Finance Xpress

Well now, it looks like some people weren’t very happy with my defense of people who like to eat out to win business or order food delivery to save time and their marriages.

I’m not sure whether the true anger lies in going against the food preparing norm or highlighting the truth about how we can all be doing more for our health and our finances.

I don’t shout angrily on the internet when I disagree with something. Nor do I insult people with different beliefs. Instead, I like to listen carefully to feedback and adopt any good ideas to improve my life. And I’ve got a good one that could really make a difference!

In the near future, I plan to drop my writing frequency from 3X a week to once a week and stop podcasting once a week in order to cook more for my family and to save money.

I calculate by cooking at home, I’ll save between $500 – $1,000 a month, equivalent to the monthly cash flow savings I’ve earned from refinancing my mortgage. Not bad! Although I might also suffer revenue loss 10X greater, that is either here nor there. All good things are worth the initial sacrifice.

Further, I’ve been looking for a good reason to give up my posting cadence after reaching the 10 year mark. I’m tired and want to mix things up. After the second year of writing, I started consistently getting thank you e-mails or comments every week from readers saying how XYZ article helped them. As a result, I started feeling guilty that if I didn’t post regularly, I would be letting people down.

Thanks to reader feedback, it’s time to make a change for health and wealth!

Chef Sam Rises

Before I embark on my new journey, I need to prepare. I don’t want to just start serving tomato sauce over boiled carbohydrates every night.

I’ll be watching some cooking videos to brush up my culinary skills. I might even take a weekend cooking class at the local community college. The last time I took a formal cooking class was in high school. It was called Home Economics and I had a blast!

My goal is to create individual breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus with a set caloric count. Each menu will have a selection of three items to choose from. Once I master each item on the menu, I’ll introduce new menus for different seasons.

Below is an example of the pre theater menu from La Grenouille, one of my favorite restaurants in New York City. If you ever want to go on a romantic date, this is the place with its legendary floral arrangements and wonderful food.

My goal is to master several of these dishes over time. So far, I know how to make Split Pea Soup, House Salad with String Beans, Lobster Medallions with Avocado, Lobster Tarragon Ravioli, Grilled Sea Bass, Grilled Lamb Chops, and Crab Meat Cocktail.

Instead of spending $100 – $150 per person at La Grenouille, perhaps I can get the cost down to $20 per person at Casa Samurai.

In addition to creating a variety of tasty meals for my family, I will make sure the food is healthy. Therefore, dishes like Cheese Soufflé is out of the question.

Even though the statistics say ~82% of Americans eat at home and are also the heaviest we’ve ever been, I’m hopeful that Financial Samurai Food will help buck this trend!

Below are the healthiest foods that I’ll use to create my menus.

The Healthiest Foods

• Almond
• Walnut
• Steel-cut oatmeal
• Cashew
• Egg
• Broccoli
• Beats
• Curly Kale
• Sweet Potato
• Onion
• Bean
• Tofu
• Spinach
• Avocado
• Mushroom
• Asparagus
• Watercress
• Peppers
• Snow pea shoots
• Garlic
• Lentil
• Edamame
• Carrot
• Banana
• Mango
• Kiwi
• Grape
• Apple
• Watermelon
• Blueberries
• Yogurt
• Chicken
• Tuna
• Sardines
• Sashimi
• Steak

If I stick to these foods, I’m confident I’ll be able to provide healthy and yummy meals for my family. These foods have been identified as the best foods we humans can eat according to every single medical group in existence.

By passionately taking on my new responsibilities as Chef Sam, I hope to not only inspire my wife to cook more, but to also teach my son the importance of eating healthy foods.

The Importance Of Knowing Your Food

It’s imperative we learn about the healing and destructive nature of various types of foods. Further, once we know what goes into food preparation, we’ll be able to make better decisions about what we eat.

At the very least, I want my son to know what type of food sits well with him and what type does not.

When I was in high school, I often suffered tremendous stomach pain during the first period of class. Sometimes, I’d even have to go to the bathroom during first period to relieve myself. This happened a couple of times a week for years.

It was only after I became an adult that I learned that having milk with my cereal really blew me up. If I had been more aware of what I was eating as a kid, I would have not only felt better, but been less disruptive in school, and learned more.

If I got better grades and test scores, I might have gotten accepted into an overpriced private university to boost my self-esteem and make my parents proud! Who knows how fabulous my life would be if I didn’t go to The College of William & Mary. I could have been so rich and connected!

In a more recent example, in 2017, I gained five pounds over six months and couldn’t understand why. Then I realized that it was because of my love for taro milk bubble tea with extra taro chunks inside. Each 20 oz cup had over 1,200 calories! Once I cut bubble tea out of my diet, I slowly lost the extra weight over the next 10 months.

Being aware about food is key to a healthier lifestyle. And one of the best ways to be aware of food is to prepare your own food.

The Ideal Weight For Men And Women

I think we can all agree that if we don’t have our health, wealth doesn’t matter. Yet, for some reason, so many of us take our health for granted until it’s too late.

Being an ideal weight doesn’t guarantee good health. But being an ideal weight will help improve our chances of being healthier. Our goal should be to live as high a quality of life as possible for the longest time possible.

My goal is to live until the year 2050 or whenever my kids become independent adults, whichever comes last. I know I’ll be able to die more peacefully once I know my kids are financially stable and have someone who loves them as much as my wife and I love them.

But if I do die young, at least we’ve got a revocable living trust set up. Every parent, no matter your wealth, needs to talk to an estate planning lawyer and set up a revocable living trust.

Below is the ideal weight for men by height and frame.

Below is the ideal weight by height and frame for women.

For those of you now complaining the above weight charts are wrong, I empathize with you. As a tennis player, I’ve got larger, sexier, and more muscular legs than average. As a result, I’m 5 pounds heavier than the ideal weight for a medium frame man who is 5′ 10″.

But the reality is, I should lose 13 pounds to get down to 155 pounds to look and feel my best. Pictures don’t lie, but sometimes my memories do.

For the frustrated, here is a more comprehensive ideal weight table with the Devine Formula, Robinson, Formula, Miller Formula, and Body Mass Index. Unfortunately, you’ll find the suggested weights to be even lower on average.

Getting Rich Being Fit

I’m confident that if we all eat better and get into the ideal weight range, we will become richer. The reasons why are plentiful:

• We’ll feel better
• We’ll look better
• We’ll have more energy
• We’ll have more self-confidence
• We’ll have a more positive attitude
• We may live longer
• Other people may treat us better
• You’ll get less jealous of other people
• You’ll hate other people less
• You’ll take more responsibility for yourself

By being in better shape, not only do we do more to build our wealth, we get more opportunities to build wealth thanks to other people providing us more job opportunities, freelance opportunities, investment opportunities, and networking opportunities. Positive thinking does wonders for improving happiness and fortune.

Invariably, the people who are most bitter and hateful of others are either out of shape physically, financially or both. The first step we can take to improving our lives is to stop hating ourselves by eating better and getting in better shape.

Even if you cannot get into great shape, you’ve got to learn to love yourself. Learning to love yourself starts with accepting who you are and making incremental positive changes each day. Once you adopt an abundance mindset, everything around you will get so much better.

I want to thank readers for giving me a boost to start focusing more on my physical and mental health. Although many of the comments from the “dont bother cooking” post weren’t kind, I appreciate the motivation to change. For too long, I’ve been grinding away, doing the same thing over and over again.

My first step is to cook more at home and step away from the food delivery app. My second step is to find a way to get someone to do more of the heavy lifting on Financial Samurai. My final step is to learn how to prepare a mean steak tartare without poisoning my family!

Although I will end up spending 40 more hours a month grocery shopping and cooking, I’ll be able to save $500 – $1,000 on food. That’s a healthy $12.5 – $25 an hour.

Thanks for all your support!

Related:

How To Get Healthcare Subsidies Even If You’re A Multi-Millionaire

How Much You Need To Save To Retire In Abject Poverty

For those who are master chefs and health nuts, I’d love to hear some tips from you on creating my four seasons menus, health food tips, and other health tips. If you could provide some background about yourself as well, that would be helpful for context.

The post The Healthiest Foods To Make You Fit And Rich appeared first on Financial Samurai.

from Financial Samurai


via Finance Xpress

Posted by: John S Kiernan

For the 38th time in the past 40 years, charitable giving increased year over year in 2018, according to Giving USA. Americans donated a total of $427.71 billion – nearly $292 billion of which came from individual donors. Forecasts call for a further increase in charitable giving in 2019, when the final figures are tallied, but much depends on how generous we feel this holiday season. ’Tis indeed the season for generosity, as a significant portion of all charitable donations are usually made in the month of December.

There is no shortage of noble causes in need of support this year. But no one wants their money to go to waste. So it’s fair to wonder which charity will make the best use of your donation.

To help you maximize your impact without jeopardizing your financial health, WalletHub’s editors compared more than 100 of the most prominent U.S. charities based on their financial performance, transparency and popularity. And we identified the best organization to donate to for each of the most popular causes.

Here are the best charities to donate to:

 

Best For…	Charity Name	WalletHub Score (out of 100)
Human Services	Rotary Foundation of Rotary International	100
Animals	PetSmart Charities	99
Veterans	Fisher House Foundation	98
International Affairs	World Resources Institute	98
Health	Semper Fi Fund	97
Education	DonorsChoose.org	93
Hurricane Relief	Direct Relief	93
The Environment	Conservation Fund	90
Child-Abuse Prevention	Prevent Child Abuse America (National Office)	88
Community Development	Wounded Warriors Family Support	88
Hunger	Action Against Hunger-USA	87
Homelessness	National Alliance to End Homelessness	86
Religion	Samaritan's Purse	85

Below, you can learn more about how to choose the best charity for your holiday donation as well as how to do the most good on a limited budget. You can also take a closer look at criteria we used to select 2019’s top charities in the Methodology section that follows.

How To Choose A Charity

• Find A Cause First: It’s not about the charity but rather the work that it does. So make a list of the causes you care about most before researching specific organizations involved in that area. This will help you avoid losing the forest for the trees, emphasizing the beneficiary over the conduit.

• Ask For Recommendations: People trust reviews from friends and family above all else, so ask your social network for some charitable suggestions. You may even want to ask subject-matter experts for their thoughts. For example, your veterinarian could suggest a good animal-related charity, and an environmental scientist at your local university could suggest a climate-oriented organization. All of their experiences and viewpoints will undoubtedly help you make a better choice.

• Do Your Research: It’s always important to do your due diligence before spending money with a company, professional or nonprofit for the first time. So check your chosen charity’s website. See how it’s being covered in the press. And look into its financials. In particular, check how much of the organization’s funds are being used for its stated cause compared to marketing and administrator salaries.

• Spread The Love: You don’t have to pick just one charity. Donations are kind of like crowdfunding in the sense that a lot of people giving small amounts leads to relatively large sums at the end of the day. So don’t try to solve one problem all by yourself. Consider giving small amounts to numerous charities in order to help address the various issues that you care about.

5 Tips For A Successful Donation

You don’t need to do much to make an impact on a worthy cause. But keeping the following pointers in mind will help you and your charity of choice make the most out of your good deed.

1. Have A Budget: It is indeed possible to be too generous. Donating more than you can afford will only hurt your finances, making it more difficult to give back in the future. That means overdoing it now could reduce your overall giving. So consider your holiday gift-giving budget and your other financial obligations to determine how much you can comfortably afford to do without. It’s fine if you can’t give much. Every little bit helps, and something is always better than nothing when it comes to charity.

2. Decide On Itemized Deductions: Rationalizing a donation with the potential tax benefits doesn’t make much sense if you aren’t going to itemize your deductions. So make a decision about that now, and remove taxes from your thought process if you’ll be taking the standard deduction. You can check out our Tax Tips for more insight into making these sorts of choices.

3. Consider Processing Fees: Making a donation by credit card is a great way to earn rewards while giving back. For example, you could earn $20 by making a $1,000 donation with a card offering 2% back, whether in the form of cash, points or miles. But many organizations charge a processing fee for credit card donations. That can erode, perhaps even eliminate, your earnings if it isn’t tax-deductible. So make sure to check.

See 2019’s Best Rewards Credit Cards

4. Earmark Funds For Something Specific: The more you donate, the more control you’ll be able to exert over how the funds are used. So if you want your donation to be used to improve the conditions of the cages in an animal shelter rather than administrators’ salaries or marketing, for example, inquire with your organization of choice about the possibility of designating a donation for something specific. If they say it’s not possible, take your donation elsewhere (or at least make clear that you’re willing to).

5. Don’t Forget About Goods & Services: You don’t have to give money to make a difference. You can also donate clothing, food and even your time. A lot of people actually wonder whether it’s better to donate time or money, and we have a handy calculator that can help you make that decision based on your personal situation.

Ask The Experts: Dollars & Cents of Charitable Donations

In search of additional information to inform your charitable giving, WalletHub posed the following questions to a panel of experts. You can check out their bios and responses below.

1. What is the biggest mistake that people make when donating to charity?
2. What red flags should people look for before donating money to a charitable organization?
3. What is your favorite charity and why? // Why should someone donate to your charity?

< >

• Sidney James Nakhjavan Executive Director of the Cary Center for the Advancement of Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies and Women’s Philanthropy Board at Auburn University College of Human Sciences
• Ram A. Cnaan Professor, Director of the Program for Religion and Social Policy Research, and Faculty Director of the Goldring Reentry Initiative in the School of Social Policy & Practice at the University of Pennsylvania
• Mary Sexton Director of Major Gifts at Médecins Sans Frontières USA
• Mark Schuller Associate Professor of Anthropology and Nonprofit and NGO Studies at Northern Illinois University
• Lori Ashline Assistant Teaching Professor in the Nonprofit Management Program at Northeastern University College of Professional Studies
• Lijun He Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Administration at Pace University Dyson College of Arts and Sciences

More Experts Scores For All Charities, By Category

 

Charitable Organization	WalletHub Score (out of 100)
ANIMAL-RELATED
PetSmart Charities	99
Center for Biological Diversity	90
Performing Animal Welfare Society	88
Animal Welfare Institute	87
American Bird Conservancy	85
Wildlife Conservation Society	84
CIVIL RIGHTS, SOCIAL ACTION, ADVOCACY
American Civil Liberties Union Foundation	95
Trevor Project	85
Committee to Protect Journalists	73
Children's Defense Fund	62
COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT, CAPACITY BUILDING
Operation Homefront	73
Hadassah	62
Food Bank for New York City	61
DISEASES, DISORDERS, MEDICAL DISCIPLINES
Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation	97
Pancreatic Cancer Action Network	78
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society	69
American Heart Association	45
American Cancer Society	30
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS & RELATED ACTIVITIES
DonorsChoose.org	93
Hispanic Scholarship Fund	88
Scholarship America	78
Step Up for Students	51
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY, PROTECTION & BEAUTIFICATION
Conservation Fund	90
Sierra Club Foundation	90
Waterkeeper Alliance	87
Conservation International Foundation	84
Earthjustice	80
Keep America Beautiful (National Office)	78
Environmental Defense Fund	69
FOOD, AGRICULTURE & NUTRITION
Feeding America	80
Farm Aid	38
HEALTH – GENERAL & REHABILITATIVE
Semper Fi Fund	97
Population Action International	85
Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation	84
Partners in Health	83
Fistula Foundation	75
Planned Parenthood Federation of America	75
American Sexual Health Association	40
HOUSING, SHELTER
Homes for Our Troops	83
National Breast Cancer Coalition Fund	66
HUMAN SERVICES – MULTIPURPOSE & OTHER
Wounded Warriors Family Support	88
Unbound	86
The Y (National Office)	84
Armed Services YMCA of the USA	80
Episcopal Relief & Development	77
charity: water	74
National Urban League (National Office)	72
American National Red Cross	70
Wounded Warrior Project	30
INTERNATIONAL, FOREIGN AFFAIRS & NATIONAL SECURITY
Rotary Foundation of Rotary International	100
World Resources Institute	98
Direct Relief	93
Doctors Without Borders USA	90
Alight	88
Action Against Hunger-USA	87
American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee	86
Pathfinder International	86
International Rescue Committee	85
CARE USA	85
One Acre Fund	82
American Jewish World Service	81
International Peace Institute	81
Lutheran World Relief	76
PCI-Media Impact	75
Operation USA	75
Seva Foundation	75
Children Incorporated	75
Helen Keller International	75
United States Fund for UNICEF	75
Population Council	75
World Vision	75
International Medical Corps	73
Asia Foundation	72
HIAS	71
Save the Children Federation	70
TechnoServe	70
Compassion International	69
HealthRight International	65
Africare	65
Habitat for Humanity International	60
Grameen Foundation USA	57
AmeriCares Foundation	56
New Israel Fund	52
Brother's Brother Foundation	45
Good 360	45
Feed the Children	43
Amnesty International of the USA	40
Operation Blessing International Relief & Development	35
Cross International	35
MEDICAL RESEARCH
Cancer Research Institute	87
Hearing Health Foundation	86
Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research	85
Breast Cancer Research Foundation	82
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute	54
MENTAL HEALTH, CRISIS INTERVENTION
Partnership for Drug-Free Kids	76
PHILANTHROPY, VOLUNTARISM & GRANTMAKING FOUNDATIONS
Gary Sinise Foundation	94
Ovarian Cancer Research Fund	82
Marine Toys for Tots Foundation	73
Prostate Cancer Foundation	63
United Way Worldwide	53
PUBLIC, SOCIETY BENEFIT – MULTIPURPOSE & OTHER
Common Cause Education Fund	83
National Military Family Association	73
Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society	72
Public Citizen Foundation	38
RELIGION-RELATED,SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT
Samaritan's Purse	85
YOUTH DEVELOPMENT
Girls Incorporated (National Office)	87
Boys & Girls Clubs of America	73
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTES, SERVICES
Salk Institute for Biological Studies	75
UNCATEGORIZED
Fisher House Foundation	98
Catholic Relief Services	89
Prevent Child Abuse America (National Office)	88
American Kidney Fund	88
Earthworks	88
Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International	88
Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America (National Office)	87
National Alliance to End Homelessness	86
National Council on Aging	82
Diabetes Action Research and Education Foundation	80
Guttmacher Institute	80
United Methodist Committee on Relief	80
Brain & Behavior Research Foundation	79
Starlight Children's Foundation (National Office)	76
Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind	71
Boy Scouts of America	69
Friends of Animals	36
Action on Smoking and Health	35
Nature Conservancy	30
First Candle (National Office)	30
Make-A-Wish Foundation of America	25

Methodology

To identify the year’s best charities for holiday giving, WalletHub evaluated more than 100 of the highest-ranked U.S.-based charities, according to CharityWatch and Charity Navigator. In the interest of promoting goodwill and spreading holiday cheer during what should be a merry time of year, we did not consider nonprofit organizations with an obvious political affiliation or those focused primarily on a politically divisive issue.

Using the grading rubric listed below, we scored each organization for which ratings were available from both sources from 0 to 100, with 100 being the most trustworthy with your money. Based on the resulting final scores, we selected winners for some of the biggest categories of charitable giving.

CharityWatch Grade (40 points max)

• A+ = 40 points
• A = 35 points
• A- = 30 points
• B+ = 25 points
• B = 20 points
• B- = 15 points
• C+ = 10 points
• C = 5 points
• Below C- = 0 points

Charity Navigator Score (40 points max)

• 97% - 100% = 40 points
• 93% - 96.99% = 35 points
• 90% - 92.99% = 30 points
• 87% - 89.99% = 25 points
• 83% - 86.99% = 20 points
• 80% - 82.99% = 15 points
• 75% - 79.99% = 10 points
• 70% - 74.99% = 5 points
• Below 70% = 0 points

Program Expenses Score* (15 points)

• 85%+ = 15 points
• 75% - 84.99% = 10 points
• 65% - 74.99% = 5 points
• Below 65% = 0 points

*Reflects the percentage of an organization’s total expenses that are used for its stated cause.

Organization Popularity Score (5 points max)

• 500K+ Facebook Likes: 5 points
• 300K – 499K Facebook Likes: 4 points
• 100K – 299K Facebook Likes: 3 points
• 50K – 99K Facebook Likes: 2 points
• 25K – 49K Facebook Likes: 1 point

Fewer Than 25K Facebook Likes: 0 points

 

Image: Qvasimodo / iStock.

from Wallet HubWallet Hub


via Finance Xpress

Posted by: John S Kiernan

Gift cards are supposed to make gift-giving simpler, reducing the need to worry about the recipient’s tastes and or whichat specific items he or she might already have. But not all gift cards are created equal, which might help explain why nearly $1 billions of dollars in gift-card value has gone went unused in 2015recent years, despite gift cards being the most popular type of present for the 132th consecutive year in 2019.

So in the interest of helping you find the best gift cards for any occasion – whether a birthday, holiday, graduation, etc. – we compared the 50 most popular options across five major categories: 1) how popular the cards are; 2) how much of a discount you can buy them for; 3) how much you can sell them for; 4) how much people like the retailer; and 5) shipping fees. Below, you can check out the resulting top picks.

1. Best Gift Cards
2. 10 Tips For Getting The Best Gift Card
3. Gift Card Popularity Over Time
4. Methodology

Best Gift Cards

Gift Card	WalletHub Score	Gift Card Popularity Rank	Shipping Fee	Average Buyer Discount	Average Resale Value ($100 gift card)	Retailer Rating (out of 5)
Amazon Gift Card	90	1	$0.00	N/A	N/A	2.67
Visa Gift Card	65	2	$0.00	N/A	N/A	1.45
Walmart Gift Card	60	3	$0.00	1.07%	$84.09	2.13
Target Gift Card	70	4	$0.00	5.76%	$77.12	3.09
iTunes Gift Card	70	5	$0.00	6.33%	N/A	2.75
Starbucks Gift Card	50	6	$0.00	6.57%	$59.71	3.63
American Express Gift Card	25	7	$5.95	N/A	N/A	1.80
Disney Gift Card	45	8	$0.00	2.34%	$67.50	2.27
eBay Gift Card	55	9	$0.00	0.25%	$82.00	2.53
Sephora Gift Card	60	10	$0.00	2.63%	$77.82	3.41
Google Play Gift Card	45	11	$0.00	3.69%	$60.00	3.48
Costco Gift Card	50	12	$0.00	N/A	$84.60	2.22
Home Depot Gift Card	55	13	$0.00	2.30%	$82.91	2.30
Chick-Fil-A Gift Card	50	14	$0.00	8.70%	$73.48	2.73
Netflix Gift Card	70	15	$0.00	12.34%	N/A	2.50
Best Buy Gift Card	45	16	$0.00	1.52%	$83.38	2.06
Macy’s Gift Card	45	17	$0.00	3.64%	$78.53	2.05
Gamestop Gift Card	40	18	$0.00	4.99%	$76.53	1.90
Mastercard Gift Card	25	19	$0.00	N/A	N/A	2.30
McDonald's Gift Card	50	20	$0.00	5.65%	$76.27	2.63
Fandango Gift Card	50	21	$0.00	13.47%	$70.25	0.97
Nordstrom Gift Card	40	22	$0.00	3.65%	$73.50	2.65
Lowe’s Gift Card	45	23	$0.00	4.41%	$79.92	2.05
Nike Gift Card	40	24	$0.00	5.50%	$74.92	1.70
Kohl's Gift Card	40	25	$0.00	3.75%	$77.68	1.83
Dunkin Donuts Gift Card	25	26	$0.00	0.63%	$57.53	3.67
Chipotle Gift Card	40	27	$0.00	6.33%	$76.33	3.87
T.J. Maxx Gift Card	35	28	$0.00	3.12%	$75.00	2.90
Apple Store Gift Card	40	29	$0.00	1.80%	$85.15	2.13
Olive Garden Gift Card	30	30	$1.95	8.15%	$71.86	1.70
Rei Gift Card	50	31	$0.00	5.35%	$81.27	2.30
Taco Bell Gift Card	30	32	$0.00	4.00%	$74.35	1.87
Ticketmaster Gift Card	35	33	$0.00	3.33%	$76.50	1.37
Subway Gift Card	45	34	$0.00	4.91%	$78.00	3.20
American Airlines Gift Card	30	35	$0.00	1.50%	$75.74	1.63
Ikea Gift Card	55	36	$0.00	10.85%	$76.95	2.85
Etsy Gift Card	15	37	$0.00	N/A	N/A	2.30
Whole Foods Gift Card	35	38	$0.00	0.25%	$78.43	2.00
Forever 21 Gift Card	35	39	$0.00	7.73%	$74.16	1.57
JCPenney Gift Card	30	40	$0.00	2.79%	$73.21	1.93
Texas Roadhouse Gift Card	30	41	$0.00	8.16%	$69.37	1.95
Applebees Gift Card	35	42	$0.00	9.13%	$73.67	1.80
Cabelas Gift Card	40	43	$0.00	7.44%	$76.30	1.80
Hobby Lobby Gift Cards	25	44	$1.00	8.97%	N/A	2.27
Red Lobster Gift Card	30	45	$0.00	5.55%	$69.75	1.93
Cinemark Gift Card	30	46	$0.00	5.97%	$66.75	1.43
Michaels Gift Card	30	47	$1.95	N/A	$71.60	3.33
Shell Gift Card	15	48	$0.00	N/A	N/A	1.90
Old Navy Gift Card	50	49	$0.00	10.22%	$71.70	2.33
H&M Gift Card	45	50	$0.00	12.00%	$71.42	2.12

10 Tips For Getting The Best Gift Card

There are a handful of things we can count on every holiday season: time off from work and school; an overweight, bearded out-of-towner breaking into homes through the chimney; tone-deaf neighbors singing at your doorstep; embarrassing office-party antics; overeating; and, of course, gift cards. They’re everywhere this time of year, and for good reason: people generally love them.

But you don’t want yours to be just one gift card among many received by your intended recipient(s) this year. You’d probably prefer it to be enjoyed rather than forgotten in a drawer full of clutter. And you certainly want to get a good deal, because who doesn’t?

Given that your gift card strategy can make or break the holiday season, particularly the budget part, we compiled a list of 10 great tips for gift card success. You can find them below. Shop wisely!

1. Look For A Discount. You might assume that sales and savings don’t apply to the gift card market, since gift cards are more like currency than retail products with traditional product margins. That’s not the case, however, as the best gift cards can all be bought for less than face value. You can learn where to look for deals from our article on the best gift card exchanges.
2. Avoid Card-Network Gift Cards. Gift cards from Visa, Mastercard and Discover might seem like they’re as good as cash, since they can be used anywhere, but they’re actually quite inferior. While retailers make money immediately when one of their gift cards gets purchased, these card-network gift cards make money from fees. So if you want the versatility of cash, why not just use cash instead? It will certainly be cheaper. That’s why we didn’t include any card-network gift cards in our list of the year’s best gift cards.
3. Don’t Confuse Gift Cards & Prepaid Cards. Despite often being displayed next to each other in stores, gift cards and prepaid cards are very different animals. Gift cards are designed to be used only until the original balance is gone. Prepaid cards, on the other hand, are reloadable and designed to serve the same purpose as a checking account with a debit card.Prepaid cards also have a lot of different fees associated with them. So giving one to someone instead of a gift card could result in the recipient not getting as much value as you intended. In fact, the average prepaid card has nine separate fees, according to our latest Prepaid Card Report, and the wrong prepaid card could cost an individual up to $300 per year if used incorrectly.
4. Beware Loyalty Cards. A loophole in the law allows non-reloadable prepaid cards (aka gift cards) that are received through a loyalty, award or promotional program to expire with no restriction. For context, normal gift cards cannot expire until five years from the date of issuance.So it’s important to verify that you are indeed buying/receiving actual gift cards this holiday season and to read any applicable fine print.
5. Resale Is Always An Option. If you don’t end up using a particular gift card or the recipient doesn’t like it, you’re not out of luck. You can sell it on a gift card exchange or simply swap gift cards with a friend or family member. To learn more about these options, check out our editors’ picks for the year’s best gift card exchanges.
6. When In Doubt, Just Give Cash. Cold, hard cash might seem a bit less personal than a gift card, but it completely eliminates guesswork from the equation and is the most versatile gift anyone can give. Plus, you might be able to give your recipient more value without shipping fees or shopping trips to worry about
7. Tap Into Unredeemed Value. Have you contributed to the billions of dollars in gift cards that have gone unredeemed in recent years? Check your drawers and find out. Any gift card from the past five years is most likely still good.You have three basic options when it comes to unlocking the value of unused gift cards. First, you can sell unwanted gift cards for cash. Secondly, most stores allow you to trade in old, unused gift cards for new ones, which is great news for re-gifting cards that have developed noticeable wear and tear as a result of sitting idle for years. Finally, most states have programs that allow you to recoup unused funds from expired gift cards under unclaimed property laws.
8. Buy Gift Cards With Rewards. Most credit card rewards programs allow you to redeem your points/miles for gift cards from a wide variety of major retailers. In many cases, you can garner more value from this type of redemption strategy than redeeming for cash. For example, under Citibank’s rewards program, you need 10,000 ThankYou points to get $50 in cash back, whereas you only need 5,000 points (50% fewer) for a $50 gift card.
9. E-Gift Cards Are Great In A Time Crunch. E-gift cards have been gaining traction in recent years, and increased mobile functionality stands to foster greater use of such products this holiday season. That’s good news for time-crunched shoppers who want to avoid the shipping fees that many major retailers charge for physical gift cards ordered online.“E-cards make redemption easier in terms of logistics, time, and salience (once you enter the card number to your account, the money is there waiting to be used),” said Ayelet Gneezy, associate professor of marketing in the University of California, San Diego’s Rady School of Management. “In short, this is one domain where I expect digital to provide consumers great value.”
10. Avoid Using Gift Cards As An Excuse To Overspend. When redeeming gift cards, two-thirds of consumers spend more than their cards’ face value, according to Consumer Reports. This is likely due to the same psychological factor that leads consumers to spend more with credit cards than cash: the money somehow seems less real. While gift cards can be quite useful in subsidizing the cost of large purchases, you should be especially cognizant of your spending when using a gift card, so as to avoid unnecessary expenses.

Gift Card Popularity Over Time

The following gift cards are projected to be the most popular among consumers this holiday season, according to WalletHub data.

Gift Card	2019 Popularity Rank	Change From 2018 Rank	Change From 2017 Rank	Change From 2016 Rank	Change From 2015 Rank	Change From 2014 Rank
Amazon Gift Card	1	-	-	-	↑1	↑1
Visa Gift Card	2	-	↓1	-	↓1	↓1
Walmart Gift Card	3	-	-	↑2	↑2	↑3
Target Gift Card	4	↑3	↓1	↑3	↑2	↑3
iTunes Gift Card	5	-	↓1	↓1	↓1	↓2
Starbucks Gift Card	6	-	-	-	↑1	↑4
American Express Gift Card	7	↓3	-	↓4	↓4	↓3
Disney Gift Card	8	↑3	↓3	↑5	↑5	↑8
eBay Gift Card	9	↓1	↑2	↑2	-	-
Sephora Gift Card	10	-	↓1	-	↑6	↑4
Google Play Gift Card	11	↓2	↑3	↑1	↓1	↓3
Costco Gift Card	12	↑22	↓23	↑18	↑7	↑8
Home Depot Gift Card	13	-	↓1	↓4	↑4	↑16
Chick-Fil-A Gift Card	14	↑13	↓4	↑29	↑25	↑37
Netflix Gift Card	15	↓3	-	↓7	↓7	↓10
Best Buy Gift Card	16	↓2	↑1	↑1	↓1	↓1
Macy’s Gift Card	17	↑8	↓10	↑10	↓3	↓5
Gamestop Gift Card	18	-	↑5	↑16	↑7	↓1
MasterCard Gift Card	19	↓3	↑5	↑2	↓8	↓8
McDonald's Gift Card	20	↓1	↑2	↓2	↓2	↑4
Fandango Gift Card	21	↓6	↑4	↓6	↓9	↓3
Nordstrom Gift Card	22	↑8	↓2	↑2	↑4	↑2
Lowe’s Gift Card	23	↓6	↑6	↓9	↓1	↓2
Nike Gift Card	24	↑4	↑2	↑7	↑9	↑9
Kohl's Gift Card	25	↑1	↓3	↑17	↑30	↑36
Dunkin Donuts Gift Card	26	↓6	↑3	↓4	↓2	↓2
Chipotle Gift Card	27	↑4	↑1	↑18	↓7	↓3
T.J. Maxx Gift Card	28	↑12	↓1	↑16	↑12	↑26
Apple Store Gift Card	29	↑16	↓2	↑8	↑1	↑3
Olive Garden Gift Card	30	↓9	↑11	↓14	↑4	↓4
Rei Gift Card	31	↓2	↑14	↑1	↑4	↓1
Taco Bell Gift Card	32	-	↑7	↓13	↑6	↑6
Ticketmaster Gift Card	33	↑2	↑8	-	↓6	↓14
Subway Gift Card	34	↓10	↑8	↓8	↓2	↑2
American Airlines Gift Card	35	↑12	↑2	↑13	↑20	↑30
Ikea Gift Card	36	↓14	↑10	↓13	↓13	↓23
Etsy Gift Card	37	↓14	↑9	↓12	↓16	↓10
Whole Foods Gift Card	38	↓1	↑2	-	↓9	↓2
Forever 21 Gift Card	39	↑9	↓5	↑12	↓11	↓14
JCPenney Gift Card	40	↓1	↑9	↑1	↑9	↑9
Texas Roadhouse Gift Card	41	↓5	↑13	↓6	↑7	↑7
Applebees Gift Card	42	↓4	-	↑17	↑12	↓1
Cabelas Gift Card	43	↓2	↓2	↑4	↑41	↓30
Hobby Lobby Gift Cards	44	-	↑15	↓8	↑9	↓44
Red Lobster Gift Card	45	↓12	↑22	↓17	↓4	↓10
Cinemark Gift Card	46	↓4	↑7	↑3	↓3	↓6
Michaels Gift Card	47	↑2	↑10	↑9	↑4	↑14
Shell Gift Card	48	↓5	↑12	↓28	↓11	↓6
Old Navy Gift Card	49	↓3	↑13	↑75	↑50	↓6
H&M Gift Card	50	-	-	↓21	↓19	↓16

Methodology

To identify the year’s best gift cards, WalletHub compared the cards affiliated with the country’s 100 largest retailers in five categories that speak to their appeal and overall value. Each gift card was scored on a 100-point scale, with 100 representing the best option. Below, you can find the grading rubric that we used to calculate these overall WalletHub Scores. Cards for which discount, resale or store-rating information was not available were given 0 points in those respective categories.

Gift Card Popularity Rank (30 points max): We used the number of people who search for each gift card online as a proxy for its popularity.

• 30 points: Ranks 1 to 5
• 25 points: Ranks 6 to 10
• 20 points: Ranks 11 to 15
• 15 points: Ranks 16 to 25
• 10 points: Ranks 26 to 50
• 5 points: Ranks 51 to 75
• 0 points: Ranks 76+

Average Buyer Discount (30 points max): We checked the major gift card exchanges to see what kind of discount buyers can get on each card. For sites that don’t buy gift cards directly, we used their recommended selling price.

• 30 points: 15.00%+
• 20 points: 10.00% to 14.99%
• 10 points: 5.00% to 9.99%
• 5 points: 2.00% to 4.99%
• 0 points: < 2.00%

Average Resale Value (20 points): To account for the potential that you don’t end up using a gift card that you purchase or receive, we determined how much a seller could get for a $100 gift card from each retailer on the major gift card exchanges.

• 20 points: $80.00+
• 15 points: $75.00 to $79.99
• 10 points: $70.00 to $74.99
• 5 points: $60.00 to $69.99
• 0 points: < $60.00

Retailer Rating (15 points): The customer experience at a given retailer obviously affects the intrinsic value of its gift cards. So we obtained user ratings for each retailer from a number of popular review sites and averaged them to provide a broad sense of how well –liked each is.

• 15 points: 4.0 to 5.0
• 10 points: 3.0 to 3.9
• 5 points: 2.0 to 2.9
• 0 points: < 2.0

Shipping Fees (5 points): Any amount spent on shipping a physical gift card reduces the amount you can allocate to the gift itself and eats away at any discount you were able to obtain.

• 5 points: No fees
• 0 points: Fees

 

 

Image: adekvat / iStock.

from Wallet HubWallet Hub


via Finance Xpress

If someone earns a million dollars a year, you may call them rich. But, if they also spend a million dollars a year, then they’re broke. So, ponder this, is it better to earn more money or spend less? Here’s why you may want to aim to be wealthy instead of rich.

When you hear the words rich and wealthy, what comes to mind? If you’re like me, they probably conjure up different images. Rich, in my head, looks a bit like Scrooge McDuck swimming in his pile of money. Wealthy, on the other hand, looks to me like cultured people having a quiet evening on a yacht.

According to dictionary.com, the words are basically synonymous. Rich is defined as “having wealth or great possessions; abundantly supplied with resources, means, or funds; wealthy.”

In other words, there’s not much actual difference between these words. But in the world of personal finance, they’ve come to mean different things. And they also probably bring up different mental images for most of us in the Western world.

A brief Google search of personal finance writing shows how some people think about the differences between the words:

• For some, rich people have a lot of money, but wealthy people can be relaxed about their money.
• For others, rich people are showy with their money while wealthy people aren’t necessarily.
• One person I saw thinks of rich people as coming up with their money in a variety of ways, whether through the lottery or their own earnings, while wealthy people work hard and invest wisely to build their wealth.
• And some think about rich people as the kind who work harder to earn more money so they can spend more, while wealthy people work harder to be frugal so they don’t have to work as hard.

Regardless of how you think about it, one thing is true: we talk about “building wealth,” but we don’t use the word rich the same way. So even though the dictionary says they’re the same, we really don’t treat the words exactly the same.

So before we move on, let’s create a working definition of rich versus wealthy. And then we can talk about why you want to be the latter, not the former.

Related: How to Become a Millionaire in 5 Simple Steps

Rich vs. Wealthy: A Working Definition

Let’s agree that for the purposes of this article, rich versus wealthy are defined similarly as above. Rich people have a lot of money and may have a showier lifestyle that they have to work hard to maintain. Wealthy people, whether they have a lot of money or not a ton, manage their resources well so they don’t have to worry about money constantly.

So wealthy people are likely to be of the millionaire next door type. They’ve accumulated wealth and don’t worry about money, but they may not look all that rich. That’s probably because they’ve consciously decided to live below their means. If those means happen to be great, maybe they look richer than your average American, but you can bet wealthy people aren’t mortgaged to the hilt and living paycheck to paycheck.

Related: 35 Resources to Help You Live Within Your Means

Wealthy people also tend to have opportunities to make decisions that are great for them. Maybe they can afford to take a pay cut for a job they love. Or they can drive older cars so they can take great vacations. Or maybe they are able to save for their kids’ college so their kids can go through school debt free.

The reality is that while there are lots of rich people out there making bank and spending loads of money, there are fewer wealthy people who are truly secure financially. But maybe you’d like to be one of those people. How do you get there? Here are some steps you can take:

The Path to Building Wealth

What it takes to build wealth shouldn’t come as a huge surprise if you’ve spend any time here on this site. We talk about it a lot. Some of the writers are even working to build enough wealth to retire ten or more years early! But if you need a primer on building wealth, here are the basic steps you should take:

Get on a Budget

The first step towards financial freedom is to both know what you’re spending and keep it under control. That’s basically what a budget does. When you hear budget, you might think it means never having fun or spending money again. But that’s not the case.

Related: 10 Online Budget Tools

A good budget starts by simply observing what you already are spending on a regular basis. Once you see how you’re actually spending your money, you can spend some time thinking about where you might need to rein that spending in. And that’s where you create a budget.

You can be super detailed with your budgeting using tools like YNAB and Mint.com. Or if you really only overspend in a couple of key areas, you can create a super basic budget in a spreadsheet or just on a piece of paper. The key here is to figure out what works best for you as you create your budget.

Figuring out what you already are spending can take a month or two of tracking your expenses. And then creating the right budget and sticking to it can take a few more months. So don’t expect major changes in your finances immediately. But as you learn to be more aware of what you’re spending, you can make more conscious decisions with your money. And that’s one of the keys to living wealthy.

Trim Your Expenses

Once you’ve settled into your new budget, it’s time to give that budget a hard look. This is essential if you’re in debt or are living paycheck to paycheck. Debts and on-the-verge financial living are no way to build wealth. So if you’re in those situations, it’s time to figure out where you can cut back.

This might look like a major cut back, like getting rid of your $200 per month cable subscription or selling your car for a much older, paid-off model. Or it could look like trimming expenses in smaller ways that will add up. The Latte Factor is the idea that small expenses can really add up, having an outsized effect on your financial goals.

One thing to note here: don’t try to cut back everywhere all at once. If you have big savings goals, you might be able to really restrict your budget to reach them quickly. But if you try to get there immediately, you may be able to sustain the restrictions for just a few months before you explode and spend all the money. Remember, slow and steady wins the race!

Pay Off Your Debts

As you start trimming down your expenses, put that money towards any debts you have, especially high-interest debts like credit cards. There’s a lot of debate in the financial world about how hard you should hit getting out of debt. Generally, though, if you’re paying hefty interest, it’s better to pay off the debt as soon as possible.

Those monthly payments can be restrictive to your budget, and you probably can’t out-earn that interest by investing the same money. But once you get down towards your lower-interest debts, like your student loans or mortgage, you may want to slow down your debt payoff plan in favor of investing more of your money to continue building wealth.

Related: DR Podcast 298: Paying Off Debt vs. Investing

Invest

Either after you pay off debts, or more likely while you’re doing that, you should invest some of your money. You might start small, investing a couple hundred dollars per month through your employer’s 401(k) plan.

Resource: Blooom Review – Finally, a Robo-Advisor for Your 401(k)

Unless you’re saving for something specific, like a car or home, it’s usually best to focus on your tax-advantaged investing options first. If you max out those options, you can then focus on investing in non-tax-advantaged accounts.

Investing can get complicated, especially as you accumulate wealth or have more money to invest each month. But it doesn’t have to begin that way. When you’re just starting out, look at investing with low-fee robo advisor services like Betterment. These services let you set up your investing profile and forget it, except to continue depositing money each month. They can make it much simpler for you to start investing without the overwhelm or hefty expense of an individual advisor. Once you get the hang of it, you can always become more autonomous in making your investing choices.

Make Conscious Financial Choices

As we’ve noted, being wealthy is really about being good at managing your money, how ever much or little of it you might have. Even on a modest income, if you can live below your means, you’ll feel wealthy and free with your money. And even on a huge income, you can feel broke all the time if you spend more than you make.

To continue building wealth, you simply need to follow these steps and keep making conscious financial decisions. That doesn’t mean you never spend any money or have fun with what money can buy. But it does mean that if you want to travel big, for instance, you might always drive older, paid-off cars so you can free up travel funds. Or if you want to send your kids to college debt-free, you live in a modest home, even if you could technically afford a bigger one.

In short, rather than always doing what you can technically afford to do, you make financial decisions that make sense for your values and financial situation. And you get to a place where you’re at peace with your money, knowing that you’ve got it under control and are able to move your life in a direction that makes sense for you.

Topics: debt • Money and Life • Personal Finance • Smart Spending • wealth

The post Is it Better to Earn More Money or Spend Less? appeared first on The Dough Roller.

via Finance Xpress

Posted by: John S Kiernan

Budgeting is a complicated, often frustrating process. But it’s also an area to which a great deal of attention, including in-depth academic research, has been paid. Thus, there are myriad helpful insights to be gleaned from the experiences and study of others, and below we have amassed a collection of the best tips and strategies we could find.

Listed below you will find WalletHub’s 10 Commandments of Better Budgeting as well as more specialized tips for families, students, project budgeters, vacationers and wedding planners. Finally, we tapped a panel of leading money management experts to share their favorite budgeting advice.

The 10 Commandments of Better Budgeting

1. Have A Clear Objective : Budgeting for budgeting sake won’t get you anywhere. It’s simply not a worthy investment of your time to go through the process without a purpose.

   Whether you’re simply seeking improved financial awareness – determining exactly where your money goes each month – or you are interested in limiting spending and shifting around resources for a particular purpose, be it debt reduction, vacation planning or wedding preparation – understanding your ultimate objective enables you to customize your budget to your specific needs and, in turn, increases your odds of success.

   After all, the impetus for your budgeting will dictate what type of template you’ll want to use, which expenses you’ll track and, perhaps most importantly, the scope of the changes you will need to make to your daily financial management habits. 

2. Establish Realistic Milestones For Meeting Your Objective: A clear goal will also enable you to choose metrics by which to evaluate your progress. This could be saving a certain amount of money over a particular time period, reducing spending in a particular category or getting out of debt within a 0% credit card’s introductory term. The specifics are up to you, but it’s important to set these sub-goals before starting in earnest so your expectations are not tainted by initial results.

   With that being said, creating a budget with rose-colored glasses on is right up there with budgeting for budgeting’s sake in the pantheon of budget blunders. A list of unattainable goals simply won’t do you any good.

   That’s why one of the first steps in our site's budgeting process is to track income and expenses for at least a month, noting what each and every dollar is spent on. This will give you initial benchmarks against which to compare future spending and the ability to establish realistic performance milestones.

   It will also help you determine how you want to group expenses in your budget as well as the period of time you’ll be budgeting for. We recommend only budgeting for a period of time that you can track with hard data. In other words, you shouldn’t try to budget for the next five years unless you have a large enough sample of actual spending and payment data to support your plans.

3. Prioritize An Emergency Fund & Then Debt Repayment: While discretionary expenses like home renovations, a family vacation or a new car might have sparked your interest in making a budget, you’ll have to put those plans on the back burner if you have revolving debt or lack a financial safety net. Despite the high-cost of debt – credit card debt, in particular – it’s important to get your emergency fund started before turning your attention to amounts owed. After all, getting out of debt won’t do you much good if you incur an unaffordable major unexpected expense soon thereafter. So, structure your initial budget around increased monthly savings, with the aim of soon having at least two months’ take-home pay squirreled away.

   Then, adjust your budget to make the minimum payments on all of your balances except that with the highest interest rate – to which you will attribute your previous monthly savings contributions and the rest of your allotted monthly debt payments. After you’ve paid off your most expensive balance, you can repeat this process with the next-most-costly until your debt free – at which time you can divert debt payments to savings until you have an emergency fund with at least six-months’ pay.

   For more debt repayment strategies, check out our guides on How To Get Out Of Debt and How To Stay Out Of Debt.

4. Use Free Cloud-Based Software: While spreadsheet programs such as Microsoft Excel provide advanced analytical potential, most people simply won’t realize the full potential of such programs and should therefore opt for free cloud-based options, like Mint and Wally.

   Such applications automatically track expenses for you and make it easy to identify trends. There is little reason to pay for budgeting tools these days, as budgeters have myriad free options at their disposal.

   For a breakdown of the leading budgeting software, check out our articles on How To Make A Budget and the Best Free Budget Templates. 

5. Make Maintenance An Appointment: Updating and/or reviewing your income and expenses should be either a weekly or monthly activity that ultimately becomes second nature. We recommend setting a particular time on a particular date or day of the week to perform budget maintenance. Consistency will make things much easier, as regular updates are more manageable than trying to catch up in bulk – allowing for more direct adjustments as well.

   In the early going, it’s probably best to set a number of reminders for yourself – online calendar, phone, sticky note, etc. – so you don’t forget. And consciously make plans around the time you will need for budget upkeep. 

6. Craft A Social Incentive System: The number of people who make budgets far exceeds the number of folks who stick to and maintain their budgets. Creating an incentive system is one way to retain your interest and promote engagement.

   For example, you may want to establish tangible rewards for reaching certain milestones, or simply staying within budget for a particular period of time. The type of incentive that will work best depends on the particular individual, but it could range from treating yourself to an ice-cream sundae to finally taking a long-put-off vacation. Incentive systems are particularly effective with family or group budget projects, as the participants can keep each other honest and excited.

7. Plan For Income Fluctuation: Planning for the unexpected is essential as far as personal finances are concerned. That’s why we buy insurance and build emergency funds.

   One thing the Great Recession made abundantly clear is the fact that income levels aren’t always going to stay constant, let alone steadily increase. Anyone with a job related to the real estate market or financial industry learned that first hand.

   As a result, it’s crucial that one not spend as if they will always be bringing home their current salary (or more) in addition to solidifying their financial safety net through a well-funded emergency account. We also recommend identifying your core expenses – those you absolutely cannot live without – that you can use as a sort of default emergency budget when times are tight.

8. Always Account For One-Time Expenses: One-time expenses – such as an expensive car repair or a home appliance that needs replacement – rightfully flummox many budgeters and throw a crimp in their calculated financial management. With this in mind, and given the prevalence of one-time expenses, we recommend creating a budget category specifically for this type of spending. You can then list each one-time expense that crops up as a line item within this category – enabling you to track the total cost of these one-offs as well as exactly what you’re buying.

   Furthermore, we also recommend opening a separate bank account (or a separate saving bucket within your current account) targeted to these expenses. By contributing a bit of money to this fund in months that you have no one-time expenses, you will be in a better position to afford those that pop up in the future. 

9. Leverage & Learn From Analytics: Whether it’s spreadsheet users leveraging analytical functionality (such as Excel formulas) or budgeting app users reviewing the progress reports and recommendations offered by their software, it’s essential that budgeters maximize the value of the process by using it to bring about positive changes in their personal finances.

   This may require a bit of homework on your part – in terms of both the technical side of things and your own internalization of the data – but it’s undoubtedly worth it.

10. Separate Luxuries & Necessities: We all know that luxuries can quickly become necessities, and we all fall into this trap. It’s important to remember and account for that. Don’t question whether you’re doing it because we all are. Just figure out how you’re doing it, and what you’re spending money on so you can eliminate those expenses if ever necessary. Consider these core expenses your break-glass-in-case-of-emergency budget. 

Specialized Budgeting Tips

Any budgeter can live by the tenets explained above, budgeting can also be a very specialized process – with various projects unearthing their own set of questions. With that in mind, we built on our overall budget tips with advice catered to some of the most popular budget categories.

1. Budgeting Tips For Families
2. Student Budget Tips
3. Project Budget Tips
4. Vacation Budget Tips
5. Wedding Budget Tips

Budgeting Tips For Families

1. Group Expenses By Family Member: Identifying the individual attached with each expense will add clarity and make it easier to spot wallet leaks. It will also enable you to set personalized goals and incentives.

2. Make It A Group Effort: Including your family in the budgeting process will make it easier to orchestrate actual change. It will also help increase your kids’ financial literacy. In addition, group budgeting lends itself to bonding and incentive-based competition.  Framing the budget process as a game will certainly help get the kids on board.

3. Don’t Forget The Dog (Or Cat): If you have pets, it’s important to remember that they carry their own costs. From food and grooming to medication and pet insurance, you’ll need to incorporate these expenses into your plans.

4. Don’t Let Your Budget Kill The Vibe: Your family budget is not the end all and be all. Yes, it’s important but it should be viewed as an ally rather than an enemy or undue burden. So, keep things in perspective and try to have some fun.

Student Budget Tips

1. Make It A Contest: Perhaps even more so than families, groups of friends are particularly well-positioned to make use of competition-based budgeting. Add a competitive angle to costs shared by classmates, teammates, fraternity guys or sorority gals, etc., and the rest will take care of itself. This is especially useful when saving for a trip or big event. 

2. Can’t Forget Student Loans: While you aren’t required to begin making student loan payments until 6-9 months after graduation, it’s best to begin accounting for your future payments and building up some savings specifically earmarked for this purpose. Beginning to actually make payments while in school will also enable you to save on interest.

Project Budget Tips

1. Determine If The Project Will Increase Property Value: If the project you’re planning to undertake involves work on your home, make sure to do some research into how the changes would affect your property value. If the work would actually reduce the value, this is an important cost to take into account.

   What’s more, look into whether otherwise allocating your funds would provide a bigger equity boost. Researching local home values will be helpful in this endeavor.  

2. Consider All Potential Costs: Project budget templates tend to be far vaguer than standard monthly budgets, or even templates for groups like students and wedding planners. This allows them to work for a wide range of projects, but it also adds to the budgeter’s burden. You’ll have to think up all of the different things you’ll need to buy, trying as best you can to research potential expenses that could creep up on you.

   It’s also important to note that building materials can vary widely in cost, often depending on the quantity you buy in. This not only indicates that finding cheap materials is one cost constraint strategy, but it also underscores the importance of thorough planning. 

3. Work Efficiently: If you have to rent a truck or other equipment, or you’ll only have help for a certain period of time, it’s important that you schedule things in a manner than enables you to maximize the amount that you get done. This will likely entail scheduling rentals for overlapping times and/or taking off work one Friday to have a whole long weekend at your disposal. 

4. Monitor Resources: Keeping track of what you have enables you to determine what you need. The farther in advance that you anticipate these needs, the easier it will be to make cost allocation choices, rather than being forced into doing something.

Vacation Budget Tips

1. Destination & Calendar Date Are Essential: There are numerous ways to take the same type of vacation. For example, a trip to the beach could entail a road trip or an international flight and a European vacation could be done out of either a backpack or a five-star hotel. So, avoid getting hung up on having to go to a particular place at a particular time. Instead, focus on finding ways to get what you want at the cheapest possible price point.

   This might, for instance, entail finding a relatively unheralded destination with potential to be a hidden gem. Or, you might want to allocate more of your budget to transportation at the expense of lodging. Traveling outside of peak dates is another simple way to save, but you should be sure to check the weather before booking. 

2. Make Sure You Have A Credit Card: A credit card is a traveler’s best friend. Not only does a credit card provide a blanket $0 liability guarantee – meaning you’ll never have to pay for unauthorized charges – but it also reduces your susceptibility to pick pockets.

   For overseas travel, Visa and Mastercard offer the lowest currency conversion rates available to international travelers, enabling those who use no foreign transaction fee credit cards on those networks to save up to 9% relative to other popular conversion methods. We recommend getting a Visa or Mastercard debit card with low international ATM withdrawal fees as your primary means of accessing cash for the same reason.

   Many credit cards also offer lucrative rewards or 0% financing rates that can help you afford a particular trip.

3. Check Out Initial Bonuses: In recent years, credit cards have been offering initial rewards bonuses worth hundreds of dollars to new applicants who have excellent credit. An extra $400 could certainly alter the affordability of your trip, or even enable you to upgrade your accommodations. Travel expenses also represent a good way to meet the initial spending requirements required to qualify for an initial bonus, though you must be able to pay off your balance in a timely manner.

   To check out the best initial bonuses currently being offered, visit Best Credit Card Deals page.

4. Consider A House Instead Of A Hotel: For larger groups, especially those comfortable with a couple of people sleeping on couches, can lock in some significant savings by forgoing hotel rooms in favor of a rented house. Brokers such as VRBO, HomeAway and Airbnb have houses and condos with a range of sleeping capacities available in most major U.S. cities. 

5. Don’t Go Into Debt For A Vacation: It’s simply not worth indebting yourself for a vacation. Period. There are just too many low-cost, even free, ways to have fun and let off steam to warrant compromising your financial security for a trip.

   There is, however, one notable exception to this rule. If you are paying for the trip with a 0% credit card in order to leave would-be payments – money that you do, in fact, have – in secure, accessible investments for longer. With interest rates being so low, allowing funds to reap higher yields for 18-21 months (the longest 0% terms typically available) can make a big difference. Just make absolutely sure that you can pay your tab in full before 0% gives way to high regular rates. 

6. Take A Staycation: If you simply can’t afford to go somewhere this year, make the best of things with a festive staycation. We have a whole guide on the best staycation destinations and activity ideas.

Wedding Budget Tips

1. Put One Person In Charge: Weddings are classic cases of too many cooks in the kitchen ruining dinner. While input from the bride, the groom and their respective parents should, of course, be taken into account, there needs to be a single individual who has final say. In most cases, this will be a parent of the bride, since they traditionally are the ones footing the bill.

   Not designating such a decider could leave you vulnerable to agonizing over every decision and overspending in compromise.

2. Avoid Common Budget Busters: One of the biggest ways to save money is to avoid common budget-busters like wedding planners, live bands, top-shelf booze and peak event dates (e.g. Friday, Saturdays and holidays). They all have low-cost alternatives that make relatively little practical difference to event goers.

3. Include The Honeymoon: One of the biggest decisions that must be made in the course of wedding planning is how much money to attribute to the reception and the honeymoon, respectively. You basically have to decide if you’d rather celebrate with friends and family or in private.

   Make sure to check out our report on the Best Budget Honeymoon Destinations for some money-saving ideas.

4. Don’t Count On Gifts: You will, of course, get gifts from those who attend your wedding. You should not, however, count on the cash you may receive to help pay for the cost of your wedding. For one thing, you don’t know how much you’ll get. And, besides, gifts should be gifts – the icing on the proverbial cake, not the batter.

5. Make A Gift Card Wish List: Opting for a gift card wish list rather than a traditional registry gives you a great deal of flexibility, as you’ll be identifying your favorite stores rather than particular items.

   This enables you to pool gift cards from the same retailer to buy big-ticket items that would be inappropriate on a standard registry. It also positions you to more easily liquidate your gifts if you would rather have cash. 

6. Sell Your Gift Cards For Cash: Gift cards easily be sold on secondary markets such as the ones mentioned here. You can then, in turn, buy discounted gift cards from a particular retailer in order to pool your funds or make a purchase for which a gift card cannot be used.

7. Use Digital Invitations: Wedding stationary costs just under $200 on average, according to the Bridal Association of America, and that figure doesn’t even include printing invitations and reply cards. Handling the invite, RSVP and thank you process via email or social media would thus save you a lot of money.

   It all comes down to your priorities and how traditional you and your family are.

8. Steer Clear Of Fridays & Saturdays: Much like traveling during the offseason, scheduling your wedding for a low-traffic day of the week will save you a considerable amount of money, on everything from the reception space and caterer to the DJ and limo.

For more money-saving wedding tips, check out the Budget Wedding Guide at Brides.com as well as our Money-Saving Tips For Wedding Season.

Ask The Experts: The Best Budget Tip I’ve Ever Received

Budget experts are people too, which means that in addition to studying money management professionally, they have to budget on a personal basis as well. With that depth of experience in mind, we asked these budget professionals to share the best budgeting advice they’ve ever received as well as a range of other insights on the budgeting process.

You can check out their bios and responses to the following questions below.

1. What’s the best budget tip you’ve ever received?
2. What advice do you have for budget problem solving?
3. What is the biggest budgeting mistake people make?

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• Arwiphawee Srithongrung Associate Professor in the Hugo Wall School of Urban and Public Affairs at Wichita State University
• Scott Rothbort Term Professor in the Department of Finance at Seton Hall University
• Phil Uhlmann Senior Lecturer in Finance at Bentley University
• William J. Trainor Jr. Professor of Finance in the Department of Economics and Finance at East Tennessee State University
• Kristy L. Archuleta Associate Professor of Personal Financial Planning in the School of Family Studies and Human Services at Kansas State University
• Rachel Bi Assistant Professor of Personal Financial Planning in the Woodbury Business School at Utah Valley University

  Image: Paul Matthew Photography / Shutterstock

from Wallet HubWallet Hub


via Finance Xpress

Posted by: John S Kiernan

The holiday season has become a commercial bonanza in which billions of dollars are spent on gifts and billions are added to our credit card debt tab. But that’s not what it’s really all about, and there’s no reason to feel pressured into spending more than you can afford. Because if your holiday budget isn’t as big as you’d like, there are plenty of presents you can give that cost absolutely nothing or close to it.

Below, you can find 16 low-cost or free holiday gift ideas that are sure to spread cheer without giving your wallet anything to fear. Happy holidays!

1. Make Something Yourself: From a high-tech, heart-wrenching video to a knit hat, we’re all capable of making a perfectly good homemade present if we put our minds to it. After all, 53 million people already know how to knit or crochet, according to the Craft Yarn Council, and a pair of needles and some yarn would save you a bundle compared to garments bought at retail. Or a picture – whether painted, drawn or taken – could tell a thousand words while also saving you a nice chunk of change.

   The key is to consider what you’re good and what you’d have fun doing. Then channel that into a meaningful gift for someone you care about. Anything that shows you really care will do the trick!

2. Think Sentimental: Try to remember what your friends and family talk about most as well as some of your favorite memories with them. Then brainstorm memorabilia, mementos and other symbolic items that represent those areas of interest or shared history. Your goal is to swap sentimental value for actual monetary worth, and relatively obscure items that don’t mean much to most people can often be had on the cheap.

   For example, you could try to find an original ticket stub from the movie your parents saw on their first date and then frame it, along with a touching quote from the film. If you’re lucky, the frame could prove to be your biggest expense. Even a heartfelt letter to your recipient explaining what he or she means to you could make the perfect present in the right situation.

3. Give Your Time: Sometimes, all those closest to us really want is to see us more. So, for example, you could make a standing date for lunch with your grandmother once a month or plans to take a day off from work for an outing with your child. This will give you something to “give” over the holidays without actually spending any money right now.

   The “being there” approach works for charitable giving, too. If you can’t afford a donation this holiday season, you could always volunteer with a worthy organization. You can double-check whether this makes sense in your situation with our Time vs. Money Charity Calculator.

4. Adopt A Pet: Pet care can be expensive in the long term, and adoption should never be on a whim. But if your family is ready for the responsibility, a new pet doesn’t have to cost much up front. Most animal shelters have an adoption fee of about $250, according to WalletHub research.

   If you want to see the kind of unadulterated joy a puppy present can bring, for example, just search “new puppy Christmas” on YouTube.

5. Donate Blood: If you can’t afford to give money to charity this year and are too busy to volunteer, consider swapping greenbacks and sweat for some life-saving red. There’s always a need, especially if you have a rare blood type, and it only takes about an hour.

   You can easily find a blood drive near you on the American Red Cross website.

6. Do Household Chores: The little things really can go a long way, especially when they’re chores that you don’t usually do. Taking the likes of snow shoveling, cooking, cleaning and laundry off someone’s plate gives that person a chance to relax, which can be invaluable.
7. Re-Gift Something: Maybe you have a spare present from an early office holiday party. Or perhaps you have an unopened, unwanted gift lying around somewhere. A lot of people have gift cards they haven’t used. Any of those things could get another life with someone else. And with some new wrapping, the recipient will be none the wiser. Most stores will even let you trade in their old gift cards for the season’s newest design.
8. Bestow Some Knowledge: Newspaper subscriptions are quite cheap. For example, a year of online access to the New York Times costs $2 a week right now. Magazines are pretty cheap, too. You can get 52 issues of Time for $30 or 12 issues of National Geographic for just $12. The prices are even cheaper if you go through a site such as Magazines.com.

   You can also get an audiobook a month from Audible for $14.95 a month. So if you have a reader (or someone you’d like to read more) on your gift list, consider this option.

9. Gift A Subscription Service: Subscription boxes are all the rage right now, and they have the added benefit of allowing you to spread the cost of your gift over time without incurring interest. Plus, there’s enough variety to satisfy anyone on your list, from Birchbox (around $15/mo.) for fans of cosmetics to BarkBox ($20+/mo.) for dog lovers.
10. Give Tickets To A Far-Off Event: If you know someone who really wants to attend an upcoming concert, sporting event, play, etc., for which ticket sales have not yet begun, you could simply give him or her a picture depicting the event along with a nice note. This could also work with a future vacation. But be careful, though, because this approach only buys you time. That means it will only work if you expect to have more cash available in the near future.
11. Turn Possessions Into Heirlooms: If you’re a parent or grandparent, anything that’s yours can have a lot of significance to younger family members. So consider parting with something you already have and can live without that someone else might cherish. This could be something fancy like a piece of vintage jewelry or a worn baseball glove. It all depends on your relationship with the recipient.
12. Scour Secondhand Sales: From flea markets and thrift shops to antique shops and estate sales, there are plenty of places to find old items that you can give new life as a holiday gift. And if you have a good eye, some amazing deals can be had.
13. Redeem Credit Card Rewards: If your credit card offers rewards and you haven’t cashed in your earnings for a while, you could have enough value saved up for a holiday gift or two. Most credit cards let you redeem for gift cards, merchandise and/or cash back. You just need to make sure that you don’t sacrifice value by redeeming for the wrong type of item. Points and miles often are worth more when redeemed for travel, for example.
14. Enroll The Recipient In A Class: Whether yoga, karate, ballet or painting, there are fun activities for people of all ages for which you can register recipients now and pay over time.
15. Just Be There: Presents are overrated. Presence is where it’s at. We spend so much time working, commuting, sleeping and engrossed in technology that we hardly get to spend quality time with those we love. So don’t sweat not having a gift as long as you put in some quality in-person face time.

Hopefully, this list of low-cost holiday gift ideas will help you have the happiest of holiday seasons! And if you have some inexpensive-present suggestions that you’d like to add, be sure to share them in the comments section below.

Image: Michelle Schiro / iStock

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via Finance Xpress