Jill Russo Foster

Tips for Successful Personal Finances

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Spring is here!

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I can’t believe how fast this year is going!  Here in Connecticut, we had lots of snow over 25” in February alone (that’s a lot considering last year, we had one storm with about 3” for the entire winter).  March has been a roller coasterspring cleaning, we’ve had some warm days and some bitter cold days.  But spring is coming!

With spring, it makes me think of two things – cleaning and planning projects.  Cleaning is just a deeper cleaning – moving furniture to clean behind, washing windows, etc.  As for the planning projects, that’s more complicated.  As a homeowner, there is the annual maintenance you have do to – clean the yard, gutters and see what winter has done to your home that needs fixing.  For us, we take on a project or two each year.  Last year, was replacing the backyard fencing.  The year before, was replacing the roof.  Doing things proactively is easier for us and helps with the budget too.  What will this year’s project be?  We are still deciding.

What does spring mean to you?

Goodbye 2020, hello 2021!

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2020 was a year for the record books. This past year has brought many issues for many people, from job losses, reduced wages, not to mention healthcare issues.  If this past year didn’t convince you that you need an emergency fund, I am not sure what will.

For us personally, we have had job furloughs and reduced hours – therefore less income.  Luckily, we have an emergency savings to help us out.  In addition, we took on part time weekend jobs for additional income.  What about you, how are you surviving?

Our goal for 2021 is to get our finances back on track – replenishing our emergency savings and eliminating debt.  Fortunately, we are back at work and earning income (and we have kept the additional part time work).  So here is our plan:

  • We continue to automatically save a portion of each paycheck.
  • We have made a plan to pay down some debt we accumulated.

Notice that we are doing both at the same time.  Personally, I don’t believe that all your money should go to paying down your debt while not saving anything.  If you have an unexpected expense, then what will happen?  You will go into more debt.  That’s why I believe in doing both at the same time.

For us, we are using the snowball method to payoff the debt we have accumulated.  What is your plan to get back in track in 2021?

Your Financial Health

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Do you ever wonder how your financial pictures stacks up?  Are you on track to meet your goals?  What do you need to still do?  These and other questions are always on the many people’s minds.

I have discussed the importance of having an emergency savings, a budget to know where your money is going, great credit /score to have the best interest rates when you need to borrow and minimal high interest debt.  Check out some of my past emails for more information on these topics.

This is a great article Six Numbers Reveal the State of Your Financial Health. How well do your finances compare to these six areas?  All are important areas that should be goals for you to accomplish with your finances.

Decluttering Your Financial Records

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Since we have all been at home for months and doing things around the home, I thought I would rerun this appropriate newsletter about what you need to keep and toss for your financial records.

Here is what you can get rid of:

Paystubs – Do you have a stack of them?  You can get rid of last year’s because you have a W-2 that summarizes what you’ve earned.  Keep the W-2.  Make sure they match before shredding.

Bank Statements – If your bank gives you an annual summary or statement, then you can get rid of all the monthly or quarterly statements, but keep the annual summary / statement.

Tax Returns – Generally, you can get rid of tax returns that are seven years old or more (2013 and older) along with the supporting documentation.  However, you will want to check with your tax preparer if you:

  • bought, sold, and/or own a home
  • hold certain investments
  • received certain gifts
  • have any other special circumstance that requires you to keep related paperwork indefinitely.

In other words, check with your tax preparer before shredding your returns.

An alternative to paper files

Keeping your records on your computer is a great alternative to paper files. We had a lot of paper clutter hanging around, so I started the process of scanning my records as pdfs.  If you need a piece of documentation, it’s much easier to locate and open a single pdf than it is to search through a big, cluttered file full of paper. The best part is, that you don’t have to refile the pdf after you’re done looking at it. It’s also easier to fax or email a pdf if needed. Think of all the times you’ve needed to share information about insurances, taxes or rebates. Computer files are great to work with.  Remember to keep a back up of your files.  You wouldn’t want to lose them if your computer crashes.

Make sure to shred

Remember when I say “get rid of”, I mean for you to shred each and every document that has your personal information on it before throwing it away.  You don’t want to offer dumpster divers an opportunity to steal your identity.

Call your tax preparer to see what you need to keep and start to go through your paperwork to eliminate what you don’t need.  Happy Shredding!

Simplifying By Making Choices

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This stay at home time, we have made changes to our routine.  Bills are still coming in and some are higher, but income stayed the same or was even reduced.  Something had to change.

For our electric bill that went up (even more now with summer air conditioning), we unplugged.  Think shutting the strips on the TV ‘s when not in use, unplugging the computers and printers when not is use, unplugging the kitchen appliances, and more.  By doing this we have reduce our bill by about $15 a month.  AARP has an article on lowering your electric bill during summer.

Previously, we have reduced our cable bill, by reducing it to basic TV service and internet.  Now we add whatever paid service that works for us – and only one at a time.  We have smart TV’s and can access programming through the internet apps that are free.  We use our local library’s digital collection for free.  Right now, we are using Sling TV for other channels.  In total, we spend about $110 a month total, by reducing the cord.  Hopefully, one day we can totally cut the cord!

We have also not renewed most magazine subscriptions and cancelled memberships.  For our warehouse club, I had to go into our profile and uncheck automatic renewal.  If you do this, remember to check that you are not being automatically being changed when you shouldn’t be.

Simplifying Buying When Not Needed

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How many times have you gone out and made a purchase only to come home to find out that you already had the item?  This used to be us. 

Simplifying the kitchen is good thing makes what we need easier to locate when needed.  Simplifying and organizing has been our mission.  Now our kitchen cabinets and grouped together – one shelf for condiments, one for soups and other canned goods, one for pastas, etc.  Kitchen cabinets a mess. Items put on any shelf and not grouped together.

Now it’s so much easier to see what is needed before going shopping and not may unnecessary purchases (all while saving money).

Simplifying One Times Use Items

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Next, we are simplifying by getting iod of items the are one-time use items.

What items are in our kitchen that we only use for one purpose.  These are taking up space and we can do without these.  Think apple slicer, we can cut the apple with a knife.  Think popsicle molds, how many times have I used them.  I can only think of one time.  We are working our way through the cabinets and drawers in our home.  How many of these items do you have in your home?

Items are piling up and will be ready to donate soon.

Simplification – Duplicates Be Gone

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Simplifying the kitchen is good thing and makes what we need easier to locate when needed. spring cleaning

During this stay at home time, we have begun getting rid of duplicates.  Really, how many potato peelers can one kitchen need?  Not to mention the hamburger flippers, ladles and more.

We have begun going through the process of cleaning out the kitchen cabinets and drawers.  I can’t believe how much we have accumulated over the years.  Maybe, its time to pretend we are moving and do a deep cleaning? Think about all the money we have wasted with buying these items!  It’s time to think save money instead of buying another item.

Simplifying By Doing It Ourselves

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We have made choices in our lives to do things ourselves and not pay for the service.  It’s a personal choice that we are happy with.

With that in mind, I want to share with you what we personally don’t spend money or reduce our spending on in our household.

Our Home:

  • Yard work
  • Spring and fall yard clean up
  • Snow shoveling
  • Gutter cleaning
  • Power washing
  • Trash / recycle – would have to ay a trash hauler as our town doesn’t provide this service
  • Rain barrel – we collect rain water and use this to water the garden and plants
  • Compost Bin – our town has a goal to go waste free, so we are able to take our food waste to the town for compositing

By doing these things ourselves, we save money each and every month that we can use in a variety of ways (reduce debt, increase savings).

Simplifying By Reducing

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With more time on my hands, I got to thinking about what I could reduce or eliminate to save money.  Honestly, I always think about this.  For me, it comes down to spend that money now on something or save it for later.

What items do I purchase that I could use another option?  Here are some of the things I have changed in our house:

  • Swapped out a magnetic white board monthly calendar for buying a yearly calendar.
  • Used my cell phone sharable calendar instead of the paper planner.
  • Changed from plastic containers to glass jars and from plastic bags to silicone reusable bags.
  • Using essential oils to make my own cleaners versus buying individual cleaners for parts of my home.

How much can you save by making small changes?