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Our Experience Bypassing Auto Insurance

April 4, 2022 By MelissaB Leave a Comment

Bypassing Auto Insurance

A few years ago, my husband and I decided to travel with our then three-year-old to visit my alma mater. We were driving around, seeing the sites when we were rear-ended. The driver, a man in his thirties like us, was apologetic and gave us his license, name, and number. And then he said that he wanted to pay for the damages himself, bypassing auto insurance.

Our Experience Bypassing Auto Insurance

I don’t know the details of why this man wanted to bypass auto insurance. I assumed he already had some claims on his insurance and didn’t want to add more. Not only would that raise the price of his insurance, but if he had several claims on his insurance in a short time, his insurance company might drop his coverage.

My husband and I lived five hours from my alma mater, so all communication was done via phone.

Getting an Estimate

I went to a local repair shop and got an estimate for the damage. The total came to $1,462. I got a copy of the receipt and sent it to the man who hit us.

He didn’t ask for a second opinion. He accepted the quote and promptly sent me a check. However, when I received the payment, he had transversed his numbers and sent us $1,642, $180 more than the estimate.

I notified him about the overpayment, but he didn’t want to hassle with anything. He told me to keep the extra money. At this point, I think he just wanted to get the repair done.

We Were Lucky

Looking back, the man who rear-ended us was lucky because my husband and I are honest. I knew that the man was trusting us, so I went to a shop we had used for repairs before and that I trusted. I didn’t try to milk the man for more money.

We were lucky because the man who hit us was motivated to keep this accident off his insurance record and get the process over and done with. He paid us promptly.

Would I Do It Again?

Bypassing Auto Insurance

Would I bypass auto insurance again? It depends. I recognize that I could have had an issue with the man not paying, but I didn’t. He was honest.

Still, when you bypass auto insurance, you take a risk. If I just had a minor fender bender, I may take that risk again. However, I would write down the other driver’s auto insurance company and policy number, so I would have recourse if he failed to pay.

If the accident was more than a fender bender, no, I would not bypass auto insurance. The repair cost would likely be higher than a thousand dollars, and I wouldn’t want to risk losing that much money. Also, a more significant accident would require calling the police. Then an insurance claim would need to be filed.

Have you ever bypassed auto insurance? If so, what was your experience?

Read More

In a Car Accident? Should You Pay Out of Pocket for Repairs?

Does Your Car Insurance Pay for These Items?

5 Strategies to Buy a Used Car Without Being Scammed

MelissaB
MelissaB

Melissa is a writer and virtual assistant. She earned her Master’s from Southern Illinois University, and her Bachelor’s in English from the University of Michigan. When she’s not working, you can find her homeschooling her kids, reading a good book, or cooking. She resides in New York, where she loves the natural beauty of the area.

www.momsplans.com/

Filed Under: Cars, Insurance Tagged With: auto insurance, car accident

How to Financially Prepare for Your Death

January 24, 2022 By MelissaB Leave a Comment

 

No one likes to think about the day when you leave this Earth. It’s depressing and scary. Most of us would rather spend our time living our life. However, if you have parents or older relatives who died, you may have had the challenging task of cleaning out their homes and trying to arrange their finances. For most people, this is no easy task because the individuals never took steps to make the process easier for loved ones. If you don’t want your family to go through the same difficulty when you pass on, take these steps to financially prepare for your death.

How to Financially Prepare for Your Death

Below, you can find an end-of-life planning guide to help you emotionally and financially prepare for your death while removing any future burden from your loved ones.

Make Funeral Arrangements

Having been through the death of loved ones, I can tell you that the last thing you want to do when you’ve lost someone is to go to the funeral home and make arrangements. If you do this yourself so your family doesn’t have to, you will be giving them an incredible gift.

Create a List of People to Tell

Make a list of people you would like notified in the event of your death. Of course, that includes family and friends. But also include companies that you contracted with.

I’m currently making my list for my husband because I handle all of our finances. I have several accounts with food delivery services like Imperfect Foods, Misfits Market, ButcherBox, and Good Chop. He’d have no idea about these services until the food showed up at our doorstep. He’ll need to know how to contact the companies and stop the deliveries.

When working with my mom, I need to know how to contact some of her friends that I know of but don’t know how to reach in the event of her death. The same goes for companies like her home security system.

Names on Bills

If you have one partner who handles the money, or if you are single, carefully consider the names on your bills.

When Both Spouses Are Alive

If both spouses are alive, have both partners’ names on each bill, if you can. Then, if one partner passes away, the other partner has access to the accounts because his name is on them.

Some companies will only let one person’s name be on the account. If that is the case, make sure the spouse knows the web address to log into the account and how to pay the bill. Then the account can be kept current until you get the death certificate and can close the account and open a new one in the surviving spouse’s name.

Add an Adult Child’s Name on Bills

If you are single and have adult children, add the child’s name to your account. Then, the child can access the account if you suddenly pass away. However, only take this step if both the child and the parent have trust in one another and are both financially responsible.

Access to Important Documents

The person closest to you and most likely to handle your affairs when you pass away—your spouse or children or close family friend—should know how to access your important documents.

Keep Paperwork in One Place

How to Financially Prepare for Your Death
Open safe deposit box with money, jewels and golden ingot. 3d illustration

Keep all of your important paperwork such as will, trust, and life insurance policy in one safe, secure spot that the person who handles your affairs knows about. Some people choose to keep these documents in a bank safety deposit box. Others keep them in a safe in their home. Either way, make sure your trusted contact has the key.

List of Accounts and Passwords

Create a list of all of the accounts that you have and the user ID and passwords so that whoever manages your affairs after you pass can close accounts and pay the remaining bills. You’ll want to list the accounts for all of the services and bills that you have as well as social media accounts.

People often forget the most important passwords—those to your cell phone and computer.

Clean Out Your House

We’ve all heard horror stories of parents who pass away, leaving their children to clean up their homes. If you pass away at 80 and you’ve lived in your house for 50 years, you’ve likely accumulated a lot of stuff. Your basement, garage, and closets may be full. Your adult children do not want to spend weeks sifting through all of your belongings trying to decide what to keep, what to throw, and what to sell.

When you move into a new house, routinely go through it every year or two to throw or give away items you no longer need or that no longer work. Continue doing this throughout your life, and your children won’t face 50 years of accumulated stuff when you pass away.

Don’t Keep Secrets about Power of Attorney & Will

If you don’t want your death to cause hard feelings, be honest before you die about who you have given power of attorney to and why. You should also share what your will contains so no one is surprised after your death.

When my paternal great uncle died, his will was a surprise. He did not split his assets evenly among his children, and the members of his large family had hard feelings toward one another. Even though my great uncle died more than three years ago, the children are fractured and don’t talk to one another due to the contents of the will.

Final Thoughts

None of us likes to think about dying, but all of us will die one day. If you’re able to face your mortality, you can give your spouse and children a great gift by taking these steps to financially prepare for your death. Those you leave behind will be forever grateful for the actions you took while you were alive to make their job of closing your estate easier after you’re gone.

Read More

What to Do with a Sudden Large Sum of Money,

Reasons Why You Need a Will Even If You’re Broke,

How to Handle Financially Toxic Parents

MelissaB
MelissaB

Melissa is a writer and virtual assistant. She earned her Master’s from Southern Illinois University, and her Bachelor’s in English from the University of Michigan. When she’s not working, you can find her homeschooling her kids, reading a good book, or cooking. She resides in New York, where she loves the natural beauty of the area.

www.momsplans.com/

Filed Under: Insurance, Married Money Tagged With: death, life insurance, power of attorney, trust, will

Four Ways to Save Big on Your Homeowner’s Insurance

December 28, 2021 By Susan Paige Leave a Comment

saving big on insurance
Obligatory insurance photo

When we are forced to pay something like homeowner’s insurance, it can make us feel a little helpless when it comes to our finances. However, it’s essential protection to have to keep you and your family safe and secure if anything happens to your home.

Since virtually every mortgage company requires borrowers to have a homeowner’s insurance policy, you might as well try to save some money on your premium, right? Below are four proven ways to lower your homeowner’s insurance payments without skimping on the important stuff.

Secure Your Home

Did you know that if you invest in securing your home you can receive a discount on your homeowner’s insurance? That’s right!

When you install smoke detectors, a sprinkler system, deadbolt locks, monitored alarm systems, and more, your insurance company can give you up to a 20% discount on your policy. Not only are you saving money on your homeowner’s insurance, but your home becomes even safer from break-ins, meaning you and your family can sleep peacefully at night.

Increase Your Deductible

Many people make the mistake of having a super low deductible so they don’t have to pay too much out of pocket when they need a home repair. However, this leads to a higher premium each month.

While it may sound strange, increasing your deductible can actually save you money. So, simply increasing it from $500 to $1,000 means you have to spend a grand on repairs before you can file a claim. For example, if you worked with a professional company such as Brickworks Property Restoration to replace your roof, you’d have to pay $1,000 upfront and your insurance policy would cover the rest.

So, just make sure you have enough money saved to pay your deductible when it’s time and you’ll save money each month on your premium.

Bundle Your Insurance Policies

Another way to save on your homeowner’s insurance is to bundle multiple insurance policies. Most insurance companies offer auto and homeowner’s insurance, so if you have a car and a home, you can bundle these policies together and receive a discount on both of them.

Of course, this only works when you have the same insurance company supplying both policies, though. So, you may have to shop around to find a company you like with both policies that fit your needs.

Shop Hard

It never hurts to ask your insurance company about any discounts they may offer. The absolute worst thing that can happen is that they say no.

You never know if they offer military discounts or have a special promotion running for new customers. Just by calling your homeowner’s insurance company and asking if there are any discounts available or that you can work towards, you could save money each month.

A lot of insurance companies may price match.  You just have to ask.

Finally there are lots of apps available that let you comparison shop for insurance.  For example, some of these are:

Thezebra.com

Gabi.com

Jerry.com

And industry leader NerdWallet has an excellent article on comparing insurance rates.

Filed Under: Insurance, Saving Tagged With: homeowners insurance

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