I was so fed up with my insurance company! Premium hikes every single year even though we never filed a single claim, an indifferent agent, and a premium that was outrageously expensive to begin with.
For a few years, I was so busy raising small kids that I neglected our finances. But as soon as my kids grew up a little and I had more time on my hands, I knew it was time to start shopping around for a new insurer.
So I cleared up my morning and started making phone calls.
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I am a huge fan of Shark Tank and Kickstarter success stories, as it’s amazing how one idea/passion/lifelong dream motivates people to do incredible things. I too have a lifelong dream. Ever since I was a child, I have wanted to write a children’s book.
The perfect story came to me while I was pregnant with my second daughter. Even though I didn’t expect to be rich or famous overnight, I wasn’t quite prepared for the weeks of rejection either. What happened was that I pitched my story to several agents, but either I didn’t hear anything back or I would hear that they were only looking for writer/illustrator combos. Was it me?
Feeling defeated, I put my story away and thought my passion would just have to stay as a work in progress forever. Two things happened shortly after though. I started learning more about others who successfully published their children’s books through Kindle (which I didn’t know there was a market for), and I read a children’s book by a famous TV personality. That book showed me that publishers are only interested in profiting off of big names, no matter how stupid the content is.
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Buying a car can be an exciting adventure. There’s a certain level of satisfaction and enjoyment in pulling out of the dealership in a new ride. There’s quite a process that needs to happen before that can happen, though. The price needs to be negotiated, extended warranties to be discussed, taxes and fees to be added, and potential financing options to work through. In addition to all those things, there’s something else that should be considered if you’re contemplating purchasing a used car. Once that vehicle is in your garage, you’ll have maintenance costs. Planning for those costs needs to start even before you drive your new car off the lot.
Here are four commonly used car maintenance items that should always be contemplated when contemplating buying a used car:
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Just because you don’t make as much as someone else doesn’t mean there aren’t ways to enjoy the same things they do. Things like education, home furnishings, and working out can still be enjoyed by you regardless of your income. It just takes a little creativity. Keep in mind that it’s not about the thing so much as it is about the result. For example, I can listen to music on a $1099 iPhone or I can listen to it on an older iPod Touch. Regardless of the kind of player I use I still get to listen to my favorite music.
Here are 19 more ideas.
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There’s a scene in one of my favorite movies where the lead character steps into a batting cage, then take fastballs to the chest to toughen up. He takes them all, screaming and grunting with the thud of each ball against his body.
With the completion of our debt management program (DMP) through which my wife and I destroyed $109,000 of credit card debt, that’s exactly how I feel right now. Whatever life has to throw at us, we can handle it. With hard work and determination, we can overcome any challenge and achieve any goal.
This is good. Because we’re not done yet.
We have one line of credit managed by a creditor that wouldn’t work with our program, as well as two store credit cards that we intended to take care of ourselves. It took every ounce of effort we had to stay on course with our program, so we used the last 55 months to concentrate on those debts.
Now that the program is complete, it’s time to concentrate on the remaining lines of credit.
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Many of us dream of retiring at some point, but are you setting aside enough to make that a reality?
According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) latest’s retirement confidence survey, you might not be on track.
The latest survey indicates one third of those surveyed found that retirement expenses are higher than they thought they would be.
That’s a fairly alarming number when you stop to think about it – especially when you consider that the EBRI reports that these results are based on data before the inflation run up of the past year.
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