Jill Russo Foster

Tips for Successful Personal Finances

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Fourth Quarter To Do’s

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Can you believe it, it’s fall and the year end is in sight!choices

For me, there is lots to do (and I am not thinking the holidays yet).

This time of year means it’s time to review my health insurance choices.  Open enrollment for health insurance is here (or just a week or so away).  Medicare is already in the open period, the state of CT will open up the 1st of November and many company plans have the open enrollment at this point too.  It’s time to reevaluate and determine if I want to stay on the same healthcare plan or make a change.

If you have a FSA (Flexible Spending Account), start to look at the balance and determine how to use the funds.  This is a use it or lose it type of account. You wouldn’t want to lose money, would you? If you have an HSA (Health Savings Account), have you maximized your contributions for 2018?  This can be a great way to lower your taxable income.  Make sure you pay all your eligible medical expenses with this account.

Take the time now to do your research and make the choices that are right for you and your family now.

We’re Back From Our Anniversary Trip

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This year we celebrated our anniversary with a Pacific Northwest cruise.

Back in the early summer, I wrote two newsletters about planning our fall vacation.  We are back and wanted to share the trip with you.  Here’s the link to the two earlier newsletters – first and second issues to remind you of the details.

We took a Pacific Northwest cruise out of Seattle with stops at Astoria, Oregon, San Francisco, California and Victoria, BC and few days in Seattle too.

With all this planning and paying ahead, we spent very little on the actual vacation.  Mostly everything was paid (or paid with points / miles) in the months before as our budget permitted – hotel, cruise, airfare, attractions and some meals were included.  We selected hotels with breakfast included, bought City Pass’ (discount admission to attractions) and walked and/or public transportation.  Lots of steps – over 21,000 in San Francisco in one day!

Yes, there was a lot of research and planning, but this step saved us money and we have fun – lots of money!

Here we are at the Space Needle.  To view more photos, visit our Pinterest page.

Saving Money

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I am always looking for ways to save money.

Some of the ways that can help you do this is to be on top of your finances.

Let me tell you what I recently did.  We purchase a bark collar for the puppy and within a week, the battery was flashing low.  Instead of going to the store to purchase a battery, I brought the receipt and all the original packing back to the store and explained the situation.  The store manager gave me a replacement battery pack.  Not only did I get the battery replaced free, they gave me an additional battery for the future.

Another example, I purchased something online that wasn’t what I expected.  I was told there was a no return policy after opening.  I explained that I did open it and that’s how I knew it wasn’t what I expected.  After several emails back and forth, they agreed to a return minus the restocking fee.  Yes, I am getting less than I paid, but it is most of the money refunded and it’s not another item sitting in my house, that I won’t use.

Sometimes you can advocate for yourself and get a resolution to the issue that is wallet friendly.  Try it sometime.

Other ways to save money, you can stick with what you own and not purchase the latest and greatest new option.  Our TV/Internet provider wanted to give us faster internet.  The catch was it would be an additional $5 more per month.  We said “no”.  There is nothing wrong or slow with what we have now.

Savings a few dollars here and there can add up.

In One More Day

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You have heard about all the security breaches – from major retail chain stores to credit bureaus and more.  You can’t turn on the news or read a newspaper without learning about another breach.

Because of this, I have always encouraged you to freeze your credit to lessen your changes of identity theft.  Well tomorrow is a big day for consumers.  Credit report freezes will become free – no more small fee to freeze your credit and another small fee to unfreeze – all this adds up.  As of tomorrow, September 21, 2018 and just after the one year anniversary of the Equifax breach, there will be no cost to freeze your credit.

Please remember that you will receive a PIN with your freeze.  You will need to keep this in a safe place, but not so safe that you forget where you put it to unfreeze your credit.

In addition, fraud alerts will now be available for 1 year (it was 90 days in the past).

Get out there and take advantage of the free credit freeze tomorrow!

FREE Stuff To Do

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This Saturday is a big day!  You have so many choices of what to do and it’s all FREE.  Yes, I you heard me FREE!!!!!!

There are two options with many choices for things to do this Saturday, September 22 only.

Option 1 – it’s National Parks Free Day – so you can visit a national park and save on the entrance fee.  Click this link to find out more.  You can check out a local park or make plans to visit one farther.  Don’t worry if you can’t make it this Saturday, there is one more free day coming up later this year.

Option 2 – it’s Smithsonian Museum Day – now is your chance to visit a museum for free, both in your area and across the country.  Check out this link to see which museums are participating and to get your ticket.  You’ll need a ticket to visit for free and you can get that at the website.

Two options for you and your family for this Saturday that won’t break your wallet.  Enjoy!

Upcoming Workshops

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Now that we are gearing up for the fall, I wanted to share with you some workshops I am teaching at Norwalk Community College (Norwalk, CT) in the Extended Studies Dept in the Fall term.

Take Control Of Your Finances

Welcome To The Real World: Teens and Money

Budgeting For The Fluctuating Income

For more information and/or to register click here.

If You Don’t Succeed, Try Again

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You’ve heard the saying, if you don’t succeed, try again.  We’ll that was try number two yesterday to get the results that we wanted.

Every August it’s the time in our home to negotiate the TV, internet and phone bill.  It’s a time that I dislike, but it’s something that has to be done.  Every year, we get that letter that our current package is expiring and the cost will be increasing substantially.  Ugh!

I phoned earlier in the month and was given a new package that didn’t meet our needs or budget.  We have lowered our services in past years, so there isn’t a lower package with less channels (we’re on basic).  Not being happy with the call, I research other companies and their options.

Yesterday, was call number two.  Spoke with two different people and get the results we wanted.  The price will be increasing less than $5.  Yeah!

If you need to negotiate with a company to get the results you need / want, be prepared to make multiple calls.  You might just get a person that will go the extra mile to find what you are looking for.  We did and we are set for another year.

Password Security

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At this time of year we are getting ready for back to school.  Along with all the things happening, sometimes cybersecurity isn’t something that you are thinking about.  But it should be.

Your kids are creating new accounts and with that comes passwords.  I am reruning a past newsletter on How To Use A Unique Password For Every Account Without Going Crazy.

In addition, Lass Pass’ blog has a great post on .

Make sure to do these steps and share with your kids to be safer online.  A little time now could save you hours later.