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Personal Finance

Splurge Without Breaking Your Budget

by Evan

Life is all about choices, decisions, and balance. Because you work hard, you should be able to treat yourself to some of life’s indulgences along the way. Don’t deny yourself the added little extras that make your life that much sweeter just because you are on a budget. There are plenty of budget-friendly ways to allow you to indulge and strike a balance between work and play (or whatever your vice or indulgence might be).

After an especially trying day, it’s not uncommon to feel like you need to treat yourself to some retail therapy. That’s not to say you should buy everything you want. Instead, stay true to your financial situation and stay in control. Learn how to make allowances to get the things you want, without suffering any type of monetary setbacks. For example, that package locker for home deliveries, for example, might seem like an extravagance, but if it saves you the hassle and cost of having to re-order packages that have been taken from your porch, isn’t that worth the expense?

Self Care

Everybody defines treating themselves with ordinary expenditures differently. Basically, anything outside your realm of normalcy that brings you some level of enjoyment or stress relief should be considered a treat. When budgeting for special allowances, don’t limit yourself to tangible items. If you already have a closet overflowing with shoes, because shoe shopping is what you do when you feel stressed out, why not seek another form of stress relief? Book yourself a trip to the spa and enjoy a nice massage or round of acupuncture that relaxes both your mind and your body. Budget for a healthy treat with benefits to your physical as well as mental health.

If you are feeling fed up and frustrated with certain aspects of your work or personal life, why not find a gym? Release some endorphins and expel your frustrations though doing laps in the pool or participating in an exercise class.

Free Treats

What can be more budget-friendly than something that doesn’t cost you a penny? For some people, their budgets aren’t fluid enough to allow for escapes as often as they would need or like. That doesn’t mean they don’t need a break or a treat, it just means they need to find alternate ways to unwind and spoil themselves. Sometimes the simplest of treats can be the most relaxing. 

When you need to escape the weight of reality that is consuming you, there are several free options available. Here are a few examples:

  • Lose yourself within a good book. 
  • Find a quiet, cozy place to curl up and nap.
  • Visit a good friend.
  • Have a peaceful soak in the tub.
  • Color in an adult coloring book.
  • Keep a journal.
  • Enjoy popcorn and a movie on the couch.

Seeking indulgent rest and relaxation doesn’t necessarily equate to time spent alone. As much as kids can drive you crazy at times, don’t discount the priceless effects of their infectious laughter. Have a look at local free events and take your family on new adventures. Grab the dog and the kids and head to the park. Rediscover your inner child and play an interactive game. Above all, laugh!

Maybe you are one of those lucky people who find cleaning a way to alleviate stress. If that’s the case, find a cluttered closet you’ve been wanting to organize for months and have at it. If you have unfinished projects around the house, complete them. There isn’t much that is more satisfying than checking things off of that never-ending mental list that can make you feel otherwise unaccomplished.

Striking a balance between work and play; necessity and indulgent; hectic and peaceful; is no easy feat. Learning to strike that balance and stay within your budget is a priceless tool in the armory of life.

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Personal Finance

How to Ensure You’ll Always Have Money

by Evan

You can’t buy happiness. However, money can pretty much get you everything else. If you’re like most Americans, though, then you’ve likely got your fair share of debt. (Collectively, the country is $14 trillion in the hole.) So for better or worse, it’s fair to say that most people need to have a steady stream of income at all times. Fortunately, there are ways to ensure that you’ll never be short of the cash you need to get by/achieve your goals and aspirations. These five tips will help you do just that:

Diversify

Relying on a single income source is risky in the modern business climate. Even if you feel very secure in your job, it’s important for you to be at the very least capable of making money elsewhere through investments, side hustles, or freelance work. Otherwise losing your job could spell financial ruin.

Make Connections

In business, as in life, success is predicated just as much on who you know, as what you know. As such, always make it a point to develop professional connections within your company and industry as a whole. Note, networking and communicating with others isn’t always easy. Consider taking a few soft skills training courses if you’d like to improve your chances of landing and keeping good jobs.

Set Goals for Yourself

You’re unlikely to reach your financial targets if you don’t set regular goals and objectives for yourself. They should be ambitious enough that you can work toward them, but not so outrageous that they prove unattainable. 

Budget Effectively

Of course, saving money plays a big role in a person’s ability to make money down the line. Indeed, if you don’t have extra capital available in reserve, you might not be able to take advantage of an exciting, but fleeting, opportunity. Remember, people of all income levels need to understand how to budget to ensure they can withstand hard financial times. Just because you’re doing well now, it doesn’t mean you’ll never experience trouble again.

Never Stop Learning

The most successful and happiest people never get bored or become complacent. Rather, they’re always looking to learn new things, pick up new skills, meet new people, and explore new places. By doing this, you’ll all but guarantee that you’ll find ways to make money regardless of your situation or needs. Look at each day as a chance to improve your life and the lives of those around you, and you’ll never struggle to find gainful employment for very long. Embrace change –– don’t fear it!

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Personal Finance

How to make sure your money is secure online

by Evan

We always want to make sure that we are safe. Whether we are out at a park, a nightclub or at a theme park. We expect there to be proper procedures in place to protect our safety. We do not expect there to be negligent security or any other threats to our safety. This is also true of our online activity. We expect our information and our money to be kept safe by sites in which we entrust it to.

Online hacking is on the rise and it is becoming more important than ever to keep safe online. Especially when so much information and our money can be vulnerable. With that in mind, here are some tips to ensure that your money is safe. 

Avoid suspicious websites

If a website is poorly designed or has lots of pop-ups, then consider that it might not be safe. Some websites will try and take your information to take money from you. Look at clues, including the URL. If you are unsure do a quick google search of the name of the website, you should be able to find out if it is trustworthy. 

Be wary of emails from people you don’t know

Another common trick is hacking your information through emails. If you receive a suspicious-looking email do not click on the link or download an attachment. You can find out how to spot an untrustworthy email here. 

Use strong passwords

Use strong passwords and make them different across different platforms. If someone hacks into one account and learns your password, they may then try and use this on different platforms. At the very least make sure the password to your PayPal or banking app is unique. 

Never disclose your social security number

Legitimate businesses will rarely ask for your social security number, so this could be a sign of someone trying to take your information. 

If you are contacted by your bank and they ask for your social security or you have any other concerns, then contact them separately. If you are asked over the phone for example, then hang up and call your bank directly.

Use credit cards

Credit cards often have protection against fraud and you are more likely to get your money back if something does happen. 

Beware of public Wi-Fi

When using public Wi-Fi don’t log in to your banking, PayPal or pay for anything online. Public Wi-Fi is notoriously easy to hack, and people use it to get people’s information. So, when using a Wi-Fi that is not password protected be aware of your activity. 

Keep track of your statements

Perhaps most importantly, keep track of your banking statements. If you see anything unfamiliar to you then notify your bank straight away. The quicker they learn of any suspicious behaviour the more likely it is that they can stop it and the more likely it is that you will get any money back which you have lost. 

Some fraudsters may take out small amounts of money frequently over a long period of time, to stop you from noticing. Download the banking app to your phone so you can track payments.

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Personal Finance

Common Myths Associated With Bankruptcy

by Evan

Declaring bankruptcy is a decision that can have a lasting impact on your financial future. While most people understand this to a degree, a large number of individuals do not know exactly how bankruptcy will change their finances. This debt relief option has changed dramatically over the years. In order for you to know whether or not filing for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy is a good decision for your future, you need to first have a more in-depth understanding of the process and how it will impact your life.

If you are thinking about filing for bankruptcy, now is the time to look over some of the more common myths associated with the financial solution. Look over the details and see whether or not this is the right fit for you.

Losing Your Possessions

One of the biggest concerns people tend to have about bankruptcy is the idea that they will lose everything ever filing. Assets like a home or car can be valuable to an individual’s life and the thought of losing them can be incredibly scary. While the fear makes sense to a degree, people do not usually lose all of their possessions after filing for bankruptcy. In fact, you are likely to keep what you own. This is because Chapter 7 bankruptcy is a no-asset process that does not require those filing for it to list all of their assets.

Chapter 13 bankruptcy also allows you to keep your possessions, but the value of each item will be deducted from the repayment checks you receive after the process finishes. Look into the details of both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 to get a better idea of which makes sense for your needs.

Debts Are Gone Forever

Another common myth associated with bankruptcy is the assumption that all debt is canceled forever once the process has been completed. While this would be a dream scenario for almost everyone, it is far from the reality of the situation. In most cases, recent taxes and family expenses like child support will not be canceled. Student loans are usually not forgiven either, though most consumers are trying to change this. Student loans create unnecessary debt and hold future generations back from success, so a vast majority of people are pushing for forgiveness acts to get these loans canceled.

The debts that you can expect to be canceled are credit card debt, personal loans and medical bills for the most part. While other debts might be forgiven, these are what banks deem finances that are “out of your control” to repay. To get a better idea of what exactly will be forgiven, reach out to experts. The professionals at an organization like Frego Law will be able to give you a more in-depth understanding of what you can expect when all is said and done.

There Are Better Options

While bankruptcy is a good solution for some people, it is not practical for most people. The better option is to pay off your debts. The process of filing for bankruptcy is long and complicated. By the time you see approval, you could have taken the time to pay back some of your debts. Financial experts suggest that consumers think long and hard about making payments on debts that they owe rather than simply relying on services like declaring bankruptcy. This service should be reserved for extreme cases where repayment is not a practical solution.

Understanding your options when you are dealing with a lot of debt can be a great way to find the solution that you need. Declaring bankruptcy is a popular choice for some consumers, but there are many details you have to understand before you can determine if this is the best fit for you. Weigh out the pros and cons of each solution and see which decision is best.

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Personal Finance

What in the Hell is Up with the Cable TV Industry? Finally Cutting the Cord

by Evan

There is something fundamentally wrong with the cable tv industry as it is operating in 2020. After years of thinking about it, the ineptness and unnecessary fees finally got me to cut the cord.

My History with Verizon FIOS and Altice One (Cablevision)

In 2013 when I bought my second home, we went with Verizon FIOS and used them for the entire time 6 years we were there. We never had an issue with service, but like clockwork every 18 months I would have to call up and threaten to quit, and every, single time my price would come down to around what I was previous paying. It was extremely frustrating but felt like part of the process.

When we moved to the current home Verizon screwed up the move order so bad I may have lost my cool with a customer service rep., which I normally do not do. It was a disaster which could have cost my family a lot of money. We put in the move order, Verizon took down the wrong address, and on the day of the install despite being 1.5 miles away, the tech wouldn’t come here to install and then gave me an install date 4 or 5 days later. It was at this point I may have lost it and told them to “forget everything.” Those words apparently triggered their system to cancel the move order and the service (as opposed to just leaving me in limbo for a few days when I searched for a competitor). For most people, this wouldn’t be a problem. However, connected to that account was The Wife’s business phone number which she has had since 2005ish. Granted with e-mail it may not have been the end of the world, but nonetheless it could have caused a major problem.

So, I attempted to get them to give me just the phone service which they wouldn’t do because it was crossing area code lines (they perform that “courtesy” when the customer is also getting TV/internet). I had to scramble. I figured out that at one time in the past my parents had FIOS so I had a technician come out and install a phone line at my parents just so I could then send it to MagicJack. I did it and I was done with FIOS and was on Altice One’s double play (TV/Internet) with MagicJack controlling the home phone number.

This led to 5 months of MagicJack and Altice One. I was paying $125/mo for Altice One which included way too many channels that I didn’t care about and 200mbs internet service and $50 or so a year for Magic Jack. Notwithstanding the ease of everything being set up I was unhappy because the internet service was not living up to the speed that was being promised, and The Wife was unhappy because she missed Verizon’s interface. This led to a phone call with Verizon.

My Recent Experience with Verizon FIOS and Finally Cutting the Cord

I was told by the Verizon Rep that I would be getting approximately the same channels, I mentioned some of the main ones, and they said “of course.” The tech, who was very nice, spent about 3 hours wiring my entire house, and we were off. I quickly found out that the matched price wasn’t going to work because I needed to use their router for $15/mo if I was going to use DVR and On Demand – which of course I am since it is 2020! So now I quickly jumped from $125 to $140. Fine, not a massive deal I would be getting 1gb instead of 200mbps not that I am convinced it would matter but at this point, I decided I was in too deep. I am going to skip over the WiFi Password 1 hour on hold debacle that also occurred.

I went out that night and came home to find that I didn’t have some very basic channels like TBS, TNT and ESPN. Not amazing channels now that the NFL season is near end, but just weird to pay $1,680/yr not to have. This lead to a phone call that caused me to cut the cord. To get all the channels I had I needed to go up to $170/mo! What?! I was fine at $125 a week ago. But it was during that call I was finally able to verbalize my real problem with cable tv companies in 2020.

They are charging for unnecessary hardware. Why do I need to pay them $20/mo for a cable box? I just need the internet into my home and everything else can be handled on the cloud.

Verizon FIOS was charging me $20/mo for 2 boxes, and then another $20 for their DVR service and $15 for their router. That is $55/mo in charges that just don’t make sense in 2020! It was at this point I told them to shut down the TV service. They made the argument that their TV service was equal to Hulu’s in pricing, and they are correct until we add in the unnecessary hardware! It was that realization that made the jump easy.

My Current Television Set Up and The Costs Behind it

I am approximately 24 hours into this, so it is likely to change, but right now I am pretty happy writing this post.

First thing is that I picked up Hulu Live. I quickly chose that service over the others simply because my smart TV had a free one week trial so I figured why not? I actually signed up with this service while still on the phone with the CSR from Verizon. This week I’ll have to do a little deeper research on the right service for us (we already have NetFlix and Disney+ so that is sunk costs which was on the tab regardless). I think YouTubeTV may be something to look into.

The second move was to go from 1gig service back down to 200mbs service. We had it for the past 6 months with zero buffering issues. That may change as we go forward, but as long as I buy the right hardware (discussed below) increasing the bandwidth is a flick of the switch on Fios.

The internet service is $40/mo and Hulu is $55 – so I am going from $140/mo (or $125/mo or $170/mo depending on the number we use) down to $95. Life changing amount? Not at all, but I always felt like I was getting ripped off so even beyond the money this feels like a win.

The only thing I have left to figure out is the hardware. I think I am going to spend about $200 to $250 in hardware costs (figuring out Router w/modem vs Modem w/mesh) which will work for years without paying $15/mo for hardware costs. The crossover is pretty easy to figure out.

We’ll see where we land with this world, but I am excited to drop off their rip off boxes!

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