Frugality Archives - Super Saving Tips

How Someone with a Disability Can Plan Now to Make Long-Term Care Fit Your Financial Picture

January 10, 2020 January 9, 2020

For today’s guest post, please welcome Ed Carter, a retired financial planner who uses his expertise to help people with disabilities plan their futures.

It’s an unfortunate reality that many adults with disabilities are faced with financial challenges. According to a report from the National Disability Institute, adults with disabilities are three times more likely than others to have trouble paying medical bills, and 55% of individuals with disabilities do not have savings to cover a financial emergency. These concerns are troubling at any age, but when you think about paying for care later in life, financial planning takes on a new meaning. This is why it’s so important to make a financial plan now to safeguard your future.

It's important for individuals who have a disability to plan financially for their long-term care. Here are three steps to take in planning for the future.

Make Sure You’re Covered

If you haven’t done so recently, start by reviewing benefits you may be eligible for, including Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and more. You may be surprised by the types of services you can access, such as housing assistance and special savings accounts for individuals with disabilities. Make sure you’re also taking advantage of all tax benefits that you’re eligible for.

Shopping

The Best Time to Buy Things This Year

January 7, 2020 January 6, 2020

Please note this post contains affiliate links which help to fund this blog at no cost to you. Thanks for your support!

Every year I am amazed at how many people ask me when is the best time to buy certain items that they need. Unfortunately, my reaching out to a few friends and acquaintances helps only a little bit. Most people buy things on impulse or just when they absolutely may need something and never have a well-made plan when they do it. No matter how many times I see it, I have to shake my head and ask, “Why didn’t you wait or didn’t you know that it was just on sale last week?”

To get the best deals, it helps to know the best time to buy your purchase. Here's a month-by-month guide to finding the hottest bargains.

The prices of most things that are “on sale” are sometimes questionable. By that I mean: sale prices are determined by the retailer and that’s why items at one store’s prices are sometimes very different from another. Competition has an effect and helps keep prices in line and similar, but not always. There are other factors such as seasonality, store location (like a resort gift shop compared to your local Kohl’s store when you need a bathing suit, LOL), and the amount of inventory a store has on hand at any given key time of the year.

Food

Elite Supermarkets Can Be Money Savers, Too

November 26, 2019 November 25, 2019

Grocery shopping should be a very simple task, but it isn’t. First of all, it’s pretty much a requirement for you or someone in your family to do it—every week. They should be making a list, heading out to the store, buying what you really need, then coming back home to unload and put it all away. It’s very similar to washing your hair, according to the instructions, repeat the process, and do it all again next week…forever.

Even if you shop at one of the elite supermarkets, there are still ways to save money. Check out my advice and scoop up the deals at your local stores.

You may think you’ll be making a quick trip to the grocery store, but two hours later, you come home with tons of grocery bags and hundreds of dollars gone from your bank account. So then, how can anyone suggest that big name elite supermarkets (like Whole Foods or Wegmans) can ever be a way to save money?

Shopping

Black Friday Sales and Smart Money Prep

November 12, 2019 November 11, 2019

Please note this post contains affiliate links which help to fund this blog at no cost to you. Thanks for your support!

The biggest shopping event of the year is fast approaching: Thanksgiving weekend. Whether it’s Black Friday sales, the Saturday and Sunday afterwards, or the “Cyber Monday” sales that are the big internet shopping days, they are the markers for most retailers that take them from being in the “red” each year to being into the “black” and profitable!

To get ready for Black Friday sales, you need to do a little preparation to get the best deals. Here's my advice on how to score the best bargains.

Actually, they should call the entire weekend “green weekend” for that very reason!

Black Friday weekend kicks off the first of the four weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas that will determine a retailer’s fate for a successful holiday season. One thing for sure is that saving money and getting a really great deal is totally possible. But also possible is that you can get caught up in the whole crazy shopping experience and make some purchases you regret or even worse, purchases that you just can’t really afford! That’s the reason the phrase “buyer beware” is so appropriate even during this, the time when you are most involved with shopping and saving’s glee!

Budgeting, Cars, Food, Home

3 Things You Can Learn From Early Retirees

October 25, 2019 October 25, 2019

Your retirement is something you think about with a smile and some pleasant thoughts even though it might seem like it’s light-years away. But if you get to your golden years with insufficient funds, it’s guaranteed to be a nightmare and very unpleasant! You don’t want to live through that scenario, I promise you.

If you're having difficulty saving enough money for retirement, take a lesson from those who have been there. Here's what you can learn from early retirees.

Saving up enough money over a 45-year career to maintain your lifestyle in retirement is pretty challenging. But there’s a lot to be learned from the people who have managed to hit their savings goals well before that point, people who then retire early. You can learn a lot even if you haven’t been bitten by the early-retirement bug. That’s why it’s important to concentrate and learn about these three things you can learn from early retirees when you think that your retirement is at hand. But before you find out the answers…

Home

We Purchased New Laminate Wood Flooring and Here’s Why

October 22, 2019 October 21, 2019

We have lived in our current home now since 2007. That’s just over 12 years and during that time we haven’t done much to the floors around here. We had new carpeting in our living room, dining room, and hallway when we first moved in and truthfully, they’ve been looking pretty worn and stained to the point where it was really bothering us. After all, it wasn’t the finest carpeting when we purchased it and it really didn’t owe us anything after 12+ years of use, did it? It was time for an update and we decided on new laminate wood flooring.

It was time to update our floors and after considering our return on investment, we purchased laminate wood flooring. Here's what went into our decision.

When you do any home improvement, you often hear the abbreviation ROI (return on investment) mentioned. That’s why when we decided to make a change we asked ourselves this question:

“What might be the ROI if we purchase new flooring and besides the beauty aspect, does new flooring mean an increase in the value of our home?”

Shopping

Your Holiday Shopping Season Starts Now

October 18, 2019 November 19, 2019

It’s here already! With Columbus Day (or Indigenous Peoples Day if you prefer) done, the holiday shopping season is here. Shoppers are preparing for the holiday season earlier and earlier every year and your challenge is not to get lost in the shuffle. It seems it was just a few days ago we were all sitting around the pool and enjoying summer and now, guess what? Halloween is just two weeks away and it’s almost November and the official shopping countdown has begun!

Believe it or not, the 2019 holiday shopping season has started! Here's the information you need to get the best deals on your gift shopping list.

If you haven’t given it any thought already, it’s good to think about it right now so you can officially kick your holiday plans into high gear. That’s because more consumers are expected to start their holiday shopping earlier this season, even moreso than in years’ past.

Cars, Insurance

How to Save on Car Insurance

October 8, 2019 October 7, 2019

There are certain things that almost everyone is forced to deal with that will cost you money and auto insurance is one of the big ones. It’s always good to save money when you can, but even better when you save on the big expenses in your budget. Today I’m going to talk about how to save on car insurance so you can keep more money in your wallet while still protecting yourself.

Car insurance is critical to have, but can cost a fortune. Here's how to save on car insurance while still keeping yourself protected.

I haven’t talked about it much over the past five years, but every year I am forced to deal with my own auto insurance by doing my homework to try to save as much as possible on it. I simply hate making the payment for it, but we don’t have much of a choice as to whether to buy it or not since it is required by law in 48 of the 50 states. Only the states of New Hampshire and Virginia are exceptions, but even they have some requirements.* But if skipping on auto insurance sounds like a bargain, it isn’t. It’s time now to revisit car insurance and take a good hard look at the ways to save!