budget

6 Ways You Can Lower the Cost of Pet Ownership

Written by adminJuly 31, 2018

If you have a pet, there’s no doubt you love them like family. You may even consider yourself a parent to your fur baby and count them among your children when people ask how many you have. That’s purrfectly okay with us!

What a lot of new pet owners don’t realize is how expensive it can be. You might think all you have to do is water and feed them, but that’s not exactly the case. If you live in an apartment, you might be charged several hundred dollars and pay extra in rent. Some towns require a yearly tax and regular vaccines.

It’s easy to spend hundreds of dollars per year on toys, food, grooming, pet sitters and walkers if you’re out of town, and so much more. It’s totally worth it, but if you’re living on a tight budget, it can be difficult to keep up with everything that goes along with owning a pet.

Here are 6 ways you can lower the cost of pet ownership:

1) Find a Vet that Does Free Initial Exams

There are numerous vets out there that offer free exams as a way of getting new clients in the door. If you need to take your pet in for any reason, you can save money by choosing one of these vets instead of paying the $60 for a visit. It’s not often pet owners have to take their pets in, but in the event it happens, this will save them money.

2) Don’t Get Your Meds from the Vet

Of course, when you do take your vet in to get checked out, they will push a variety of supplements and medications, which they sell at a huge mark-up in price. If it’s a required medication, have the vet write a script instead. Many normal pharmacies, like Walgreens ad Rite-Aid, will offer pet prescriptions savings programs.

3) Look Around for Mobile Clinics

A lot of cities are willing to help control the pet population and keep the animals we do have as healthy as possible. That’s why you might find a place that offers free screenings, free spay and neutering, and extremely cheap vaccinations, flea and heartworm meds, and microchips.

4) Ask a Friend to Pet Sit

You probably do this anyway, but if you know you’re going to be away for awhile and can’t take your furry friend with you, maybe you can drop them off at a friend’s house or with a family member while you’re away. It sure beats having to pay an additional $60+ per night at a kennel.

5) Don’t Buy Brand New Toys

Pets love stuffed animals and toys as much as the kids do, but unlike your kids, the pets won’t know if the toy you gave them is fresh out of the box, nor will they care. Why buy a brand new stuffed animal for $12 when you can browse a garage sale and get several for a quarter?

6) Comparison Shop

Just like when you by groceries for the family, take the time to do a bit of comparison shopping before purchasing things like meds and food for your pet. Amazon might have a great deal over the local pet store. And as we stated earlier, don’t buy your meds at the vet. Save money and look around first.

Written by adminJuly 26, 2018

Life Style

Millennials get a lot of slack for being a generation who grew up in mostly wealthy households without much struggle. Many still live at home with their parents, well into their 20s and 30s.

Yet, despite a major debt crisis, crushing student loan debt impacting them directly, and an economy that’s still recovering from the Great Recession, Millennials remain a financially optimistic group of people.

TD Ameritrade conducted a survey that found 53% of millennials believe they’ll become millionaires in their lifetime. A majority of them believe they’ll retire early, before the age of 56.

Despite this burst of optimism in their ability to gain wealth, very few millennials actually know how to make that dream a reality. They haven’t developed a knowledge in how to properly invest and save their money.

The cruel reality is, the age of retirement is getting pushed back longer and longer, with many experts predicting that a lot of retirees will be forced to work until they die. Social security is dwindling to nothing and younger generations are taking on so much debt, it’s nearly impossible to save during crucial years when they need to start.

Millennials simply don’t have the financial literary yet to make a realistic retirement goal. Mass Mutual wanted to find out how many people from this generation actually knew about financial matters, and only 17% of 500 millennials got a perfect score.

As they age, they will be faced with the harsh reality that they simply weren’t prepared for life on their own.

This article isn’t meant to be a judgement of millennials, but a wake-up call. Life won’t turn out how they expected and they must be confronted with that reality as soon as possible if they hope to make it. The future looks grim, so they must be prepared for the fight ahead, as they will endure harsher obstacles than past generations did.

In fact, millennials will have to start saving money in their early 20s, which seems incredibly difficult if they’re living at home due to the high cost of rent and tremendous student debt weighing them down.

The best thing they can do for themselves is become educated on their options. If you’re paying back a lot of student debt, it is extremely difficult to save money. There are government programs that can help you pay off those debts MUCH sooner. Financial Helpers can help you navigate those tricky waters before the programs are shut down for good.

Give us a call to learn your options at:

Call Now 1-844-332-2079

Another thing is to look at ways to curb spending so you can pay off your debts sooner than anticipated. That’s why a lot of millennials still live at home. They simply can’t afford their own place and all the bills that go along with it.

But rather than piling debt on top of debt, millennials can use public transportation, not eat out as much, learn better budgeting skills, get a side gig, make coffee at home rather than the expensive coffee stores, and don’t get a credit card unless it’s low interest.

These steps will help, but it’s up to the person to take the time to gain better financial literacy and have a more realistic picture of their future finances.

Written by adminJuly 24, 2018

Life Style

It’s that time again. While most parents are secretly (or not so secretly) cheering the end of summer and return of the school season, they also hate it.

According to a survey from eBates, 75% of U.S. parents hate back-to-school shopping season, and just as many teens believe the same. It’s not just the end of summer, though, that causes frustration. It’s the tension between parents and teens that make shopping unbearable.

Teens say their parents tend to wait until the very last minute to get any school shopping done and wish they’d start taking it more seriously. But parents, on the other hand, don’t like that their kids only want name brand clothes and items, which is stuff they usually can’t afford. This is especially true for families with multiple kids going back at the same time.

There’s a lot of peer pressure on teens to only get the latest, greatest fashions, leaving parents to figure out how to appease them while not destroying their budget. It’s not as if parents don’t want to buy their kids the best stuff…they just can’t afford it.

It’s quite easy for parents to give in, as emotions are often put before practical uses of money. Every holiday season, millions of people go into debt to appease family and friends. And more often than not, parents give in and buy their teens the greatest, most expensive clothes and supplies to the detriment of their budget.

Some of what they buy isn’t even practical, but because their kids demanded it, it found its way into the cart. In fact, parents spent over $70 billion last year for back-to-school.

Since it’s mostly teenagers who demand the more expensive items on their list, it leaves us wondering if parents are missing out on a grand opportunity to teach kids about budgeting and the value of money.

In short: if they want the latest and great stuff, why not have them buy it themselves? If you give your children an allowance, tell them you’re only going to spend “X” amount of money for clothes and supplies, so if they want more than that, they need to save and chip in.

Or, if they’re older, a few summer jobs can be used for more than just extra spending money. You can teach your kids how to save some of what they earn to take care of their own needs. Once they realize how expensive their choice of style is, it might bring down some of the tension this time of year.

Of course, it might not, but at least they’ll learn about money, and that’s more important. They’re soon realize that if they want the best of the best, they’ll have to pay for it and it will motivate them to do so.

Another idea is to itemize each ‘category’ and shop online beforehand. They’ll need new clothes, gadgets, school supplies, shoes, and other stuff, so write it all down. Maybe sit down with your teen and plan out everything you want to buy, with the cost, within the budget you set.

And whatever happens, don’t give in. Keeping your budget intact is more important than adding to your debt just to ensure your kid is fashionable going into the new school year.

Written by adminJune 4, 2018

Saving

In today’s world, we seem to be entering a new financial revolution for women. Talk of the pay gap has increased, which has led to women gaining more respect and equal pay in the workplace.

Despite this new-found attention, women still are iffy about money. They lack confidence in saving for their future, don’t like to talk about it, and would almost rather talk about anything else.

According to a recent survey, only 52% of women feel their confident enough in managing their investments. That’s just over half of all women!

There’s still a strong feeling that men are providers and they take care of the family, but there’s a fairly large loop hole that many couples don’t think about when planning for retirement: women live longer than men.

This is why it’s super important to help women understand that financial matters aren’t just about empowerment, but having the ability to survive if something bad happens.

Lorna Sabbia from Merrill Lynch agrees.

“As women are at a tipping point to achieve greater financial empowerment and independence, it is even more essential that we support women in helping them pursue financial security for life. This includes encouraging women to invest more of their assets, save earlier for retirement, and pursue financial solutions that closely align to their personal values and life paths,” she said.

There’s a real investment gap between men and women and it’s troubling. Investing often seems like a ‘man’s game’ and can seem too analytical. They do well with other aspects, like budgeting, but investing isn’t a strong suit for most women.

On average, women live 5 years longer than men. 84% of all people over 100 are women. While this is a continuing trend, a little less than half of all women worry about running out of money. This is not a fear that will go away anytime soon, especially as technological developments allow us to live longer.

This is a major problem that needs to be addressed. Over half of all women say they regret not investing more while they were able. 60% say they didn’t invest because they just didn’t have the knowledge necessary. 34% cited a lack of confidence.

To combat this, women should consider hiring a financial planner and taking the time to learn how to properly invest.

It also shouldn’t be a subject women shy away from with their husbands. They should be in on the front lines and discussing ALL aspects of future saving, including investments, so they understand how it works and they know what their options are when the time comes.

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