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Apache is functioning normally

May 26, 2023 by Brett Tams

By Peter Anderson 12 Comments – The content of this website often contains affiliate links and I may be compensated if you buy through those links (at no cost to you!). Learn more about how we make money. Last edited August 19, 2022.

The last few years have been tough ones, with the economy going through recession, millions of people becoming unemployed and businesses going under left and right.

The economy has shown some signs of improving, but indications are we still have a lot of rough road ahead of us.

With the economy being so unsure, now is as good a time as any to start thinking about how to cut back on your regular monthly bills. For many, once you’ve cut out some of the more obvious expenditures, it doesn’t feel like there are that many other places that can be cut. The truth is, however, that most people have a lot of places that they can still cut back and save money.

Today I thought I’d look at some of the main areas of spending that people have every month – their regular monthly bills.

Often people take those monthly bills for granted, not even thinking about how they can save money on those regular expenditures, just taking it on faith that they can’t get those bills any lower.

So today’s post is all about how to save money on just about all of your regular monthly bills.

How To Save On Your Phone And Wireless Bills

There are a variety of ways that you can save on your cell phone, home phone and mobile internet charges. Here are a couple of the options that we’re using – or plan to start using in the coming year to save on our phone bills.

Landline phone service: For years we’ve had a landline because my wife prefers talking on that versus a cell phone, and also because we needed the landline for our home security system. We recently made changes that mean we can now opt for a cheaper VOIP option for our landline service. After doing some research a lot of other bloggers are talking about the Ooma phone service, which is apparently very good. All you have to do is pay upfront to buy an Ooma Telo device for around $140, which then allows you to make unlimited calls in the U.S. for free over your existing broadband connection! All you have to pay is local taxes in your area (about $4.50 for us). You can port your current landline phone number over as well, for a $39.99 fee. Read my full review of Ooma here, and my post talking about setting Ooma up here.
Prepaid Cell Phones: One way that we’ve been saving a ton of money over the years is by using prepaid cell phone service, instead of more costly contract plans. We have no contract phone service from Republic Wireless, and we pay on average about $40/month for two phones. Both of them are Android smartphones with tons of minutes and unlimited text with 1GB/data ($20/month). The only downside is the up front cost of the cell phone – it isn’t subsidized like on contract plans. There are a variety of other low cost prepaid cell services out there that many people recommend including Tello and a Gen Mobile. Check out the related content below for a full article talking about saving on your cell phone bill using prepaid services. Want to use a traditional phone service? Check out Bill Shark, BillFixers or Rocket Money to negotiate a reduction in your monthly cell phone bills.
Low Cost Hotspots: A while ago I had a need to have Internet access on the go while traveling. At the time I settled on buying a mobile hotspot from Virgin Mobile via their prepaid wireless broadband plan. You just buy the hotspot, and then pay $35/month for 1GB of data. I was in a rush so I bought the hotspot and used it while on my trip. When I got back I became aware that there are quite a few companies that offer mobile hotspots for much lower cost, or phones and phone plans that can be used as hotspots – for much less. Do your research.

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How To Save On Your Housing Costs

One place that you can save hundreds of dollars every month is in your housing costs. Most people are aware that they could probably save by refinancing, but there are other ways you can save as well.

Refinance your mortgage: The most obvious way to save on your housing costs is simply to refinance your home mortgage. Rates are so low right now, and by refinancing you can often save hundreds of dollars off of your regular monthly payment. I’m in the middle of looking for a refinance right now, and we stand to save in the neighborhood of $200-300/month.
Appeal your property taxes: A lot of people don’t realize that you can actually appeal your property taxes in many counties by appealing the county’s tax appraisal value. I have successfully appealed our value once a couple of years ago, saving $363/year. Find out how I did it below via the related content.
Get cheaper homeowner’s insurance: I go into this more in the insurance section below, but if you shop around you can often find hundreds in savings every year just by switching insurance companies. We saved almost $1000/year by doing this just a couple of months ago.
Remove mortgage insurance: If you’re paying mortgage insurance with your regular monthly payment, and you have already reached 20% equity in your home, you may want to look into having that insurance removed by your mortgage company. It isn’t there to protect you, but the bank. Often you can have it removed after getting 20% equity in the house, and in many cases it may be required that they remove it. In some cases, if you’re a high risk borrower or if you have a FHA loan, you may need to keep the mortgage insurance longer.
Downsize your house: If you’re really trying to lower your bills a sure fire way is to downsize your house. Not only will your payment go down, but your insurance, taxes, maintenance costs and other costs will go down as well. Of course any costs associated with moving also need to be taken into account.

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How To Save On TV, Movies And Entertainment

There are a lot of ways that you can cut costs when it comes to your entertainment dollar.

Shop around and sign up for deals on premium TV: First, if you’re determined to keep your premium TV because of sports or programming only available on cable, you can at least make sure that you get the best possible deal on your cable TV package. Make sure to shop around once your introductory deal runs out and you can usually end up saving hundreds every year by switching companies! Or you can use a bill negotiation service like Bill Shark, BillFixers or Rocket Money to negotiate a reduction in your monthly bills.
Cancel un-needed services: Another thing you can do is check to make sure you’re not doubling up on any services. When we were cutting back a while ago we realized that we were paying for both Netflix streaming and Amazon Prime – which has a good video streaming option. We realized most of the same TV shows and movies were available on both sources, so we canceled Netflix – saving us $7.99/month.
Cut the cord: If you’re a bit more ambitious and aren’t very particular about receiving certain channels or waiting to see content the night it airs, you might want to make this the year that you cut the cord. Cancel your cable or satellite TV packages and move to something more affordable. Instead of paying for a TV package you can use free or low cost video streaming services like Hulu or Philo, shows streamed by the networks, and more. Use a software like Playon to stream the shows directly to your TV using an existing gaming console like the Xbox One or Playstation 4, or a cheap device like the Fire TV or Roku. The options are pretty numerous, and we’ve used options like this in the past to get most of our TV entertainment. Check out the related content below for a couple of exhaustive posts on how to set this up.
Use cheap movie rental alternatives: Don’t really watch TV or movies too much – and a monthly Netflix or Amazon subscription doesn’t make sense for you? Use a cheap rental alternative like Redbox, where you can rent a new release movie for a dollar. You can often find coupon codes to get free rentals every now and then. If you rent infrequently enough for it to matter, use cheap pay per view video options on Itunes, Amazon and Xbox to rent movies without leaving the comfort of your home. Amazon often gives away free credits on social media for their MP3 and Video stores, so follow them on Twitter and Facebook to get deals!

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How To Save On Your Internet Costs

If you’re looking to save on your internet costs, the best thing you can do, similar as with TV deals, is to shop around, or use a bill negotiation company.

Search for the best deal: Find out where you can get the best deal. For us our internet options include DSL service from a couple of different companies and cable internet. You can usually find competing deals and introductory offers that you can use to hop from company to company and always have the best deal. Other times you can bundle with other services and save. It can be a pain, but it can save you a ton of money too.
Get reduced rate internet: Another thing you can do if you live in certain areas is us a free 4G internet service. Of course to do this you’d have to live in an area with good 4G coverage.

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How To Save On Insurance

The best way to save on your insurance costs is just to shop around on a regular basis. I like to do it at least every 1-2 years for my homeowner’s insurance, auto insurance, life insurance and less often for other types. We found our best deal by using an insurance broker because they were able to compare rates at multiple companies and compare quotes for us.

Within the past few weeks we shopped around for new homeowner’s insurance after the premium skyrocketed. We ended up saving almost $1000/year when we switched our homeowner’s and auto insurance to a new company. That’s not the first time we’ve been able to do that! We did the same thing about 4 years ago, comparing rates and saving over $1000 that time!

Not sure where to start in getting quotes? Check out our insurance page to get quotes from a bunch of different companies.

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Save By Getting A Better Bank Account

You may have had your old bricks and mortar checking or savings account since you were in high school, but have been noticing lately that they’ve started charging you fees for various things. You’ve also noticed that the fees for your brokerage account have gone up, and mysterious inactivity fees started popping up. Whatever the case, people often find that their bank account is no longer useful to them, and that they can save money on fees (or make more interest) by moving somewhere else.

Save money by closing old accounts: Often old accounts start charging inactivity fees for dormant accounts, or just start charging fees because they think they can get away with it. Closing an account can be a pain, but it can also save you money (and headaches) in the long run.
Sign up for better bank accounts: Signing up for a better bank account will mean not only savings because of no fees and no minimums, but also can mean you’ll end up making more money interest, cash back and other perks. For example, a while back we Chime a great online bank. We’ve saved quite a bit in account fees that we no longer pay. Our old account at a traditional bricks and mortar was charging us fees for all sorts of things, and customer service wasn’t great. We have also switched our savings account to online banks with accounts from Capital One 360 and CIT Bank Not only are we making more in interest, but the features available at those banks surpass our old bank.
Lower interest on your credit card accounts: If the interest on your credit card is getting unreasonably high, consider closing the account after signing up for a card with a lower interest rate, 0% balance transfer and no fees. Just be wary of big charges to actually transfer balances.

Different account types to consider closing if the fees or features aren’t up to snuff? Savings accounts, checking accounts, brokerage accounts, mutual fund company accounts, credit cards. Go down the list and figure out which ones just aren’t cutting it anymore.

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How To Save On Energy Bills

Saving on energy bills often can’t be done by switching to another provider because there is often only one option for water, gas or electricity in many areas. That means the savings usually has to come from being creative and saving in other ways.

Some ways to save on your energy bills:

Get a programmable thermostat: A good portion of your utility bills every month are going to come from your heating and cooling bills. By buying a programmable thermostat like the smart Nest thermostat, you can have your heat turned down at night, turned low when you’re gone and even control it remotely. They advertise an annual savings average of $173, so it may take about 18 months to pay back the $249 cost – unless you can find it for less. Other options include regular programmable thermostats which can run $50-70 or more.
Get (slightly) out of your comfort zone: Be willing to turn the temp down slightly in the winter, and up in the summer. You can save a ton of money just by turning the temp up or down even a few degrees!
Use a power saving device: A lot of the electronic devices we use these days have phantom power drain even when you’re not using them. Get around this by getting an auto-sensing power strip that will turn off all power when the unit is off, or energy saving power plugs that have on off switches for things like coffeemakers or toasters.
Save at your water heater: The water heater can account for 14-25% of your energy bills every year. Often the heat on your water heater is turned up higher than you need it to be. A temp of 120-140 degrees is hot enough, and every 10 degrees you lower it you’ll save 3-5% on your bill. Some experts say not to go below 120 degrees, however, because bacteria can grow in the tank. You can also save by putting a fiberglass insulating blanket on the water heater to save money on heat loss.
Get a home energy audit to find energy leaks: Local utilities will often come out to do a home energy audit free of charge or a small fee to help you find where your home is leaking energy. Plug up the leaks and save!
Maintain your appliances: Doing things like cleaning your AC condensor coils or changing furnace filters regularly can save you money on your energy. If you don’t, appliances can work harder than they need to, and drain more energy.

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Save On Bills By Negotiating Them

One way you can save money on your regular, recurring monthly bills is to negotiate them.

If you have the time to do a little research, and make a few phone calls you can often reduce your monthly bills by hundreds of dollars every year.

If you don’t have the time, there are quite a few companies that will do it for you, for a small cost.

Conclusion

So there you have it, how to save money on just about all your possible monthly bills. I could probably go on, but the point is there are no shortage of ways to save money on your regular monthly expenditures. You can save on your housing costs, your phone and wireless broadband costs, your insurance costs, your energy costs, your bank accounts and even on your spending on entertainment. You just have to be creative, find cheaper alternatives and cancel un-needed services.

So what ways to save on your regular monthly bills can you suggest? Tell us your money-saving strategies in the comments!

Source: biblemoneymatters.com

Apache is functioning normally

May 26, 2023 by Brett Tams

In the past, you had to drive to your bank and work with a teller to manage your deposit accounts. These days, however, you have the option to complete virtually any banking need with any device that has internet access. You can pull out your smartphone and deposit a check. Or you may use your laptop to check your account balance.

That’s where banks called neobanks come in. It’s no surprise that neobanks are more popular than ever before. Let’s take a closer look at what they are and how they work so you can decide whether a neobank makes sense for your particular situation.

20 Best Neobanks

While traditional banks take up more market share than neobanks, you can still find a good amount of them if you do your research and shop around. The right neobank for you will depend on your unique lifestyle, needs, and preferences. To help you hone in on the ideal option, here’s our list of the top neobanks of 2023.

1. Chime

Founded in 2012, Chime is a financial technology company that offers banking services from The Bancorp Bank, N.A. and Stride Bank N.A. The Chime Checking Account is free of monthly maintenance fees and no minimum balance requirements.

Its perks include early direct deposit, automated savings features, access to over 60,000 or more fee-free ATMs, and free debit card replacement. In addition, you can take advantage of SpotMe and get up to $200 in fee-free overdrafts.

There’s also a Chime’s Savings Account, which offers a competitive interest rate with no cap on the amount of interest you can earn. Other services include Secured Chime Credit Builder Visa® Credit Card that doesn’t require a credit check, making it a suitable option if you have limited credit. Chime should be on your radar if you prefer a one-stop-shop for all of your banking needs.

You can read our full Chime review to learn more.

2. GO2bank

For more than a decade, Green Dot Corporation has specialized in alternative banking products. In 2013, GoBank made its debut as the first digital bank offering digital financial services. Then, in 2021, the company launched GO2bank, its second online bank.

GO2bank stands out from other neobanks which require you to sign up online because you can pick up their debit cards in person at Walmart and other popular retailers. GO2bank’s bank account tends to be a popular product in addition to its secured credit card that can help you build credit.

For a comprehensive overview, read our full GO2bank review.

3. Current

Since its inception in 2015, Current, which is not a bank, but a fintech company based in New York City, has partnered with Choice Financial Group and Metropolitan Commercial Bank to offer banking services. Its flagship products are a personal checking and debit card you can access via a mobile app on any iOS or Android device.

Even though Current’s product line is limited, the neobank prides itself on no shortage of perks and benefits. You can get your deposit up to two days early and earn cash back for debit card spending from more than 14,000 merchants. Additionally, Current doesn’t charge minimum balance fees or bank transfer fees and offers fee-free ATM withdrawals from ATMs in the Allpoint network.

If you would like to learn more, take a look at our Current review.

4. Revolut

Founded in 2015, Revolut is one of the largest European neobanks, serving more than 16 million customers. It has expanded its footprint to the U.S. market and has plans to become one of the most reputable neobanks in the world.

Revolut is unique in that it offers a wide array of financial services, such as bank accounts, debit cards, peer-to-peer payments, cryptocurrency, and currency exchange. It supports both individual consumers and businesses with more than 30 currencies. For a neobank with a diverse lineup of offerings, Revolut has you covered.

To learn more, read our full Revolut review.

5. Quontic Bank

Quontic Bank is a full-service, FDIC-insured online bank that was founded in 2002. It offers a range of banking products and services, including checking and savings accounts, credit cards, mortgages, and business banking solutions.

They offer some of the best annual percentage yields (APYs) in the industry. Quontic accounts come equipped with no overdraft fees, no incoming wire transfer fees, no monthly service fees, and access to over 90,000 surcharge-free ATMs.

Quontic also has a savings accounts feature called “Roundup”, which makes saving money simple and easy. In addition, they have a responsive U.S. based customer service team available to assist with any questions or concerns.

Read our full Quontic review for more information.

6. Dave

When Dave began in 2017, its sole focus was paycheck advances. Over time, it evolved to offer a checking account with no minimum balance requirements. If you become a Dave customer, you can receive early access to your paycheck, without a credit check or interest charges.

Dave also offers handy built-in budgeting features and doesn’t charge overdraft fees or ATM fees, as long as you use an ATM from the MoneyPass network. Dave may make sense if you’d like the option for small cash advances to get you through a financial hiccup from time to time.

See also: Free Online Checking Accounts: No Opening Deposit Required

7. Albert

Albert began as a money management app in 2016, but is now a personalized banking service that has attracted over 6 million customers. This digital banking account offers cash back and a range of benefits.

These including no-interest cash advances of up to $250, integrated budgeting and savings tools, and annual savings bonuses of up to 0.10%. There are no minimum balance requirements or overdraft fees. However, there is a minimum monthly fee of $4. Keep in mind that you’ll need to have an external bank account to open an account with Albert.

8. Varo

Varo Bank began in 2015 as a fintech company that partnered with The Bancorp Bank. In 2020, it acquired its own national banking charter, making it different from other neobanks you might come across. Even though Varo operates as an actual bank, it focuses on online banking via its website and mobile app.

Its checking account is free of monthly fees and there’s no minimum balance requirement. Plus it comes with a debit card. In addition, Varo partners with more than 55,000 ATMs through the Allpoint ATM network.

We can’t forget its other perks, such as contactless payments, credit cards with reporting to the major credit bureaus, early direct deposits, and no foreign transaction fee or transfer fees. Varo might be worthwhile if you’re looking for a checking account with all the bells and whistles.

Read our Varo Bank review to learn more.

9. Aspiration

Aspiration was founded in 2013 under the motto “Do Well. Do Good.” It partners with financial institutions like Coastal Community Bank and Beneficial State Bank to offer cash accounts, savings accounts, and a few investment accounts.

Aspiration’s most popular product is the Aspiration Spend & Save Account, which is a hybrid of a checking account and savings account. There’s also the Zero credit card, which offers cash back and plants a tree every time you make a transaction. Aspiration can be a good fit if you’d like to get rewarded for your spending and like the idea of one account for your checking and savings goals.

Read our full review of Aspiration to learn more.

10. Bluevine

Bluevine made its debut in 2013 as a fintech company with a mission to improve banking for small and mid-sized business owners. Its flagship product is the Bluevine Business Checking. It’s completely free and comes with a competitive annual percentage yield and unlimited transactions. This is rarely seen in the world of business checking.

In addition to the business checking account, Bluevine offers financing products, such as lines of credit of up to $250,000. Bluevine should be on your radar if you’re a business owner in search of fast, convenient startup banking and financing.

11. SoFi

Social Finance or SoFi entered the market as a student loan refinance company. Recently, however, the fintech company received its own bank charter to offer digital banking services. You can use the SoFi Checking and Savings combo account to manage your spending and saving needs in one place.

Fortunately, SoFi doesn’t charge monthly maintenance fees, overdraft fees, and ATM fees. Additional perks and extras include no-fee overdraft coverage, sub accounts for various savings goals, and additional products like credit cards, cryptocurrency trading, and retirement accounts, like an individual retirement account.

Read our full review of SoFi to learn more.

12. Acorns

Acorns has a reputation as an easy-to-use micro investing app. Since 2012, many people have downloaded it on their iOS or Android devices to invest their spare change. Over time, Acorns has expanded to offer a checking account.

You can open Acorns Checking for free and enjoy perks such as no monthly or overdraft fees, early direct deposit, mobile check deposit, and access to a network of 55,000 ATMs.

The checking account seamlessly integrates into the Acorns micro investing feature. Plus when you use your Acorns debit card, you can earn cash back at participating retailers and use it to invest, along with your spare change. If you’d like to get started with investing, Acorns is worth considering.

13. One

One is a neobank owned by Walmart. It offers a budget-friendly overdraft program with customized budgeting and savings options for its customers. One’s banking account allows users to organize their money into subaccounts called Pockets.

Pockets offer saving rates of 1% on up to $5,000 for any customer and 1% on up to $25,000 for customers with direct deposit. Additionally, One provides fee-free overdraft coverage of up to $200 for customers with direct deposits of at least $500 per month.

14. Cheese

Cheese is a digital banking platform that was launched in March 2021 and caters specifically to the immigrant and Asian American communities. It offers up to 10% cash back at 10,000 businesses, including Asian-owned businesses and restaurants.

Cheese’s customer support is available in English and Chinese, with more languages to be added in the future. One of the benefits of opening an account with Cheese is that accounts earn interest and do not have monthly fees or ATM fees when using the national MoneyPass ATM network.

15. Unifimoney

Unifimoney is a money management and investment app that helps you manage your banking, investing, and borrowing needs all in one place. It caters to account holders who earn at least $100,000 per year but have significant amounts of student debt. You can download Unifimoney to pay bills, deposit checks, and write checks.

It’s unique in that it also allows you to refinance student loan debt and can create a diverse investment portfolio with particular stocks, cryptocurrencies, precious metals, stocks, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

In addition, you can turn to Unifimoney for insurance products, like car insurance and health savings accounts (HSAs). If you’d like to get started with Unifimoney, open the Unifimoney high-yield checking account with as little as $100.

16. NorthOne

Headquartered in New York and founded in 2016, NorthOne offers digital business banking services. If you’re a startup, entrepreneur, or small business owner, NorthOne can be a good fit. It differs from other banks that serve businesses in that there are no transaction limits that require premium upgrades.

You can open a business bank account for a flat $10 monthly fee and won’t have to worry about additional fees for deposits, transfers, ACH payments, or app integrations. In addition, you’ll get to create as many “Envelopes” or sub accounts as you want so you can save for payroll, taxes, and other business needs.

17. Oxygen

San-Francisco based Oxygen focuses on two accounts: the free thinker account for individuals and the pioneer account for business users. Even though it doesn’t charge fees, like monthly fees, ACH fees, and overdraft fees, you will have to pay an annual fee that can go up to a few hundred dollars.

While most neobanks don’t allow for cash deposits, Oxygen does. As long as you have an Oxygen bank account, you can make deposits at GreenDot locations, which are usually located inside popular retailers, like Walmart, Walgreens, and CVS. If you don’t mind paying an annual fee and like the convenience of being able to deposit cash, Oxygen is worth exploring.

18. Bella

Bella is a fairly new player in the neobanking space. Its partner bank is nbkc bank, which allows it to provide banking services. With Bella’s checking account rewards program, you can receive a random percentage of cash back on randomly selected purchases.

The cash back amount may be anywhere from 5% to 200%. Like most neobanks, Bella doesn’t charge monthly fees, ATM fees, and overdraft fees. You can also opt for a no-fee savings account. Bella accounts are FDIC insured for up to $5,000,000.

19. Lili

Lilli services small business owners and believes that managing two accounts is a hassle. That’s why this neobank offers a single account you can use for both your business and personal transactions.

Come tax time, Lili will eliminate financial stress and let you automatically save a certain percentage of your income into a “tax bucket.” Plus, it produces quarterly and yearly reports instantly, reducing your tax prep costs. While the Lili Standard account is free, Lili Pro will run you a couple dollars per month.

If you upgrade to Lili Pro, you’ll get cashback rewards on all your debit purchases and 1% interest on your savings accounts. Lili could be a solid pick if you’re a freelancer or solopreneur hoping to simplify your finances.

20. Monzo

Monzo is a UK-based neobank that just opened up to the U.S. market in late 2022. All accounts are insured by the FDIC for up to $250,000. Plus fee-free withdrawals are available at more than 38,000 ATMs.

Furthermore, Monzo is similar to Aspiration as it strives to protect the planet. Additionally, this neobank offers budgeting tools that can help you meet various savings goals.

What is a neobank?

Often called challenger banks, neobanks have recently entered the financial services industry and challenged banking norms. Most neobanks are financial technology or fintech companies that offer the same banking services you may find at traditional banks, like Bank of America or PNC.

But they promote innovation and act like digital only banks or online banks as they don’t have any physical branches and operate via apps. Most of these apps are user-friendly and loaded with a variety of handy features, such as early deposit and savings tools to simplify the banking experience. They are specifically designed to give you greater control of how you manage and spend your money.

Also since neobanks don’t have any physical branches, their overhead costs and customer acquisition costs are low and enable them to offer more affordable banking products and services. Many neobanks let you choose from a number of free and paid premium subscription services.

Are neobanks safe?

Since neobanks are fairly new and different from many traditional banks, you might wonder whether they’re safe. Fortunately, most of them are very safe because they operate within a regulated market.

These financial institutions typically work with U.S. banks to offer FDIC-insured accounts, which protect your money from potential bank failures and the losses that come with them. To help determine if a neobank is safe, check out their ratings and reviews on reputable websites like the Better Business Bureau (BBB).

Neobanks vs. Traditional Banks

To further explain neobanks and their modern spin on traditional banking, let’s take a closer look at how they differ from traditional banks.

Neobanks

Neobanks operate without physical branches. To take advantage of their offerings, you’ll likely need to download an app and provide some personal information.

While you can expect fewer banking and credit products than you’d find at traditional banks, you’ll reap the benefits of lower fees and extras that improve the overall banking experience.

Some neobanks have decided to expand their lineup of products and services to create more of a one-stop-shop you’d get from a traditional bank. Since most neobanks don’t earn money from lending, like incumbent banks, their business model depends on interchange fees or transaction fees, which usually come from debit cards. They might also charge for premium accounts and extra features.

Traditional Banks

Traditional banks often have brick-and-mortar locations across the country or in a specific geographic region or area. But many of them also have digital banking divisions in which you can perform banking services online.

Most banks focus on strong customer relationships and earning interest through loans as well as account fees from banking, lending, and investing. They typically target customers who appreciate customer engagement and a traditional in-person banking experience.

See also: Best Alternatives to Traditional Banks

Pros & Cons of Neobanks

Just like all types of financial institutions, neobanks have benefits and drawbacks you should consider, including:

Pros

Lower fees: Compared to traditional banks, neobanks offer lower fees. That’s because they don’t have the high overhead costs associated with the upkeep of physical branches.
Higher rates: Neobanks often pride themselves on higher interest rates on their checking and savings accounts. This can make it easier and faster for you to save money.
Convenience: Perhaps the greatest benefit of neobanks is the convenience they bring. You can perform a variety of banking tasks, like depositing checks or making payments from your smartphone device, round-the-clock.
Easy access: You can manage your banking 24/7 without ever having to leave your home and visit a local branch. All you have to do is download an app from the app store.
Simple setup: It’s usually fast and easy to open an account with neobanks. Many of them will approve you, regardless of your credit score or credit history.
Focused services: While most neobanks don’t offer all the services you might find at traditional banks, the few services they do provide focus on service quality and are typically loaded with perks and benefits. For example, you can get a no fee checking account with cash back rewards.

Cons

No bank charters: Neobanks don’t have bank charters. Instead, they often partner with traditional banks to insure their products. Before you move forward with a neobank, ensure they partner with a Federal Deposit Insurance Corp or FDIC-insured bank and offer their own FDIC insurance.
Customer service restrictions: Since neobanks operate on app instead of through physical branches, customer service can be a downside. You may have to turn to chatbots or social media for basic banking questions and support. If you notice fraud in your account, it may be more difficult to resolve the issue.
Fewer services: Traditional banks usually pride themselves on a long list of services, including loans, wealth management, and brokerage services. Neobanks, however, tend to limit their offerings to checking accounts and savings accounts.
Unproven track record: Neobanks are still in the startup phase as many made their debut within the last few years. This means that they may fail and force you to look elsewhere for your banking needs.
Require knowledge of technology: While most neobank apps are intuitive and designed for the average person to use with ease, they may still be inconvenient for some people. If you don’t consider yourself tech literate, a neobank might not make sense.

Bottom Line

There’s no denying that neobanks have revolutionized the banking industry and financial industry. If your primary goal is convenience and you prefer mobile or online banking, a neobank can be a great alternative to a traditional bank or legacy bank. Just make sure you explore all your options and read the fine print before you choose one.

Source: crediful.com

Apache is functioning normally

May 25, 2023 by Brett Tams

Editor’s note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with new information and offers.

Summer is just around the corner — and it’s shaping up to be a bumper travel season with big crowds, flight delays, and high temperatures (and tempers!)

You’ve probably booked your flights and hotels by now (if not, you should do that right away). However, one part of your trip may be lacking: tips on how to make your trip more comfortable.

This could include anything from zipping through the airport to avoiding crowds, taking advantage of more comfortable seats on your flight and getting freebies or upgrades along the way.

Today, let’s look at the best credit cards for making your next trip more enjoyable.

Premium credit cards that improve your travel experience

Having a premium credit card can offer a lot of perks. You can breeze through airport security, skip the line at rental car facilities and wait comfortably at an airport lounge simply by having a premium credit card in your wallet.

Here’s how these cards can make your travel experience better:

The Platinum Card® from American Express

The Platinum Card® from American Express provides access to numerous travel benefits to make your next trip more comfortable.

First, you can access numerous lounges while waiting for your flight at the airport. These include American Express Centurion lounges, Delta Sky Club lounges (when flying Delta that day), Priority Pass Select lounges, Escape Lounges — The Centurion Studio Partner, Airspace lounges, Plaza Premium lounges, Lufthansa lounges and other Global Lounge Collection partner lounges (search for locations here). Enrollment is required in advance for some benefits.

To move quickly through security checkpoints, you can receive reimbursement from your Amex Platinum Card when paying for your membership fees to Global Entry, TSA PreCheck and Clear. These programs provide dedicated security lanes, which often mean shorter waiting times. Enrollment is required in advance for these benefits.

You also can make your flights more comfortable thanks to up to $200 in statement credits per year for airline incidentals. You must select a preferred airline in advance, and then you can be reimbursed for expenses like checked bags, preferred seats or even inflight Wi-Fi purchases. Enrollment is required.

Related: How to use the Amex Platinum $200 airline fee credit

Amex Platinum cardmembers also have access to Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts and The Hotel Collection and can enjoy up to a $200 annual hotel credit in the form of a statement credit on prepaid Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts or The Hotel Collection bookings with Amex Travel. Note that there is a two-night minimum stay for The Hotel Collection bookings. These programs provide access to high-quality hotels and benefits like room upgrades, free breakfast or late checkout.

Other hotel benefits come in the form of room upgrades and earning points at higher rates, thanks to elite status with Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton Honors. Amex Platinum cardmembers can enroll for complimentary Gold status in both programs.

To elevate your rental car experience, enroll for elite status in rental car programs, including Hertz Gold Plus Rewards, Avis Preferred and National Car Rental Emerald Club Executive. This will provide benefits like car upgrades, a free second driver and the ability to skip the line when picking up your car — meaning you can head straight to your car and get on the road.

Related: Is the Amex Platinum worth the annual fee?

Plus, if you need a ride to an airport or hotel during your trip, you can take advantage of up to $200 in Uber Cash per year. You can use this for rides or Uber Eats orders in the U.S. by adding your Amex Platinum card as a payment method in your Uber account. Enrollment is required.

The Amex Platinum Card’s benefits come with an annual fee of $695 (see rates and fees).

Official application link: The Platinum Card® from American Express

The American Express® Green Card

The American Express Green Card offers 3 points per dollar on broader travel, restaurants and transit, as well as annual statement credits for Clear (up to$189) and LoungeBuddy ($100) that more than cover its $150 annual fee (see rates and fees), making it a compelling offer for any occasional traveler.

The card also offers extended warranty protection, purchase protection and return protection when you purchase eligible items with your card, as well as baggage insurance and secondary car rental loss and damage insurance, with the option to upgrade to primary coverage through Amex’s Premium Car Rental Protection.

Right now, Amex is offering new cardmembers 60,000 Membership Rewards points after they spend $3,000 on purchases in their first six months of card membership. Based on TPG’s valuation of Membership Rewards points at 2 cents each, the welcome offer points are worth at least $1,200.

You’ll also get 20% back on eligible travel and transit purchases in your first six months to earn up to $200 back, making the total welcome offer worth up to $1,400.

In all, the card’s a great option for the modern traveler.

Official application link: The American Express® Green Card

Chase Sapphire Reserve

The Chase Sapphire Reserve has a slightly lower annual fee ($550) than the Amex Platinum and also comes with numerous perks to make your next trip more comfortable.

Like Platinum cardmembers, Sapphire Reserve cardholders also have access to over 1,300 Priority Pass lounges worldwide. They also have access to Chase Sapphire Lounges, coming to nine airports. These will include popular airports like New York-LaGuardia, San Diego, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Washington-Dulles. The first lounges are already open in Boston and Hong Kong.

The Sapphire Reserve card also reimburses your application fee for Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or quicker access between the U.S. and Canada through Nexus.

If you need help securing difficult reservations or booking activities during your trip, Sapphire Reserve cardholders have access to a concierge service to assist.

And those looking for boutique hotel experiences can access the Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection. These bookings provide benefits like daily breakfast for two people, a $100 on-property credit and room upgrades (when available).

Related: Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card review

While the Sapphire Reserve card doesn’t provide credits strictly allocated to airline incidental credits, ride-hailing apps or even elite status, it does have something that can offset these expenses. Cardholders have up to $300 in annual travel credits that apply automatically to the first $300 they spend in broad travel categories each year — such as rides to the airport, airport parking, seat upgrades or even the beachside cabana that requires a paid reservation at a resort.

When renting a car, you’ll enjoy complimentary National Emerald Club Executive membership plus benefits with Avis and Silvercar.

Official application link: Chase Sapphire Reserve

Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

With an annual fee of just $395, the Venture X card may seem like a bargain compared to the Amex Platinum Card and Chase Sapphire Reserve. However, it still comes packed with benefits to make your next trip more comfortable.

Along with access to Priority Pass lounges, cardholders also have unlimited visits to Capital One lounges and Plaza Premium lounges. Lounge benefits also extend to your authorized users, who can also bring two guests of their own — meaning your whole family could access a lounge for free during your next trip.

Related: Big family? No problem! Get unlimited lounge guests with this credit card

Venture X cardholders can also enjoy reimbursement for their Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee to help move through security quickly.

For rental cars, Venture X cardholders (and Venture X authorized users) enjoy top-tier Hertz President’s Circle status.* After registering for this benefit, you can enjoy skip-the-line privileges, guaranteed upgrades, the widest range of selection and a free additional driver. Moreover, once you have rental car status with one company, you can use this to match your status to other rental car programs.

*Upon enrollment, accessible through the Capital One website or mobile app, eligible cardholders will remain at upgraded status level through December 31, 2024. Please note, enrolling through the normal Hertz Gold Plus Rewards enrollment process (e.g. at Hertz.com) will not automatically detect a cardholder as being eligible for the program, and cardholders will not be automatically upgraded to the applicable status tier. Additional terms apply.

Related: Is the Capital One Venture X worth the $395 annual fee?

For other comforts during your trip, you can take advantage of 10,000 bonus miles on every account anniversary and up to $300 in annual statement credits for travel booked through the Capital One Travel portal. Great uses of these credits would be booking a boutique hotel or even stacking benefits with your Hertz car rentals.

Official application link: Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

Airline cards that make your flight more comfortable

Breezing through security without the need to take off your shoes or wait in a long line is great. So is waiting comfortably in an airport lounge. However, your trip doesn’t end there.

Here’s how cobranded airline credit cards can make your next flight more comfortable:

A free checked bag is a key feature of nearly every airline credit card. This can save you money and improve your airport experience since you won’t carry as many things through security or onto the plane.

You can enjoy a free first checked bag on your flight across various credit cards and annual fees. This includes the United Explorer Card ($0 introductory annual fee, then $95), the Alaska Airlines Visa® credit card ($95 annual fee), Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® ($450 annual fee) and Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card ($550 annual fee; see rates and fees).

Many credit cards also extend the checked bag benefits to other people on your same reservation. However, the number of people this perk covers depends on the card and can vary widely. And while this benefit generally extends to any trip associated with your frequent flyer account number, United Airlines and Alaska Airlines credit cards are an exception. To get free checked bags, you must pay for the ticket with your United Airlines or Alaska Airlines credit card, respectively.

For more details, see the following:

Beyond offering free checked bags, you can enjoy other comfort-adding perks from airline credit cards. Examples include priority boarding and access to preferred seats or seat upgrades.

However, those holding credit cards with Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines or United Airlines will enjoy some level of preferred boarding when flying on those airlines. Generally, this means boarding before economy passengers but after business- and first-class passengers. By boarding early, you can access overhead storage bins before they’re full.

Airline credit cards can also offer the chance to upgrade to better seats. Aside from using airline or travel credits on the premium credit cards discussed above, United and Delta flyers can access preferred seats in other ways.

Those who hold the Delta SkyMiles Reserve Amex can request complimentary upgrades before their flight, potentially moving up to Comfort+ seats. These cardholders receive upgrades ahead of those with the same status and seating cabin who don’t hold the Reserve card. Those with the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card can also receive upgrade priority after meeting the Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQD) waiver requirement of spending $25,000 on the card in a calendar year.

With United Airlines, those with elite status normally don’t receive upgrades on award flights — just on paid flights. However, those who hold a United Airlines credit card with an annual fee can receive complimentary upgrades according to their elite status level even when flying on award tickets. Thus, you could get a roomier seat if you have status with United Airlines — and you can even get that roomier seat on an award flight if you also hold a card like the United Quest Card.

Related: 4 reasons someone in your family needs a United credit card

Hotel cards that improve your stay

When you think about adding comfort to your hotel stays, your first thought probably includes upgraded rooms. However, free (or faster) Wi-Fi, breakfast and parking, and expedited check-in lines can also elevate your stay.

Having the right credit card in your wallet could offer you automatic entry-level status, netting you a few extra points and a free bottle of water. But it also might offer top-tier elite status that qualifies you for upgrades to suites and luxury treatment during your stay.

Studio one-king bedroom at the Conrad Los Angeles. MELANIE LIEBERMAN/THE POINTS GUY

Hilton Honors credit cards

If you want top-tier Diamond status with Hilton — which includes perks like suite upgrades based on availability at check-in, lounge access at hotels that have these, bonus points, free breakfast and more — you can get this without the effort of counting your hotel nights every year.

Simply holding the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card confers Diamond status automatically for as long as your account is open. The card’s annual fee is $450 (see rates and fees), but this may be less than what you would spend on the necessary hotel stays to qualify for Diamond status annually.

The information for the Hilton Aspire card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Another option for Hilton status is carrying the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card, which confers automatic Hilton Gold (mid-tier) status. There’s an annual fee of $95 (see rates and fees). For this fee, your Gold status will confer benefits like bonus points on paid stays, room upgrades (but not suites) based on availability at check-in and either food and beverage credits or free breakfast, depending on the hotel.

Related: How to choose the best Hilton credit card for you

IHG One Rewards credit cards

If you’re looking for elite status with IHG One Rewards, you can receive complimentary Platinum Elite status (the third-highest of the four tiers) pretty easily. Cardholders of the IHG® Rewards Premier Credit Card receive Platinum Elite status automatically; the card has a $99 annual fee. Platinum Elite status offers benefits like bonus points on paid stays, upgraded rooms (including suites at some properties), welcome gifts of points or snacks and discounts on reward nights.

Related: IHG Rewards Premier Credit Card review

IHG’s Atwell Suites Miami Brickell. KATIE GENTER/THE POINTS GUY

Marriott Bonvoy credit cards

For those aiming for elite status with Marriott Bonvoy, you can unlock Platinum Elite status simply by having the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card. This status offers benefits like bonus points on paid stays, welcome gifts (which can range from points to a complimentary breakfast), lounge access at hotels that have these and upgrades to suites, based on availability at check-in. These benefits come with an annual fee of $650 (see rates and fees) on this card.

The next status tier below Platinum is Marriott Bonvoy’s Gold Elite status. You can get this status automatically with the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card and the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful credit card. Both cards carry an annual fee of $250 (see rates and fees of the Bonvoy Bevy card). Gold status provides benefits like enhanced internet speeds in your hotel room, upgrades to preferred rooms when available at check-in, late checkout and a welcome gift of bonus points.

The information for the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Related: Which Marriott credit card is right for you?

World of Hyatt credit cards

It’s also possible to gain elite status with World of Hyatt by holding a credit card. However, you’ll only gain Discoverist status by holding the World of Hyatt Credit Card, which has an annual fee of $95. This status offers benefits like space-available upgrades to preferred rooms — such as a preferred location within the hotel or a nicer view — complimentary bottled water each day during your stay, premium internet access and late checkout.

Hyatt elites also can match their status to MGM Rewards and enjoy benefits from Hyatt’s partnership with American Airlines. This will include earning Hyatt points for spending money on AA flights.

Related: ‘One of the most valuable hotel cards’: A review of the World of Hyatt Credit Card

The swimming pool at the Park Hyatt New York. HYATT

Wyndham Rewards credit cards

You can gain automatic status with Wyndham Rewards through credit cards, as well. The Wyndham Rewards Earner® Plus Card offers automatic Platinum status (the third-highest of four tiers), providing benefits like rollover nights, free Wi-Fi, preferred rooms, late checkout, early check-in and a status match to Caesars Rewards. The card has a $75 annual fee.

The no-annual-fee Wyndham Rewards Earner® Card offers automatic Gold status, providing benefits like free Wi-Fi, preferred rooms and rollover nights.

The information for the Wyndham Earner and Wyndham Earner Plus cards has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Related: Which Wyndham Rewards credit card is right for you?

Bottom line

Multiple credit cards can make your next trip more comfortable. From better seats on your flight to better rooms at your hotel and better experiences at airport security, what you hold in your wallet could elevate your next trip and remove stress points.

Premium credit cards can offer a range of perks and help you skip the lines at multiple points in your journey. Airline credit cards can offer perks like free checked bags, better seats and priority boarding. And hotel cards can get you free breakfast, room upgrades and late checkout.

Summer travel is hectic. These cards can remove some hassle from your trip, leaving your travel companions as one of the only potential stressors during your vacation.

For rates and fees of the Amex Platinum Card, click here.

For rates and fees of the Amex Green Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Amex Delta Reserve card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Amex Hilton Aspire card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Amex Hilton Surpass card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Amex card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy Amex card, click here.

Additional reporting by Ryan Wilcox, Summer Hull and Stella Shon.

Source: thepointsguy.com

Apache is functioning normally

May 24, 2023 by Brett Tams

Sometimes it can seem like banks always put profits over the people they serve, but several U.S. banks are committed to doing just the opposite.

I found 15 banks that shape their business models around community support and environmental sustainability. Many of them even qualify as B Corporations, which have to abide by legal requirements such as a diverse workforce, sustainable practices, and more.

What’s Ahead:

Overview of the best socially responsible banks

Bank or credit union	Best for	Are they a Certified B Corporation?	Unique feature
National Cooperative Bank	Cooperatives	No	Real estate mortgages for homeowners with low to moderate income
Southern Bancorp	Those who live in rural areas	No	Free financial education center
Amalgamated Bank	Those who support sustainable business	Yes	Donate your spare change with their “Donate the Change” program
Ando Savings	Tracking the effect of your investment	Yes	Auto-save by rounding up debit card purchases
BankPurely	Investing in planting trees	No	One tree is planted for every SavingPurely account opened
Aspiration Bank	Knowing how your spending stacks up to your values	Yes	Investment accounts with fossil fuel-free portfolios
Clearwater Credit Union	Montana small businesses	No	All-in-one banking options
Verity Credit Union	Entrepreneurs in underserved communities	No	Microloans
Virginia Community Capital (VCC)	Real estate entrepreneurs taking on eco-friendly construction projects	Yes	The Revolving Loan Fund that fills financial gaps for investors who can’t afford commercial financing
Central Bank of Kansas City	Tax help and Missouri residents	No	Incentives to invest in economically disadvantaged areas
Carver Federal Savings Bank	Those looking to help support the Black community	No	They donate to local communities
First Green Bank	Those in economically disadvantages areas	No	A loan plan for homeowners who wish to install solar panels
Mascoma Bank	Those living in low-income cities in New England	Yes	Loans for energy-efficient renovations
City First Bank	Those who want to support the development of low-income communities	Yes	Through CDARS, customers can make larger, FDIC-insured deposits
Beneficial State Bank	Those with less than perfect credit	Yes	Underwriters consider factors other than credit score

Best national banks for socially responsible banking

These banks have brick-and-mortar branches, but they’re large enough to have seamless online and mobile account services, as well as multiple resources for customers and borrowers.

National Cooperative Bank

Best Mortgage Lenders of 2021: Which Lender Is Right For You? - National Cooperative Bank The National Cooperative Bank began as a lender to business cooperatives that meet community needs, including grocery stores, health centers, nonprofits, housing co-ops, credit unions, and more.

Cooperatives remain their main lending focus, but NCB also specializes in real estate, mortgages for homeowners with low or moderate incomes, and loans for solar energy installation. They’ve branched into personal banking as well, and personal or commercial accounts can be opened online from anywhere in the United States.

Like many socially responsible banks, NCB prioritizes investments in renewable energy projects, and they don’t invest in fossil fuels.

Some of their standout features include:

Member of the Global Alliance of Banking on Values (GABV), a worldwide banking network with a commitment to economic and environmental sustainability.
Personal checking and savings accounts come with up to 0.50% Annual Percentage Yield (APY).
Retirement accounts include IRAs, Roth IRAs, and IRA rollovers.

Learn more about the National Cooperative Bank.

Southern Bancorp

Southern Bancorp is a huge organization with banking, lending, community development, and more services under its $1.1 billion-asset umbrella, but don’t let the size fool you — this bank provides big solutions for small communities, with a commitment to expanding opportunity in rural areas.

In addition to the basics like checking, savings, and lending, Southern Bancorp has a robust public policy advocacy division where they work to promote laws that have positive financial impacts on working families. There’s also a free financial education center with credit counseling and tax prep services.

Since Southern Bancorp is headquartered, and specializes in, the Arkansas and Mississippi Delta regions, physical branches are mostly in this region. But customers from anywhere in the U.S. can open personal or business accounts online.

The bank’s leadership demographic reflects the community it serves; the CEO and 50% of the board members are Black.

Their unique features include:

A Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI).
Certified B-Corporation or B-Corp — a designation reserved for organizations committed to responsible practices.
Personal checking and savings accounts, including accounts designed for specific financial goals.
Online banking is available anywhere with internet access.
Home, auto, and personal loans.

Learn more about Southern Bancorp.

Amalgamated Bank

15 Banks and Credit Unions Putting Social Responsibility First - Amalgamated Bank Headquartered in New York and Washington D.C., Amalgamated Bank extends online checking and savings account access across the United States. They’re committed to sustainable business practices within their own walls. Employees earn a minimum hourly wage of $20/hour, above the federal minimum, and over 30% of employees are union members. The business strives to be 100% carbon-neutral in its operations.

Amalgamated makes its lending priorities clear from the start. They don’t lend to fossil fuel companies, weapons manufacturers, or private prison operators. Instead, they focus on lending to companies in the solar energy or sustainable food industries. If you invest with Amalgamated, you can opt for a portfolio that’s fossil-fuel-free.

And they’re the first major U.S. bank to endorse HR 40, the bill calling for a national commission to establish reparation payments for Black Americans.

Their standout features include:

Certified B Corp and member of the GABV.
Online personal checking and savings accounts with 0.10%-0.40% APYs.
Restart Checking accounts available for customers with poor credit.
Give-Back savings accounts donate half your interest (0.30% APY) to an organization of your choice.
An optional “Donate the Change” program rounds up your purchases and donates the change to a cause the bank selects.
Over 40,000 free in-network ATMs for customers outside NY and D.C.

Learn more about Amalgamated Bank.

Ando Savings

Ando is another bank that puts the environment front and center. They’ve pledged 100% of their investments to initiatives supporting sustainable practices, like agriculture and public transit.

Investors can track the effect of their own investment dollars in the Ando mobile app’s Impact Center, which traces financial impact across five categories including clean energy, sustainable transportation, and green buildings.

You’ll find the following with Ando:

Spending and savings accounts, as well as a Visa debit card, are available to anyone in the U.S.
Accounts have no fees or minimum balances.
Ando’s Count the Change program helps you “auto-save” by rounding up debit card purchases to the nearest dollar and moving the difference from spending to savings.

Learn more about Ando.

Best online banks for socially responsible banking

These banks are fully digital — not only is the all-mobile bank trendy and convenient, but its format also allows the bank to live a little lighter on the earth, with no energy use from physical branches.

BankPurely

BankPurely is the digital arm of NYC-based Flushing Bank, a bank that invests most of its money in community initiatives. As a fully online operation, BankPurely has formal PayItGreen approval for reducing its paper waste and carbon footprint.

They’re currently partnering with Plant-It 2020 to plant indigenous trees in New York State. Ando is one of many socially progressive banks that works with a tree-planting organization, taking a small but important step to counteract climate change.

A few great features include:

Checking, savings, and money market accounts available, with up to 0.25% APY on savings accounts and 0.5% on money market accounts.
CDs are available with 0.55% APY, and Ando will plant a tree for every CD you open.

Learn more about BankPurely.

Aspiration

Aspiration is one of the best-known socially responsible online banks, with multiple account options for the conscious customer. Their “pay what’s fair” fee model for a basic checking account is a rare offering even for the most flexible banks (and yes, paying $0 in fees is an option).

Both the free and fee-based “Aspiration Plus” checking accounts give you a personal impact score to see how your spending stacks up against your values. Accountholders get 3%-10% cash back when they buy anything from Aspiration’s Conscience Coalition partner vendors — an incentive to shop for the greater good.

The bank is currently rolling out a credit card that will reward shoppers who make carbon-friendly financial choices.

Here are a few key features:

Certified B Corp and member of global environmental organization 1% for the Planet.
Aspiration Plus savings accounts ($5.99/month) offer up to 5.00% APY.
Investment accounts available with fossil fuel-free portfolios.
IRA retirement accounts.
As a donor, Aspiration prioritizes funding microloans for low-income recipients.

Learn more about Aspiration or read our full review.

Best regional banks and credit unions for socially responsible banking

Some regional banks offer online accounts to residents elsewhere in the U.S., while others are only open to residents of a certain state or region. Here’s a cross-section of ethical standouts across the country.

Clearwater Credit Union – Montana residents

15 Banks and Credit Unions Putting Social Responsibility First - Clearwater Credit Union As Montana’s largest CDFI and a member of Inclusiv, an organization serving residents in low-income communities, Clearwater Credit Union is making its mark nationally but keeping a local focus.

They loan primarily to local businesses and offer a solid selection of financial services to customers.

Here are a couple of great features they offer:

Checking and savings accounts are available.
Health savings accounts (HSAs), traditional IRAs, and Roth IRAs.
Personal, student, and car loans for borrowers.

Learn more about Clearwater Credit Union.

Verity Credit Union – Washington state residents

Verity is active in the local microloan business — one project they’ve funded is the Business Impact Northwest loan program, which gives a financial boost to entrepreneurs in underserved communities.

As an environmentally conscious credit union, they’ve hopped on board the solar installation funding train as well, providing loans to homeowners installing solar panels.

Some especially helpful features include:

Open an account online or through their branch locations.
Accounts can be managed online.
IRAs and 401(k) rollovers are available.

Learn more about Verity Credit Union.

Virginia Community Capital (VCC) – Virginia residents

VCC is the community development arm of VCC Bank, a state bank that’s also a certified B Corp. Food access is a VCC funding priority, and they work with businesses providing healthy, local groceries across the state.

As a real estate funder, VCC has a Clean Energy Financing loan program for entrepreneurs taking on environmentally friendly construction projects.

Some helpful features include:

The Revolving Loan Fund fills financial gaps for investors who can’t afford commercial financing.
Personal savings accounts have low $25 opening deposit minimums.
Checking accounts, CDs, and Roth IRAs are available.

Learn more about VCC.

Central Bank of Kansas City – Missouri residents; online banking for all U.S. residents

15 Banks and Credit Unions Putting Social Responsibility First - Central Bank of Kansas City Based in Kansas City, Missouri, Central Bank of Kansas City focuses most of its efforts on the local economy. Their lending programs include New Market Tax Credits — incentives to invest in economically disadvantaged areas — and tax credits for developers building low-income housing.

Some exciting features are:

Checking, savings, and money market accounts have fully online options for non-local customers.
Personal accounts earn between 0.05% – 0.15% APY.
Brick-and-mortar banks for Missouri locals.

Learn more about the Central Bank of Kansas City.

Carver Federal Savings Bank – NYC, New England, and Mid-Atlantic residents

Carver Federal Savings Bank was founded in Harlem, NYC, and designed to strengthen Black communities, and the bank’s stayed true to this mission since 1948.

As a CDFI, they focus their donations on local initiatives, and they don’t invest in fossil fuels. Residents of eight states — CT, DE, MA, MD, NY, NJ, RI, and VA, as well as Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia, PA — can open accounts with Carver.

Their key features are:

Interest-bearing checking and savings accounts.
A mobile banking app makes Carver accounts easy to access online.
Account fees are waived with minimum monthly balances.

Learn more about Carver Federal Savings Bank.

First Green Bank – Florida residents

First Green Bank is a local leader in “green” investments. They fund commercial and residential projects that meet environmental standards, and community initiatives that support sustainable development in areas like water and agriculture. They have a loan plan specifically for homeowners who want to install solar panels.

Here are some exciting features:

Florida residents have checking and savings account options, including interest-bearing sustainable savings.
HSAs, IRAs, and youth savings accounts are available.

Learn more about First Green Bank.

Mascoma Bank – New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine residents

Mascoma finances projects designed to revitalize low-income communities in Northern New England.

Local residents can take advantage of their suite of financial services, from the basic checking and savings accounts to mortgages and homeowner loans for solar or energy-efficient renovations.

Some key features include:

Three tiers of checking accounts are offered, and two earn interest.
Home equity loans and lines of credit, as well as traditional mortgages.
Emergency flood loans are available to cover storm-related damages.

Learn more about Mascoma Bank.

City First Bank – Washington, D.C. area residents

15 Banks and Credit Unions Putting Social Responsibility First - City First Bank For individuals, nonprofits, and other businesses in or near Washington, D.C., City First Bank is a CDFI worth checking out. They give 80% of their loan funds to projects in low-income communities, and they’ve financed thousands of affordable housing units in a city where the cost of living is rising quickly. City First has even branched out to finance nonprofits across the Mid-Atlantic.

Some top-of-the-line features include:

Personal checking and savings accounts have competitive interest rates.
Customers can make larger, FDIC-insured deposits through CDARS (Certificate of Deposit Registry Service) and money market accounts.

Learn more about City First Bank.

Beneficial State Bank – Oregon, Washington, and California residents

Beneficial State Bank funds renewable energy, affordable housing, and other community projects across the Pacific Northwest. Their nonprofit Beneficial State Foundation is a vocal public policy advocate for progressive change in the banking system.

As a lender, Beneficial uses a nontraditional underwriting model that considers factors other than credit scores. They’re also a trustworthy stop for auto loans if you’re a Pacific Northwest resident with subpar credit.

Here are some of their features:

Checking and savings accounts are fully mobile.
Money market accounts and IRAs are available.
California residents can finance an electric or hybrid vehicle at affordable rates through Beneficial’s Clean Vehicle Assistance program.

Learn more about Beneficial State Bank.

Why choose a socially responsible bank?

A bank or credit union account might seem like a convenience-based choice, not a values-based one. But when you entrust a bank with your money, you’re implicitly supporting the projects the bank funds.

You can make a difference

As a consumer, you have the power to make choices that sway banks’ overall priorities. Banks want your business, and if more customers opt for banks that support community development or environmental causes (or avoid fossil fuel funding that contributes to climate change), the industry will take note that people want socially responsible banking.

It is safer in their hands

Your money’s also in safe hands — just because these banks have a “people over profit” focus doesn’t mean they don’t make a profit.

Along with the standard FDIC insurance protection guarantees, socially responsible banks are just as profitable (if not more so) than their competition, according to research by the GABV.

What makes a bank socially responsible?

The primary barometers of social responsibility for banks are their lending and investment choices.

Read more: Ethical Banking: What You Should Know About Socially Responsible Banks

Charitable donations and community service

Many, if not most, banks advertise their charitable donations and community services, but they may still fund projects that contribute to climate change or displace low-income residents. If you go beyond a bank’s self-promotion materials to their lending practices, you’ll get a sense of the bank’s true priorities.

Transparency about their investment donation

Another indicator of responsibility is the bank’s transparency about their investment and donation choices — ethical banks take their accountability to the public seriously. And many socially responsible institutions are working for economic equity, with programs designed to help low-income residents or borrowers from underserved communities.

Public commitment to social good

Some large national and regional banks have received accolades for public commitments to the social good. The Ethisphere Institute, a think tank that examines corporate responsibility, has rewarded U.S. Bank on their list of the World’s Most Ethical Companies for seven straight years. Though awards from an outside organization don’t necessarily indicate a bank is truly making impactful, ethical choices, they can be a sign the institution is on the right track.

If you’re holding banks to the highest standard, however, you’ll look for certifications that indicate a deeper commitment. Every bank or credit union on this list is either a certified B Corp, a certified CDFI, or a member of the GABV.

Certified B Corporations

B Corporations have a legal obligation to meet certain requirements, including a diverse staff, a well-paid workforce, environmentally sustainable in-house practices, and more.

The B Corp certification needs to be renewed every two years and can be lost if the company changes its practices to focus more on profit than customers.

Global Alliance for Banking on Values (GABV)

The GABV is a small but impactful network of about 50 worldwide banks. Each bank has pledged to invest in its community, be transparent about its practices, and establish long-term client relationships.

Like B Corps, GABV members have to score well on a regular, detailed assessment of their ethical practices.

Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs)

CDFIs may be banks or credit unions, but they earn their U.S. Treasury CDFI certification by financing projects in low- or moderate-income or traditionally underserved communities. This may mean lending to nonprofits, supporting affordable housing, or offering mortgages to aspiring homeowners denied by other lenders.

How to find a socially responsible bank

This list is a start, but there are many, many more banks and credit unions on the local level that have socially responsible goals.

Mighty Deposits is a great site for finding out how banks are spending their money — just type in your bank(s) and/or credit union(s) and find out what percentage of the bank’s funds get invested in community projects.

Mighty Deposits includes detailed spending breakdowns in categories for each bank. You can also search for a bank that doesn’t fund fossil fuels, a CDFI, or a bank owned by Black Americans.

The independent site Better Banking Options is another way to find community-focused banks.

If you want to know more about a bank’s political donations, including any national and local candidates the bank supports, Open Secrets has data on most large banks (and several of the smaller ones, too).

Summary

If you’re thinking about a bank switch, consider a bank that’s dedicated to socially responsible causes. With the variety of checking, savings, and investment features these banks offer, you’re likely to find a spot that meets your needs.

Source: moneyunder30.com

Apache is functioning normally

May 23, 2023 by Brett Tams

Working at 36,000 feet may not feel like living the dream, but if you’re traveling for work (or fun), every minute counts. Some U.S. airlines are making it easier than ever to stay connected whether you have your head in the clouds or on the ground.

For the past decade, it was standard to require passengers to pay either by the minute or by the hour to access the airline’s Wi-Fi network on most domestic flights. And for those who were winging it by working through the flight, those Wi-Fi costs added up fast.

Don’t toggle your phone into airplane mode just yet because many national and international air carriers are bringing Wi-Fi service to their fleets. While you can’t take phone calls mid-flight, here are the airlines where flying the connected skies comes standard with your ticket.

Domestic and International Airlines That Offer Free In-Flight Wi-Fi

Want to use those hours in the air to clear your inbox or level up in that guilty pleasure mobile game? Check it off your to-do list because these airlines offer complimentary Wi-Fi as part of your in-flight experience.

Domestic Flights With Free Wi-Fi

Delta Air Lines

The latest airline outfitting its entire fleet with Wi-Fi is Delta. Delta — in partnership with T-Mobile — made free in-flight Wi-Fi available to all passengers on domestic flights in February. By the end of 2024, Delta CEO Ed Bastian promises to have its entire fleet on board with free unlimited Wi-Fi, including regional and international flights.

There’s just one tiny hitch. To access the Wi-Fi, Delta Airlines requires passengers to sign up for a free Delta SkyMiles account. If you don’t want to join the Delta SkyMiles members club, you can still purchase Wi-Fi for a $10 fee per device.

Considering getting an airline credit card? We’ve got the scoop on which ones give you more miles and extra travel perks.

JetBlue

For JetBlue, free Wi-Fi is so 2017 that they coined a word for it: Fly-Fi. For a while, they were the only U.S. airline where unlimited access to the plane’s high-speed Wi-Fi came with your JetBlue ticket.

JetBlue also partners with Amazon, so you’ll earn extra TrueBlue points — JetBlue’s loyalty program — for shopping in-flight. Plus, you’ll get access to Amazon Prime’s library so you can stream Amazon video, music, audiobooks and more.

Other Domestic Airlines With Free Wi-Fi

While JetBlue and Delta are the only national carriers that offer free in-flight Wi-Fi to all passengers, most other airlines are piloting similar programs and perks on select domestic flights.

American Airlines offers some flights where passengers watch a sponsored video to receive 30 minutes of in-flight Wi-Fi. On United Airlines flights, Mileage Plus loyalty members use miles instead of paying a fee to access in-flight Wi-Fi. And Alaska Airlines and SouthWest provide free texting and messaging through iMessage and Whatsapp.

International Carriers With Free Wi-Fi

Domestic airlines aren’t the only game in town for scoring free Wi-Fi. Check out the select international aircraft that help you stay connected for cheap.

Air New Zealand

Air New Zealand not only provides free Wi-Fi on all domestic flights, but it comes complimentary on all international Wi-Fi-enabled flights.

Nok Air

Nok Air is a budget carrier out of Thailand, but there’s nothing cheap about their in-flight benefits. They provide complimentary Wi-Fi access on all Boeing 737 flights.

Qantas

Grab free high-speed Wi-Fi on board B737-800 and A330-200 Qantas flights, courtesy of a partnership with Viasat.

Japan Airlines

Japan Airlines passengers get free Wi-Fi on domestic flights with the exception of a few aircraft that are not yet equipped to provide the service.

Other International Airlines With Free Wi-FI

There are a few other international air carriers that provide in-flight Wi-Fi, but don’t return your tray tables to their upright position just yet because it comes with strings attached.

On Qatar Airways, you can only get 15 minutes or 10 MB of free Wi-Fi via a sponsor. Norwegian Airlines provides 15 minutes of free in-flight WiFI on select flights, and Philippine Airlines offers a complimentary 3 MB chat plan.

At China Eastern Airlines and Shanghai Airlines, in-flight Wi-Fi is first come, first serve. The first 100 lucky passengers on the flight who register 30 days in advance connect to the Wi-Fi free.

Other Ways to Get Free In-Flight Wi-Fi

If you’re stuck schlepping it on a carrier that doesn’t offer free Wi-Fi, you might still be able to snag a cheap (or free) connection. Here’s how.

Leverage Credit Card Perks

Some airline credit cards let you redeem points or miles to reimburse you for in-flight Wi-Fi costs. These include airline credit cards and reward programs from Southwest Airlines, American Airlines, United Airlines and Alaska Airlines.

Earn Premium or Elite Status

Several international and national air carriers allow premium or elite members to earn free Wi-Fi. This includes national carriers like Southwest and international airlines like Emirates, Finnair, Icelandair, Singapore Airlines and Turkish Airlines.

Upgrade to Business or First Class

The perks of business class and first class are more than just extra legroom and bottomless mimosas. These airlines extend complimentary in-flight Wi-Fi on personal devices to those who pay extra not to get stuck hugging their knees in economy class.

Aer Lingus
Emirates Airlines (Emirates Skywards members only)
Icelandair
Philippine Air (100 MB limit)
SAS (Scandinavian Airlines)
Singapore Airlines (First class free, Business class 100 MB limit)
Turkish Airlines (1 GB limit)
Alitalia (Magnifica members only, 50 MB voucher)
Finnair (one-hour, intercontinental flights only)
Swiss Airlines (50 MB voucher)

Pay close attention to the Wi-Fi terms, however, because most airlines listed here have some limitations to internet access.

Trying to find a way to afford first class? Here’s how (and when) to book cheap flights to 8 popular destinations during the shoulder season.

Connect With T-Mobile and Sprint

T-Mobile customers can buckle up and get connected because they’ve already have in-flight Wi-Fi on Alaska, American and Delta flights through their wireless provider. T-Mobile and Sprint Unlimited, Sprint ONE and Sprint Max passengers get free messaging through iMessage, Google Hangouts and Whatsapp, as well as an hour of free data.

A man drinks an alcoholic beverage on a flight. — Getty Images

Other Airline Perks Worth Checking Out

If you’d rather kick back and not spend your flight streaming, there are a few other airline perks to check out, from free cocktails to complimentary checked bags.

Free In-Flight Beer and Cocktails

Have a flight of beer or wine on your way to Canada, courtesy of Porter Airlines, serving up local brews and vintages. Air Canada has similar alcoholic offerings when you book a flight between Toronto and Montreal. Even WestJet, a low-cost carrier based out of Canada, offers a free glass of beer or wine on regional flights.

Horizon Air will quench your thirst with Northwestern wines and microbrews — and your wine flies free. That is, you can check a case of wine for free from 32 West Coast cities on Alaska, Horizon and SkyWest flights. And of course, a complimentary glass of bubbly or wine comes with the ticket on all long-haul AirFrance flights.

Free Layover From Icelandair

Having a layover doesn’t sound like a perk, but hear us out. What if it’s in Iceland? Icelandair invites all passengers who book their flights to arrange a free stopover for one to seven days — coming and going, if you want — in Iceland to get a taste of what the country has to offer.

Kid Travel Perks

Baby on board? These airlines are on standby to ease your suffering. British Airways feeds kids first on all flights, so you can rest easy when it’s your turn to eat. Some international airlines offer other perks, like Gulf Air’s sky nannies who make the rounds to entertain kids in-flight.

South Korea’s Asiana Airlines literally puts moms first with front-row seats to the bathroom for all expectant mothers and free baby slings and nursing blankets for infants.

Free Checked Bags

If you’re traveling with a lot of baggage (and really, who isn’t), many airlines provide ways to waive the fees and check your luggage for free on most flights. Delta SkyMiles, United Explorer and Alaska Airline Visa members all earn free checked baggage for cardholders and, in some cases, for traveling companions. You always get two free checked bags on Southwest though.

Pro Tip

Looking to duck the baggage fee? Before you try cramming your oversized duffle into a bin, here’s how you can pay less for luggage and avoid other traveling costs.

Priority Boarding

If all you really want is to be first in line to snag a window seat or a coveted overhead bin, you’re in luck. Elite flyers, premium members and some airline credit cardholders earn priority boarding with major airline carriers, including American, United Airlines and Southwest.

Next time you need to fire up the Wi-Fi at 36,000 feet, and you’re not on a JetBlue or Delta flight, consider keeping these tips and tricks in your back pocket to avoid in-flight connection charges. In this case, time really is money, so spend (and stream) wisely.

Looking to snag a flight for cheap? Consider these low-cost air carriers where a heavily discounted ticket price is the best perk of all.

Kaz Weida is a senior staff writer at The Penny Hoarder covering saving money and budgeting. As a journalist, she has written about a wide array of topics including finance, health, politics, education and technology for the last decade.

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Source: thepennyhoarder.com

Apache is functioning normally

May 23, 2023 by Brett Tams

Free money sounds too good to be true, but there are actually a number of different ways to get your hands on money with no cost and very low effort on your part.

Here, we’ll take a look at more than 20 free money apps that will put some extra money in your pocket with minimal time or effort.

While you’re not going to get rich or generate a full-time income from these apps, you will be able to get a little bit of extra money that you can spend, save, or invest. And best of all, anyone can do it.

Best Free Money Apps

1. Swagbucks

Best for: Earning easy money in lots of different ways during your spare time.

If you’re looking to make some extra money in your down time, you’ll definitely want to check out Swagbucks. This popular website and app gives you several different ways to make money including:

Taking short surveys
Watching videos
Playing games
Downloading and installing apps
Taking advantage of special offers
Cashback for your online purchases
Using the Swagbucks search engine

Most people know Swagbucks as a survey app, and while that’s true, you can make more money with Swagbucks than most other survey apps because there are so many different ways to earn.

Each task or activity will earn you a specified number of points (referred to as “Swagbucks” or SB). After you’ve accumulated some SB, they can be redeemed for your choice of rewards, including cash via PayPal or a wide variety of gift cards.

The best way to earn significant amounts of money with Swagbucks is to take advantage of special offers. When you’re logged in to the dashboard, click on “Discover” to see the offers that are currently available. You might be able to earn Swagbucks by creating an account at a website, opening a bank account, starting a free trial, or any number of other things. The offers change frequently and if you take advantage of the highest-paying offers while they’re available, you can do pretty well with Swagbucks.

One of the many reasons to love Swagbucks is that you can redeem your rewards very quickly. While some sites/apps don’t allow you to cash out until you’ve earned $20 – $30 in rewards, Swagbucks allows you to redeem your rewards for as little as $3. They also run a lot of sales, which allows you to get a higher value gift card for your points.

Get Swagbucks here | Read our Swagbucks review

2. InboxDollars

Best for: Supplementing Swagbucks as another way to make money with easy tasks.

InboxDollars is very similar to Swagbucks. As an InboxDollars user, you’ll be able to make money by:

Taking surveys
Watching videos
Playing games
Printing coupons
Shopping online
Claiming special offers

Like Swagbucks, the best way to earn money quickly with InboxDollars is through the special offers. The available offers will change periodically, but as an example of what you’ll find, right now here are a few of the offers that I see in my dashboard:

$10 to get a free insurance quote
$2 to enter a competition/giveaway
$1.50 to download an app and create a free account
$2 to get a free credit score and credit report analysis

Those are just a few examples of what’s available. If you take advantage of these easy offers, you can earn a decent amount of money with very little effort.

Unlike Swagbucks and many other similar sites, InboxDollars doesn’t work on a point system. Instead of earning points that will be redeemed for prizes, you’ll earn real cash. Each task or offer has an assigned dollar amount that you’ll earn.

InboxDollars requires you to have a balance of at least $10 in order to redeem your cash.

Get InboxDollars here| Read our InboxDollars review

3. Survey Junkie

Best for: Making money with simple online surveys.

While you can make money by taking surveys with both Swagbucks and InboxDollars, Survey Junkie is a bit different. Instead of offering surveys plus several other ways to make money, Survey Junkie focuses exclusively on surveys.

If you want to earn cash through online surveys, the best approach is to use a few different websites and apps. If you’re really active, you may run out of available surveys from a particular app, until new surveys are added. Using a few different sites or apps gives you more possibilities. Plus, you can pick and choose the surveys you take since you’ll have more selection. You can opt to take only the surveys that allow you to earn the most money for your time.

Since Survey Junkie focuses exclusively on surveys, most people are able to make more at other sites like Swagbucks that have more options. However, if you’re looking specifically for surveys, there’s no better place to find them than Survey Junkie.

When you create an account and login to the dashboard, you’ll need to take a brief profile survey with some details about yourself so you can be matched up to the right surveys (you’ll also earn a little money for completing this intro survey).

Then you’ll see a list of the available surveys. Each one will list the amount that you’ll earn for completing it, as well as the estimated amount of time it will take to complete the survey.

Get Survey Junkie here.

4. Vindale Research

Best for: Supplementing Survey Junkie as a source of paid surveys.

Vindale Research is another survey website/app that allows you to earn money by:

Completing short surveys
Watching videos
Opening promotional emails
Referring your friends

Although Vindale offers a few different ways to make money, taking surveys is the primary offer here. You’ll earn real cash that can be redeemed by PayPal.

Vindale Research is a good option for anyone who wants to make money with online surveys. The income potential is not as high as Swagbucks or InboxDollars, but Vindale is worth including in your collection of sites/apps that you use for surveys.

Get Vindale Research here

5. Rakuten

Best for: Easy cashback for online purchases at thousands of websites.

Rakuten (formerly Ebates) is the most popular cashback website/app and you can save money on many of the purchases that you would be making anyway.

With a free Rakuten account, you’ll earn cash back at thousands of their partner stores and websites. While there are some options for cashback on in-store purchases, the majority of the offers are for online purchases.

Thankfully, using Rakuten is extremely simple. They offer a convenient browser extension you can install, and then whenever you visit a website that offers cashback through Rakuten, you’ll see a notice in your browser. All you need to do is click on that notification and Rakuten will track any purchases that you make and credit your count with the appropriate amount of cashback.

If you do any shopping online, using Rakuten is a no-brainer. It takes no extra effort and you can save money on a lot of the things you need to buy. The browser extension is awesome because you don’t even have to remember, it will notify you of opportunities. The browser extension will also automatically search for and apply coupon codes when you’re checking out, which will also save you a lot of money.

The amount of cashback you’ll earn will vary depending on the store and the specific purchase. It can range from 1% up to 50%.

One of my favorite things about Rakuten is the fact that you can stack these rewards on top of credit card rewards and other loyalty rewards to save even more.

Get Rakuten here | Read our Rakuten review

6. Ibotta

Best for: Cash back on grocery shopping.

Ibotta is another must-have cashback app. Unlike Rakuten, Ibotta is great for in-store purchase, as well as online shopping.

There are a few different ways you can use Ibotta:

Claim offers in the app and then scan your receipt after purchasing.
Link your store loyalty accounts from your favorite retailers to earn cashback faster.
Buy gift cards for your favorite stores and restaurants to earn cash back on the entire amount.
Earn cash back for online purchases that originate through the app or website.

With the help of Ibotta, you can save money on groceries, clothing, home goods, and more. Ibotta is easily one of the best ways to save money on groceries since they are partnered with many leading grocery stores and there are always a lot of offers available.

Before you go shopping, you’ll simply browse the current offers in the Ibotta app and claim the items that you want to purchase. After the purchase, you’ll scan the receipt using the Ibotta app and you’ll be credited for the offered items that you purchased. Alternatively, you can link your store loyalty account to Ibotta so you won’t need to scan receipts.

And just like Rakuten, Ibotta is great for stacking rewards on multiple levels. If you’re shopping for groceries, you can earn cashback through Ibotta, earn cashback or rewards through your credit card, and rack up loyalty points through the store’s program.

Get Ibotta here | Read our Ibotta review

7. Fetch Rewards

Best for: Supplementing Ibotta to save more money on groceries.

Fetch Rewards is another cashback app, but it was created specifically for grocery shopping. It works a little bit differently than Ibotta. You don’t need to claim offers ahead of time. You’ll simply do your shopping and then scan the receipt with your phone or submit the digital receipt for your online grocery shopping.

The best thing about Fetch Rewards is that it’s very easy to use since you don’t need to browse and claim offers before you go shopping. You’ll simply open the app and scan your receipts. At any time, you can browse the app to see the available offers and see what purchases will earn you money, but you don’t need to claim anything. The cashback will be automatically added when your receipt is scanned.

In general, most people earn more cashback with Ibotta, but Fetch Rewards is great to use in addition.

Once you’ve accumulated some rewards, you’ll be able redeem them for your choice of gift cards.

Get Fetch Rewards here | Read our Fetch Rewards review

8. MyPoints

Best for: Alternative to Rakuten, plus surveys and other ways to make money.

MyPoints has a cashback component that is similar to Rakuten. You’ll earn cashback for your purchases at all of their partner websites. MyPoints also has a browser extension you can install that will notify you of money-saving opportunities while you’re browsing.

In addition, you can also earn money in a few other ways like taking surveys, watching videos, playing games, and printing coupons. Like Swagbucks and InboxDollars, there are also special offers available through the dashboard that allow you to earn points quickly.

MyPoints uses a points system and then those points can be redeemed for gift cards or your choice of rewards. However, the conversion of points to dollars is not as straightforward as Swagbucks, so MyPoints can be a little confusing. For example, a $10 gift card might cost you 1,590 points. The fact that it’s not a round number makes it a little more challenging to know how much your points are worth.

If you’re looking to make money with surveys, special offers, or cashback, MyPoints is definitely and app that you should be using.

Get MyPoints here

9. TopCashback

Best for: Maximizing your cashback for online purchases (offers are sometimes better than Rakuten).

TopCashback is very similar to Rakuten and it’s one of the best ways to get easy cash back for your online purchases. They have a huge collection of more than 4,000 partner retailers offering cash back through their platform.

Rakuten is the most-well-known cashback program and probably the easiest to use, but TopCashback actually offers higher amounts of cashback in many cases. Of course, the details vary from one retailer to the next, but TopCashback has done a really great job of providing users with the best offers possible.

If you’re looking to maximize the cashback you earn, you should be using TopCashback in addition to Rakuten. Like Rakuten, TopCashback also offers a browser extension and mobile app that provide easy and convenient ways to save on many of the purchases you need to make anyway.

Get TopCashback here

10. Dosh

Best for: Automated cashback from participating merchants, including local retailers and restuarants.

Dosh is a cashback app that provides automatic cashback. When you download and install the app, you’ll link it to your credit cards or debit cards and then whenever you make a purchase at a participating retailer, you’ll automatically earn the cashback for your purchase.

When you’re in the Dosh app, you can view the offers from retailers and restaurants that are near you. You can also shop online through the app and earn cashback.

One of the nice things about Dosh is that you’ll find cashback offers from many smaller businesses and local restaurants, not just the major retailers and chains.

After you’ve earned some cashback, you can redeem it by having it transferred directly to your bank account.

Get Dosh here | Read our Dosh review

11. Pei

Best for: Automated cashback, plus savings through the app/website.

Pei is another cashback app that allows you to link a credit or debit card to earn automatic cashback. You’ll earn cashback automatically from purchases made in-store at participating retailers, and you can also browse the app or website to find offers for shopping online.

You can even use Pei as a search engine to search for merchants or products and see if there are any current offers.

Pei is a great app for earning cashback on in-store purchases because it’s so simple to use and there’s really nothing you need to do after linking your cards.

One of the most interesting things about Pei is that you can claim your rewards in Bitcoin instead of cash, if you prefer.

12. Lucktastic

Best for: A chance at winning large prizes by playing games.

Lucktastic is a free app that allows you to earn money and rewards by playing games. You can win expensive trips and huge cash prizes (up to $1 million) with Lucktastic.

If you’re not lucky enough to win one of the big prizes, you can still earn tokens as you play and redeem those tokens for your choice of gift cards.

While hitting it big with Lucktastic certainly isn’t something that everyone is going to do, it can still be a fun way to try and make some money while playing games in your spare time. If you’re looking for something that gives you a more predictable way to earn money, the options covered earlier in the article would be more appropriate for you.

Get Lucktastic here

13. Mistplay

Best for: Earning smaller rewards, like gift cards, for playing games.

Mistplay is another app (available only for Android) that pays users for playing games. You can find and discover new games, earn units based on how long you play, and redeem those units for your choice of rewards.

As you use the app, you’ll be able to unlock different achievement badges and earn more units.

To date, Mistplay has paid out more than $13 million in rewards. Try another app that pays you to game here: Gamehag

Get Mistplay here

14. Zap Surveys

Best for: A good source for surveys that actually pay out.

Zap Surveys is the #1 survey app, and by using the app you can get paid to share your opinion on a variety of topics. To date they’ve paid out over $30 million dollars in rewards to Zap Surveys members, and when you sign up with our link you’ll earn $6.25 on your first survey.

Types of surveys they have include:

High paying surveys where you will not only be rewarded, but we will also donate to child starvation every completed survey!
Logo polling – get paid to tell companies what design they should use for their next logo!
Surveys that appear based on your location!

There is no limit to the number of times you can cash out, but the minimum cash out is $25.00. Cash out with PayPal, Amazon gift cards or Visa gift cards!

Get Zap Surveys here

15. Nielsen Computer & Mobile Panel

Best for: A chance at monthly prizes, in exchange for your browsing data.

Nielsen is a data research company that’s willing to pay for your browsing data. Nielsen can be used on laptops in addition to mobile devices.

Nielsen Computer & Mobile Panel free money app

You’ll simply download it to your computer or device and let it run in the background. In exchange, you’ll be rewarded for leaving it active and have a chance to win the $10,000 that Nielsen gives away each month.

Get Nielsen Computer & Mobile Panel here

16. Embee Meter CX

Best for: Passive rewards for your mobile browsing data.

Embee Meter CX is another mobile data research app (Android only) that rewards you for providing access to your device. Simply install the app on your device and you’ll earn “meter points” for leaving it active.

You can redeem the meter points for cash through PayPal or your choice of gift cards. Like Nielsen and MobileXpression, Embee Meter CX is an easy way to earn a little something extra.

Get Embee Meter CX here

17. UpVoice

Best for: Passive rewards for visiting websites you probably already visit.

UpVoice is another easy way to earn something for the things you’re already doing. You probably already visit websites like Amazon, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter on a daily basis, so why not get some rewards for it?

All you need to do is download UpVoice to your computer and let it run in the background. You’ll earn tokens whenever you visit these sites. After you’ve earned enough tokens, they can be redeemed for your choice of gift cards.

UpVoice obviously monitors your browsing, however, it’s anonymous and no personal data is tracked.

Get UpVoice here

18. Honeygain

Best for: Payment for sharing your internet access.

Honeygain is another option for earning money passively, but you don’t have to provide access to your data in order to do it. Instead, you’ll install Honeygain and it will allow users to access the internet from your location. There are a number of reasons why a business would want to do this, including testing to see what ads are being shown to a user at your location.

Other users don’t get any access to your data through Honeygain, and you’ll earn money for providing the internet access.

Like the other passive apps, you’re not going to get rich with Honeygain, but it does present an easy way to make a little bit of extra money.

Get Honeygain here

19. Rocket Money

Best for: Bill negotiation services to lower your monthly payments.

Rocket Money helps you to manage your finances in a few different ways, but the most significant is by reducing your monthly bills through negotiation. You can allow Rocket Money’s professional negotiators to work on your behalf to get you the best deal cable TV, internet access, mobile phone service, and more.

If Rocket Money isn’t able to save you any money, you’ll be charged nothing. If they are able to lower your bills, they’ll keep 40% of the savings.

Get Rocket Money here

20. Trim

Best for: Bill negotiation services to lower your monthly payments.

Trim is another bill negotiation service that’s similar to Rocket Money. Both companies offer some additional features and services as well, but the bill negotiation is the easiest way to save money.

Trim’s rates for bill negotiation are actually a little lower than Rocket Money. Just like Rocket Money, they won’t charge anything if they can’t save you any money, but they’ll take 33% of any savings.

Get Trim here

21. Paribus

Best for: Monitoring price changes for low-price guarantees and monitoring shipments from Amazon.

*Capital One Shopping compensates us when you sign up for Capital One Shopping using the links below.

Paribus from Capital One helps you to get easy money that is owed to you. You’ll sign up for free and link it to the email account you use for online shopping. Whenever Paribus sees a receipt it will automatically go to work.

After you’ve made a purchase, Paribus will monitor price changes and notifies you if the price has dropped on a purchase from a retailer with a price-match guarantee. They’ll tell you exactly what to do in order to get the refund that is owed to you.

Paribus also monitors shipments from retailers like Amazon and helps you to get compensation when a shipment is late.

Get Capital One’s other shopping tool, Capital One Shopping, to save money when you’re shopping online. The browser extenstion will tell you if you’re getting a good price, help you comparison shop and more. Read a full Capital One Shopping review here.

Get Paribus here | Get Capital One Shopping

22. Upside

Best for: Saving money on your gas.

Upside is a savings app that helps you to find the best prices on gas, and also get additional cash back savings once you find the best price.

Not only can you get cash back on gas, but many local restaurants, grocery stores and convenience stores have cash back offers available as well.

Upside works with major gas stations like Shell, BP, Exxon, Speedway, Holiday Stations and more. See gas prices near you at 9000+ stations and earn fuel rewards with real cash back every time you fuel up.

I’ve found that the stations near me typically advertise around $0.25 cents/gallon savings on their gas prices. You can also save additional money on the price by referring other users to the app.

We’ve been using the app quite a bit for Burger King and Wendy’s restaurants in our area as they give anywhere from 25-40% cash back on your order. That’s pretty awesome, and it usually stacks with cash back from other services like Dosh or Pei!

In checking our cash back history just now I realized we’ve earned over $1210 in cash back using Upside. I’ll take that!

You can cash out whenever you want in the app, and they pay cash back via PayPal, check, or gift card.

Sign up for the app through our link below, and use promo code: AFF25 to get an extra 0.25 cents/gal cash back on gas on your first fill-up.

Get Upside here

23. ReceiptPal

Best for: Making money on all of your receipts, no matter where they come from.

ReceiptPal is a receipt scanning app, similar to Fetch Rewards mentioned above. Often you can use multiple apps like this to earn rewards at more than one service. I personally use ReceiptPal and Fetch Rewards for most of my grocery receipts.

With ReceiptPal you earn rewards points simply for scanning all of your paper receipts, along with getting points for linked Amazon or email accounts where additional receipts can be counted.

For every 4 receipts you can you’ll get 100 points that you can use towards a reward. You can redeem your points with as little as 2200 points for a $5 Amazon gift card, or a Target, Lowe’s Best Buy or Visa gift card, among a few others. You can also refer other users and earn 250 points per user.

While it takes a while to earn rewards with ReceiptPal, I like it because it’s easy, and you’re taking something that wouldn’t otherwise earn rewards, scanning receipts, and monetizing it.

I just started using it a few months ago and so far I’ve been able to cash in my points for several $5 and $10 Amazon gift cards.

Get ReceiptPal here

Make Money With Apps In Your Free Time

While these apps may not make you rich, even a small amount of extra money is a good thing.

These free money apps work in various ways, but they all help you to make or save money with little-to-no effort needed.

Have your own favorite apps that you’ve used to make money? Tell us what they are in the comments!

Frequently Asked Questions

Are there apps that pay you cash?

Yes, there are countless apps that will pay you in cash, bitcoin and gift cards. I’ve earned thousands of dollars myself by using many of these apps, and you can too. Check out our full list of apps at Bible Money Matters for more information.

What apps pay you instantly?

Most apps allow you to earn points until you reach a certain payout threshold. Some secret shopper and gig apps like Field Agent, Gigwalk or Mobee will give you an instant payout. Uber and lyft will also allow you to do a same day cashout, although there are some limitations. Other services like DoorDash will offer an immediate payout once you’ve been with them for a while, but not before.

What cash back apps are the best?

My favorite cash back apps are Upside, Drop, Ibotta, Fetch Rewards and Dosh. Apps like Dosh, Drop, and Upside even work automatically with no receipt scanning or anything else, once you link a credit card. I use them the most becaause they’re the easiest to use.

What apps pay you money to play games?

There are a lot of apps and websites that pay you to play games. Some of the more popular ones include Swagbucks, Mistplay, Gamehag, Inbox Dollars, Lucktastic, MyPoints, and Bananatic.

Can you make money from apps?

Yes, you can make money from apps. Some apps will pay you for doing your online shopping using their app. Others will pay you to fill out surveys, or to scan your receipts from your in-store purchases. Others will pay you to perform small tasks, or to partake in the gig economy (dog walking, ridesharing, etc). Others you can use to sell your stuff, and then get a payout when it sells. It just comes down to deciding how much time you have to invest, and how much you want to make.

Which apps pay the most?

The highest paying apps are probably going to be the ones where you’re actually engaging in a side hustle to earn income. Apps like Uber, Lyft, Rover and other gig economy apps can help you to earn close to a full time income. Other apps will have good sign up bonuses that it pays to take advantage of. Empower has a $20 Amazon gift card to sign up, Ibotta has a $10 sign-up bonus. Otherwise, other apps may take a while to earn as much as you want.

Source: biblemoneymatters.com

Apache is functioning normally

May 8, 2023 by Brett Tams

If you’ve been looking into cruises, chances are you’ve come across some deals that sound almost too good to be true. Maybe you’ve even been lucky enough to score a cruise offered for as little as $100 by leveraging hotel elite status matches.

But once you put down your deposit and start looking into all the extras, you’ll find that what you actually end up paying for your cruise vacation can easily be many multiples of the advertised rate that initially lured you — especially once you factor in flights and hotels.

Cruise companies, like airlines, make a lot of their money off ancillary fees. But there are ways for you to avoid some of these pesky surprises. Here’s how to save money on a cruise.

1. Cruise excursions

Potential added cost: $600-$1,200 (3 full-day excursions for 2 people at $100-$200 each, per person).

Frugal alternative: DIY at a level you’re comfortable with.

From the moment you book your cruise to the days you’re sailing, you’ll hear and see a lot of pitches for cruise excursions, which can be a tempting way to fill your hours in port while leaving every small detail to the cruise line.

But you’ll pay a huge premium for that convenience.

Assuming you’re open to some (extra) adventure, many excursions can easily be replicated for a fraction of the cost.

For example, on a recent Mexican cruise, a friend and I walked about 20 minutes from the cruise port along a well-maintained sidewalk to undertake a mountain hike for free that had been offered as an excursion for $60 per person. We figured we were already hiking anyway, so why not tack on an extra mile or so? A local bus would have done the trick, too.

Not quite so adventurous? Look into taking taxis, which are generally easy to find at any cruise port. Even that would have cut the price from $60 per person to roughly $5-$10 per person.

Here are a few other overinflated offenders you can easily replicate on your own or by booking ahead of time with well-rated local vendors:

Bike or walking tours.
Open-air bus tours.
Transport and entry to a beach club.
Boat excursions.
Cooking classes.

Pretty much anything offered in port can be put together independently. And local vendors are very much aware of ship times, so don’t worry about getting left behind. Their reputations depend on getting you back safely.

🤓Nerdy Tip

Sometimes, cruise excursions are worth the cost — for instance, accessible tours for those in wheelchairs, or things impossible to replicate yourself, such as behind-the-scenes ship tours that take you to the bridge and the engine room.

2. Wi-Fi packages

Potential added cost: $300-$600+ ($15-$30 or more per day, per person, on a 10-day cruise for 2 people).

Frugal alternative: Free Wi-Fi in port.

For those of us who are always online, some of the most difficult — and mystifying — charges to swallow are cruise Wi-Fi fees. Making matters worse is that cruise lines often require you to purchase a package for the whole cruise, so you can’t do, say, one day on and one day off.

The most obvious workaround, especially if your cruise has many more port days than sea days, is to simply spend an hour or so in port catching up on your internet needs.

A local library is your best bet, but often the port facilities themselves will offer free Wi-Fi. Bars and cafes generally offer Wi-Fi too, which allows you to take in some local flavor while you’re scrolling your Instagram feed.

🤓Nerdy Tip

Even if you’re not buying an internet package, log on to your ship’s Wi-Fi connection anyway and just see what happens. On two recent cruises, I was immediately able to use iMessage, and in one case I even had full internet access at certain times (but not at others). If it works for you, consider it a pleasant surprise.

A more complicated route would be to purchase a SIM card for your phone that works for each destination, but it’s unlikely to work while at sea.

3. Alcohol packages

Potential added cost: $1,000-$2,000 ($50-$100 per day, per person, on a 10-day cruise for 2 people).

Frugal alternative: Bring your own booze.

Many cruise lines allow you to bring a limited amount of alcohol on board. Here were the allowances for a few of the more popular cruise lines at last check:

Carnival: One 750-milliliter bottle of sealed/unopened wine or champagne per person age 21 or older in your carry-on luggage upon departure. No alcohol otherwise.
Celebrity: Two 750-milliliter bottles of wine per person of legal drinking age at departure. No alcohol otherwise.
Norwegian: Any amount of wine or champagne, as long as it isn’t boxed wine. No alcohol otherwise.
Princess: One 750-milliliter bottle of wine or champagne per adult. Extra bottles are allowed for a nominal fee per bottle. No alcohol otherwise.
Royal Caribbean: One sealed 750-milliliter bottle of wine or champagne, but no boxed wine or other alcohol.

You might have to pay a small corkage fee if you consume your own alcohol in an onboard restaurant, so be on the lookout for that.

What about nonalcoholic drink packages? They’re cheaper, as you’d expect, but again, you can generally bring some on board instead. (Coffee and tea are often available for free throughout the ship.)

Here’s the rundown of how many nonalcoholic beverages you can bring on board some popular cruise lines:

Carnival: Up to 12 sealed, unopened cans/cartons of 12 ounces each or less, per person, in your carry-on.
Celebrity: Their terms don’t explicitly mention non-alcoholic beverages. On a recent cruise, I took that to mean there was no limit; I brought two 2-liter bottles on board with no problem.
Norwegian: Not allowed, with limited exceptions.
Princess: Up to 12 sealed, unopened cans/cartons of 12 ounces each or less per person.
Royal Caribbean: Up to 12 standard cans, bottles or cartons per stateroom.

One underappreciated thing about bringing your own drinks: It’s a lot more convenient to serve yourself than it is to wait to be served at a bar.

🤓Nerdy Tip

If you’re tempted to try splitting a drink package with multiple people, don’t bother. Cruises generally only serve you one drink at a time, and they have their ways of knowing the purchaser is the one getting served (for instance, via wristband or scanning your onboard card that shows your ID).

4. Spa services

Potential added cost: $100-$200 or more per treatment at sea.

Frugal alternative: Skip the treatments or get them in port.

Lots of things are typically included on cruises — most food, entertainment, pools — but spa treatments are generally extra. (Probably a good thing: If everyone on the ship got bottomless massages, that’s about the only thing many of us would want to do the whole week.)

Although there might be no such thing as a free spa day, cruise lines will occasionally offer short “sample” treatments meant to entice you into paying for more. If you can resist a sales pitch, give it a shot, though these free offerings tend to fill up very fast.

Here’s another case where getting your fix in port can save you a bundle. While cruising in the Caribbean recently, I paid the equivalent of $30 for what turned out to be a world-class massage. It might have been just as great on board, but it would’ve cost about five times as much.

🤓Nerdy Tip

On two recent sailings I was able to access the onboard spa’s common areas for free throughout the week. So, if you want “spa-adjacent” goodies — like a sauna, heated loungers or extra-comfy chairs — just wander a bit and see what you find.

5. Paid room service

Potential added cost: $100 ($5-$10 per item, or a set delivery fee).

Frugal alternative: Pack your baggies.

More and more, cruise lines are charging for room service that used to be free. (For instance, on Carnival and Celebrity, only continental breakfast is included for most guests now.)

Room service items generally aren’t expensive, but a few cases of the midnight munchies can add up quickly. One alternative is to bring a few clear plastic bags so you can “pack” easy-to-carry items from elsewhere on the ship.

At dinner, order that extra cheese plate, bag it up and stick it in your room fridge. Or if you have a sweet tooth, grab some cookies from the buffet.

Made-to-order sandwiches can travel well, too — so well that you could bring a couple with you on your port days, as we did on a recent cruise. But don’t get too carried away. After all, you might not want to miss the local cuisine.

🤓Nerdy Tip

Generally speaking, the room service menu isn’t going to be that memorable anyway, so you’re probably not missing much by not partaking. And besides, free food is never more than a few minutes away on most cruise ships.

6. Tips and taxes

Potential added cost: Roughly $100-$300 on average for taxes; roughly $10-$25 per person per day for tips (so figure $200-$500 total for a 10-day cruise for 2).

Frugal alternative: Score an onboard credit to help lighten the blow of these mandatory extras.

As cruise ship fees go, there are only two sure things: tips and taxes. Even the least expensive cruise offers will tack on both, and generally you won’t see either fee mentioned upfront when you’re first starting to book.

Port taxes vary based on the length of your cruise and where you’re stopping, but on average you can expect to pay $100 to $300 on top of the cost of your room.
Tips are a baked-in way of saying thanks for the service you’ve received on the cruise from front-line workers such as your room steward, wait staff and guest services. Charges vary wildly but range from $10 to $25 a day in many cases.

Port taxes generally must be paid no matter what, but tips (or any other costs mentioned above) can generally be covered in full using onboard credits. Cruises often offer such credits to entice you to book. In one case, I received $100 in onboard credit on a line I hadn’t cruised before simply by calling and requesting it, citing the fact that I was a new customer. (Motto: It really never hurts to ask.)

7. Flights to the cruise port

Potential added cost: Easily hundreds of dollars, plus hotel costs as needed.

Frugal alternative: Use points and miles.

In the heat of booking that dream cruise, one of the easiest expenses to overlook — but one of the costliest — is the travel to and from the cruise port.

If you aren’t lucky enough to live within easy transit or driving range of your departure port, you’ll need to factor in costs for flights. And unless you like living dangerously, you’ll want to fly in a day in advance, which means budgeting for at least one hotel night.

Any number of travel rewards credit cards come with sign-up bonuses that, alone, could more than cover the cost of your transit in the form of hotel points or airline miles. For the best value, focus on cards that earn reward currencies in the American Express, Capital One, Chase or Citi ecosystems. These points can be transferred to a wide variety of airline or hotel programs.

🤓Nerdy Tip

For a different kind of flexibility, consider cards that offer the ability to redeem points toward “erasing” any travel purchase you make with the card, such as the Aeroplan® Credit Card from Chase or the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card. You could even use such cards to pay for, then erase, those pesky port fees referenced above.

The bottom line

That cruise you’re seeing marketed for just a few hundred dollars (or less) can easily balloon to many multiples of that amount if you’re not careful.

But with the right travel rewards credit card, a healthy sense of adventure and some good old-fashioned resourcefulness, you can fully enjoy the vacation you’ve earned while resting assured that you haven’t broken the bank.

(Top photo by Brad Walters)

How to maximize your rewards

You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are our picks for the best travel credit cards of 2023, including those best for:

Source: nerdwallet.com

Apache is functioning normally

April 28, 2023 by Brett Tams

Save more, spend smarter, and make your money go further

With all of today’s home-based tech gadgets and virtual personal assistants, smart homes are quickly becoming ubiquitous. And with high demand for connected products, so too comes ease of use, accessibility and affordability.

But as with all expenses, it’s important to budget for smart tech upgrades to your abode. Luckily, it’s easier (and more affordable) than it’s ever been. Here, we explore some of the more common smart home tech investments, along with a few things to consider when deciding whether they’re worth the cash.

Virtual Voice Assistants

These devices use natural language processing (NLP) to match a user’s voice commands and execute an action, like “Turn off the lights.” Many of these voice assistants use a “wake word,” like the name of the device (“Hey Google,” for example) in order to alert the assistant so that it’s ready to listen to you.

From online shopping to reading your email for you, virtual voice assistants have the potential to do a myriad of helpful things around your home.

Major Brands: The top players in the virtual voice assistant arena are Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Homepod, Microsoft’s Cortana and Google’s Home — but the list is growing. It’s been reported that Facebook may be working with Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri to create its own smart speaker in this burgeoning market.

Average Price Range: The most basic versions, like Amazon’s Echo Dot, can start at as little as about $50, while more mid-range devices go for about $130 (Google’s Home) and high-range assistants like Apple’s Homepod go for $349.

Life Expectancy: While it’s hard to predict how long these up-and-coming tech devices will last, it’s safe to say that there will be plenty of similar products for a long time to come. Not only that, but virtual assistants will likely continue to improve significantly when it comes to their capabilities, connectivity and affordability. To put things into perspective, it took 13 years for the television to reach 50 million Americans but only two for smart speakers to do the same thing.

Is it Worth It? It depends on how (and how much) you’ll be using the device. If you call on your virtual voice assistant at every whim, the upfront cost may be well worth the convenience. On the other hand, a 2017 Ovum survey of both U.S. and U.K. residents said that about 50 percent of users don’t find virtual assistants useful. Though it’s difficult to narrow down the reasons why, it’s a clear message to manufacturers that they need to up their game to stay competitive.

Smart Thermostats

Intelligent heating and cooling systems have taken the tech world by storm, particularly due to their affordability and savings potential. These smart thermostats learn users’ habits — when they leave for and come home — to optimize in-home temperatures in a way that traditional thermostats can’t. After all, if you’re going away on vacation, there’s no need to leave your AC on the whole time, but you might want to turn it up an hour or two before you return. Cue smart thermostats.

Major Brands: There’s a lot to choose from when it comes to intelligent thermostat needs. Popular brands include Ecobee4, Nest Learning Thermostat, Lux/Geo Wi-Fi Thermostat, Lux Kono Smart Thermostat, Bosch Connected Control BCC100 Thermostat and Honeywell Lyric T5 Wi-Fi Thermostat.

Average Price Range: While you can find some smart thermostats for under $100, most range from about $170 to $260, depending on their uses and features. Some cost as much as $500.

Life Expectancy: Intelligent thermostats have the potential to last just as long as traditional thermostats, as long as you maintain them correctly and don’t misuse them. However, it’s important to note that some smart thermostats are hardwired into your home while others aren’t. If yours operate on battery power, it could last a full two years before needing new batteries — but always pay attention when your thermostat alerts that its batteries are low.

Is it Worth It? Not only are smart thermostats extremely convenient, they also have massive potential for saving you some cash on utilities. While the upfront cost may be a bit hefty, smart thermostats often pay for themselves in the long run. The Energy Star program states that homes equipped with smart thermostats can save up to $180 per year on heating and cooling. What’s more, intelligent thermostats can provide you with reports that show you how to optimize your heating and cooling settings to save even more money.

Smart Lighting

Yep, even light bulbs are getting smarter these days — and not just in the “clap on, clap off!” way, either. With smart LEDs, you can connect all the light fixtures in your home to your virtual voice assistant or smartphone to control individual lights in every room. Not only is this super handy, but it can also provide an extra layer of security if, say, you’re out of town and want to randomly turn lights on and off so it appears that someone’s home. Plus, color-changing bulbs make for great mood lighting and can even sync up to music and movies for extra effect.

Major Brands: Though brand doesn’t matter as much when it comes to intelligent light bulbs, popular bulbs include the Philips Hue White, Philips Hue White and Color Ambience A19 Star, C by GE Starter Pack, Cree Connected Light Bulb, Eufy Lumos Smart Bulb White, LIFX Color 1000, Ikea Tradfri Gateway Kit and MiPow Playbulb Rainbow.

Average Price Range: While you can find affordable options under $20, some intelligent light bulb kits cost upward of $200, depending on the number of bulbs and features included.

Life Expectancy: Regardless of price, the vast majority of smart LEDs have a lifespan greater than 20 years. That’s anywhere from 20,000 to 50,000 hours — or up to five times longer than any other light bulb in stores today. Compare that to the measly 1,200 hours of an average incandescent light bulb, or a CFL’s 8,000 hours.

Is it Worth It? Even if you do decide to outfit your home with a $200 smart light bulb kit, it’s arguably still worth it. They last practically forever, they can help keep your home safer, you can control them from your smart device from anywhere you have internet access, and they’re better for the environment than traditional bulbs.

Even though the upfront cost of smart LEDs can be a little off-putting, you might consider this an investment purchase. Yes, they’re more expensive at first, but take a look at this calculation from Simple Family Finance, which added up the total costs of all three types of bulbs, plus 25,000 hours of electricity usage — this is how the expenses broke down:

Incandescent: $218.50
CFLs: $64.63
LEDs: $53.75

That’s a lot less money over the long term, which means a lot more money in your wallet for making other awesome smart upgrades to your home. Smart garage door, anyone? (Yep, they have those, too.)

Mark Simmonds brings 20 years of insurance industry experience to his role as managing director and chief product officer at Esurance. His diverse expertise in many areas of the business, including product, underwriting, finance, operations, and more, help shape his writing. Visit Esurance’s website to find out more about how certain smart home products can reduce your homeowners insurance.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or view of Intuit Inc, Mint or any affiliated organization.

Save more, spend smarter, and make your money go further

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Source: mint.intuit.com

Apache is functioning normally

April 27, 2023 by Brett Tams

When it comes to the best apartment amenities, what’s popular in 2017 may surprise you. According to Apartment Guide research, many of those searching for an apartment tend to focus on individual apartment features rather than community features. However, many apartment hunters weigh community features at approximately the same level of importance as how many bedrooms they’re looking for, so community features matter. Those who want community features, however, tend to weigh them as highly as features of each apartment, so community amenities really matter as well.

apartment amenities list — Data based on Apartmentguide.com searches in June 2017

According to our data, apartment renters love their pets with most of the apartment searches looking for either pet friendly communities or apartments that allow pets. Being able to do the laundry also ranks supreme, with an in-unit washer and dryer at the top of the wish list for many renters. Additionally, keeping cool is also a big concern for renters, with many looking for air conditioning or a community pool as an amenity.

You’re ready to start your search for a new apartment. You’ve selected the neighborhoods you like and made a budget so you know what you can afford. Now it’s time to narrow down your search by determining which apartment amenities you might need.

RELATED: 6 Reasons to splurge on a garage

RELATED: How to meet dog friends

As a recap, here’s what recent ApartmentGuide searches show as the most popular amenities:

The Most Popular Apartment Amenities in 2017

In-unit washer and dryer
Air conditioning
Pets allowed
Furnished apartments
Dishwasher
Washer and dryer connections
Some utilities included
Balcony
Cable ready
All utilities included

The Most Popular Community Amenities in 2017

Pet friendly
Garages
Swimming pool
High speed internet access
Fitness Center
Laundry Facility
Covered Parking
Gated Access
Wireless internet access
Access to public transportation

Growing in popularity

These lists are never set in stone. What’s important now may not be in the future, and amenities we barely think about now become must-haves in the future. We took a look at some industry trends, and found these amenities, while not yet on this list, are on the way up.

More elaborate fitness centers: It’s not enough just to have weights and exercise machines. Everything from adding tennis or basketball courts to having full, complimentary yoga classes are becoming more common.
Bike-friendly amenities: More people are getting around on their bikes, so amenities such as bike storage and repair are becoming much more sought after by renters.
Online payments and maintenance: Do you really want to call the front office to get something fixed? Does anyone like writing checks for rent? Being able to handle these online is especially attractive to younger renters.
Package lockers: We get far more packages than we used to – have you seen how many people buy everything through Amazon? – so having somewhere to keep them other than at your front door is incredibly attractive to renters.
Electric car charging stations: More electric cars means more people needing somewhere to plug them in overnight.
Hardwood floors: Not all the rising amenities are new things. Having your apartment look good on the inside is a strong desire, and carpet or tile just doesn’t do it for some people.

Related: When to sign a lease

Video: Most popular words in apartment names

Your landline: Think twice before cutting the cord

April 20, 2023 by Brett Tams

A while ago, my wife and I did what we do from time to time — ask if there’s another cost-saving opportunity we’ve overlooked. I don’t know about you, but the quest for fiscal prudence is generally at its highest in our household after some indulgent purchase. “Hey, look! We can compensate for this luxo-foobie by slashing costs here!” (Are we the only people who do this?)

The indulgence in question was an iPhone. My trooper wife had been braving modern civilization with a dumb phone. (Someone from the ’80s would have called a slim, foldable phone which sends text messages anything but dumb, but that’s a different subject.) It worked fine and was cheap, but, well, even it began to show signs of age. Cell phones not being fine wine, I decided to surprise her with an iPhone, to heck with the cost. She did not resist.

Soon, however, guilt replaced the excitement, prompting the aforementioned introspection.

How To Save On Your Phone And Wireless Bills

How To Save On Your Housing Costs

How To Save On TV, Movies And Entertainment

How To Save On Your Internet Costs

How To Save On Insurance

Save By Getting A Better Bank Account

How To Save On Energy Bills

Save On Bills By Negotiating Them

Conclusion

Related Posts

20 Best Neobanks

1. Chime

2. GO2bank

3. Current

4. Revolut

5. Quontic Bank

6. Dave

7. Albert

8. Varo

9. Aspiration

10. Bluevine

11. SoFi

12. Acorns

13. One

14. Cheese

15. Unifimoney

16. NorthOne

17. Oxygen

18. Bella

19. Lili

20. Monzo

What is a neobank?

Are neobanks safe?

Neobanks vs. Traditional Banks

Neobanks

Traditional Banks

Pros & Cons of Neobanks

Pros

Cons

Bottom Line

Premium credit cards that improve your travel experience

The Platinum Card® from American Express

The American Express® Green Card

Chase Sapphire Reserve

Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

Airline cards that make your flight more comfortable

Hotel cards that improve your stay

Hilton Honors credit cards

IHG One Rewards credit cards

Marriott Bonvoy credit cards

World of Hyatt credit cards

Wyndham Rewards credit cards

Bottom line

Overview of the best socially responsible banks

Best national banks for socially responsible banking

National Cooperative Bank

Southern Bancorp

Amalgamated Bank

Ando Savings

Best online banks for socially responsible banking

BankPurely

Aspiration

Best regional banks and credit unions for socially responsible banking

Clearwater Credit Union – Montana residents

Verity Credit Union – Washington state residents

Virginia Community Capital (VCC) – Virginia residents

Central Bank of Kansas City – Missouri residents; online banking for all U.S. residents

Carver Federal Savings Bank – NYC, New England, and Mid-Atlantic residents

First Green Bank – Florida residents

Mascoma Bank – New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine residents

City First Bank – Washington, D.C. area residents

Beneficial State Bank – Oregon, Washington, and California residents

Why choose a socially responsible bank?

You can make a difference

It is safer in their hands

What makes a bank socially responsible?

Charitable donations and community service

Transparency about their investment donation

Public commitment to social good

Certified B Corporations