Quiz: Scary Money Stories

We were happy to be involved in numerous Halloween events all over campus. For one of these events, we created an online "Scary Money Stories" quiz. We dare you to try this quick quiz to test your financial knowledge! Help the characters find a way out of their scary money stories by helping them decide what their next action should be.

Link to Scary Money Stories Quiz

Saving Money While Studying Abroad

This semester we've helped many students prepare financially for their study abroad trips. Using our experience working with students and pinpointing what they need to know before they go abroad, we have created a resource with some quick tips for preparing for your study abroad tip and saving money on your trip.

Save Money at the Grocery Store, Recognize Retail Psychology Tricks & Avoid Common Money Rip-Offs

In honor of our upcoming Money Smart Week, November 4th - 10th, we created resources for Nebraskans to help them learn how to save money at the grocery store, recognize retail psychology tricks, and avoid common money rip-offs.

Building Good Consumer Skills: Expiration Dates

A consumer skills question we get asked often by students is, "Should I really stick to the expiration date? Or are some products okay to use after the expiration date?"

Here's a great graphic describing products that can be used past their expiration dates and guidelines for how long these products stay safe to consume.

Building Good Consumer Skills: Tips for Buying Fruit

We are starting up a series of tabling events aimed at helping UNL students become better consumers. To complement our tabling events, on this blog we are including answers to our students' consumer skills FAQs. One of these questions is, "How do I get the best bang for my buck at the grocery store - especially in the produce section?"

Navigating the produce section is often frustrating for students. Ever dropped a pretty penny on your favorite fruit and had it go bad the next day? 

Following are some easy-to-use tips for choosing fruit:

Check the stem of the fruit.  
The stem is the natural indicator of when the fruit was picked. Green stem with ripe fruit = A winner. Green stem with very hard fruit = Picked early and will possibly become mealy when ripened. Shriveled dry stem = Picked a long time ago and lacks the flavor of fresh fruit.

Feel the fruit. 
Firm fruits like apples and pears should feel firm, but peaches, plums, and other "soft" fruits should feel slightly soft.

Smell the fruit. 
Some fruits have a "ripe" odor, like cantaloupe and honeydew melons. Some fruit may have a sour odor if it's starting to spoil.

Pick the fruit up. 
If it's heavy for its size, then you have found a good piece of fruit!

Select fruit that is in a bin or open storage box, not in bulk bags or boxes. 
The old saying, "One rotten apple will spoil the whole lot," is usually true. You will almost always find some damaged fruit in bulk bags or boxes. 

Tips for choosing specific types of fruit:

Strawberries - Choose the right size. 
The giant strawberries may look tempting, but the smaller strawberries usually pack the most flavor.

Grapes - Look at the colors of the grapes and stems. 
The stems of the grapes should be beige to brown. Green stems mean the grapes are not ripe and they will tend to be sour or tasteless. Look for a slight pale-yellow hue on green grapes. Red grapes should be deeply colored with no sign of green.

Peaches - Smell them. 
If you walk by a whole bin of peaches or nectarines and don't smell anything, they will be flavorless. A peach should smell like a peach.

Watermelon - Thump the watermelon and listen for a hollow sound. 
Scratch the skin with your thumbnail. If the rind is white just under the green skin, it's ripe.

Tips for storing common fruits:

Apples
Apples can be refrigerated for as long as 6 weeks.

Bananas
Store bananas at room temperature away from direct sunlight and heat. Refrigerating bananas will turn the skin black.  Bananas become yellow, soft, and sweet as they ripen. If you want to speed the ripening process, put bananas in a paper bag along with an apple overnight.

Berries
Berries are picked ripe and should be consumed as soon as possible. For overnight storage, they should be refrigerated.

Oranges
Oranges can be refrigerated for up to several weeks.

Resources:  
http://fruitguys.com/almanac/2012/07/02/fresh-fruit-storage-and-ripening-tips
http://www.wikihow.com/Choose-Fruit

How Rich People Think

Today we have a guest blogger - one of our friends from the University of Missouri Office for Financial Success, Ryan Law. Mr. Law brings us insights into "How Rich People Think."

I recently picked up a copy of the book How Rich People Think by Steve Siebold. In the book Siebold shares 100 lessons he learned over a period of 26 years as he interviewed some of the wealthiest people in the world. The book reminds me of a few of my other favorite finance books, including The Millioniaire Next Door and Think and Grow Rich. These books don’t focus on money per se, but how rich people think and act.

#13 Middle class believes money is earned through labor…World class believes money is earned through thought

“The average person believes the harder they work the more money they’ll make. Their linear thinking equates labor and effort with financial success. This is why most people aren’t rich. They’re following an outdated model of success…The rich know that creative thinking is the highest paid skill in the world.”

This idea of creative thinking is a theme throughout the book. Siebold mentions numerous times that the best thing you can do is work on training your mind to find solutions to difficult problems. “The rich get richer,” Siebold says, “because they know the world is overflowing with wealth disguised as problems that need to be solved.” One way he recommends you train your mind is by investing at least one hour per day studying subjects that will help you move toward your vision.

#20 Middle class earns money doing things they don’t like to do…World class gets rich doing what they love

Surely you have heard the philosophy that you should “do what you love and the money will follow.” Do you believe that is true? On the last day of my class each semester I ask the question “How many of you truly believe you can do something you love and get paid well for it?” Most students raise their hands, but the reality is that most people don’t like what they do. Forbes reported on a study that showed that only 19% are satisfied with the work they do, 16% are somewhat satisfied and almost 2/3 of all people are dissatisfied, or unhappy in the work they do.

There is a great video narrated by Alan Watts called “What is Money Was No Object?” that discusses this very theme. Here is a link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_sbcSRMsOc

Siebold says “…passion is the real secret of getting rich…The rich go to work every day feeling passion for what they do, and their passion fuels their efforts.”

#50 Middle class dreams of having enough money to retire…World class dreams of having enough money to impact the world

What is your major money goal? Siebold says “…the masses major goal with money is to retire at 65 and hopefully have enough money to survive until they die. The world class, while often no more ambitious, set their sights on impacting the world with their wealth.”

Most people want to make a positive impact on the world. Think about some specific things you could do to make a difference for other people if you had the money to do it.

#58 Middle class have loosely defined goals with flexible deadlines…World class have highly defined goals with do or die deadlines

Jim Rohn, a famous speaker, author and consultant tells a story of meeting with his mentor, Earl Shoaff, for the first time. Shoaff said “Let’s start with reviewing your goals.” Rohn said he didn’t have them with him so Shoaff said “Are they in your car? Why don’t you go get them so we can review them.” Rohn said they weren’t in his car and in fact he didn’t have any written goals. Shoaff then drilled into Rohn’s head the importance of having goals, and Rohn went on to equate this one principle with the majority of his success.

Siebold says only 3% of people have goals specific enough to generate the level of mental energy required for success, while “World-class thinkers focus on the single most important goal they desire and set a deadline for its achievement…Their do or die commitment to building a financial empire virtually guarantees their success.”

Here are a few of Siebold’s other lessons. World class…

    Believes building wealth is a team effort

    Focusses on money making activities

    Has an action mentality

    Takes calculated risks

    Believes money is about freedom

    Believes in self-reliance

    Is internally motivated to make money

    Believes starting a business is the fastest road to wealth 

I encourage you to read books like this that challenge your thinking. You may not agree with everything Siebold or other authors like him say, but I believe it is a healthy thing to read things like this and seek for ways to improve your thinking.

Weird Ways to Save Money

The question we get asked the most by UNL students is how to save money. We are constantly looking for unique, fun ideas, which we are going to share with you! We want you to be AMAZED by these money saving ideas. We look for tips you've never seen before!

Make Your Own Spa Toy

Soothe sore muscles with a homemade, re-useable cloth rice bag. Stick in the microwave for about 60 seconds, and then wrap it around your neck, shoulders, or lower back. They are easy to make. Rice bags feel great, and the rice allows you to squish the bag into the most comfortable position. 

Comparable products retails for $30+. 

Save Your Cell Phone 

Ever drop your phone in a toilet? Yeah, happens to the best of us. Don't panic, just stick it in a bucket of rice to dry it out. 

Get Creative at Starbucks 

Don't limit yourself to the pricey drinks. Starbucks has a mystery menu with options under $3, like the:

Minty Hot Chocolate

Cost: $2.80. You can add the peppermint syrup for an additional 50 cents.
What it is: The Starbucks version of hot chocolate contains steamed milk, vanilla, and mocha-flavored syrup. Add peppermint syrup - or toffee nut, caramel, or raspberry!

Check out more options on the Starbucks mystery menu.

Do Buy Jeans Now
 
After the back-to-school rush is a great time to find deals on brand name denim.

Before Buying Online, Search for a Discount Code

NEVER buy anything online without first googling for a coupon code. And when you've  found a coupon code, search a little more to find a better coupon code. 

Ex. I googled "Kohls Online Coupon Codes" and got 20+ hits.

If you can't find a coupon code, update your status on Facebook asking your friends if they have a particular online code you can use.

Does Money = Happiness?

It's an old-age debate - would you be happier if you had more money?

In a 2012 New York Times article, Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton researched a national sample of Americans to see if they thought they would be happier if their salaries were doubled. The results were surprising - only 9% of the people with the doubled salaries reported they were more content than those making the non-doubled salaries.

This research supports the view of SMMC representatives - just having more money will not equal more happiness. BUT we do think that having a better understanding of how to manage your money does improve your overall well-being. Better financial habits give you peace of mind and reduce stress. Additionally, understanding how to efficiently use your money to reach your life goals increases your confidence in your future, helping you see that you can live the life of which you dream. All of us can agree that we are happier if we know our goals are within reach.

We continue to study how to better positively impact the lives of our students and their happiness. We will share the results of our research efforts as we seek to quantify how financial education does increase happiness.

For example, following is one of our most current success stories showing how gaining better financial knowledge and habits made one UNL student happier: 

"I scheduled by session at the SMMC because I needed help creating a budget to help save money for a trip abroad. During my session, my SMMC representative really helped me with the questions I had. It was really nice to talk to someone regarding money issues as she wasn’t there to lecture me on what I had been spending my money on but instead focused on what I could do better."

"My session definitely helped ease my financial worries. I do think that my personal well-being was positively impacted because I don’t experience as much stress about my finances."

"My session did help me change my financial behaviors. I now pay a lot more attention to what I put my money into.  I had never realized how much money I was spending monthly or how truly easy it is to save money. I no longer stress about this stuff and saving has become second nature."

"My friends have even noticed the improvement because before I was constantly battling my finances and trying to make ends meet. I make more than enough money to live comfortably as a college student and just needed a little help figuring that out. My session was great and I appreciate that UNL offers this service."