As an Economics major in college I am always thinking like a student. I am always trying to save a little cash when shopping and I am constantly observing how my financial decisions affect others. The world moves when money moves. This simple truth has always been fascinating to me.
I encountered one of these situations the other day while helping my FMIL (future mother in law) move into her new home. She hired a moving company to help with the long, stressful day. This was necessary because of the sheer amount of items she had to move. She called me to come and help her during the day, and I figured I would be moving items or driving around town picking up various things to help the day go more smoothly. I did some of these things, but my main job was to watch the movers. My response was, “Really, I have to watch the movers?” The problem was the company was paid by the hour. If I weren’t there, my FMIL would have had to pay for a few extra hours because she was in the closing process throughout the day and couldn’t be there to open her new home to let them in. She also wanted me to make sure they moved at a brisk pace because their hourly rate was just over $200.
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When something breaks, spending the money to fix it can feel painful. Indeed, if the car still runs, or if the appliance still sort of works, it doesn’t seem necessary to rush out and get repairs. Whether it’s a few loose shingles on the roof, or a slightly malfunctioning appliance, if it is “good enough,” many of us find it hard to pay the money to have it fixed.
Unfortunately, this isn’t always the best idea. You might be saving money now, but down the road you could end up paying a lot more.
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Your kids take English, math and science in school, but do they take personal finance? And do you compensate by talking to them about money at all?
Leaving them out of the money conversation leaves that door open to disaster later in life. But by talking to them now, you teach them that money isn’t a scary word, nor is it one to be taken lightly. Even in the early years, kids can understand concepts, if not details. And all of these early conversations keep the lines of communication open for questions and understanding when they are faced with money decisions.
Use these 9 tips to make your kids comfortable with money early on.
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Signing a lease can be stressful, since many people don’t know how long they will be staying in one place. This makes agreeing to a set time frame difficult. My fiancé signed a 12 month lease earlier this year, but is now second guessing that decision because of a number of reasons that were unknown prior to signing the lease. Most apartments attempt to get each tenant to sign as long of a lease as possible by offering promotional deals, and my fiancé got a cheaper security deposit and a waived administrative fee for adding 2 months onto the length she initially wanted. Now she is considering breaking the lease and moving on to something different. The question she and I are asking ourselves is when does this become a sound decision financially?
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A short time before Christmas last year, my husband signed up for a free trial promotion of Amazon Prime. We wanted to make sure that the Christmas gifts we ordered arrived on time, and Amazon Prime offers free two-day shipping. I had resisted Prime for quite a while, due to the $79.99 annual fee, but I figured that, once we finished the trial, and Christmas was safely delivered, we could cancel and avoid the fee.
Fast forward a few months, and we haven’t canceled because I’ve decided that I quite like Amazon Prime.
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Are your mobile banking apps putting your pocketbook in danger?
If you are like some Americans, you might be missing money and not even know it.
This last weekend, ABCnews.com reported foul-ups from mobile banking apps slapping iPad users with a duplicate charge when they paid their bills or transferred funds. The extra charges began when Citibank went live with their iPad app last July, yet no one discovered the issue until December.
A mobile app invisibly syphoning money in the background is a giant problem, an app doing it for months undiscovered is even bigger – exactly the sort of snafu that can erode trust between consumers and their mobile banking products.
This is just one recent example of mobile banking problems. There is actually another larger threat looming in the mobile banking world that consumers have been dodging for decades: theft. Even if banks take every measure to secure their data, they aren’t perfect. Recently, the FDIC acknowledged that banks in the US have had data stolen during mobile banking transactions.
Still, most experts agree that mobile banking isn’t just for the future, as it’s just as safe as any other type of banking currently being offered. As long as you take the proper precautions, you can capitalize on the convenience of mobile apps to get your banking done, wherever you are.
So what should you be doing to make sure your money stays safe when mobile banking?
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