Does it seem like your car insurance premium gets higher and higher? Instead of continuing to pay the high price without question, work to lower your costs. Whether you stop paying for full coverage or work to improve your credit score, you can use these tricks to lower your auto insurance premiums. Comparison Shop Prices The best way to save money on your auto insurance policy is to comparison shop prices with different car insurance companies. I have found wide fluctuations in car … [Read more...]
Search Results for: insurance
How to Use the MercuryGO App to Save Money on Auto Insurance
This post was sponsored by MercuryGO and all opinions expressed in my post are my own. I have a teen driver. It's a sentence that strikes fear in parents everywhere! Besides worrying about his safety and his driving habits, I also have to think about the cost of auto insurance for a young male driver. It adds a big expense to our insurance bill. I mean a HUGE cost compared to my husband and I, who have been driving for what seems like forever. My son's insurance rate for the year … [Read more...]
How to Save Money on Prescriptions {even when you don't have insurance}
This post was sponsored by Optum Perks and all opinions expressed in my post are my own. Whether you have prescription medication that you have to take on a regular basis for a chronic condition or you need some medicine one time only due to an illness, prescriptions can get really expensive! And if you don't have health insurance that pays for your prescriptions, your out of pocket payment can end up being more than you can afford, especially if you just lost your job. However, … [Read more...]
7 Tricks to Save Money on Life Insurance
Life insurance is not only essential to help cover the cost of your funeral, but you also want to make sure your family will be taken care of. Of course, that means another expense added to your ever-growing list but it’s worth the money. Let’s look at how to save money on life insurance. Check with Your Employer First things first. Check with the human resources department of your company to see if you can get life insurance through them. Some companies offer free plans while … [Read more...]
7 Ways to Save Money on Health Insurance
This post was sponsored by Priority Health and all opinions expressed in my post are my own. Each year during the Open Enrollment Period, my husband and I sit down to review our health insurance options during the open enrollment period to decide which plan we're going to buy for the year. Health insurance can be expensive and so confusing to figure out! Our health insurance costs continue to rise, and they end up being a fairly large percentage of our family income. Did you know … [Read more...]
How to Cancel PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance) on Your Mortgage
We all want to lower our bills. You may think that refinancing your home is the only option, but there are many ways you can lower your mortgage rate with your current lender. One way is to eliminate PMI – private mortgage insurance. But what is it and how can it be done? Let’s take a closer look at how to cancel PMI. What Is Private Mortgage Insurance? Private mortgage insurance is meant to protect the mortgage company should you stop making payments on your mortgage. This insurance can be … [Read more...]
How Much Life Insurance Do You Need?
You never want to leave your family in a lurch. You want to know that when you pass, even if it's unexpectedly, your funeral costs, debt, and your family will be taken care of. But, how much life insurance do you really need? If you're worried about being over or under insured, you've come to the right place. Let's look at how much life insurance you really need. How Old Are You? You need to think about your age for a number of reasons. If you're a young parent with young children, you need to … [Read more...]
7 Tricks to Lower Your Homeowners Insurance Premium
Insurance is one of those things that you pray you'll never need. That also makes it one of the things you hate to pay for. In many cases, homeowners are paying more than they have to. Thankfully, there are tricks to lower your homeowners insurance. Let's take a closer look. Ask for a Lower Price First things first. If you've been with your company for a long time, ask about lowering your costs. If you've never had a claim, have a good credit score, and have paid your premiums on time you … [Read more...]
Why Your Car Insurance Is So High {and how you can lower it}
Does it seem as though your car insurance premium isn't getting any lower? The truth is there are a number of reasons why insurance is so high. Whether it's the car you drive or your credit score, your premiums may be higher than you want. Let's take a closer look at what the problem may be and how you can save money. 1. You Chose the Wrong Car As bad as it sounds, auto insurance companies usually charge more when you drive a cheap car. Cars that are more prone to damage and passenger injury … [Read more...]
Save Money: Avoid Insurance Premium Service Charges
Earlier this year, I wrote about periodically doing an insurance rate comparison to save money. However, if you shop around for the best rate, and then pay a premium surcharge in order to make a monthly payment, you are losing out on some of your rate savings. There are several things that you can do to avoid the premium surcharge (which can be as high as $4+ each month). Pay the entire balance due up front Ask your insurer if you can get the monthly surcharge waived if you have the … [Read more...]
Should You Buy Extra Car Rental Insurance?
Over Christmas vacation, my husband and I packed up our boys and all our Christmas gifts to travel halfway across the country from Texas to North Carolina to visit family for Christmas. Because we didn't want to put 3,000 miles on our car, we rented a car for the little over a week that we were going to be gone. I knew that when it came time to sign the paperwork when I picked up the rental car that they were going to ask me if I wanted to pay extra for their rental insurance (which can be … [Read more...]
Save Money: Compare Insurance Rates
When your auto and homeowners insurance renews each 6-months or annually, do you really take a look at your policy to see how much your premiums have increased? It can take some work to compare premiums and switch companies, but it can be worth a lot of money (like thousands annually) when you do search for the best policy/premium - especially if it's been a long time since you've done a comparison. I typically don't compare unless my insurance rate goes up over a … [Read more...]
How to Save Money on Your Car Loan
This post was sponsored by Gravity Lending and all opinions expressed in my post are my own. After purchasing a home, a car is likely the most expensive item you'll buy in your lifetime. Between the purchase price of the car, maintenance, repairs, and gas, owning a vehicle is a large expense in your monthly budget and every bit you can save helps in the long run! If you need to take out a loan to purchase your vehicle, check out these tips to help you save money on your car … [Read more...]
9 Tricks to Get Fit on a Budget
You may think that you need to spend a lot of money to get fit. This couldn’t be further from the truth. There are so many things you can do for free or very little money. Whether it’s watching fitness videos on YouTube or playing with the kids, you can get fit on a budget. Watch Fitness Videos on YouTube (or from the Library) There are thousands of fitness videos on YouTube. Whether you’re interested in cardio, yoga, or even toning your body through weight training, you can find great … [Read more...]
How to Pay for a Car with Cash
Buying a new vehicle is a big-ticket item, and in most parts of the country, it's necessary to have at least one car per household to get to work, school, shopping, and more. For many people, it's just a fact of life that you'll have a car loan, same as you have a mortgage. However, while a house (usually) appreciates, a car starts depreciating the second you drive it off the lot. Do you really want to take out a loan on an asset that's losing value? But, it's impossible … [Read more...]
16 Tips to Save Money When Buying a Used Car
Just because you're buying a used car, doesn't mean you should pay the sticker price. Many used car lots expect shoppers to haggle for a lower price and accordingly price cars higher than what they're worth. Of course, that's not the only tactic you can use to save money. Whether you go in knowing the value of a car or are willing to walk away, you can save money when buying a used vehicle. Make Sure You Can Afford the Car Before you even think about what type of car to purchase, … [Read more...]
21 Ways to Spring Clean Your Finances
When it comes to spring cleaning, you may think about your garage or even your closet. What you may not consider is your finances. When’s the last time you really took a good look at them? What if you could get a better interest rate or cut reoccurring bills to save money? While you’re cleaning the windows and tossing out old clothes, now is also the perfect time to spring clean your finances and get your financial house in order. Review Your Financial Goals Has your financial … [Read more...]
How to Create a Simple Budget for Beginners
A budget is something that everyone should have. If you’ve never taken the time to create a budget, you may feel overwhelmed. Don’t. It’s actually much easier than you think. It does take a bit of time, but it will make a difference in your finances. Let’s take a closer look at how to create a simple budget for beginners. Write Down Your Monthly Expenses First things first. Write down what you must pay for each month. This includes mortgage/rent, utilities, car payment, insurance, … [Read more...]
How to Quickly Save a $1,000 Emergency Fund
We’ve all heard the importance of having six-months’ worth of expenses in savings. But, before you can get there, you need to save your first $1,000. How do you make it happen? More importantly, how do you do it quickly? Let’s take a closer look at how to quickly save a $1,000 emergency fund. Have a Yard Sale You’d be surprised at how much money you can make with a yard sale. Those $3 pairs of jeans and $5 video games can quickly add up. If you have larger pieces, like furniture, you may clear … [Read more...]
6 Tricks to Save Money on Braces
Whether you’re buying braces for you or your child, chances are you’ve found that braces can be very expensive. If you need braces, there are ways to save money. In fact, your child may even be able to get braces for free. Let’s take a closer look at how to save money on braces. Get Early Treatment You want to get treatment for your children as soon as possible. The earlier you address the problem, the easier it will be to fix. In other words, your child will need fewer adjustments and will … [Read more...]
11 Expenses You Forgot to Include in Your Budget
If you have ever created a budget, you know that you want to assign a budget category to every expense so that your budget works. But, have you ever hit the end of the month with a fully balanced budget, but you still don't have enough money left at the end of the month for everything? It's likely that you forgot to include everything in your budget. It's easy to do (especially when you're first setting up your budget) since there are various expenses that are easy to forget … [Read more...]
7 Expensive Habits You Should Break
We all have a bad habit or two. Sometimes though, those bad habits can really cost us. Whether you’re a smoker or try to keep up with your neighbors, these habits can get expensive. Let’s take a closer look at expensive habits you should break. Shopping as Entertainment We all know that shopping can be fun. But when shopping is used as a form of entertainment, things can get expensive. Look for new ways to stay entertained. It’s a big world out there. Look for something that is free or … [Read more...]
FREE Kindle Book: Seeking Home (Family Bonds Book 1)
Right now, you can download Seeking Home (Family Bonds Book 1) Kindle book written by Carolyne Aarsen for FREE from Amazon. About the book: She yearns for a home for her daughter and a chance for redemption. He wants to turn his back on the ranch that stole his family from him in a tragic accident. Sabine Radowski’s rocky childhood left her looking for a stable future for her daughter. So when the insurance payment arrives from her estranged husband’s passing, she brings her dream alive and … [Read more...]
What to Do if You Lose Your Job
Losing your job can be devastating. With most people living paycheck to paycheck, there’s a lot of panic about what you’re going to do to cover your expenses. Instead of worrying, use that pent-up energy to keep your finances on track. Let’s take a closer look at what to do if you lose your job. File for Unemployment First things first. You want to file unemployment as soon as you can. Sometimes this process can take a while and you want to get the ball rolling immediately. In many states, … [Read more...]
How to Plan a Secure Future When You Have a Disability
Living with a disability comes with several challenges, to say the least. However, one thing that can be particularly tricky is planning for the future. Financial planning is essential to ensure you can receive the level of care you need later on in your life. Here are some concrete ways to get your financials in order for the future. Protect Your Loved Ones with Insurance Insurance can help offset future financial burdens faced by you and your family. Long-term care insurance, for example, … [Read more...]
5 Tricks to Automate Your Finances
What if you didn’t have to spend so much time on your finances? What if everything was streamlined or automated? Many people don’t realize that you can spend a little bit of time making your finances easier to manage. Whether you automate your savings or bills, you can make things easier. Let’s take a closer look at how to automate your finances. Have Your Paycheck Deposited Instead of going to the bank each pay period, have your employer automatically deposit your paycheck into your bank … [Read more...]
How to Live an Awesome Life on the Cheap
Want to know a little secret? You don’t have to spend a lot of money to enjoy life. In fact, as long as your basic needs are covered, there’s no reason to spend extra money to buy happiness. Of course, we all have those things we enjoy that help us unwind after a long day. Let’s look at how to live an awesome life on the cheap. Cut the Cord Look, most of us enjoy watching TV. However, no one enjoys paying roughly $150 per month for the privilege. Guess what though. You don’t have to. There are … [Read more...]
How to Create a Budget {when you don't know how to get started}
Whether you've just moved out on your own or are having to watch what you spend for the first time, you may not know where to begin to create a budget. However, taking the time to learn can make a huge difference in your life and help you create a better future for yourself and your family. Let's take a closer look. Consider Your Income First things first. You need to look at how much money your family is bringing in each month. It's important to know how much you're making so you'll know how … [Read more...]
4 Reasons Why You Should be Debt-Free Before You Buy a House
Buying a home is the American dream. Who doesn’t want a place to call their own and to invest in their future rather than someone else’s? But before you rush out and start hunting for the perfect house, you need to consider your finances. Let’s take a closer look at why you should be debt-free before you buy a house. You Need to Learn to Be Financially Responsible Just because you carry debt doesn’t mean you’re not financially responsible. How you got into debt determines that. If you’re the … [Read more...]
7 Tricks to Clear the Paper Clutter
I don't know about you, but I hate paper clutter! Not only do I feel completely disorganized with paper clutter all around me, but I waste so much time searching for the papers that I really do need. Plus, being disorganized can cost money if you end up forgetting to pay bills and have to pay late fees. Paper clutter multiplies tenfold during the school year. Although teachers and the school use e-mail to communicate, it still feels like each teacher kills a tree with the … [Read more...]
7 Replacement Items You Need to Include in Your Sinking Funds
Do you hate being hit with the “unexpected?” The truth is much of what we consider unexpected should have been expected. One way to plan for these expenses is to have a sinking fund. A sinking fund is an account you add to on a regular basis to cover items that need to be replaced over and over again. Let’s look at replacement items you need to include in your sinking funds. Household Appliances Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to buy a new appliance when you needed it without going into … [Read more...]
16 Secrets to Saving Money at Costco
I love Costco. We've been members for about 15 years, and we shop there just about every week. There is a membership fee, so it's not for everyone, but here are my favorite secrets for saving money at Costco. Automatic Coupons - Every month, Costco mails its members a coupon book full of items with instant coupons for the month. I get so excited when I find items that I regularly buy at Costco anyway that have a coupon. However, don't go overboard and buy tons of extra … [Read more...]
7 Tricks to Save Money on a Rental Car
Headed on a road trip this summer? Check out these 7 hacks to get the best deal on your car rental so you can find the best discounts and save money on your vacation. It’s a good idea to rent a car when going on vacation. The only problem is that some rental agencies charge insane prices. How can you get the reliability of a rental car without the huge fees? Let’s take a closer look at how to save money a rental car. Compare Prices You don't have to accept the first price you find on a … [Read more...]
How to Deal with the Unexpected Costs of Childhood Cancer
This post was sponsored by The National Children's Cancer Society (NCCS) and all opinions expressed in my post are my own. Did you know that more than 40 children are diagnosed with cancer each day? Having a child diagnosed with cancer is devastating to a family! As the family rallies around the child and worries about their health and future, the last thing they want to worry about is finances. However, 1 in 4 families lost over 40% of their annual income due to treatment related … [Read more...]
5 Tricks to Get Deals on Last-Minute Travel
You’re throwing caution to the wind and getting away for the weekend. Or, maybe it’s not a fun trip, but you need to travel last minute. While a last-minute airline ticket can be expensive, there are ways to save money. Let’s take a closer look at how get deals on last-minute travel. Be Willing to Travel Anywhere If you’re just wanting to get away for a little while, you can save a lot of money by being willing to travel anywhere. Call your favorite airline and see which tickets are the best … [Read more...]
How to Organize Your Important Documents
If something were to happen to you, would your loved ones be able to find the documents they need to settle your estate? If you needed to leave your home in a hurry, could you grab these papers quickly? It’s important that these documents are in a safe place and well organized. Let’s take a closer look at how to organize your important documents. Sort the Paperwork This is something that many people dread. Sitting down to sort through possibly years and years of paperwork can be daunting. … [Read more...]
How to Recover From Holiday Overspending
The holidays are over and it’s time to start thinking about all the money you spent. There’s no denying the fact that spending money during the holidays can be fun. There’s also no denying the fact that facing the aftermath can be a nightmare. If you overindulged over the holidays, you can get back on your feet again. Here’s how to recover from holiday overspending. Do a Reality Check This is the worst part. You’re going to want to sit down and face reality. Grab your receipts, log into your … [Read more...]
5 Money Lessons to Teach Your Kids Before College
Scroll through Facebook and you’ll be stunned at how little today’s youth really know about money. In fact, some teens don’t even know how to pay for gas when using cash. It’s enough to make any parent worry about the world she is sending her kids into. Thankfully you can prevent your kids from floundering. Let’s take a closer look at money lessons to teach your kids before college. How to Set Financial Goals Every child should know how to set a financial goal. It might be buying a bike or … [Read more...]
Should You Buy a Home Warranty?
You’re buying a home and offered the option to purchase a home warranty. Sounds like a no-brainer, right? Not exactly. Truthfully, a home warranty can have its benefits but there are also many drawbacks. Let’s take a closer look whether or not you should get a home warranty. What Is a Home Warranty? A home warranty is a contract that will cover needed repairs in your home. Many people opt to get a warranty to avoid dipping into their savings account to pay for repairs or to prevent having to … [Read more...]
How to Prepare for a Hurricane
Hurricane season is no joke for those that live in the path of storms. Even those far inland can see the effects as the hurricane is downgraded to a tropical storm. The biggest problem is that many people aren’t prepared. Taking the time to get your home and yourself prepared can make a world of difference. Let’s look at how to prepare for a hurricane. Pay Close Attention to the Storm’s Path A storm’s path can change multiple times in one day. If you’re anywhere near the path, you need to … [Read more...]