stating their own financial situation. If you go on various personal finance message boards and sites, you’ll see a lot of borderline unbelievable stories (and some that are outright unbelievable). That’s because a lot of them are completely fake.

If you buy into those stories as real and use them for any kind of personal comparison, you’re making a rather big mistake. You’re comparing your own life to a work of fiction, to something that may not even exist. Such a comparison is a huge mistake.

You should not be comparing your actual financial state to mine, or to anyone else, online or off. It’s not a healthy or fair comparison.

Still, many people desire some sort of comparison, just to know if they’re doing well or if they’re keeping up with a reasonable pace. What can you use to compare your own financial progress? Here are some suggestions along those lines.

Use Your Past as the First Point of Comparison

The most valuable point of comparison you have is yourself. Comparing your current financial state to your financial state in the past – a year ago, five years ago, and so on – is the single best way to make sure that you’re on a strong financial path.

The simple question of whether you’re better off than you were a year ago or five years ago cuts through almost all of the challenges described above. It eliminates the issue of lying and other forms of falsehood. It eliminates the issue of hidden elements that you don’t see. It eliminates almost all of the differences between you and what you’re comparing yourself to, with the only difference being your life changes over the last year or two.

Having said that, it can be pretty difficult to accurately estimate your financial state even a year ago, let alone five years ago, if you haven’t been keeping track of it.

So, my immediate suggestion is to make your best estimate of your state from a year ago. Estimate your debt balances and the value of your assets and your checking and savings and credit card balances. Add up the value of all of your assets – your checking and savings and investments and the value of your major possessions – and subtract the value of all of your debts. That’s your approximate net worth from a year ago. Then, use real numbers to do the same thing for today, getting your net worth now. Compare the two. Ideally, your net worth is higher today than it was a year ago, which is proof positive that you’re moving in a good financial direction.

Of course, now that you have a real number, you should save it for future comparisons. Stow it away for a comparison you’ll want to make three months from now or a year from now or five years from now.

Personally, I find value in this type of net worth comparison, but I do it in a different way. I’m not so much interested in the fact that my net worth is going up, but that the rate at which it’s going up is also increasing.

For example, let’s say my net worth is at $100,000 in 2015 and then $120,000 in 2016. That means it increased by $20,000 in a year. Since I want the rate of change to be increasing, that means I am looking for a net worth above $140,000 by the end of 2017, because that means the rate of change is above $20,000, which is more than the change between 2015 and 2016. In other words, I believe that with more experience, increases in wages, and more money invested, my net worth performance should accelerate.

In truth, I trust my own past as a financial benchmark more than anything else. It encapsulates my own reality. No other measuring stick actually accounts for the ins and outs of my own situation, so I use it as a clear litmus test as to whether I’m really putting in the effort to keep my financial progress moving forward. The numbers don’t lie.

Use Standard Benchmarks Rather Than Stories

What if you want more than just your own history as a benchmark? Another approach is to find a standard formula or benchmark that will quickly indicate to you whether or not you’re keeping financial pace.

One very popular financial benchmark is the wealth accumulation benchmark from The Millionaire Next Door. That book offers up a formula for what your net worth should be based on your age and your annual pre-tax income:

Target Net Worth = Age * Annual Pre-Tax Income / 10

So, let’s say I’m 40 years old and make $100,000 a year. My target net worth with this formula would be 40 * $100,000 / 10, or $400,000.

I actually don’t like this formula very well, as I think it’s unfair to younger folks. Let’s say you’re 22 years old, fresh out of college with student loans, but making $80,000 a year at your brand new engineering job. That formula says that your net worth should be 22 * $80,000 / 10, or $176,000. I’m sorry, but that number’s not realistic. So, I proposed a modified form of that equation that accounts for that post-college deficit:

Target Net Worth = (Age – 27) X Annual Pre-Tax Income / 5

With that equation, our 22 year old friend above would have an estimated net worth of -$80,000, which sounds about right for someone exiting school with a healthy debt load. On the other hand, our 40 year old example above would be expected to have a net worth of $260,000.

There are countless “retirement calculators” out there that will essentially interview you, asking things like your age, your income, and so on, and estimate where you should be in terms of net worth and saving for retirement. All of these are based on a standard model of where people should be with regards to their goals. In general, I don’t put a whole lot of stock into the calculators from financial firms which almost always indicate that you should have more saved than most people realistically can or even should at their age (because the calculator is trying to encourage you to start saving more because that’s how investment firms make money), but some of the more impartial ones can be worthwhile. Of the ones I’ve tested, I found the Fidelity calculator to be the best.

Use Online Stories and Stories in Your Community As Fuel for Improved Behavior, Not Comparisons

Rather than using the financial stories you read online as a tool for comparison (and, often, as a tool to feel frustrated and unprepared), instead use those stories as inspiration and motivation. If some other person who is posting on that website is doing that well, then you can do it, too!

In general, don’t sweat trying to compete with others in terms of income, but instead focus on trying to match their investment efficiency. In other words, if someone is making $200,000 a year and has a $400,000 net worth, you should be inspired to try to get to a net worth that’s equal to double your income. If someone is making $100,000 a year and socking away $20,000 in retirement, don’t try to hit $20,000 a year – instead, try to focus on saving 20% of your income.

Remember, it’s the ratios that really matter in terms of building long term wealth. If you’re going to take a story at its word, focus on the ratios. (What if you find the ratios completely impossible to achieve? Remember, online stories sometimes aren’t fully true.)

The good thing about focusing on a ratio is that it moves the entire question of how to achieve that ratio to you and your behavior and your situation. What can you do, in your situation, to achieve a 20% savings rate? A 30% savings rate? It no longer has anything to do with the dollars and cents of that other person. It’s about a ratio, and that ratio can become very personal.

When something becomes truly personal, then it becomes about your behavior and your choices going forward, which is where the real power in motivating yourself comes from. Motivation should push you to make personal change, not to feel jealous of what others have.

Focus on Being Thankful for the Things You Do Have

A final key element of the puzzle is to simply be thankful for what you do have in life. Almost all of us have some good things in life and some bad things in life. We have some things that have helped us to have joyful moments and achieve success, and we’ve had things that hold us back.

Rather than focusing on those things that have held us back and rather than feeling envious of the advantages that others have, bring the focus to the good things that you have in life, whatever they might specifically be.

I don’t have a giant income, but what I do have is a very flexible working schedule that enables me to be with my family any time I need to be (and pretty much any time I want to be). That’s something I’m thankful for.

I might not have the house I have always dreamed of having, but we have no debts and we don’t have a whole lot of stress in our lives. That’s something I’m thankful for.

All the people I care about most are at least reasonably healthy. Any long term health issues are well under control. They aren’t interfering in our day to day lives.

So, do I waste my time looking at the things I don’t have? I don’t have that huge income or that nice house. I could dwell on that. I could constantly feel jealous of those that do have those things.

Or, I could simply focus on what I do have – a great family, a career I love, a nice circle of trusted friends. I’m part of several groups and communities that value me. Those things are where the value in my life is right now.

There are always going to be things that you want and don’t have. If you spend your time dwelling on them, it’s going to be discouraging. You’re going to find negative feelings, those negative feelings are going to fester, and they’re likely to drive you toward emotion-based poor choices.

Instead, consciously focus on the positive things in your life. What do you have that not everyone else has? What have you built in your life? What gifts do you have in your life?

Look around. Be creative. Virtually everyone has a lot of advantages and blessings in their lives.

Find them. Consider them. Write them down, and do it regularly. Keep them in mind. Knowing the advantages and blessings you have – and being grateful for them – gets rid of much of the emotional negativity that comes from comparing yourself to others.

Final Thoughts

We all make comparisons with others. Sometimes, they can be useful, like when they give us positive ideas for ourselves or motivate us toward self-improvement. Sometimes, however, those comparisons can be destructive, especially when they lead us toward feeling bad about ourselves and hopeless regarding our future path.

The key to keeping comparisons to others in a healthy place is to focus not so much at their pure results, but at the transformation they made in themselves, while also understanding that you’re never seeing the full picture. A person with a great house may have sacrificed a lot to have that house, or may have received help invisible to you.

In other words, focusing on another person’s raw results usually gives you bad information. Instead, focus your gaze on the fact that people do improve their situation, no matter where they started, and then watch your own improvements over time while looking at the many things you have to be grateful for in your own life.

In the end, it’s your progress that really matters, not theirs.

Good luck!

The post The Danger in Comparing Your Financial Progress to Others (and What to Do Instead) appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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Captain Obvious: New Grads Would Love a Job That Offers Student Loan Help

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Why a retirement income calculator made me cry into my tomato soup

Ensuring you have enough income to last you a lifetime is of one of life’s great financial challenges.

How much retirement income do I need to keep the wolf from the door and live a little? How long will I live for? Do I want to leave something for my children?

These are questions that as you get older become increasingly important. Not just in the ‘decumulation’ stage of life when we begin to run down financial assets – pensions, for example – that we have built during our lives. But also in the accumulation stage as retirement or semiretirement edges ever closer.

How to make your pension last a lifetime

Am I saving enough for the future? The answer is probably a big fat ‘no’. It is certainly an issue I have one eye on as I move – too quickly for my liking – through my 50s. Never have I looked so often at how my work pension is performing. Never have I sat down as many times as I have recently and worked out how much pension income I am likely to be able to depend upon once my hair greys and full-time employment turns into part-time work (journalists never stop writing).

Such exercises are both cathartic and terrifying. A couple of weeks ago, I put my pension numbers into an online pension calculator provided by investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown*, assuming that I would be patted on the back for my regular saving.

Far from it. I was told that I was on schedule to ‘retire’ on an income equivalent to 40% of the one I should be aiming for (two thirds of my estimated salary at retirement). I cried into my tomato soup and cursed those past employers early on in my career, which had steadfastly refused to provide me with a pension. I also vowed to go on a savings binge, utilising an under-used individual savings account (Isa) allowance. Less spending. More accumulating.

Do give the Hargreaves Lansdown pension calculator a try, although be prepared to be given a financial fright. (A wee dram of whisky helped me deal with my bad news.)

Of course, coming up with an effective retirement income plan is not easy. For a start, retirement income of £25,000 a year may appear reasonable to some, but a pittance to others. We all have different ambitions that sway how much we are prepared to squirrel away.

It is also hard to determine how much income we need to enjoy the standard of living we hope for in retirement. It is for this reason why the idea of ‘national retirement income targets’ proposed by the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA)**, which represents more than 1,300 pension schemes, is a sound one.

Why it isn't safe to take 4% income from your pension

It is an approach that has been successfully adopted in Australia, a country which in the pensions arena is showing the world what to do (it latched on to pension autoenrolment years before we had even thought about it). By introducing such targets, the PLSA believes people would be more minded to save. Its own research indicates that four out of five people believe a national retirement income target would help them plan for later life.

Making your income last for life is now more difficult than ever, and not just because low interest rates are impacting adversely on cash savers. Newish pension freedom rules introduced by the previous government have also made the task more difficult. Taking greater control of your pension fund at retirement is empowering, but it increases the risk of your pension running out before you die. Pension annuities may not be flavour of the month, but at least they provide a guaranteed income until you die.

In such a challenging financial environment, I believe an independent financial adviser (IFA) can provide much-needed assurance. A couple of years ago, I remember speaking to a woman who had agonised over whether she had sufficient money tucked away to retire. But after her IFA, Neil Rossiter at Blackdown Financial in Taunton, ran her numbers through some wizardly financial software, she was reassured. It calculated that her money would not run out unless she lives to age 120. She was thrilled that she could do some of the things she had held back on for fear of drawing on funds she would need for later life.

Talking pensions at the dinner party: How the tables have turned

Good IFAs are worth their weight in gold. They can be found at Unbiased.co.uk or Vouchedfor.co.uk. You can rarely save too much. Give it a try.

*http://ift.tt/2iSWwlY **http://ift.tt/2z7rpqY Hitting-the-target-delivering-better-retirement

Jeff Prestridge is the personal finance editor of The Mail on Sunday. He won the Contribution to Personal Finance Education category at the Santander Media Awards 2016. Email him at columnists@moneywise.co.uk

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4 Free Credit Card Perks You May Not Realize You Have

These cards go beyond points and miles, offering you cool freebies.

Credit cards are a great way to build credit and establish your financial independence. They can also be a way to earn rewards or cash back. While the best rewards credit cards revolve around using the card and earning points or miles, some cards offer free — yes, free! — perks.

Here are four free credit card perks you may not realize you have…

1. Free museum entry

As a Bank of America cardholder, you can enjoy free museum entry to 175 of the most popular cultural institutions within the U.S. once a month thanks to their Museums on Us program. Check the list of participating museums and plan a visit for the first full weekend of the month. Simply show your Bank of America® or Merrill Lynch® credit or debit card and a photo ID to receive one free general admission.

2. Free Uber ride

New Uber users can receive a free Uber ride (up to $30) when they connect their eligible American Express® Card. To take advantage of this offer, download the Uber app and add your Amex card as the payment method under the “Payment” menu. Next, enter promo code UBERAMEX and request a ride or save it for future use. Keep in mind you’ll have to enter the promo code before you request your first ride.

3. Free TSA Global Entry

If you’re a frequent flyer, you’re probably already using a travel rewards credit card to earn miles and discounted flights. But did you know you may also be able to use your card to cover the $100 one-time fee for TSA Global Entry for free? TSA Global Entry gives you expedited security screening when departing and entering the U.S. Several participating cards, such as , , and the Citi Prestige® Card, provide a statement credit toward the application fee when you pay with your card.

4. Free two-day shipping

American Express® cardmembers, as well as World Mastercard® and World Elite Mastercard® cardholders, can receive complimentary ShopRunner membership when they enroll with an eligible card number. As a member, you’ll receive free two-day shipping and free return shipping when you buy eligible items with your card from participating online stores. ShopRunner partners with thousands of brands at more than 140 stores.

It pays to read the fine print, because you never know what free credit card perks might be hiding right under your nose. As they say: The best things in life are free.

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Dating Website Showdown: Which Has the Best Bang for Your Buck?

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Under the Covers: Nine Money Books to Curl Up With This Fall

Now that it’s getting colder outside, you’re probably looking for some frugal ways to fill your time indoors. One of my favorite ways to kill an afternoon while learning something new is curling up on the couch with a good book.

New or old? An easy fiction read or a thick, detail-packed self-help book? Straightforward nonfiction or an entertaining plot? It almost doesn’t matter. The type of book you choose for fall and winter reading can and should depend on your mood and what you hope to gain.

Personally, I love financial books — but also thrillers (I recently read The Couple Next Door) and celebrity tell-alls. But almost any book can help you learn new things or stay entertained — frugally, of course.

New, Old, and Awesome Money Books to Check Out This Fall

If you’re looking for some good money books to dive into once the cold weather hits, we’ve got you covered. Here are some new financial books along with some tried and true favorites:

#1: Live, Save, Spend, Repeat: The Life You Want with the Money You Have

Tired of working full-time and still feeling like you’ll never get ahead? Kim Anderson, the blogger behind Thrifty Little Mom, offers an answer: Create the life you desire with the money you have rather than what you wish you had.

Live, Save, Spend, Repeat offers stories along with a simple-to-implement plan that helps you align your goals with the money you already earn. Not only does Anderson dive into the budgeting process, but she offers insight on why you might be falling behind – and how you can change your money mindset.

Related: Master Your Mind, Master Your Money

#2: The Kickass Single Mom: Be Financially Independent, Discover Your Sexiest Self, and Raise Fabulous, Happy Children

Most personal finance books talk about how to save when you have a family, but what if you’re a single mom? Fabulous Emma Johnson, the financial expert behind Wealthy Single Mommy, tackles money topics and more from the angle of single motherhood. How does she know so much about single parenting? Because she’s been a single mom and money expert making it on her own for years.

The Kickass Single Mom is for single moms who are in almost any stage of their financial journey. Johnson will show you how to build a thriving career, achieve financial security, and to reignite your romantic life—all while being a present and positive influence on your children.

Related: 13 Ways to Beat the Single-Person Penalty

#3: You Can Retire Early: Everything You Need to Achieve Financial Independence When You Want It

Financial expert Deacon Hayes doesn’t just want you to retire early; he wants you to enjoy your life until you get there. Retiring early isn’t just for lottery winners and the super rich, he notes. With proper planning, it can be for anyone. But how?

Through storytelling and actionable advice, Hayes lays out the step-by-step process anyone can take to retire early enough to enjoy it. By the end of the You Can Retire Early, you should know how to develop a personalized retirement plan, maximize your income, understand opportunity cost, and select the right investment vehicles for your needs.

Related: How to Retire Early

#4: The Automatic Millionaire: A Powerful One-Step Plan to Live and Finish Rich

Recently, I saw David Bach speak at the financial blogger’s conference known as FinCon. His speech served as a powerful reminder that anyone can become rich – even on an average income – if they set up their lives with success in mind. By making their savings and investing automatic, he argues, average people can leverage the power of compound interest and time to build wealth.

His book The Automatic Millionaire is far from new, but it includes many important lessons that never go out of style. With Bach’s process, you don’t need a budget and you don’t need to earn a ton of money to get rich; you just need to make the right decisions over and over again, and to make them automatic.

Related: How to Get Rich: 10 Ways Wealth Is Created

#5: The $100 Start-Up: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future

While there are dozens of entrepreneurship books that tell you how to leave your job and do something new, entrepreneur and author Chris Guillebeau offers a different approach in The $100 Start-Up. Instead of helping you quit your job, he suggests starting a full-fledged side hustle that can help you boost your income in your spare time.

Through profiling and interviews, Guillebeau shares stories of people who started unlikely side hustles that lead to real income – a guy who earned thousands of dollars reviewing fish tanks, someone who sold chicken saddles, and a gal who started a business selling personalized heart candies, for example.

The key to success is figuring out what you’re good at and filling a need. And you can do this without quitting your job, he says.

Related: 50 Side Businesses You Can Start on Your Own

#6: The Ultimate Guide to Coupons: How to Save More Money in Less Time and Get the Best Deals

Is using coupons so last year? Savings website Living On the Cheap doesn’t think so. If you think coupons are too time-consuming and complicated to benefit from, you’re wrong, they say. You just need a better strategy, and to know which coupons are worth pursuing.

Written by Laura Daily and Teresa Mears, The Ultimate Guide to Coupons offers a primer on all things couponing along with actionable advice you can apply to your everyday life.

Related: Why We’ve Given Up on Coupons

#7: Think and Grow Rich

Journalist Napoleon Hill digs deep to find out the secrets to success for many millionaires in Think and Grow Rich. If you’ve ever wondered how the fortunes of Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and other millionaires were made, this book tells their stories in a compelling way that has stood the test of time.

The publisher of Think and Grow Rich warns that, when you expose yourself to the influence of Hill’s philosophy, you may experience a changed life. Prepare yourself for a brighter, richer future after drawing on the money lessons from this historic book.

Related: Six Fresh Ways to Think About Retirement Savings

#8: Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers

Have you ever wondered what most rich people do for the first hour of their morning? Have you ever thought about their work-out routines, which books they love to read, or what they do to stay mentally sharp? Also, why does this matter? Through interviews and research, author Tim Ferriss answers these questions and others in Tools of Titans.

According to Ferriss, this book contains the tools, tactics, and insider information you won’t find anywhere else. Included are not only stories, but actionable details you can apply to your own life.

Related: How to Become the ‘Millionaire Next Door’

#9: The Power of Broke: How Empty Pockets, a Tight Budget, and Hunger for Success Can Become Your Greatest Competitive Advantage

Daymond John, who you might know as an investor from the TV show Shark Tank, started a multi-million dollar clothing brand with a budget of just $40. Because he was desperate to make his business idea work, but severely limited in terms of capital, he was forced to think smart and come up with outside-the-box ways to promote his products. He now says that desperation gave him a competitive advantage – one that helped him turn $40 into a $6 billion clothing empire.

In The Power of Broke, John explains how a limited budget can force you to get creative – and how that creativity can help you get ahead. If you’re thinking of starting a business but strapped for cash or even dead broke, this book can help you learn how to hustle for wealth and use your limitations to your advantage.

Holly Johnson is an award-winning personal finance writer and the author of Zero Down Your Debt. Johnson shares her obsession with frugality, budgeting, and travel at ClubThrifty.com.

Related Articles:

Are you reading any money books right now? Please share in the comments below!

The post Under the Covers: Nine Money Books to Curl Up With This Fall appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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Whole30 Isn’t for Wimps. 5 Bloggers to Follow if You’re up for a Challenge

الأربعاء، 1 نوفمبر 2017

Pediatrician joins Geisinger Mount Pocono Clinic

Pediatrician joins Geisinger Mount Pocono ClinicAkiko Kawamura, M.D., has joined the medical staff at Geisinger Mount Pocono as a pediatrician providing care for children from infancy to 18.Board certified in pediatrics, Dr. Kawamura specializes in preventative care and wellness, routine primary care and acute illnesses.Dr. Kawamura earned her medical degree from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where she also completed a pediatric residency. [...]

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We’re Thankful for These 6 Super Easy Ways to Make Extra Money in November

Halloween is over, and every store from Macy’s to Walgreens is already changing its decor to drive home an important point: Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner, and your budget is about to take a hit. A big one.

In fact, according to Deloitte’s annual holiday spending survey, Americans spent $1 trillion during the 2016 holiday season, and that number is expected to jump by at least 4% this year. The average family will spend $1,226 this season, Deloitte reported.

If your bank account is not ready to shell out your share, November is your last chance to rake in some extra cash before you become the worst gift-giver in the family.

Scrambling to figure out how to earn a little extra this month before those Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals? Don’t worry — we’ve got some ideas for you.

Get Cash Back on Thanksgiving Dinner Ingredients

Whether you’ve got a long list of purchases on your pre-Thanksgiving grocery run or you’re just picking up a few stray cans of cranberry sauce at the last minute, you can earn cash back on nearly all of it with Ibotta.

Here’s how it works:

Before your next trip to the grocery store, browse the app’s cash-back offers. They change every week, so check each time you shop.

When you earn at least $20 cash back, you can request payment via PayPal or Venmo. And right now, Ibotta is giving new users a $10 sign-up bonus for redeeming their first receipt — so that first $20 won’t be hard to hit!

Got Personal Health Insurance? Get Paid for a Research Study

If you purchased private medical insurance this year, you could qualify for a Joany research study that will pay you for your answers.

If you can check off each of the following requirements, you can take the survey here:

You bought insurance through your state exchange, Healthcare.gov, through a broker or directly through a health plan, such as Oscar or Aetna.

You don’t receive your health insurance through an employer.

You are not currently enrolled in a short-term plan.

You currently have this health insurance active.

You are not on Medicaid, Medicare or VA health insurance.

You don’t receive your health insurance through your school/university.

You will be asked to upload or text a photo of your insurance card to verify your eligibility and may have to answer some additional questions to make sure your insurance policy is still active. Once the process is complete, you get paid.

Make Your Home Work for You

Whether you’re hopping a plane for a formal Thanksgiving at grandma’s or a more relaxed Friendsgiving with your college besties, you can put your empty apartment to work while you’re on vacation if you list it on Airbnb.

Family visiting you this year? Putting your listing up early and renting out your guest room before your mom arrives could help you pay for her gift.

If you want to give Airbnb hosting a try, we’ve got a few tips to make sure your listing brings in as much cash as it can:

Make your space available during high-demand times. Think: concerts, conventions and sporting events in your area.

Be a good host, and make sure your place is stocked with the toiletries you’d expect at a hotel — toilet paper, soap and towels.

Be personable. A lot of travelers turn to Airbnb for the personal touch they won’t find at commercial properties.

Here’s the link to sign up as an Airbnb host.

Hosting laws vary from city to city. Please understand the rules and regulations applicable to your city and listing.

Turn Your RV Into a Cash Cow

If you can’t rent out your home, RVshare, a peer-to-peer rental marketplace that allows you to rent your RV to other travelers, can help you use the RV sitting in your driveway to stretch your gift-giving budget.

How much you’ll earn per day will vary based on your location and the type of vehicle you have. You can even get an estimate for how much you could make with your specific RV before signing up.

Ahead of the Gift-Buying Curve? Don’t Miss Out on Deals

This holiday season, consumers are expected to spend more shopping online than in stores, according to Deloitte. If you’re truly a Penny Hoarder, you might want to do even more of your shopping online.

If you do, don’t forget to create a Paribus account.

Paribus is a tool that gets you money back for your online purchases. It’s free to sign up, and once you do, Paribus will scan your email archives for any receipts. If it discovers you’ve purchased something from Target — or one of the more than 20 other retailers listed on its website — it will track the item’s price and automatically issue you a refund anytime there’s a price drop!

That should help give you peace of mind if you’re worried about buying at the wrong time and missing out on the best deals.

Forget Netflix and Chill. Try InboxDollars and Cash

Downtime might be hard to come by when you’re running from store to store looking for the perfect gift for dad, but we’ve got an idea that might convince you to trade in your Netflix-watching time for a different kind of video streaming.

Now, most of the videos you watch on InboxDollars won’t be as entertaining as binge-watching “Stranger Things,” but you’re getting paid — so who cares?

The videos are sponsored by brands that need to get them in front of as many eyeballs as possible. Every time you watch one of the ads, InboxDollars will credit your account with a little bit of cash. You’ll get a free $5 just for signing up.

Give a few of these ideas a try, and you can see your holiday funds spike — a month early.

Desiree Stennett is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder.

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Hospitality props Monroe jobless rate fall

Monroe County’s unemployment rate fell one-tenth of a percent in September to 5.7 percent.The county and the state continue to report higher rates than the rest of the country.The state’s rate also declined one-tenth of a percent to 4.7 percent, while the nation’s rate fell by two tenths of a percentage point to 4.2 percent.Over the year, Monroe’s rate fell eight-tenths of a percentage point, while both the state and national rates dropped [...]

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Got a Car? Use These 5 Tips to Earn Extra Cash and Fuel Your Savings

Summer has come and gone, which means road trip season is over.

You’ve poured your hard-earned money into your vehicle these last few months with gas, maintenance and, admit it, one too many bags of Funyuns on the road.

Now it’s time to turn your car into a bonafide cash cow so you can save money for next summer.

Here are five tips that will help you save — or make — more money driving.

1. Save up to $460/Year on Car Insurance

The end of the month is a hard time for everyone. Bills are due, and you’re trying to remember what month comes next.

Car insurance is a particularly painful expense around this time. But here’s a secret: You could probably save money by switching plans.

A service called Gabi will help you find a new car insurance plan that fits your needs. And here’s the best part: You don’t even have to fill out any forms.

Just link your insurance account to Gabi, and it will scan your existing plan and coverage, compare other major insurers’ rates for the same coverage and help you switch on the spot. You could save as much as $460 a year, which will buy a ton of Funyuns.

2. Change Your Whole Insurance Game and Pay by the Mile

When your vehicle insurance bill comes due each month, you probably ask yourself, “Why the heck am I paying this much when I just use my car to go to the store?”

It’s eternally frustrating seeing that triple-digit number each month when your mileage might have stayed in the single digits most days.

It doesn’t have to be this way, thanks to MetroMile, a company that lets you pay by the mile for car insurance.

Philadelphia resident Susan Gibbons switched to MetroMile and lowered her payment to $35 per month after spending 30 years with State Farm. By paying by the mile, Gibbons estimates she saves $720 a year on insurance. It makes sense for urban dwellers like her, so it could make sense for you, too.

3. Turn Your Car Into a Moneymaking Machine With Driving Apps

Your car takes a lot from you. Gas, oil, blood, sweat, tears and, most of all, money.

Make your vehicle pick up some of that financial slack by trying out a ride-sharing service.

Lyft helped this couple earn $1,500 a week while still raising kids. Talk about flexible.

Uber is another ride-share option that offers similar flexibility and moneymaking opportunities. With its relatively new tipping option, you can also turn on that charm for which you’re so famous and snag a few extra bucks.

And you can help people find an on-demand meal a little more nutritious than your favorite onion-flavored corn chips (OK, we might have a problem) by driving for UberEats. You don’t even need a car for this food-delivery service; you can use your bicycle.

4. Get Cash Back on the Gas You Buy

Maybe you’re one of those people who likes the cold wind in your hair, and fall is your ideal road trip season. Or you might just have a crummy commute.

Either way, there are dozens of gas station credit cards out there that can help you mitigate those gnarly fuel-up fees with cash back. But which one is right for you?

Birch, a platform that customizes reward credit cards for users based on their spending habits, can help you answer that question. And then some.

It’s easy as linking your spending account to the service, then waiting for a rundown of credit cards for which you should consider applying. There’s no fine print: It’s laid out plain and simple.

Now you can rest easy while racking up the miles.

5. Turn That Big Empty RV Into a Rolling ATM

An RV is practically useless most of the year, besides serving as a giant trophy proudly proclaiming to your adventurous nature to the neighborhood.

So when traveling season passes, what good is letting the mold just build up inside old faithful?

RVshare, a peer-to-peer rental marketplace, lets you put your empty RV to good use by renting it to fellow ramblers. Enter your vehicle specs here to find out how much you could make.

The payoff depends on the on your location and the type of vehicle you have. We ran a quick hypothetical and found that Class A models made in the past 15 years can earn you $185 to $375 a night here in St. Petersburg, Florida!

That’s a smart way to make your pricy RV pay for itself — or to at least bank some cash for your next big road trip.

Alex Mahadevan is a data journalist at The Penny Hoarder. He considers Funyuns to be a vegetable and, therefore, a healthy, reliable road trip snack.

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5 Genius Tricks for Anyone Who’s Fed Up With Paying Insane Overdraft Fees

It’s that dreaded moment.

You open up your banking app on your phone and see your checking-account balance with a minus sign in front of it. Your brain mumbles that dreaded word … overdraft!

You know what comes next. Not only did you spend the last of your money, you spent more than that. If you spent $35 but only had $10 in your account, the bank is going to get that other $25, make no mistake about it.

Then it’ll charge you $34 dollars for an overdraft fee. Why? Yeah, it’ll take money from you because you have no money. Now your account shows minus $59.

It’s time to stop this nonsense. While it might seem hard to keep your bank account above water, there are some simple ways to keep it afloat.

Get Paid Before Payday (No Loans Required)

If you arrange your monthly bills (think Netflix, car insurance, cell phone, etc.) to come out of your account just after your regular paydays, you can make life a lot easier. If you know you always get paid on the 15th and the last of the month, why not set up your payments to come out on the 2nd and the 17th? Give yourself a couple days of cushion for those pesky weekends.

Want a little extra protection? Consider jumping ship to a new bank that can get you your own money faster.

Chime is an online bank that is changing how banks operate. Not only does it offer options to help you save money without thinking about it, but you can even get your paychecks up to two days earlier than your co-workers.

To take advantage, make sure you sign up for direct deposit so that Chime can add money to your account as soon as it receives notification from your employer. It then immediately posts the funds to your account. Serious bonus: It has zero fees.

Say Goodbye to Overdraft Fees Forever

I once had a checking and banking account at a large national bank that would actually charge me a $6.95 monthly “account maintenance” fee for the savings account if I didn’t have at least $25 in it.

Not cool.

If you’re not sure what fees your bank is charging you, or even if you think you do, consider Trim your new best friend. Trim is a simple app that can save you a ton of money.

Simply sign up and connect your bank account to the app. Then, Trim analyzes your spending habits. You can also easily set up alerts. It’s payday? Great! My rent is due? Crap.

Not only that, it will also review all of your subscriptions that are connected to your account, like Netflix and Hulu. Didn’t know you were still paying for Hulu? Trim will let you know. And if you share a link to the app on Facebook, it will even cancel the unused subscription for you, as part of its premium service.

Boost Your Bank Account With a Side Hustle

What makes your bank account go? Your job. So, if you’re not keeping up enough speed, you may want to improve your earning horsepower. At The Penny Hoarder, we’re all about great side gigs. Think about it. If you’re earning more, you’ll have a little more cushion in that bank account. That means less chance of an overdraft. Here are a couple of options you can do in your spare time:

Do you have an extra bedroom — or even a spare couch? Consider renting it out through Airbnb. Simply create a listing with photos and set your price. Do you want to rent it out daily, weekly or by the month? You may find more success by targeting the type of clientele you would like to find. Don’t have a spare bedroom? See if anyone wants to camp in your backyard!
Do you have a newer car and like to drive? Consider signing up to be a Lyft driver. Lyft drivers can choose their own hours and make great extra cash simply by helping people around town.
How about making money on the money you spend? Wait. What? Dosh is a new cash-back app that pays you back for making purchases at more than 100,000 hotels, online stores and restaurants — including Marriott, Cost Plus World Market, Target, Chuck E. Cheese’s and a lot more.

Plus, it’s simple:

             Download the app and sign up.
             Securely connect a debit or credit card.
             Live your life and watch the cash-back roll in.

In addition to cash back, you can also collect a $25 bonus for booking your first hotel

through the app, as well bonuses for referring friends and local businesses.

Ask Your Bank for Help… but Remember to Say ‘Please’

OK, so you’ve already overdrafted. If you’re not a chronic offender, your first move is to try to undo the damage.

That means calling your bank and giving them your most humble and honest mea culpa. My bad.

Then ask for forgiveness. Many banks will forgive those outrageous overdraft fees just for asking. Remember, you are the customer and they need your business. Remind them that you’ve been a loyal customer.

Do you have other business with them, such as credit cards or loans? Bring that up. Be nice, but be firm in reminding them that you are a good customer who made a one-time error. You don’t want to jump ship, but you will if you need to.

Avoid Insane Overdraft Fees With Your Savings Account

It may sound impossible to have a savings account if you can’t keep your checking account in the black, but it’s worth thinking about.

Most banks will give you the option to have a savings account that is linked to your checking account. If you can manage to keep $100, or even $50, in this account, it can act as emergency funds that the bank pulls over in case of an overdraft. The key? There is no overdraft fee attached to this process.

Beware any overdraft protection services that your bank offers. Many of them come with crazy fees that will hurt you as much as help.

Your Best Weapon for Avoiding Overdraft Fees

Your checking account is your primary vehicle for your finances. It pays to keep it in tip-top condition so you can keep your financial progress on course.

Nothing rocks the boat like an overdraft fee. Luckily, you can minimize the damage and avoid them altogether by making a few changes in the way to do banking.

Full steam ahead!

Tyler Omoth is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder who loves soaking up the sun and finding creative ways to help others. Catch him on Twitter at @Tyomoth.

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6 Tools You Need in Your Life if You’re Always Stressing About Money

If someone told me to stop thinking about my finances, I’d think:

That’s impossible.
That’s impossible.
That’s definitely impossible.

I think about my finances entirely too much. (Or is it just enough?)

That credit card bill due at the end of the month, my retirement savings, the looming electric bill after a steamy, hot month or a frigid winter…

These are the financial fears that haunt me on a daily basis.

There are, however, easy steps you can take to stop thinking about your finances — or at least ease your money stress a little bit.

1. Let This Bot Optimize Your 401(k)

Saving for retirement is a daunting chore — perhaps the most daunting in the world of personal finance. If you’ve ever typed your information into one of those retirement calculators, you’ve probably thrown your laptop across the room and declared, “I give up.” (Just me?)

But a 401(k) will help you out, and if you already have one open, know you’re on the right track.

Now, you just need to make sure it’s working hard for you. That’s where Blooom will help you out. This company is an SEC-registered investment-advisory firm that optimizes and monitors your 401(k).

Enter your information into its system: your name, age and when you hope to retire. Connect your 401(k) account (it’s safe, I swear!), then boom. (Or Blooom?)

Within a few minutes, you receive a free 401(k) “health report,” which tells you what’s going well and what needs some improvement. Are you paying too many fees? Is your mix of stocks and bonds not properly allocated for your age?

If you want Blooom to take over, you can opt in for a $10-per-month service. Within a few hours, Blooom will reconfigure your 401(k) without you doing a thing. And, better yet, it keeps an eye on it from then on.

2. Cut Down Your Monthly Bills

Whenever I receive a cable and internet bill from Spectrum, I cringe. Due again?!

I always thought this was a bill I couldn’t escape — that I was locked into paying. (Because, you know, I need internet to live.) However, did you know there are ways to negotiate it — without making a single phone call and sitting on hold for approximately 3,493 minutes?

Trim is a cute little bot that’ll negotiate your internet and/or cable bills for you.

Once you sign up, upload a PDF of your latest bill. You can find this using your online account. The process takes about two minutes. Afterward, Trim’s AI system begins negotiating to see if it can reduce your monthly bill. Trim pockets 25% of the reduction, and you get the rest.

If your bill can’t be reduced, Trim will keep an eye on things and keep trying. For example, if there’s ever a power or service outage, you’ll get reimbursed.

It’s nice knowing this little guy is on your side!

3. Stop Worrying About Tracking Prices

I do this all the time: I buy something from Amazon, then, a few hours later, the price drops.

Seriously? Why does this world hate me?

That’s where Earny is helpful. You guessed it — he’s another adorable little bot! When you sign up (Earny is free!), you just enter your email address. Then Earny keeps track of your online shopping receipts. If the price of an item you’ve already ordered drops, Earny will claim that difference back for you.

It works with a number of retailers, including Amazon, Jet, Overstock, Target and Zappos. At the end of the month, you could snag a hearty refund.

The nicest part of it all? You don’t have to do a thing after signing up.

4. Start Saving Money (Without Thinking About It)

Tucking away money from each paycheck is a tough thing to do — because it’s payday, hey!

The best way to smuggle little chunks of your paycheck into a separate account is to automate the process so you don’t have to think about it. An app like Acorns can help with that.

Acorns is a micro-investing app that allows you to execute a set-it-and-forget-it method. (Kinda like the Ronco Rotisserie.)

Set up your Acorns account so it dumps spare change from your debit or credit card transactions into an account. For example, spend $1.20 at the gas station, and Acorns will stash 80 cents away. Or set up your account so that every two weeks, it saves $20.

The best part is that Acorns invests the money for you, so it’s not just sitting there idly, collecting dust.

Also: You’ll snag a $10 sign-up bonus!

5. Earn Cash Back on All Your Purchases

With so many credit card offers available these days, it’s hard to know what’s a good offer.

Or if you’re getting roped into a bundle of fees.

But we can tell you one of our favorite cash-back cards is the Barclaycard CashForward World Mastercard.

Why? First, there are no annual fees. Second, if you spend $1,000 within the first 90 days of opening the card, you’ll bank a $200 bonus. (You’re thinking: $1,000 is a lot to spend. Well, hate to break it to ya, but take a look at what you spent on groceries these past three months.)

You’ll also earn 1.5% cash back on all purchases.

Cha-ching without doing a thing!

6. Set Up a Passive Income Stream

The point of passive income is to sit back, relax and watch the money roll in, right? Well, not exactly. There are some upfront tasks you’ll need to do.

But if you want to explore this world — you know, get your toes a little wet — there’s an app that can help you earn cash rewards on your purchases.

It’s called Dosh. The idea is that you’re spending money on your normal everyday items and earning money back — without having to scan bar codes or take photos of your receipts.

I signed up a few days ago, and within two minutes, I banked $6. The first $5 was from linking my credit card, and the additional dollar was from linking my debit card. Those are the two cards Dosh will comb through to find out which of my purchases qualify for cash back.

Some examples of these opportunities (available right now) include:

Up to 7.5% back from Bed Bath & Beyond online
Up to 6% back from Ray Ban online
Up to 4.5% back from The Container Store online

There are plenty of local restaurants, breweries and coffee shops with available offers, too.

Once you collect $15, cash out! (Or do good and donate it to charity.)

So next time I’m lying in bed at night, staring at the ceiling and counting my money, alongside those annoying sheep, I’ll just start ticking off the tips on this list instead. Then I’ll fall soundly asleep.

Carson Kohler (@CarsonKohler) is a junior writer at The Penny Hoarder. She stresses about money entirely too much, but she’s learning to cope — with the aforementioned tools.

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