Money Crashers: How to Monetize a Podcast

Those of you who have been reading this blog long enough may remember my short-lived attempt, about eight years back, to turn it into a podcast. I had this notion that maybe I could somehow reach more people if I simply took my existing blog entries and recorded them in an audio format that people could listen to while doing other things. This didn't work well — the number of people listening to the podcast was, if anything, fewer than the number usually reading the blog — and I gave it up after a few months.

Of course, I now know that this was no way to go about making or marketing a podcast. Simply reading from a script, posting the recordings on a free archive, and expecting listeners to somehow discover them, was never a reasonable approach. But supposing for a moment that I had figured out a way to create a successful podcast and attract a large audience, what then? Would there have been any way to make money from it, maybe even enough to give up my day job?

My latest assignment for Money Crashers gave me a chance to explore this question. I learned about, and then wrote about, all the ways that podcasts can make money, such as advertising and sponsorships, selling premium content, soliciting donations, and selling various podcast-adjacent products like books, courses, and branded merchandise.

Mind you, all of these approaches only work if you have a successful podcast already, since the amount you make with each one depends on the number of listeners. I'd probably have no more luck monetizing a podcast now than I've ever had monetizing this little niche blog, which just doesn't have enough readers to be worth a sponsor's trouble. But if any of you readers are better at the business of attracting podcast listeners and just can't figure out how to turn all those ears into cold, hard cash, this article can help.

How to Monetize a Podcast – 12 Ways to Make Money

Money Crashers: Inflation Reduction Act of 2022

I've already devoted one post on this blog to the Inflation Reduction Act and the fact that it could help the U.S. reduce its emissions by 40% from 2005 levels. But I haven't really gotten into the nuts and bolts of how it achieves those reductions. And I haven't even begun to talk about the other provisions in the bill, which are fairly significant in their own right: boosting U.S. industry, controlling Medicare costs, closing some big tax loopholes, and improving tax collection.

If you're curious about all that stuff, my latest piece for Money Crashers can help. It doesn't get too far into the weeds, but it does provide a broad overview of what this new law does, how it could affect you, and what it will cost. (Spoiler alert: It more than pays for itself.)

Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 – What’s in the Bill, What Does It Cost & What Does It Mean for You?

 

Money Crashers: Lending Circle – What It Is and How to Borrow From a Group Fund

In my latest piece for Money Crashers, I talk about an interesting way to borrow money: lending circles. These are informal groups in which members take turns pooling funds and giving all the cash to one person. For instance, ten people each put in $100 every month, and one person gets $1,000. Each person gets a turn to borrow, so everyone comes out even. And, since everyone is both a borrower and a lender, no one has to pay interest.

Now, if you're paying attention, you may have spotted a weakness in this plan. If you put in $100 every month, and once every ten months you collect $1,000, then you haven't really gained anything. You're no better off than if you had put that same $100 in the bank and withdrawn $1,000 after ten months. In fact, you're a little worse off, since banks pay at least a tiny amount of interest on your savings.

But the thing is, many people would have trouble saving up that $1,000 if it were just sitting there in the bank. They'd always be tempted to dip into it for emergencies, or to skip the $100 savings deposit some month when money was tight. But if they know the group is counting on them for that $100 payment, they'll do what it takes to make sure they have the money. It's the social pressure that forces them to save. And, since every payment is also an occasion for a social gathering, it's more fun.

Since I don't have trouble keeping my hands off my bank balance, a lending circle wouldn't be much good to me. But for those who do, it can make saving a little easier and more enjoyable.

Lending Circle – What It Is and How to Borrow From a Group Fund

Money Crashers: 15 Ways to Save Money on Medical Expenses & Health Care Costs

The U.S. health care system is a mess. It's a chaotic hodgepodge of competing private insurers that all cover different things at different facilities. As a result, even with insurance, medical bills can often add up to thousands of dollars.

In my latest Money Crashers piece, I explore strategies can help you keep your health care costs under control. They range from choosing the right insurance plan to saving on prescription drugs to practicing preventive care. They're not a solution to our horrendous health care system, but they can help you survive in it.

 
15 Ways to Save Money on Medical Expenses & Health Care Costs

 

Money Crashers: 20 Bartering & Swapping Websites — Best Places to Trade Stuff Online

My latest piece for Money Crashers is about bartering and swapping websites. I'm personally a heavy user of Freecycle, which is technically not a swapping site but a sharing one; you can give stuff and receive stuff, but there's no this-for-that exchange. Bartering is a little tougher to pull off, because you have to have something another person wants and also want what that person has. But the Internet makes it easier by gathering together a big group of people all interested in swapping the same kind of thing, such as books or clothes, to improve your chances of finding a match.

This article is a roundup of 20 sites to help you do this. There are sites to exchange all kinds of things, from clothes to music to vacation housing. Some can only arrange direct one-for-one swaps; some can do three-way swaps, where you give A to someone who gives B to someone else who gives you C; and some use a points-based system, where you give an item to earn points you can cash in for someone else's item (so it's really more like an alternative form of money than like barter). There are even a few sharing sites like Freecycle thrown into the mix.

20 Bartering & Swapping Websites — Best Places to Trade Stuff Online

Money Crashers: 11 Ways to Save Money on Lawn Care Costs and Expenses

As regular readers of this blog will know, if there's one thing in my yard I don't care about, it's the lawn. In fact, I've been trying for years to find a suitable ground cover to replace the entire thing, at least in the front yard. Mowing is a hassle in the back yard, where the ground slopes steeply, but even more so in the front, since the mower has to be hauled up two sets of stairs to get there.

However, I know that most Americans don't share my viewpoint. To the average suburban homeowner, no landscape is complete without a lush, green lawn. And they're willing to spend tons of money and time (more than 70 hours per year, according to the latest American Time Use Survey) to achieve it, not to mention tons of water, gasoline, and pesticides.

In my latest article, I propose ways to have a beautiful lawn without all that work and expense. With the right grass and the right strategies for watering, mowing, and feeding it, a lush green lawn doesn't have to cost the earth.

 11 Ways to Save Money on Lawn Care Costs and Expenses

Money Crashers: Two recession articles

With all the headlines abuzz about the chances of an upcoming recession, Money Crashers gave me a rush assignment to prepare and/or update several articles on recession-related topics. The first one is my attempt to answer the question of whether we are, in fact, headed for a recession. I explore eight indicators that can point to a possible recession and what they say (spoiler alert: while they're not favorable, they're not conclusive either).

 Is a Recession Coming in 2022? – 8 Warning Signs of Economic Slowdown 

The second is on how to be ready for the recession if it hits — or, more accurately, when it hits, since there's sure to be another recession at some point. This is a full rewrite of my earlier piece on how to be prepared for a recession, covering most of the same topics (emergency fund, budgeting, passive income, investments, debt, employability, insurance), but with updated stats and new organization.

How to Prepare for a Recession - 9 Ways to Protect Your Money & Finances

Money Crashers: Two inflation articles

Just a quick update to fill you in on my two most recent articles at Money Crashers. The first is a quick "explainer" on inflation, a much-discussed topic in the news these days. It covers all the basics about causes inflation, what its effects can be, how it's measured, some historical examples, and the monetary policy tools the Fed uses to combat it. So the next time someone (inevitably) starts grumbling about inflation, you'll be able to join intelligently in the conversation.

What Is Inflation (Definition) – Causes & Effects of Rate on Prices & Interest

One particular form of inflation a lot of people are worrying about is rising gas prices. One way to deal with them is to use a gas savings app, which helps you find the cheapest gas station in your area and fill up your tank for less. For my second piece, I compare the features of six top gas savings apps to help you find the one that's best for you.

The Best Apps to Find Cheap Gas Stations & Save Money On Fuel

Three new articles

Three new articles of mine have popped up in the past week — two on Money Crashers and one at Perch Energy. Two of them fall squarely in the realm of ecofrugality, and the third is only loosely related, but still interesting.

Let's start with the Perch Energy piece: Pros & Cons of Renewable Energy: Advantages Over Fossil Fuels. Anyone who reads this blog knows that renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, and hydropower have many advantages over fossil fuels. They’re cheaper, they’re greener, and they’ll never run out. Transitioning from dirty fossil fuels to clean renewable energy is essential to stopping climate change and building a sustainable future. 

But to meet this goal, there are certain challenges we need to overcome. In this article, I outline the most common renewable energy sources in use today, as well as others that show promise for the future, and explore their pros and cons. I conclude with some practical tips (again, probably already familiar to regular readers) on how to be a part of the clean energy future.

Moving on to the Money Crashers articles, the one more directly related to ecofrugality is Buy Nothing Project – What It Is, Rules, How to Start and Participate in One. The Buy Nothing Project is a lot like Freecycle, but with a different platform and different rules about who can share what with whom. And the nice thing is, there's no reason you can't be a member of both. Check out the article to learn how the Buy Nothing Project was founded, how it works, and how to try it for yourself. 

The other Money Crashers piece is Market Economy – What It Is & Characteristics of Free Enterprise Systems. It's not related to ecofrugality as such, but it does provide context for the system within which we make our ecofrugal choices, and how it can work for and against us. It's a basic primer on how markets work, what they do well, what they do poorly, and how they compare to the alternatives.

Money Crashers: 5 Different Types of Taxes

Not every article that I write for Money Crashers goes up here. I try to post only the ones that have at least a tangential connection to ecofrugality (which is why you're not seeing a link here to a recent post that provides, I swear, a definition of a bank. Writing this was not my idea.)

Thus, I had some doubts about whether to include this one, 5 Different Types of Taxes and How to Minimize Them. It's only loosely connected to frugality and has no obvious connection to the environment at all. 

But upon consideration, I concluded that if you want to spend your money in ways that help the environment, paying taxes isn't necessarily the best way to do that. Yes, some of your income tax dollars go toward environmental protection, but it's less than a third of a cent out of each dollar. You could do far more good by reducing your taxes and putting all the money you save, or even half of it, into carbon offsets, or donating it to Project Drawdown.

So if you'd like to spend less on taxes and more on the environment, check out the article. It covers strategies for paying less on five kinds of taxes: income tax, excise tax, sales tax, property tax, and estate tax. Chances are, you won't have to pay all five of these this year, or maybe ever. But you're sure to pay at least some of them.

Money Crashers: 10 Real Estate Scams and Fake Home Buying Frauds to Watch Out For

A quick post about a Money Crashers article at least tangentially related to frugality, because it's about helping you keep more of your money in your own pocket and not in the hands of scammers. This one's about real estate scams: fake home buyers, fake home inspectors, fake rental deals, fake refinancing offers, fake movers. At every state of a real estate transaction, the con artists are circling, waiting to attack. Be prepared!

10 Real Estate Scams and Fake Home Buying Frauds to Watch Out For

  

 

Money Crashers: Shrinkflation Defined

OK, folks, I know a lot of my articles at Money Crashers lately have been a bit off-topic for this blog (alternatives to debt settlement, saving at the emergency room). There are some I haven't even been posting about here because they have so little connection to ecofrugality, like "What Is a Cashier’s Check and What Is It Used For?" (Yeah, fascinating topic.) But this one is genuinely useful and, I think, enjoyable to read about. The topic is shrinkflation.

Shrinkflation, if you're not familiar with the term, is inflation’s stealthier cousin. It's what you see all the time at the grocery store: the cereal box gets a few ounces lighter, the toilet paper loses half an inch from the side of each sheet, or, as in one notorious case, the Toblerone bar suddenly has a huge gap between the chunks of chocolate, but the price remains the same. 

My piece explores the causes behind shrinkflation and the sneaky tricks manufacturers use to disguise it (tweaking the shape of the package is a popular one). And I also explore the strategies that can help you detect shrinkflation and defend yourself against it, such as checking unit price, keeping a price book, and switching to other brands (including store brands). 

These techniques can't always help you sidestep higher prices. When prices are rising across the board, as they are now, sometimes there's no way to avoid paying more. But at least you'll know you're paying more, rather than just wondering why you seem to run out of cereal so much faster than before.

Shrinkflation Defined – Are Companies Tricking You Into Paying More?

One new Money Crashers article, plus a podcast mention

Just a quick post here regarding my latest Money Crashers article on emergency room costs. I've already covered the benefits of going to urgent care instead of the ER when that's an option, but when it's not, there are various ways to minimize the expense. Some are things you can do before an emergency occurs, like figuring out ahead of time which local hospitals charge least for different procedures. Some can be done during your visit, like refusing unnecessary drugs and equipment. And some are for afterward, like getting an itemized bill and checking it carefully for errors. Check them all out here: 13 Ways to Save Money at the Emergency Room (ER)

Also, the Faithful on the Clock podcast is making mention of one of my earlier articles, 7 Important Financial Tips from the Bible. Check it out if that's your jam.

Money Crashers: 2 financial pieces

Here are two more Money Crashers articles dealing with core financial topics. The first is a companion to my earlier piece on debt settlement — arranging with creditors to cancel your debt for less than you owe. I noted in that piece that debt settlement isn't the only option for debt relief and isn't always the best one, so in this article, I explore some of the alternatives, such as credit counseling, debt management plans, debt consolidation loans, and bankruptcy. 

8 Alternatives to Debt Settlement for Debt Management and Relief

The second article is on the broader topic of getting your finances under control. For anyone who's ever struggled to make ends meet, it provides a complete, step-by-step guide to taming every aspect of your financial life — from budgeting and building emergency savings to paying off debt, investing, and estate planning.

How to Get Your Finances Under Control – 19 Things to Do Right Now

Money Crashers: 2 new articles

Here's a quick update on my two latest articles for Money Crashers. The first is very much in an  ecofrugal vein: a list of ideas for eco-friendly small businesses. If you're thinking of starting a side business, making it a green business could help you stand out from the crowd. More than one-third of all consumers, especially younger ones, are willing to pay around 25% more for green products and services. So you can  both boost your profits and help the earth — a win-win.

20 Green Small Business Ideas for Eco-Friendly Entrepreneurs

The other is less ecofrugal, but still useful: a list of the most common credit card scams of 2022. To protect your money, learn to recognize these cons and stay one step ahead of the scammers.

9 Credit Card Scams and Frauds to Watch Out For

New articles from Money Crashers and Perch Energy

A quick update here to let you know about three new articles of mine that have gone live at Money Crashers, as well as one new one from Perch Energy.

The first Money Crashers piece has split off from my earlier piece on flooring. That one covered the different flooring options available and their pros and cons, particularly with regard to cost; this one is about how to save money on the materials and installation for whatever type of flooring you want.

How to Save Money on Flooring - 9 Steps to Get What You Want For Less

Continuing in the home renovation vein, here's a piece about remodeling your basement on a budget. In it, I cite as examples several of the techniques we used in renovating our already-kind-of-finished basement to turn it into a real room.

How to Save Money on a Basement Remodel - 10 Useful Tips

Next, a simple little piece about community banks. I explain what sets them apart from big banks and the pros and cons of choosing one for your banking needs. (In the process of writing this, I learned that our bank, Provident, was a community bank when we joined it, but apparently is no longer. As of last October, it has too many branches to qualify. So we're now using a regional bank instead, but we're okay with that.)

What Are Community Banks?

And lastly, my new piece for Perch is about tidal energy. I explain how this renewable energy source works and why it isn't used more (spoiler alert: it's mostly about cost).

Tidal Power Explained: What is Tidal Energy & Is It Renewable?

Money Crashers: Five pieces

Money Crashers has posted a whole bunch of my articles in the past week, so here's a really quick roundup:

Should You Buy an Electric Car? – 5 Cost Considerations

Here's a topic that's on a lot of ecofrugal people's minds these days: Is it time to switch to an electric car? This piece focuses mostly on the financial side of that question (cost of buying, cost of maintenance, cost of charging at home and on the road), but I also go into the convenience and environmental costs of electric versus gas-powered vehicles.

Best Personal Finance Books for Kids

This is a companion to my earlier piece on personal finance books for teens and young adults. While that one included some books aimed at adults, this one focuses on books that help younger readers (ages 5 through 11) learn the basics about money.

What Is a Debt Consolidation Loan and How Does It Work?

Here's a topic ecofrugal people are unlikely to need, but I'll include it here anyway: debt consolidation loans. I explore how these loans work, what kind of debt you can use them for, who can qualify for one, and their costs and benefits.

Should You Buy a Fixer-Upper House? The Pros and Cons to Consider

And we're back firmly on ecofrugal ground with the costs and benefits of buying a fixer-upper. Does it really save you money? Does it save you enough to be worth the cost in time, sweat, and stress? (Should you decide the answer is yes, check out my earlier piece on how to do it.)

The Best Places to Buy Wine Online of 2022

Finally, here's one for frugal wine lovers. During the COVID pandemic, Americans discovered the benefits of buying our booze online, and many of us have stuck with it. In this roundup, I share eight of the best places to find great wine online.

Money Crashers: 3 new articles

A quick update here to tell you about my three latest pieces on Money Crashers. The first is about one of my favorite subjects, books — specifically, books to teach kids about money. I already have a piece on the best personal finance books for adults, and there's an upcoming one about the best books for younger children, but this one focuses on the tween and teen set: ages 11 to 20. 

These days, schools are teaching kids this age the facts of life about sex, but not about money, so it's up to parents to fill in the gap. My folks did this decades ago by giving me a subscription to Penny Power magazine, a version of Consumer Reports for kids. But that magazine is now sadly defunct, so books are the best way to go, and these seven books are the most-recommended of all. Together, they cover every aspect of financial life, from splitting the check at a restaurant from starting a business. With one exception ("Rich Dad, Poor Dad for Kids," which I included because of its popularity but honestly don't think much of), these are all books I wish I'd had the chance to read at this age.

Best Personal Finance Books for Young Adults (Teens and Tweens)

The second is on a topic I've frankly been a little behind the curve on: money transfer apps. The only one I currently use is PayPal, and according to my research, it's a good one overall — but there are lots of other options that can be better for specific uses, from splitting the check with friends to sending money overseas. No matter where and how you want to send money, there's bound to be an app here that works for you.

The Best Money Transfer Apps for Sending and Receiving Cash of 2022

And finally, there's a piece on the boring but highly necessary topic of health insurance. I've written on this subject before, but this piece covers the absolute basics: what health insurance actually does, what terms like "deductible" and "coinsurance" mean, what an insurance policy is required by law to cover, and what kind of limits insurers tend to place on their coverage to keep costs down. It goes into the many different types of health insurance in the higgledy-piggledy U.S. health-care system, from Medicare to HMOs, and answers some basic questions about what health insurance costs and how to get it. It's everything you always wanted to know about health insurance but weren't sure how to ask.

What Is Health Insurance and How Does It Work? 

Money Crashers: How to Get Affordable Mental Health Care

Just a quick post about my latest Money Crashers article,  which is about finding affordable mental health care.

This is a particularly timely piece, since the pandemic has taken a toll on everyone's mental health. And at the same time, it's also made it harder to get out of the house for treatment. All this is bad enough for people with health insurance (which can still be very restrictive about which therapists you can see); for those without any, it's even worse. 

So this article covers a variety of resources you can use to get mental health care on a budget. It includes in-person therapy, telehealth, free alternatives like hot lines and support groups, community mental health clinics, and the new therapy apps that I keep hearing ads for on podcasts.

Therapy Without Insurance – How to Get Affordable Mental Health Care

Money Crashers: How to Afford Private School Tuition for Your Kids

In the U.S., a year of private school tuition costs $12,350 on average. But the average cost doesn’t have to be the cost you pay. 

Several years ago, I wrote a piece for Money Crashers on the relative costs of private and public school for your kids. This year, my editors had me split that older piece in two. The first part now offers a broader comparison of the pros and cons of public and private schools, weighing factors like class size, teacher qualifications, and extracurricular activities as well as cost. And a new companion piece delves more deeply into private school costs and ways to minimize them. It discusses how to find lower-cost private schools, apply for scholarships and aid programs, negotiate tuition costs, and apply for loans. If you're a parent interested in private school but anxious about the cost, this piece is for you.

How to Afford Private School Tuition for Your Kids