When it comes to your cell phone, do you have some type of insurance or equipment protection plan? If you do, you’re definitely not alone! With as much as phones get dropped, wet, cracked, sat on, or just plain lost, you almost can’t afford NOT to have some type of coverage. There’s nothing more annoying than having a phone that’s not working 100%. And with as much as they’re charging currently for an iPhone, at first glance, it seems almost crazy not to have some sort of protection for your device. The first time we got my wife her iPhone, we added a coverage plan to her account, and I believe at the time it was only an extra $7 per month. With a deal like that, how could you pass it up? Lately, however, things are different; a … [Read more...] about Is Sprint Total Equipment Protection Worth the Cost? The Numbers May Surprise You!
Savings & Budgeting
What is the Real Cost of Driving per Mile?
Talk to any of your friends at work or family members at a gathering, and someone is always sure to bring up “the price of gas” and how it is eating away at their monthly budget. Their complaints are totally justified! According to The Nest, transportation expenses count as the second biggest expense in U.S. households, running as much as 10 to 20% of the household income. Man, don’t I know the feeling! Car expenses have been a huge drain on our household for a long time. For well over a decade, I’ve commuted an exceptionally long distance to work every weekday: 60 miles each way, 120 miles round trip! Start adding up those numbers over the weeks, months, and years, and it’s no wonder I’ve easily gone through 3 different … [Read more...] about What is the Real Cost of Driving per Mile?
Should I Build My Rainy Day Savings Account or Save More for Retirement?
Every day, good intentioned couples are faced with a practical financial decision: Should we build back up our rainy day savings account or continue to save more for retirement? We just had this same dilemma in my own household. After having tapped our emergency fund for immediate cash to use a down payment on our new house, we’ve now got a big hole to fill. But that poses a financial problem. Every penny we earn that exceeds our budget is supposed to go towards our early retirement by age 45 plan. Plus, as we’ve demonstrated before here, saving your money in tax-sheltered accounts can compound into huge financial benefits later on. So then, why am I choosing to build back up my rainy day fund and put my extra retirement … [Read more...] about Should I Build My Rainy Day Savings Account or Save More for Retirement?
How to Use the Power of Customer Retention to Lower Your Bills
Me: So I get to add an extra line, get a brand new iPhone 6, and my monthly bill is going to be exactly the same? Sales Rep: Yes. Me: You’re sure? It’s not going to go up after a month or two? Sales Rep: Correct. Me: And we’re not getting any less service at this price? Sales Rep: Right. Oh, there is one thing … you’re also going to get this new Samsung tablet as part of the package. That’s already included in the price I quoted you. Shopping Around for a Cell Phone: That exchange of words above is exactly what happened just a few months ago when I started shopping around trying to lower my bills and find a cell phone for my daughter. Originally my wife and I were planning to get her an older, used one off … [Read more...] about How to Use the Power of Customer Retention to Lower Your Bills
A No-Brainer Way to Lower Your Bills – For Free!
One of my favorite blog series to follow along with is J Money's "Challenge Everything" series over at Budgets are Sexy. In case you don't know this one, basically what J does is take a different bill every month and tries to get it lowered. Or another thing he'll try is to look for some other side hustle to make a little extra money on the side. Collectively this ends up going into a special fund that he can do whatever he wants with when it's all done. So far he's done quite well with himself. At last count he was over $4,000 bucks! Lower Your Bills With a Little Help: I've always been a very big supporter of regularly auditing your budget and challenging your bills whenever possible. If there's one thing I've … [Read more...] about A No-Brainer Way to Lower Your Bills – For Free!
Where to Park Your Rainy Day Savings for Growth Without Much Risk
We all know that part of a good, healthy financial well-being is to have a decent sized chunk of money set aside in your emergency fund or rainy day savings fund as some people call it. Some advisers tell us it can start off with as little as $1,000 (I believe that one is a Dave Ramsey thing). More commonly I see suggestions to have as much as 3 months, 6 months, even 12 months worth of living expenses set aside in easily accessible bank account. Fortunately for my wife and I we have done a pretty good job of building up our rainy day fund over the years to as much as $20,000! That’s a pretty admirable amount and it would easily cover around 4-5 months of our living expenses should anything awful ever happen to us. Back when we … [Read more...] about Where to Park Your Rainy Day Savings for Growth Without Much Risk
3 Painless Ways to Build Your Emergency Money Fund
The other day I was having a conversation with a few of my coworkers about how long we'd be "okay" financially if we were to lose our jobs. (None of us were in any sort of trouble, it was just one of those conversations.) Much to my surprise most of them said they didn't think they'd last more than a month. A month? Perhaps I'm brain-washed from living in this money-blog community of mine, but doesn't everyone know by now that you're supposed to have 3 to 6 months worth of emergency money stashed up at all times? Disaster could strike at any time whether you're ready for it or not! And if you're not prepared well in advance to handle such a situation, you'll find yourself in a whole lot of trouble. Why Don’t We Do A … [Read more...] about 3 Painless Ways to Build Your Emergency Money Fund
What To Do With Extra Money In Your Budget – 3 Good Choices
At the beginning of every new year, one of the first things I do with our finances is to take a hard look at our budget and see where we can get the most bang for our buck. At first this usually involves doing the normal thing that most people do - taking a look at our bills and seeing where we can shave some expenses. But there’s something else I like to do with the extra money in our budget that I feel is just as important as cutting corners on expenses. I like to take a look at where we can best grow it! There are lots of good options for what to do with extra money if you’ve got it. You might apply it to some kind of debt you have so that you’ll end up saving a boat-load in interest payments (after all, saving money can … [Read more...] about What To Do With Extra Money In Your Budget – 3 Good Choices
