Jill Russo Foster

Tips for Successful Personal Finances

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It’s time to order your report

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It’s January 2014 –
Time to Order Your First Credit Report of the Year
This month use Experian

Hello, it’s Jill again, reminding you to get your finances in order for the New Year by checking your credit report.

How to Order Your Credit Report

Order your credit report from www.AnnualCreditReport.com – the ONLY authorized source your no-cost annual credit report that’s yours by law.  Learn more.

When ordering online – 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 Experian.

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

It doesn’t matter how you get your report, the most important thing is that you do! Then…

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

Were you hoping to get your credit score instead? Try CreditKarma.com. CreditKarma does not supply a FICO score, but it does provide scores from TransUnion and VantageScore. And, there’s no charge for you. CreditKarma funds their service through website advertising.

May you have a wonderful and successful year!

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P.S. I’ll send you another reminder in May and September to help you stay up-to-date on your credit throughout the year.

The Worst Things You Can Do With Your Money

This is my personal top five list of the worst things you can do with your money

no-11.  Pay ATM fees (or for that matter, any bank fees) – There are banks out there that won’t charge you just for the privilege of having a checking account. You shouldn’t be paying a monthly maintenance fee or ATM fees.  Ask your banker how to eliminate the fees. If they can’t, or won’t, move your money to a better bank.

no2.  Pay interest or finance charges on credit cards – Paying interest or finance charges is a complete waste of perfectly good money.  It might have been a great deal when you swiped your card, but when you add interest, you’ll end up paying more than it was worth. If you currently have credit card debt, try moving it to a card that offers zero percent interest on transfers for the first 12-18 months. Once you are out of debt, pledge that you will not pay interest or finances charges ever again.

no-13.   Sign without reading the fine print – Never sign anything that you don’t read.  If you read it and don’t understand it, then ask questions or do your own research to understand it before going forward.  I speak with so many people who just signed an agreement thinking they got a great deal, and then were blindsided hidden fees and additional charges.  Were they really cheated? No, they just read the price in the big print, and not the details in the small print.

no4.  Pay for unused services (or things) – Are you paying a monthly fee for services you don’t use or could get for free?  If you’re actually using them, that’s fine. But if you not, you could use that money for something that will actually make you feel good.  I cancelled my magazine subscriptions because I wasn’t reading them.  If you pay a credit monitoring service, you can do this for free with very little time investment. Are you paying for online services instead of using the free version? If so, are you actually making the most of it?

no-15.  Duplicate Spending – Have you bought something at the store only to find out you already had one in the back of the closet?  That is duplicate spending.  You can resolve this by getting organized and getting rid of the clutter.  If you know where to find something, you can easily access it before you go out and buy a duplicate.

In the comments, let us know where you stopped wasting your money!

New Year’s Urge to Purge

New Years Day and winter go together where I live. It’s hard to get that “fresh start” feeling when the windows are sealed shut and the garden is dormant. If I lived in Australia, I might spend New Year’s Day planting seeds – instead, I find myself checking closets and drawers and getting the Urge to Purge.

Nothing says “last year” like unused things. Magazines, electronics, household goods… items that have been upgraded, replaced, tried but disliked, expired – these misfit goods find homes in cupboards and drawers all around my house – and probably yours, too.

I’m actually very good about keeping “stuff” to a minimum and my home clutter free. If an item is unusable, it only takes a second to throw it away. But… there are things that I just don’t want to toss; they may be useful to someone. How can I get it from my house to theirs without a lot of trouble?

It’s Easy to Give It Away, Sell or Donate:

  • Use CraigsList.org and FreeCycle.org. There’s no charge and you won’t have to ship your items. People will come pick them up. You can sell them or give them away. I have sold everything from toothbrush heads to a car.
  • Use local consignment stores. Consignment shops sell the item for you and take a percentage of the sale – but you keep ownership of the item. For example, you might agree to leave it there for 90 days, and they’ll take a 50% cut if it sells. If it doesn’t sell, you can take it back home and try to sell it another way. Others might offer to buy the item directly from you to resell themselves. You may be familiar with popular chain consignment stores, like Play It Again Sports and Once Upon a Child but most towns also have small mom & pop consignments that sell everything from clothes to appliances.
  • Donate items in good condition to an organization or charity. You can choose the usual places or find a local charity that serves a need that’s important to you.

We personally use some of the resources listed on my resource page.  We donated a laptop through the Cristina Foundation, we bring our used CFL light bulbs to Home Depot, our eye glasses to One Sight, and our old towels and sheets to the local animal shelter. We also used a trade in program when we needed a new printer – knowing that our old one would be recycled. These are just a few examples, it would take too long to list all the ways we pass on items that can be used or recycled.

Check out the resource page on my website for more suggestions. If you have any resources that you use that would help others, please let us know and we will add them to the list.

Get Ready for 2014 with Smart Goals

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What are your goals for 2014?  Let’s see if I can guess… is it one of these?

  • Get organized
  • Lose weight
  • Eat healthier
  • Exercise more
  • Save money
  • Get out of debt

Almost everyone wants something on this list. Why do we keep setting and forgetting the same goals every year if these are the basics of a healthy lifestyle? Let’s step back and talk about goals in general.

All goals should be S.M.A.R.T.

Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Reasonable
Timely.

Your goal to “Save more money” is smart, but it’s not S.M.A.R.T. With a general goal, you’ll never know how well you’re doing. “Saving more money” could mean adding an extra $1 to savings. It’s not going to do much for your budget in the long term.

But, if your goal is to “Save an extra $500 by the end of 2014”, that’s S.M.A.R.T.  You have a specific amount, it’s reasonable, you can track your progress and make adjustments to reach your time limit.

Back to 2014 goals – here are some resources that I use to make my goals a reality.

A Scanner

I’ve been tackling “getting organized” as a goal for a few years now, but I’ve been using the S.M.A.R.T. method, so I organized different items each year.

  • In 2012, I scanned all of our medical records.
  • For 2013, I scanned and saved all my recipes. My grandmother and mother, being great cooks, left me lots of family recipes. Plus, I had a cookbook collection, and lots of magazine and newspaper cutouts. So far, my scanned recipes have been a big plus in my life. They’re easy to find and share, my cupboards aren’t stuffed with paper, and we were able to donate 75% of my cookbooks.
  • For 2014, I am scanning all the family photos, slides and movies.  This is going to be a big project for me because I’ve become the archiver of family photos as relatives have passed away.  I have to admit that I have started a little early with my new all in one printer / fax / scanner.

Websites I’ve used to meet my goals

  • TripIt.com  is how I organize all of my travel plans in one place – airline confirmations, hotel and car reservations, tours etc.  All the information is in one place and easy to access. It’s as simple as forwarded the email receipt to Trip It and it appears on your itinerary.
  • For my goal of getting healthier (making better food choices, eating at home more and fitting in exercise), I use  LoseIt.com. It’s helped me with my 2013 goal of leading a balanced life and making more time for me.  Part of my goal was getting to know the feeds I eat so I can make better choices. LoseIt.com helped me to keep track of my food and to stay balanced (like watching the carbs to protein ratio).  The website and app lets you input a recipe and save it for future use.  There is a section for exercise too.

What are your tips and resources to help you achieve your 2014 goals?  We’d like to know what you do.

To really get your goals started for 2014, you can join my new Facebook group. It’s a month long class that will help you set realistic goals for the year ahead.

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A Facebook Group for Your Goals

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Join me for the month of January for Taking Charge of Your Finances. Many people want to have more in savings, to spend less, to pay down their debt, save for their children’s education, save for retirement, buy a home, and more. This will be your chance to connect with other like minded people, and get your New Year’s resolution off to a solid start.

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Learn more here

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A Facebook Group for Your Goals

click-here-to-join

Join me for the month of January for Taking Charge of Your Finances.  Many people want to have more in savings, to spend less, to pay down their debt, save for their children’s education, save for retirement, buy a home, and more. This will be your chance to connect with other like minded people, and get your New Year’s resolution off to a solid start.

completely-free

We will run the private group through Facebook.  You do need to have a Facebook account to join.  Simply click here -> www.facebook.com/groups/takecharge2014/ then click the Join Group button, and we’ll approve your membership.

You can participate in this group from the privacy of your home, and on your own schedule.  I’ll post questions and assignments for you, give you ideas and resources to use to help you succeed in your goals. In turn, you can share as much as you want about your goals and finances, so you can discuss your challenges and learn from one another. This is a closed group, which means your posts will only be visible to each other, and not to your Facebook friends.

Your first assignment

We’ll start out with you telling us what personal financial goals you want to achieve.  The goals can be short term (something that you want to complete in 2014) or a long term goal that needs your attention in 2014 if it’s going to continue over the years.

We will limit the group size so make sure you sign up today!

click-here-to-join

Jill Russo Foster

https://www.jillrussofoster.com/4625/

Getting Ready for Winter

As I write this post the temperature is 51°, the winds are howling and we are expecting 2 -3 inches of rain.  By tonight it will be in the 20’s.  Hard to believe that winter doesn’t officially start for another few weeks.

Here are some of the things that we do to our cars and homes before the winter weather sets in:

For the car

  • Check the tire pressure for safe winter driving
  • Replace old wiper blades. You want blades that work in snow, sleet and cold heavy rains
  • Have the battery checked. There is nothing worse than having a dead battery in the middle of winter.
  • Get the oil changed
  • Add dry gas to your tank the next time you fill up

For the home:

  • Make sure you have working smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors with new batteries
  • Have your heating systems checked and cleaned
  • Have your gutters and down spouts cleared after the leaves are down.
  • Have your trees trimmed, removing any limbs that might be dangerous.  Your insurance may cover fallen limbs but that won’t protect you from physical injury or power outages.
  • Have your roof examined before the snow builds up on it.
  • If you have a fireplace or wood burning stove, have your chimney cleaned.

Be prepared so you can stay safe for whatever the winter season brings.

Happy Thanksgiving (Plus! How to Carve a Turkey!)

We celebrated Thanksgiving with family early this year. Here’s our family photo. We are so thankful for each and every one of them!

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Here’s my Thanksgiving video greeting to you. Be sure to watch through to the end, if you’ve been struggling with carving that big roast turkey every year!

Stay safe and have a happy holiday!

Jill Russo Foster

New rules for stopping robocalls

When you get a robocall, should you…

  1. hang up right away
  2. follow the instructions for removing yourself from their call list
  3. try to get through to a real person, then shame them for calling when you’re on the “Do Not Call List”

Although “C” was tempting, I used to do “B” thinking that it was the most logical way to get the calls to stop. But the calls actually increased! How could that be?

It’s because some of these calls are from fraudulent companies who have no interest in following FTC regulations.

Like many of you, we’re on the Do Not Call Registry. (If you’re not, do this today at DoNotCall.gov.)  It stops most unsolicited calls. The calls we do receive are from scammers like “Rachel from cardholder services” and the new “Life Alert” phishing scam.

While it does help to report these calls to DoNotCall.gov, you should know that some originate from outside the US, which makes it difficult for the FTC to prosecute them. It doesn’t help to try to remove your number from their call lists, because they don’t actually have a list. They’re just dialing random numbers hoping to get a live line. In fact, any interaction on your part could actually put you on a call list!

If you want to keep track of calls that violate FTC regulations, you can put in a formal complaint on the Do Not Call website or by calling 888-382-1222. We’ve started to do this. In fact, I did this yesterday as I received a robocall on my cell phone – which is against FTC regulations in every state no matter the circumstances.

Calls you shouldn’t report to DoNotCall.gov

  • Political  campaigns
  • Charities
  • Companies that you do business with

Unless they’ve called your cell phone, it’s perfectly legal for companies to call you for these purposes. If you report them, you’re just wasting the FTC’s time, which is unfortunate around election time and the holidays.

While doing the research for this post, I came across some interesting tips for stopping the calls.  Some people are suggesting starting your voicemail message with the three tones you hear when you call a disconnected number. Do you think the robocallers have programmed their systems to ignore disconnected phone numbers? I’m not so sure, but it’s a fun idea.

Let me know what you are doing to eliminate unwanted phone calls from your life.

Boo! It’s Time to Plan for Holiday Spending

The gift-giving holidays are around the corner. If you don’t believe me, go buy some Halloween supplies. You’ll have to walk around Christmas decorations to get to the costume aisle. My warehouse club had Christmas decorations on Labor Day weekend. That’s way too early, even for me.

Depending on which holiday you celebrate, you have about a month for Chanukah and about two months before Christmas.  Where does the time go? It seems that we were just talking about planning your summer vacations.

Don’t panic. You still have time to tackle your to-do list so you can stay within your budget.

Here are my suggestions to keep the holidays bright on a budget:

1. Make a list. Write down all the names of the all people you want to give gifts to.  This includes family, friends, coworkers, teachers, service people (baby sitters, hair dressers, delivery people, etc.). Then, don’t forget the additional expenses that happen at the holidays: special entertainment events, parties, and travel.

2. Set your budget limit. This is how much you can afford to spend without having credit card debit in January.

3. Put dollar amounts next to each person and event on your list.  Don’t forget to include shipping and travel costs. Also, add in the hostess gifts and food for the events you participate in. Those should be part of the budget, too.

4. Compare your budget limit and your list.  How is that working? Do you have more people than your budget allows?  If so, go back and make adjustments. You don’t have to leave people out – think of fun alternatives, instead. Can you do a family gift, a gift-less potluck, or a name-draw gift exchange? You want to be able to afford the holidays and enjoy them.  You do NOT want to spend more than you can afford. There’s nothing worse than greeting the New Year with January credit card debt.

5. Start shopping. Comparison shopping is by far the best way to shop. Know what you want to buy, do your research and don’t stray from your list. Compare retail and online for the best deal, but, don’t forget the after-sale deals. You should watch for rebates and make sure the store will give you a refund if you purchase something before it goes on sale (within a reasonable time period).  Keep those receipts handy.

6.  Buy hot items early. These are gifts that are guaranteed to go out-of-stock because every child (and some adults) think they have to have it. It might be a video game or console, or a new kind of toy. Whatever it is, if it’s important to your gift plans, don’t wait.

Remember that planning ahead and taking your time will help your stress level. Pace yourself, and follow your list, so you can relax and enjoy your special time with family and friends.

 

Financial Housework: Deciding What to Clean First

Have I ever had credit card debt? Yes! There have been times in my life when I haven’t been able pay my balance in full when the bill arrives.

Credit card debt is the enemy of a good budget, but life happens. Even the best budgeter can have unplanned expenses.

According to a recent study by Trans Union, the average US adult carries $4,878 in credit card debt. That doesn’t include zero percent balances. That means the average US adult owes almost $5,000 plus the additional interest.

If this is you, I want you to take a deep breath. Debt repayment is just financial housework. There’s nothing to be afraid of here.

Do you know what’s really scary? Having company due in 5 minutes when the bathrooms aren’t clean.  When that happens, do you lock the front door and pretend you’re not home? No! You walk into the bathroom and decide which part needs to be cleaned first (just in case you run out of time before the doorbell rings).

That’s right. I just compared paying off credit card debt to scrubbing the toilet. smiley-1  That’s because you want to use the same thought process with your credit cards. Some cards will need more attention than others, so you need to make a list of your debts which includes the interest rate and minimum payment amounts.

There are two methods to setting priorities on your credit cards.

Option 1: Pay the highest interest rate first. Your list will look something like this:

Priority Interest
Rate		 Minimum
Payment		 Current
Balance
Card #1 19% $100 $5,025
Card #2 15% $47 $2,141
Card #3 11% $177 $9,056

This is the best option if you want to save money. Using the example above, you pay as much as your budget will allow on card #1, and only the minimum on cards #2 and #3. When #1 is paid off, you make card #2 the highest priority. Rinse and repeat until all cards are paid in full. When you pay the highest interest rate first, you pay less overall.

Option 2. Pay the smallest debt first.  Your list will look something like this.

Priority Interest
Rate		 Minimum
Payment		 Current
Balance
Card #1 15% $47 $2,141
Card #2 19% $100 $5,025
Card #3 11% $177 $9,056

This option is good if you need to see results to stay motivated. Receiving a bill with $0 due is really satisfying. A positive emotional boost can really keep the momentum going. You can compare it to housework, dieting, or exercise. We like to see improvements.

Bottom line: You have chosen to get out of debt (your goal) and the actions that will get you there (your plan).  You’ll know the best option for you and your family, and you can change tactics whenever you want as long as you’re moving forward.

Let us know which option you choose and how you are doing.