Debt Free Life Hacks: Managing Money Like a Boss

There is a good chance you are paying for something you could get for free. What do I mean? Many companies are beginning to offer bundled products and services which means there may be some opportunities to save on some of your reoccurring expenses.  Ways to Save We all have expenses in our lives that are reoccurring. Think of some subscription services or apps that you pay for every month. First, it's a good idea to evaluate what subscriptions and apps you are actually using. Do you pay for several streaming services but only primarily watch one? If so, maybe it's time to cut the ones you're not watching and save a little dough. That's one way you can bring down your monthly expenses, but not the focus of today. Let's talk about saving using existing connections. T-Mobile Offers Service providers are now tacking on additional bonus items to entice customers. For example, with some T-Mobile plans, you can get Netflix. Do you know what that means? That means you may ...

Have you checked your credit report lately? If you answered no, why not? Under federal law, we are all entitled to receive a free credit report annually from each of the three credit bureaus. During the pandemic, there is even an option to receive free weekly access to our credit reports online! Now, what's your excuse? What is a credit report? A credit report is an organized report of your credit history and activity. Credit info is reported by the three major credit bureaus - Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.  Why are Credit Reports Important? Credit Reports are important for many reasons and one reason we often hear about is how it impacts your credit score. The information reported can impact crucial areas of your financial life. You want to make sure the information reported is accurate, complete, and up to date. This is especially important before a major financial event such as applying for a loan or credit card as the information within your reports may affect the interest...

  A popular approach to paying off debt is something called the Debt Snowball. The idea is that you would make a list of your debts from lowest to highest and then begin to pay down debt starting with the smallest debt and working down the list. This is an excellent way to pay down debt when you need a little extra motivation to push you to achieve your debt payment goals. Those small wins along the way can help give one a sense of accomplishment and hopefully encourage follow-through.  Use the Snowball for Savings I think this approach could be helpful with savings too! A widely used rule of thumb is that we should have an emergency fund that will cover 3-6 months of non-discretionary living expenses. These are expenses that are fixed and would have to be paid even in a situation where you have a loss of income. Think mortgage/rent, car notes, credit card bills, insurance ( life, health, auto, home/renter's ), food, taxes, and utilities.  Saving for a 3-6 month emergency...

The most obvious topic right now is inflation, but everyone's talking about inflation so I'll just move right along.  I recently watched a documentary about a major collapse in the financial banking industry that happened many years ago. When the company filed for bankruptcy, a lot of people lost their jobs and potentially even more. One of the former employees said something in the interview that sort of hit me. She said that amongst all the things that she lost, her vehicle had been repossessed because she could no longer afford to pay the note.  Now alone, that may not seem like that big of a deal - this happens to people sometimes.  But she went on to say that it was the first car she had bought for herself and she only had four months left on the note. That part, to me, was the devastating part; I mean could you imagine? To come so far and then have nothing to show for it. Ouch!😭 Pay it Off If You Can Now I know that every situation is different so I will not assume...

Humans have some horse-like tendencies. Before you get offended, let me explain. I recently went horseback riding for the first time and during that ride, I learned a lesson or two. We chose a private ride instead of a group ride, so there were just three horses including mine. Well, as we were riding, a large group with maybe 15+ horses and riders was passing us. They were going left, and we were going right - well, should have been going right. Unfortunately, my horse Laredo decided to go off course and go left with the group. My memory lapsed and I was unsure of what to do, I tried to do as I had been instructed, but Laredo did not want to turn around. Without getting too far into the weeds, what I learned that day, was that horses are social animals who exhibit herd behavior explaining why he wanted to follow the other horses.  People are similar, often following the crowd. This tends to happen in many facets of life, but we also see this in the world of finance and investing. ...

In a  previous article , I wrote about FICA and how you pay Social Security  and Medicare taxes. Let's dip into that a bit more.  Are you eligible for Social Security benefits? There is an easy way to find out.  I encourage you to create your  "My Social Security"  account on www.ssa.gov to learn about your benefits, view your earnings record, estimate your benefits, and more.  Why do Social Security Benefits Matter? Social Security Benefits could mean different things to different people. Some people use projected benefits to aid in retirement planning. You may choose not to use them in your projections, but it's still a good idea to be aware of your status. You also learn about other benefits you may qualify for. Remember OASDI - Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance ?  All of this information can be found on the SSA's website at  www.ssa.gov.   What's in your Social Security Statement? There's a lot of information in your stat...

There are some topics that we would rather avoid. This is understandable, but it's probably a good idea to have those tough conversations anyway. Today's post is about adding beneficiaries to accounts. Let's get to it! What Happens if Something Happens to You? While it is a little daunting to think about, tomorrow isn't promised for any of us. You work hard for your money and that money allows you to own assets that you hold near and dear. Have you ever thought about what happens to your assets when you're no longer around? Maybe you know exactly what you want to happen, you want it to go to your children, or another loved one. Knowing is one thing, but if you haven't explicitly made this clear,( you know officially ), it may not go to who you want it to go to in the long run.  There's a simple solution that gives you the control to direct what goes to who. Today we'll talk about different accounts you may have ( saving other assets for another post! ). ...

Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda I'm typically not the shoulda woulda coulda type of person, but when it comes to saving for retirement there are some things I would have done differently had I known better. Ignorance may be bliss until you realized that such bliss may have cost you hundreds, really more like thousands in potential earnings and growth.  😲 So what am I babbling on about? The value of time and the power of compound interest . 🤑 I'll Contribute More Now and Catch Up There's a scenario that describes two different investors who begin investing, one starts in their 20's, the other in their 30's. Long story short ( because the long story may bring actual tears to your eyes😢 ), the one who started at a younger age, contributed less, and saved for a shorter period ends up with more money at the age of retirement. See what I mean about shoulda woulda coulda? Yeah...it hurts! Why didn't anyone tell me? With that being said, It's usually best to start wher...

  Let's face it, student loans are annoying! I totally get it. If you were lucky enough to never have to deal with them, good for you! That's awesome. Unfortunately, that isn't the case for many students. Student loan debt has been reported to be in the billions and rising steadily 😔.  It's going on two years now that we've been dealing with this awful pandemic. It's been a tough time for the world. Some are doing better than others, but we cannot deny that it's been rough. On top of that, businesses have been impacted which may have even reached your pockets. Dealing with all of the crazy on top of staying current on your bills may be challenging. A student loan is likely a bill you'd like to forget and maybe one day have forgiven 🤞, and while that's not completely the case, many are getting a little break. Some relief continues to be available for those with student loans. During the pandemic, there have been extensions provided for student loan ...

Sometimes we get so caught up in the day-to-day, that we never take a step back to see the full picture. You may be paying your bills on time, taking care of your responsibilities, and saving, and while those are all good things, are you fully protected? Let's talk a little bit about risk management. What is Risk Management?💭  Sometimes bad things happen, things outside of our control. Simply stated, Risk Management is about reducing the financial impact of adverse events. Some common examples include auto insurance or health insurance. Despite your best efforts to drive safely or eat right and exercise, sometimes emergency situations occur. The financial impact of these occurrences will depend on the ownership and adequacy of the proper insurance, in the case of this example auto insurance or health insurance. A lack of either of the two would cost you more if something were to happen than having the proper coverage.  When we think about Risk Management, we key in on how pro...

Did you know that the government incentivizes taxpayers for certain things? It's true. Take, for example, the Retirement Savings Contribution Credit, commonly referred to as the Saver's Credit. This is a tax credit for taxpayers who invest in their future by saving for retirement. It helps reduce your taxes while at the same time helping you and incentivizing you to save for retirement. How much is the credit? The credit is up to $1000 (up to $2000, if Married Filing Jointly). While this may not seem like very much, every little bit helps, especially when reducing tax liability.  How does it work?  Based on your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) and your filing status for taxes, you can receive a credit of 10%, 20%, or 50% of eligible contributions to a 401(k) or to an individual retirement account (IRA). This is a non-refundable credit that will help reduce the amount of taxes due but cannot be more than the amount of taxes owed.  Who qualifies for the credit? Individu...

  Saving money is great, but watching your money grow is even more rewarding. The rate at which your cash grows depends on the vehicle used to save and invest. When you look at the typical savings account, we can see by the meager interest rates ( if any ) that our money won't do a lot of growing - at least not fast.  So how long will it take to double my money?  There's a simple trick to estimate how long a particular investment will grow based on the interest rate earned; it's called the Rule of 72 . Basically, you take the number 72 and divide it by the interest rate (rate of return) that a particular investment would earn.  Years to Double  = 72/Interest Rate  So if you have a $5,000 investment that will earn 6% per year, then using the Rule of 72, 72/6 tells you that it would take approximately 12 years to double the investment ( $10,000 ). Of course, the higher the interest rate, the less time it would take to double the investment.  Doubling the...