10 Ways Parents Can Prep Financially for Back-to-School or Zoom-School Season
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As the nation wrestles with the pandemic, it’s also battling the back-and-forth debate of how to handle back-to-school season this fall.
Even if schools do open, 58% of parents don’t think their children should go back.*
They’re also planning to spend even more money during home school or “Zoom-school” because indoor activities will be needed to keep children learning and entertained at the same time. More “busy work” to keep them occupied as well as more snacks, groceries, water, and sanitizing products too.
Obviously all these costs will add up. And if your financials could use a little boost to help prep for this uncertain school season, here are some useful (and fun!) ways below.
1. Free Rewards Program Gives Out 7,000 Gift Cards Daily
There are a lot of survey programs out there, but none are as popular as Swagbucks, a free rewards program where you can earn free cash for your time and opinion. They’ve paid out over $885 million to their members already and they’ve been in business for 15 years.
Earn points for doing surveys, online shopping, uploading receipts, and playing fun games then redeem the points for free gift cards to Amazon and Walmart or choose PayPal cash.
New members can get a free $10 just for signing up, so join the other 10 million members already part of Swagbucks and start earning free rewards!
2. Please Spot Me Up to $2001, So I Don’t Get an Overdraft Fee!
We got you. Or, more specifically, Chime ® has your back; the award-winning mobile financial app and debit card will have you saying goodbye to overdraft fees!
That’s because their SpotMe®️ tool can literally spot you up to $2001 without charging a fee as long as you receive qualifying direct deposits.
You need qualifying direct deposits of at least $200 a month into your Chime Checking Account to qualify, and one of the easiest methods is to route your paycheck there so you don’t have to think about it.
Other perks:
- Get paid up to 2 days early3 with direct deposit
- Get 2.00% Annual Percentage Yield (APY)4 with the high-yield Chime Savings Account5
- Access to a new way to build credit history with the Secured Chime® Credit Builder Visa® Credit Card6
- FDIC-insured up to $250,000 through The Bancorp Bank, N.A. or Stride Bank, N.A., Members FDIC.7 (it’s safe!)
- No minimum balance, no monthly fees, and no foreign transaction/transfer fees
Sign up for Chime and say goodbye to overdraft fees and other benefits!
3. Play New Games and Earn Branded Gift Cards
The more you play, the more rewards and gift cards you can get. That’s the gist of Mistplay, an app where you can try out new Android games to earn units/gems and make optional in-app purchases. Redeem units/gems for real gift cards, including Uber, VISA, Spotify, and more!
Play as many games as you want since you can earn more gift cards that way. Plus, there’s nobody to compete against! New members get a BONUS of 200 points just for signing up.
And yes, it’s legit and already has 10M+ downloads. Download the app for free and start racking up those gift cards!
4. Find Curated Remote and Flexible Jobs With This Site
With a record 40 million people that filed for unemployment,* it’s crucial to be able to hold a remote or flexible full-time or part-time position in these uncertain times.
Instead of searching through irrelevant job boards, use FlexJobs, a 13+ year old company that specializes in finding only remote and flexible schedule jobs. For a limited time, their membership plans are 30% off (with promo code SAVE30) making them just:
- $4.95 /week
- $9.95 /month
- $23.95 /three months (most popular!)
- $44.95 /year (best value)
Memberships include access to jobs as well as resources like Career Coaching, Resume Review, 170 expert skills tests to better assess and promote your skills, and more.
Lori S. from Colorado Springs, CO said, “I would have spent hours trying to find these jobs on my own. I LOVE this website!! These are jobs that are not easy to find—I found the membership fee very reasonable and worth every penny considering I have found two wonderful jobs through FlexJobs.”
Non-essential workers are being asked to stay home during these times but making money is essential to everyone so take advantage of the 30% off membership plans to look at what could be your next new job! Remember to use promo code SAVE30.
