finance

Off to The Big City

/ Quilly / 9 Comments

I’m headed for the ferry and I will be spending today in Anacortes, WA.  Okay, so it’s not a big city, but it’s a heck of a lot bigger than our little town of Friday Harbor.  I’m going to start the morning with a doctor’s visit and then I will be doing some shopping.  Nothing major, Amoeba broke his belt and I need a new pair of sandals.

I’ll also be visiting a mainland grocery store.  The prices there are just a tad bit lower than here, and stocking up on staples is one of the ways we offset the cost of going off island — it’s about a $60.00 round trip.  Plus, I just stopped by SupermarketCoupons.com and stocked up on coupons to help me save even more. My favorite coupons are the ones I download right to my Safeway Loyalty card. I can’t lose them or forget to give them to the checker, because they apply themselves when the checker scans my Safeway Club Card.

I also got a few manufacturer printable coupons that I can use at any store selling the products I want. I just printed them off on my own computer and tucked them into my wallet with my debit card so, hopefully, I won’t forget to use them! SupermarketCoupons.com also has online grocery coupons. I’ve never used any of them since we live far too rural to ever get grocery delivery.

Just yesterday Amoeba commented on how little money I spend, yet we always seem to eat well and we’re not without our little luxuries. Being a smart shopper pays off at home and at the bank. Supermarket coupons help me be a smart shopper.

I’ll be taking my computer to town with me.  I will have quite a wait to and from the island as I wait for the ferry, so I’ll finally have time to get some blogging done!

Luxury Apartments

/ Quilly

Have you ever looked for a place to live in the classified ads? I have and I’ve seen some real dumps. Amoeba and I once looked at a “spacious, 5 bedroom condo with a spectacular view of Diamond Head”.  The place did have 5 bedrooms, but we were asked not to use one because it was above the bedroom of the day sleeper who lived in the basement unit.  Oh, and the “condo” was a chopped up house.  Proof of the old adage, “If it sounds to good to be true then it probably is.” Before you start apartment shopping, you might want to check out the Apartment Market Overview.

Then, if you’re looking for Luxury Apartment Rentals, you’ll want to check out Bling Apartments [dot] com. The Bling Apartments website is easy to navigate, provides a good selection of listings, offers an abundance of current photographs, and even supplies floor plans so you can do much of your shopping online and formulate your questions before you arrive to consider the actual property. In addition, you will find the rent/leases prices clearly displayed by unit and by floor plan.

Hind Sight

/ Quilly / 1 Comment

You know, now that the couch has attacked me (see two previous posts), I can see clearly that I should have been prepared for this. With a little forethought I would have had an accident coverage policy. I mean, I’m pretty sure that suing a piece of furniture isn’t going to get me much in the way of compensation — especially since the furniture belongs to us.

Luckily, I do have funeral coverage through my 401k. It is a minuscule amount and won’t make my heir’s rich, which is just fine with me. If there’s any celebrating when I die, I want it to be for the glory of God, not mammon.

When I was working for the Vegas school district, I also carried insurance on my paycheck. Guardian Income Insurance can provide the family wage earner with a feeling of security during uncertain times. When I was in my car accident in 2003, my policy kicked in and covered 6 weeks of my wages. My bills got paid and all I had to concentrate on was my physical therapy and the piles of endless paperwork for the other driver’s insurance company.

So, even though you’ll probably never be assaulted by a couch, this world isn’t always a safe place.  Insurance can help take care of your and your loved ones in the event of an accident.  If you aren’t already covered, give it some thought.

Personal Injury Claim

/ Quilly / 3 Comments

Since the couch attacked me (see previous post), I was wondering if I could file a personal injury claim.  I found Accident Consultant [dot] Com and got really excited.  If they accept my case and I win, I get 100% of the compensation owed me.  If they accept my case and I lose, I don’t have to pay them a dime!  I was all ready to fill out the Personal Injury Claim form and then I realized — this is only for those lucky people who live in the UK.

Sometimes You Just Need Help

/ Quilly / 8 Comments

In today’s economy more people than ever before are looking for financial education, credit counseling, and debt management. I don’t know why these aren’t standard curriculum in school classrooms. Why is it that most Americans don’t teach their kids about s3x and money until after they’ve gotten into trouble. Experience might be the best teacher, but it certainly isn’t the easiest and some mistakes are forever.

Luckily, money mistakes can usually be corrected. If you are struggling with overwhelming credit card debt you might be an excellent candidate for debt consolidation loans. The Debt Consolidation Connection is a non-profit agency designed to help people manage their debt, and get their financial lives back under control. If you need help, check them out.

When I first got out of college my credit cards were maxed, the student loan payments came due, and I still had rent, utilities, groceries, etc. I sat with my checkbook and my bills one day and just crying. Thanks to my education I had a better paying job than ever before, but thanks to my bills I actually had less money to live on at the end of the month than I did when I scrubbed toilets for a living.

Getting into debt is easy. Getting out is harder. Still, it can be done. I paid off three credit cards, kept a roof over my head, made my car and my insurance payments, plus built a savings account. It wasn’t easy. I often worked three jobs. I also did without the “latest and greatest” gadgets and toys, but it was worth it. And the few luxuries I did purchase were researched and well thought-out. I paid cash for them so I had to scrimp and save to get them. Because of that I value them so much more than I ever valued any of my credit card impulse buys.