Here’s a great article from AARP for getting ou
t of debt. It’s discusses older American’s, but the step apply to all ages.
Ready To Make A Big Purchase
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.
You Can’t Have My Information
There are so many ways that scammers can get your information. It’s getting harder and harder to stay under their radar.
Personally, we request do a lot to be off lists:
- Mailing List – we opt out of catalogues and unwanted mail. We shred a lot – most information with our name and address.
- Phone – we are on the Do Not Call list and we subscribe to NoMoRobo.
- Contests / Warranties – we don’t do this either. For warranties, we keep the receipt of purchase with the information in case it’s needed in the future.
We were very careful and put minimal information in the newspaper with the last death notice, we were responsible for. We give serious thought to what is posted in social media.
This is a constant effort that needs daily attention.
Do you want to know ways scammers get your information? They can get it through your trash, through your incoming / outgoing mail, over hear you on the phone and so much more. There are ways you probably don’t even realize. Here’s an article from AARP 7 Ways Scammers Get Your Information.
January Credit Report Reminder!
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The Mindset of Debt
There are times in life we all have had debt, sometimes more than others. If your resolution is to payoff your debt once and for all, it takes conscious efforts on your part.
This is a great article about breaking your spending addiction, not only paying off your debt but staying debt free.
In One More Day
You have heard about all the security breaches – from major retail chain stores to credit bureaus and 
more. You can’t turn on the news or read a newspaper without learning about another breach.
Because of this, I have always encouraged you to freeze your credit to lessen your changes of identity theft. Well tomorrow is a big day for consumers. Credit report freezes will become free – no more small fee to freeze your credit and another small fee to unfreeze – all this adds up. As of tomorrow, September 21, 2018 and just after the one year anniversary of the Equifax breach, there will be no cost to freeze your credit.
Please remember that you will receive a PIN with your freeze. You will need to keep this in a safe place, but not so safe that you forget where you put it to unfreeze your credit.
In addition, fraud alerts will now be available for 1 year (it was 90 days in the past).
Get out there and take advantage of the free credit freeze tomorrow!
Password Security
At this time of year we are getting ready for back to school. Along with all the things happening, somet
imes cybersecurity isn’t something that you are thinking about. But it should be.
Your kids are creating new accounts and with that comes passwords. I am reruning a past newsletter on How To Use A Unique Password For Every Account Without Going Crazy.
In addition, Lass Pass’ blog has a great post on .
Make sure to do these steps and share with your kids to be safer online. A little time now could save you hours later.
IRS and Travel
If you love to travel like we do, you better read on. Do you owe the IRS money? If you owe a
substantial money and haven’t made payment arrangements, your passport could be in jeopardy.
Here’s some more information from AARP’s travel newsletter.
Another reason to stay on top of your finances.
Is A credit Freeze Right For You?
Here is Connecticut we have been experiencing a heat wave (although the weekend was great), we have another 90+ days 
ahead!
So in an effort to stay cool, let’s take about credit freezes. Have you done this?
If you don’t plan on needing credit in the near future, you may want to consider this. A credit freeze is one way to help protect your identity from being stolen. You freeze your credit reports (yes, all three credit reports), so that no one can access your credit report (not even you) to open new accounts.
The reason why I say not needing your credit in the near future, is because there is a cost to freezing and unfreezing your credit report. So if you have plans to open a new credit card, finance the purchase of a car, buy or refinance a home in the near future, this could be costly.
Here is a great article from AARP walking you through the steps of a credit freeze.
Money, Life and Savings
A reader asked me about how to save to purchase a home, when your money doesn’t allow much for savings.
That’s a great question. But not an easy one to answer.
We all know that saving should be a priority. But we have monthly obligations. So here are so general steps to achieve what you want (in this case a home).
- Track your spending – many people overlook this step. Trust me this is the most important step in achieving your goal. Write down every penny that you spend for at least a month. Track everything from the rent payment to purchase of the newspaper.
- Weekly (or more often) take your tracked numbers and put it in to a budget.
- Analyze where your money is going and make a plan to spend less. Even saving $5 a week will add up.
- Automate your savings goals and pay yourself first. You will learn to live off less if you don’t see it available in your checking account. You may want to unlink your checking and savings (or have them with separate banks).
- Lastly, look into home ownership programs in your community.
- Check out to see if you qualify for an Individual Development Account to save for a down payment.
While it’s hard to save money each and every month. It a necessary step in life to achieving your goals.
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