For many years I used a 1% cash back credit card for all my purchases.

While this wasn’t a bad move – 1% is better than nothing, which is what you get from a debit card – it’s not ideal.

There are credit cards that offer 2% cash back on every purchase, which is double what I was getting. There are also many cards that have lucrative sign-up offers that I was completely missing out on.

If you start utilizing credit card rewards to make your vacations free or cheap, or to collect free cash back rewards, you are likely going to have a number of cards open. Some of these cards inevitably will come with an annual fee, or with a sign-up bonus that you must achieve within a certain amount of time (e.g. spend $2,000 within the first 4 months of card opening to earn 50,000 points that can be redeemed for a $500 statement credit, for example).

Between cash back credit cards, airline credit cards, and “point” credit cards, my wife and I have multiple credit cards.

It can be difficult to keep everything straight when you have multiple cards open, so I asked myself recently: why don’t I just take a few minutes when I open a card to record information in a spreadsheet?.

I create spreadsheets all the time. I work in spreadsheets all day at work and spreadsheet consulting is one of my side hustles. Many times it’s a no-brainer to me that setting up a spreadsheet is a good idea.

So I created a credit card rewards tracking spreadsheet in Excel.

The Credit Card Rewards Tracking Spreadsheet in Excel

 
The spreadsheet I created is simple yet effective. It can help you avoid forgetting about a card and having it renew, and it will help you keep a history of the rewards that you’ve gained so far.

 
This spreadsheet has a variety of columns to capture everything you would want to know about the card you signed up for, including when you would want to cancel it by to avoid the annual fee. The columns include:

• Number
• Credit Card Name
• Company
• Business or Personal
• Date Opened
• Date Annual Fee Hits
• Closed?
• Annual Fee
• Annual Fee Waived First Year?
• Bonus: Spend Required
• Bonus: Spend Timeline
• Bonus Complete By Date
• Bonus Description
• Bonus Program
• Who Signed Up?
• Notes

When you download the file you’ll see an example credit card I added in the first row. This example can serve as a guide to populate your credit cards. You can also add or delete columns as you see fit.

I’ve been using this spreadsheet for over five years and it’s one that I keep going back to. I have yet to see a better system for managing all your credit cards and tracking rewards and annual fees.

If you want the free credit card rewards tracking spreadsheet fill in the form below and it will be sent to your email.

There are a ton of budgeting apps out there, but many people end up using some sort of a spreadsheet for their budget.

Spreadsheets offer control and flexibility to users, and allows them to look closer at the transactions going through their accounts.

I have nothing against apps. Many people find them useful, and there’s no denying that there are a ton of good ones out there.

But I personally have used a budget spreadsheet for years and have found it useful. The more people I talk to about budgeting, the more I hear that people desire a spreadsheet-based budget without all the manual work that comes with it.

Today we finally have a budget spreadsheet in Excel that is automated and easy to update. But first let me tell you a bit about the budgeting process I’ve used in the past.

My Budgeting Process

 
I’m an Excel nerd so using a spreadsheet to budget was a no-brainer for me. I’ve had the same spreadsheet for over four years now. But why haven’t I shared it?

When I share spreadsheets and tools I want them to be as easy to use as possible. The biggest issue with spreadsheet budgeting is getting all the data in the proper format.

I have a number of credit cards due to credit card churning, plus throw in a bank account and you can see why it would take quite a bit of time to reformat everything. No two financial institutions seem to export data in the same format. So there’s a lot of work on the backend.

I didn’t want to share a budgeting spreadsheet until I solved this key piece of the puzzle. Fast forward four years and I still haven’t shared a spreadsheet.

That all changed when I discovered Tiller.

Tiller – The Key to Automation

 
Tiller is what I have been waiting for: it automates the process of pulling in your financial data into a clean, uniform format.

Now there are a ton of apps out there that link to your accounts. But they don’t allow you to dump your data into a spreadsheet because they either haven’t built a tool that can do that or they have a huge incentive to not allow their users to dump data into a spreadsheet.

Once you sign up for Tiller you simply have to connect your accounts and your financial transactions will be dumped into a Google Spreadsheet each day. They will come through in a uniform format that looks something like this:

 
Tiller does cost money. You can use my link for a free 30 day trial, but after that it’s $6.58/month. If you’re like me and spend an hour or more getting your data into a uniform format or have avoided budgeting because you don’t want to take the time to mess with your data, $6.58/month is well worth what you are getting in return for Tiller’s service. (Don’t worry they have a 60-day money-back guarantee as well).

Tiller has bank-grade security and has partnered with a company that works with some of the biggest banks in North America to ensure it’s up to the same high standards banks are held to. What was even more reassuring to me was hearing that their employees can’t even see your financial data. You can read more about their security and other features of their service on their website.

I’m all for Google Sheets, and Tiller absolutely can work simply using Google Sheets, but Excel is where it’s at if you want a clean and good-looking budget spreadsheet.

So I took it a step further and created an automated budget spreadsheet in Excel.

An Automated Budget Spreadsheet in Excel

 
Tiller is a great start, but my automated budget spreadsheet in Excel is where people will feel most “at home.” Excel is widely used and I’ve created a spreadsheet that someone with limited experience can use.

The spreadsheet has a directions tab that guides you through the process of updating the spreadsheet with your data. It also points out best practices that will help you not “break” the file.

 
The data tab is where you will want to paste your Tiller data. The data will then become part of a table that uses formulas to automatically populate the monthly summary tabs and the annual summary tabs.

Note that Tiller does not automatically populate the category for each transaction. Having the user populate the category allows the user to assign relevant categories and look at the transactions at a lower level of detail than they would if category was auto-filled.
 

 
On the categories tab you can add or delete categories as you see fit.
 

 
On the monthly summary tabs, everything is automated except for the budget column and the categories. You can add and delete categories as you see fit. You can unhide the hidden rows towards the bottom if you need to add more categories.

Everything is formula-driven, making it easy to see a snapshot for the month. While tabs have already been created for each month in 2024, you can easily make a copy of any of the months tab and choose a different month and year drop-down as you see fit. Everything will update automatically for whatever month you choose.
 

 
One additional thing included in this file is the annual summary. If you go to the 2024 tab you can see an annual summary of your income and expenses by month. This is automatically populated and you can easily make a summary for future years by choosing a different year from the drop-down.
 

 
This spreadsheet takes a lot of the manual work out of the budgeting process and gives you nice clean views of your financials, both budgeted versus actual as well as net inflow and outflow of cash.

My hope is that this easier process of importing and tagging data will encourage others to start budgeting. After all, using this process you can easily update your budget in less than 30 minute a month, perhaps even less than 10 minutes depending on how many transactions you need to tag.

There are hundreds of credit card options out there, so how does someone go about choosing their first credit card?

“What credit card should I get?” is a question I hear often. Many who are picking out their very first credit card are overwhelmed by the options.

Not all credit cards are available to those who have never opened one. Many require good or excellent credit scores. But if you haven’t opened a credit card you haven’t had time to build a solid credit history that would qualify you for a wide range of cards.

There’s a few things I think people should keep in mind when opening their first card, such as opening one with no annual fee, using only a small percentage of your available credit, and more. We’ll get into all of that, but first let’s get to what I recommend for a first credit card.

The Best First Credit Card

 

The card I recommend for a first credit card is the Discover it® Cash Back card.

Discover was my first credit card. I opened my Discover card about a decade ago and have been using it ever since.

Special Offer: When you use our link to sign up (any link on this page), you will get a $100 statement credit when you record your first purchase within three months.

Here’s some reasons I think the Discover it® Cash Back card is the ideal first credit card:

1) No Annual Fee

 
When it comes to a first credit card, having no annual fee is the most important feature I look for. If a card has an annual fee, it’s simply not a good first credit card.

Your credit score is, in part, based on your credit history. If you open a card with no annual fee you can keep it open forever even if you decide to stop using it and move on to a different card. If you open a card with an annual fee you will likely end up closing it, perhaps even within a year or two of opening it.

The Discover it® Cash Back card does not have an annual fee, so it fits the bill.

2) Solid Rewards

 
While it’s true that there is no huge sign-up bonus for the Discover it card, it does have solid rewards you will be able to take advantage of.

• 1% Cash Back on Every Purchase
   
  The Discover it® Cash Back card has always offered 1% cash back, regardless of where the purchase was made, what was purchased, etc. No matter what you will always get 1% cash back on every purchase.

• 5% Revolving Quarterly Cash Back Categories
   
  Each quarter of the year Discover offers a new 5% cash back offer. For example, this quarter it may be 5% cash back on restaurants, up to a certain amount (i.e. $1,500). Next quarter it could be Amazon purchases. There is a new category every quarter.
   
  This is a great perk if you take advantage of it. 5% cash back is not something you will find on many other cards.

• Partner Gift Cards
   
  One of my favorite benefits of the Discover it® Cash Back card is the partner gift card program. My wife and I have used this for years and it’s always nice to get a “free” gift card.
   
  It’s a really simple program. If you use your cash back rewards to redeem a gift card, you will get the gift card at a discounted rate. For example my two personal favorite gift cards to get are $50 Starbucks and Chipotle gift cards. You can get either of these for just $45 of your cash back, which means you get another free $5 on top of the $45 you already accumulated through cash back rewards.
   
  There are currently 100+ participating stores/brands and some have even better deals than what I described for Chipotle and Starbucks. For example, a $50 Gap gift card can be had for just $40 in cash back rewards. A $50 AMC gift card can be had for $45 in cash back rewards, and so on.

3) Free FICO Credit Score

 
If you get a Discover it® Cash Back card you have complimentary access to your FICO credit score. This perk is no longer unique, as many if not most credit cards now offer a free credit score. With that being said, I like how the Discover FICO credit score shows your total number of accounts, length of credit history, number of credit inquiries the past 12 months, and what your credit utilization is.

 
Special Offer: When you use our link to sign up (any link on this page), you will get a $100 statement credit when you record your first purchase within three months.

Tips for People Getting their First Credit Card

 
It’s important to use your first credit card responsibly. It can be a great tool to build your credit history, but only if you use it right. It’s best to be disciplined from the get-go so you don’t fall into the trap and habit of maxing out your credit cards.

Here’s 3 tips for people getting their first credit card:

• Treat your credit card like cash
   
  The fact that you are getting your first credit card means that you are not in credit card debt. You have an opportunity to never get into credit card debt, but it requires you to immediately get in the mindset of treating your card like cash.
   
  If you don’t have the money, don’t charge it, and make sure you pay off your credit card in full each month.

• Only use 1/3 of your available credit at any one time
   
  Using only 1/3 of your available credit may not seem like common sense, but your credit score is impacted by how much credit you utilize. So if you were approved for $1,000 in credit you should keep the balance on your card below $333, or less, at any given time.
   
  There is no penalty for making multiple payments towards your credit card throughout the month, so consider taking that approach if you are worried you will go above the 1/3 credit utilization threshold.
   
  This can be difficult with your first credit card. There is a good chance you will only be approved for a small amount, such as $500. 1/3 of that is not much, so you’ll need to limit what you charge to your card as well as pay it off diligently.

  That brings us to our next tip of requesting an increase in your credit after 6-12 months.

• Request a credit increase after 6-12 months
   
  Along the same lines of only using 1/3 of your available credit, you will also want to consider requesting a credit increase after 6-12 months. If you have been consistently paying off your card you are likely in a good position to have your request approved.
   
  How do you request a credit increase? With Discover it’s an option within their online dashboard. If you aren’t approved, don’t sweat it. You can wait another few months and submit the request again.

 
To summarize, I recommend the Discover it® Cash Back card as a first credit card. It has no annual fee, solid rewards, and a free FICO credit score.

When you apply through our link, you get a $100 statement credit when you make your first purchase within 3 months.

 
To be clear, this isn’t the only option for a first credit card. There are other good cash back and rewards credit cards that you may want to consider for your first credit card. You can browse the other options here.
 
 

A popular topic in personal finance is passive income.

Income that doesn’t require you to trade your time for money is “the dream” for many people.

There are many different forms of passive income, but the ultimate passive income is dividend income.

Dividend income comes from owning dividend-paying stocks. Not every company pays dividends. If a company is focused 100% on growth, they are going to use all their earnings to continue to grow their business.

With that being said there are many large companies that are focused on growth that pay a dividend. In fact it would almost be silly for a publicly traded company to not have a growth strategy.

Many of the large blue chip companies pay dividends, though their dividend yield (Amount paid out in dividends annually divided by current stock price) can vary. For example, Best Buy has a relatively high dividend yield of 4.18%, while Visa has a modest 0.80% dividend yield.

Even if you have other financial priorities that take precedence, learning and being aware of the opportunities that come with dividend income can motivate people to save more money, pay off debt faster, and make more money so that they can take advantage of all the benefits that come from dividend income.

With that in mind, let’s get to the real question here: how much can you make in dividend income?

How Much Can You Make in Dividend Income?

 
The first thing I need to say before answering this question is this: it’s not easy to make a sizable amount of dividend income. If it was easy no one would work and everyone would simply live off of their passive dividend income.

Using the spreadsheet I created, let’s look at what you would be able to make annually from dividends if you invested $5,000 in 3M stocks:

 
Okay so you’d only make $123 each year. Now that may not feel like much, but remember it’s also reasonable to expect 3M’s stock to appreciate over time. Also, don’t forget how great dividend income is: you are getting $123 by simply owning $5,000 worth of 3M stock! No effort required.

Let’s take a look at a higher investment amount: $100,000.

 
Nearly $2,500 a year – not too bad! You can see why dividend income is so attractive, especially to those looking to retire early or who don’t want to spend down their assets in retirement.

Quick math shows that owning $1 million of 3M stock would yield $25,000 a year in entirely passive income. Do you have $2 million to invest? double it up to $50,000 a year.

I don’t know about you, but this sort of scenario analysis is incredibly motivating to me.

I spend most of my free time working on side hustles to increase my income, and while paying off debt is the primary goal right now, long-term I would love to regularly funnel “extra” side hustle income into dividend-paying stocks.

If you are an entrepreneur or want to be an entrepreneur, dividend income just might give you the motivation needed to put in the long hours and hard work to build your business. After all, if you are able to sell for a couple million dollars – or more – you very well could live off of passive dividend income the rest of your life.

It’s an easy way to save over $1,000 in one year. $1,378 to be exact.

The 52 Week Money Challenge is realistic for anyone because it doesn’t require the same amount of money to be saved each week. That’s because over the course of 52 weeks you save as little as $1 and, at most, $52.

Let’s take a more detailed look at how the 52 Week Money Challenge works, and some alternative ways of doing the challenge.

How the 52 Week Money Challenge Works

 
The 52 Week Money Challenge is simple. Over the course of 52 weeks, you make a deposit into your savings account once a week. The deposits range in value from $1 to $52.

One way people do this is deposit $1 the first week, $2 the second week, $3 the third week, and so on. At the end of 52 weeks the deposits total $1,378.

Another way to do this is vary the payments. Perhaps you deposit $52 the first week, $1 the second week, $51 the third week, and so on. This works well when there are busy times, like Christmas, where money is tighter, or if you have an unexpected expense that sets you back.

Being able to adjust your weekly contribution as needed is an added layer of flexibility to the challenge, but not everyone takes that approach. It can be easier to just stick with increasing your contribution each week by $1. Who knows? Maybe you will even continue past the 52 weeks.

Another variation is to multiply the amount you save. Depositing $1 through $52 is great because you will save $1,378 in one year, but why not up the ante? If you deposit $5 through $260 in increments of $5, you would have nearly $7,000 saved. This is a great way to make a game out of building an emergency fund.

I recommend having a separate savings fund at a different bank than your home bank or credit union to create a separation between the money you have for spending and the money you are saving for a rainy day. My choice is a high-yield savings account at CIT Bank. Many banks pay almost nothing in interest for their savings account. You deserve to get a high interest rate on your savings account, and CIT Bank is a great option.

Download the 52 Week Money Challenge Spreadsheet and Printable

 
If the 52 Week Money Challenge sounds like something that you want to try, we have a free 52 Week Money Challenge Spreadsheet and Printable for you.

If you want the spreadsheet or printable, you can get a free copy below.

Don’t miss out on our free budget spreadsheet or these travel rewards credit cards that can help you achieve your travel goals faster.

We hear about side hustles all the time, but have you ever wondered what people are actually doing to make money on the side?

I’m a big fan of research because it’s data-driven and objective. When it comes to side hustles the two biggest questions are: how many are doing them and what are they doing? Perhaps the biggest question is: how much are they making?

CareerBuilder recently released research on side hustles that I thought was insightful. Today I want to talk about the most popular side hustles according to research.

Let’s take a look at the list.

The Most Popular Side Hustles According to Research

 
Below are notable side hustles per CareerBuilder Research:

• Survey taker

• Babysitter

• Chef/baker

• Dog walker

• Blogger

• House sitter

• DJ

• Bartender

 
What stands out to me when I read this list is the general lack of “technology-based” side hustles. Survey taker and blogger are really the only pure “technology-based” side hustles on the list.

I wasn’t surprised to see survey taker mentioned, as it’s long been a way to make a (little) extra money on the side.

I was happy to see blogging on the list, especially with blogging being one of the most mentioned and talked about side hustles. Depending on the niche of the blog, bloggers can work anytime, anywhere.

While dog walking and house sitting may seem like “old school” side hustles, I think it makes sense. Technology, specifically sites like Rover.com, have made it easier than ever before to become a dog walker and/or a dog sitter. You don’t necessarily have to go out and attract clients, as the website does some of the work for you.

We have a rental apartment and our renter’s side hustle is dog sitting and house sitting. It’s something that is easy to do on top of a 9-5, and once you have regular clients it’s easy to continue the side hustle without having to constantly land clients.

I think the demand for dog walking and house sitting will only increase over time. More and more people are opting to have dogs instead of kids, or at least are delaying children and are, in turn, adopting dogs. I also am convinced that social media is a boon for the security industry, as people like to post real-time, including while on vacations. A house sitter adds an additional layer of security.

The other side hustles listed are also “old school” in the sense they have been around for a long time. Bartending will always be in demand, and the demand is typically nights and weekends. Same goes for DJS. And while we may think of babysitting as something 20-somethings and 30-somethings don’t do, there is probably more people doing this as a side hustle than we realize.

How Side Hustles are Changing

 
Side hustles are, for the most part, about supply and demand. The list that CareerBuilder put out makes sense: there is constant, if not growing, demand for these services.

But how will side hustles change over the next few years? Or even the next ten years?

I think we’ll always see the location-based side hustles that are popular today, but as we saw from both blogging and taking surveys making the list, the world of side hustles will continue to evolve. Virtually everyone is, at minimum, intrigued by the idea of a location independent option for making extra money in their spare time.

12 Income Streams You Can Create By Starting a Blog

As someone who has blogged for nearly a decade and run Young Adult Money for more than six years, I have seen more and more content out there, and the quality does seem to be increasing. With that being said there seems to be a nearly unlimited demand from businesses and consumers for content, so those who “cut their teeth” blogging are going to be well positioned to work on content full-time, consult on content marketing, or some other upside from the huge demand for content.

Here’s a few other examples of side hustles I think will become more prominent over the next few years:

• Freelance Writer

• Graphic Designer

• Photographer/Videographer

• Social Media Manager

• Virtual Assistant

• Uber/Lyft Driver

• Programmer

The first few that I listed above go along with the content theme. They also are side hustles that give the individual performing the service a large degree of freedom. You could argue a videographer/photographer have less freedom, but they ultimately have say over what type of work they do, how often they work, and where they work. I don’t foresee demand slowing down for freelance writers, graphic designers, photographers, videographers, and social media managers anytime soon.

Virtual assistants are going to be in higher and higher demand as the economy becomes more digital-based. We already have millions and millions of people going into jobs where they sit on computers all day. If business owners took advantage of the huge savings they can realize from a mobile workforce, virtual assistants will be swept up in the wave. I also think the rise of freelancers and contractors will inevitably lead to demand for virtual assistants.

While all the talk is on automated driving, the reality is that automated driving is still years down the road. There is actually a huge shortage of Uber and Lyft drivers, and Uber is actively recruiting drivers as we speak. This demand goes beyond traditional Uber drivers and includes things like UberEats, which is really looking to staff up drivers. As there is more and more demand for Uber and Lyft, prices and convenience of being a driver will cause people to consider taking it on as a side hustle.

Finally, I think programming will continue to rise in popularity as a side hustle. While many programmers only work their 9-5, there is a whole subset of full-time programmers who are working on an app idea, or partnering with others on business ideas. The demand for programmers won’t slow down anytime soon, and I think programming will be an extremely popular side hustle the next 5-10 years, and beyond.

Ten or so years ago it wasn’t common to have home or apartment security cameras.

They were either cost prohibitive, overly complex, or both.

Ring is one of the companies that changed that.

Most people are familiar with Ring because of the Ring Video Doorbell, but they also offer a wide range of other products including home security cameras.

If you are considering adding Ring Cameras, this post will help you decide whether to get POE Ring cameras or WiFi Ring cameras.

What are the Different Ring Camera Options?

 
As you can tell from the title, one regret I have is setting up a bunch of WiFi Ring cameras instead of POE Ring cameras.

The problem is that most people don’t know what “POE” means. It wasn’t until after I set up many cameras that I learned more about POE, or power over ethernet, and why POE Ring camears are better than WiFi Ring cameras.

To be clear, I think that WiFi Ring cameras are better than no cameras at all. It was a game-changer the first time I traveled to be able to log in and check my cameras, and even get alerts of motion. Since then I can’t imagine not having some sort of camera system and broader home security system in place.

When it comes to power source, there are three major types of Ring Cameras:

• Wired

• Battery

• POE

The Ring Stick up cam is an example of a wired Ring camera. This camera can also be powered by solar, which is actually quite affordable for Ring cameras.

Regardless of the power source, these Ring cameras are going to need to connect to your home network, and that’s accomplished by connecting to WiFi.

The same can be said about battery-powered Ring camera options. It still needs to connect via WiFi.

This brings us to POE Ring cameras, or power over ethernet. The unique thing about POE is that it provides both power and network via one cord. An example of a Ring POE camera is the Ring Stick Up Cam Elite.

Why POE Ring Cameras are Better than WiFi Ring Cameras

 
As I already mentioned, there is nothing inherently wrong with a WiFi security camera. In fact, the nice thing about them is how easy it is to connect to your network.

But WiFi Ring cameras come with their disadvantages.

In general, WiFi is less reliable than wired devices. This is true not just for Ring cameras but any device you are connecting to your network. WiFi signals can get jammed up or face interference, which is an issue for something meant to provide security.

Another thing to think about is placement of cameras. A lot of times you’ll want to place cameras around the exterior of your house, with soffit being the most likely thing you mount your cameras to. With wired Ring cameras you are going to need to have an outlet nearby, or you’ll have to run extension wires such as these to the closest outlet.

This may not seem like a problem at first, but when you really think about how many outlets you have in places like your garage and how accessible they are, you can run into issues once you start adding multiple cameras to your house.

Since you are already running wires, why not run POE wires (which are essentially cat6 ethernet cable and connect to a POE camera? From a wiring perspective it’s the same or less work, and you end up with a more secure and stable network connection.

How Does POE – Power Over Ethernet – Work?

 
Most people aren’t familiar with POE. And even when you first hear about it, it can be difficult to wrap your head around it.

If you can get past the initial “new-ness” of the concept, you can get comfortable with using it as your power and network source for your cameras. Perhaps more importantly, you can avoid the mistake I made of going with WiFi cameras. Because like me, you can avoid first buying WiFi cameras and then later swapping everything out to POE.

A graph can be helpful. Below is how POE works for Ring cameras.

Most home networks consist of a cable modem, a router, and that’s it. Using POE just takes one extra step: a POE switch.

The way a POE switch works is you run ethernet cable from the router to the switch, and then you run ethernet cord from the switch to the cameras.

And that’s it – you’ll have a wired network connection and power to your cameras.

Below is an example of a POE switch:

Once you start comparing the process of running wire for wired Ring cameras to running cat6 ethernet wire for POE ring cameras, running ethernet is more flexible. You only need an outlet for the switch, not for each camera.

There is one advantage wired Ring cameras have over POE Ring cameras: price.

If you compare the Ring Stick Up Cam, which is the wired option, to the Ring Stick Up Cam Elite, which is the POE option, the Stick Up Cam is about $100 while the Stick Up Cam Elite is about $200. So essentially with each camera you purchase you are paying double for POE.

With all that being said…POE is the future for security cameras. You are better off setting up POE cameras now instead of WiFi cameras which you likely will eventually upgrade to POE.

If you are ready to set up your Ring home security network, here’s a list of supplies:

• POE+ Switch (we didn’t get into POE vs. POE+ vs. POE++ in this post, but I recommend getting at minimum a POE+ Switch)

• Cat6 Ethernet cable

• POE Ring cameras

I did not include a modem or router since most people have it, but you can of course shop for these on Amazon as well.