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Our Favorite Small Ways to Save Money

June 6, 2022 By MelissaB 3 Comments

Small Ways to Save Money

Inflation is hitting most households hard. We’re no different. Although we have improved our financial position over the last five years, we still aren’t where we want to be financially, so we continue to be cautious with our finances and not spend more than we need to. Lately, we’ve utilized small ways to save money that help us continue to improve our financial standing.

Let me clarify that we’re not saving a lot of money from any of these strategies, but, overall, they improve our finances.

Small Ways to Save Money

We try to save money in every aspect of our lives.

Discounts on Gas

We have a few ways we try to save money on gas.

Use a Grocery Store Rewards Card

Our local grocery store gives us points for our purchases. We can then redeem those points for an amount off gas. Last month, I redeemed enough points to get $1.00 per gallon off gas, bringing my per gallon price to $3.49 instead of $4.49.

Use a Credit Card With Cash back Rewards

One of our credit cards is giving 5% cash back on gas purchases for April through June, so whenever my husband and I fill up, we always use that card, so we get some cash back that we can redeem later.

Combining Errands & Staying Home

Not everyone has the luxury to stay home more, but we do because we both work from home. We try to limit our trips, but when we do make them, we try to combine errands so we’re not driving around multiple times per day or even per week.

Strategically Using Cash Back Credit Cards

I alluded to this above, but we strategically use our cash back credit cards to maximize the money we get back. We have three credit cards, all of which offer cash back. Every quarter, we opt-in for the cash back bonuses and utilize those categories for those purchases.

For instance, our Discover card offers 5% cash back for gas purchases from April through June, so we only use that card for gas. We use our other credit card that offers 2% cash back on all purchases for everything else.

Just as importantly, we also choose not to activate certain 5% cash back bonuses. For instance, one card is offering 5% cash back for dining out. We didn’t activate that one because we never dine out, and I certainly wouldn’t start dining out just to get 5% cash back.

Shopping Clearance Sales

I always like to browse the clearance section, but that’s more important now than ever.

Grocery Store Clearance

Recently, I have found some excellent grocery store clearance items. A week after Easter, I found a one-pound package of diced him on clearance for 49 cents. Yes, please! I bought two and used them as the meat in some soup recipes that I made.

Whenever I find clearance meat, I buy it and stick it in the freezer for later use. I also do the same with clearance dry goods, as long as they’re foods I know that we’ll eat.

Clearance Clothing

Small Ways to Save Money

A few weeks ago, my daughters and I went to Kohl’s to shop the clearance winter clothes racks. We bought our clothes for next winter at a steep discount. We’ve packed them away and will take them out in a few months when the weather starts to change. To sweeten the deal, we received Kohl’s cash, which we redeemed to buy winter boots that were on clearance.

Canceled Excess Subscriptions

With two teens in the house and one pre-teen, we have a lot of streaming services. Most of these aren’t expensive–$5 to $10 a month. However, when you have several of them, the price adds up. I polled the kids to see what streaming services they use, and I cut the rest. That saved us $20 per month, or $240 a year. While this amount isn’t huge, why pay the money when the services weren’t even being used? That’s silly.

Waiting to Make Major Purchases

One of the biggest ways we’re saving money in this current economic climate is to avoid making major purchases. Our minivan is 18 years old and has 230,000 miles on it.  We’d like to replace it, but new minivans are out of our price range, and used ones now cost almost as much as new ones. In addition, we don’t want to take out a car loan since the interest rates are increasing. Instead, we are waiting to buy a replacement vehicle.

That means we spent $1,500 recently repairing the van. My kids are constantly embarrassed about driving such an old minivan. (To be fair, I understand their feelings. The paint is peeling off, and the hubcaps are off. One passenger side door no longer opens.) However, we’ve decided, for now, that holding on to our current vehicle is the prudent option. Besides, driving around in such an old vehicle is character-building for the kids.

Saving on a Rental Car

Small Ways to Save Money

We took a family vacation this month, so we opted to rent a car and saved two ways.

Use Our Costco Card

First, we used our Costco card to save more than 25% on the cost of the rental vehicle. We only book rental cars through the Costco travel section because the discount is enormous.

Opted Out of Rental Car Insurance

We also opted not to purchase the rental car insurance. I called our insurance, and they confirmed that our insurance would cover any problems except for the rental car company’s loss of use charge should the vehicle be in an accident and unusable. We added a $6 rider to cover loss of use.

I also paid with our credit card that provides secondary insurance for a rental car. If we need to use our car insurance on the rental, this credit card would cover our deductible.

Final Thoughts

Living in a time of high inflation is difficult. We’re blessed that we’re both employed and are in a comfortable enough financial position that we can weather this current economic struggle. Even so, we’re taking these small steps to save money, so we can continue to improve our financial position.

Read More

8 Ways to Stop Food Waste

Save Money with Buy Nothing Groups

How We Save Money with Ting as Our Cell Phone Provider

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: budget, Frugality, Married Money, Saving Tagged With: car rental, grocery shopping, inflation, rental car insurance, ways to save money

Should You Only Get Your Teens Braces If They Want Them?

April 18, 2022 By MelissaB 1 Comment

Only Get Your Kids Braces If They Want Them

Do your kids have braces? If so, they join the nearly 70% of teenagers between the ages of 12 and 17 who have or have had braces (Kennell Orthodontics). Most orthodontic treatments cost between $3,000 and $7,000, representing a serious investment for parents. Unfortunately, many teens don’t appreciate this financial investment, which begs the question, should you only get your teens braces if they want them?

My Braces Story

When I was a teen, I didn’t need braces, but I did need a retainer. I found the retainer uncomfortable, and I had a lisp when I talked with it. I had to tell my teacher I was missing page 66 in a textbook, and with the retainer, what I sounded like was, “I’m mithin’ page thixty thix.” He couldn’t understand me and had to ask another student to translate.

I took the retainer out every day to eat lunch and wrapped it in a napkin. However, one day I accidentally threw it away. To this day, my mom thinks I did it on purpose, but I didn’t. She didn’t buy me a replacement retainer, and my brief stint in the orthodontics world was over.

My Children’s Braces Stories

I have three kids. The older two needed braces; the younger one did not.

Only Get Your Teen Braces If They Want Them

My son disliked his braces. When the treatment was over, he never wore his retainer. My husband and I spent over $3,500 for his orthodontic treatment. We feel that we wasted money because, without a retainer, his teeth continue to shift. I wouldn’t be surprised if someday they’re back where they were before we started treatment.

Our daughter doesn’t like braces, but she fastidiously maintains them. Even though she’s in treatment, I do not doubt that she will religiously wear her retainer and maintain her new smile.

Should You Only Get Your Teen Braces If They Want Them?

That’s a tough question because I feel that I wasted my money on one child but not the other. Ultimately, I would say the decision comes down to how much will the child be impacted in the future if he does not get braces?

If the child has overcrowding or an under or overbite that may cause damage to her teeth in adulthood, then you should get them braces. However, if the teeth are simply overlapping or have gaps in them, perhaps you could gauge whether or not you should get him braces based on his interest.

Final Thoughts

I’m not a doctor, so I am only giving my opinion as a parent with two kids who had braces and had vastly different behavior towards those braces. As a parent, I’m frustrated by paying thousands of dollars for a child who won’t maintain that dental work.  I’m sure my mom was just as frustrated by me.

Unfortunately, the optimal time for orthodontic work is during the teen years, when most kids aren’t particularly responsible. As for me, I sought orthodontic treatment in adulthood to fix my teeth, and I was much more responsible than I was as a teen, especially since I was the one paying for it.

Read More

The Best Spacing of Children for Your Finances

The Importance of Fixing Things Sooner Rather Than Later

Why You Should Get Braces for Your Child When Needed

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: Children, Financial Mistakes, General Finance, Married Money Tagged With: braces, orthodontics, teenagers

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

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