15 High stress, low pay jobs.

I stumbled across this a few days ago, and thought I’d share it. It’s CNN/Money’s list of 15 jobs that offer high stress, and low pay.

I’m not sure what their criteria were or how they determined the amount of stress. The low pay aspect is fairly easy to determine, each is below the median household income and most require a degree or two. But I question some like Commercial photographer. I mean, is the % who say their job is stressful really 100? There are no commercial photographers who don’t find their work to be high stress?

And what does high stress mean? I love my job. I think I have things pretty easy, compared to many. I’m in the IT field, but I still have stressful days. I suppose the best way to look at this list is that a percentage of the people who hold these jobs find the rewards do not outweigh the stress.

Still, that seems odd since Minister is also on the list. I’m not surprised they don’t make big money, but you can’t tell me their job doesn’t have moments of satisfaction that can’t be found in other careers that outweigh the stressful times.

At any rate, here’s the list. You can read more detail at the original site.

• Social Worker.
  Median pay: $43,200
  % who say their job is stressful: 72%

• Special events coordinator.
  Median pay: $35,900
  % who say their job is stressful: 75%

• Probation officer.
  Median pay: $38,400
  % who say their job is stressful: 58%

• News reporter.
  Median pay: $32,900
  % who say their job is stressful: 62%

• Music ministry director.
  Median pay: $40,800
  % who say their job is stressful: 67%

• Membership manager.
  Median pay: $42,600
  % who say their job is stressful: 67%

• Fundraiser.
  Median pay: $42,700
  % who say their job is stressful: 67%

• Commercial photographer.
  Median pay: $43,600
  % who say their job is stressful: 100%

• Assisted living director.
  Median pay: $46,000
  % who say their job is stressful: 67%

• Minister.
  Median pay: $45,300
  % who say their job is stressful: 71%

• Marriage/family therapist.
  Median pay: $44,400
  % who say their job is stressful: 61%

• Curator.
  Median pay: $46,500
  % who say their job is stressful: 89%

• Substance abuse counselor.
  Median pay: $32,400
  % who say their job is stressful: 71%

• Film/TV producer.
  Median pay: $47,600
  % who say their job is stressful: 78%

• High school teacher.
  Median pay: $43,000
  % who say their job is stressful: 65%

And for those looking for the alternative, here’s a companion story detailing the 50 best jobs in America

Related Posts:

• College Grad Unemployment and Useless College Degrees.
• When a $50,000 Salary Can Feel Like Minimum Wage.
• Most Americans Feel the Same About Job Security as They Did a Year Ago. (infographic)
• Living on a Single Income: 7 Years and Counting.
• Money as a Debt Magnifier.

Pay your bills using Electric Orange Bill Pay and you could win $1,000

ING direct (famous for their high yield, Orange savings accounts) have a promotion that runs from now until November 30th. They’re trying to get more people using their Electric Orange online Bill Pay. Electric Orange is their high yield checking account, similar to their orange savings but it’s a checking account.

The promotion.

Every day that you pay a bill online using your Electric Orange checking account, you’ll be entered in a sweepstakes to win $1,000. That’s a daily sweepstakes, but they also offer a $10,000 grand prize! You can enter up to 10 times per day, and obviously the more bills you pay, the more chances you get to win.

Visit ingdirect.com/billpaysweeps to see the Official Rules and to learn more.

Electric Orange accounts.

If you are already an ING Direct customer, starting an Electric Orange account is a piece of cake – you can even use one of these referrals to get an extra $25!

If you’re not a current ING direct customer, what are you waiting for?! They’ve got some of the best rates and the easiest to use web page I’ve seen for an online bank.

Related Posts:

• Capital One to buy ING Online.. So Long ING?
• HSBC Direct Increased its Rate!
• ING Direct Orange Savings Referral Links.

Last Day to Enter to Win a Free Gas card from Shell and eBillme.

Today is your last chance to enter the free $20 gas card giveaway contest from Shell.

There are 3 ways to enter – and they’re all free!

Ways to ENTER and Win:

1. Visit the Enter at Shop Debt Free site, and leave a comment. In your comment, tell them how you are saving money, and share and recommend your best money saving tip.
2. Follow @shopdebtfree and RT to enter on Twitter: “RT @shopdebtfree Enter to Win Free Gas, visit http://is.gd/4FLIK“
3. Do Both and Double your Chances to Win.

Enter at Shop Debt Free

The contest is open to US and CDN entries. Contest ends Thurs. Oct. 29th, 3:00 pm EST. One lucky winner will be chosen at random.

Related Posts:

• Follow @CreditLoan and win $1,000!
• Giveaways, Carnivals and Personal Finance Blogging.

0% Balance Transfer Credit Cards Offers Finally Coming to an End?

Not long ago you could have wall-papered a McMansion with all the 0% APR credit card offers going through the mail. Times have changed, and while the credit crunch of ’08 put a serious damper on those offers it looks like the Credit Card Act of 2009 may be the final nail in that coffin.

According to a recent ABC News article:

With a host of new legislatively mandated protections for credit card holders under the Credit Card Act of 2009 set for February 2010, the banking industry is already curbing “zero percent interest” introductory rates, and, in some cases, hiking one-time balance transfer fees.

This is a bummer for people like myself, who are responsible enough to make use of these offers to stop the clock on interest while they pay off their balance, but it may be catastrophic for the “credit shoppers” out there. These are the people who have been riding the 0% interest merry-go-round for years, all the while racking up new purchases on the balance being transferred.

The article profiles one such guy from Buffalo, N.Y. who got caught holding his hot potato of a balance when the APR shot to 15.9% after the initial 0% transfer rate expired. Now he may be stuck with the balance AND the high interest rate because credit card companies are no longer offering that next card for the credit shopper to jump to.

If such transfer offers do become available, they will likely have higher transfer fees than previously:

Hardekopf and other industry experts are noticing that one-time balance transfer fees, which used to be 1 to 2 percent, and in more recent years have been at around 3 percent, are going up: Bank of America has upped its one-time balance transfer fee from 3 to 4 percent while Chase has moved, in some cases, to 5 percent.

Cases like these really bring home how dangerous credit cards can be for people who lack the discipline to use them responsibly. Of course, that’s a large part of the population, and credit card companies have been making lots of money off those people and their irresponsible financial behavior.

That being said, I’m not one of those people who hate credit cards and think they’re something evil set forth by the devil himself. I think they can be a tremendous tool, but you have to know yourself well enough to walk away from a 0% balance transfer offer from a credit card company if you’re not going to pay off that balance before the rate resets.

Related Posts:

• Is 25 Credit Cards Too Many?
• First Premier Bank Credit Card Offer Features A 79.9% APR, a Bad Deal – For The Bank!
• NPSL Credit Cards and the Case of the Unknown Credit Limit.
• How Your Identity Gets Stolen (and What to Do About it).
• Worst Credit Cards for 2010.