This is the shortened version of how I fought Bank of America and won. It saved me an unknown amount of money.
I am not one to take things lying down. When my child was born, she spent three days in NICU, at which time numerous doctors visited her. One of these doctors wanted to charge me over $1,000 for a visit no one ever mentioned to any of us. I fought this one like crazy and ended up not having to pay it: you see, they weren't supposed to charge separately since they 1) never obtained parental permission to even look at my child, and 2) were considered a part of the hospital/NICU bill. It took me MONTHS and numerous phone calls, but I know my consumer rights! AND if I don't know them, I will research and learn them quickly!!
Several years ago, I took out a debt consolidation loan through NEA/MBNA. Bank of America bought the loan, and everything was fine, until one day they sent a letter stating that they were going to change this fixed rate loan to a variable interest rate. We all know what could have happened from there. My low 6.99% fixed rate would have hiked up to 30%. It would have been absurd.
I didn't take this! I emailed everyone I could find. I researched names of officials who worked for Bank of America, all the way up to the President. I emailed my Attorney General and every Congress person in my area...and then some. It took me several weeks and was incredibly stressful. I was not alone. I found message boards and blogs about this and similar Bank of America issues. I found out that a few people were able to get their fixed rate FIXED permanently, yet the rest of us were still struggling with this.
So, in one of my pleas, I mentioned this and the utter unfairness of it all: if ONE person could remain fixed, so should ALL persons. Otherwise, it is unfair business practices. The 95 year old man who can barely see and hardly has the energy to fight this battle should not suffer while I'm enjoying my fixed interest rate.
I found the right name at last. I emailed this name. Truly, this isn't very difficult. Once you figure out the suffix to email addresses and how they format the name, you can pretty much email anyone within a company. So, if they are Bob Duckers and they work for Duckorama.com, their email address could quite possibly be bob.duckers@duckorama.com. You get the drift.
I found the right name at last, in a news article. This person was a government liason with BofA. He took action.
Within two weeks, I got a letter in the mail stating that Bank of America was retracting their decision and all of these particular fixed rate loans under this category...ALL...not just mine....would remain fixed. I didn't fight this battle alone, but did I have SOMETHING to do with the outcome? Damn right I did!!!
My point is that you should NOT take things lying down, especially when it comes to money. Businesses will try to screw you: not all, but many. Stay informed and take the extra steps to ask questions and gain information that is rightfully yours. Information is power. Without it businesses can AND WILL screw you: many industries are counting on people just paying bills and not being informed.
According to Time Value Software's Loan Payoff Calculator, the one month difference in interest COULD have looked like this:
6.99% - monthly interest on this loan = $151
10% - monthly interest on this loan = $217
15% - monthly interest on this loan = $325
30% - monthly interest on this loan = $650
We'll go on the conservative side and say they would have only raised it to 10%. (Let's face it: this is Bank of America, and we ALL know they were doing this so they could raise the interest to at least 15% and make a tons of money....this is right around the time of the bailout!!)
At 10%, I would have been paying an extra $66 a month. NO, I wasn't already paying this out and gaining the money back. But imagine what my monthly bill would have been had I not been so proactive! I'm counting this as savings!!!
Where are we now with monthly savings?
Tip#1 - Dish Towels $5 per month
Tip#2 - Dump Cable $92 per month
Tip#3 - Homemade Goodness $24 per month
Tip#4 - Esurance.com $139
Tip#5 - Eat at home $70
Tip#6 - Insulation $50
Tip #7 - Interest Saved $66
Total per month: $446
Total per year: $5,352 (AT LEAST!!!)
Monday, May 16, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Tip #6: Up to $4,560 SAVED PER YEAR - Insulate your windows and garage
This is a do-it-yourself activity. It does take money up front, but the savings is AWESOME!
Keep this in mind: I live in Central Texas, where summer temperatures can easily stay above 100 degrees for more than two months.
We moved into our home in 2006. Before this we were living in apartments, and our electric bills weren't high. Honestly, I was expecting our electric bills to go up in our house drastically, but they weren't as TERRIBLE as I thought. Yes, there were months that we paid $225, and it did hurt; but I've heard horror stories about the bills being over $500. I was afraid of this, but we did move into a smaller home without vaulted ceilings: I know this made a difference.
The first summer was hot in the house, mostly because he had no curtains or decent blinds: we had those plastic blinds that don't do much at all.
We watched for sales and finally lucked out. I'd signed up for JCPenney Rewards, and they started sending all sorts of coupons. One month, I had a coupon to save $20 off of a purchase of $75 or more, and I also had a coupon to save $10 off any $10 purchase (I get these once a month: it's how I buy new clothing for my daughter for next to nothing. THANK YOU JCPENNEY!!)
We noticed that JCPenney had wooden blinds on sale, so we talked the people into letting us use both coupons. We spent $75 on blinds that could have easily cost us $375. We used these in the living room. A couple of weeks later, I found some AWESOME insulated curtains for our sliding glass door at Bed, Bath, and Beyond on their clearance table. I was able to get these for $30! I also got curtains for two other windows at Target for $40. Anyone whose ever bought curtains: you know this is a bargain!
Yes, this was an investment, but it cut our electric bill down the next summer. The highest it went that summer was $195. Still high, but it was lower than the previous summer.
The problem was that we were still having to run our A/C on 74 to cool the house. This was putting an incredible amount of pressure on the A/C, and it froze up. The repair person was able to fix it, but we knew we needed to reduce its workload.
We decided we needed to insulate the garage. My husband and I spent one Saturday in the attic laying insulation. We didn't insulate the attic ceiling; we merely rolled out insulation on the floor of the attic. We opted for rolled because it was on sale at Lowes. We also bought insulation panels for our garage door, and custom cut them ourselves. The kits were too expensive for the same grade of insulation. We spent under $200 on all of this insulation.
NOTE: DO NOT STAPLE IT DOWN!!!!!!! You could electrocute yourself. Too, cut the insulation around fixtures so that it is not touching them. And roll it out such that the paper side is facing down. If you're too nervous about doing it right, pay someone. We weren't nervous, and it turned out just fine. Do some research. We watched many videos such as these on YouTube before embarking upon this adventure.
Immediately, we felt the difference. I mean IMMEDIATELY. We were able to run our A/C that evening on 78 instead of 74 - a HUGE difference. Then came the moment of truth: our HIGHEST summer bill that summer was $174, down from $225 - a $50 savings!
In the last thirteen months, eight of our electric bills have been BELOW $100 and NONE of them have been over $200. A remarkable difference: the insulation paid for itself within four months.
Where are we now with monthly savings?
Tip#1 - Dish Towels $5 per month
Tip#2 - Dump Cable $92 per month
Tip#3 - Homemade Goodness $24 per month
Tip#4 - Esurance.com $139
Tip#5 - Eat at home $70
Tip#6 - Insulation $50
Total per month: $380
Total per year: $4,560
Keep this in mind: I live in Central Texas, where summer temperatures can easily stay above 100 degrees for more than two months.
We moved into our home in 2006. Before this we were living in apartments, and our electric bills weren't high. Honestly, I was expecting our electric bills to go up in our house drastically, but they weren't as TERRIBLE as I thought. Yes, there were months that we paid $225, and it did hurt; but I've heard horror stories about the bills being over $500. I was afraid of this, but we did move into a smaller home without vaulted ceilings: I know this made a difference.
The first summer was hot in the house, mostly because he had no curtains or decent blinds: we had those plastic blinds that don't do much at all.
We watched for sales and finally lucked out. I'd signed up for JCPenney Rewards, and they started sending all sorts of coupons. One month, I had a coupon to save $20 off of a purchase of $75 or more, and I also had a coupon to save $10 off any $10 purchase (I get these once a month: it's how I buy new clothing for my daughter for next to nothing. THANK YOU JCPENNEY!!)
We noticed that JCPenney had wooden blinds on sale, so we talked the people into letting us use both coupons. We spent $75 on blinds that could have easily cost us $375. We used these in the living room. A couple of weeks later, I found some AWESOME insulated curtains for our sliding glass door at Bed, Bath, and Beyond on their clearance table. I was able to get these for $30! I also got curtains for two other windows at Target for $40. Anyone whose ever bought curtains: you know this is a bargain!
Yes, this was an investment, but it cut our electric bill down the next summer. The highest it went that summer was $195. Still high, but it was lower than the previous summer.
The problem was that we were still having to run our A/C on 74 to cool the house. This was putting an incredible amount of pressure on the A/C, and it froze up. The repair person was able to fix it, but we knew we needed to reduce its workload.
We decided we needed to insulate the garage. My husband and I spent one Saturday in the attic laying insulation. We didn't insulate the attic ceiling; we merely rolled out insulation on the floor of the attic. We opted for rolled because it was on sale at Lowes. We also bought insulation panels for our garage door, and custom cut them ourselves. The kits were too expensive for the same grade of insulation. We spent under $200 on all of this insulation.
NOTE: DO NOT STAPLE IT DOWN!!!!!!! You could electrocute yourself. Too, cut the insulation around fixtures so that it is not touching them. And roll it out such that the paper side is facing down. If you're too nervous about doing it right, pay someone. We weren't nervous, and it turned out just fine. Do some research. We watched many videos such as these on YouTube before embarking upon this adventure.
Immediately, we felt the difference. I mean IMMEDIATELY. We were able to run our A/C that evening on 78 instead of 74 - a HUGE difference. Then came the moment of truth: our HIGHEST summer bill that summer was $174, down from $225 - a $50 savings!
In the last thirteen months, eight of our electric bills have been BELOW $100 and NONE of them have been over $200. A remarkable difference: the insulation paid for itself within four months.
Where are we now with monthly savings?
Tip#1 - Dish Towels $5 per month
Tip#2 - Dump Cable $92 per month
Tip#3 - Homemade Goodness $24 per month
Tip#4 - Esurance.com $139
Tip#5 - Eat at home $70
Tip#6 - Insulation $50
Total per month: $380
Total per year: $4,560
Groupon, Mamapedia, LivingSocial, and other EXTREME couponing
I'm signed up for almost all of these services, yet I rarely have the "extra" money to spend on the items they're offering.
I want to know: how many of you are actually "SAVING" money using these services: or are people spending money on services they wouldn't normally buy just because there is a coupon attached?
Seriously. I want to hear your savings stories. I am very interested!
Too, I've been looking at Amazon's couponing books: which of these are the best reads?
living
I want to know: how many of you are actually "SAVING" money using these services: or are people spending money on services they wouldn't normally buy just because there is a coupon attached?
Seriously. I want to hear your savings stories. I am very interested!
Too, I've been looking at Amazon's couponing books: which of these are the best reads?
living
Life's little reminders...
I'm straying a bit from my typical blog entry. I need to vent.
It's been one of those months, the kind that reminds you of just how easy it is to be thrown under a bus by the economy, the kind that reminds you of just WHY it is so important to cut spending where you can. I'm glad that I have cut SO much from our spending, or I'd be hurting even more right now.
My husband just opened a new business on April 1. Amazing the journey he's gone through to get to this point! Of course, we're bootstrapping this simply because NO BANKS would give him any sort of a loan. Oh, I take this back: Bank of America would have given him a loan if he'd had over $100,000: WHY WOULD HE EVEN NEED A LOAN IN THAT CASE? (This just speaks to the fact that Bank of America is PURE EVIL, but then again, so are all banks...) So, we opened with little money and are taking a HUGE leap of faith. The business is growing very, very slowly...but maybe the "Slow and steady wins the race" theory will work to our benefit here. I hope.
As soon as he opened, my daughter became incredibly ill with a 104.5 fever. Three doctor's visits later, we still didn't know the diagnosis, but we owed nearly $300. Don't even get me started on the medical industry and how much they're overcharging those of us with insurance to make up for those who are on medicaid or medicare.
Then, of course, my husband's car breaks down. When I say breaks down, I don't mean breaks down but is fixable. I mean it needs a new engine. Like that can happen right now. It's not under warranty. In fact, we have not had a car payment for a couple of years, so I guess it is just that time. That's what I get for finally putting a few dollars into savings. And any of you that say I should have a savings account to cover this, you've clearly never lived paycheck to paycheck, barely getting by anyway. You've never had to trim costs down to the bare bone just to make ends meet. Some people simply don't have EXTRA money to put into savings.
I lost my position at work (I'm the sole breadwinner right now), but THANK GOD another position was created that I was eligible to take. It's not as "good" as the other one, but it pays the same. Beggars can't be choosers: I'll take it! I'd be crazy not to.
AND of course, there are the rising gas prices, which are also driving the cost of pretty much everything else up, making it such that my money will not stretch as far as it used to.
Regardless, I'm thankful for what I have, despite my very mild misfortune.
Sound familiar? I'll bet you this is the story of over 1/2 of American right now. It sucks. How many of you are tired as hell of being broke and getting screwed by different big industries? I know I am. SICK OF IT....and I don't really see the light at the end of this economic tunnel in the US yet.
It's been one of those months, the kind that reminds you of just how easy it is to be thrown under a bus by the economy, the kind that reminds you of just WHY it is so important to cut spending where you can. I'm glad that I have cut SO much from our spending, or I'd be hurting even more right now.
My husband just opened a new business on April 1. Amazing the journey he's gone through to get to this point! Of course, we're bootstrapping this simply because NO BANKS would give him any sort of a loan. Oh, I take this back: Bank of America would have given him a loan if he'd had over $100,000: WHY WOULD HE EVEN NEED A LOAN IN THAT CASE? (This just speaks to the fact that Bank of America is PURE EVIL, but then again, so are all banks...) So, we opened with little money and are taking a HUGE leap of faith. The business is growing very, very slowly...but maybe the "Slow and steady wins the race" theory will work to our benefit here. I hope.
As soon as he opened, my daughter became incredibly ill with a 104.5 fever. Three doctor's visits later, we still didn't know the diagnosis, but we owed nearly $300. Don't even get me started on the medical industry and how much they're overcharging those of us with insurance to make up for those who are on medicaid or medicare.
Then, of course, my husband's car breaks down. When I say breaks down, I don't mean breaks down but is fixable. I mean it needs a new engine. Like that can happen right now. It's not under warranty. In fact, we have not had a car payment for a couple of years, so I guess it is just that time. That's what I get for finally putting a few dollars into savings. And any of you that say I should have a savings account to cover this, you've clearly never lived paycheck to paycheck, barely getting by anyway. You've never had to trim costs down to the bare bone just to make ends meet. Some people simply don't have EXTRA money to put into savings.
I lost my position at work (I'm the sole breadwinner right now), but THANK GOD another position was created that I was eligible to take. It's not as "good" as the other one, but it pays the same. Beggars can't be choosers: I'll take it! I'd be crazy not to.
AND of course, there are the rising gas prices, which are also driving the cost of pretty much everything else up, making it such that my money will not stretch as far as it used to.
Regardless, I'm thankful for what I have, despite my very mild misfortune.
Sound familiar? I'll bet you this is the story of over 1/2 of American right now. It sucks. How many of you are tired as hell of being broke and getting screwed by different big industries? I know I am. SICK OF IT....and I don't really see the light at the end of this economic tunnel in the US yet.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Money Saving Tip #5: UP TO $3,960 SAVINGS PER YEAR --- Eat at home more often
This one really should be a no-brainer, but I'm throwing it in anyway. That once a week, $30 - $50 splurge you have at the local eatery could be CUT. Sure, you need to buy groceries to make a meal, but I can guarantee that restaurants are NOT staying in business by charging you exactly what it costs to make the meal.
My FAVORITE food to eat out is Tex-Mex. LOVE IT! But it is really expensive, not to mention really mean to the waist-line, especially when you're not in control of how the food is prepared.
I LOVE this restaurant that makes these AWESOME cheese burritos. Beans, cheese, sour cream, and a flour tortilla, with just a bit of tomatillo sauce. SOOO good. I practiced and learned to make this same meal at home. I was paying $8.99 plus tax and tip, rounded out to about $12.00. By making my own beans, my own flour tortilla, and purchasing the sour cream, a can of tomatillo sauce and cheese (not using all of these ingredients on one burrito), I made the same cheese burrito for about $1.50, as an overestimate.
For three of us to eat the same burrito out, we pay $36.
At home, $5.
Truly, we LOVE to eat out, though. So instead of cutting this out altogether, we just cut back. Instead of going out every weekend, I learned to make some of this yummy stuff at home, and now we have a once a month splurge of eating out together as a family.
And don't even get me started out HOW MUCH YOU NEED TO RETHINK EATING FAST FOOD. Fast food = fast death. 'Nuff said.
For my family, we'll go on the lower end of the $30-$50 estimate. We were spending $30 once per week and cut that down to once per month. We went from $120 to $30 on eating out. Since all months aren't created equally with varying numbers of weeks, we'll look at this differently. We were spending $1,560 eat out per year ($30 X 52 weeks). Now, we're spending $360 ($30 X 12 months). That's a $1,200 difference, divided by 12 months, an average of $100 per month saved. In my house, that's an entire weeks worth of groceries!
Hey - a little side note: If you're spending $1,560 eating out per year, you're spending $15,600 in ten years. By the time your child is old enough to go to college, you've eaten through the entire college fund, at $28,080 in 18 years. Sorry, little guy, you can't go to college because we ate out every week.
But in all fairness, you do have to replace that meal with groceries. So, then let's say that you are paying a 66.6% mark up on the meal. For a $30 meal out, you would only need about $10 to eat that meal at home. So, you're still saving $70 per month from the $100 per month calculation from above.
Where are we now with monthly savings?
Tip#1 - Dish Towels $5 per month
Tip#2 - Dump Cable $92 per month
Tip#3 - Homemade Goodness $24 per month
Tip#4 - Esurance.com $139
Tip#5 - Eat at home $70
Total per month: $330
Total per year: $3,960
I have actually used recipes from these books. Good stuff!!!
My FAVORITE food to eat out is Tex-Mex. LOVE IT! But it is really expensive, not to mention really mean to the waist-line, especially when you're not in control of how the food is prepared.
I LOVE this restaurant that makes these AWESOME cheese burritos. Beans, cheese, sour cream, and a flour tortilla, with just a bit of tomatillo sauce. SOOO good. I practiced and learned to make this same meal at home. I was paying $8.99 plus tax and tip, rounded out to about $12.00. By making my own beans, my own flour tortilla, and purchasing the sour cream, a can of tomatillo sauce and cheese (not using all of these ingredients on one burrito), I made the same cheese burrito for about $1.50, as an overestimate.
For three of us to eat the same burrito out, we pay $36.
At home, $5.
Truly, we LOVE to eat out, though. So instead of cutting this out altogether, we just cut back. Instead of going out every weekend, I learned to make some of this yummy stuff at home, and now we have a once a month splurge of eating out together as a family.
And don't even get me started out HOW MUCH YOU NEED TO RETHINK EATING FAST FOOD. Fast food = fast death. 'Nuff said.
For my family, we'll go on the lower end of the $30-$50 estimate. We were spending $30 once per week and cut that down to once per month. We went from $120 to $30 on eating out. Since all months aren't created equally with varying numbers of weeks, we'll look at this differently. We were spending $1,560 eat out per year ($30 X 52 weeks). Now, we're spending $360 ($30 X 12 months). That's a $1,200 difference, divided by 12 months, an average of $100 per month saved. In my house, that's an entire weeks worth of groceries!
Hey - a little side note: If you're spending $1,560 eating out per year, you're spending $15,600 in ten years. By the time your child is old enough to go to college, you've eaten through the entire college fund, at $28,080 in 18 years. Sorry, little guy, you can't go to college because we ate out every week.
But in all fairness, you do have to replace that meal with groceries. So, then let's say that you are paying a 66.6% mark up on the meal. For a $30 meal out, you would only need about $10 to eat that meal at home. So, you're still saving $70 per month from the $100 per month calculation from above.
Where are we now with monthly savings?
Tip#1 - Dish Towels $5 per month
Tip#2 - Dump Cable $92 per month
Tip#3 - Homemade Goodness $24 per month
Tip#4 - Esurance.com $139
Tip#5 - Eat at home $70
Total per month: $330
Total per year: $3,960
I have actually used recipes from these books. Good stuff!!!
Money Saving Tip #4: Esurance.com
I'm a teacher. For now. We'll see if I "make the cut" in the coming years.
As a teacher, I currently have OK health insurance. It's actually good for me as the employee, but to add my husband and daughter onto the policy was too expensive. So, I shopped around.
For the two of them, I went with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas. I found the policy quote on Esurance.com. It was incredibly easy to navigate. Basically, what I did was calculate out the worst case scenario for a year (isn't that WHY we have health insurance to begin with?) to see which one will be the most cost effective over a twelve-month, deductible period.
My work insurance worked out like this:
On the LOWEST plan, I would be paying $650 a month for myself, my husband, and my child: this equals $7,800 a year.
On the two BCBS plans I have my husband and child on, and the "middle" plan I have myself on (I'm still of child-bearing age and need the maternity coverage just in case), I pay $236 a month: this equals $2832.
A HUGE savings. If you are only looking at premiums as your bottom line, you're saving $414 for a family of three based upon these numbers. You'd have to calculate your own: you may have MUCH better, or sadly, much WORSE health insurance via your employer.
But of course, we know health insurance companies, and we know it doesn't end there.
On the work insurance, we have to meet the family deductible of $2,400 a year before they'll pay for anything. So, now worst case scenario, we're up to $10,200 per year. After that, we'd pay 90% of the bill, with a family out-of-pocket of $5,800 not including the premiums or deductible. So, that would be a total of $16,000 per year.
On the plans I've pieced together by shopping via Esurance.com, my husband has a $5,000 deductible with 100% coverage afterward. The out-of-pocket is $5,000 INCLUDING the deductible, so basically no more than $5,000. My daughter has a $1,200 deductible with 90% coverage, with a $3,000 out-of-pocket including the deductible. And I have a $500 deductible with $3,000 out-of-pocket excluding the deductible. This is $11,500. With the premiums, we're at $14,332.
That is a $1668 savings for the year. Either way, health insurance is a total rip off, but at least know that many of us DO have options! Just because your employer is offering it out doesn't mean that is the BEST deal around.
I suggest creating a chart when comparing the plans. Look at the monthly premium, the deductible, and the out-of-pocket (don't forget to calculate whether or not the out-of-pocket includes or excludes the deductible and any co-pays). Then, work out how much each plan would cost if you had $500 worth of medical bills that year, $5,000 that year, and even $10,000 that year. I've always done this and have narrowed my choices this way. Sometimes what seems crazy - like having a $5,000 deductible, actually would end up being cheaper in the worst case scenario.
Here's a really easy to read page defining the common health insurance terms:
Where are we now with monthly savings?
Tip#1 - Dish Towels $5 per month
Tip#2 - Dump Cable $92 per month
Tip#3 - Homemade Goodness $24 per month
Tip#4 - Esurance.com $139
Total per month: $260
Total per year: $3,120
I haven't read any of these books: I just used my own math skills (hopefully without error) and researched things via the internet. However, you may benefit from viewing them, so why not give it a try! I say the more we know, the better choices we can make.
As a teacher, I currently have OK health insurance. It's actually good for me as the employee, but to add my husband and daughter onto the policy was too expensive. So, I shopped around.
For the two of them, I went with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas. I found the policy quote on Esurance.com. It was incredibly easy to navigate. Basically, what I did was calculate out the worst case scenario for a year (isn't that WHY we have health insurance to begin with?) to see which one will be the most cost effective over a twelve-month, deductible period.
My work insurance worked out like this:
On the LOWEST plan, I would be paying $650 a month for myself, my husband, and my child: this equals $7,800 a year.
On the two BCBS plans I have my husband and child on, and the "middle" plan I have myself on (I'm still of child-bearing age and need the maternity coverage just in case), I pay $236 a month: this equals $2832.
A HUGE savings. If you are only looking at premiums as your bottom line, you're saving $414 for a family of three based upon these numbers. You'd have to calculate your own: you may have MUCH better, or sadly, much WORSE health insurance via your employer.
But of course, we know health insurance companies, and we know it doesn't end there.
On the work insurance, we have to meet the family deductible of $2,400 a year before they'll pay for anything. So, now worst case scenario, we're up to $10,200 per year. After that, we'd pay 90% of the bill, with a family out-of-pocket of $5,800 not including the premiums or deductible. So, that would be a total of $16,000 per year.
On the plans I've pieced together by shopping via Esurance.com, my husband has a $5,000 deductible with 100% coverage afterward. The out-of-pocket is $5,000 INCLUDING the deductible, so basically no more than $5,000. My daughter has a $1,200 deductible with 90% coverage, with a $3,000 out-of-pocket including the deductible. And I have a $500 deductible with $3,000 out-of-pocket excluding the deductible. This is $11,500. With the premiums, we're at $14,332.
That is a $1668 savings for the year. Either way, health insurance is a total rip off, but at least know that many of us DO have options! Just because your employer is offering it out doesn't mean that is the BEST deal around.
I suggest creating a chart when comparing the plans. Look at the monthly premium, the deductible, and the out-of-pocket (don't forget to calculate whether or not the out-of-pocket includes or excludes the deductible and any co-pays). Then, work out how much each plan would cost if you had $500 worth of medical bills that year, $5,000 that year, and even $10,000 that year. I've always done this and have narrowed my choices this way. Sometimes what seems crazy - like having a $5,000 deductible, actually would end up being cheaper in the worst case scenario.
Here's a really easy to read page defining the common health insurance terms:
Where are we now with monthly savings?
Tip#1 - Dish Towels $5 per month
Tip#2 - Dump Cable $92 per month
Tip#3 - Homemade Goodness $24 per month
Tip#4 - Esurance.com $139
Total per month: $260
Total per year: $3,120
I haven't read any of these books: I just used my own math skills (hopefully without error) and researched things via the internet. However, you may benefit from viewing them, so why not give it a try! I say the more we know, the better choices we can make.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Money saving tip #3: Homemade Goodness!
Americans spend WAY TOO MUCH MONEY on groceries. Yes, there are coupon clippings and what-not that you can do. But there is also another way to save money. Cook. Cook it all yourself. From scratch. Stop buying boxed foods for convenience.
My general rule nowadays is that I no longer buy store bought cookies, flour tortillas, English Muffins, ravioli, among other things. Let's begin with flour tortillas.
I like to feed my child whole wheat whenever I can, and buying whole wheat flour tortillas costs roughly $3.50 for ten tortillas. That's 35 cents per tortilla. Let's look at a common recipe for flour tortillas:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 tbsp vegetable shortening (I use Butter Crisco, and I add just a TAD more)
3/4 cup warm water.
For wheat tortillas, I use 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1 cup all-purpose flour. I get about 8 flour tortillas out of this recipe.
2 cups of flour (even Whole Wheat) costs about 25 cents
1 teaspoon salt costs under a penny
3 tbsp vegetable shortening costs about 5 cents - maybe
3/4 cup warm water - mostly free, just be sure to pay your water bill.
So, for eight flour tortillas, I'm paying LESS THAN the cost of one tortilla from the store.
And if you have a food processor, you can easily make the dough in the processor. I got one as a wedding gift, so I didn't have to buy one. I wouldn't go out and buy one for this, though. Making the dough by hand is still pretty easy. You mix it until it forms a ball. Then, you divide it into 8 balls and let it rest. Flatten it with a rolling pin, and cook on a griddle or a skillet. Easy and WAY tastier than store bought!
Savings if I fed my family eight flour tortillas per week each year:
Store bought: $2.80 for 8 for 52 weeks: $145.60
Homemade: 30 cents for 8 for 52 weeks: $15.00
Savings: $130
Ravioli Dough - adapted from Giada De Laurentiis (I LOVE HER!!! Her recipes ROCK!)
2 1/2 cups of flour (I replace 1 cup of flour with 1 cup of Whole Wheat flour)
1 cup HOT water (I heat mine for about a minute in the microwave)
Mix together with a wooden spoon until it forms a a dough. Cover and let it rest. Then, put together whatever filling you want to use. I like traditional part-skim ricotta, Parmesan cheese, Romano Cheese, egg, and spices. I often add spinach to it, too. Really, any filling works.
Roll out the dough. Get one of those ravioli presses from somewhere like Sur La Table or Amazon.com, as they make your life SO MUCH easier on ravioli night. I paid $5.00 for mine at Sur la Table. I use it to lightly press where I will be making the ravioli, just as a guide. Then, I spoon on the filling, but another sheet of ravioli on top, and press away.
I was paying $10 for a bag of ravioli - with additives, etc. once a month. Now, I pay around $4 for the same amount. Just the ravioli dough alone is ONLY 25 cents! The filling can be as cheap or expensive as you want. Another hint: after Thanksgiving, use leftover turkey. YUM!!!!
Store Bought: $10 a month = $120 a year
Homemade: $4 a month = $48 a year
Savings: $72
English Muffins
My husband bought English Muffin rings for me for Christmas. And I use them OFTEN.
I use Alton Brown's recipe, as it is the best one I've found. It's easy, and it makes the muffins with little pockets. YUM!!!!
Here's a link:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/english-muffins-recipe/index.html
I only replace 1/2 cup of flour with Whole Wheat flour here: otherwise, the muffins turn out weird - very thick and bread-like, as opposed to light and airy, as an English Muffin should be. I use a skillet, not a griddle. The most expensive part of the homemade version is the dry milk at $10 a box. A box, though, lasts for almost a year. Really, that's not too bad.
Store bought English Muffins (if I bought them once per week): $2.50 at 52 weeks = $130
Homemade: about 75 cents at 52 weeks = $39
Savings: $91
The total savings JUST for these three homemade items is $293 per year. JUST for these. This is just to give you an idea of how much money you can save by making things yourself.
Where are we now with monthly savings?
Tip#1 - Dish Towels $5 per month
Tip#2 - Dump Cable $92 per month
Tip#3 - Homemade Goodness $24 per month
Total per month: $121
Total per year: $1452
My general rule nowadays is that I no longer buy store bought cookies, flour tortillas, English Muffins, ravioli, among other things. Let's begin with flour tortillas.
I like to feed my child whole wheat whenever I can, and buying whole wheat flour tortillas costs roughly $3.50 for ten tortillas. That's 35 cents per tortilla. Let's look at a common recipe for flour tortillas:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 tbsp vegetable shortening (I use Butter Crisco, and I add just a TAD more)
3/4 cup warm water.
For wheat tortillas, I use 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1 cup all-purpose flour. I get about 8 flour tortillas out of this recipe.
2 cups of flour (even Whole Wheat) costs about 25 cents
1 teaspoon salt costs under a penny
3 tbsp vegetable shortening costs about 5 cents - maybe
3/4 cup warm water - mostly free, just be sure to pay your water bill.
So, for eight flour tortillas, I'm paying LESS THAN the cost of one tortilla from the store.
And if you have a food processor, you can easily make the dough in the processor. I got one as a wedding gift, so I didn't have to buy one. I wouldn't go out and buy one for this, though. Making the dough by hand is still pretty easy. You mix it until it forms a ball. Then, you divide it into 8 balls and let it rest. Flatten it with a rolling pin, and cook on a griddle or a skillet. Easy and WAY tastier than store bought!
Savings if I fed my family eight flour tortillas per week each year:
Store bought: $2.80 for 8 for 52 weeks: $145.60
Homemade: 30 cents for 8 for 52 weeks: $15.00
Savings: $130
Ravioli Dough - adapted from Giada De Laurentiis (I LOVE HER!!! Her recipes ROCK!)
2 1/2 cups of flour (I replace 1 cup of flour with 1 cup of Whole Wheat flour)
1 cup HOT water (I heat mine for about a minute in the microwave)
Mix together with a wooden spoon until it forms a a dough. Cover and let it rest. Then, put together whatever filling you want to use. I like traditional part-skim ricotta, Parmesan cheese, Romano Cheese, egg, and spices. I often add spinach to it, too. Really, any filling works.
Roll out the dough. Get one of those ravioli presses from somewhere like Sur La Table or Amazon.com, as they make your life SO MUCH easier on ravioli night. I paid $5.00 for mine at Sur la Table. I use it to lightly press where I will be making the ravioli, just as a guide. Then, I spoon on the filling, but another sheet of ravioli on top, and press away.
I was paying $10 for a bag of ravioli - with additives, etc. once a month. Now, I pay around $4 for the same amount. Just the ravioli dough alone is ONLY 25 cents! The filling can be as cheap or expensive as you want. Another hint: after Thanksgiving, use leftover turkey. YUM!!!!
Store Bought: $10 a month = $120 a year
Homemade: $4 a month = $48 a year
Savings: $72
English Muffins
My husband bought English Muffin rings for me for Christmas. And I use them OFTEN.
I use Alton Brown's recipe, as it is the best one I've found. It's easy, and it makes the muffins with little pockets. YUM!!!!
Here's a link:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/english-muffins-recipe/index.html
I only replace 1/2 cup of flour with Whole Wheat flour here: otherwise, the muffins turn out weird - very thick and bread-like, as opposed to light and airy, as an English Muffin should be. I use a skillet, not a griddle. The most expensive part of the homemade version is the dry milk at $10 a box. A box, though, lasts for almost a year. Really, that's not too bad.
Store bought English Muffins (if I bought them once per week): $2.50 at 52 weeks = $130
Homemade: about 75 cents at 52 weeks = $39
Savings: $91
The total savings JUST for these three homemade items is $293 per year. JUST for these. This is just to give you an idea of how much money you can save by making things yourself.
Where are we now with monthly savings?
Tip#1 - Dish Towels $5 per month
Tip#2 - Dump Cable $92 per month
Tip#3 - Homemade Goodness $24 per month
Total per month: $121
Total per year: $1452
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Money saving tip #2: DUMP Cable
This one seems like a no-brainer.
Give up cable. It's a drain on the pocket book and not even remotely necessary these days.
We had a very popular national "brand" of cable, high speed, telephone and were originally paying $125 per month two years ago. In those two years, the initial offer wore out, so we went up to $140 per month. But it didn't stop there: they continued to raise the rates so often that according to last notice we received, we were scheduled to be paying $170 per month. That's $2040 per year - and we didn't even have the larger package or ANY HD channels at all whatsoever. HIGHWAY ROBBERY!
So, we researched and found a great deal on a telephone/high speed bundle through Suddenlink. We moved to this and are paying $62 a month for this. We bought an AppleTV for our main television (or rather "Santa" bought it for me as a Christmas gift), and we were already paying for Netflix.
If you don't know this already, you are 1) living in a box, and 2) missing out: Netflix streams TONS of stuff for free. Well, sort of for free. We pay to have two DVDs at a time sent to us, and the streaming is free.
AppleTV streams Netflix so seamlessly that my four year-old knows how to use it. You can also purchase television a la carte through the AppleTV, but we haven't done much of that. A few seasons of some children's shows so my daughter still has her Team Umizoomi, Oswald, and Sesame Street. We haven't ventured into buying any Disney seasons because they are way too expensive.
I also have a Mac Mini that I bought a year or so ago, and this computer is hooked up to the bedroom television. I have to watch my Young and Restless, along with my How I Met Your Mother and Rules of Engagement: I do this via the CBS website. LOVE YOU CBS!!! Thank you for keeping free television, well...free!!
We pulled out an OLD antenna and use that, too, but it isn't used often. It is there for things like Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year or President Obama's speeches. That sort of thing.
If you think of it on a long term scale, paying for cable is ridiculous.
"BRAND NAME" cable/high speed/telephone: $170 per month, $2040 per year, $20400 a decade.
Suddenlink high speed/telephone coupled with streaming Netflix: $78 per month, $936 per year, $9,360 per decade. Over the course of ten years, that's an $11,040 difference! That $99 AppleTV has already paid for itself within the first month, by the way.
Where are we now with monthly savings?
Tip#1 - Dish Towels $5 per month
Tip#2 - Dump Cable $92 per month.
Total per month: $97
Total per year: $1164
I'm not sure how GREEN this tip is, but it obviously keeps the green in our pockets!.
And we're only on tip #2!
Give up cable. It's a drain on the pocket book and not even remotely necessary these days.
We had a very popular national "brand" of cable, high speed, telephone and were originally paying $125 per month two years ago. In those two years, the initial offer wore out, so we went up to $140 per month. But it didn't stop there: they continued to raise the rates so often that according to last notice we received, we were scheduled to be paying $170 per month. That's $2040 per year - and we didn't even have the larger package or ANY HD channels at all whatsoever. HIGHWAY ROBBERY!
So, we researched and found a great deal on a telephone/high speed bundle through Suddenlink. We moved to this and are paying $62 a month for this. We bought an AppleTV for our main television (or rather "Santa" bought it for me as a Christmas gift), and we were already paying for Netflix.
If you don't know this already, you are 1) living in a box, and 2) missing out: Netflix streams TONS of stuff for free. Well, sort of for free. We pay to have two DVDs at a time sent to us, and the streaming is free.
AppleTV streams Netflix so seamlessly that my four year-old knows how to use it. You can also purchase television a la carte through the AppleTV, but we haven't done much of that. A few seasons of some children's shows so my daughter still has her Team Umizoomi, Oswald, and Sesame Street. We haven't ventured into buying any Disney seasons because they are way too expensive.
I also have a Mac Mini that I bought a year or so ago, and this computer is hooked up to the bedroom television. I have to watch my Young and Restless, along with my How I Met Your Mother and Rules of Engagement: I do this via the CBS website. LOVE YOU CBS!!! Thank you for keeping free television, well...free!!
We pulled out an OLD antenna and use that, too, but it isn't used often. It is there for things like Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year or President Obama's speeches. That sort of thing.
If you think of it on a long term scale, paying for cable is ridiculous.
"BRAND NAME" cable/high speed/telephone: $170 per month, $2040 per year, $20400 a decade.
Suddenlink high speed/telephone coupled with streaming Netflix: $78 per month, $936 per year, $9,360 per decade. Over the course of ten years, that's an $11,040 difference! That $99 AppleTV has already paid for itself within the first month, by the way.
Where are we now with monthly savings?
Tip#1 - Dish Towels $5 per month
Tip#2 - Dump Cable $92 per month.
Total per month: $97
Total per year: $1164
I'm not sure how GREEN this tip is, but it obviously keeps the green in our pockets!.
And we're only on tip #2!
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Money saving tip #1: Dish towels versus Paper towels
I'll start with a simple one.
Get RID of as many paper products as possible. We stopped buying paper towels and paper napkins a while back. Instead we invested in dish towels and cloth napkins. Honestly, I just got tired of throwing money away every time I used a towel or napkin, and I have to say, I don't miss they at all. It's not toilet paper after all: THAT I might miss. But even then, I get sick of knowing that I'm literally throwing $15 a month down the toilet.
We were using paper towels and napkins for the convenience. So, what I did was make the use of dish towels as convenient as possible, all the while not endangering my family with germs and bacteria on dirty dish towels - a selling point of paper towels for years. I keep a basket of dish towels close to the sink so I can easily grab one to use. I happen to have this basket on a shelf on my kitchen island. A side note: I bought this kitchen island at Ikea for $350, and it is the BEST kitchen purchase I've made - Well, one of them anyway. More on that later.
I have a basket of hand towels on top of the refrigerator and a TON of cloth napkins in the buffet next to the table. My daughter has the job of getting napkins for us at dinner time: makes dinner feel a bit Donna Reed, and I LOVE that!
I also keep a small trash can under my sink for the dirty kitchen laundry. I empty it and wash these towels with the regular Sunday wash. I'm not spending any more to wash them because I'd be washing bathroom towels anyway.
Dish Towels: I bought two sets of towels at WalMart for $3 each, for a total of $6. I replace these every six to eight months because of high usage.
Hand Towels: lucky enough to get most of these for gifts, but I two sets of 5 at Bed, Bath, and Beyond using one of their coupons. I bought these about seven years ago, and aside from some puppy tears, they're still in good shape. Buy them at two different transactions for the full benefit of the 20% off when you get coupons in the mail. I paid about $16 for two sets SEVEN YEARS AGO.
Cloth Napkins: I had starter sets of these that I got as wedding presents. My mother-in-law donated some to me, and the rest I bought on clearance aisles at Walmart. I have about 40 napkins, give or take, and spent no more than $20. So, some of them are cheap looking and wrinkle easily. Big deal! We're not entertaining the Queen: just feeding a toddler!
Total cost: under $50 per year. Remember, I replace the dish towels regularly, but I haven't replaced the hand towels or the cloth napkins in several years.
Paper towels: We were paying approximately $1.50 per Bounty roll: although we bought the half sheets, we were still going through four rolls per month easily.
Paper napkins: To get a softer feel and a stronger napkin, we were paying about $2 for 100. With three people using these two to three times per day, we went through two packages a month. Not too bad.
Total cost: $120 per year.
Savings in a year: $70
But this is just the beginning....
Get RID of as many paper products as possible. We stopped buying paper towels and paper napkins a while back. Instead we invested in dish towels and cloth napkins. Honestly, I just got tired of throwing money away every time I used a towel or napkin, and I have to say, I don't miss they at all. It's not toilet paper after all: THAT I might miss. But even then, I get sick of knowing that I'm literally throwing $15 a month down the toilet.
We were using paper towels and napkins for the convenience. So, what I did was make the use of dish towels as convenient as possible, all the while not endangering my family with germs and bacteria on dirty dish towels - a selling point of paper towels for years. I keep a basket of dish towels close to the sink so I can easily grab one to use. I happen to have this basket on a shelf on my kitchen island. A side note: I bought this kitchen island at Ikea for $350, and it is the BEST kitchen purchase I've made - Well, one of them anyway. More on that later.
I have a basket of hand towels on top of the refrigerator and a TON of cloth napkins in the buffet next to the table. My daughter has the job of getting napkins for us at dinner time: makes dinner feel a bit Donna Reed, and I LOVE that!
I also keep a small trash can under my sink for the dirty kitchen laundry. I empty it and wash these towels with the regular Sunday wash. I'm not spending any more to wash them because I'd be washing bathroom towels anyway.
Dish Towels: I bought two sets of towels at WalMart for $3 each, for a total of $6. I replace these every six to eight months because of high usage.
Hand Towels: lucky enough to get most of these for gifts, but I two sets of 5 at Bed, Bath, and Beyond using one of their coupons. I bought these about seven years ago, and aside from some puppy tears, they're still in good shape. Buy them at two different transactions for the full benefit of the 20% off when you get coupons in the mail. I paid about $16 for two sets SEVEN YEARS AGO.
Cloth Napkins: I had starter sets of these that I got as wedding presents. My mother-in-law donated some to me, and the rest I bought on clearance aisles at Walmart. I have about 40 napkins, give or take, and spent no more than $20. So, some of them are cheap looking and wrinkle easily. Big deal! We're not entertaining the Queen: just feeding a toddler!
Total cost: under $50 per year. Remember, I replace the dish towels regularly, but I haven't replaced the hand towels or the cloth napkins in several years.
Paper towels: We were paying approximately $1.50 per Bounty roll: although we bought the half sheets, we were still going through four rolls per month easily.
Paper napkins: To get a softer feel and a stronger napkin, we were paying about $2 for 100. With three people using these two to three times per day, we went through two packages a month. Not too bad.
Total cost: $120 per year.
Savings in a year: $70
But this is just the beginning....
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