May
19
Some people say that a chocolate bar is better than a gold bar. Who can really argue? Flowers wilt, jewelry tarnishes, candles burn out, but chocolate doesn’t hang around long enough to get old. So be sure to stock up for all your chocolate needs at Abe’s Market.
They’re currently having a 25% off 2-day sale on more than 130 chocolates! Best of all, Abe’s Market offers natural chocolate with only the best ingredients.
Premium Belgian Dark Chocolate Bar
Chocolate Beaucoup Berries
Grand Truffle Box
May
18
(Guest post by TeacHer as part of our Side Hustle Series)
Ok, by a show of hands: how many of you have taken a standardized test?
Thanks for your participation, you can put your hand down now. How, you ask, did I know it was up? Because almost everyone has taken a standardized test.
These days, most American students are taking several state-issued standardized tests every school year, but even kids who are home-schooled need to take the SAT to get into college. Standardized tests are a necessary evil that we all have to get through, but as you’re cursing the name of the person who invented the damn thing while you’re sweating your way through all that bubbling, did you ever actually think about the person who wrote each of those questions? Probably not.
Lucky for you, you’re about to meet one of those talented writers. That’s right: my side hustle is writing questions for a couple of major standardized tests.
(NOTE: As you can imagine, I had to sign some pretty strict non-disclosure statements when taking this gig. As a result, I can’t tell you who employs me, which tests I write for, or exactly how much I get paid. But that still leaves a lot to say – read on!)
Some Background
I’m a high school teacher living in the D.C. metro area (yep, I’ve met J. Money in real life – I know, you’re jealous!) and I’ve been at it for the past five years. Currently, I teach social studies to a captive audience (ha!) of mostly high school seniors. But I’m also certified to teach 7-12 English. In other words, I have experience and training in a few different areas, one in particular that is especially valuable to the organization that employs me to write the questions. And the thing is, since I’m a teacher, I’m pretty much a professional at being broke, er, I’m pretty much a professional at doing a lot more than just teaching to make money. I’ve tutored, mentored other teachers, written curriculum, taught summer school. I’m always on the look-out for extra income opportunities, particularly those opportunities that will also improve my resume.
Getting the Gig
The way that I got hired to write standardized test questions is pretty straightforward: one of my family members works full time for the organization that hires question writers (in the business, we’re referred to as “item” writers) and they circulated an internal email indicating that they were in need of item writers in a few different subjects. My family member forwarded it to me, I sent in my resume, and the rest was history! I was hired and had my first assignment within the week.
Teacher by Day, Life Ruiner by Night
I have to say, writing test questions is probably my favorite side hustle. Basically, it works like this: my boss sends me an assignment, which is usually pretty specific. She’ll ask for say, 10 questions, and will have a specific topic that each one will need to be about. There are a bunch of rules that I have to follow when writing the questions, in terms of both structuring the questions and topics and phrases that I have to avoid because they might convey ethnic, gender, or regional bias. For example, it’s off limits to write a question that involves a phrase like “slow cooker” because “slow cooker” is a regional term. A test taker in the Midwest might not know that a slow cooker is the same thing as a Crockpot.
Usually, I have about a week or two to complete the assignment, and it takes me an average of about 30 minutes to write each question. I email my set of questions back to my boss a day or two before they’re due, she asks me to edit them if necessary, and that’s it! The flexibility of the gig is great. I can come home from school, eat dinner, open up a bottle of wine, and crank out a few questions before bed. That’s right, your suspicions were correct: people who create standardized tests really are staying up at night, thinking up ways to screw you over!
What Does It Pay?
I write for two different tests, which each pay different rates. The pay is per question, so my pay for a given assignment varies by how many questions were requested. I can’t disclose the exact amount I get paid per question, but the range is between $20-$30 per question, depending on which test I’m writing for.
Whoa! Is This the Perfect Side Hustle or What?!
Writing standardized test questions is a really sweet side hustle and I feel really lucky to have the job. There are two significant drawbacks, though. For one, the work isn’t steady. It ebbs and flows, so I can’t exactly count on the income. The second is a little more cerebral: I sometimes feel like I’m participating in system I don’t agree with, a system that relies on somewhat arbitrary tests (that I help write) to brand teachers (like me) as effective or ineffective without taking other important factors into account. Teaching is an incredibly complex job that simply can’t be boiled down to test scores, and sometimes as I’m writing the questions I feel like I’m helping make my fellow teachers look like they’re idiots when they’re probably not.
This is an unsolvable problem, though. States, universities, and professional programs all rely on standardized tests and someone has to write them. I suppose it’s better that a fellow teacher write the tests than a grumpy bureaucrat who never met a high school student in his life. Still, this is something I think about.
So, You Want To Write Standardized Test Questions…
Again, I can’t reveal the identity of my employer, but if you think you want to write questions for a particular test, do a quick Google search on the test and see who’s responsible for its creation then figure out how to put in an application on their website. You’ll be especially desirable if you have knowledge of a subject area that is somewhat specialized and less frequently studied, like Chinese language or chemistry. The subject I write in for both tests is not one that a lot of people study or know anything about, which is why I got the job so easily.
Regardless of the side hustle you choose, go get one now! It will make a world of difference to your finances. Consider this your homework assignment 
——————-
This edition of our Side Hustle series was written by TeacHer from www.teacherfinance.org – to learn more about her other side hustles and the ups and downs being “professionally broke,” check out her blog or visit her on Facebook! And to submit your own side hustle you’ve got going on, click here.
(Old school photo by Cushing Memorial Library and Archives, Texas A&M)
May
18
I hate to be the bearer of bad news today, especially on a Friday, but after 14 long and adventurous years, our pet cat, Bob, has finally passed away  And even though he definitely wasn’t the healthiest of cats lately if you recall (what, with giving him IVs and medicines morning, noon, and night), it still is just as shocking when “the day” comes. Or in this case, when we’re out of town about to attend a wedding Which makes it all kinds of worse…
I’ve known Bob the entire time I’ve known my wife (6 years, who’s had him for 13 of his own 14 years), and he’s been there for her what seems like forever. When she was just a teenager, when her dad died, when she graduated college, when she met and married her favorite boy in the world (me), when she got into grad school, and finally through all the joys of our recent pregnancy. It’s been a sad week to say the least, and to top it all off my 8 year old fish happened to die right after too, jeez…
But the one thing that keeps coming to my mind is – ‘He’s in a MUCH better place now’. Pet Heaven, if you will. Where my grandparents and her dad all have easy access too any day of the week I don’t know if you’re supposed to believe in that kinda stuff as a Catholic, but I’m going to do it anyways… I’d like to think heaven encompasses all types of wonderful and loving things, esp. pets.
And while it’s probably inappropriate for me to talk about the financial aspects of this major change now too, you know it still has to be dealt with. Just like when we come into this world of ours, we spend a certain amount going out too. Which is the last thing you actually want to think about or manage during all that unhappiness (and also why it’s important to get things like wills done *ahead of time* if possible! It sucks, and it’s freaky as hell, but it makes the after-financial-life a ton easier on all other loved ones left behind).
Now with pets, of course, it’s totally different, but unfortunately we still had one last decision to make before we can move on thoroughly. And that was *what* exactly to do with his blessed little body According to our vet, we had three ways we could go:
- We could take him back, and then bury him on our own terms (Free). I have no idea if it’s illegal to bury an animal in your backyard or not, or even if you have to disclose that if you were to sell your house one day?, but it certainly crossed our minds so that we can keep him closer to us and visit anytime we wanted. Maybe in a warm sunny patch of grass somewhere where we knew he loved to soak up the rays? That would be nice…
- We could cremate him, and allow the vet to dispose of him properly ($30.00). That would be all there was to it in that case. We say our goodbyes, and off he goes to wherever all the other animals in that stage go
- Or, we could cremate him, and then get his ashes back and do as we please ($205). The most expensive route of them all, but also the most appealing in that you could not only decide to still bury him later in the backyard if you wanted, but you could also hold on to him more and maybe feel better as he’d be in a nice cherry-wood box as a wonderful memorial… kinda freaky, but still an option.
Before even going to the vet to see him one last time, we decided we’d want to keep his ashes as long as it wasn’t SUPER expensive like $500+, or something like that. Even while writing this we still don’t know what we want to do in the end, but at least this last option gives us more time to say good bye when we’re finally ready, as well as keep him close by for a little bit longer. So in the end, we decided to go for option #3 (and we should have him back again in about 2 weeks).
I really am sorry for all the freakiness/sadness of today’s post, but in some strange way it makes me feel a lot better getting it all out there And a lot of you know who he is too, especially as I’ve been blogging about him a lot more over the years, so I thought it would be good for you to know where he is now too. Maybe we could all shower him with good thoughts today?? And make it more of a celebration of pet love all around?! I dunno… that would be nice
I guess at the end of the day, it’s just the circle of life. One beautiful soul leaves this world of ours, and another one comes into it. It’s sad that Bob won’t ever get to meet our little baby boy in a couple of months, but at least we had the pleasure of knowing him for so long. And really that’s what’s important in the end If you have a pet or loved one around you right now, do me a favor and tell them you love ‘em! You gotta appreciate them every chance you get.
May
18
Hey guys, got a ton of great articles for ya again, as always And I REALLY want to start focusing on the new bloggers that are getting out there and sharing their fresh experiences too. So if you’re reading any great new ones yourself, or maybe you’ve *started* one of your own, please let me know! I’d like to start featuring them here once a week in these roundups going forward. Thanks!
This week’s new blogger is Money Life and More – A mid twenties college graduate currently employed as a financial professional. Check out his stuff!!
The best of the rest:
May
16
I got these from a pamphlet on 100+ Ways to Improve Your Electric Bill, but the others just bored me to death and were too full of acronyms and heavy text  So I plucked out a handful of my favorites instead to share with y’all today, as some of them I had nooooo idea about and even thought that the opposite would be true!
So check them out and see if they help you out at all. I doubt I’ll change much of my own habits after reading the whole thing, but it was nice to know at least a few of the things we already do make sense energy-wise Maybe you’ll get something out of ‘em all too? #1 and #6 were my faves…
The 14 Most Interesting Tips:
- Run the dishwasher instead of washing dishes by hand. Overall dishwashers use much less water (6 less gallons) than washing them by hand if you have a full load. Luckily we already do this one, but who knew? I always thought it was the opposite… and maybe it was back in the day? But now technology made it more efficient?
- Keep the doors of unused rooms shut, and then close the vents and/or AC units in them to conserve energy. I think this one’s a bit too hardcore for me – I like floating from one room to the next without having to opening and closing doors all over the place I already have to keep one of them closed all the time (cuz one of our cats will pee all over the rug in there!), and even that is hard to remember to do every day.
- NEVER put a refrigerator in the garage! The temperature gets too crazy out there during peak winter and summer months, so if you need a 2nd one they say to put it in the basement instead.
- Don’t place uncovered liquids in refrigerators either. Not only do they absorb undesirable flavors, but they also give off vapors that add to the compressor workload.
- Use chest-type freezers when you can – they use anywhere from 11 to 27 percent less energy than upright freezers.
- Use your microwave oven whenever possible. Microwave ovens draw less than half the power of their conventional counterparts and cook for a much shorter period of time.
- As well as electric smooth top stoves - they’re much more efficient than both gas stoves (74.2% vs 15.6%), as well as coil cooktops (73.7%) according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
- You’ll save more hot water by taking showers over baths – sometimes by even 50%! (Another thing I always thought was the opposite!)
- When possible, put lamps in the corner of a room rather than against a flat wall as it has more surfaces to reflect light.
- Also, be sure to dust lamps and bulbs often as it’ll impair lighting efficiency – something I NEVER do, oops!
- The next time you buy a washing machine, consider getting a front-loading or horizontal axis washing machine (??) over regular ones – they’ll save you 30% less water and up to 50% energy as well on average (and are gentler on your clothes).
- If you have no preference in TV types, go with rear projection TVs – they’re typically more efficient than both LCDs and plasmas (plasmas use the most energy). Though who knows how much longer they’ll be around for, haha… we’re not getting rid of our 60″ one any time soon
- Opt for light-colored roof shingles over dark ones to reflect more sunlight away (and thus keeping your place cooler in the heat). Though I suppose you’d want the opposite in the winter, no? Not much you can do about it anyways unless you’re about to build a house from scratch, haha…
- And lastly, a quick fact: The average home uses 24 electrical products, accounting for up to 15% of household electricity. So when they’re not in use, keep them turned off!
Did you have any idea about all this? Or am I just a complete moron over here? Haha… regardless, we can all be doing more to cut down on energy costs for sure. Especially on house-hold related stuff. If you have any of your OWN tips you’d like to share, please do! We could always use more ways to save some money, especially if they’re super easy to implement
—————
PS: To download all 100+ tips on energy-saving, click here (it’s a pdf).
(Photo by nicolasnova)
May
16
YIKES! Almost forgot to tell y’all who the winners of last week’s book giveaway were! The 3 lucky winners of Suze Orman’s latest update to The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom are… dum dum dum….
- Cristalle
- Sue
- DebtsnTaxes
Congrats! You’ll be getting an email from me shortly And to the rest out there, thanks for participating! We’ll have another giveaway going up shortly for sure…. and remember you can always pick up this book over at Amazon too if you’d like, it’s going for $10.87 right now. ‘Till next time…
May
15
Yup. It’s official – our shower area has black mold in it! Just when we think we’re in the clear for a bit, something else in this house jacks up. Reason #3,001 to set aside money for stupid house stuff! Arghhh…
But as much as I’d love to blame the previous homeowners on this one, I really can’t put it ALL on them… Yes, they did a shoddy job re-tiling the tub and grouting the whole dang thing, but we weren’t that much better in keeping it in tip-top shape either. So naturally with a concoction like that you’re bound to come across a mess or two. Or in this case, mold So it’s a good thing the Mrs. got on it!!
It’s actually pretty funny – it seems the pregnancy has completely increased all levels of awareness within her Like, some new super power or something – mixed in with an unhealthy obsession of obsessing! haha… So every time something gets in her brain now, she can’t stop thinking and worrying about it until we physically DO something about it. Like with the water heater the other week (double arghhhh). And continually freaking herself out with 1,001 worries about our baby, and what could potentially happen to him too. (That part I’m not too thrilled about – cuz then it freaks ME out!). Overall it’s been a pretty interesting thing to watch though. Some people have cravings for weird food or drinks, and others can smell a problem a mile away
Which leads us into the “solving” of this new moldy bathroom situation. And how fast, exactly, we can make it happen – since the last thing we want is our baby bump breathing all that nastiness in! I never personally thought it was a really *that* bad, but apparently people can die from it Including one of my favorite actresses from back in the day, Britney Murphy! So sad.
So we started the process of finding a good handyman in our area – once again – and after a couple of hours of superb research, the Mrs. found a good one to hit up and so we did. And we figured we might as well ask about upgrades to it as well, since they’re already gonna have to start gutting stuff anyways, right? (Right).
These are what our options looked like by the end of our researching/meeting with him:
- Do only the necessary work ($1,100). This includes all demo work (the mold is in our bathroom ledge, not the walls), treating and clearing out all mold, re-building of this same ledge, re-tiling it all, and then fixing all other crap tiling/grouting issues around the rest of the tub – all compliments of the previous owner. Oh, and we’d need to pick up a few extra things outside of this too, like replacement tiles and new shower unit stuff – as those are also moldy
- Do necessary work AND re-tile entire shower ($1,800). This includes everything in option #1, but also going in and re-doing the entire walls with our own hand-picked prettier ones. And way more modern ones at that – which should def. help sexy up the house for a later selling of it too.
- Upgrade again and put in a 2nd shower head! ($3,000). This one we threw in just to see what would happen. We obviously don’t *need* another one, but I’d be lying if I said we wouldn’t enjoy the hell out of it How awesome would this be??
All in all it wasn’t *as* expensive as I honestly thought it would all be, but it’s still a lot more than $0.00 which is where it was at until Super Wife picked up the scent And either way, we HAVE to at least do option #1 and get rid of that mold anyways- ESP with the baby on its way, so def. better to do sooner than later here.
After a lot of thinking and going back and forth with all the pros and cons, etc, we decided to run with the middle ground. It’s no fun at all dishing out $1,100 for pretty much the EXACT same thing we already have right now (except with less mold), so we might as well spend a little more and be EXCITED about it. Get new tiles and make it a “thing” ya know? That way not only could we enjoy it all going forward and get it all done at one time (rather than upgrading later at a different point), but it would also have major re-sell value too. As long as we don’t do anything crazy like pimp it out and scare off the conservatives or something But the Mrs. wouldn’t let me even if I tried, haha…. (how bad ass would it be to put “J. Money” in mosaic tiles though?? Or dollar signs all over??)
Also, while it kills me yet AGAIN to pull from our cash savings, I did promise Super Wife that we could allot some of it towards house improvements. I just didn’t want to do that now before the baby comes out and what not… but what are you gonna do? Every day can be an adventure with home ownership so you might as well sneak in some perks while you can and not drive yourself crazy. It’s a good reminder too to be blessed with the amount of money we’ve been able to save up over the past few years as well… it would have been a nightmare had we been caught 5 years ago!
Any one else have anything break since I last asked you 2 weeks ago?
—————
PS: When it’s done I’ll show pictures!!!! At least I get some interesting blog posts outta it, eh?
(Photo by aka Kath. Tweaked by J$)
May
15
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May
15
Whelp, it looks like I’m officially a victim of credit card theft. Some asshat tried stealing my c/c number to make all kinds of purchases online, but was promptly REJECTED cuz they were going up against our beloved USAA (BAM!). So bye bye went their $300 purchase failed attempt in Green Bay, Wisconsin, as well as their $2.00 trial out in the UK (probably to see if it would go through so they could forge ahead with larger charges). Needless to say though, I was both shocked, and the opposite of, at the same time.
You never see this stuff coming, but when you’ve got a killer company watching your back you tend to be a lot less stressed about it Within 6 minutes I was notified of these jackass attempts, told they’ve frozen the account and no more charges will be made on them, and then re-issued a brand new card to be FedExed. Not too bad! Of course it sucks and it’s annoying cuz now I gotta go back and update all my automatic bills all over the web and what not, but it’s a small price to pay (or not pay!) to be safe and secure again. And I give mad credit to USAA for being so proactive about it all.
(Once they texted me when a weird $100 charge hit my account at an airport. It was really just me blowing some money on some sunglasses, but still – it could have been a thief!)
It also helped that these jackals didn’t have my expiration date OR the CVC code or whatever that’s called. So they must have skimmed it off some site or got into some database somewhere and just ripped off the numbers. I’d imagine that if you had physically taken the card from me at some point, that you’d be smart enough to take down the rest of the info too – so we’re ruling that one out
All this just goes to show that it’s important to pay attention!! With what sites and banks you trust, places you frequent with your business, and more importantly REVIEWING your credit card statements every month. Even if USAA hadn’t picked up on these and had let them through, I would have caught it within a matter of days anyways – the next time I logged on and skimmed the latest transactions (I literally do it at least once a week cuz I’m pretty anal like that, but a good rule of thumb is once a month). It honestly only takes a few seconds to eyeball down the transactions and make sure nothing funky is standing out. Then when it does, all you have to do is call your bank/credit union/etc and ask what’s up.
So if you haven’t reviewed your accounts lately, go and do it now! It’s not a matter of IF you’ll become a victim, but WHEN. Take a few minutes and catch those jackals before they rob you blind. Don’t let them win!
————
PS: If you ever wondered why I had 16 accounts with USAA, now you know.
(Photo by xJason.Rogersx)
May
14
Yup. It’s official – our shower area has black mold in it! Just when we think we’re in the clear for a bit, something else in this house jacks up. Reason #3,001 to set aside money for stupid house stuff! Arghhh…
But as much as I’d love to blame the previous homeowners on this one, I really can’t put it ALL on them… Yes, they did a shoddy job re-tiling the tub and grouting the whole dang thing, but we weren’t that much better in keeping it in tip-top shape either. So naturally with a concoction like that you’re bound to come across a mess or two. Or in this case, mold So it’s a good thing the Mrs. got on it!!
It’s actually pretty funny – it seems the pregnancy has completely increased all levels of awareness within her Like, some new super power or something – mixed in with an unhealthy obsession of obsessing! haha… So every time something gets in her brain now, she can’t stop thinking and worrying about it until we physically DO something about it. Like with the water heater the other week (double arghhhh). And continually freaking herself out with 1,001 worries about our baby, and what could potentially happen to him too. (That part I’m not too thrilled about – cuz then it freaks ME out!). Overall it’s been a pretty interesting thing to watch though. Some people have cravings for weird food or drinks, and others can smell a problem a mile away
Which leads us into the “solving” of this new moldy bathroom situation. And how fast, exactly, we can make it happen – since the last thing we want is our baby bump breathing all that nastiness in! I never personally thought it was a really *that* bad, but apparently people can die from it Including one of my favorite actresses from back in the day, Britney Murphy! So sad.
So we started the process of finding a good handyman in our area – once again – and after a couple of hours of superb research, the Mrs. found a good one to hit up and so we did. And we figured we might as well ask about upgrades to it as well, since they’re already gonna have to start gutting stuff anyways, right? (Right).
These are what our options looked like by the end of our researching/meeting with him:
- Do only the necessary work ($1,100). This includes all demo work (the mold is in our bathroom ledge, not the walls), treating and clearing out all mold, re-building of this same ledge, re-tiling it all, and then fixing all other crap tiling/grouting issues around the rest of the tub – all compliments of the previous owner. Oh, and we’d need to pick up a few extra things outside of this too, like replacement tiles and new shower unit stuff – as those are also moldy
- Do necessary work AND re-tile entire shower ($1,800). This includes everything in option #1, but also going in and re-doing the entire walls with our own hand-picked prettier ones. And way more modern ones at that – which should def. help sexy up the house for a later selling of it too.
- Upgrade again and put in a 2nd shower head! ($3,000). This one we threw in just to see what would happen. We obviously don’t *need* another one, but I’d be lying if I said we wouldn’t enjoy the hell out of it How awesome would this be??
All in all it wasn’t *as* expensive as I honestly thought it would all be, but it’s still a lot more than $0.00 which is where it was at until Super Wife picked up the scent And either way, we HAVE to at least do option #1 and get rid of that mold anyways- ESP with the baby on its way, so def. better to do sooner than later here.
After a lot of thinking and going back and forth with all the pros and cons, etc, we decided to run with the middle ground. It’s no fun at all dishing out $1,100 for pretty much the EXACT same thing we already have right now (except with less mold), so we might as well spend a little more and be EXCITED about it. Get new tiles and make it a “thing” ya know? That way not only could we enjoy it all going forward and get it all done at one time (rather than upgrading later at a different point), but it would also have major re-sell value too. As long as we don’t do anything crazy like pimp it out and scare off the conservatives or something But the Mrs. wouldn’t let me even if I tried, haha…. (how bad ass would it be to put “J. Money” in mosaic tiles though?? Or dollar signs all over??)
Also, while it kills me yet AGAIN to pull from our cash savings, I did promise Super Wife that we could allot some of it towards house improvements. I just didn’t want to do that now before the baby comes out and what not… but what are you gonna do? Every day can be an adventure with home ownership so you might as well sneak in some perks while you can and not drive yourself crazy. It’s a good reminder too to be blessed with the amount of money we’ve been able to save up over the past few years as well… it would have been a nightmare had we been caught 5 years ago!
Any one else have anything break since I last asked you 2 weeks ago?
—————
PS: When it’s done I’ll show pictures!!!! At least I get some interesting blog posts outta it, eh?
(Photo by aka Kath. Tweaked by J$)
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