Jill Russo Foster

Tips for Successful Personal Finances

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My Year’s Recap

2019 has been a year of cleaning out for us.  We have eliminated lots of items from our home by recycling / tossing, selling, donating and more.  Each and every month we have gotten rid of items – everything from paperwork (which was scanned and originals shredded) to unused exercise equipment to streamlining our clothing.

Here are some of the specifics we did:

  • Donated formal attire to the local high school formal attire club, work clothes to Dress For Success and more
  • Sporting Equipment to the local sports drive
  • Books to the Library Book Sale fundraiser
  • Cell phones and accessories to Cell Phones for Soldiers
  • VHS movies to local senior living facility
  • Tools and ladders to Habitat for Humanity Restore
  • Old sheets / towels to the animal shelter
  • Electronics to the Salvation Army
  • Stuffed animals to the local thrift shop
  • Office supplies to several non-profits based off their wish lists
  • Clothing to the local food / clothing bank

Sometimes this seemed like a never ending project, but there has been much progress.  For more information and ideas on what to do with your stuff, please visit my Resources page.

Here’s to a more organized 2020!

Oh No, The Holidays Are Coming!

The holidays are coming! The holidays are coming! Guard your budgets and hold onto your wallets. You might be thinking I’m crazy, but the retailers have positioned their holiday displays to disarm you of your cash, especially this year with fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving and the Holidays.

Did you shop on Black Friday and Cyber Monday?

Can you make this year different?  Can you stick to your list and not overspend?  You can if you make a detailed plan. Write down exactly what you will be buying and the dollar amount you plan to spend.

Here are some suggestions that should help you with your holiday budget list.

1. Gifts

  • How much for immediate family?
  • How much for extended family?
  • How much for friends and co-workers?
  • How much for people whose services you use?

2. Entertaining

  • How much will it cost when you host a gathering?
  • How much will you spend on hostess gifts when you attend a party?

3.  Travel

  • How much will it cost for local travel (gas, tolls, parking, etc)?
  • How much will it cost for long distance travel?
  • How much will it cost for vacation?

4. Traditions – this can be anything from an afternoon tea to a night on the town.

If you write it all down, you might realize you’re planning on spending $300-$500 on gifts for people who aren’t on your immediate family list. And hosting dinners can be expensive just because you want to put on a good appearance. Ever notice a big stain on the tablecloth and found yourself running to the store at the last minute to buy one full price?

Holiday fun can wreak havoc on your budget, but it doesn’t have to.  Now is the time to get a jump start on planning, and to put away money for the details that are important to you. Think of it as your own layaway plan. Take money out of each check, and spread out your spending, that way you won’t have buyer’s regret in January.

Doing this now may make January 2020 less stressful.

Tipping – Should You And How Much

Do you ever wonder should you tip this person?  Personally, the answer for me is sometimes “yes” and sometimes “no”. For me it depends on the service I receive – was it Thank You!good or exceptional, did someone go out of there way and do something extra?

When I am in a restaurant, yes I tip the server.  When I use a car park service, yes I tip the attendant.  Also, I tip for personal services – hair cuts, nails, porter at airport and more.  The list goes on and on.  There are so many to tip in our lives, and even more so now that the holidays are approaching.  But who and what do you tip and how much?

And the next question for me is – how much?  Cash is always a great option for giving, but may not be the answer for your budget.  Other ideas, might be a thank you note, a call to a company to tell them what I great experience you received from someone that works there, a bouquet of flowers, baked goods, etc.

As the holidays approach,  here are suggestions from Real Simple Magazine with who and what.

Asking Those Questions

With the holidays fat approaching and family gatherings, now is the time to assess your life.

For those of us in the sandwich generations (parents and kids), you need to think about your aging parents.  Are they prepared for what comes next?  Are you prepared for what’s next?

Where are some ideas for what you need to know:

  • What are their finals wishes
  • Do you know what assets, insurance policies, etc they have and where are those documents?
  • Do they have all the legal paperwork in place – wills, power of attorney, medical directives, etc

It’s a difficult conversation to have, but it’s extremely helpful to do this ahead of time.

Personally, my father was very forthcoming with this information, so I had it easy.  But even then, there was still a life insurance policy he must have forgotten about.  I found it through a search of unclaimed funds website for my state.  It was probably a policy that he (or his parents) had taken out years before.

I can’t imagine not having this information and knowing where things are.  What about you?  Do your kids know this information about you?

Take some time to have this important conversation when your family gets together.

Celebrating Our Anniversary

We have stopped buying gifts for each other a long time ago.  We don’t need more stuff in our home.  We chose to celebrate occasions with experiences.

Our wedding anniversary is next week, but we celebrated early and took a weekend away.  We love music and had the chance to go to Eric Clapton’s Guitar Festival 2019 in Dallas – two great nights of music with so many performers benefiting his charity Crossroads.  It was an incredible experience.

We were able to do this with many opportunities to save.  We were able to use airline miles for the upgraded flight and we earned miles for flying for the next trip.  Our hotel points got us an incredible rate of 50% off and the hotel had shuttle service within 2 miles of the hotel.  No need to rent a car, pay for parking at the hotel or transportation to the arena.

This was a great way to celebrate and save money in the process.

What Are Your Plans?

Taking time away from your regular routine is good for you.

American’s typically take less vacation than people in other countries.  We personally make vacation a priority.  It doesn’t have to be some big vacation.  It can be a variety of things – from a day off staycation or a weekend away to the trip around the world.  Here’s an article by Business Insider about the benefits of vacation.

I have a bucket list of things I want to do and/or see – from 1 day trips and exploring local attractions, to much bigger vacations.  For me, I want to see Waterfire in Providence, RI, visit the National Parks all the way to cruising the Panama Canal.  What’s on your list?

With Labor Day weekend upon us, what are you planning to do – plan some time that isn’t part of your normal routine and do something different.

Going On The Road

Do you have a summer road trip planned?  Maybe you are taking the kids back to school.  Either of these situations or jsut in general, here are some tips to keep you and your car comfortable in these dog days of summer. 

Read 11 Cool Tips for Comfortable Summer Drive

You might learn something you never knew 0 I did.

Having Your Wishes Carried Out

Personally, I have dealt with relatives dying and having to clean up the mess.  For me, each time got better with less to clean up.

  • What requests to you have – do you want to be buried or cremated, do you want a funeral or a memorial.
  • What do you want to happen to your stuff – do you want specific things to do to s specific person.  I have witnessed more fighting about little items (two people want the same thing) Take some time to think about what you have and who each item should go to.  Maybe you want to start to give the items away now.  Maybe you want to donate or sell the items.  Remember to leave detailed instructions to prevent fighting.
  • Have you updated the beneficiaries on your insurance and financial account?  Make sure to specify one or more for each account.  It makes things a lot easier.
  • What are your health wishes – do the necessary forms to have your intentions carried out, like you want.

Here’s a great article to get you thinking about what you need to have on place.

Summer Travel For Everyone

As we start to think summer, what are your plans?

Personally, we are planning a few day trips / long weekends.  One day trip in the works is to a concert that’s about 2 hour drive each way.  This takes some planning – checking out the route and plans for the concert – tickets, parking, the location, etc.  Our weekend away is for later in the summer, this involves more planning as it’s out of state to an event. Nver the less, planning comes into play here as well.

With all our plans (and whatever you are planning) for this summer, here are some tips for that road trip from The Hartford for everything from a day trip to driving in a foreign county to prepare yourself and your car to be able to plan ahead.

You need to consider – route maps, lodging, gas, lodging, admission fees, parking and more to work with your budget.  Options is what it’s about.  For example, route maps have come a long way from the paper maps to GPS to phone navigation apps – all are good choices, but require planning.  What’s your preference?  Doing your research ahead of time, helps you plan your finances and helps you to stay within your budget.

I’ll keep you posted on our summer adventures.  So what’s on your bucket list for this summer (and beyond)?