Smart Money Links 4U

Some of the links in this post are from our sponsors. We provide you with accurate, reliable information. Learn more about how we make money and select our advertising partners . Popping bubbles is fun. Popping lots of bubbles is good stress relief. And shooting tons of bubbles on your iPhone screen — that’s the best. A good bubble-shooter game can be a great time-killer. But what if you could play for money? Real money? There’s a free iPhone and iPad app called Bubble Cash that lets you play for money. You can get paid up to $83 per win. Blasting Bubbles for Money: How to Win up to $83/Game You might be wondering if there’s a catch. But there’s really not. Bubble Cash is free to download and is completely skill-based. And it’s quite popular. It has more than a million downloads from the App Store and more than 12,500 ratings, averaging 4.6 stars (out of 5). Players have won hundreds of thousands in prize money so far. The app is free to download and play , although the cash t

Late on Dec. 29, the IRS announced that the second stimulus checks were already on their way. Compared to the first coronavirus check , they’re a lot leaner, but they’re also going out faster. In some cases, you may qualify for one payment and not the other. Here are eight key differences to know. 8 Differences Between the First vs. Second Stimulus Check First, a few things that haven’t changed: You don’t need to take action to get your check. You don’t have to worry about owing taxes on your stimulus payment. And anyone who’s eligible for either payment who doesn’t (or didn’t) get it will still be able to claim their money by filing a 2020 tax return. OK, now let’s break down the differences. 1. The payments are smaller. This one’s glaringly obvious: Instead of the $1,200 payments most adults received mid-2020, the second stimulus check is just $600. Although President Trump has pushed for a $2,000 check and the Democrat-led House of Representatives passed a bill increasing the

Dating has gone digital. The budding trend became the undisputed norm as the pandemic pushed most folks indoors and slowed down in-person activities where you might organically meet another single person. (How quaint.) Throughout the pandemic, the popularity of dating apps like Bumble, Coffee Meets Bagel, Hinge and Tinder has skyrocketed, according to the New York Times . And that popularity is only expected to grow, as it’s peak “cuffing season,” the coldest part of the year where singles want to pair up. Each year the season culminates with “Dating Sunday,” the first Sunday of the New Year when activity on dating apps explodes. “Online dating is the mainstream way to meet and start dating,” said Dawoon Kang, the CEO of  Coffee Meets Bagel. That shift has come swiftly. For many, the anxiety of dating is amplified by the fear of committing a digital faux pas. (We matched! Should I message first or wait for them? It’s been five minutes. OK, I’m just going to go for it. Wait — what

Some of the links in this post are from our sponsors. We provide you with accurate, reliable information. Learn more about how we make money and select our advertising partners . Debt stresses you out. It eats away at your well-being. It’s always there, lurking in the background, a black cloud following you around. The worst kind of debt for that? Credit card debt. We’re not just saying that. A number of recent studies have found that unpaid credit card debt, rolling over month to month, causes more stress than other kinds of debt, like mortgages or medical debt or even student loans. That’s because at some level, you know your credit card companies are ripping you off by charging you high interest rates on your balances. The COVID-19 pandemic and its economic fallout aren’t helping, either. In a recent Money survey, a whopping 25% of Americans said credit card debt is a source of daily stress right now. And for those who’ve lost their jobs or taken a pay cut, 37% are stressed a

Some of the links in this post are from our sponsors. We provide you with accurate, reliable information. Learn more about how we make money and select our advertising partners . The people who need financial advice the most are usually the ones who can’t afford it. As Alanis Morissette once asked — isn’t it ironic? Only those with a few commas in their bank accounts already can afford to have a financial advisor on speed dial. The rest of us are left to scour the internet for broad advice that may or may not answer our questions and definitely won’t take into account our unique situations. But with a website called FreeFinancialPlan.com by Anasova , you can get a free, totally customized financial plan — and it could save you as much as $3,500 a year. Get Your Own Personal Financial Advisor — But Don’t Pay For It Anasova is an AI-powered tool that asks questions about your finances and lifestyle to build a totally personalized financial plan for your specific needs. We know wh

The year is almost over — and what a year it’s been. You might be ready to kick 2020 to the curb, but we still have a few weeks left before we finally get to say “See ya, wouldn’t want to be ya” to one of the weirdest years ever. And while we fully endorse spending most of that time stuffing ourselves silly with sugar cookies and binging on the Hallmark Channel’s holiday offerings, we also want you to take some time for reflection and planning before heading into 2021. Grab a notebook and pen, set aside an hour or two and settle in with your favorite beverage as we walk through these exercises. Making these moves will help you handle whatever comes your way next year. 1. Set Your Financial Goals for the Coming Year When you think ahead to the end of 2021, what would make you feel accomplished? What if you cut your credit card debt by half? What if you were able to boost your savings account to four — or even five — figures? Or build up that emergency fund you may have had to dip

A second stimulus check is OFFICIALLY on its way after President Trump signed a $900 billion COVID-19 relief bill into law Sunday night after initially refusing. The relief bill will deliver a second stimulus check of $600 to most adults who can’t be claimed as dependents, as well as $600 for children 16 and younger. Now the wait begins — but fortunately, it should be shorter than the first time around. Here’s when you can expect your second stimulus check. When Will Your $600 Stimulus Check Arrive? It took just over two weeks for the first round of stimulus checks provided by the CARES Act to start hitting bank accounts for people who had direct deposit information on file with the IRS. Those who received payments by mail via paper check or prepaid debit cards had to wait several extra weeks — or longer, in some cases. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has indicated that this round of checks could start going out even sooner. On Dec. 21, Mnuchin told CNBC host Jim Cramer: “Peopl

Just as approximately 14 million jobless Americans were to see their unemployment benefits expire, Congress passed a $900 billion economic stimulus package that extends unemployment programs by 11 weeks and boosts weekly payments. After suggesting the new deal did not go far enough, President Donald Trump signed it Dec. 27. “I think that the bill is a net positive, but 11 weeks is really not much time. But keeping people from falling off a cliff [Dec. 31] is a pretty big deal,“ said Michele Evermore, an unemployment policy analyst at the National Employment Law Project. This new economic stimulus package — which also includes a host of other relief measures like rental assistance programs, small business aid and $600 stimulus checks — was attached to a mammoth spending bill that kept the government from shutting down. “I am signing this bill to restore unemployment benefits, stop evictions, provide rental assistance, add money for PPP, return our airline workers back to work, add s

The blank slate of a new year is something to look forward to. But as we set financial goals for the upcoming 12 months, it’s important to think beyond broad declarations, like: “I want to save more money.” Without a clear plan mapped out, those types of resolutions often fall through. The 52-Week Money Challenge, on the other hand, is specific and concrete — offering a better chance to walk away with success. You may have heard of this challenge. The premise is simple, but it gets more difficult as the year goes along. The first week, you save $1. The second week, you save $2. The third week, you save $3… The idea is to increase the amount you deposit by $1 each week until you eventually save $52 in week 52, the last week of the year. Stay disciplined and stick to the plan, and you’ll have $1,378 in your account at the end of the year. Imagine what you could do with an extra $1,378. While saving over $1,000 in one year is wonderful, the classic 52-week challenge isn’t ideal for

Dear Readers, Two weeks ago, I answered a question from a woman who wanted to know if she needed her ex-husband’s permission to claim his Social Security benefits. (In case you missed it, the answer is no .) Nearly 300 of you emailed me with follow-up questions about exes and Social Security. So today, let’s tackle a few more together … with the caveat that for the trickiest questions, the answer is “Call the Social Security office.” -Penny So are you telling me my husband’s ex-wife can actually get my husband’s Social Security benefits while I’m still married to him? Do I have to fight her for this Social Security? He makes more than I do, and if he passed, I’d need that money to live on.  There’s no need to fight over this man or his Social Security. While your husband is alive, all three of you can claim based on his work record. If he dies, both you and his ex-wife can collect. Her Social Security decisions have absolutely no impact on your benefits or your husband’s. I’ve bee

Hey 2020, don’t let the door hit you on the way out. There are plenty of reasons this year in particular — a lost job, illness or sheer boredom — could have left you racking up expenses. Let the promise of a new year come with a renewed resolve to rid yourself of pricy credit card debt. Check out these options for what you can do about your credit cards as we head into 2021. What to Do About Your Credit Card Debt Before 2021 Wherever you are on your debt journey — from needing a little help to wanting to cut up all your credit cards (don’t do that… yet), we’re here to help you tackle your credit card debt before the new year hits. Here’s what you can do. Use the Debt Lasso Method to Pay Off Debt Faster Ready to wrangle in that credit card debt? Consider the debt lasso method. Developed by David Auten and John Schneider, also known as the Debt Free Guys , the debt lasso method involves corralling your high-interest debt into a low-interest one so you can pay down the principal ba

We’re almost there, folks. Only three more years until the end of 2020. At least it feels that way. The pandemic upended many areas of the economy, forcing millions of people out of work and into a scramble to fill the income void. We’re looking back at the side hustles that helped many of us pull through the year. Each gig below held up surprisingly well — even as traditional jobs plummeted. Some even sprouted up because of the pandemic. 7 Sides Hustles That Pulled Us Through 2020 These gigs not only did well this year, but many have good moneymaking prospects in 2021 as well. 1. Delivery App Gigs Whatever you want to deliver — pizza, packages or produce — there are ample opportunities. Delivery-related companies are among the clear winners of the coronavirus economy. App-based delivery services like Amazon Flex, Uber Eats and Instacart have been onboarding new workers by the hundreds of thousands throughout the pandemic. Requirements are overall very low. In many cases, all y