About MelissaB

Melissa works as a freelance writer and virtual assistant from home while raising and homeschooling her three children, ages 15, 10, and 9. She blogs at Mom's Plans and writes about money saving tips, family, homeschooling, and cooking.

Best Ways to Get a Pay Raise

February 20, 2020 By MelissaB Leave a Comment

If you’ve been employed with a company for a few years, two things have likely happened. First, you generally have a good feel for the company culture and likely fit within that culture. Second, you are likely good at your job. You may have even added more tasks beyond the scope of your original work as people leave the company. Because most companies now don’t rush to fill a vacancy, you may be doing the work that the person who left used to do in addition to your own job. As you work harder and better, wanting more compensation is completely normal. But before you ask the boss, first consider the best ways to get a pay raise.

When You Shouldn’t Ask for a Raise

Before you start the process of preparing for a raise, take a look at your work history and where the company is now. When asking for a raise, timing is everything. Now might not be the best time to ask if either of these things are currently happening:

Your Work Record Isn’t Stellar

Did you botch a big project? Has your child had the flu and you’ve missed a number of days of work? If you’ve had any life events that have disrupted your work, now might not be the best time to ask for a pay raise. Work hard and focus on being the best employee for a few more months before you ask for a raise.

Is Your Company Having Financial Difficulty?

How is your company doing financially? Have you noticed that the budgets are tighter? Have a few people gotten laid off? When employees are let go, you may have to pick up the slack. If you’re doing more work than ever, you may feel you deserve a raise, but that doesn’t mean you’ll get one.

If the company is struggling financially, now is likely not the best time to ask. You want to pick an optimal time when your work is good and the company is on solid financial footing. If that is not the case now, then wait a few months.

The Best Ways to Get a Pay Raise

If your work history is solid and the company is fine financially, you’re ready to take these steps in preparation of asking for a raise.

Keep a List of Accomplishments

Best Ways to Get a Pay Raise — Photo by CoWomen on Unsplash

Before you ask for a raise, keep a list of all of your accomplishments. What have you done within the last few years to help others and advance your company? These accomplishments are easiest to remember if you keep track as they happen. However, if you want to ask for a raise now, take at least a week to remember all of the things you’ve done since your last raise and to write them down. This will be your best evidence that you do indeed deserve a raise.

Research How Much Others in Your Area Are Paid

How much are others in your area paid? Is your salary equivalent? Is your salary lower than the average for others doing the same type of job? Researching how much others in your area are paid helps you see if you have a case to ask for a raise. If you’re at the high end of the average, then maybe now isn’t the right time to ask. If you’re at the low end, you know your request is valid. Doing this research also gives you an idea of the amount you’d like to request for your raise.

Set an Appointment with the Boss

When it comes time to set the appointment with your boss, don’t just ask if you can chat for a minute. Instead, ask if you can make an appointment to discuss your career. This will let your boss know that the discussion may take more than a few minutes, and he or she can schedule enough time accordingly.

Praise the Company

When you’re in the meeting, be sure to first praise the company. Let you boss know what you like about the company and your job as well as how much you’ve grown since you’ve been employed there.

List your Accomplishments

One of the best ways to get a pay raise is to highlight for your boss the significant accomplishments you’ve made for the company. While you don’t want to go through a laundry list of every little task you are responsible for, you do want to impress upon your boss how vital your role in the company is.

If you can prove to your boss that you’re essential to the company, you have a better chance of getting a raise.

If Your Pay Raise Request Is Denied

It happens. Sometimes you come to the boss with evidence why you should get a raise, and you’re denied. If that happens, you have two choices:

Accept It

You can just accept that you won’t be getting a pay raise this year. Maybe you can ask again in another six to twelve months. This is a good option if you really enjoy your job and think there’s a chance you’ll get a pay raise in the future.

Apply for Other Jobs

Even if you have no intention of leaving your current job, you can apply for other jobs and see what the market is like. If you interview well, you may even get an offer from another company. If the offer is higher than what you are currently getting at your job, you can use that offer as leverage to ask your boss for a raise. However, if you go this far, be prepared to walk away from your job if your request is again denied.

Final Thoughts

Asking for a raise can feel intimidating, but you’re your own best advocate. If you feel that you are an asset to the company and that you’re being undercompensated, use these best ways to get a pay raise to improve your chances of being successful. Remember, if you don’t ask, you likely won’t get a raise. Be confident in yourself and your skills and abilities and make the case that you deserve a raise. Your boss may be appreciative and reward you with a raise.

Can You Benefit from a Meal Kit?

February 13, 2020 By MelissaB Leave a Comment

You’ve likely seen the advertisements for meal delivery kits and wondered, can you benefit from a meal kit? For a set amount, averaging about $7 to $12 per meal per person, the meal service company sends you a box with all the ingredients you need for three different meals with two or four servings, depending on what you choose, as well as the recipe for each meal.

There are so many kits to choose from: Green Chef, Hello Fresh, and Blue Apron, just to name a few. You can find meal kits that are offered for vegans, that have options for those who are gluten-free or nut-free, and those who prefer organic food only.

I’ve personally tried Green Chef, and my family and I loved the meals, but we didn’t love the price tag. However, while regularly subscribing to a meal kit isn’t good for us at this stage in our lives, there are plenty of times that buying a meal kit is a great financial choice:

When You Don’t Know How to Cook

Can You Benefit from a Meal Kit? — Photo by Le Creuset on Unsplash

Unfortunately, more and more kids are leaving the nest without knowing how to cook. If your cooking consists of boxed macaroni and cheese, grilled cheese, and eggs, a meal kit service might be perfect for you. Not only will you get to eat tasty, nutritious food, but using the kit week after week will slowly help you learn to cook. Eventually, you’ll be able to cook on your own, without the meal kit service. Knowing how to cook is a skill that is priceless.

When You Would Go Out to Eat Instead

When I worked full-time and my husband was a full-time student and we had an infant, we went out to eat much more than we should have. We wasted thousands of dollars because we were just too tired to go grocery shopping regularly and figure out what to eat. In this case, a meal kit would have saved us so much money. While meal kits are more expensive than cooking from scratch and buying your own groceries, they are cheaper than going out to eat for a meal in a nice, sit down restaurant.

When You Need A Healthier Option

If you eat out frequently or dine on delivered pizza or Chinese, a meal kit may be perfect for you because it’s likely healthier than the food that you’re currently eating. I found Green Chef to be very healthy; each meal had a lean protein and a variety of vegetables that were of different colors. Another bonus is that the meals are already portioned for you, so you won’t overindulge, unlike restaurant portions.

Can you benefit from a meal kit? Only you can answer that. A meal kit service isn’t right for everyone. Certainly, choosing your own recipes, grocery shopping, and cooking for yourself is a more frugal option. But not everyone cares about frugality when it comes to meals. There are times when a meal kit subscription is the perfect option.

Have you ever subscribed to a meal kit service? If so, which one? Were you happy with the food and recipes that you received?

How We’re Helping Our Teen Save for College

February 10, 2020 By MelissaB Leave a Comment

College is getting more expensive every year, and with the student loan crisis, more and more students and parents are trying to forego student loans. Avoiding student loans, if possible, is a smart way to go. We should know; my husband and I are still paying off his student loans from graduate school, which he finished eight years ago. So, we want to do everything we can to help our own children go to college without accruing any debt. How we’re helping our teen save for college involves a multi-pronged approach.

How We’re Helping Our Teen Save for College

There are four ways we’re helping our teen save for college:

Using an Employee Discount

My husband is employed at our local university, so our children will get 75% off the price of tuition. While this school currently costs approximately $12,000 for in-state tuition for a year, our children, thanks to the discount, will only need to pay $3,000 a year.

Matching Our Teen’s Savings

From the time our children were young, we set up a savings account for college. We match each dollar that our child saves in this account. Our three children all have varying balances, and one of our children is a much more prolific saver than the other two. While this account won’t cover their $3,000 a year that they will have to pay for college, it will likely cover their textbooks for several semesters.

Paying for AP Tests

How We're Helping Our Teen Save for College — Photo by Ben Mullins on Unsplash

Our teen is bright and this year decided to challenge himself with an AP history course. We paid for the AP test that he will take in May. If he scores a 4 or a 5 on this test, he will be able to earn college credit for the course.

Next year, he plans to take several AP classes and tests, and we’ll pay for those, too, in the hopes that he can score high enough and reduce the amount of time he needs to be in college.

Finding Scholarships

Our teen took a practice PSAT at school, and while his score was okay, it wasn’t stellar. Since he has a 4.0 in school, if he can raise his SAT score by at least 100, he will qualify for a $6,000 scholarship from our university. (The higher the scores, the higher the scholarship amount he qualifies for. If he could get his score even more than 100 points higher, he would qualify for an even larger scholarship.)

We don’t have money to pay for SAT tutoring, but having it would be valuable, especially if it helps our child raise his score and qualify for the scholarship. I found a scholarship offered through a private foundation that could be used for SAT prep. We applied, received the scholarship, and he’s begun tutoring this semester.

Final Thoughts

Money has been tight throughout our marriage, so we’ve never had much money to set aside for our children’s college education. (Our priority has been paying off our student loans and saving for retirement.)

However, helping a child in other ways rather than just paying tuition outright can also be valuable. This is how we’re helping our teen save for college.