Jill Russo Foster

Tips for Successful Personal Finances

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Single Use vs. Reusable

I grew up with a mother that recycled and composted, so reducing and reusing is in my blood.

Our town was one of the first town’s in the state to ban the single use plastic bags at stores.  They encourage you to bring your own bags.  If you don’t bring your own, they will give you a paper bag.  I personally keep my reusable bags in the back seat of my car, so that they are always available and with me.  Also, when buying one single item, we skip the bag and take the item without a bag.

 

 

In addition, we have been reducing our single consumption items in favor of reusable ones.  We are eliminating the plastic in our lives.  We have switched from plastic bags to reusable silicone bags and from plastic containers to glass jars (mason jars are a great inexpensive alternative).  We try not to purchase items in plastic instead looking for alternatives.

We now make our own cleaners in reusable glass jars – no more single use bottles from the store.  You can believe how inexpensive it is to make your own (besides not having a single use container to toss).  Baking soda, vinegar and essential oils can clean just about everything for a fraction of the cost of store bought cleaners.

We have eliminated the private trash collection service from our home and now take our own trash to the transfer station – we our down to one bag of trash per week.  This eliminated a $100 a month bill!  I love saving money.

Share with me what reusable things you do.

 

 

 

 

Time To Order Your Second Credit Report Of The Year

For your 2nd report of the year, use Equifax

Hello, it’s Jill again, reminding you to get your finances in order so you can relax this summer.

 

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 for free!

To Learn More, Visit www.AnnualCreditReport.com:

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

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 relaxing and successful summer!

 

Take Time For Fun In Your Life

We were away and now back and ready to go.  Yes, we took another cruise to the Caribbean on the Celebrity’s Equinox.

We had perfect weather 85 and sunny everyday.  We did lots of fun things  – relaxing at the pool, watching shows, comedians an magicians.  Here are some photos of our day on Sapphire Beach, St Thomas, breakfast on our balcony, our glass blowing experience and more.

 

 

 

You Can’t Have My Information

There are so many ways that scammers can get your information.  It’s getting harder and harder to stay under their radar.

Personally, we request do a lot to be off lists:

  • Mailing List – we opt out of catalogues and unwanted mail.  We shred a lot – most information with our name and address.
  • Phone – we are on the Do Not Call list and we subscribe to NoMoRobo.
  • Contests / Warranties – we don’t do this either. For warranties, we keep the receipt of purchase with the information in case it’s needed in the future.

We were very careful and put minimal information in the newspaper with the last death notice, we were responsible for.  We give serious thought to what is posted in social media.

This is a constant effort that needs daily attention.

Do you want to know ways scammers get your information?  They can get it through your trash, through your incoming / outgoing mail, over hear you on the phone and so much more.  There are ways you probably don’t even realize.  Here’s an article from AARP 7 Ways Scammers Get Your Information.

 

Tax Day Is Here!

Yes, today is April 15! With that it’s tax day for us here is the US. 

If you haven’t already today is the day to pay your taxes.  We file early ever year, but always wait to pay or taxes until today.

Filing early is one of the steps to help eliminate tax scams.  You don’t want someone filing your taxes before you do!  So we file early.  On the other side, I don’t want to give my money to the government ahead of time.  I want it to earn interest until the last possible day.  So when we file, our ta preparer has the state or federal government automatically take the payment on April 15.  I want to hold on to our money, but I don’t want to be late either.

Getting a refund means you are loaning your money to the government and NOT earning interest or use of the funds.  Now, we plan ahead to have the money ready to pay when it’s due.

If you owe, make you payment today!

Packing Light

We don’t want to pay the checked baggage fee with the airlines, so we try to pack in a carry on. 

If I can do it, you can to.  Here are some tips on how we pack light:

  • Pick a color theme – I pick three colors (two neutrals and a color) so that I can mix and match outfits.
  • Make items do double duty – a pair of sandals can go to the pool and dinner.
  • Wear you bulkiest clothing – think sweater / coat / sweatshirt vs. packing it.
  • Consider packing less clothes and doing laundry mid way through the vacation.
  • Think multiple use items – your phone or tablet can be your camera, e-reader and still be able to check your email vs. all single use items / electronics.

So I wear my sneakers and sweatshirt.  We bring a pack a clothesline, clothes pins and laundry detergent to do laundry.  My tablet eliminates my need for a camera, book / magazines.  I wear my sandals to the pool and then use them in the evening for dinner )shoes take up a lot of room in the suitcase).  My pool / beach cover up can be used a as sundresses for dinner.  It takes a little organization, but works for me.

Every little thing you can eliminate from your luggage will lessen what you hvae to take and in turn you will have less luggage and avoid luggage fees.  One carry on can easily do a week of vacation for me.

Changes Coming To Travel

Thinking about traveling?  It’s always on my mind.

Here are some things that you need to know for future plans.

If you are planning on traveling by plane within the US, you may need to upgrade your driver’s license.  By October 1, 2020, you will need more than just your driver’s license for identification.  You will need an enhanced driver’s license.  It’s easy to do, I did this 4 years ago and it was simple.  When I renewed my driver’s license, I just brought additional paperwork with me and I was all set.  I now have a gold color star in the upper right corner of my license indicating that it’s an enhanced driver’s license.  Here’s more information.  If you have a passport this will work instead.

Are you planning on traveling to Europe?  Right now US citizens can visit most of Europe for 90 days or less without a Visa.  Well that’s changing.   Starting July 1, 2021, European travel will require approval from the European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS).  This is for enhanced security requirements.  Apparently, you can use this authorization multiple time during a three year period.  Here’s more information.

Happy traveling!

Spring Cleaning And Changes

To my subscribers, starting with this weeks issue of my newsletter, Money Choices it will now be coming from jill@jillrussofoster.com

As you know, I have been cleaning up and streaming-lining things in my life.  And this is one of the changes happening.

Shortly, I will be eliminating the email address book@jillrussofoster.com.  Please make a note of this updated email if you want to reach out to me and make sure you have whitelisted jill@jillrussofoster.com so that you don’t miss out on anything.

What Can You Do With $20.00

In honor of Money Smart Week, let’s talk about cash. Do you have enough?  Are you living paycheck to paycheck? My philosophy about money is that is comes down to make choices that are right for you at this particular time of you life.  Let’s start with $20.00 cash.  What would you do?

A $20.00 may not seem to be a lot of money, but it can be.  If I gave you $20.00 bill, what would you do with it?

You could:

  1.  Deposit it to your bank account or open a bank account
  2.  Buy something
  3.  Give it to help someone or a charity to help others
  4.  Have fun by brightening your day

I bet you can think of more choices.  Your choices are unlimited.  But instead of think about one thing to do, how about thinking about multiple things to do.  You might be thinking that $20.00 is too little to do anything with, trust me it’s not.

What will $20.00 buy you:

  1.  Movie ticket and possibly popcorn too
  2.  Flowers for you or to give away
  3.  Picnic lunch on a nice spring day
  4.  Pay extra on a bill
  5.  Can of paint to refresh a room

My suggestion is to think about money is multiples.  In this case, it’s not $20.00 maybe it’s 2 $10.00 bills or 4 $5.00 bills.  Now what can you do with that?  Now you can select multiple things on your list.  Your choices are unlimited.  Instead of thinking it’s only $20, think 12 months ahead – that would be $240.  What could you do with that?

Finding extra money (no matter how small) can be put to good use.  The choice is yours – do you use it today or save it for tomorrow?

 

Are You Ready For the Next Disaster?

It seems like every time I see the news, there is another weather disaster.  From hurricane damage that takes years to rebuild, to flooding that wipes out cities, to fires destroying whole towns, how can you prepare?

For starter, there is a website from the government that is step 1 in helping you plan and be proactive for possible disaster that might happen in your area.  Visit ready.gov for more information and tips to get your plan in order.

Now that you have planned ahead as best as you can, what about your health in these situations?  Did you think about what you need in addition to your medicines?  Anthem Health put together a great resource to help you plan ahead to protect your health needs.

Don’t for get your financial paperwork, if you home is in danger.  You need to think about original paperwork that is difficult to replace – car titles, insurance policies, wills / power of attorney and so much more.  We have all our important original paper work in one holder, that we can grab and go.  As a back up, everything is scanned, so we would grab our computer / hard drive as we left our home.  Don’t forget family treasurer.   You see people combing the remains looking for family items that are irreplaceable.   Have those ready too!

Planning ahead / being proactive with a plan that works for you in your situation, will help you in case of an emergency.  Here’s hoping we never actually have to use it.