Author Archives: Common Cents

Entertaining?…. Keep It Simple

Holiday Gatherings……

Getting together with family and friends is not only important, but fun too.

There are always times in life when family members can and do clash….it happens with friendships too.  This is very normal and, honestly, we don’t always agree with what someone says or thinks,  or how they act, or live their life.  It would be a pretty boring world if we were all the same.

And so, what we should do as human beings is, if you disagree with someone….and you will…. just agree to disagree and move on to the next conversation. We live in a free society and have thoughts and ideas of our own.

Sometimes family gatherings are only 2 or 3 times a year, maybe a summer bar-b-que and then maybe twice around the holidays. If there is someone you clash with, say hello and goodbye and maybe a short conversation between.  And remember, people change (you do too), so unless they’ve hurt you in a terrible way, be the bigger person and start the conversation.  If it’s going the wrong way, just walk away.

Check with the hostess ahead of time to see if there is something particular they’d like you to bring….. a dessert, casserole or a bottle of wine…..  Some will say “We’re all set”, but bring something…. maybe a pretty smelling candle…..  Any will be welcome and will help with the cost of entertaining.

No matter what situation you’re in in life…. school, work, family gatherings, groups of friends…. there is always one person you don’t like or can’t agree with…. and it works both ways….you may be that person for them.

So as the holidays approach….. remember to keep in touch with family and friends….

If you can’t physically get together, call or text….. It’s important…… and life is short, don’t have regrets. Even if you know that person is at a gathering, it will surely mean the world to them hearing from you!

Happy Holiday Season!

Gift Giving Options

How you can cut back on gift giving…..

To give and receive a gift is always nice…. it shows the recipient that you appreciate them, what they mean to you, or your appreciation for how they’ve treated you are some.

To receive a gift is a good feeling because it shows how someone appreciates you.  This is all good…… but can be expensive.

Add up all the gifts you give during the year,…. Birthdays, Christmas, Weddings, Showers, New Home, New Baby, Anniversaries, and the list goes on. And, as nice a gesture as it is, it can, get out of hand.

So, don’t pretend you can keep up with all this…… it will put you into debt.

The better plan is to cut back.  Be the person that starts the gift giving conversation with family and friends…. and, surely there will be some sighs of relief it was brought up.

Some ideas are to do a grab at Christmastime….. With an agreed set price point for a gift,  put names in a hat….. each of those who want to, and can, put their name in and draw a name from the hat.  Then, buy a gift for that person only.  This can also be done long distance….. with one person who will add the names to the hat and with a list in hand, draw a name, writing the drawn name next to the first on the list, then the second and so on.  Then either get together, or mail the gift to the recipient.  Each person gives and gets a gift!

Birthday gifts can be  given up to the age of 18.  And children’s parties can be limited to special friends of the child rather than the whole class.

Wedding, showers etc can be given, but set a price limit for each. And Anniversaries can be a nice dinner out.

And remember, its’ always nice to call and wish them well on the special day, or send a card for the occasion….. The idea is to remember the day, and enjoy the giving….. not to worry about how you’re going to pay for the gift.

 

 

Is Buying a House In Your Best Interest?

Buying vs Renting……

Your dream may have always been to buy your own home, but with how quickly the world is changing now, it may have changed a lot of reasons not to…..

However, in the end, you still may fulfill your dream….. just put some extra thought into it first.

Climate change has affected areas where you may have wanted to buy your dream home….. fires, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes etc. have always been….. but they are all getting more severe and more frequent.

Homeowners insurance for these catastrophes costs an astronomical amount of money each year as you renew. And, in some cases, insurance companies have lost so much money in paying out claims that they no longer will insure for certain things Mother Nature doles out.

This means that, if you can’t get or can’t afford the insurance protection for such things, and your home suffers damage because of coverage you don’t have, you pay for all the replacement/repair costs of the damage.  Or even worse, should your home be completely destroyed, you lose everything.  This, sadly, has happened to a lot of people.

So, if you still want that dream home, by all means go for it.  Just do your homework and check out areas where these storms are frequent, (although you never really know as none of us has a crystal ball), and maybe choose a home in another area, and visit your favorite spot on vacations or mini getaways.

 

You Are The Boss Of Your Financial Future

If you ever wanted to be the boss…. now is the time.

You are in charge of what and how you spend, and how and how much you save.

How you do this, how well you do this will matter down the road when you retire.  So, the sooner you start and how you handle your budget matters greatly.

Set up a workable budget…. and stick to it.  As soon as you find you’re sliding off the budget, find out where, fix the problem, and get back to strict budgeting.

Budgeting means first setting aside income for necessities …. savings, rent/mortgage, insurance(s), food, medical, utilities, car loan etc.

It, however, does not mean eating out or take out (home cooking is far cheaper), or entertainment costs (drinking, movies, etc).  You can still entertain at home with some relatives/friends where they each bring something for the menu.  This will, surprisingly, be as much, and usually more fun than going out on the town.

Cutting back on gift giving (or at least the amount of each gift), will bring a sigh of relief to most. Maybe a grab, where a price is set for one gift. Each person gives and gets a gift at far less expense than a giving a gift to everyone.  All this is easy and doable.

Avoid late fees and finance charge fees on your credit card(s) by only buying what you know you can pay for…in full…when the bill comes in.  The fees you’d pay on a credit card is money that could be put into your savings accounts…..

These are only a couple of ideas, and surely you can add more.

Pay yourself first…… Set money from your income aside for savings….. an Emergency Fund, a 6 to 12 month Reserve Fund (should you be out of work),  and a Retirement Fund(s).

If you pay yourself first, you will always be sure of having savings ready when needed.

 

 

 

“Refinance” Without The Hassle Or Fees

For those who are disciplined…..

Mortgage refinance comes with somewhat of a hassle and a cost to do so.  That said, if you are disciplined, you can ‘refinance’ on your own.  Although it’s really not considered refinancing, in the end, you do lower your interest rate while you do it, as well as saving mortgage interest cost (depending on what you are paying toward principal.

How it works……   Pay towards the ‘principal only’ on your own.  Decide on a sum of money and call your mortgage lender telling them to put the amount you choose towards principal only.  Doing this, will, in theory, will for that time frame drop your interest rate, and save you the interest you’d be paying for that time frame by bypassing those months you’re paying off with the amount of money you’ve chosen.

You can either pay say an extra $100. a month each month for a year, or make a one time payment of $1,200.  Always remember to say you’re paying it towards ‘principal only’.

Any extra amount you pay towards principal only during the life of the loan, will not only lessen the amount of time on the length of the loan itself, but it will also save you the interest of the amount you choose.

Another way to shorten the length of the loan is to make bi-weekly payments.  This means you pay 1/2 of the mortgage payment every 14 days.  However, you must be very disciplined to do this).

How much you save in interest as well as how much you lessen the length of your loan depends on the amount of your loan, the length of the original loan, and the interest rate.

It would be wise to check with your mortgage lender and ask them to explain it for you.

It only takes a phone call and a few minutes of your time.  Well worth it.

 

Scrutinize Your Bills

Go over your bills to check for errors….

It is human nature to make mistakes.  Hopefully, we learn from them.

And banks, mortgage companies, stores are not exempt from making mistakes too. That said, it is up to you to check and make sure that their mistake(s) are not on your account(s). So, make it a habit to check each and every one.  If you don’t, you could be paying for something you shouldn’t be paying for.

Most people will, when a bill comes due, they will just pay it. Before you do that, check to make sure it’s correct.

Check you bank statements to make sure you aren’t paying for fees that shouldn’t be there.

Check your mortgage statement and escrow account to make sure the taxes and insurance bills are correctly being paid….. my mortgage company paid taxes out of my account and applied the money to another clients’ taxes!!!!!  So, this does happen.

Keep tabs on where your money is going at all times…….  you work too hard to get it to just waste it.

Be diligent about checking…… it only takes a few minutes for each, and can possibly save you hundreds of dollars.

Let checking become a habit.

 

How Your Credit Score Affects You

Check and Keep Your Credit Score High

Years past there were no credit cards….. everyone paid by cash.  Actually it was a good thing, because if you didn’t have the cash, you didn’t buy the item.  A perfect way to stay within budget.

Remembering back, my Dad was buying a new car. He had the cash and brought it to the car dealer. But the car dealer said ‘you need credit’…. to which my Dad answered, “But I have the cash.”  No…. he needed credit.

He put a down payment of cash towards the car, paying the rest ‘on time’. And he opened up his first credit card (this was in the 1960’s).

The credit card was through a large department store (still open but under a different name). And I don’t believe he ever used it.  However, I did.  I was a recent high school graduate and was working in the city where the store was located.  Dad told me I could use the card (he’d given my name to the credit department at the store, and the rule was (Dad’s rule was):  “You can use the card. Ask me for it and use it for your purchase. When you get home from work, put the card on my bureau, and on Friday (when I got paid), put the money for the item(s) along with the sales slip(s) on my bureau so that when the bill comes in, I can pay it in full.

This was the one and only time he said this. I used the card often, followed his rule, and he had an excellent credit score because of it.

I, however, learned a lifelong lesson……  I learned how to properly use a credit card.  I’ve done so for 6 decades, and never, not once, have I ever had to pay a late fee or a finance charge.  Dad’s advice was the best advice and because of it, I have saved potentially thousands of dollars because I learned from that first purchase.

So, use a credit card, buy only what you know you can pay for when the bill comes in. Pay it in full and on time avoiding late fees and finance charges and when you check on your credit score, you will be pleasantly surprised.

You credit score will allow you (if it’s high), to get a loan, an apartment, a mortgage etc. These places can and do check to see what kind of a risk you are.

If you can’t follow these simple rules, don’t use a credit card!  It’s for your own benefit.

 

Ways To Lower Your Grocery Bill

Tips on grocery shopping and saving….

Eating is fundamental to existing…… and grocery shopping for home cooked meals is far cheaper than eating out. That said, some tricks to stay within your budget are all doable.

You should have a good idea already of what you spend on your grocery bill, so keep that figure in mind and now start using some easy tricks to whittle down your grocery bill, thus saving money in the process.

Never go food shopping when you’re hungry….. you are more apt to adding snacks and goodies into the cart when, in fact, you really don’t want/need them.

Check the store ad for the week, make a list, and stick to it. The ‘end caps’ at each aisle are the sale items but they also have other items on the regular shelves too.  You’ll get used to how your favorite store does this. And, although they have other ‘come buy me items’ in easy view, stick to your list.

The sale items usually will go on sale about every six weeks on a rotation basis.  So, if you’re running low on something, but can last another six weeks, wait.

If you have children, and they shop with you, the store will have things a child would recognize and ‘want’ at the child’s eye level, so watch that those little hands don’t reach out and add things to your cart.

If you can, use coupons…. newspaper coupons will usually be printed out to coincide with the store ads, saving additional money.  And every penny helps.

Stay away from the snack aisles….. snacks are unbelievably pricey and can be gobbled up without a thought while watching TV.  Try a week without putting any bag snacks in your cart.  Then check your total grocery bill.  I know you’ll be saving $10 – $15 each week by not buying them.  Put that savings into your savings account.

Instead of the bag snacks, make popcorn, or a vegetable / dip tray….. these are far cheaper snacks and better for your health.  Think….. bet you always have some veggies and dip at a get together with friends…… why not make one for yourself?

Don’t waste food….. cook a meal….. use leftovers for another meal the next day or two. Or pack the meal and freeze to thaw and re-heat on a night you’re running late or just want to avoid cooking.

Make your own coffee and put it into a take along mug….. any leftover coffee…. pour it into a container and keep refrigerated to use as iced coffee.

These are just a few ideas, but I’m sure you can come up with more of your own.  The idea is to save money while grocery shopping and add the savings to your savings account(s).

 

Choose ‘No Fee’ Accounts

Banks and Credit Card Fees = Zero

There are plenty of banks and credit cards to choose from….. some with fees, some without.  Choose the ones without…… it’s common sense.

Why pay a bank to use your money? Look around, compare and choose one that does not charge monthly fees or fees to withdraw over a certain number of times etc.  And some, without fees, do have a minimum to hold the account open.  Be sure you don’t go below that figure. Other than that, shop around, you’ll find one that still fits your needs.

Credit cards will sometimes have an annual fee…… if so, find another ‘no annual fee’ card.  There are plenty.

But, ……unless you know how to properly use that free of annual fee card, don’t open it, or any other for that matter.  Because, if you use a credit card there will be pricey late fees if you don’t pay by the due date, as well as steep finance charges if you pay only the minimum (or any other amount) other than the full amount of the charges for that time period.

Most credit cards will have ‘rewards’ of some sort, ….. cash back, travel points, or gift card purchases…… choose the one that best fits your needs.

So, open a ‘no annual fee’ card, and use it properly…. buy the item(s), and when the bill closes, pay the full amount of the bill in its’ entirety for the charges you made.  That is the only way to have a free fee credit card.

After all, those fees add up, and instead should be the money put into your one of your savings accounts.

 

 

Stay Away From ‘Add to Cart”

Online shopping can ruin your budget.

Used to be if you wanted/needed something, you had to get ready, and drive to the store to get it. Now, with the internet….and there are many, many wonderful things we have now to thank for the internet, however, shopping online, and the convenience of it, can truly ruin your finances.

It is so easy, any time of day or night, to open your computer and scroll until you see something you want/need, and often will, as you scroll through, see other things and click onto the ‘add to cart’ button.

And so, the one thing, becomes two or maybe three, with a charge for your account that needs to be paid within 30 days. So, did you even think of the cost to your budget bottom line??????

The items will, within a day or two, arrive at your door….. the bill for these things will arrive within the next 30 days, and, unless you have the money to pay for the whole order, the finance charges for them will arrive 60 days and beyond…..

So….. before you shop online,……..before you click on the ‘add to cart’ button……. know, for a fact, that you can pay in full for the items you’re putting ‘in the cart’.

Stick to your budget…… be disciplined……. it’s to your benefit.