Jill Russo Foster

Tips for Successful Personal Finances

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What Can You Do With $20.00

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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?

 

Cutting The Cord – Step 2

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For those of you who have been following this newsletter – Cutting the Cord – here is our last step.  If you missed – Cutting the Cord – Step 1, please read this first.

The home phone number is ported!  The actual process was supposed to take 3 to 4 weeks.  So I started the process thinking I had time to set up the new actual device. Well surprise – I didn’t.  I started the porting process on a Friday afternoon and the number ported by Monday afternoon (2 business days)!.  So that was great because it was fast.  It was bad because it wasn’t easy to set up the new device.  I’ll be honest with you, currently it’s set up wired. I haven’t been able to connect the wireless  setting to this date.  But the phones and voicemail work!

So our next step was the TV’s.  Over the years, we had reduce our TV package / channels down to basic so there wasn’t anymore we could do to reduce our bill.  In honesty, we already had some alternative TV options in the house so my husband can watch live sports.  This past weekend, I did some exploring with our TV options.  I added and set up the major networks apps for streaming live TV and on demand.  We installed an app recommended by our alternative TV sources for all local over the air channels and set that up (that is a minimal cost as they suggest a $5/ month donation).

Called the TV provider to discuss the cost of internet only (vs. the triple play).  I wasn’t happy with that call.  I was told that we wouldn’t be keeping the current price for that portion of the bill, because we were dropping the triple play.  It would go up by $15/month.  I knew there would be alternatives to this service and I was on a mission to find them.

First, we disconnect the bedroom TV from the cable TV and re-set up the TV and all worked fine.  The next day, on to the living room TV.  Got that TV disconnected and re-set up. That was a little more challenging as this one had more components involved, but we did it.  All is working without cable box!

Next, we called the TV provider to disconnect the phone and TV service.  Again, I was told the internet only was going to go up by $15.00.  Not what I wanted to hear.  After a lengthy conversation, I was transferred to another department and there I got to a great helpful person.  I explained our situation – how long we had been a customer, the original TV package we started with and all the down grades over the years.

Bottom line, is that we did get the internet service (same speed) for the price that we were paying for the triple play.  And, they gave us the basic cable with the box and remote for no additional change.  Yes, we did go through a lot of set up to configure the TV’s without cable and then back to be with cable, but now with a savings of over 45% per month.  When the price goes up, we will be ready to fully cut the cord.

 

Cutting The Cord – Step 1

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I don’t know about you, but our TV, internet and phone bill keeps going up, regardless if you have negotiated with them or not.  I don’t want to keep playing the game of switching companies for a new triple play package each and every year.  I’m done with this!

So we have taken step one in the process of cutting the cord.  We just purchased a device to have our same home phone for a fraction of the cost.  We are in the process of having our number ported over over the next couple of weeks. It will be a minimum monthly cost for taxes and fees – about $5.00 per month versus $35.00 – that’s a big savings to us.

Once that is up and running, it will be time to cut the TV service.  No need to keep paying for channels that we don’t watch.  Over the years, we have reduced the number of channels and are currently just subscribing to basic, but it all adds up.  So there wasn’t anymore to cut out.

Keep reading for the rest of journey on cutting the cord.

What We Spend Money On

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Last week I wrote about what we don’t spend money on.  Some of it may have surprise you.  But we don’t live by candle light and never go anywhere.  Today, I’ll share with you what is important to us and what we spend our money on.

Yes, we spend money on food – good food – healthy food – organic, free range, pasture raised food like our parents purchased.  We make most of our foods from scratch and have home cooked meals most nights and bring our lunches to work.  We rarely buy processed and prepared foods.  Once the weather starts to warm up, I start my vegetable garden.  It’s another way to have fresh food at a fraction of the cost. This is where we spend money.  I like to think of this as back to basics.  The same is true for our home.  We clean with home made cleaners, made up of vinegar, baking soda, essential oils and water.

We also travel.  We save most of the year to travel – sometimes local sometimes far.  But we do this on a budget and look for ways to save with deals, points, miles and rewards. We are in the process of planning a trip for 2020 right now. It may seem far away, but to get the lowest prices you sometimes have to plan the travel when it becomes available.  You may be aware of this with airfares that prices go up and up, the same is true for other travel plans.

What do you spend money on?

First Together Then Apart – Now What?

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In our last issue, we discussed whether you should blend your finances when you get into a relationship. Money will be your biggest source of friction, and having boundaries doesn’t hurt. I listed some of the different financial relationships couples choose. There are different options besides “What’s mine is mine and never ‘ours’ or “It’s all or nothing or I’m out of here.”

Sometimes your best efforts to create a life together fail, and the relationship ends. Today, we’ll discuss how to unblend your finances. Whether you decided to share all of your accounts, or only share expenses, you should separate your finances as soon as possible, because you can be sure that someone’s name is on the wrong paperwork.

Take a look at your…

  • Rent or Mortgage: Who is on the lease agreement or mortgage? It should be the one who actually lives there. Ignore that piece of wisdom and risk having your home sold out from under you.  Your name shouldn’t be on there if you don’t live there.
  • Utilities, cable, and cell phone: Whose name is on the accounts? They should be in the name of the person using them. If you don’t transfer ownership, you could have your utilities cut off without notice or worse yet – have collection accounts on your credit that you didn’t even know about.
  • Insurance: This includes car, apartment, home, life, and medical. You don’t want to be without insurance, and you don’t want your money going to the wrong person if you don’t update your beneficiaries.
  • Credit cards and loans: Do you want to have your credit affected by charges that aren’t yours, or be forced to make payments on a car you don’t use?

“But Jill,” you say, “these all sound like things that happen in a hostile breakup. We’re not like that.”  Even if your breakup is friendly, and your ex is as trustworthy and competent as a super hero’s alter ego, you still need to separate your accounts to protect yourself in case something happens to one of you. If one of you dies, remarries, or is mentally incapacitated, the law won’t recognize verbal agreements or promises. They only see whose name is on a piece of paper.

Let’s talk about verbal agreements. Let’s say the house and car loan are in your name, but you want to be nice. You don’t need them, and your ex does. Your ex has agreed to make payments, so it’s no big deal, right?

Wrong. Your credit will take a hit with the first missed, or late, payment. And, you may not be able to get a new car or house for yourself because your debt to income ratio is too high. The bank won’t take verbal agreements or divorce decrees with your ex into consideration when you apply for your loan.

Here’s something else to think about: Can you maintain your current lifestyle if you live separately?

If you end up with the house or the car, can you afford the payments? Can you pay for the utilities, the maintenance and the insurance? You may have to make tough decisions, because you could be without the things you need to live if you don’t plan ahead.

Too many people have  found themselves temporarily homeless, or had their credit ruined, or worse bankruptcy after a breakup. Don’t let this happen to you.

Love and Money

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In honor of Valentine’s Day, let’s talk about relationships and finances.  When you get to that point in a relationship where you are discussing finances, what should you do?  Should you have joint accounts or separate – you get to choose?  Here is some of the thought process for both:

First of all, you may choose not to blend your finances at all. Many couples keep separate accounts and actually have happier and more successful partnerships because there are fewer arguments about who spent money on what and who overdrew the bank account. Others choose to handle their money and debts together, and they do just fine. The choice is yours.

Look at your habits and goals when you consider whether to combine your accounts or keep them separate:

  • How does each of you handle savings and debt repayment? Do you have similar philosophies, or are your bank balances mirror opposites, with one carrying a large debt balance and the other carrying a large savings balance?
  • Do you have the same financial goals? Or, is one of you saving mainly towards retirement, while the other wants to save for amazing vacations and a nice car.
  • Does one, or both, of you have any issues that you would bring into a blended financial arrangement? For example, are there any debts that are currently in collections or that were charged off; bankruptcy; judgments; wage garnishments; or tax liens?

Some people find this subject to be a touchy one.  But, keeping separate accounts isn’t about holding out, or being less in love. Sometimes, it’s about protecting each other and making decisions that will carry you furthest towards your mutual goals.

If You Have Separate Accounts, How Do You Split Expenses?

Most people assume 50/50, but there are other options. You could choose different percentages based on incomes, family size, habits and hobbies. For example, if you have shared custody of your 3 kids with a former partner, then you might pay a higher percentage of the food bill. If your hobby raises the electric bill (gaming, fish tanks, etc.), then you might pay a higher percentage of the utilities. You don’t have to use percentages – you can divide up the bills, where one of you pays for this expense and the other pays for that expense. The choices are as varied as the couples who make them.

The bottom line is that you need to make informed choices that are right for you individually and as a couple. Money is the biggest source of friction in relationships. Have the conversation before you get married or move in together, so you know what to expect ahead of time. If you’re already living together, it’s not too late to make changes.  Remember that this isn’t set in stone.  Life changes and so do your finances, so revisit them on a regular basis and make the necessary changes for what is going on in your life now.

Finances and Money

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Finance and money is more than paying your bills on time.  Yes, this is extremely important – paying bills late may effect your credit and can cost you money with late fees / finance charges.  But there is more getting your finances organized.  Do you have the money to pay your bills each and every month?  You will want to have money for today and for the future.  Do you have goals you want to achieve?

There are many ways to deal with your finances and money and you have to find the plan that works for you.

The major parts of finances and money:

Determine your goals – what do you want in life?  Maybe a short term goal is having your month last all the way to the end of the month, or to be able to pay all bills in fulls each and every month.  What about long term goals?  How about saving for …. (insert goal such as paying for college, a car, home, vacation) all the way to financial independence.

Action plan – how are you going to achieve your goals?  Break this down into action steps, using the smart goal formula.  What is the first step you need to do to start down this financial road?  Maybe it’s starting to save … (insert amount every pay period).

Budgeting – now’s the time to put your money on the table.  How much money do you need to achieve your goals?  Start by tracking your net income and your expenses (every penny) to see where you stand.  Don’t think your have money to save, then you need to make changes to reduce your expenses and/or increase your income.  Remember that making a budget is not a one time thing, your are making a budget, review and sticking to it.

Savings money – break it down into manageable amounts and be realistic.  Your not going to be able to save $1,000 in a month, but your could start out by planning to save $20 or more per paycheck.  Automating your saving is the easiest and best way to stick with this goal – paying yourself first before you paying anything else.

Paying down debt – we all know that the finance / interest charges are the enemy of your budget.  This is money that could be used in other ways.  Don’t stick you head in the sand, we have all been there at one point or another.  Make a plan to payoff your debt – avalanche or snowball methods are way to start.

Take some time and take a look at your finances and start to deal with your finances and money to get on a path to achieve your goals.

This is very simplified and not all plans work for everyone.  Take the time to modify or find a plan that works for you and your finances.

If you want more information, please visit my website for my upcoming workshops.

 

The Importance of An Emergency Fund

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I am rerunning a post from 2016 that has been really relevant to us so far this year (and the last week of last year too).  We had three events between the holidays and now, that we are so grateful for our emergency fund.  It saved us again!

We woke up on a Sunday morning to no heat or hot water.  If that wasn’t bad enough, our plumber was away for the weekend.  The installer of the system was attending a football game was wasn’t available.  Luckily, we found a temporary solution.  That was great because the part took two weeks to come in (as it was back ordered).  Next, I was driving home on the highway and I had car trouble.  Help came quick and it was a minor repair.  Lastly, the furnace began dripping and another call for service.  All in all, this could have been a really expenses month on top of our regular bills.  We were fortunate enough to have an emergency fund to rely on when needed.

In praise of emergency funds! I can’t say enough about having an emergency fund to use in times of an emergency, as well as having the protection of insurance. We had a big life emergency this time, and it could have been much worse.

While Dave and I were out of the house for about an hour and a half, an emergency struck our house. A feeder line for the toilet broke and we came back to a small geyser. Not only was the bathroom flooded, the water flowed into the master bedroom and then down into the basement. Ugh! You can imagine the damage this has caused. But it could have been much worse.

So this is how our afternoon went:

* Shut off the water – we had individual shutoffs installed all over the house
* Next the clean-up began – towels, wet vacuums and more
* Contacted the insurance company to file a claim. This is the first homeowners claim we ever filed.
* Started the removal of the damaged stuff, and this was hard without Dave being able to move things.
* The insurance company sent out Service Master to remediate the damage. They moved the heavy furniture, installed the industrial fans and dehumidifiers to lessen the damage
* Next day we had to replace the modem, as we lost phone and internet service. It’s difficult to make multiple calls with only a cell phone.
* The drying out stage lasted for days. It included the carpets, hardwood floors, ceramic tiles, sheet rock, furniture and that’s only the big stuff!

Now we are at the rebuilding stage, with the contractors giving us estimates for replacing floors, hard wood and tile, sheet rocking the portion of the walls that were cut away with water damage, painting of rooms, replacing furniture and items that were damaged and more.

Living in a disorganized home as two rooms of furniture and personal items had to be moved out of the rooms and the basement, made our home somewhat of an obstacle course for quite a few weeks. Hopefully by the holidays, we can be back to our organized house.

Get Organized

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January is National Get Organized month.

What are you doing to get yourself and your space organized?

In my book, Thrive In Five:Take Charge of Your Finances In 5 Minutes A Day, January is the month to organize your bills.  Now that the holidays are over, actually open up your bills and look at the bill details, don’t just pay them.  Take the time to review them to see if it’s correct.  Take the time to see if you can do something to save money, Take the time to see what competitors are charging – maybe it’s time to switch or negotiate.  If you want to follow along, my book gives you action steps for each day of the month, so that this isn’t an overwhelming task.

We review our bills in our household each year and it never ceases to amaze me how much we can save.  We stick to my 5 minute a day theme, take an honest look at one bill.  We found that our gasoline credit card bill neglected to give us the $.06/gallon discount.  It’s not much, but it is still our money.  So we made a quick call and got the discount applied.  All this in less than 5 minutes.

And because it’s January and following along with National Get Organized month, we have set up our new filing system for 2019 bills.  Start the filing now as the year begins so that your don’t have paper piling up.  All papers are filed and ready if or when you may need them.

If you want to learn more about taking charge of your finances and would like to purchase a copy of my book, Thrive In Five:Take Charge of Your Finances In 5 Minutes A Day click here.

Double (Sometimes Triple) Savings

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If you are like me you love to save.  Getting something for less makes my day.  So imagine if you could save even more.  Well I have done great this holiday time.

I have shopped online and in person and saved both ways.  Just yesterday, I found the item I have been looking for with double the savings.  I have been looking for a great multi purpose day tote / carry on.  It has to do double duty to carry all my items as a carry on (needs to be sturdy and have pockets) and it has to double as a day tote for shore excursions (to handle all that’s needed on shore) and zip closed.  I have been searching and looking for months – at the outlets, at the famous tent sale last week and found it online this weekend.

I tell you this because I wanted this and I wanted it at a bargain.  First, it was on sale for 40% off, then the site offered free shipping and easy returns – a must.  Then I found an additional discount with Honey to make the saving even greater.

Another example, I purchased windshield wiper blades with a discount coupon at the auto parts store.  They installed them for free which is also great.  I came home a found a rebate offer on the purchase of two blades and immediately completed the online rebate. I do this online so that I can keep track of the rebate status.

Yes, I do this with most of my shopping year round.  Double and sometimes triple savings with coupons, cash back /rebate offers and credit card rewards all add up to savings.  How are you saving with your shopping this holiday season?