I Want To Hear From You

I have been writing for years to bring you important personal finances information that I think you should know about. I want to turn the tables and ask you what you want to know about. Here are some suggestions and another section to add more.

Personal Finances

Budgeting

Reducing Expenses

Saving for Your Future

Teens and Money

Credit

Understanding How It Works

Improving Your Score

Debt

Loans and Mortgages

Other

___________________________

Tell me what you want to know about in the comments.

January Reset

For us, we look over our finances every January. Yes, we do this all the time, but this is the time we reassess everything. Here is what we do:

Auto / Home and Umbrella insurance – we checked to see that we are paying a competitive annual rate for all policies
We took our safe driving class to lower our auto insurance (This is something we do every three years)
TV / Internet – we did this in December. Our current provider increased our internet, so we switched to the competition and cut our bill in half
We set up automatic monthly payment from our checking account to lower our medical insurance premiums. Just switching from a credit / debit card to checking account, saved us money.
We are in the process of consolidating accounts. We transferred retirement accounts from past employers to one account.
We have started the process to update our wills, power of attorney, healthcare proxy and more. There is so much more with these with your digital footprint to consider.

These are some of the things we have done in previous years:

We eliminated our trash and recycling services, saving us $75/ month. It costs us $25 annually for the Town permit. Savings = $825.
We do our own yard work – lawn mowing and snow removal.

What are you doing in January with your finances?

What Are Your Hidden Money Leaks?

Do you ever seem to think, where is my money going? In 2025, we made lots of changes to our finances to reduce and/or eliminate expenses. According to a recent article from AARP, these hidden money leaks could be hazardous to your budget:

1, Automatically renewing your auto insurance: this is the next project for us. We are going to shop our home and auto insurance for better rates.

Putting your internet on auto pilot: we switched providers last month and reduced our internet bills by two thirds. Yes, having to make an appointment for installation was a pain, but we have a guaranteed rate for three years that works for us.
Paying for unused subscriptions
Overspending on entertainment: we cut the cord on the triple play package and eliminated our home phone and cable TV. We are able to watch movies from our local Library with an app called Hoople for free,
Overlooking bank fees: our bank accounts do not have any fees and neither should yours. We even earn interest on our checking account. We don’t pay a monthly fee and we don’t have to keep a certain amount to do that.
Paying high credit card annual fees
Leaving FSA funds behind: do you have an FSA (Flexible Spending Account)? If so, you have until the end of the year to use the funds to make purchases. If there is nothing you need to purchase, maybe stock up on over the counter medicines. You can also submit for reimbursement past expenses from the current year – copays, out of pocket costs, glasses / contact lens,
Letting gift cards go to waste: you need to use or sell them before you lose them – the value doesn’t get lost, but you may misplace them.

For the full article click here.

Cost Cutting Strategies to Plug Money Leaks

Oh No, The Holidays Are Coming!

The holidays are here, whether you are ready or not! 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 more sales days – Vlack Friday (That started early). Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, Giving / Travel Tuesday.

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.

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?

Entertaining

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

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?

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 2026 less stressful and not stressing over the credit card bills in January.

Two Checking Accounts

People always ask me why I have two checking accounts with different banks. This weekend was the best example of why I do this.

Yesterday while I was driving home, I received a text message. It was from my bank saying that my Uber Eats purchase was approved. I didn’t order from Uber Eats. So, was this a spam text message or was this legit? Once home, I signed into my account and found out it was legit. Ugh!

Now on a Sunday afternoon of a holiday weekend, I am on the phone with the fraud department shutting down my debit card and disputing the charges. The debit card was still in my possession, so it wasn’t lost or stolen, but it was compromised. I always tap when using my card, so as not to deal with skimmers.

Now I wait. No debit card until the new one arrives. The money in my account is not available currently while the disputes being are researched. If I only had one checking account, I would be in trouble with minimal access to my money. All will be ok soon.

This isn’t the first time this has happened and I am sure this won’t be the last. In the meantime, I have my second checking account to use. That is why I keep two checking accounts with two different banks.

Do you want your teen to learn about money and finances?

Register Your Teen for Teens and Money – register today!

Come and join me for Kids On Campus at Norwalk Community College (Norwalk, CT) this summer. I will be offering a workshop, Teens and Money: Teens Personal Finance for grades 9 to 12 for 1 week only – July 21 to 25, 2025 from 9 to 12. To register contact 203-857-7080.

Join me for Teens and Money in July

Register Your Teen for Teens and Money (only a few spaces left)

Register Your Teen for Teens and Money

Financial Literacy Month #30

Did you enjoy this month of tips? Congratulate yourself for taking the first step to improving and understanding your finances. This will put you on a path to achieving your goals. #JillRussoFoster #FinancialLiteracyMonth

Financial Literacy Month #29

This is a general rule about spending – 50/30/20 rule. 50 percent of your take home income should go towards your needs (such as food, housing, childcare, minimum debt repayment etc.), 30% towards your wants (dining out, travel, clothing, subscriptions, memberships) and the remaining 20% to your savings / debt repayment (emergency funds, retirement, additional payments towards debt). Nerd Wallet can tell you the amount for each category 50/30/20 Budget Calculator – NerdWallet. #JillRussoFoster #FinancialLiteracyMonth