Sooner or later, just about everyone ends up needing to rent a car. Whether it is because they are on vacation and need a set of wheels, or their own car is in the shop and a rental becomes a necessity.
If you have looked at prices lately you know that getting a car, even for a short period, can be expensive. Advertisements may imply that you can rent something for $19 a day, but once you tack on extras, the price skyrockets.
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Most people dream of winning the lottery, but most people underestimate the impact of such a extraordinary event. Whether you are ready or not, cashing the winning ticket is almost certainly a life changing event.
A couple weeks ago, our family decided to try our hands on a lucky game called the lottery. It was fun. After all, the jackpot was over $100 million dollars. I don’t know about the others, but I had a few dreams of my own that I wanted to fulfill. Of course, we didn’t win, but while looking at the options of cashing out, I noticed that you could either cash out in full, or get multiple annual payments for the next 26 years.
Many of you probably talked about this amongst your friends before, so I’m curious to know. Would you take the cash, or would you take the 26 equal payments over many years?
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With home values still relatively low, it can be frustrating to try and increase the value of your home. You might not have the financial means to remodel, and the chances of recovering the costs associated with such a move are slim at best. However, if you have a little extra cash coming, say due to a tax refund for example, you might increase the value of your home, and your enjoyment in it by considering some spring simple touch-ups:
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Are you willing to sacrifice?
Last week’s money mailbox featured a long time reader who was running out of money. One of the steps seemed obvious to many outsiders who saw the situation clearly: cut that cable and save at least $50 – $100 a month. It was easy for us to make the suggestion, but it must be very difficult for the elder lady. After all, watching cable television was one of the few activities she still enjoys.
Cable is one of those services that I constantly tell everyone to cut down. That $100 cable bill, while a big waste of money, is affordable for many of you. When I talk about it, some of you always retaliate and I back off. I do it because you are right. You can afford the monthly cost, and this is just a personal choice.
But before you write everything off as “I have the money and it’s my choice”, please consider what you are risking.
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College is one of the most expensive periods of your life. While there are obvious ways to save on costs while in college, there are many people don’t even think about. Most publications aren’t really helping either. We talk about better ways to find financial aids, but what about good old fashion frugality? We all know that state schools are cheaper than private colleges and that starting with a two-year degree at a good community college is a great way to save, but here are some other areas where you can trim the bill.
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Not everyone is lucky.
A Long Time Reader Writes:
I am an older single female, living alone in a small, yet expensive apartment. I am on disability leave from work and don’t get enough to live on, and make too much to qualify for food stamps. I am on budget for the electric bill, and I have bundled my phone, cable and DSL which is a good thing (really.). Here is what I have totally, for month to month (19th to 19th):
- Rent: $795.00
- Lights: $82.00
- Phone/Cable/DSL: $175.00 (this is the highest so far due to the overseas/long distance calls I needed to make)
- Prescriptions & Doctor Visits (Monthly): $198.00
Just with the above, I’m already in the hole about $75. I bundled the cable with the DSL and phone because it literally is cheaper than all three separately. DSL is $30. Cable alone was almost $300. Phone varied, but it could be as high as $180 a month. I’ve ‘dumbed-down’ my cable. I don’t have any movie channels, and it’s the basic with 200 other channels. The lower tiers don’t have the channels I watch in the middle of the night or any other time when I can’t sleep and I can’t find anything I really want to watch on tv and my package is going up $30 on June 1st.
I also need to pay for a cleaning lady once a month and that in itself is expensive. Where do groceries and laundry quarters come in?
I have no savings and nothing left in my checking account til the 19th. Help.
YIIIIIIIKEEEEEEES. Cut, cut, cut is what you need to do. Here’s what I mean:
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