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SlugBooks Review

June 28, 2017 By Mary Newton Leave a Comment

It is no secret that textbooks are expensive. Every college student’s wallet suffers when the beginning of the semester – and book buying time – comes around. Fortunately, SlugBooks offers a simple, stress-free way to find the lowest available cost for your textbook.

How SlugBooks Works

SlugBooks’ methods are straightforward: simply type in your textbook’s ISBN, and you will receive the book’s list price alongside the lowest prices available from a variety of vendors. These vendors – Amazon, Chegg, etc. – partner with SlugBooks to make these price readings available. Prices are shown for purchases and rentals, with an additional unmarked Student Exchange option.

As you search for books, SlugBooks will keep your books in a list. This way, you can see your whole list of textbooks at once. In case you are worried about the website keeping a cache, it also provides an option to clear your search history.

In addition, if you have a textbook that you want to sell, SlugBooks is one of many sites that gives you that ability. The textbook search functions the same way, and selecting the Sell It option will link you to three online buyback sites – also SlugBooks partners – with estimated buyback rates. If you would rather not sell to an online buyback site, you can instead link to the SlugBooks Student Exchange with your Facebook account to list your copy for purchase. This feature is particularly useful when looking for books that are nearby and readily available, as the Exchange centers on university location.

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SlugBooks Positives

The biggest positive of the SlugBooks system is the list price. This gives you a tangible benchmark for evaluating seller prices. For example, if the list price of a book is $21.95, you do not want to buy a used copy from your school for $32.64. This way, you are not just selecting the lowest price, but you are understanding the value of the book itself.

A second positive is the aforementioned Student Exchange. Many times, schools will refuse to buy back books for entry-level courses, yet makes every student purchase a new copy of the textbook. By participating in the Student Exchange, you can easily connect to incoming students at your school who need the same textbook for the same course.

Finally, SlugBooks almost always provides lower prices than schools. As an example, I selected three textbooks for a Medieval History course at Southern New Hampshire University. The three books at their lowest available prices at the school – all used rentals – totaled $25.79. Conversely, at their lowest available price in SlugBooks’ listings, all three books were available for used purchase totaling $21.17. While those savings only total $4.62, savings like this add up as you purchase more and more textbooks. The more expensive the textbook is at list price, the higher a chance your savings will be more obvious.

SlugBooks Negatives

While SlugBooks offers a wealth of information, it also has its drawbacks. The Student Exchange can be limited for smaller or private schools. If there are no sellers at your university, chances are it will not show up on the list at all.

Furthermore, since SlugBooks partners with vendors, its scope is still limited. Sites such as Half.com and Thriftbooks could have lower prices for the books you want, but SlugBooks does not show their prices. This means that, while SlugBooks is a fantastic one-stop site for price comparisons, finding the absolute lowest price available might take further research.

SlugBooks also lists prices from third party sellers via Amazon. While this is most effective in getting you the lowest price possible, it also increases your chance of purchasing a book from a distant location. If you choose to purchase from third party sellers, you may not get your textbook as quickly. All this requires is a bit of extra attention in order to avoid long shipping times.

The final and greatest drawback of SlugBooks is that their prices do not account for shipping and handling fees. While a book may be $10 from your school and $8 from an Amazon seller, that seller might charge $3 for shipping, while the school bookstore will allow free pickup on campus. Before buying a book online at a discounted price, make sure you know the company’s shipping fees. Otherwise, you are not saving money at all.

Conclusion

SlugBooks is a powerful price comparison tool that works with the sole purpose of saving people money. It is consistent, effective, and useful. While it may take some extra work to ensure you are getting the best possible price, its results are always trustworthy, high-quality, and accurate. It is one of the best and most user-friendly textbook comparison tools out there.

Photos: Entrepreneur and Danny Saucedo

How to Save on Art Supplies

June 14, 2017 By Mary Newton Leave a Comment

As fun as art is, it really breaks the bank. Whether you deal in watercolors or oil pastels, the supplies you need – and especially the high-quality ones you want – are expensive enough to put a significant dent in your bank account. If you are looking to increase your art supply collection or you’re just getting started, here are a few ways you can save money on art supplies.

1. Know your priorities.

Focus on spending the big bucks on art supplies that are the most important to you. Maybe you prefer high-quality paper over expensive paints, or vice versa. Regardless, focusing on one or two things that are the most important to you, and that you will use all the time, like paper cutters – rather than just buying into the next trend or extra items you can technically survive without – will keep both you and your bank account happy.

2. Buy singles instead of packs.

Paints, markers, pens, brushes, pencils, and much more will always be less expensive when you buy them individually. As an added bonus, buying individual art supplies gives you the ability to select only the colors you want, meaning you can prioritize which colors are most important and avoid repeating colors you already have.

3. Try out sample packs.

If you are new to your art hobby, trying sample packs is a great way to test out a variety of art supplies without dedicating money to whole sets. This rule applies to not just paints – like this set of 24 Watercolor Sample Dots from DaVinci – but also papers, fountain pen and calligraphy inks, and many other kinds of art supplies. Some are based around a single brand, while others will choose a color scheme or supply type. This is also a good option for artists who want to try a new brand but do not want to invest significant amounts of money in new art supplies.

4. Go for the art supply warehouses.

Skip shopping at Amazon or proprietary stores as much as possible. Your best bet for inexpensive supplies will always be supply warehouses that carry a variety of art supplies from a variety of brands. This is similar to shopping at Costco rather than Wal-Mart. For example, the table below compares the price of an 8mL tube of Winsor & Newton’s Cotman Watercolor in Black (Lamp Black or Ivory Black) across eight different online stores, including both standard shops and art supply shops.

Store	Price
Jerry’s Artarama	$2.77
Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff	$2.89
Utrecht	$2.77
Michael’s	$4.69
Amazon	$5.44
Blick	$2.77
Winsor & Newton	$4.62
Art Supply Warehouse	$2.69

5. Shop sales and clearance.

Sales will always save you money – especially if they are sales at art supply warehouses like the ones shown above – and clearance guarantees products for less. While it is always exciting to get that new product as soon as it comes out, it is often worth it to wait for that item to go to clearance. As an added bonus, shopping clearance puts lesser known brands in front of you that may be just as quality as the ones you know and use.

6. Rock those DIYs.

You would be surprised at the sheer amount of art supplies you can create yourself to avoid spending money. Some examples include making your own palette, – putting plastic wrap on a dinner plate, using a sandwich bag, or even following this DIY – learning to mix your own colors, or even using Crayola markers for watercolor. Making art supplies yourself from items you already have will cut down spending on frivolous items, ultimately saving you more money.

7. Review, review, review.

Never be afraid to spend time on the internet. Whether that means comparing prices across multiple sites or digging through products reviews, you will be better off knowing what you’re getting into before you actually buy it. This also helps you know you are getting the best bang for your buck, giving you a feel of the product quality and its correlation with the price.

Art supplies are expensive, but that does not mean you have to break the bank to buy them. With a little digging and a little time, your collection will grow without having to sacrifice quality or price.

Photo: Puzzle Warehouse

Planning for Retirement: How Long Are You Going To Live?

November 3, 2016 By Doug Carey 1 Comment

How long are you going to live? Figuring out your life expectancy is arguably the first step in creating a successful retirement plan–and also arguably the toughest number to figure out.

Life expectancy tables are easy enough to find on the web. But it’s trickier than just finding a number. You don’t care what your anticipated lifespan was when you were born; you care about what it is for you today. If you’re reading this, you have made it past most of the early dangers that reduce overall lifespan numbers, so those numbers should not matter to you very much.

In other words, you have survived–and so it is likely (to a point) that you will continue to survive.

This Social Security Administration life expectancy calculator can help illustrate. You can punch in your birthdate and gender and SSA will give you a life expectancy number. Take that number with a grain of salt, of course: It’s an average, and does not account for your specific health and genetics.

Source: Social Security Agency

In this case, a 38-year-old male can, today, expect to live to 82. The point to note, though, is the trend in the “Estimated Total Years” column. When today’s 38 year old makes it to 62, that number bumps up to 85; at 67, it’s more than 86. Again, up to a point, the longer you live, the longer you can be expected to live.

Your life expectancy figure is a moving target–definitely not a set-it-and-forget-it thing. That makes things trickier for the purposes of retirement planning: It’s hard to plan for having enough money to last for the rest of your life when the rest-of-your-life number keeps moving.

You Say ‘Uncertainty,’ I Say ‘Flexibility’

One way to handle this moving target is to just plan for what seems like a really conservative life expectancy number. That could be 100 years old, or 105. If you plan for the worst and hope for the best, you should be in good shape, right?

The trouble with this approach is that it could (and most likely would) lead to your working more years than you really need to. Yes, you have certainty (or as much certainty as you can have with this topic) that you won’t run out of money, but is it worth it if you have to work five or 10 or even more years than you otherwise might have (and then die much earlier than 100)?

There is another way. If you can be flexible in your thinking about what you will spend in retirement, you can be more realistic about your life expectancy number–and adjust it along the way as needed.

Here’s what we mean. Conventional wisdom used to say that, to retire, a person with a roughly 30-year time horizon should have a portfolio balance that will allow him or her to withdraw 4% of the portfolio’s value per year, and generate 80% of their pre-retirement income. The so-called “4% Rule” has fallen out of favor in recent years for a number of reasons, not least because fixed income yields are so low. Regardless, the rule should only really have served as an estimate in the first place. It’s not just life expectancy that’s uncertain when it comes to retirement planning. Markets can plunge, economies can stagnate, and inflation can eat away at savings. On the other hand, economies can get hot and the stock market can go along for the ride.

Very little of what markets and economies will do is predictable in the short term. To absolutely plan on the same withdrawal rate, year in and year out, regardless of what the markets are doing, is almost irrational. Adjusting your spending behavior when times are tight, just as you likely do pre-retirement, can make your retirement nest egg last a lot longer–in addition to making intuitive sense.

At the very least you should be running scenarios on your life expectancy in an accurate retirement planning solution, such as WealthTrace, which is available to the public. You can see below how one can change the life expectancy and then view the different results.

Results when life expectancy is 80:

Results when life expectancy is 85:

Dividends To The Rescue

Still, in retirement, the less uncertainty about where your money is coming from, the better. This is where dividend-paying stocks can make a big difference. There are companies that can be counted on to pay–and even increase–their dividends year in and year out, regardless of what the stock market is doing. In the event of a market correction, their stock prices will likely drop along with the rest, but that won’t matter–the dividends should keep coming. We have found in our research that, using Monte Carlo analysis, investing in the best dividend paying stocks can improve your probability of never running out of money by more than 20%!

Here are a just a few companies with long histories of increasing their dividends annually, and there are plenty more like them:

Name	Ticker	Yield (as of 10/14/16)	Consecutive Years Increasing Dividends
Altria Group	MO	3.7%	47
Chevron	CVX	4.3%	28
Coca-Cola	KO	3.2%	54
Southern Company	SO	4.3%	16
Target	TGT	3.4%	49

Let’s Be Realistic

We become more rigid in our thinking as we age. So it might be tough to consider being flexible about something as important as income and spending in retirement. But a certain level of flexibility can lead to more realistic expectations about what we need to save, and could even lead to an earlier retirement.

Should You Pay Your Debt Before Saving?

June 14, 2016 By Amanda Blankenship 2 Comments

Eight in 10 Americans are in debt and two out of three Americans wouldn’t be able to cover a $1,000 emergency if one presented itself. The solutions to these problems seem simple: pay your debt off and save your money; but which should be done first?

The answer to that question depends on what your long-term financial goals are and how prepared you are to begin paying and saving. There are a lot of factors that come into play when making the decision between paying off your debts and saving.

Emergency savings

Before settling on paying off your debt, you should make sure to have an emergency fund. Things like emergency car repairs, medical bills, last-minute trips, etc. happen. You need to have money set aside in case something happens. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t have an emergency savings account in place. Most Americans wouldn’t be able to cover a $1,000 emergency if they needed to; however, it is a good idea to have an emergency fund in place. If you are looking to pay off debt, be sure you have at least $1,000 in savings first.

How much debt do you have?

If you are wondering about paying off your debt, you should take a look at your debt as a whole. How much do you have? What lifestyle changes will you need to make to pay it off? How much is your debt costing you? Many credit cards and loans have a substantial amount of interest tacked on to it. Once you have emergency savings in place, you should begin to pay off your debt by level of importance. Credit cards and loans with higher interest rates should be paid off first. This will prevent you from throwing out a ton of money on interest.

Earnings on your savings

Another thing to keep in mind when you’re trying to decide whether you should pay off your debt or save first is how much you will earn from your savings. If the interest on your savings account is higher than the amount of money you are paying in APR on your debt, save first. This situation is highly unlikely though. Most banks and credit unions have seen a significant decrease in the amount of interest they are paying out on savings accounts.

Check out your 401(k)

If the APR on your credit card isn’t high, you may want to look into a retirement savings plan or 401(k). Many employers match a certain amount of the employee’s contribution to the plan. If you’ve got your emergency savings set aside and no urgent, high-interest debt to pay off, you may want to see how much more money you need in your 401(k) to get your employer to match you. This is almost like having someone else save your money for you.

Financial goals

All in all, you should have a bottom line when it comes to your financial goals. If you are aiming to improve your credit score, you will want to pay off your debt before saving. If you want to improve your investment portfolio, you will want to put off paying off your debt and focus on your investments. If you have a goal for saving for something (i.e. a house, car, college, etc) and you don’t have any urgent debt, you will want to begin to save money by placing it in a high-interest savings account.

Making the decision about whether you should pay your debts or save first can be difficult. Keep your long-term financial goals in mind and take the road that will lead you to them.

Do you have a story about choosing to pay off debt or save first? Let us know. We’d love to hear from you!

Photo: Flickr: alamosbasement

Six Things to Do Finanically Before Your 30th Birthday

June 14, 2016 By Jennifer Clark 2 Comments

Once we graduate college, the real world takes no time in showing us a thing or two about the struggles of adulthood. Financially, we tend to suffer in our 20’s, but there is time to turn it around before that 30th birthday.

Don’t spend another full decade worrying about money. Instead, make changes now so that you can sit pretty during your next age milestone. Here are six things to do financially before your 30th birthday:

Stop jumping the gun.

Emotional spending can be healing…for a very brief moment. If you have a habit of splurging as a way to relieve stress or even of shopping impulsively, now is the time to make a change. Work on gaining self-control and ask yourself the following:
- Will this be important to me in six months (or, let’s face it, next week)?
- Is this a necessity right now?
- Do I already have something like this? And does it really need replaced?
It’s also important to make financial decisions based on your life and not on others. Buying a home or a new car may be right for your friends, but it doesn’t mean it is the right time for you to make these big purchases. Don’t put yourself in a situation now that is going to hurt your bank account for years to come, especially one that your salary won’t afford you. Slow and steady wins the race…so does being self-disciplined.

Relieve your bad debt.

Some debt is worse than others, and credit card debt can really hurt financially if you fail to make payments on time and continuously only pay the minimum balance. If you have student loan debt, it’s important to work toward decreasing this amount as well, but interest on credit cards are often higher than that of student loans. Credit card debt is overall very expensive, and so working down this financial obligation first will be very helpful before you hit dirty 30.

Start paying yourself first.

Starting to build a foundation for yourself now will help to strengthen your future (and make it easier to make those big purchases). As you are propelled increasingly into adulthood with all the challenges that comes with it, you may face some big financial issues. Having a fund to back you up in times of trouble, though, will keep you afloat instead of sending you backward. Paying yourself first creates that stability when the going gets rough.

Stop putting off budgeting.

Having a budget is important for obvious reasons. We know you’ve heard it before, but how well do you follow through? Budgeting doesn’t have to be complicated; it all goes back to having that self-control and keeping your eye on that prize (financial stability). Here are some simple ways you can create a budget for yourself today.

Learn about investing.

Maybe you won’t be investing in stock by the time you are 30, but it would be wise to at least have an understanding of it. Tackle one thing at a time, but put some serious thought into investing. This action can really make your money go farther if you do it right and keep up with it.

Start insuring yourself.

Life insurance, rental insurance and disability insurance are all ways you should insure yourself before you hit 30. This is one of those things you don’t really think about doing while in your 20’s, but anything can happen to us at any time. As a full-blown adult, it’s time to start protecting yourself, your family and even your assets.

Hopefully, you’re feeling inspired enough to get started. What are you waiting for? Your 30th birthday will be here before you know it.

Do you have any tips on things you should do before you turn 30? Let us know in the comments.

Go One Weekend a Month Without Spending

May 24, 2016 By Amanda Blankenship Leave a Comment

Budgeting and saving can be difficult. Even with the most sophisticated of budgets, it is hard to stick to a spending/savings plan. However, it doesn’t need to be so difficult. In fact, you can make minor changes to your schedule and lifestyle that will completely change your finances.

Many people choose certain days of the week that they won’t spend money or choose to not spend money from Monday through Friday. Another great way to save money and spend less is to pick a weekend (or two) out of the month to not spend any money.

During the week, you have a lot going on. You are working. You have meetings. It is easier to resist the urge of going out and spending money when you are busy.

When the weekend rolls around, many of us are excited about heading out to do something. Whether it be shopping, going on a weekend trip or a nice dinner out, weekends present a huge opportunity to spend extra money. You don’t have to go to work, so what else should you do? Well, here are a few things you can do instead of spend money:

Work on your yard
Have a movie marathon
Host a potluck (have everyone bring something to contribute to dinner)
Have a game night
Cook a nice dinner at home using what you’ve got (there are apps that allow you to enter the ingredients you have)
Window shop
Surf the Web (YouTube can waste hours of your life)
Binge watch your favorite TV show
Spend a day in bed (this can be extremely rewarding)
Clean up around the house
Catch up on laundry
Try new hairdos (this can waste a lot of time!)
Gather items during the week and take on a DIY project
Rearrange your rooms (it is fun)
Invite a friend over and just hang out (it is possible)
Do a puzzle
Dust off your DVD collection and watch a few movies
Search for change and cash it in (it is everywhere, trust me)
Clean out your closet and get rid of stuff you don’t wear
Clean out your refrigerator
Read a book
Go to the library
Enjoy the outdoors (especially as the weather is getting nicer)
Go to a local park and people watch or exercise
Scout out free events in your area (outdoor concerts, art walks, etc)

If you choose to do one of these things (or something else, if you have an idea of your own) instead of spending money, you can save quite a bit of money. Think about the movie ticket for the weekend ($15 average), dinner ($30), going to the bar ($40+), buying a new outfit ($50) and the other expenses that may go along with your weekend plans can stack up quickly. Spending one (or two) weekends a month at home or not spending any money could save you $100 or more each month and help you achieve your overall savings goal.

Have you ever tried a “no spending” challenge? How did it work for you? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

Photo: Flickr: Chris Potter