Beating Broke

Personal Finance from the Broke Perspective

Taking your Side Hustle Mobile

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This post has been brought to you by: SumUp (opinions are still mine though!)

If you’re like me (and you likely are if you’re reading this post), you’ve always got a side hustle or two running at once. You’re always looking for something to augment your income and help you pay off debt (or pay for that extra vacation). This blog is one of mine. I’ve also got a few things that I’ve got posted on my Etsy store. Nearly everything that I do is online. I don’t have to carry inventory, or attend swap meets, or anything of the like. But that’s not the case for all of you.

SumUp EMV card reader
photo credit: SumUp

For some of you, there’s a very good chance that you’ve got to be mobile, and you’ve got to accept payments wherever your customer meets you. In the past, that has meant carrying a bit of cash around to make change with, and when the day has been good, carrying even more cash back with you.  That can be dangerous.  The other issue you will likely run into is that you’re likely to have a few customers like me who rarely carry more than a few dollars of cash, and want to pay for their purchase with their debit or credit card.

If you are one of those who makes sales while on the go, you need some way to process credit or debit transactions.  Not only is it safer than carrying around a bunch of cash, but it will save you a heck of a lot of time and energy when doing your accounting at the end of the day. There are plenty of companies that offer these kinds of services.  One that offers up both a super portable card reader and a portable cash register, is a company called SumUp. Unlike some of their competitors, their device connects to an app on your phone (iOS or Android) via bluetooth, getting rid of the dongle approach that can easily break. And there’s a couple of ways that you can accept cards through the device.

Magstripe transactions

This is the old fashioned way of taking a credit transaction. The magnetic strip on the back of the cards holds all the card data.  A quick swipe, and the reader reads that data, and processes the transaction.  Easy peasy. Most of us are super used to transactions that work this way.

EMV chip transactions

Magstripe is the tried and true transaction process. But it’s also the one that makes it super easy for fraudsters to copy the data from the stripe and use it to perform fraudulent transactions. The EMV chip is the new technology that is meant to help prevent all of that. The chip is embedded in the new cards, and needs to be inserted into the reader. It has to be physically present to work, and it’s not as easily copied. It’s more secure, and it works well.

SumUp’s fees and limits match or best their competition, and their design is pretty cool too. Watch this video to see what it’s all about.

At the end of the day, if you’ve got a side hustle that has to be mobile, you need some sort of mobile card terminal. There are several options out there, and SumUp is just one of those. As the hustler, I would expect you to do your due diligence and make a decision based on what your business needs are. The only thing I can really tell you is that if you don’t have a way to process these sorts of transactions, you’re leaving money on the proverbial table. Don’t do that.

Frugal Sack Lunch Ideas for Kids

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When we send our kids to school, we want them to receive the best education.  Having a healthy lunch to eat is a big part of that. But, if you choose to buy convenience packages of snacks and desserts as well as lunch meat, sack lunches can quickly become an expensive endeavor over the course of a year. Especially if you’ve got a hungry teenager. If you’re looking to curb costs, consider some of these frugal sack lunch ideas.  Mix and match to make tasty, healthy, low cost lunches for your kids all day long.

Protein

  • Hard boiled egg(s)
  • Peanut butter (Use it on celery sticks, as a dip for veggies, or on a sandwich.)
  • Cheese (Make a cheese sandwich, or serve separately.)
  • Hummus (Use as a dip for veggies and crackers.)
  • Yogurt (Try yogurt covered frozen blueberries for a less messy option.)
  • Leftovers (Use leftover meat from dinners to supply protein like chicken, beef, etc.)
Frugal sack lunches
Good food = good students

Fruit

  • Apple slices (Slice your own apples and dip them in a bowl with water and a bit of salt.  They won’t brown and you’ll save a lot of money compared to buying already sliced apples.)
  • Clementines (These can be put in whole or peeled and separated for younger kids.  Their small size makes them a perfect lunch box fit.)
  • Grapes
  • Dehydrated fruit such as berries, cherries, etc.  (A little goes a long way here, so you’ll only need a few.)

Veggies

  • Carrot sticks (Don’t buy baby carrots at the store; buy carrots in bulk and peel and cut them yourself.)
  • Celery (Serve plain or with hummus or a nut butter.)
  • Cucumbers

Grains

  • Tortilla chips.  (These are an excellent frugal option, and they can be more filling than regular chips.)
  • Homemade granola bars.  (Make them yourself and fill them will healthful ingredients like nut butters, oats, and dried fruit.)
  • Muffins.  (Muffins can be a sugar trap, so focus on the healthier recipes that are naturally sweetened with fruits.)

Where to Buy Your Ingredients

We’ve found that the best place to buy lunch ingredients is at big warehouse clubs like Sam’s or Costco.  For instance, at Costco, you can buy a 10 lb. bag of organic carrots for $5!  Or, you can buy a big bag of potato chips for less than $4, which is much less than you’d pay at the grocery store.  You just need to take the time to bag these items in individual portion sizes.

Save Time By Preparing Ahead

If you look at the suggestions above and think there’s no way you’d have time to prepare a lunch from scratch every day, especially if you have multiple kids, you’re probably right.  Most of us don’t have that kind of time early in the morning.

Instead, prep all of the lunch ingredients for the week on the weekend.  Have them all packed and ready to go in the pantry and the refrigerator so you or your kids just simply have to grab them and pack them in the early morning rush.  Or, to be safe, prep on the weekend and prepare the lunches every night so you just need to grab them from the refrigerator in the morning.

Feeding your kids a brown bag lunch can be affordable. . .if you choose the right ingredients, and use these frugal sack lunch ideas.

How do you save money on your kids’ sack lunches?

 

4 Simple Ways to Save: Medical Bills

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Every year, the price of medical care seems to go up.  We pay a hefty premium to be insured through my husband’s work, and then we have a $350 deductible and a $15 co-pay for any doctor’s visit, including wellness checks.

However, I know what we pay for medical care is not that much in the grand scheme of things; many Americans are paying much, much more for medical care than we are.

Yet, in my ongoing goal to continually lower our expenses, I’ve found a few strategies to reduce the high cost of medical care, and avoiding unpaid medical bills.

4 ways to save on medical bills
Cut those medical bills

Call the doctor before you go in.

One Saturday night, my youngest came down with a fever that started at 102.5 and climbed all the way to 104.5.  Luckily, we controlled the fever with over the counter medicine, and she was back to herself in two days.  And then it was time for my other daughter to get it.  Then, my son.  When my son got it, he was sick for three days and unable to keep down food.

Instead of bringing him to the doctor, I called the nurse.  The nurse recommended a wait and see attitude.  If he wasn’t better the next day, bring him in.  Well, he was on the mend the next day, and I saved myself the $15 co pay.

Wait to fill prescriptions.

I had a root canal a few months ago.  The doctor prescribed hydrocodone, and I promptly filled the prescription, which cost me $16 out of pocket.  I should have waited, though, because the little pain I had afterward was easily managed with aspirin.  If I hadn’t rushed to fill the prescription, I would have saved $16.

Of course, this advice does not apply to regular, monthly prescriptions need to control certain chronic conditions.

Consider an alternative to drug stores for your prescriptions.

I have to take thyroid medications.  For years, I went to Walgreen’s to fill the prescription every month.  Then I found out I could get a three month refill from Costco for a price 1/3 less than Walgreen’s.  Yes, please.

If you have a Costco or Sam’s Club near you, checking the prices for prescriptions is worth your while.  Even better, you don’t have to be a warehouse club member to use their pharmacy.

Ask for a different billing code.

My daughter had her regular wellness check in the spring when she turned 5.  This past fall, we switched doctors.  The new doctor required a new patient visit before she would start seeing my daughter regularly.  The problem?  The doctor’s office billed this visit as an annual wellness check, and my insurance provider refused to pay for any of the appointment, leaving me with a $125 bill.

I called the billing office, explained the situation, and after the billing office looked into the situation, they used a different billing code so I was only charged our typical $15 co-pay.

Insurance premiums, deductibles, and co-pays can be expensive.  Using these tips and tricks, you can shave anywhere from a few dollars to several hundred or even thousand dollars off your medical bills each year.

What are your favorite ways to save on medical expenses?