Talking to our kids about money

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Talking to our kids about money…

There is extensive evidence on how people’s emotions and feelings around money are shaped by the actions we see, hear, and feel pertaining to money when we are kids. Our fears, our habits and our anxiety around money usually comes from experiences we had as children. No pressure here on us parents! Like our job as parents is not hard enough! Ok so let’s break it down.  Perhaps we need to put some rules in place like trying not to argue about money in front of the kids when they are young? Easier said then done…

When money is tight, it’s stressful, and the kid’s associate money with a tense situation and learn to “fear” money or think they just need more money and it will all be ok, right? As adults we know this is not always true. More money does not make all the problems go away, if the habits don’t change and we spend more than we make.

So how do we fix this? We know we need to slow our roll, create budgets, and cut back on the non-essential items… Ya, Ya, Ya…We all know what we NEED to do.

The issue is how do we not create kids that have fears or bad habits around money?

Money does NEED to be discussed and it should not be hidden from the kids. They do not need all the details of course but we do want them to appreciate money, respect money and understand the “value” of money. We also need to teach them money is earned as well, which I think makes it have more “value”.  When you “work” for your “cash” and you think you want a new toy or something, usually that toy is taken better care of when the kids pay for it themselves. Trust me, I have witnessed it firsthand with my own child over the years.  I’m not saying they have to work for ALL their toys. 😊These are the things our parents probably did with most of us as well. Sometimes as parents we “give” too much to the kids, even if we don’t have the money. It’s OK to sometimes say NO, or not at this time.  We don’t need the kids to think there is no money, just that money is not like a faucet that has an endless flow of money.  Social media has played a role in kids thinking they need to have what everyone else has! You can just say NO.

Maybe it’s Ok to show the kids the bills, like the electric bill and why we shut lights off when leaving the room.  Opening a savings account for your children say between the ages of 7-12 or so is always fun. Make sure they are with you when you set up the account and the rule is they MUST put 15% of any money they earn or are given as a gift, into the account first. Then they can do what they want with the rest. This will help them get in the habit of “paying themselves first”. Not a bad idea to also encourage them to donate some of that money to a charity here and there.  Once the kids are in high school or have a “paying” job, lets play it safe and for this conversation, they have a W-2 job working part time, you could consider opening a custodial ROTH IRA for the child. Keep in mind once they are 18 or 21, depending on your state laws, it’s their IRA now, so do go over the rules with them in detail. Custodial Roth IRA: Your guide to Roth IRAs for kids | Fidelity

Once they start high school. And college is on the horizon, you MUST talk about money! College is expensive! Even state schools can run as high as $35,000 per year! As parents we want to do everything for our kids, including paying for college. But it’s not always possible and this again is a time when it’s OK to say NO to some things. Maybe it’s NO to the most expensive college they picked, due to little or no aid. The budget is important here. If college debt is going to be more than what they will earn the first year out, might want to re-think the school choice…. Student loans are ok but keep it LOW! Show then the online calculators and how interest calculates! It’s 4 years of their lives, do they want to pay for it for 10+ years. Student Loan Calculator | Bankrate

 If we talk to the kids throughout their lives about money and make it an open conversation maybe when it comes to large expenses like college, it will be an easier conversation? Discuss not spending more than you make, discuss paying yourself first, aka the 15% in the savings account, discuss investing and retirement accounts, show them your retirement account statements… Let’s talk money with our kids!

Common money problems for most of us…and the pay gap.

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If you google financial issues to see if you have “company” with whatever financial issue you personally may be dealing with… Good chance you have company! One of “the issues” that seems to be on every list, is a low income/the need to make more money. It’s actually the first topic on the list from a survey provided by SoFi.

7 Common Money Issues People Face | SoFi

These days it feels like everyone has or seems to need a side hustle.  Is it really because everyone can’t manger their money and not live below their means? Sure, there is some of that, but sometimes I talk to people and can not believe how low their salary is! I know people that have 40 years of experience doing a particular job and I KNOW they make less than someone doing the same job, and they are only 30 years old! What’s wrong with this?  There is no transparence in most companies, and we KNOW the guys still get paid more than most woman in most situations.  The pay gap is very real, and that gap can vary  by state. This article from Business Insider is eye opening. Pay Gap by State: How Much Women Earn Compared to Men (businessinsider.com)

As woman everything seems to be stacked against us… We make less money overall, we are in most cases the primary care givers for children, and or ageing parents, which may result in lost time at work or working part time. Woman also live longer, so NEED more money for retirement.

The ONE thing that IS equal is the cost of college! If woman make approx. 20% less than men in general, then tuition should be 20% less for woman, right!? Ok just me going a tangent there… But a valid point!

Because of the pay gap, women are starting more businesses, and hopefully investing more, to equal the playing field. Woman typically do better at investing they say because we are more patience and will allow the funds to grow and not panic and sell if the market goes down. That might be true, but I also think woman have a full plate most days and do not have time to look at their long term accounts every day, and we know what the term “long term” means. 😊Women have more patience and are willing to “educate” themselves on topics they have an interest in. But when it comes to “investing” people (not just woman) feel intimidated. It’s not intimidating, let’s not over think it. If you have a 401K AND you have “allocated your assets” then you’re investing! What does it mean to “asset allocate”? It simply means you have “picked” how you will divide up the money you are setting aside each month in that 401K.  Maybe you have some in a fund called “Large Cap” and some in “Small Cap” Or “international funds, or Index funds…. Just do NOT leave it in cash! Also do NOT ASSUME the “company”, as in the company you work for or the company that the 401K is with is” asset allocating”  for you! This is on you! But again, do not panic here. Get online and access your 401K account and log in. Find something that gets you to a spot that allows you to allocate the “funds” to “buy”. There are usually RISK assessment questions as well as questions like your age and the age you want to retire. Then the “robo” advisor will allocate your assets. That’s it! You are investing, yes you are an investor! 😊  Look at you, doing big girl stuff! Look at these allocations maybe once a year, you may or may not have to do anything with it.  The market will go up and down, which means your account could go lower than the month before. If the market in general is down, that will be the case for all of us. Remember this is a marathon, this growing your money game we are playing here. IF the market is down, and you still have extra cash in your budget, UP your contributions each month or even if it’s a ONE time shot with extra money. Hey, the Stock market is having a SALE!!! 😊 Good Luck!

Tax Time!

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Here we go… It’s that time of the year again, tax season.  The pressure of rounding up all the information we need to make sure we are taking all the deductions allowed. I personally rely on a professional to fill the forms in. Well, in all honesty that person is also pretty much family, so the fee is very reasonable.  The standard deductions for 2023 (so filing in 2024) filling single is $13,850 and $27,700 filling jointly or $20,800 for head of household. If you are over the age of 65, you may be eligible for more but should consult a professional.

When filing you either take that standard deduction, say the $27,700 or you itemize. Whichever number is higher usually works best. If you have a large mortgage payment with a high interest rate and other allowed deductions, you could exceed the $27,700 amount. NerdWallet has some great tips in this article on possible deductions for  2023. 22 Popular Tax Deductions and Tax Breaks for 2023-2024 – NerdWallet.

And who knew you could file your simple tax return with NerdWalled for just $50! Check it out if this could be a fit for you! The above link will take you there.

IF you find yourself having to PAY taxes this year, and you do not have a basic IRA account, maybe it makes sense to open one? If you only have a 401k and still owe taxes, it’s too late to add more money there, BUT you should have until April 15th to add money to a traditional IRA for the 2023 tax year. (Max $6500 if under the age of 50) This article from US News will give you the guildlines. IRA Contribution Limits for 2023 (usnews.com)

Keep in mind IF you do this because let’s say you owe $2000 this year, and you put $2000 in an IRA, it balances out? Not necessarily.  Plug in the numbers and see what tax bracket you need to be in for it to be a benefit for this filing. It may or may not be a “thing” for you this year but should be a push for you to UP your 401k contribution ASAP, as to not get stuck on that side next year.

Taxes and the lack of time to grow your money seem to be the biggest hinders to growing wealth. They say we should have at least two buckets for long-term growth accounts.

  1. Traditional retirement accounts, like an employer 401K, 457, 403b…. These a tax deferred account, so it lowers your taxable income. If you make $50,000 a year and put $10,000 a year in your 401K (does NOT included the employer match) then you are taxed as IF you only made $40,000 a year. That’s a basic outline. The money grows with compound interest for many years, and you pay a tax on that money years down the road on what ever amount you take out each year.
  2. ROTH IRA or ROTH 401K (If you are lucky to have one) With a ROTH IRA, you have already paid taxes on this money, and it can grow with compound interest, and you NEVER pay taxes on any of that money!!! There are income level caps to be able to contribute to a ROTH IRA. If you do a ROTH 401K, you pay the tax first and then it goes into the account to grow with compound interest and the same rules apply. But do check the rules and understand them.

Check out the link from Investopedia, which does a great job to beak it all down in simple terms. Roth 401(k) vs. Roth IRA: What’s the Difference? (investopedia.com)

Taxes are no fun, and it seems like some of the rules on what’s a deduction and what is not is always changing. Fun fact. Many years ago, Ok like 30 years ago.😊 you could write off the interest on a personal credit card and a car loan! Not anymore, and yet there is a higher percent of people with credit cards and the average credit card debt in the US is thousands of dollars.  It’s a good idea to just have a place that you keep all your receipts in one spot. Things like medical bills that were not covered by insurance, home repairs, property tax bills, excise taxes bills, homeowners’ insurance bills…. You name it.

In most cases, at least in my state you can not deduct things like home repairs on a single-family home. But what if you decide to sell your home? Might be a different story that year.  I personally, keep a decorative shoe box for the “paper” stuff and TRY to remember to print an e-receipts I have. This way everything is in one spot and takes less time to organize what my “tax guy” needs or does not need.

They say we don’t really want to be getting big refunds, that we shoot for close to Zero so more of our money stays in our pocket through out the year. I get that, BUT I also do NOT want to see I owe Uncle Sam money! Again, this gets back to our behaviors and mind sets. If you are someone that wants to live on the edge and has money set aside incase you owe taxes, go for it! I am more comfortable with getting close enough and getting a refund! 😊 Its like Christmas in the Spring and I earmark that money for something specific or put it in savings for a bigger project like a home repair. Do whatever works best for your personality and needs but try to look back next year and say you learned something positive about how you file your taxes or that you did something positive with your return, if you are getting one.

Happy tax season!!!

Credit cards, the good, the bad, & the ugly…

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Credit cards are like potato chips… It is hard to stop using them. Its even worse now a days with so much online fraud. It’s hard to get money back, due to fraud when you use a debit card vs credit card.  Since Covid more places do not take cash, everything must be on a credit card. The credit card companies want to give you points and cash back and all these “magical” things to make us feel like they really care about us! Come on, they are just large banks taking advantage of us!

Credit cards feel like poison to me sometimes. Unless you are a high earner, most people have credit card debt. According to Credit Donkey they found a statistic stating the Federal Reserve reported only 42% of households can pay their credit card bills in full each month. 23 Sobering Credit Card Debt Statistics (creditdonkey.com) Of the remaining 58% with credit card balances, most are paying more than the minimum, but the other half is only paying the minimum. The percentage of people with $1,000 or less on credit cards is at 15%. According to an article by Forbes magazine, Transunion reported at the end of 2023 the average credit card debt per consumer is just over $6.000! Average Credit Card Debt Study 2023 – Forbes Advisor If that’s per consumer its not unrealistic to think the average household could have more. These are scary stats and most of us have been or are still part of these stats. Its crazy how these little plastic cards can rack up debt so fast!

So how do we change this? I think the only way we can is to really understand our own habits and behaviors. The points game, ya, I personally can’t get sucked in to this. I feel like if I am not putting $5,000+ a month on a card I am not really getting anything for points. I cannot sleep knowing I have $5,000 on a credit card! You know I am not taking $5,000 out of my saving in one swoop to pay that bill! That also feels scary, even if I had the coin to do it! NOPE, both actions give me anxiety. Much easier to only use the card for certain things and set a comfortable limit for myself each month and do everything in my power to stay at that number if not under it. It’s hard! I have to work on my mental toughness EVERY month! It does make me more “mindful” of my purchases. Do I really need this?

How is this going to make me feel in a week, when I am facing this bill? I get we cannot just, NOT enjoy life and its little pleasures, but I do mentally weigh the reward of “the purchase”. I need things like gas in the car, and I usually need the credit card for that, but not for a coffee or lunch… I try to use more cash for those purchases. For some reason, mentally it’s harder to part with cash. Check out this article from Tally on the psychology of cash over credit. In some cases, people would spend 2-3 times the amount for the same product!   The Mindset of Using Cash vs. Credit — Tally (meettally.com) I know it’s very hard these days to NOT use a credit card, it’s like not having a smart phone. But maybe we need to look at our account balance every week or two to stay on top of the snowball effect. I also find sending extra cash say once a week, might not make the bill at the end of month so scary, so I don’t break out in a cold sweat paying the balance. Bottom line we all have to find ways to keep the balance in check. Maybe the first step if you cannot pay the balance in full each month is to be in that 15% of people with $1,000 or less? I would say that should be per household. That sounds more manageable to start, Agree? Then work from there. Don’t get lost in the points and the rewards and all that bull, if you are like most and carry a large balance. Remember the credit card companies are charging you on average 20%, they are not really giving you any deals here.  Getting in a good spot with credit card dept is VERY hard. Stick with it, dig in and face it. If you have more than one credit card, use the snowball effect method. Check out our FREE downloads on how this works. You are not alone; this is a major stressor for most of us. But you can do this! Stay focused and create new habits when it comes to credit cards! Talk to a friend about it, they may be in the same situation, and you can do this together! Nothing to be ashamed about, and it will be something to be proud of once on the other side! You/we got this!!!!

Saving for that emergency fund.

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Emergency Fund Savings:

We have all heard the saying, we should have an emergency fund, right. “They”, meaning the experts say this fund should be between 3-6 months of expenses. Not an easy task for most and can feel overwhelming for many. According to Nerdwallet  45% of Americans could not come up with $1,000 for an emergency. Most Americans Save, but Many Can’t Cover a $1,000 Emergency – NerdWallet  That might be a car repair, so you can get to work, a repair at home that can not wait…. The list goes on. Most people are saving money each month, which is great, and it’s usually in a retirement account and or a savings account. Yet, on average as a group we are falling short with short term “emergency” fund account. We have discussed many times if you really look at your monthly spending and your “habits” there is a good chance you can find an extra $100.00 plus a month to put away in an emergency fund account. Sure, it may take almost a year to get there, at that rate, but the process would be started. If you look at it more as a game and a motivator as to how do I cut out another $20.00 here and there, and transfer that right into savings, thing will happen quicker! The emergency fund is NOT an account that you get to look at the end of the year and say hey I save $1200 and did not need any major or unexpected expense, and then use that money for something like a vacation! Bankrate did a survey on people saving for an emergency or saving for travel. Travel Vs. Savings: Many Americans Are Prioritizing Wanderlust Amid Economic Uncertainty | Bankrate I get it, I want to travel more too, but I also do not want to be under the stress of having to reach for a credit card to pay for a plumber to come to the house for a leak or for new tires! Credit card bills are stressful! Let’s stay out of the rabbit hole. When we have an emergency fund there is a sense of calm and pride to know you do not have to rely on family, a last-minute high interest loan shark loan or the credit card. It’s hard. I get for some that emergency fund of say three months, might be a large number.  The real goal is to start and have an emergency fund for emergencies. 

Hopefully no real disasters come your way like a job loss while you are working on your savings account. Like every big challenge, you need to start the process with small changes and once you gain confidence from seeing the impact, it will get easier. Like most habits we are trying to change, you may stumble here and there, just get back at it, it’s not a failure. Let’s work toward that first $1,000 in emergency fund savings and use that momentum to do more! This is in reach! How cool would it be to be on the other side of the statistics, of who has a $1,000 or more in an emergency fund! You go this!

The price of college

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Paying for college….

If you’re like most of us parents, figuring out how you will pay for your kids to go to college is stressful! Back in the 80’s a full-time college student could work part-time during the school year and full time all summer, to pay for a year at a state college. If you lived on campus, maybe you had to work a little more or get some help from your parents, but most of us did not have huge loans hanging over us when we got out.

If you went to a private school, you probably had some loans, but unless it was something like medical school, your loans were “manageable”. I did not know anyone that had to take the full 10 years to pay for those loans, and the loans were at 8%.  The average student debt in 1983 was about $5,500. The average starting salary for a college graduate that same year was just under $18,000.  In 2023 the average federal student loan after graduation was over $37,000, according to the US Dept. of Education, in this article published by Best Colleges; Average Student Loan Debt: 2024 Statistics | BestColleges  Additionally private student loan debt was just shy of $55,000. The interest rates can be anywhere to 4%-15%, for a private loan with a low credit rating, but on average is at 5.8%. The statistics tell us on average it takes most people closer to 20 years to pay off their student loans, vs the ten years you are given to start. This tends to be due to things changing in your life, like the loss of a job, starting a family… The student loan “crisis” IS a crisis. BUT, does it have to be? Look we all want the best for our kids and for them to have all the things they want and more than we had, but come on, its four years of their life, that they might end up paying for 10-20 years! College is a BUSINESS! They do not care that you have debt when you leave, they want you to drink the cool aid! It’s not about “oh this school, just feels right”! This is where I belong. No 18-year-old knows where they belong… and as parents we need to make sure they understand the financial side as well. Some student loan debt is fine, but not double what your first-year salary out of school will be.  Money math must be discussed. There are on-line calculators to show them how interest works. You know like when you buy a house and say you borrow $100,000 from the bank with that 30-year mortgage and then at the end of 30 years, you say “thank you Mr. Banker, here is your $100,000 and another $200,000, for letting me borrow that $100,000! Ya, that’s how interest works! The on-line calculator will tell you exactly what your monthly payment will be and what your total bill will be if you take the full ten years. No excuses! NO forgiveness! SORRY.

The plan has to be in place before the first tuition payment. Get creative, be an RA as an upper classman, FREE housing at most schools, is how they pay you, START paying the loans WHILE you are a student, vs allowing interest to add up. Pick a state college, meaning the state YOU live in, not another state. When you get your first job, they will not pay you more than the other guy, because you have more debt. And parents, we CAN NOT use our retirement savings to pay for college. You cannot finance your retirement. College is an investment and, in most cases, very much worth it! But be smart about it. You’re paying for an education, don’t get lost in the amazing campus.  Schools are pricey now, because of the “facilities” not the education. Make smart choices, school was fun back in the day when we had no all-night dining halls and amazing gyms. We met lifelong friends, played sports, did everything else that college kids do, and got a great education that allowed most of us to move out of our parent’s house 6 months later. Preparing for college is a giant step into adulthood, managing money and understanding how it all works, is part that process.

Happy Valentines Day!

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Money & Relationships

Personal finance is not always something that concerns only us.  If you are in a committed relationship or married, most likely you share finances with someone else. In many cases it seems like one person in the relationship “handles” the finances. In a perfect world it would be a team effort and both parties would be open to discussing the monthly expenses and spending. I’m not saying every dollar needs to be accounted for. I’m also not saying each person can’t have their “own” money either. But the important “reoccurring” expenses, aka bills. Should be known by both parties. I know, easier said than done…  We know most couples do not share everything about money, but how do we work with this situation? Not always easy to be the only one “cutting” back and looking at every expense in the online banking app., hey someone has to watch the store!  Statistics say over 45% of couples argue “occasionally’ about money. Ya my guess is that its higher than 45% and its labeled occasionally because it’s easier to just NOT talk about it.  Either way unfortunately one of the two people in the relationship carries most of the stress around money and the other just wants to ignore the topic and might “start” the argument, to cover up their lack of knowing the real status of the household finances, good or bad. In a perfect world you do what the experts tell you and simply sit down and perhaps have a conversation over a spreadsheet of the expenses and savings goals. Like a scene out of the Brady Bunch, right? The argument starts when you ask for that sit down meeting… ☹ If it’s so easy why are most couples still arguing about money? I certainly don’t have the answers here… I can just tell you; you are not along….

Habits

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We all have habits, some are good habits, some not so good. Habits are part of our behavior in all the areas of our life. Some people are very organized, Take Jess for instance, her work papers and planner… are so organized and color coded! It seems to come easy to her when it comes to important items like work. She started this habit very young as a student and has carried this habit into adulthood. I on the other hand, really must focus on keeping myself somewhat organized. I was never an organized student, well compared to my kid. But at the same time, I know it’s a “weak” spot for me so I do what I can to make small positive changes to be better organized.  This is an issue I could easily talk to a stranger about, and they would be happy to make suggestions and share their organizational skills or lack of them as well…

When it comes to our money habits. We NEVER want to talk about them. Nope, we don’t want to share that stuff! We all have money habits, again some good, some not so good. Let’s be realistic, we can’t fix all our bad money habits overnight, and maybe we don’t have to fix all of them? Maybe some are not that bad?  But I am guessing we secretly have some things we do repeatedly, that we say to ourselves, why do I do this to myself. 

In today’s world with so much online banking and automation that we can do, some of these bad habits might be easier than we think to break. To really start to make changes, you need to be honest with yourself as to what is a problem.  Write it down! Put it on paper and look at IT! Just ONE problem, not all or many of them if there is a list… Own it! Then write out the steps you need to take to make this a bad habit you no longer have.  Maybe you share your bad habit you are trying to break with someone you know will emotionally support you. That might be a spouse, a good friend, a co-worker.

Setting a goal is easy, executing it, not always as easy.  Maybe just saying the habit out load to someone and talking about it will be the biggest step. After that it might get easier to mentally tackle the habit. Good luck, stay focused and you got this!

Your Work Retirement Plan

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Are you really invested in your works retirement plan???

I know what you’re thinking, of course I am! If you have a 401K, hopefully you see a line item on your pay stub, with the amount or per cent you requested be taken out each paycheck.  These days some of us only have a paperless copy of our pay stub.  So here is why I asked. Last week I happened to be talking to two family members that both work in education. In the state we live in educators do NOT pay into social security, they pay into the state pension plan. Which is 11% of their pay right now. There are only 6 states that follow this plan. In the conversation I asked if they both also take advantage of the 403b retirement plan option? They both said yes. But as we got talking and they pulled up their online pay stubs, I said show me where the 403b is taken out? Well to both of their surprise it was not actually being taken out at all!

One of them had changed districts and filled in all the paperwork and asked everything get shifted over where the same company handled both school districts. Simple and easy right?

Here was the problem, the person on the other end never did anything, plus it is now a different HR/Payroll, because it’s a new school. It’s up to us to make sure the paperwork is in place and that the HR/payroll team is doing what you asked it to do!

One of the people only lost a little time, but the other lost 20 years! The other person also just never even thought of funding it monthly, and only relied on the pension, like the good old days.

Thirty years ago, there were more companies and jobs that offered a “Pension”. Here is the thing, people talk about social security and how there will never be anything left for most of us to collect. Who really knows???  Thirty years ago, if you had a job that offered a pension, people would say you were set for life! Well things started to change in 1978 when they passed the Revenue Act section 401K, which allowed employees to defer the taxes on the funds going into these accounts. Plus, these accounts can grow with compound interest. The law went into effect on January 1, 1980. That’s not that long ago.

Since the 1980’s, fewer private companies have offered a pension and for the people I know working in state jobs that do still offer a pension, they are always moving the mark! EX: The teachers I know were told years ago… Stay 30 years and you get your full pension! NICE, right? What if you started at 22 right out of school. Technically you are eligible for the full pension at 52!

 Not anymore, now they have moved the mark. You need 30 years PLUS you need to be 65 years old. WHAT?!  OK, maybe you just LOVE your job, and you think you will always LOVE your job… But what if after 25 years you’re burnt out and need a change? Now you’re in to deep… Or at least that’s what people say. But what if you let your “pension” money just sit there till your 65 and you do a different job, because you not only have the “pension” money, which is say 40% of your pay, vs 80%, you also have $500,000 in your 403b account still growing tax deferred! Might make it easier to make a change…. Plus your new job, probably has a 401K plan!

 Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great if you have this benefit! I wish I did! BUT, if you’re young and starting out I think you really need to also put some money in your 403b or 457 retirement plans. It’s never going to hurt you! Even if it’s only $100.00 a month, it’s like $75.00 a month out of your check, because its tax deferred.

The lesson here is, FIRST LOOK AT YOUR PAYSTUBS, do not assume anything. You are responsible for making sure these things get done! There is NO Retirement babysitter checking on you. Once you know the account is being funded, make sure it’s not sitting there in CASH. Talk to the “advisor” of the plan, yes there will be one and have them help you allocate the funds. The term you hear is “asset allocation”. They can help you or if the plan has a ROBO advice, that works too. The online robo advisor will ask you some “risk” tolerance questions, and timelines. Then it will allocate the funds appropriately.  Nothing scarry here… Just taking charge of your stuff! You got this!

Budget Apps.

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Budgeting Apps, could they be helpful???

I don’t know about you, but I have been thinking about doing a deeper dive in to some of these online tools that help you really see where you are spending your money. Each month I DO use my own bank’s online budget tool that does a great job at showing you where you are spending your money. My bank breaks it down by category, which you must look at VERY carefully. For instance, under “insurance” for me it has pulled in things like, Long Term Care insurance I pay into because it’s an Insurance Company. I’m not that old, but for me it was the right move and cheap due to my age. But I would NEVER get that back if I “Cancelled it” even if it was by mistake. I also saw that my ROTH contributions were packed under the “insurance” umbrella as well…Again NOT something I want to cancel.

So, if you do use your own bank’s online tools to see where your money is going, understand what each transaction is accually, before trying to cancel it. I also noticed on my own banking app. That it told me my cable bill was $16.30 higher than normal? I have NO idea why, but now I am watching it! I will also have to pull out that bill and see what changed! Such a pain… But these companies just randomly add things to our bills! Did someone in the house rent a movie that was NOT FREE?! With what I pay for cable & internet, ONLY FREE movies allowed. That cable bill is a topic on its own… 30 years ago it was just the cost of electricity to watch the news! Don’t get me started…

BUT then there are things like subscriptions I have TRIED to cancel more than once and are STILL showing up! Frustrating!!! Do I give it another shot and try to cancel these AGAIN? Do I call my bank and see if we can block these two merchants, and can they do that??? My fear is the bank will want to issue me a NEW credit card and the two-three things I do not want to have laps will get lost in the shuffle.

It all adds up, and before we know it an extra $100.00+ per month is out the window on really nothing. Look at it like this that’s over $1,000 a year and for that money I can get a long weekend away someplace near a beach each summer!

While the App. MINT is shutting down on Jan. 1, 2024, there is a lot of talk around Rocket Money, which is FREE. But let’s face it, nothing is FREE.  So yes, it’s FREE to download, but I get it they need to make money too.  Rocket Money is a budgeting App. and for a fee can do a lot more.  The paid monthly fee is $4.00-$12.00 a month. But it can do things like get rid of your subscriptions you do not want any more, maybe even get some money back for you??? It says it can possibly negotiate rates for you. I am assuming this is things like an interest rate on a credit card if it’s really high right now.  If you have a lot going on in your money world and see lots of things you pay for each month you want gone or need some help managing it to get your arms around your monthly spend, maybe these online apps. are worth exploring. After all the $60 a year you may pay for the app. Might be less than the “found” money you find EACH month! Take some time to look at your own bank’s “features” online.  Make sure you understand what is in each category and make sure it is “junk” for you each month and then do some research on IF an app. Is right for you. There are some great tools out there these days and they may help get us better at understanding and seeing our own habits. Once we SEE it we are more willing to make those small changes.

Make sure you look at the app’s rating from many sites, and the Better Business Bureau. Read all the fine print on the terms & conditions as well, like how to cancel the service should you want to.  Good luck if you decide to dig in here and if you do pull the trigger!!