Jill Russo Foster

Financial Literacy Month – Tip #4

Lower Your Car Insurance

Here’s the tip from February 4 – Reduce or Eliminate Bills month:

Did you know that you can lower your car insurance by taking a safe driving class? I took a safe driving class and was able to lower my car insurance premium. For me, I took eight hours of classroom time (that’s the Connecticut requirement for the class) at a cost of $16 and was able to save $100 per year for the next three years. I even learned a thing or two. Check with your insurance company to see how much you can save, then schedule a class near you.

To purchase a copy of either of my books Thrive In Five: Take Charge of Your Finances in 5 Minutes a Day or 111 Ways To Save

#JillRussoFoster #30WaysToSave

Financial Literacy Month – Tip #3

Use Cash

Here’s the tip from February 1 – Reduce or Eliminate Expenses month:

Use cash – sounds simple enough, but can you do this? When I say cash I mean the actual bills and coins, not a debit card. Using cash for your purchases makes you have to think about what you are purchasing, the cost and how much money you have with you. You can’t spend more than you have with you!

Try this – what have you go to lose? It really stops the impulse shopping and makes you think about your purchase. In addition, I personally find that if I have large bills in my wallet, I am less likely to break a $50 or $100 to make a purchase than if I am carrying smaller bills.

To purchase a copy of either of my books Thrive In Five: Take Charge of Your Finances in 5 Minutes a Day or 111 Ways To Save

#JillRussoFoster #30WaysToSave

Financial Literacy Month – Tip #2

Unseen Bills

Here’s the tip from January 28 – Analyze Your Bills month:

These are those bills that you don’t get in the mail. Those things that you are set up to automatically renew. The service will tell you that they take the hassle out of remembering to pay by setting automatic payments up for you. Yes, they do take the hassle out of it for you. But, the other side is that you might not remember this bill and therefore don’t look at it to cancel it or to shop around for a cheaper service. Examples of this can be subscriptions and memberships. Today, think about what you have in your life that happens automatically. Is it that gym membership that you bought last January that you don’t use? Is it the magazine subscription that renews automatically and is billed to your credit card? What’s happening automatically in your life?

To purchase a copy of either of my books Thrive In Five: Take Charge of Your Finances in 5 Minutes a Day or 111 Ways To Save

#JillRussoFoster #30WaysToSave

Financial Literacy Month – Tip #1

Here’s the tip from January 14 – Analyze Your Bills month:

Roadside Assistance

I analyzed our car insurance as well as other related bills and added coverage to my insurance. For example, I added roadside assistance for less than $20 per year for two cars and was able to eliminate the auto club bill that was over $100 per year. The concession is that I have to pay for towing and then submit a bill for reimbursement. This was a no brainer for me saving 80%. What do you need to change?

To purchase a copy of either of my books Thrive In Five: Take Charge of Your Finances in 5 Minutes a Day or 111 Ways To Save

#JillRussoFoster #30WaysToSave

Financial Literacy Month Starts Wednesday!

April is Financial Literacy Month and I want to spread the word so that everyone can understand and improve their finances.

For the month of April, we will be posting daily tips from my book Thrive In Five: Take Charge of Your Finances in 5 Minutes a Day on Twitter, LinkedIn and my Facebook Fan Page. We need you to share and repost to your connections and friends so that these simple tips spread across the internet. My goal is to increase my exposure and therefore increase the number of people who improve their finances.

First, remember to connect with me through social media – Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook Fan Page, or you can forward this blog post to your family and friends for them to sign up for the newsletter. Thank you for spreading the word.

We want everyone to have some extra cash this April, so let’s make it rain by sharing financial information that really works.

To purchase a copy of either of my books Thrive In Five: Take Charge of Your Finances in 5 Minutes a Day or 111 Ways To Save

Watch for my first post on April 1st. 🙂

#JillRussoFoster #30WaysToSave

What To Do At Home

In these troubling times, people are staying home more. We are doing the same by staying home and limited what and when we go out. After a while, it can be pretty boring. So here are some suggestions that we are doing:

Have you wanted to visit a National Park? Now you can tour them from the comfort of your home with virtual tours.
How about seeing a famous museum? You can see some of the world’s famous museums from your sofa.
How about your local library. Ours is closed, but we have many digital options, such as music streaming, digital books and comic books (audio and e-books) (Overdrive), magazines (RB Digital), movies and TV (Hoopla and Kanopy), newspapers, online courses (Great Courses) and more. Try it, you may like it – we do.
Start a project that you have been meaning to do. I have been doing projects in my home in my spare time for the last few years to get more organized and have accomplished so much, but there is more to do. I have completed sorting all family photos, movies, slides and there are all digitized. I have sorted paper records and scanned, shredded and tossed. I was able to sell three filing cabinets by getting rid of paper. Now I am tackling my father’s newspaper clippings.
Catch up on those books that have been sitting on your night stand.
Now that your home, you may want to cook more meals or try a new recipe.
If the weather is nice in your area, it’s spring and time to get out in your yard.
What can you do to help out a family member or neighbor? Maybe they need someone to talk to. Check in with these people by phone, video chat and email.
With our gyms closed, we still want to exercise. We have been taking daily walks around the neighborhood. If you want something more formalized like a class, many gyms are streaming virtual workouts that you can follow at home.
Support your local community. Several people in our town have contributed money and purchased take out food to help the local business and had them delivered to our hospital’s emergency room. Please check with both the business to see if they are open and have the delivery capacity as well as if the recipient can accept the gift.
Miss not going to a Broadway show? Playbill is giving you the information to be able to watch some of your favorite Broadway shows from home.

For more suggestions, here’s are more from USA Today and Lifehack

What area you doing? Let me know.

Spring Cleaning Your Finances & More

As I sit here and write this blog post about spring, I am glad it actually begins tonight. The days are getting longer with the change to daylight saving time.

For us, it has been a mild winter with only one snow storm of a couple of inches back in January. We have even had some record warmth days with one more coming tomorrow. If fact, I know it’s spring is here because the daffodils and crocus are blooming.

In this difficult time, I am trying my best to stay present and not react out of fear. For me, the best way is to accomplish something, such as learning a new skills or tackling a project.

Here are some projects that you might want to tackle:

When was the last time you shredded your out dated paperwork. Typically, after seven years papers can be tossed with a few exceptions. Check with your tax preparer for your situation. This is a good time to do this as many communities have a free paper shredding days coming up in April for you to take advantage of.
Did you learn something from filing your taxes? Maybe you need to make adjustments to your paycheck withholding or to save more to be able to pay the taxes you owe. Take a look at your finances and make the changes now with your HR department.
Where do your finances stand in relationship to your beginning of the year goals? Maybe you set a goal to save a certain amount this year. Are you one quarter of the way there? We are about three months into the year, therefore you should be at 25% of your goal. Are you on the path to achieving this goals? Do you need to make adjustments to your finances to achieve the goal? Now is the time to take a look and make the changes needed, so you are not disappointed at year end.
When was the last time you changed your passwords? Update your accounts with strong passwords.
How about organizing your paperwork? Paper comes in everyday and seem to pile up. Use this time if your home to create a system that works for you.

Stay healthy and use your time wisely this spring.

Getting Your Taxes Done For Free

Yes, it’s that time of year again – tax time!

You may be able to get your taxes prepared for free AND from a reputable source.

There’s help if you’re a senior or have a low to moderate income.

Go to www.IRS.gov to find information on the VITA program (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance), the TCE Program and AARP Tax-Aide.

There you can learn

If you qualify for the program
What to do bring to the meeting
Locations near you

You don’t have to be afraid to use these services. The tax preparers at these programs are certified volunteers who work under a qualified supervisor. The location near me is at the local community college and is supervised by a CPA and Chair of the Accounting Department.

Each location will have different hours, so check before you make the trip. Some will take appointments and some are walk-in only.

If you qualify, you may save yourself a few hundred dollars. You’ll get the work done at no cost to yourself and a trained preparer can catch details that might net you a bigger return.

Are You Going To Be A Victim of Fraud?

It’s said that everyone will be a victim of fraud at least once it their lifetime. Yikes!

What steps are you taking to protect yourself? While you can’t protect yourself 100%, you can take steps to lessen your chances or to catch it as fast as possible. Don’t be an easy target.

Here are a few tips that we do in our household:

First, your mailbox. Is your mail sitting in there all day or longer? Do you put your outgoing mail in there with the flag up for? All of these are easy targets to get your personal information. In our house, we take all outgoing mail to the Post Office. We pick up our incoming mail daily. Less time for someone to take our bank or credit card statement with our information.

Next is your car. Yes, you know your should lock it, but do you? If you do, what are you leaving inside your car? I just watched a video of people going to the gym and not carrying anything. To me, that means they left their purse / wallet in their car. Depending on the location, this can be an easy target for theft. Are you shopping and putting your packages in the car and going to another store? Leaving your car unlocked or the window partial open can give someone easy access to your belongings.

What about your home? Do you lock your home? What do you toss out / recycle? Think about your documents – can someone steal your identity by taking your trash. We shred everything and you should too. We also installed cameras to monitor our home. What about your computer / cell phones? What activities are you doing on them? Are you always connected to a secure network? Never do tasks such as viewing or paying bills when you are on pubic wifi. Set up two factor authentication for your accounts. Do each of your online accounts have there own user ID and password? When was the last time you changed your passwords? Monitor your bank and credit card accounts at least weekly to look for suspicious activity. Monitor your credit report / score to anything suspicious. Remember, the sooner you catch it, the less they can take.

To monitor your credit report, sign up for my newsletter at www.JillRussoFoster.com. In addition to the newsletter, subscribers will be given a reminder email to view their credit report three times per year for free and it won’t hurt your credit score.

Upcoming Workshops

Want to take your finances to the next level?

Come to hear me and get your questions answered at Norwalk Community College (Norwalk CT):

Start Your Finances Off Right – Thursday 4/2/2020 6 to 8pm

Budgeting To Pay Down Debt – Monday 3/23 and 3/30/2020 (2 sessions) 6 to 8pm

What about your teens, do you want them to learn about finances?

Have them come hear me at Norwalk Community College:

Teens and Money: Teen Personal Finance – Saturday 3/28/2020 10 am to 12 noon

For more information or to register, please call (203) 857-7080 or Email: extendedstudies@norwalk.edu

I hope to see you there