Category: Frugality

Learn about a variety of ways to save money

Food

The Pros and Cons When You Order Steaks Online

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Note: In the spirit of the holidays, I am going to be recharging my batteries and taking some time off to celebrate and reflect. I will return with my next post on Tuesday, January 5, 2021, so I hope to see you all then and thanks for being a loyal reader! Happy holidays and a healthy new year!

Remember the old days when you would accompany your mother to the butcher shop to buy fresh cuts of meat for the family’s dinner? Every town, it seems, had a local butcher who knew everything there was to know about beef, pork, chicken, veal, and any other meaty delight he had for sale. He’d sell you the best steaks, the juiciest pork chops, and the ideal chicken for frying. He was the expert!

When you order steaks online, there are pros and cons to consider. Here's my advice and how to make the process convenient and tasty.

My, how things have changed! Today, most people purchase their meat at the supermarket from vast cases full of pre-packaged choices. Occasionally, the butcher will appear if you request a special cut or some other service that requires his attention. Otherwise, there’s rarely a connection between the two. And even less connected is the option to order steaks online.

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Cars, Insurance

What You Need to Know to Save on Car Insurance

I’m going to make my point here right at the beginning without my usual fun and games today. So straight up, here it is: There are certain things that almost everyone is forced to deal with that will cost you money and car insurance is one of the big ones. 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.

During this terrible pandemic, driving has changed for many of us. Instead of driving to work in your car every day and thus risking more miles and more accidents, you are most likely not doing that. Even if you are working, you are probably doing more work from home and only venturing out driving when absolutely necessary. If you can, you’re getting things like food and prescriptions delivered to your door to avoid time behind the wheel. That is actually saving you some money.

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Home

12 Ways to Rent an Apartment for Less Money

Although I am a homeowner and have been for the past 40 years, I can still remember the days when I was a renter. While renting wasn’t so terrible, I do wish I had learned some of the things about renting that I know now that would have saved me time, money, and peace of mind. Hopefully, you can use this knowledge to save when you rent an apartment.

It's possible to get a discount when you rent an apartment, you just need to know how. Check out these 12 tips to help you save money.

Rental prices aren’t set in stone, even in highly competitive markets, so elbow grease and negotiation skills can yield hefty savings. One of the priciest cities in the country, San Francisco, today has an average price of a one-bedroom apartment of nearly $4,000 (!), so knowing a few tricks can definitely help.

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Home

Winterizing Your Home: Prepare Now and Save

We all hear the news about climate change as well as the weird and sometimes disastrous weather patterns that seem to happen almost every day in some part of the world. It used to be cold in the winter and hot in the summer. That’s not always the case anymore and the temperatures here in New Jersey sometimes seem like they’re 60-something degrees almost all year round. I may be exaggerating, slightly, but the weather has changed. When I hear some weather guy reporting that the temperatures in September were the warmest ever recorded for the month, and that they’ve broken the record now seven out of the last seven years, we have to admit that global warming is having an effect, don’t we? But sometime that effect is bad winter storms, and you need to prepare by winterizing your home.

The seasons are changing and winterizing your home should be on your to do list. This checklist will help you prepare your home and help save you money.

That’s one reason I finally opened my wallet a few years ago and got the ball rolling on getting a new front door along with a storm door! I was finally ready (after freezing my rear end off for several years) to pull the cord and fix it. It has paid off in keeping us warmer and saving on our heating bill, enough to make me feel really foolish that I didn’t do it sooner.

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Health

What You Need to Know About Healthcare Open Enrollment Crunch Time

It’s that “happy” time again right now, healthcare open enrollment time. It’s a subject we don’t like to think about. If you are very, very lucky, you can avoid serious health problems now and maybe for years to come and not need health insurance. But seriously, back here on planet earth…that’s just not a good idea to go without it. Depending on how you obtain your healthcare, the enrollment period is now and officially ends in early December, so there’s no time to lose.

Healthcare open enrollment is here for most of us and it's time to select our coverage for 2021. Make sure you know what you need to select the best plan.

Healthcare coverage is critical to your finances as well as your health. Even if you are healthy now, an accident or sudden health issue could put both your well-being and your finances in jeopardy. That’s why right now is healthcare crunch time!

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Shopping

Why and How Black Friday 2020 Is Different

Officially, Black Friday 2020 arrives on Friday, November 27th this year. Unofficially, it’s happening right now, and throughout the month of November. For example, Amazon continues to run early deals on Echo devices, many of them matching last month’s Prime Day prices. Things like Echo Show 8 for $65 is a spectacular deal right now!

With the coronavirus pandemic raging on, Black Friday 2020 may look a bit different than previous years. Check out the details you need to know.

But while great sale prices aren’t going to be changing when it comes to Black Friday, 2020’s version is shaping up to be a very different kind of shopping experience than any holiday shopping weekend in recent memory. So exactly how and why is Black Friday 2020 going to be different?

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Health

What You Need to Do to Fight Outrageous Medical Bills

As you might know, my wife and I have had serious medical problems for years and years. Over the last ten years, our medical costs have exceeded 30% of our gross income. That’s about four times what the average person has to deal with based on numbers from 2017. So we’ve seen our share of outrageous medical bills.

Outrageous medical bills are all too common. Here's what you need to do in order to fight for your rights so they don't take advantage of you.

Unfortunately, it’s something we have to live with and it is one of the main reasons why we are so careful when it comes to saving money. You see, without being so aware of how to save, we would have even more difficulty managing to get through life and the cost of medical care would simply overwhelm us. We aren’t alone and I am not going to whine about it here anymore that I have to do it in order to make my important point:

There are things you can do to fight your outrageous medical bills.

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Budgeting, Shopping

Plan Right Now to Save Your Holiday Finances

It’s become so common for people to rack up huge amounts of debt during the holiday season, especially when they whip out the old credit card and throw caution to the wind! Between travel, parties, gifts, and décor, the amount you spend in December alone could result in an uncomfortably large credit card balance. Holiday finances can be tough to deal with.

It's not too late to plan your holiday finances. But the holidays are coming right around the corner, so now is the time to get organized.

You probably have fallen victim to it just as most of us have including me too as an impetuous youth. I lived to regret it and fortunately I learned my lesson and never did it again. So I ask this question of you now: Are you ready to plan right now to save your holiday finances?

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