Smart Money Links 4U

People have been renting cars, wedding tents and folding chairs for decades. Renting dresses is now high fashion. But online companies as well as independent entrepreneurs are steadily increasing the array of things consumers can rent instead of buy. Most often the rental period is flexible and renting will usually save money. There are a variety of reasons to rent a tool, instrument or fabulous dress instead of paying the purchase price. It may be you only need to use it once. Or perhaps you don’t want to be limited to just one type of circular saw or strapless maxi dress. And, often it makes sense to rent something once or twice, even if you do end up buying so you end up with something you love. Then there’s also the lure of reducing the clutter in your home and the trash in landfills. The more products are rented and reused, the less they are bought and discarded. “Reduce new” is a growing catchphrase and renting is a way to achieve it. 10 Things You Can Rent Instead of Buy 1....

Big dreams often require big savings, and one way to build up your bank is to kick your costly habits. Starbucks and DoorDash might seem like quick and convenient ways to treat yourself, but we’re big believers in swapping the spendy stuff in favor of finding financial freedom. Life’s expenses can be surprising, but cutting back on at least one thing adds up in the long run. At The Penny Hoarder, we’re all about empowering people to make smart choices with their money. To help someone jumpstart their savings account, we’re going to pay one person $5,000 to kick one of their most persistent spending habits and save money for 30 days — that’s long enough to find a new, happier way to hoard your pennies. If you’re looking for a fun challenge to change up your spending habits, apply now ! What’s the Job? We’re hiring a Penny Hoarding Specialist to curb one area of their spending while they kick start their savings account. If selected, you’ll track your spending and saving during th...

Dear Penny, My husband and I did a really stupid thing: We co-signed for our 20-year-old daughter’s truck.  We did this in July 2021. We shook hands in a “gentleman’s deal” on the condition that she live at home until 2022 to figure out her actual income versus outgoing money.  She has a job that can pay for her to live on her own with no problems financially. We were concerned because of her lack of life experience. She went straight from homeschooling into this job. She moved out without our consent or approval.  We are on bad terms at this point. We want my husband’s name off the loan OR the truck back. We’ll assume payments plus pay her back her deposit. It’s hard knowing you’re potentially responsible for something if things go awry. We are on such disgruntled terms that we don’t even know where she lives or her cell number.  -Serves Me Right Dear Serves Me Right, I don’t think co-signing was your foolish move here. Co-signing tends to end poorly when th...

There may be no better time than now to be a teenager looking for a job. Many businesses are scrambling to find workers to fill spots that were held by adults, pre-pandemic. Those adults haven’t returned to the workforce yet, or at least they aren’t going back to their old jobs. It’s retail and hospitality industries that are hurting the most and teens are coming to the rescue. To lure prospective employees, some businesses are paying higher hourly wages and offering signing bonuses. Where once high schools students were aced out of some retail and fast food jobs by college kids and even older adults, they are now coming to the rescue of businesses desperate to fill openings. We’ve got some ideas about how teens can save those bigger paychecks for college and cars or even a gap year. Statistics show they are responding to the calls of industry. The unemployment rate for teens ages 16 to 19 has been below 10% for May through July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In f...

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 . Generational wealth. It sounds so fancy and out of reach, doesn’t it? Like a topic of conversation for the Vanderbilts to chat about over their afternoon tea, not a smart financial strategy for everyday people. But at its core, generational wealth is something we all can aspire to. It’s about building a more prosperous future and having something to pass on to your children. Whether that’s cash, stocks or property, it doesn’t need to be in a trust fund to make life better for future generations. Once you realize “generational wealth” isn’t just for descendants of railroad tycoons, you can see it’s something that is totally attainable — and incredibly important — for the rest of us common folk. Here are a few ways to start a generational-wealth plan for your family. 1. Leave Your Family up to $1M While li...

Getting rid of federal student loan debt has just become easier — in many cases automatic — for borrowers with qualifying disabilities.  The U.S. Department of Education announced that it will automatically forgive federal student loans for at least 323,000 borrowers who have total and permanent disabilities. An estimated $5.8 billion in federal student loan debt will be wiped out through this initiative. “We are excited to see the Department of Education finally provide automatic discharges to the hundreds of thousands of disabled borrowers who have been entitled to this relief for years,” Persis Yu, director of the National Consumer Law Center’s Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project, said in a statement. The Department stated it plans to identify all eligible borrowers in September, notify them shortly afterward and then discharge the loans “by the end of the year.” While this initiative will be a big relief to the borrowers who qualify, there are many more who will conti...

Starting a business is an opportunity to be your own boss, make money and grow your skill set. There are also the not-so-great, somewhat messy and complicated parts about operating a business. If you start off solo or small, you’ll be tackling a lot of tasks yourself. But don’t worry. In this article, we’re going to address something relatively simple in the business world: the best business checking accounts. We’ll go into why you need one, what you should look for and several of the best ones available, both in-person and online-only. Wait, Do I Really Need a Business Checking Account? The purpose of a business checking account is to keep your business finances separate from your personal finances. Technically, you might not need one depending on the legal structure of your business . For example, if you’re a freelance writer who established a sole proprietorship and is starting slowly, you could use your personal checking account to get off the ground. But you’ll want to be e...