Sometimes, there’s no one to blame but yourself.
For whatever reason, my doctor visit a few days ago really struck a chord and got my blood boiling. I caught a cold and I went to see a doctor to make sure it’s just regular coughing and nothing more serious. The $25 co-pay seemed unnecessary but for the peace of mind, it was a good idea (especially when your wife is pregnant and insisted that you go).
When I got there, yada-yada-yada, the doctor said I’ll be fine, yada-yada-yada, and I came out with coughing medicine and a generic version of Claritin D. Only that the bill wasn’t $25, it added up to be $42. Worst of all, I didn’t even know how much it was until the medicine was already prepared and the cashier asked for a signature.
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In my last post I described how Aaron and I came to the decision to spend our first vacation in San Francisco and Napa Valley. Once the destination was settled, we were able to focus on the financial choices that we could make before leaving.
Let me share a few tips with you on how to save money on traveling.
We are keeping this trip relatively simple. For us that means that we haven’t lined up any big entertainments (shows, spa appointments, thrill sports, etc.), so our main preparations are just travel basics: how to get from Chicago to California, where to stay when we’re there, and how to get around between our two destination cities.
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Even high income earners are eligible to make a Roth IRA conversion starting in 2010. To sweeten the deal even more, those who elect to make the transfer can spread out the taxes owed in years 2010 and 2011. But how does the roth IRA conversion work? What are the consequences?
Consider This Before Making the Conversion
Before you start to converting a your IRA to Roth, you must make sure that such a conversion is advantageous. It sounds obvious, but it’s easier said than done.
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If you want to be happy in retirement, having a million dollar nest egg hardly gets you there.
All over, financial planners advise us to have a certain figure in mind when it comes to retirement. “Based on your current salary, you need $1.2 million by 65”, they might say. But yet, as history has shown, aiming for a numerical dollar amount by a certain age is like driving your car across a railroad track and hoping that you won’t get hit. Even if you reach your goal of $1.2 million by the age of 63, it could drop to $900,000 by 65, but jump back up to $1 million by the age of 66. If you are really trying to follow the advice of having $1.2 million, isn’t that a recipe for a heart attack?
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My grandpa always knew of a workaround, and my mom always knew of a more frugal alternative.
In my family, few could rival my grandfather’s creativity in creating handmade equivalents. Naturally, he became the go to person whenever we needed a workaround. Bought a camera that didn’t come with a stand? Grandpa would fix that with a few paperclips (I’m not kidding). Had a garage door opener with a broken clip? Problem solved with a few strings.
My mom is extremely resourceful when it comes to ways of saving money. Just when you thought you got maximum mileage out of something you bought, my mom could always reuse it in a whole new way. Every time I thought buying was the only option, my mom would give a suggestion for a free alternative.
I was lucky to be so closed to them, but there’s no need to envy me. If you don’t know anyone resourceful, then become one yourself. It’s not like you are missing anything to do so. In fact, I’d argue that you have too much to truly become more creative. My grandfather figured out how to fix and make his own tools because he had no money to buy them. My mom figured out how to save money because she didn’t have much to spend and a whole family to feed. They didn’t even purposefully set out to become successful at it, yet they could in some way be categorized as experts of what they do. If you want to become successful, here are a few crucial points to remember.
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Bigger is always better. Or so they say.
We love to hear about a better deal, but these incredible offers usually trick us into spending more money than we should. Case in point – buy bulk. Don’t agree? Answer these three questions.
- How many times do you grab a can of soda because you just bought a huge case?
- How many times do you drink when you don’t have any in the fridge?
- How often do you eat more because your plate had more food?
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