Some people shop at the same store at the same time on the same day, week in and week out. If this sounds like you, you’re missing out on some great bargains. Here are some ways to break out of your grocery rut and save money on your food budget.
Couponing? Nope.
A home warranty/home protection plan is a service contract that protects many of the appliances or systems (heating, plumbing, air conditioning) in your house in case they fail. They can serve as a security blanket of sorts to homeowners, particularly if you’re purchasing a home that is older or hasn’t had much in the way of upkeep over the past number of years. Plans are often offered on an annual basis and can cost much less than it otherwise would to fix a home system or replace a home appliance should one of those cease to function.
There are many, many home warranty companies, and you can read reviews about them as well as request a free quote online. Some warranties only cover appliances, and some only cover systems. If you want both areas covered, be sure to note that when you ask for your quote.
Happy April, everyone! It may be 37 degrees where I live, but the sky is blue, the snow is gone, and I’m itching for yard-sale season to begin. I’ve hosted and attended a number of these consumer extravaganzas over the years… here are some tips for hosting as well as attending a yard sale that I’ve amassed along the way.
Hosting a Yard Sale
In an era when the 400 richest Americans account for the same amount of collective wealth as 62% of the nation’s entire population combined and the United States is the fourth most wealth-unequal country in the world, something is grievously wrong with the way income is earned, saved, and distributed. Fortunately, someone has come to the rescue of our next generation, encouraging them to “spend, save, and share” the money they earn. Who is this economic powerhouse preaching to our kids?
Elmo, of course.
The most recent figures show that 48.9 million people in the U.S. have served as adult caregivers, with 86% of them providing for a relative in need. Not only do these people have to contend with the myriad difficult and thankless tasks associated with caregiving, but most also have to work outside jobs in order to pay the bills. In all, more than 70% of caregivers effectively work two jobs.
As you might expect, that burden ultimately proves unsustainable for many, as nearly one-third of working caregivers choose early retirement, take a leave of absence from their job, or give up working entirely. What’s more, two-thirds adjust their work hours or take time off in order to provide care.
Going to school is a typical fallback position when you’ve lost a job. My dad always says, “Time spent pursuing education is never wasted.” And a few new initials after your name will make you more desirable once you’re back on the job market, right?
Maybe, maybe not.
If you are one of the many government workers who has been laid off, might be laid off, or has had your hours slashed, you need to be thinking of a new plan, pronto. The U.S. economy added 741,000 jobs between September 2012 and January 1, 2013. The CBO estimate of jobs that will be lost due to sequestration is 750,000. That means you’re going to have a lot of company in the unemployment line.
Unemployment Benefits
Grocery stores utilize myriad strategies to trick customers into purchasing more than they truly need: playing depressing music, putting the kid-friendly food at kid-eye level, hiding the milk all the way in the back, etc. Add to this the fact that the average food shopper ends up throwing away 12-percent of the food they’ve purchased due to spoilage and you’ve found a money-exploding minefield.
It therefore makes sense that we spend less money when we limit our grocery trips. I, for one, used to spend an additional $50/week on those “just a couple of things” grocery runs, but fortunately I found a way to curb both my trips to the store –primarily for milk and bread– and my spending. I started baking my own bread.
With the rising cost of higher education, my husband and I joke that we’re going to homeschool our children for college. With the advent and rise in popularity of Massive Open Online Courses —MOOCs— we might not have to.
ABOUT MOOCs
Super Bowl 2013 is over and by now, you’ve probably seen that it was the third most-watched television event in U.S. history, with more than 108 million Americans tuning in. It seems as though the $3.8 million that advertisers shelled out for each 30-second spot was money well spent.
But some of those advertisers didn’t get my eyeballs; instead, I saw the ads that were delivered via the cbssports.com live stream. This year, I connected a laptop to my television to watch the Super Bowl for free, because months ago I decided to save $100/month by dumping my cable-TV service.
They’re three of the most tried-and-true, commonplace expressions: 1) Look before you leap; 2) Don’t swim within 30 minutes of eating; and 3) Buy Low, Sell high.
While decidedly trite, we were raised on such sayings, and they typically don’t lead us astray. But do they hold true in the post-Great Recession world of finance, which is marked by things like “shadow banking,” “floating-rate demand notes,” and “dark pools” that are not only unclear to most consumers, but could also get you in over your head and ultimately eat your lunch if you aren’t careful? That remains to be seen.
It can be difficult to find an investment vehicle that gives you a safe, yet lucrative return on your deposit these days. Rates on savings accounts, Money Market Accounts (MMAs), and Certificates of Deposit (CDs) have remained low since the Great Recession began; the stock market is doing its best Yo-Yo impression; and commodities like gold have left many scratching their heads.
That’s why private-label corporate bonds – more commonly known as floating-rate demand notes – might seem so attractive.
There’s always a lot of talk about resolutions this time of year. It’s a New Year, after all, and that means many people are embarking on new beginnings or striving for self-improvement. It’s not all about losing weight or giving up cigarettes either. A number of the most popular New Year’s Resolutions are financial in nature, and one in particular – taking out a life insurance policy – raises some important questions about how certain aspects of the personal finance landscape operate.
It’s understandable why people would factor life insurance into their resolutions. I mean, New Year’s is when many of us finally address long-shirked obligations (plus, barely surviving New Year’s Eve can have that effect on you). Parents in particular want to make sure their loved ones are provided for, not burdened financially, if they pass away. Well, anyone who’s ever taken out a policy knows that while you can try to shop around for the best rates, offers aren’t finalized until your paperwork and physical exam results are processed.
Just a few weeks ago, my wife and I welcomed into the world our first child, Achilles Spiro Papadimitriou. He obviously takes after his papa when it comes to having an exceedingly Greek name (just check out my byline), and my hope is that he can channel his namesake, Achilles of Greek mythology, when it comes to strength, bravery, leadership, and general badass-ness. Anyway, that’s beside the point.
You see, Achilles recently had some trouble with his eyes (I know, surprising it wasn’t a leg tendon), and our experience getting him medication raised some very interesting questions about our country’s medical system (I know, U.S. healthcare is flawed, surprise surprise). To make a long story short, there was some sort of snafu with our insurance and Achilles didn’t show up on our account, so we had to pay for the medicated eye drops he needed out of pocket. No biggie, right?
Have you ever seen one of those movies where the police or some super-secret spy agency uses cutting-edge technology to project what a fugitive or rogue agent looks like today based on a really old picture? I’m pretty sure they used something along those lines in The Fugitive, U.S. Marshalls, and the Bourne series. Well, as it turns out, such predictive appearance tools aren’t the sole domain of the authorities. Retirement planners are getting in the act too.
I’ll give you a second to let that sink in.
Every year, we look for gifts that are “different,” that really show our loved ones how much we care. This is not always easy, especially since it seems that we are surrounded only by material gifts that will be forgotten or thrown away over time.
With these thoughts in mind the GradSave team went in search of gifts that will not only hold their value, but that will actually help the ones you love save money. Here are our tops five picks:
There’s no escaping it: The holiday shopping season is officially upon us, which means it’s time to get serious about gift giving and holiday spending. The good news is that this year, with the wealth of mobile apps that make holiday shopping more convenient (and cheaper!) than ever, there’s no need to shell out a bunch of cash on presents you can’t afford.
Check out these four apps that will not only save you money during the holidays, but they’ll make holiday shopping more fun, too.
Ever think that those studies and recommendations you always see research firms coming out with don’t have much of an actual influence? Well, you’re wrong, and the way the Pew Charitable Trusts is changing how banks disclose checking account terms and conditions is a prime example of why.
Banks, as we all know too well, have long buried the true cost of their financial products in fine print. However, it wasn’t until Pew conducted a study on the checking accounts offered by the nation’s 10 largest banks and found them hard to compare given that half boasted at least 97 pages of disclosures that any changes were made.
The Republican National Convention is now behind us and the Democratic version is set to conclude Thursday, and while this might have you thinking there will be an entertainment void in the coming weeks, the truth is that the real fun starts when these idealistic celebrations are in the rear-view mirror. I’m referring to the beginning of the debate season (though I would have accepted the start of the NFL regular season as well), when we can hear the candidates mix it up and offer retorts to each other’s grandiose claims.
The debates usually give ordinary citizens like you and me a chance to ask the candidates questions as well, and one question that I’m sure a lot of people would like answered is what will become of the mortgage forgiveness tax break that has helped lower the financial burden on so many people since 2007.
What’s one thing that young people and the elderly have in common? Some of our more immature readers might answer “diapers,” but if the folks over at the Pew Charitable Trusts had a chance to respond, they’d probably say “bank accounts.” That’s right, certain bank accounts are specifically targeted to students and seniors, and while they’re supposedly tailored to the unique needs of these consumer demographics, a pair of recent Pew studies can help shed some light on whether they’re actually valuable or not.
Whether you love or hate your job, the freedom to retire is inescapably appealing. In fact, it’s the American Dream – work hard in order to attain the requisite financial freedom to retire to a comfy home with a white picket fence, pursue your interests irrespective of earning potential, and provide for your family. Unfortunately, the changing dynamics of retirement accounts, Social Security, and the economy at large may be making this dream harder to realize, if not turning it into a nightmare for many folks.
Not only does the aging American populous put Social Security in jeopardy, but the increasing reliance on 401(k)s instead of pension plans has also made many Americans’ safety nets less reliable, especially since a lot of people do not fully understand these plans or their true effectiveness.
Parents, if your children have unexpectedly started cleaning their rooms, adhering to curfews, and making you breakfast in bed, there’s good reason to be suspicious. Kids, start doing those things immediately and casually mention that you saw something on the Web about an upcoming change to the gift tax exemption. This holiday season could result in a lot more value changing hands than usual, which means we can expect a lot more sucking up in the coming months.
All kidding aside, New Year’s marks an important date for the way wealth in the United States is passed down from generation to generation. This is when the federal lifetime gift-tax exemption will revert back from the roughly $5 million threshold now in place thanks to the Tax Relief Act of 2010 to the standard $1 million. In other words, through December 31, 2012 you can give another individual (presumably a loved one) up to $5.12 million without it being taxed, but come New Year’s, amounts over $1 million may be taxed at rates upwards of 50%.
Ever pull up to a stoplight and glance over to see an elderly driver beside you hunched over the steering wheel, peering through goggle-like glasses and express concern over their ability to continue driving safely? Perhaps, but I bet you haven’t given much thought to their ability to manage their finances into old age. That’s a big mistake.
People are becoming increasingly reliant on their 401(k) as a source of retirement income, and while that might not seem like too big of a deal on the face of things, a 401(k) is inherently volatile and requires consistent maintenance in order to provide maximum value. This can prove problematic no matter how old you are.
You know the toll that usually costs around $3? Well, imagine how you’d feel if the price tag suddenly rose to $53. Unfortunately, this is not a hypothetical scenario for many consumers, but rather an all-too-common headache associated with renting a car in the age of automated toll plazas.
Typically, when a driver goes through an automated toll without an EZ-Pass or another similar electronic payment device, the toll’s cameras will snap a picture of the license plate and mail a bill to the registered driver. This is obviously impossible with a rental, however. So when a rental company gets charged, it typically passes the cost on to the driver, along with a hefty surcharge, through a company like the aptly-named Violation Management Services (VMS), which works with Fox Rent a Car.
It might just be time to buy that home of your dreams or refinance your existing mortgage. According to a Freddie Mac survey released May 3, average rates for a number of fixed and adjustable rate mortgages hit record lows last week, creating a significant savings opportunity for refinancers and prospective homebuyers who’ve recovered sufficiently from the negative effects of the Great Recession.
Ok, but how much savings are we talking here?
