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Wondering What to Do With Overripe Pears? Try These 11 Recipes
Few things compare to the deliciously sweet taste of a perfectly ripe pear.
But what happens when theyâre past that point of ripeness? You know â when they start to form brown spots and become mushy and unappealing.
Donât throw away those mushy pieces of fruit! Here are 11 recipes that are perfect if youâre wondering what to do with overripe pears.
1. Freeze for Smoothies
Do you love to make smoothies? Yes? OK, good, because overripe fruit is perfect for freezing and using in smoothies. Cut off any parts of the pear that have gone bad, cut up the rest, seal it in a zip-close bag and put it in the freezer.
2. Pear Jam
If your pears are just slightly overripe, you can cook them into a pear jam. You need a lot of pears for this recipe â about three pounds â but the only other two ingredients are lemon juice and sugar.
Store the finished product in Mason jars, and spread it on toast, add it to desserts or yogurt or even cook it with meat. There are so many ways to use jam itâs not even funny.
3. Pear Crumble
Pear crumble is not only delicious, itâs also easy to make. Besides pears, the rest of the ingredients are staples you probably already have in your pantry or fridge. For this recipe, the mushier the pears, the better.
Save money on groceries with these savvy shopping tips.
4. Mash Into a Pancake Topping
Kitchn.com suggests mashing your browning pears and using them as a pancake topping or folding them into your batter. Fruit is always a delicious complement to breakfast foods.
You could also use the mashed pear on top of ice cream. Sundaes, anyone?
5. Blend Them Into a Salad Dressing
Blend them with some olive oil, vinegar and seasoning for a salad dressing thatâs a little on the sweet side. Perhaps try out this delicious pear vinaigrette. Hint: The sweetness pairs well with salty toppings.
6. Bake Into Fruit Leather
This is pretty much a homemade Fruit Roll-Up.
Slow-bake your fruit into pear and cinnamon fruit leather. Although it does take a while in the oven (six to seven hours), itâs worth it.
7. Pear Ice Pops
Who doesnât love ice pops? Thereâs no baking required for this recipe â these spiced ginger pear frozen pops only require a blender and some ice pop molds. You could also get creative and add in whatever fruits or flavors you want.
Do you like fruit and wine? Make some adult frozen pops with Riesling and overripe pears. These boozy popsicles sound amazing for a party or even just an afternoon treat.
8. Vanilla Spiced Pear Butter
This vanilla spiced pear butter goes perfectly on toast, muffins, oatmeal and ice cream. This recipe uses seven pounds of pears and yields four pints of butter, but you could halve or quarter the recipe.
If youâre feeling ambitious and decide to make the full recipe, you can freeze the rest and have pear butter year-round.
9. Pear Muffins and Bread
If you love to bake, use your overripe pears for pear and cinnamon muffins â this oneâs fun to make with kids.
Much like mushy brown bananas make for delicious banana bread, mushy pears are great for pear bread.
10. Pear Bourbon Cocktail
Iâm not one for baking, so Iâm not sure I could conquer pear muffins and bread, but this cocktail? It looks too delicious to not give it a try.
Using the past-its-prime pear, smash and strain your way to this pear bourbon smash cocktail.
11.Pear Sauce
Instead of applesauce, try some homemade pear sauce. All you need besides pears is sugar, water, lemon juice and (optional) cinnamon spice. You could make a large batch and freeze some to use as easy healthy snacks.
Jacquelyn Pica is a former SEO specialist at The Penny Hoarder.Â
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
Source: thepennyhoarder.com
8 Ways You Could Get Stimulus Money With Your 2020 Tax Refund
If your coronavirus checks are long gone, you could have more stimulus money coming your way, even if Congress doesnât do another thing. And if you didnât qualify for a check based on your past tax return, you could get stimulus money if you file a tax return for 2020 that shows youâre eligible.
Hereâs why: Both the first stimulus check and the second stimulus check are an advance on a temporary 2020 tax credit. But because of the urgency of the situation, the IRS was directed to get us that money ASAP, using information from our 2018 or 2019 returns.
That means if your tax situation changed through the course of the year, you could get stimulus money if your 2020 return shows that youâre eligible.
8 Reasons You Could Get Stimulus Money With Your 2020 Refund
If one or more of these scenarios apply, you might get more coronavirus money in 2021 by submitting a tax return. And relax: You wonât owe more at tax time or get a smaller refund as the result of receiving a check.
1. Youâre No Longer Claimed as a Dependent
Attention, Class of 2020: If your parents or someone else claimed you as a dependent in 2019 but they donât in 2020, you could get an $1,800 credit â $1,200 from the first check and $600 from the second one â provided that you file a tax return.
Generally, you can be claimed as a dependent if youâre under 19, or youâre under 24 and a student, if your parents provide at least half of your support.
2. You Had a Child in 2020
The parents of any bundle of joy who arrives in 2020 will be eligible for an $1,100 child coronavirus credit: $500 from the first round and $600 from the second. Theyâll have to wait until they file their 2020 tax return, since the IRS doesnât have record of these new additions yet.
3. Your Child Was Born in 2019, but You Took Advantage of the Tax Extension
If you had a child in 2019 but got a late start on filing your 2019 return due to the coronavirus tax extension or you filed on paper, the IRS probably processed your first payment using your 2018 return. Youâll get the extra $500 child credit next year when your 2020 return is accepted. But provided that your 2019 return has been accepted, you may receive $600 for your child from the latest round with your second stimulus check.
4. You Get Social Security or SSI Benefits and Have a Dependent Child
The IRS automatically processed coronavirus checks for people who arenât required to file a tax return and receive Social Security, Railroad Retirement, SSDI, SSI or VA benefits.
But in many of these situations, the IRS only received the information needed to send the recipient the $1,200. They didnât get information about dependent children who qualified for $500 coronavirus child credits unless the recipient provided it using the non-filer tool on the IRS website within a pretty narrow timeframe.
If you got a $1,200 payment for yourself but didnât receive the extra payments for dependent children under 17, youâll need to file a 2020 tax return to get the extra $500, even if you donât normally need to file. The same applies if you donât get the $600 credit with your payment in the latest round.
5. Your Income Dropped in 2020
A lot of people will no doubt have a lot less income to report in 2020 than they did in 2018 or 2019. If you didnât qualify for the first check because your previous income was above the $99,000 threshold for singles or $198,000 for married couples, you could qualify based on your 2020 income. The second check has a lower phaseout because itâs smaller, so you wonât receive one if youâre single with an income above $87,000 or married with an income above $174,000.
Likewise, if your payment was reduced because your income was above $75,000 if youâre single or $150,000 if youâre married, youâd get the difference when you file your 2020 return.
6. You and Your Childâs Other Parent Take Turns Claiming Them for Taxes
The Washington Postâs Michelle Singletary reported on this odd quirk of stimulus payments: It appears that in situations where divorced, separated and never-married parents take turns claiming their dependent children on taxes, each parent could wind up with a $500 payment.
Whoever claimed the child for 2019 probably received both the $500 and $600 payments with their stimulus check. But since the payments are technically a credit for 2020 taxes, there could be a loophole that allows the other parent to get the credit for the same child when they file next year.
7. You Increased Your Retirement Contributions in 2020
Suppose youâre a single filer who earned $80,000 in 2019 and your income stays the same in 2020. You would have gotten a $950 coronavirus check in the first round, because payments are reduced by 5 cents for every $1 of income over $75,000 if youâre single. In the second round, youâd get $350.
But if you reduced your 2020 taxable income to $75,000 by contributing an extra $5,000 to your 401(k) or traditional IRA (sorry, a Roth IRA wonât work), youâd get the additional $250 coronavirus payment from both rounds, so $500 total.
8. Youâre Married to Someone Without a Social Security Number
If you have a Social Security number but youâre married and file a joint tax return with someone who doesnât have one, neither of you initially qualified for a stimulus check under the CARES Act. But the latest relief bill changes the rules so that anyone in the household with a Social Security number will qualify for the second payment â and it also makes the change retroactive to the first round.
That means if youâre in a mixed-status household, you could get a $1,200 credit for yourself, plus $500 for each dependent child 16 and younger who has a Social Security number.
Robin Hartill is a certified financial planner and a senior editor at The Penny Hoarder. She writes the Dear Penny personal finance advice column. Send your tricky money questions to DearPenny@thepennyhoarder.com.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
Source: thepennyhoarder.com
8 Safe Investments for People Who Hate Risking Their Money
Think back to what the stock market looked like to you in March 2020, aka, the apocalypse. Did it look like:
A.) The biggest bargain sale youâve ever seen in your lifetime?Â
or
B.) A burning pit of money that was about to incinerate your lifeâs savings?
If you answered âB,â you probably have a low risk tolerance. You worry more about losing money than missing out on the opportunity to make more of it.
Being cautious about how you invest your money is a good thing. But if youâre so risk-averse that you avoid investing altogether, youâre putting your money at greater risk than you think.
Do Safe Investments Actually Exist?
When you think about the risks of investing, you probably think about losing principal, i.e., the original amount you invested. If you keep your money in a bank account, thereâs virtually no chance of that happening because deposits of up to $250,000 are FDIC insured.Â
But consider that the average savings account pays just 0.05% APY, while in 2019, inflation was about 2.3%.
So while youâre not at risk of losing principal, you still face purchasing power risk, which is the risk that your money loses value. Your money needs to earn enough to keep up with inflation to avoid losing purchasing power. If inflation continues at 2.3%, buying $100 worth of groceries will cost you $102.30 a year from now. If youâre saving over decades toward retirement, youâll be able to buy a whole lot less groceries in your golden years.
Thereâs also the risk of missed opportunity. By playing it too safe, youâre unlikely to earn the returns you need to grow into a sufficient nest egg.
Though thereâs no such thing as a risk-free investment, there are plenty of safe ways to invest your money.
8 Low-Risk Investments for People Who Hate Losing Money
Here are eight options that are good for conservative investors. (Spoiler: Gold, bitcoin and penny stocks did not make our list.
1. CDs
If you have cash you wonât need for a while, investing in a CD, or certificate of deposit, is a good way to earn more interest than youâd get with a regular bank account.
You get a fixed interest rate as long as you donât withdraw your money before the maturity date. Typically, the longer the duration, the higher the interest rate.Â
Since theyâre FDIC insured, CDs are among the safest investments in existence. But low risk translates to low rewards. Those low interest rates for borrowers translate to lower APYs for money we save at a bank. Even for five-year CDs, the best APYs are just over 1%.
You also risk losing your interest and even some principal if you need to withdraw money early.
2. Money Market Funds
Not to be confused with money market accounts, money market funds are actually mutual funds that invest in low-risk, short-term debts, such as CDs and U.S. Treasurys. (More on those shortly.)
The returns are often on par with CD interest rates. One advantage: Itâs a liquid investment, which means you can cash out at any time. But because they arenât FDIC insured, they can technically lose principal, though theyâre considered extraordinarily safe.
3. Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS)
The U.S. government finances its debt by issuing Treasurys. When you buy Treasurys, youâre investing in bonds backed by the âfull faith and credit of the U.S. government.â Unless the federal government defaults on its debt for the first time in history, investors get paid.
The price of that safety: pathetically low yields that often donât keep up with inflation.
TIPS offer built-in inflation protection â as the name âTreasury Inflation Protected Securitiesâ implies. Available in five-, 10- and 30-year increments, their principal is adjusted based on changes to the Consumer Price Index. The twice-a-year interest payments are adjusted accordingly, as well.
If your principal is $1,000 and the CPI showed inflation of 3%, your new principal is $1,030, and your interest payment is based on the adjusted amount.Â
On the flip side, if thereâs deflation, your principal is adjusted downward.
4. Municipal Bonds
Municipal bonds, or âmunis,â are bonds issued by a state or local government. Theyâre popular with retirees because the income they generate is tax-free at the federal level. Sometimes when you buy muni bonds in your state, the state doesnât tax them either.
There are two basic types of munis: General obligation bonds, which are issued for general public works projects, and revenue bonds, which are backed by specific projects, like a hospital or toll road.
General obligation bonds have the lowest risk because the issuing government pledges to raise taxes if necessary to make sure bondholders get paid. With revenue bonds, bondholders get paid from the income generated by the project, so thereâs a higher risk of default.
5. Investment-Grade Bonds
Bonds issued by corporations are inherently riskier than bonds issued by governments, because even a stable corporation is at higher risk of defaulting on its debt. But you can mitigate the risks by choosing investment-grade bonds, which are issued by corporations with good to excellent credit ratings.
Because investment-grade bonds are low risk, the yields are low compared to higher-risk âjunk bonds.â Thatâs because corporations with low credit ratings have to pay investors more to compensate them for the extra risk.
6. Target-Date Funds
When you compare bonds vs. stocks, bonds are generally safer, while stocks offer more growth. Thatâs why as a general rule, your retirement portfolio starts out mostly invested in stocks and then gradually allocates more to bonds.
Target-date funds make that reallocation automatic. Theyâre commonly found in 401(k)s, IRAs and 529 plans. You choose the date thatâs closest to the year you plan to retire or send your child to college. Then the fund gradually shifts more toward safer investments, like bonds and money market funds as that date gets nearer.
7. Total Market ETFs
While having a small percentage of your money in super low-risk investments like CDs,
money market funds and Treasurys is OK, there really is no avoiding the stock market if
you want your money to grow.
If youâre playing day trader, the stock market is a risky place. But when youâre committed to investing in stocks for the long haul, youâre way less exposed to risk. While downturns can cause you to lose money in the short term, the stock market historically ticks upward over time.
A total stock market exchange-traded fund will invest you in hundreds or thousands of companies. Usually, they reflect the makeup of a major stock index, like the Wilshire 5000. If the stock market is up 5%, youâd expect your investment to be up by roughly the same amount. Same goes for if the market drops 5%.
By investing in a huge range of companies, you get an instantly diversified portfolio, which is far less risky than picking your own stocks.
8. Dividend Stocks
If you opt to invest in individual companies, sticking with dividend-paying stock is a smart move. When a companyâs board of directors votes to approve a dividend, theyâre redistributing part of the profit back to investors.
Dividends are commonly offered by companies that are stable and have a track record of earning a profit. Younger companies are less likely to offer a dividend because they need to reinvest their profits. They have more growth potential, but theyâre also a higher risk because theyâre less-established.
The best part: Many companies allow shareholders to automatically reinvest their dividends, which means even more compound returns.
Robin Hartill is a certified financial planner and a senior editor at The Penny Hoarder. She writes the Dear Penny personal finance advice column. Send your tricky money questions to DearPenny@thepennyhoarder.com.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
Source: thepennyhoarder.com
How to Set Financial Goals: A Simple, Step-By-Step Guide
Want the number to be bigger? Go back through your budget and figure out where you can afford to make cuts. Maybe you can ditch the cable bill and decide between Netflix or Hulu, or replace a takeout lunch with a packed one.
Itâs also the money you can use toward your long-term financial goals.
Youâre in awesome financial shape â and youâve made it to the fun part of this post.
So even though becoming debt-free seems like a big sacrifice right now, youâre doing yourself a huge financial favor in the long run.
You might try to get away with a smaller emergency fund â even ,000 is a better cushion than nothing. But if you lose your job, you still need to be able to eat and make rent.
And the trouble isnât brand-new: Weâve been bad enough at saving for retirement over the past few decades that millions of todayâs seniors canât afford to retire.
Future you will thank you. Heartily. From a hammock.
What to Do Before You Start Writing Your Financial Goals
Now you can figure out exactly what you want to do with it.
You donât need to abandon the idea of having a life (and enjoying it), but there are ways to make budgetary adjustments that work for you.
First Thingâs First: How Much Money Do You Have?
Did you know almost half of Americans have absolutely nothing saved so they can one day clock out for the very last time?
Ideally, youâll want to find other ways to save for retirement, too. Look into individual retirement arrangements (IRAs) and figure out how much you need to contribute to meet your retirement goals.
Saving money is all well and good in theory.
And I do mean all of the expenses â even that .99 recurring monthly payment for your student-discounted Spotify account definitely counts.
- Figure out how much money you have. It might be in checking or savings accounts, including long-term accounts like IRAs. Or, it might be wrapped up in investments or physical assets, like your paid-off car.
- Assess any debts you have. Do you keep a revolving credit card balance? Do you pay a mortgage each month? Are your student loans still hanging around?
You also get to decide the size of your emergency fund, but a good rule of thumb is to accumulate three to six times the total of your monthly living expenses. Good thing your budget is already set up so you know exactly what that number is, right?
One method is known as the debt avalanche method, which involves paying off debt with the highest interest rates first, thereby reducing the overall amount youâll shell out for interest.
Is everything in order? Amazing!
Create a Budget
To help keep you from financial goals like âbuy the coolest toys and cars,â which could easily get you deeply into debt while you watch your credit score plummet, weâve compiled this guide.
You get to analyze your own priorities and decide exactly what to do with your hard-earned cash.
Source: thepennyhoarder.com
Before you run off to the cool-expensive-stuff store, hold on a second.
Itâll help you set goals and create smart priorities for your money. That way, however you decide to spend your truly discretionary income, you wonât leave the 10-years-from-now version of you in the lurch.
Your expenses probably include rent, electricity, cable or internet, a cell phone plan, various insurance policies, groceries, gas and transportation. It also includes categories like charitable giving, entertainment and travel.
And you need to start now, while compound interest is still on your side. The younger you are, the more time you have to watch those pennies grow, but donât fret if you got a late start â hereâs how to save for retirement in your 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s.
But what are you saving for? If you donât have solid financial goals, all those hoarded pennies might end up in limbo when they could be put to good use.
And if youâre operating without a budget, it can be easy to run out of money well before you run out of expenses â even if you know exactly how much is in your paycheck.
Jamie Cattanach (@jamiecattanach) is a contributor to The Penny Hoarder.
A ton of great digital apps can help you do this â here are our favorite budgeting apps â but it can be as simple as a spreadsheet or even a good, old-fashioned piece of paper. It just takes two steps:
See? Itâs all about priorities.
So sit down and take a good, hard look at all of your financial info.
You might plan to travel more, take time off work to spend with family or drive the hottest new Porsche.
Setting Financial Goals
Once youâve learned your net worth, you need to start thinking about a working budget.
It also offers me the opportunity to see what I prioritize â and to revise those priorities if I see fit.
- Build an emergency fund.
- Pay down debt.
- Plan for retirement.
- Set short-term and long-term financial goals.
If your job offers a 401(k) plan, take advantage of it â especially if your employer will match your contributions! Trust me, the sting of losing a percentage of your paycheck will hurt way less than having to work into your golden years.
By writing down my short- and long-term financial goals and approximately how long I expect it will take to achieve each, I can figure out what to research and how aggressively I need to plan for each goal.
Make a list of your debts and (ideally) donât spend any of your spare money on anything but paying them off until the number after every account reads âFiguring out where your money should go might seem daunting, but itâs actually a lot of fun.
1. Build an Emergency Fund
You canât decide on your short- or long-term financial goals if you donât know how much money you have or where itâs going.
Print out the last two or three months of statements from your credit and debit cards and categorize every expense. You can often find ways to save by discovering patterns in your spending habits.
But thereâs one more very important long-term financial goal you most definitely want to keep in mind: retirement.
Take the full amount of money you owe and subtract it from the total amount you have, which you discovered in step one. The difference between the two is your net worth. Thatâs the total amount of money you have to your name.
2. Pay Down Debt
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
Congratulations. Youâre in control of your money.
This will essentially be a document with your total monthly income at the top and a list of all the expenses you need to pay for every month.
Make a list of the goals you want to achieve with your money and which category they fall into. Then you can figure out how to prioritize your savings for each objective.
For example, some of my goals have included:
Your financial goals should be (mostly) in this order:
Thereâs lots of great information out there about how to pay off debt, but itâs really a pretty simple operation: You need to put every single penny you can spare toward your debts until they disappear.
Finding money to sock away each month can be tough, but just starting with or of each paycheck can help.
If you ever want to stop working, you need to save up the money youâll use for your living expenses.
3. Plan for Retirement
Set the numbers youâre willing to spend in each category, and stick to them.
Congratulations! Weâre almost done with the hard part, I promise.
If it seems like a lot, cool. Hang tight and donât let it burn a hole in your pocket. Weâre not done yet.
Many experts suggest making sure you have an emergency fund in place before aggressively going after your debt.
Because youâre wasting money on interest charges you could be applying toward your goals instead.
No matter your goals, itâs helpful to categorize them by how long theyâll take to save for.
If youâre motivated by quick wins, the debt snowball method may be a good fit for you. It involves paying off one loan balance at a time, starting with the smallest balance first.
But if youâre hemorrhaging money on sky-high interest charges, you might not have much expendable cash to put toward savings.
You can make the process a lot easier by automating your savings. Or you can have money from each paycheck automatically sent to a separate account you wonât touch.
If it seems like⦠not a lot, well, you can fix that. Keep reading.
4. Set Short-Term and Long-Term Financial Goals (the Fun Part!)
Maybe you want to have a six-course meal at the finest restaurant in the world or work your way through an extensive list of exotic and expensive wines. (OK, Iâll stop projecting.)
What experiences or things can your money buy to significantly increase your quality of life and happiness?
Now, letâs move on to repaying debt. Whyâs it so important, anyway?
Itâll depend on your individual case â for instance, I totally have âwineâ as a budget line item.
As a bonus, if your credit score could be better, repaying revolving debt will also help you repair it â just in case some of your goals (like buying a home) depend upon your credit report not sucking.
Start by listing how much you actually spent in each category last month. Subtract your total expenses from your total income. The difference should be equal to the amount of money left sitting in your bank account at monthâs end.
All right, youâre all set in case of an emergency and youâre living debt-free.
We say âmostlyâ because itâs ultimately up to you to decide in which order you want to accomplish them.
After all, even if something seems like exactly what you want right now, it might not be in future-youâs best interest. And youâre playing the long game⦠thatâs why theyâre called goals!
- Short-term financial goal: Save spending money for a trip overseas.
- Medium-term financial goal: Pay off my car within a year, or sell it â and its onerous loan â and buy an older car I can own free and clear.
- Long-term financial goal: Buy a house I can use as a home base and increase my income by renting it out while I travel. This will probably take me through the rest of my 20s.
But to make the most of your money, follow a few best practices while setting your goals.
For example, if you have a ,500 revolving balance on a credit card with a 20% APR, it gets priority over your ,000, 5%-interest car loan â even though the second number is so much bigger.
Consider the funds you have left â and those youâll continue to earn â after taking care of all the financial goals above. Now think: What do you want to do with your money?
Itâs pretty hard to argue against having more money in the bank.
That means youâll pay the interest for a lot longer â and pay a lot more of it â if you wait to pay it down until you have a solid emergency fund saved up.