Jill Russo Foster

Understand Your Credit

Let’s talk about where your credit is today. Those of you on my newsletter list should have recently pulled your January credit report. What are you hoping to accomplish? Do you want better credit? Do you want to be able to get financing when you need it at a reasonable interest rate? You can do this and it is possible. If your credit isn’t where you want it to be, you can change it. There’s no magic want and it can’t be done overnight (and you can pay someone to improve your score), but you can see improvements in a relatively short amount of tim choices e.

Here are some credit score tips:

Always pay at your bills on time. If you don’t have the money to pay your bill when it’s due, make at least the minimum payment required, so as not to be late. If it’s the timing that is an issue, change the due date. Many companies will do this very easily.
Pay down your debt. Reduce the total amount your owe on credit. Make a plan to pay it down and stick to it.
Watch your spending. If you can’t afford something, determine is it a need or a want. Needs are must have such as food, clothing, shelter. Wants are your desires, you can live without but would be really nice to have, but maybe you need to set a goal to get that want in the future.

All this over time will improve your credit and thereore credit score. The thing to remember is the newer credit counts more than item from the past. So there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Our January Rituals

It’s that time of year that we evaluate many things in our lives:

January is a month that we analyze our bills, We review all bills and if necessary, we take action. It could be as simple as comparison shopping, reviewing overages and more. One thing we have done was to review our homeowners insurance and make some changes. We replaced our home’s roof last fall, that qualified us for a credit on our homeowner’s insurance. We made some other small changes. All that resulted in a $500 premium savings.

As we reviewed finances, we made a decision to close some accounts that were no longer used, cancelled memberships / subscriptions that we didn’t use. We transferred some debt to a zero percentage interest rate credit card. If you do this make sure you payoff the balance before the zero percentage expires. We have taken the balance and divided it by the number of months. We make that payment or more each and every month. We updated our phone and mail preferences so that we receive less unwanted mail and phone calls. For links to these companies visit my resources page.

While we are preparing for our taxes, we are reviewing paperwork. That means filing, scanning and shredding. Be sure to check with your tax preparer about what documents should be saved and for how long.

At this time of year, we update all passwords. You never want to use the same password for your accounts – accounts should have there own unique user id and password. Yes, it can be a pain to remember. But if someone get access to one of your accounts, you don’t want to give them access to everything.

What do you do annually in January?

Mark Your Calendar

Have you wanted to visit a National Park?

We have been to a few and have so many more on our bucket list. Many are free but some of the big ones charge an entrance fee. Every year the National Parks Service offers free days and they are wonderful way to take advantage and see a park on your bucket list and save money.

So mark your calendar, here are the 2020 dates:

Monday, Jan. 20 — Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Saturday, April 18 — First Day of National Park Week/National Junior Ranger Day

Tuesday, Aug. 25 — National Park Service Birthday

Saturday, Sept. 26 — National Public Lands Day

Wednesday, Nov. 11 — Veterans Day

Enjoy

What Are Your Financial Goals for 2020?

What is it that you want to achieve with your finances? Is it to have an emergency fund? Is it to save for a specific goal such as a down payment on a home / car? Do you want to save more for retirement? Whatever you want you can achieve it.

Start by writing down your goal (in a SMART format). Then break it down to manageable steps.

For example, I want to save $500 by the end of the year – that’s

that’s $41.67 per month
that’s $9.62 per week

Now think of ways to find that money to save

could you bring your lunch / coffee to work one day a week
could you add an extra week between haircuts / manicures (if you do your nails every other week that’s 26 times a year, switching to every three weeks would be 17 times a year – that’s a savings of 9 manicures)
could you cancel or reduce your unused memberships / subscriptions
could you research lower costs for utilities / insurance
could you eliminate a fee (bank account, credit card and more)

With this in mind, you could find the $9.62 a week to save to meet your goal.

Remember that breaking it down to manageable steps is key so it doesn’t seem so over whelming.

Let me know what your financial goal is and maybe I can help you break it down in to smaller steps.

Your first credit report of 2020

This month use Experian

Hello, it’s Jill again, reminding you to get your finances in order so you can start the new years off right.

How to Order Your Credit Report

The only authorized source for your report is AnnualCreditReport.com. You won’t be charged and they won’t force you to sign up for “credit monitoring”. It’s yours to review by law. Learn more.

Visit www.AnnualCreditReport.com:

Select your state, then click Request Report.
Fill out your information, then click Continue.
When it asks you to select a service, select Experian.

Not comfortable ordering online? There are other ways to order your report:

Mail your postal order by downloading the form at AnnualCreditReport.com
Call in your order at 1-877-322-8228

What should you do with your report?

Review it for accuracy!
Follow the instructions to correct any errors.
And, always remember to keep copies for your records.

Were you hoping for your credit score instead? Try CreditKarma.com. It doesn’t give you a FICO score, but it comes close. And, there’s no charge for you. CreditKarma funds their service through website advertising.

P.S. I’ll send you another reminder in April for your next report of the year.

Happy Holidays!

My Year’s Recap

2019 has been a year of cleaning out for us. We have eliminated lots of items from our home by recycling / tossing, selling, donating and more. Each and every month we have gotten rid of items – everything from paperwork (which was scanned and originals shredded) to unused exercise equipment to streamlining our clothing.

Here are some of the specifics we did:

Donated formal attire to the local high school formal attire club, work clothes to Dress For Success and more
Sporting Equipment to the local sports drive
Books to the Library Book Sale fundraiser
Cell phones and accessories to Cell Phones for Soldiers
VHS movies to local senior living facility
Tools and ladders to Habitat for Humanity Restore
Old sheets / towels to the animal shelter
Electronics to the Salvation Army
Stuffed animals to the local thrift shop
Office supplies to several non-profits based off their wish lists
Clothing to the local food / clothing bank

Sometimes this seemed like a never ending project, but there has been much progress. For more information and ideas on what to do with your stuff, please visit my Resources page.

Here’s to a more organized 2020!

Get A Better Understanding of Your Money

Do you want to get a better understanding of your finances? Do you want to pay down or off your debt? Do you want your teens to better understand how money works?

Start off 2020 with a better understanding on your finances and what to do next.

Here are some workshops I am doing in the coming months at Norwalk Community College. Register now to join me and learn about personal finances and get your questions answered.

For my schedule at Norwalk Community College and information on how to register,

Oh No, The Holidays Are Coming!

The holidays are coming! The holidays are coming! Guard your budgets and hold onto your wallets. You might be thinking I’m crazy, but the retailers have positioned their holiday displays to disarm you of your cash, especially this year with fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving and the Holidays.

Did you shop on Black Friday and Cyber Monday?

Can you make this year different? Can you stick to your list and not overspend? You can if you make a detailed plan. Write down exactly what you will be buying and the dollar amount you plan to spend.

Here are some suggestions that should help you with your holiday budget list.

1. Gifts

How much for immediate family?
How much for extended family?
How much for friends and co-workers?
How much for people whose services you use?

2. Entertaining

How much will it cost when you host a gathering?
How much will you spend on hostess gifts when you attend a party?

3. Travel

How much will it cost for local travel (gas, tolls, parking, etc)?
How much will it cost for long distance travel?
How much will it cost for vacation?

4. Traditions – this can be anything from an afternoon tea to a night on the town.

If you write it all down, you might realize you’re planning on spending $300-$500 on gifts for people who aren’t on your immediate family list. And hosting dinners can be expensive just because you want to put on a good appearance. Ever notice a big stain on the tablecloth and found yourself running to the store at the last minute to buy one full price?

Holiday fun can wreak havoc on your budget, but it doesn’t have to. Now is the time to get a jump start on planning, and to put away money for the details that are important to you. Think of it as your own layaway plan. Take money out of each check, and spread out your spending, that way you won’t have buyer’s regret in January.

Doing this now may make January 2020 less stressful.

Tipping – Should You And How Much

Do you ever wonder should you tip this person? Personally, the answer for me is sometimes “yes” and sometimes “no”. For me it depends on the service I receive – was it Thank You! good or exceptional, did someone go out of there way and do something extra?

When I am in a restaurant, yes I tip the server. When I use a car park service, yes I tip the attendant. Also, I tip for personal services – hair cuts, nails, porter at airport and more. The list goes on and on. There are so many to tip in our lives, and even more so now that the holidays are approaching. But who and what do you tip and how much?

And the next question for me is – how much? Cash is always a great option for giving, but may not be the answer for your budget. Other ideas, might be a thank you note, a call to a company to tell them what I great experience you received from someone that works there, a bouquet of flowers, baked goods, etc.

As the holidays approach, here are suggestions from Real Simple Magazine with who and what.