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?

 

 

Single Use vs. Reusable

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I grew up with a mother that recycled and composted, so reducing and reusing is in my blood.

Our town was one of the first town’s in the state to ban the single use plastic bags at stores.  They encourage you to bring your own bags.  If you don’t bring your own, they will give you a paper bag.  I personally keep my reusable bags in the back seat of my car, so that they are always available and with me.  Also, when buying one single item, we skip the bag and take the item without a bag.

 

 

In addition, we have been reducing our single consumption items in favor of reusable ones.  We are eliminating the plastic in our lives.  We have switched from plastic bags to reusable silicone bags and from plastic containers to glass jars (mason jars are a great inexpensive alternative).  We try not to purchase items in plastic instead looking for alternatives.

We now make our own cleaners in reusable glass jars – no more single use bottles from the store.  You can believe how inexpensive it is to make your own (besides not having a single use container to toss).  Baking soda, vinegar and essential oils can clean just about everything for a fraction of the cost of store bought cleaners.

We have eliminated the private trash collection service from our home and now take our own trash to the transfer station – we our down to one bag of trash per week.  This eliminated a $100 a month bill!  I love saving money.

Share with me what reusable things you do.

 

 

 

 

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.

FREE Stuff To Do

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This Saturday is a big day!  You have so many choices of what to do and it’s all FREE.  Yes, I you heard me FREE!!!!!!

There are two options with many choices for things to do this Saturday, September 22 only.

Option 1 – it’s National Parks Free Day – so you can visit a national park and save on the entrance fee.  Click this link to find out more.  You can check out a local park or make plans to visit one farther.  Don’t worry if you can’t make it this Saturday, there is one more free day coming up later this year.

Option 2 – it’s Smithsonian Museum Day – now is your chance to visit a museum for free, both in your area and across the country.  Check out this link to see which museums are participating and to get your ticket.  You’ll need a ticket to visit for free and you can get that at the website.

Two options for you and your family for this Saturday that won’t break your wallet.  Enjoy!

If You Don’t Succeed, Try Again

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You’ve heard the saying, if you don’t succeed, try again.  We’ll that was try number two yesterday to get the results that we wanted.

Every August it’s the time in our home to negotiate the TV, internet and phone bill.  It’s a time that I dislike, but it’s something that has to be done.  Every year, we get that letter that our current package is expiring and the cost will be increasing substantially.  Ugh!

I phoned earlier in the month and was given a new package that didn’t meet our needs or budget.  We have lowered our services in past years, so there isn’t a lower package with less channels (we’re on basic).  Not being happy with the call, I research other companies and their options.

Yesterday, was call number two.  Spoke with two different people and get the results we wanted.  The price will be increasing less than $5.  Yeah!

If you need to negotiate with a company to get the results you need / want, be prepared to make multiple calls.  You might just get a person that will go the extra mile to find what you are looking for.  We did and we are set for another year.

Spring Cleaning Your Finances & More

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Today, I am going to talk about actual spring cleaning and how I do this while saving money.

Personally, we try to avoid chemicals in all aspects of our lives.  A few years back I was amazed at all the products on the market and what they were made up of.  Have you hear of these words?

  • sodium lauryl / laureth sulfate (SLS)
  • fragrances and dyes
  • propylene glycol
  • parabens
  • formaldehyde

And that is to name only a few ingredients.  Can you guess what products these chemicals are in? (see the bottom).

In our household, we have eliminated much of these thanks to many other options.  We use  Young Living’s Essential Oils and make many of our own products and/or purchase them from Young Living.  Thieves is a staple in our home – here’s a link to the product information page.  We use this oil / products to clean (dish washing soap, dishwasher detergent, tooth paste, hand sanitizer, wipes and more.

We make our own cleaners – one quick and easy to do one is glass cleaner (1/4 cup white vinegar, 2 cups water with a few drops of my favorite essential oils mix together in a glass spray bottle.  This works great in mirrors, windows and glass coffee table.  There are many more items you can easily make at home without chemicals.  One of my favorite books Essential Oils Ancient Medicine by Dr. Josh Axe, Ty Bollinger and Jordan Rubin.

If you would like to try a sample of essential oils, I have a very limited supply of Young Livings Thieve’s essential oils, that I can let you try, just reply to this blog post and I will respond.  If you are interested in learning more about Young Living oils, please click this link.

Not only can you spring clean your home without chemical, you can save money too.  Home made products are easy to make and can be cost pennies (saving your wallet too).

Note, that I have an affiliate relationship with Young Living.

Toothpaste, Shampoo, Make Up, Laundry Detergent, Soaps, Deodorant and more.

Reducing The Chemicals In Our Life

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I don’t know about you, but there seems to be more and more chemicals in my life.  They are in the food we eat, the products we buy, in our home and everywhere else.  It’s scary to me.

When I do something, I ten to jump in with both feet.

For our food, I cook most meals and purchase whole unprocessed foods for the meals I make.  I tend to stick to the outer aisles of the grocery store buying more fruits, vegetables, meat and fish (more so than the processed ready to eat food in the aisles.  We still have our garden in the warmer months for fresh just picked vegetables. I am experimenting more with new recipes / ideas to make.  Are we perfect, no!  But we are substantially better than a few years ago.

In our home, we have eliminated most toxic products in favor of healthier alternatives.  Using vinegar, baking soda, Castile soap with essential oils does the trick in our house.  Clean bathrooms, floors, counter tops and more with no more toxic fumes and they work great!

If you want to try or start, here are some great resources to learn more and to make your own products:

For more resources, please visit my resource page on my website JillRussoFoster.com

What do you do in your household?  Let me know

**If a link is an affiliate it will be clearly noted with ** so that you are aware that Jill Russo Foster may receive a percentage of the purchase price if you chose to buy the linked product. There is no difference in price to you.

Eliminating Expenses

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As I get older, I don’t need as many things and we continue to reduce and eliminate things and save the money.

This year, I have eliminated things in my business that I don’t really need – such as my efax and 800# (most of my correspondence is by email, so why pay for these services).  As you know, I have changed the format of the newsletter and eliminated another monthly service bill.  All this adds up to a savings.

For our personal life, we would rather have experiences versus stuff. I spent a good part of 2017 going through family photos, slides and movies ( a bug project that I should have done a long time ago).  We sorted and tossed. We sorted and gave to other family members. We sorted and scanned photos.  We sorted and had the slides digitized. We sorted and had the movies turned into DVDs.  We took numerous boxes, a file cabinet and slide carousels into a few photo albums and DVD’s.  All the photo are a back up hard drive and in a cloud (the ones we saved I don’t want to lose).

What can your reduce or eliminate to save you money?

Ask Questions

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January has been a month of me asking questions.  You may be thinking what is she talking about.  Lots of items came to light throughout the month that required more information.  Here is a sampling of what came up:

  • I was listed as a “non-owner” on our auto insurance.  I had no idea what that mean and had to do the research to find out more.
  • I received two bills one from the lab for bloodwork and one from doctor’s office for a physical.  It was my understanding that this was covered through my medical insurance as a preventative visit at no cost to me. Again, multiple calls and asking for my medical claims to be adjusted.
  • Receiving less than expected in a paycheck.  More calls to get to get to the bottom line
  • And the list goes on.

Never be afraid or think your questions aren’t worthy of an answer.  In my case, it’s my money.  Call and ask questions until you are satisfied with the answers.

For me, I was able to save money on our auto insurance after a lengthy phone call, the medical insurance company paid the bloodwork bill in full after appeal, the doctors bill was adjusted and I owed less than 50% of the bill and I am still working to understand resolve the paycheck issue.  So far, I with these questions we have saved close to $300. That’s worth my time and efforts.