Bonus Bits – Week of 02/21/22

Good morning! Here are this week’s bonus tips and nuggets from around the community. To get these every day in your inbox, sign up to our daily newsletter where you’ll see these faster, as well as our top 3 curated articles every day!

👉 Decluttering Tip: Don’t keep items out of guilt

I sometimes call this rule “Keep the Love, Not the Stuff.” The basic idea is that you should not keep items in your home that make you feel guilty.

If, for example, you are keeping something because someone gave it to you, ask yourself, Would I buy this for myself? If you are keeping something because you bought it and feel bad that you don’t use it, ask yourself, Would I buy this again? 

If the answer to either of those questions is “No”, donate it and get that guilt out of your life. Believe me, you will feel physically better!

– RichInWhatMatters.com

👉 University of the People: Tuition-Free, Accredited Online Degrees

Did you know that there exists a tuition-free, accredited, online university where you can obtain a Bachelor’s degree in Computers Science, MBA, or Masters in Education for a tiny fraction of the cost of traditional universities? 

The University of the People was recently profiled by the NYT in How Can This University Charge Nothing for Tuition? (gift article).  Is is really free? Not quite, but I think the structure is very fair as it charges a small fee only when you are ready to earn course credit. 

Is is really free? Not quite, but I think the structure is very fair as it charges a small fee only when you are ready to earn course credit. 

Here are the total approximate costs (not per year!) to earn a UoPeople degree:

• Associate Degree: $2,460
• Bachelor’s Degree: $4,860
• Master of Business Administration (MBA): $2,940
• Master of Education (M.Ed.): $3,180
• Master of Science in Information Technology (MSIT): $3,660

The extra $60 is from the $60 application fee.

Read more: mymoneyblog.com/university-of-the-people-tuition-free.html

👉 The Half Payment Method

If you’re struggling to make ends meet before paycheck, then consider using the half payment method. The half payment method is a budgeting technique where you take your regular monthly bills and divide them in half. 

This means If you get paid biweekly, you’ll set aside half the cost of your bills during the pay period prior to when these bills are due. Then when it’s time to pay your bills, you’ll have the money ready and won’t have to struggle to come up with the entire amount from one paycheck. 

You will only need half because you’ve already set aside the other half from your previous paycheck. This is a simple and effective way to pay bills twice a month. 

– MintNotion.com

👉 Term of The Day: Self-Directed IRA (SDIRA):

A self-directed IRA is a variation of a traditional or Roth IRA. It has the same tax advantages, rules, and limitations as regular IRAs. What makes it different is the assets owned in the account. 

Self-directed individual retirement accounts hold a wide range of non-traditional investments, like cryptocurrency, collectibles, hedge funds, precious metals, private equity, private placement, and real estate investing.

Some experienced investors find that diversification and potential returns outweigh the effort and risk of alternative investments. And by holding the assets in an SDIRA account, they receive tax breaks.

– WomenWhoMoney.com