Personal Finance Advice

Last year there were changes to our health insurance plan. The employer has always used a high deductible plan and they have always been kind enough to contribute $2,000 toward that deductible. The money has always been available at the first of the year. Well, last year, they got a new plan. It’s still a [...]

Reality set in today as I received my monthly health insurance bill: a painful $485. That will be nearly $6,000 a year out of the $17,000 budget or about one-third of all the money I have. This makes it very easy to understand why most people on a minimum wage simply choose to go without [...]

The fact that I really dislike driving would seem to make the choice here rather easy. If I had my choice, I would not drive at all (and quite frankly, it’s ironic the amount that I do drive with this attitude). I really miss the days when I lived in Japan where the public transportation [...]

You’d think that if a manufacturer offers a warranty, getting service or a replacement under that warranty would be easy. You’d think that al you’d have to do is call the manufacturer, provide proof of purchase, and get your problem taken care of. Oh, if only it were that simple. While some manufacturers are great [...]

We all tend to take our independence for granted. We take for granted our ability to make decisions just for us, to spend our money how we want, to go where we want, and do what we want. We take it all for granted until, for whatever reason, it’s gone. I have a relative that [...]

Long-term disability insurance is one of those financial instruments that most people should have, yet few people do. It’s designed to pay you in the event that you become so injured or ill that you can no longer work. How much you’ll get will depend on the type of policy you have (generally sixty to [...]

This week I’m giving you a quick PSA about the value of making sure your essential information and items are fully protected. My in-laws’ house burned down last weekend. To the ground. The good news is that no one was hurt, either human or animal. The bad news is that there is nothing left. Along [...]

I don’t consider myself a soapbox preacher, but the issue of texting and driving is one of those that gets me going. It frustrates me to no end that people think those little messages are so important that they are worth endangering lives over. Of course, the problem is that no one really believes they’re [...]

One of the biggest disgraces of the school system is that it often fails to teach basics that we all need for everyday life once we graduate. A prime example of this is basic personal finances. If we could get more students to graduate from high school with a basic understanding of how personal finances [...]

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about how the “Emergency Fund” should really be called something else, since so few financial events are really emergencies. Regardless of what you call it, you need to be setting money aside to cover car repairs/replacement, appliance replacements, home maintenance, medical expenses, and all those pesky problems of [...]

Many people often pay their bills while grumbling about how much they have to pay. It’s true that many services are very overpriced, but what most people don’t realize is that some of these services can easily be lowered. Sometimes all you have to do is make a phone call to the customer service department [...]

While I’m all for being frugal, there are some things that you just don’t want to skimp on. Some things are so important to your health or safety that it simply isn’t wise or cost-effective to look for the cheapest options, or to skip the item altogether in the name of “saving money.” While everyone [...]

When it comes to saving money on your car, there are things that you can do besides trying to find the lowest gas prices in town to reduce the amount that you spend. Many people don’t realize that there are a number of gadgets on the market that can help you save money. Here are [...]

Managing your money is hard and the current times make it more so. The fact is, though, it’s never been more important to get a handle on your personal finances than in today’s economy. Regardless of whether you’re a wage earner or one of the growing number of self-employed individuals, knowing where you stand financially [...]

By Sara Lennon If there was a big list entitled “The Procrastinator’s Massive List of Stuff That Never Gets Done”, you can put a fair bet that saving money on insurance would be near the top. However, that doesn’t make it a bad idea: sparing a couple of hours to seriously consider your options could [...]

A woman that I know casually from church recently lost her husband. He died after a long illness at the young age of forty-two. Any way you look at it, it’s a tragedy. However, there is one bright spot. The husband had a large life insurance policy in place and, since the couple was frugal [...]

When it comes to getting life insurance, most of us tend to shy away from really thinking about why we need it. It doesn’t matter whether you fall into the low risk or high risk life insurance category, we’d all rather ignore the reason that it’s purchased in the first place. For this reason, most [...]

Many years ago I worked in a municipal permits and inspections department. Builders came in and applied for permits, we issued them and then took care of the inspections to make sure that homes and business were being built according to the current building codes. You wouldn’t think there would be too many money lessons [...]

Most people only consider the cost of cigarettes when they calculate how much smoking is costing them. It’s easy to calculate this cost as you know exactly how much you are handing over in cash for each pack of cigarettes you purchase. The truth, however, is that the cost of cigarettes is only a small [...]

The daughter of a friend of mine is getting married in a few weeks. While the guy seems very nice, I’m worried about the match. The daughter isn’t, in any way, prepared for financial independence. She just finished college and hasn’t had a “real” job yet. She only makes a few hundred dollars per month [...]