Jill Russo Foster

Tips for Successful Personal Finances

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Are You Paying Too Much?

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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

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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.

Budgeting By The Numbers

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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.

 

Teens and Money

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Last week was amazing!  I had the privilege of working with 6 great high schools students in a 5 day workshop.  Listening and learning what they think and want to know about money, credit cards, borrowing, paying for college and so much more.  Thank you, Norwalk Community College for this opportunity.  If you missed this, I will do this again next summer.

Here is what some of the teens had to say:

“I learned alot about budgeting and finances”

” Good course very helpful”

“Learned about of new stuff and it was fun”

What do you teens know about money and finances?

Make Your Money Grow

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Do you have the best bank / credit union accounts?   How can you tell which is best for you?

For your bank / credit union account, you want to earn the highest interest rate (paid to you) with no (or the lowest) fees.  Start by looking at what you currently have – how much are you earning and paying?  Once you know this information, you have a starting point.  Now compare that with what other’s offer.  Can you do better?  Don’t forget while looking compare both local, out of state and virtual banks / credit unions.  What would you have to do to eliminate all fees?

Keep in mind, that the bank and/or credit union you are looking at must (non negotiable) be FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.) for a bank or savings and loan.  Credit Unions are insurance through NCUA (National Credit Union Administration).  This protects your money up to $250,000.  Once you confirm this, then look at how you earn interest and what fees are involved before making your choice.

Personally, we bank both locally and virtually.  We earn interest on both our checking and savings accounts with no fees and do NOT have to carry a large balance in the account to do this.  So if we can do this, you can too.

Other quick tips, that may help you:

  • Don’t link your savings account to your ATM / Debit card
  • Set up automatic savings deposits with each and every paycheck (pay yourself first).

Remember, that every penny your earn or save is more money in your pocket.  Those pennies add up.

 

Ready To Make A Big Purchase

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We recently purchased a replacement car.  We bought my 1995 Jeep in September 1994 and we felt it  was time to get another car.

Here are the steps we took before making the purchase:

  • Started to look at cars to determine what manufacturer and model we were interested in (looking a pricing)
  • Reviewed our finances – how much can we put down as a down payment, how much can we afford as a monthly payment, etc?
  • Reviewed our credit to make sure all is well
  • Looked at car loan interest rates from several sources to determine rates and terms
  • Unfroze it to make it accessible to the lender for a car loan

All this took place over about a four month time frame.  Once we determined what car – brand and model, we did our online research for deals (the model and miles).  We wanted to be ready to move as soon as we found the car we wanted.  It had been a long time since we purchased a car, so we weren’t sure what we wanted in an SUV and we were open to most car manufacturers.  This made the search process long, but I knew when we found what we wanted we would be ready.

And it happened a couple of weeks ago, we found the perfect SUV for me.  A couple of years old (2016) with hardly any miles (less than 4,000), certified pre-owned and an extended warranty.  That was the car for me. Saw it on a Thursday and make the decision on Friday – all our preparation made us ready to go.  We picked up the car the following week.

Life Without Chemicals Or Harmful Additives

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I am on a mission to remove hazardous chemicals from our lives.  There are so many that appear in our lives without even thinking about it.  There are additives in our foods.  There are chemicals in our cleaners in our personal care items and food.  This is too much for me and we are changing how we buy things.  Reading the labels for ingredients.  Yes, it takes time, but my health is more important.

I buy organic foods and do a lot of cooking myself versus buying prepared foods.  I grew up with a family that lived farm to table lifestyle with a garden in the back yard for some awesome vegetables.  I still garden to this day. in fact, we just planted this years garden.  There is nothing better to me than picking lettuce and making a salad or picking a vegetable for a meal based on what’s ready to pick.  You can’t beat the freshness or the taste without any additives or chemicals.

In addition, we have been eliminating chemicals in our home too.  All those chemicals in the cleaners we used to use.  Not to mention the chemicals in our personal care products. Ugh!  We use products such as vinegar, baking soda and essential oils to clean and sanitize our home.  Young Living’s Thieves is what we use for laundry, dishes / dish washer / household cleaner and more.

When is the last time that you read the label on a product you regularly use in your household? Take one out now and see what’s in it.  It might shock you.

We are putting our money towards better options.  For more information check out these websites:

  • Environmental Working Group for a list of the dirty dozen and clean 15 fruits and vegetables.  Also, they have a list of skin care products with ratings to help you choose.
  • Food Babe – great information about what is in the food that we eat – it’s shocking.
  • Young Living – for non toxic cleaning and personal care products included the Thieves products in the photo*
  • Center for Food Safety – working to keep our food / environment safer

Once you read the labels, you will be shocked at what is in these products.  For me, it means making my own healthy versions for our home.  For example, condiments – we make our own from scratch.  I couldn’t find mayonnaise or salad dressing without partially hydrogenated oils and added sugar. Yes, it takes time, but my health is more important.

We are not perfect, but we are eliminating and replacing one product at a time.  It’s a journey and it will take time, but it’s one step at a time to a healthier lifestyle.

* We may receive a percentage of the purchase price if you chose to buy the linked products. There is no difference in price to you.

Off Season Shopping

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Now is the time to shop for your winter items – no, it’s not a typo.

You can get great deals on off season items now.  Think snowblowers, coats, heavy clothing, and so much more.

I saw a ski jacket I liked this winter. It was $200 – more than I wanted to spend.  I kept an eye on it.  In March it was reduced to $80 – not bad but I was hoping for more of a discount.  Well in May it was down to $60.  I was able to save $140 and get the coat I wanted for next season.  It pays to shop off season.  In addition, I will watch the price.  If it goes down more in the next 30 days, I will bring it back for a price adjustment for the difference.

This is just one example of shopping off season.  What are you thinking of buying?