Jill Russo Foster

Tips for Successful Personal Finances

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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.

Increasing (or Starting) That Emergency Fund

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Are you one of those people that sets a goal to have or increase your emergency savings fund each year.  As we reach the year end, did you accomplish this?

An emergency fund is something that each and every one should have.  If life hands you an unexpected expense and you really need to pay for this now, how will you handle this without that emergency fund?  That unexpected expense can be a car repair, loss of a job, a home repair and more.  These expenses typically come when you don’t have any extra money.  If it’s something you need to do immediately, without this savings you will be adding debt to your budget.  That’s where your emergency fund comes into play.  If you have one, you wouldn’t have the stress of figuring out how to pay for it.  That’s why you need to start or increase yours today!

Have you made your plan to start or increase your emergency fund? Don’t get overwhelmed thinking you need thousands of dollars now.  Nobody starts off with thousands, think baby steps to increase your emergency savings with each and every pay check. 

Steps to start your emergency fund:

  1. Open a new savings account for your emergency fund – don’t link it to your ATM. debit card.
  2. Set an amount to save each pay period – can you find $10 or more to save each pay period?
  3. Set up automatic withdrawals from your paycheck – either through your payroll dept. or with your bank.  Think pay yourself first attitude (you won’t spend it if you don’t see it).

Follow these steps to start out and increase the dollar amount at least annually. A good time to do this is when you get a raise at work – more money coming in, the more money can go to your emergency savings.  Suze Orman’s suggests that everyone needs eight months in their emergency savings.  That can be overwhelming, so let’s start with a goal of saving $1,000 in a year – you can do this as it’s on;y $20 a week.

If you haven’t started or at the level you want / need to be at, these are some great tips from WIFE – Women’s Institute for Financial Education to get you started.

Happy Savings!

Are You Missing Money?

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Do you ever get that feeling you are missing some money?

Last week the Secretary of State for Connecticut reported that 52,994 names were added to the unclaimed money list for the state.  The unclaimed money list is a big list of names (individuals, companies, non-profits and more), that each state maintains from institutions that turn over money to them.  You may be asking why would an institution turn over your money to the state?  Good question, these are funds from accounts that haven’t had any activity in several years.  Here are a few examples:

  • An in active savings account
  • Proceeds from a check not cashed
  • Unclaimed insurance polices proceeds

This past weekend, I did a search for myself and members of my family.  I didn’t find any results this time, but I have in previous attempts.  In the past, I found a few share of stock that I inherited and the proceeds of an old life insurance policy my father.

When was the last time you checked?  Don’t forget to check in every state you have lived in.  Remember that there is no fee to claim unclaimed money.  If you are asked to pay a fee – don’t.

Here’s an old article I wrong on this for more information click here.

 

Fourth Quarter To Do’s

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Can you believe it, it’s fall and the year end is in sight!choices

For me, there is lots to do (and I am not thinking the holidays yet).

This time of year means it’s time to review my health insurance choices.  Open enrollment for health insurance is here (or just a week or so away).  Medicare is already in the open period, the state of CT will open up the 1st of November and many company plans have the open enrollment at this point too.  It’s time to reevaluate and determine if I want to stay on the same healthcare plan or make a change.

If you have a FSA (Flexible Spending Account), start to look at the balance and determine how to use the funds.  This is a use it or lose it type of account. You wouldn’t want to lose money, would you? If you have an HSA (Health Savings Account), have you maximized your contributions for 2018?  This can be a great way to lower your taxable income.  Make sure you pay all your eligible medical expenses with this account.

Take the time now to do your research and make the choices that are right for you and your family now.

Saving Money

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I am always looking for ways to save money.

Some of the ways that can help you do this is to be on top of your finances.

Let me tell you what I recently did.  We purchase a bark collar for the puppy and within a week, the battery was flashing low.  Instead of going to the store to purchase a battery, I brought the receipt and all the original packing back to the store and explained the situation.  The store manager gave me a replacement battery pack.  Not only did I get the battery replaced free, they gave me an additional battery for the future.

Another example, I purchased something online that wasn’t what I expected.  I was told there was a no return policy after opening.  I explained that I did open it and that’s how I knew it wasn’t what I expected.  After several emails back and forth, they agreed to a return minus the restocking fee.  Yes, I am getting less than I paid, but it is most of the money refunded and it’s not another item sitting in my house, that I won’t use.

Sometimes you can advocate for yourself and get a resolution to the issue that is wallet friendly.  Try it sometime.

Other ways to save money, you can stick with what you own and not purchase the latest and greatest new option.  Our TV/Internet provider wanted to give us faster internet.  The catch was it would be an additional $5 more per month.  We said “no”.  There is nothing wrong or slow with what we have now.

Savings a few dollars here and there can add up.

Upcoming Workshops

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Now that we are gearing up for the fall, I wanted to share with you some workshops I am teaching at Norwalk Community College (Norwalk, CT) in the Extended Studies Dept in the Fall term.

Take Control Of Your Finances

Welcome To The Real World: Teens and Money

Budgeting For The Fluctuating Income

For more information and/or to register click here.

Overdraft Line of Credit Saves The Day!

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Do you have an overdraft line of credit associated with your checking account?  We’ll we do.  Sometimes it’s a life saver – literally!

This week I paid our mortgage as I always do, but something happened.  I must have selected the “other” checking account and I didn’t notice it.  Now you know that I check our bank accounts at least weekly, just to keep tabs on what’s going on (we don’t use a credit monitoring).

Well imagine my surprise to see the mortgage payment coming out of that checking.  One of the worst things you can do is to bounce your mortgage payment and yikes this could have happened.  But thank goodness it didn’t.  Our overdraft line of credit saved the day by covering the overdraft.  So the mortgage payment is paid and all is well there.  I noticed it quickly, so we transferred the funds to pay back the overdraft and all is well.

If you don’t have overdraft protection on your checking account, you may want to think about it.  It saved us this time.

Money Habits To Avoid (Part 3)

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This is part 3 of Money Habits To Avoid.  If you missed part 1 or 2, please search my blog post.

 

6. Keeping up with the Jones’ — There is always going to be someone with a nicer home, car, clothing, etc. That’s just life. Your budget cannot survive trying to keep up with others. This habit will send your budget off a cliff. You going to need to get comfortable with where you are and what you have.

 

  1. Ignoring Your Finances — I met some people who don’t open their mail, don’t answer the phone, and are totally oblivious to their finances. Ignoring your finances won’t make them go away, they will be there untilyou deal with them. In fact, you will owe more with added interest and additional charges. If this is you, take baby steps to get acquainted with your finances.

If you see yourself in any of these habits, the first step is awareness.  Once you are aware, you can make the changes necessary to break the habit.

Money Habits To Avoid (Part 2)

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This is part 2 of Money Habits To Avoid.  If you missed part 1, please search my blog post.

3. Using Credit Cards to Get By — You know what I mean, you use your credit card because you don’t have the cash to purchase … This is a red flag if this is an every day, week, or month occurrence. Credit cards definitely havea place in your finances, but they are not the means to spending more than you can afford on a regular basis.

4. Discretionary Spending to Impress — This may have happened to you, I know it did for me when I was coming out of college. You are out with friends and you offer to pick up the tab. Maybe you want them to think you are doing better than you actually are, maybe you want to seem on par with your friends, whatever the case, no one expects you to pay more than your fair share. If you can’t afford to do something at this point, maybe you politely decline.

5. Emotional Spending — Just like emotional eating, emotional spending can be a problem. You are upset, and you go out and buy a …… Yes, you feel great in the moment, but did you need a … ….? Was it money you were planning on spending? Probably not. You know what you need to purchase, make a plan and stick to it.

Check out the next posts to find out the rest of the Money Habits To Avoid.

Money Habits To Avoid (Part 1)

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In my opinion, there are seven money habits you want to avoid.

 

You may be currently doing these or have done them in the past (and I have been guilty of them myself), but now is the time to break the habits and get on with your finances.

  1. Lending Money — I think we all did this at some point in our lives, whether it be loaning $5 to a friend and not getting paid back, or lending more. Not only does this put a strain on your finances but it can affect your friendship. Make a resolution to give up lending. If you want to help someone out, then make it a gift with no repayment expectations.

 

  1. Spending It All — Yes, you know what I am talking about — living paycheck to paycheck. We all have choices we make with our finances — whether to spend this today or save for tomorrow. Budgeting is about choices that your make. So make the choice to not spend it all and save. Making this decision is the first step to starting to save and the next step is to actually do it (automate the savings process to make it foolproof).

Check out the next two posts to find out the rest of the Money Habits To Avoid.