Jill Russo Foster

Bon Voyage to Your Debt – Part 1

Say Bon Voyage Part 1: Reflect on What Went Wrong

Originally posted June 20, 2014 By Jill Russo Foster

I wanted to rerun this series of getting rid of debt. At this time of year, we are starting to think about the holidays and for most that means extra spending. Before you start to do your holiday shopping, take a look at your spending and current debt and make a plan to deal with it. This is a 5 part series to get you started.

We all know that debt (and the costs associated with it) is a national problem. In fact, it may be the biggest problem standing between you and a comfortable financial future. Putting a stop to accumulating debt, and dealing with it once and for all, is the answer.

Over the summer, I will be offering ideas to help you start on the path to paying off your debt and keeping it gone.

In my opinion, there are typically 6 steps to paying down your debt. Here is step 1.

Step 1 Getting Started

I want you to take time to reflect, and to determine why you have debt. I believe that once you know what got you into debt, you can make the changes necessary to improve your finances.

Maybe you simply spent too much. Judging by advertising and television, every waitress should be able to afford a home furnished by a mix of Crate & Barrel and Anthropologie. You wouldn’t be the first to want to live the American Dream… before you made it.

But, not all debt comes from overspending. Sometimes it comes from medical bills that accumulate due to illness or uncovered procedures, it could be a death in the family, divorce, a job loss or reduced hours. There are circumstances that can blindside you and throw the best financial plans off track.

The bottom line is that you are spending more today than you earn. You have been living in a “buy now and let my future self pay the debt” universe. But this isn’t a science fiction movie. That future self is you and you’ll be just as unhappy with debt tomorrow as you are today!

I don’t want you to think I am judging you. We all have reasons (or excuses) for the actions we take. If you want to get out debt once and for all, you have to make changes to your thought process and habits in order to see lasting changes.

Right now, I want you reflect on why you’re in debt. Go ahead and tell the whole story. Start from the beginning.

1. When did you first get behind on your bills?

2. What did the money go towards?

3. Do you have habits that make it easier to accumulate debt (and difficult to pay it off)? These might be shopping, eating, decorating, entertaining, recreation or work habits.

4. What needs to happen for you to pay off your debt? (We’ll revisit this question later – this is your first, knee-jerk response.)

5. Why do you still have debt today? List all the reasons. This is just for yourself to read, so feel free to be honest.

For more information and support, join my free private Facebook group “Say Bon Voyage to Your Debt”. We officially start on July 3. To get individual support and worksheets, sign up here: www.facebook.com/groups/PayOffYourDebt/. To receive a bonus budget tracker, sign up through my newsletter

In the next issue we’ll begin the hard work, so get ready.

Getting Your Home Ready

Yes, I have to admit it, summer is winding down. While I love my long warm summer beach days here in Connecticut, I do love Fall. The cool crisp nights and the beautiful colors of the turning leaves. On to the part that always comes to my mind, what has to be done as Fall approaches and before the onset of winter to prepare our home.

Here are some things that we do at our house:

1. Get all the patio furniture cleaned and put inside if possible. We have a lot – and most comes inside – but there are a few pieces that are too big and heavy. For the pieces that stay out, we put those orange cones atop the table and cover with patio furniture covers. This prevents the water from puddling up. Make sure to secure the covers tightly.

2. Turn off the outside water and drain the lines. You don’t want to have to call a plumber in the middle of winter to fix a frozen line. Remember to bring in the outside garden hoses once you have drained them.

3. Clean those gutters before you have problems. Scoop out the debris from inside (even if you have gutter guards), so that the water can flow easily. Remember to clean out the down spouts too.

4. While you are on your roof… Check for leaks that might need fixing, cracks, and moss growing in the roof (not a good thing as moss holds moisture and that can mean rot). Don’t forget to look around the chimney. All these could become a major problem as we get into winter. As I have told you, it’s easier to fix a small issue now rather than a major issue later. You can either do this yourself or call a professional for help.

5. Get your heating systems tuned up and serviced before winter to make sure it’s in working order. There is nothing worse than waking up to no heat on a cold winter morning.

6. Caulk around the windows to seal up any drafts. You don’t want leaky, drafty windows sucking the heat outdoors. You should caulk every few years as preventative maintenance.

7. Because winter storms can mean loss of electricity… You will want to check up on your emergency supplies – lanterns, batteries, flashlights, battery powered radio, warm blankets, non-perishable food with a manual can opener, bottled water, and matches if you want to cook on the barbecue grill.

For more ideas, here’s a helpful list from The Hartford insurance for getting your home ready for winter.

It’s much better to prepare ahead of time and do little projects now while the weather is nice. You don’t want to deal with emergency repairs in the winter.

Celebrating Our Anniversary

We have stopped buying gifts for each other a long time ago. We don’t need more stuff in our home. We chose to celebrate occasions with experiences.

Our wedding anniversary is next week, but we celebrated early and took a weekend away. We love music and had the chance to go to Eric Clapton’s Guitar Festival 2019 in Dallas – two great nights of music with so many performers benefiting his charity Crossroads. It was an incredible experience.

We were able to do this with many opportunities to save. We were able to use airline miles for the upgraded flight and we earned miles for flying for the next trip. Our hotel points got us an incredible rate of 50% off and the hotel had shuttle service within 2 miles of the hotel. No need to rent a car, pay for parking at the hotel or transportation to the arena.

This was a great way to celebrate and save money in the process.

Upcoming Classes

Here’s a chance for you to work with me in a class of your choice at a substantially less cost than private coaching.

Here are a few of my classes for the early part of the fall:

Integrity 1st Learning Support Solutions, New Haven, CT

Take Control of Your Finances Saturday, October 12 from 4:30 to 6:30pm

Whether you are just joining the workforce, or have been struggling trying to navigate the sometimes confusing world of handling your money, this class is for you. We will touch upon budgets, savings, credit, credit cards, borrowing, insurance, retirement and more. Learn the steps necessary to have the best plan to achieve your goals.

Advanced registration is required to reserve your spot. Contract Integrity 1st Learning Support Solutions at (203) 800-4100 or visit Integrity 1st Learning Support Solutions

Norwalk Community College, Norwalk, CT

Financial Literacy Thursday September 26 from 6 to 8pm

How start your finances off on the right foot. Learn the basics of money management, income and saving for your goals, understand borrowing & credit cards and the costs involved, learn how to make your money work for you and not against you. Understand how your money choices now will affect your finances in the long term.

Teens and Money: Teen Personal Finance Saturday October 19 from 10 am to 12 noon

Welcome To The Real World – Do you want to learn about money and finances? We will discuss real world examples – buying a car and paying for college scenarios – to understand the choices you make and how they affect your financial future. Learn lifelong skills now for a lifetime of money management.

Take Control of Your Finances Monday October 21 from 6 to 8pm

If you would like to attend, advanced registration is recommended to reserve your spot. Contact Norwalk Community College, Extended Studies Dept at (203) 857-7080 or extendedstudies@norwalk.edu

Are You Paying Too Much?

Do you ever wonder if you are paying too much for your bills?

We thought about this and have been making changes over the years. We took steps to reduce our monthly bills. We reduced our cable bills – haven’t totally cut the cord yet – but have reduced our bill significantly. We are a family that leaves electronics unplugged unless in use. We cook in the evening and on weekends and make enough for leftovers that can be taken for lunch. We walk to do errands on weekend versus taking the car – a great way to get some extra exercise in your day.

We have eliminated some services and do them ourselves. We do our own lawn mowing and yard work. We take our own trash and recycle to the transfer station (eliminating the trash bill). We do some of our repairs and improvements ourselves.

How do you save money on your monthly bills?

Savings – Doubling Up

I love to save money and I am sure you do too. I am even more thrilled when I am able to save even more – with two or more discounts on one purchase.

Just this past weekend, I was able to do this three separate times! First we stopped for lunch at a local restaurant with a coupon – $15 off the purchase of $30. That alone was a 50% savings. Then we charged it on a credit card that offered $5 statement credit. That’s a good deal.

We did the same at the drug store. We had the store’s manufacturers coupon for $5 off allergy medicine, plus the stores 30% off your total purchase and the allergy medicine was on sale on top of the coupons. I received an email from the store stating the special sale price of the allergy medicine. Bottom line, we paid $9.76 for the medicine that had a shelf price of $23.49. A 41% savings for another good deal.

On to grocery shopping, I pick the store that has the items we need on sale (based on the weekly flyer) and use manufacturer’s coupons to save more. For this store trip, this particular store has a $10 off if you spend $50 or more. We get a monthly postcard in the mail with weekly savings offers – soemtimes $10 off and other times a free / discounted product. Another win for us.

Saving with multiple discounts is good for your budget / wallet. To be honest, it does take some time to coordinate these deals to save. But not as much as you might be thinking. We do get the Sunday newspaper with the coupon inserts. I am on a handful of companies email lists for discounts. Lastly, we get physical mail from rewards programs we are a part of. All this adds up to savings for us.

Time To Order Your Credit Report

For your last report of the year, use TransUnion

Hello, it’s Jill again, reminding you to get your finances in order by ordering your last credit report of the year.

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.

To Learn More, Visit 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 TransUnion.

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 FREE

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? One option is to take a look at CreditKarma.com, Quizzle.com or CreditSesame.com. They won’t give you a FICO score, but they come close by providing a close approximation of your score. And, there’s no charge for you.

May you have a fun and meaningful holiday season from Halloween through to New Year’s Eve and everything in between.

Budgeting By The Numbers

Do you ever wonder how much of your income should be going to this and how much should be going to that?

I know that you are aware that the general rule for your monthly mortgage payment should be 28% or less of your gross income. The mortgage payment plus your monthly debts (credit cards minimum payments, auto payment, student loan payment, etc.) should be less than 36% of your gross income.

These are the guidelines that help us to determine where your finances stand at any point in time. You may be higher or lower, but your know how you stand against the suggested ratios.

Here are some other suggestions:

Emergency Funds – 3 to 12 months of income. You need to have money aside for yourself when emergencies occur. There are several thoughts here for amounts – I believe that homeowners should be more towards the 12 month or more range, as you never know when you might need to make an emergency repair right now. Also, if you become unemployed, it seems that the older we get the more time there is in between jobs. This plus many more scenarios could make you rely on this emergency fund. Start or increase yours today.

Savings – the more the better! You can never have too much savings. Automate your savings and pay yourself first. Have your savings deducted from your paycheck each and every paycheck – that’s the pay yourself first part. You need to do this, as there is never money left over to save. Living off what’s left is the way to go. Remember to increase this amount often (at least every time your get a raise). If you haven’t do this start small – maybe $20 / paycheck and keep increasing this. I would love for you to aim for a minimum of 10% of your income.

Food – this one is a hard one. I know that we spend a lot on our food budget. Maybe you think this way too. I personally have tried different ways to keep this under control – from vegetable gardening, to only buying with cash, to sticking to lists (meal planners and grocery lists), but it’s tempting to spend more – that are so many items (not on my list) that we seem to want.

For a general guideline of what percentage of your check should be, check out this article from Every Dollar. Remember that these are suggestions and you can tweak them to fit your lifestyle.

What Are Your Plans?

Taking time away from your regular routine is good for you.

American’s typically take less vacation than people in other countries. We personally make vacation a priority. It doesn’t have to be some big vacation. It can be a variety of things – from a day off staycation or a weekend away to the trip around the world. Here’s an article by Business Insider about the benefits of vacation.

I have a bucket list of things I want to do and/or see – from 1 day trips and exploring local attractions, to much bigger vacations. For me, I want to see Waterfire in Providence, RI, visit the National Parks all the way to cruising the Panama Canal. What’s on your list?

With Labor Day weekend upon us, what are you planning to do – plan some time that isn’t part of your normal routine and do something different.

Getting Ready For Storms / Winter

I understand that it’s summer. I am a beach person and want to get in as much beach time as possible. In addition to that, it’s time to get your home ready for the upcoming storms / winter months. So far this summer we have lost power twice – once on a hot humid sunny day and the other in a rain storm. There is nothing worse, than not being ready.

Here are some things that we do at our house:

3. Clean those gutters before you have problems. Scoop out the debris from inside (even if you have gutter guards), so that the water can flow easily. Remember to clean out the down spouts too. YOu’ll need to do this after the leaves come down to ensure that they are clean before the winter season is here.

5. Get your heating systems tuned up and serviced before winter to make sure it’s in working order. There is nothing worse than waking up to no heat on a cold winter morning. Personally, this is one service plan we purchase and it includes a cleaning.

6. Caulk around the windows to seal up any drafts. You don’t want leaky, drafty windows sucking the heat outdoors. You should caulk every few years as preventative maintenance.

It’s much better to prepare ahead of time and do little projects now while the weather is nice. You don’t want to deal with emergency repairs in the winter.