New article posted at "Everything Finance"
Everything Finance
New article posted at "Everything Finance" |
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- 3 Easy Ways to Save an Extra $40 a Month
- 20 Financial Tips for Those in Their 20s – Part 3
- Deciding whether to quit your job
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3 Easy Ways to Save an Extra $40 a Month Posted: 26 Jun 2014 01:00 AM PDT 3 Easy Ways to Save an Extra $40 a Month is a post originally published on: Everything Finance - Everything Finance - Its all about Money!
When my husband returned to school, we slashed our expenses and downsized to a studio apartment to make it through financially. We also did all the basics when it comes to saving money, like packing our lunch, cutting cable, and eliminating restaurants from our budget. When it comes to saving money, I don’t joke around. And our hard work pays off, because recently, we were finally able to save half our income. But what if you haven’t been saving money your whole life and you need to figure out a place to start? If you find a way to eliminate three things that are costing you at least $40 a month, that could help you save $120 a month total, or $3600 a year! That money could go toward paying down debt, saving up for a new car, or even help pay for a vacation. Here are three easy ways to save an extra $100 a month. Meal Plan If you aren’t already meal planning, you should. It is by far the easiest and most effective way to slash money from your budget. Don’t think that meal planning is as time intensive as some have made it sound. You don’t have to spend hours couponing to make it worth your while. Start small by simply deciding in advance what you’re going to have for dinner each night. This will help you put together a grocery budget and eliminate all those last-minute “What’s for dinner?” evenings which result in either expensive take-out or runs to the grocery store which almost always involves impulse buys. When you start to feel comfortable with planning out dinners, try checking the weekly grocery adverts and plan your meals based on food sales. If you have even more time, you can always check around for coupons for items on your list. Reduce Your Bills Every year, I make it a point to call my cell phone carrier, car insurance, and internet carrier to make sure I’m getting the lowest price possible. And every few months, I call my cable provider to take advantage of any offers. In fact, just last month, I reduced our phone service by $60 by eliminating our home phone, which we never use anyway, and getting rid of the insurance on our phones. Last week, I called our cable provider and told them my bill was too high and if there was any way they could help me reduce it. I was automatically offered $10 off my bill every month, and three free months of Showtime. And this is in addition to the $10/month savings I received three months ago for bundling my internet and cable. Reducing Your Beauty Routine I didn’t realize how much my beauty routine cost until I added it up. Getting my hair done every 6-8 weeks ($150), monthly mani-pedi ($30), waxing ($60)… I was able to slash a lot of these expenses by simply taking care of everything at home. Even if you’re not willing to dye your own hair, extending your visits from 6-8 weeks to every three months, can result in two to four less visits a year, resulting in a $600 annual savings.
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20 Financial Tips for Those in Their 20s – Part 3 Posted: 25 Jun 2014 07:35 PM PDT 20 Financial Tips for Those in Their 20s – Part 3 is a post originally published on: Everything Finance - Everything Finance - Its all about Money!
If you are in your 20s, consider yourself lucky to have the financial upper hand. As being someone in my early to mid-twenties, myself, I can relate to how frustrating it can be comparing your finances to those who are older and have had more time to accumulate wealth and career experience. However, I also know how advantageous my young age is in the long run. Here are five more tips to make your 20s a firm foundation for your finances. 1. Change Your Thoughts on Value: We are all guilty of spending frivolously at one point or another. “Eating out just this once isn’t too expensive; it’s just $10″ or “Twenty bucks for a shirt, that’s a great deal” even though you already have more than enough shirts in your closet. It is very common to think of small amounts of money as easily expendable. However, wasting a $5 here and a $10 there several times a month can really add up. Instead, put value on your money. The $10 to eat at McDonalds probably cost you 30 minutes at work – doesn’t look like such a fair trade anymore, right? Or you can look at what $10 could have bought, for example 2 lbs of ground beef, a bagged salad, and buns, which would have provided you with several meals. For me, I stopped eating at El Pollo Loco all together because their special $15.99 family meal was a horrible deal considering I could buy 3 rotisserie chickens at Costco for that price. The point is to stop and think about what you are spending and to spend it on things with a better value. 2. Budget in the Fun Stuff: While you should have a strict budget, this does not mean you shouldn’t plan and budget for fun. Following a structured budget allows you to save enough money for the fun adventures of life. People always complain about not being able to afford vacations. However, if they just saved $100 each month, they would have $1200 in their budget at the end of the year for a nice vacation. Love to go to concerts? Then include that in your budget and enjoy seeing them without financial worry. Obviously there is not going to be room in your budget to do everything, but giving yourself a $100-200 a month allowance will allow you to live up your 20s and keep you from feeling deprived. 3. Don’t Wait to Invest: Ever heard someone say, “I’ll start investing once I am in a better spot financially/when I have a better job”? The only way you are going to get into investing is if you stop putting it off. Financial ducks rarely ever get in a straight row – i.e. the perfect day to invest isn’t coming. Figure out what you can afford to invest and start there. Start small, but just start. 4. Invest in Your Career: Brian Tracey gave the great advice of investing 3% of your income back into your professional and personal development. He says that investing the 3% each year will reap huge benefits. This means that you should be investing in magazines and trade journals in your field, reading books in your field, and attending seminars. For example, if you make $60K as a computer analyst, Tracey would highly recommend to spend $1800 a year in ways to advance your career. This could be by gaining computer certifications or going to a time management seminar to be a more productive worker. 5. Live Simply: It truly is a simple concept. The less stuff you buy and have, the more money you will have. So many Americans use their garages to store hundreds of items they will never end up using. And even though their garages are packed, they still keep buying stuff. Like I said, it’s simple. Live with the bare minimum – meaning 1 set of dishes instead of 3, 2 sets of sheets instead of 4, 1 smart device instead of the whole Apple store. Bonus: your home will be much more organized and easier to clean with less stuff. Tune in later this week for the last five financial tips.
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Deciding whether to quit your job Posted: 25 Jun 2014 03:55 PM PDT Deciding whether to quit your job is a post originally published on: Everything Finance - Everything Finance - Its all about Money!
Maybe your boss makes your life miserable, or you feel the stress of your job seeping into your personal life. Whatever the reason, it’s horrible to go to work every day and hate your job when our jobs account for 35% of our weekly waking lives. But how do you make the difficult decision to quit your job? What about money? What about rent and bills? At some point in our lives, we’ve all dreamed of quitting our job with enough flair to earn an Academy Award and enough expletives to earn an NC-17 rating, but what happens afterward? If you’re trying to decide whether to quit your job, these are the questions you need to ask yourself to decide whether to jump ship or stick it out. Will you go bankrupt? While we may want to slur those expletives at our boss, most of us still need money to live, and our job is most likely our largest source of income. Unles you won the lottery, in which case, why are you still working? Do you have an adequate enough emergency fund—at least six months’ worth of expenses—that it could last you long enough until you find and start a new job? Will you burn bridges? Are you relying on a recommendation from your supervisor in order to help you land a new job? These days, your network is one of the greatest source of job opportunities. As much as you may dislike your coworkers or your boss, think about whether connections with them will ultimately help you in the long run. If you feel without a doubt that you never want to have communication with this person again, then perhaps it is time to quit. But don’t burn any bridges for the satisfaction of being able to throw a glass of water in your supervisor’s face. Will it negatively affect your career? If you’re changing career paths and this job doesn’t make much of a difference, then it’s easier to let go of. But if you plan on staying in the same career field, you never want negative gossip to plague you. Think about the legacy you will leave behind. You don’t want your future employers to hear about how you were a difficult employee, especially if they start going back and calling all your previous employers and references. *** As hard as it may be, perhaps the better option would be to line up a new job and then give your proper two weeks notice. This will give you peace of mind that you’ll have money in the bank and you’ll be leaving the company in good faith. It may not be the option we all dream of, but in the end, it’s important to be an adult and face responsibility.
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How Will Taking Up Smoking Affect My Health Insurance Claim? Posted: 27 Jun 2014 04:57 AM PDT How Will Taking Up Smoking Affect My Health Insurance Claim? is a post originally published on: Everything Finance - Everything Finance - Its all about Money! When you first signed your health insurance policy, you were asked if you used tobacco products or not. If you were a smoker at the time and checked yes, your premium went up. If you hadn’t used tobacco products for over a year and checked no, the resulting premium was a bit lower. The reasoning behind this policy is, of course, smokers are more likely to develop health problems and the higher premiums offsets the insurance company’s risk. But what if you had answered honestly that you did not use tobacco products at the time of signing, but decided to start smoking a year later? The answer lies in the fine print of your health insurance policy, but technically your premiums would not be affected. In general, health insurance policies take into account everything that affects your health at the time of signing, not your current health- learn more at HBF. Because you weren’t a smoker at that time, it is technically true that your newfound smoking habit shouldn’t affect your current premium or any future claims. However, many people lie about their smoking habits on health insurance forms. One study found that two-thirds of people would lie on their health insurance forms if it meant they would get a better rate. Even if you answered the smoking question truthfully the first time, insurance companies have good reason to doubt your honesty if you file a claim later from a smoking-related illness. If you develop lung cancer or another illness commonly attributed to cigarette smoking, the underwriter in charge of your claim will likely look to see how you answered questions about your tobacco use when you first signed the policy. If it turns out that you said you are not a smoker, this will set some alarm bells off. Because it is the underwriter’s job to properly investigate claims and save the company money, they are going to start looking for ways to deny your claim. It makes sense from the insurance company’s perspective. Most people begin smoking during their teenage years, and don’t just spontaneously start smoking in their twenties or thirties. And the insurance company is well aware that plenty of people lie about their smoking habits on the forms. Why should the insurance company pay for your claim now when you haven’t paid the proper premium based on your risk category? Even if you were honest to begin with, you can see how bad the case against you appears. How would you prove definitively that you weren’t a smoker at the time of signing? Would you be able to provide a specific date on which you started your new habit? Filing a claim for an illness that may or may not be attributable to your smoking suddenly becomes an uphill battle. So, while it is technically true to the letter of your insurance policy that new smokers’ claims shouldn’t be affected, don’t expect that filing a claim will be easy once the insurance company finds out you’re a smoker. |
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20 Financial Tips for Those in Their 20s – Part 4 Posted: 28 Jun 2014 01:14 PM PDT 20 Financial Tips for Those in Their 20s – Part 4 is a post originally published on: Everything Finance - Everything Finance - Its all about Money!
We have finally made it to the last part! I know it can be hard to balance life when you enter your twenties, but staying afloat financially will make life a bit easier. Here are the last five tips for financial success in your twenties. Give Back: Even if you do not make a lot, it is still a good practice to give a percentage of your paycheck back to charity. Giving back helps you put into perspective how much you have compared to others in need, and it is also a nice tax break at the end of the year. Still don’t have enough money to donate? Try donating your time instead.
The list could go on. Figure out what you are paying other people to do for you, and then research online and on Youtube if it is an easy task you can do yourself. Break Apart From Mom and Dad: If you are still running to mom and dad every time you have a financial burden, stop! You are old enough to be financially responsible. If your parents are fine with you still living there, at least have the common decency to contribute to the bills or treat them to a nice dinner every now and then. Buy Used; Save the Difference: Technically this is an old Duggar slogan, but it is still a good one. No matter what you want to buy (aside from the obvious of food, underwear, etc), search for it used before you buy a new one. Want an iPad or new phone, do yourself a favor and search on Amazon, Ebay, and Craigslist first. You may even be surprised that you can get a new item for $20-30 less than in the actual store. This tip will save you a lot of money especially in the case of clothing. There you have it – twenty financial tips for those in their twenties. Of course, most of these financial tips would be wise for everyone to follow. What money tips do you have for those in their twenties? |
