Keeping Up With The Bulls

A personal finance blog focused on making more money, saving money and smart spending.

5 Ways You’re Wasting Money… And How To Fix It

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As important as it is to increase your income, it’s always important to keep a watchful eye on your spending. As your income increases, it’s easy to have lifestyle creep, or lifestyle inflation, and buying the nicer purse, the nicer vacation and before you know it the more expensive items like a nicer car and nicer house.

What isn’t talked about as often with lifestyle creep is as your income increases the demands of your time also tend to increase. When you get those salary increases at work it’s usually accompanied by increased responsibilities which tend to increase hours and work travel. Or, maybe you don’t have a salary increase but you have responsibilities that increase at home like having kids.

In either scenario, gone are the days where you have a ton of time to shop around and get the best deal, keep a watchful eye on prices and plan trips months in advance. All of a sudden a commitment (wedding, planned travel, birthday) is right around the corner and you’re forced to spend more money because you’ve waited until the last minute. It’s not that you’re buying more expensive things, it’s that you don’t have time to get the best price for the same things you’ve always purchased. Here are ways you’re spending too much money on travel, food, clothing, gifts and transportation and how to fix it.

Save Money On Travel

You know you want to take a vacation somewhere, but aren’t sure where and aren’t sure when. Or, you know you have a trip but may not be sure what your schedule is like around that trip (like, if you have to travel for work) so you hold off on buying the ticket. This pivot from planning ahead to waiting until the last minute recently has cost me close to $200 more per domestic roundtrip flight because I waited to purchase the ticket. Prior to this, I was still purchasing in advance but found out I had to travel and then literally had my work trip flight landing an hour before I was supposed to take off for my vacation flight instead of just flying from my work commitment to vacation.

How to fix it: Work with your team at work to understand deadlines and busy periods so you have a better idea of when you’ll definitely be able to travel and exactly when you’ll have to travel for work. For example, if you meet with a customer once every few months, can you schedule the year in advance and have a quarterly schedule on the calendar? Instead of traveling in person to meet with your entire team face to face can you arrange a video conference? Then, once you know when you’ll be traveling, leverage sites like Google Flights and Hopper to find the best prices and set up price alerts so you don’t forget to book early on.

See Also: 5 Travel Hacks to Save Time and Money

Save Money On Food

It is so easy to come home after a long day of work, open the fridge and realize either nothing appeals to you or the things in your fridge together do not make a complete meal. You’re then forced to: A) Go out to eat or B) order in. Especially when you live in a city surrounded by great food it’s hard to convince yourself to eat what you see in front of you. It’s also easy to wake up and grab breakfast or lunch out instead of making breakfast at home and packing a lunch with you to work. Doing this can cost you thousands of dollars extra a year.

How to Fix This: Meal Prep and planning. Start small as if you try to do everything at once you’ll probably go back to your old habits pretty quickly. Maybe it’ll just be bringing lunch twice a week or planning two dinners a week. Even preparing for a few meals a week and creating a list for those meals (with the exact quantities you need) before you go to the grocery store will save you money. Over time, you can expand this to more meals and then get more organized (for example if one recipe calls for only half a can or a pinch of something have another meal that’s able to use that same ingredient). If there are certain recipes you find you like, print them and put them in a binder or pin them in a board on Pinterest. That way, when you don’t have time to think much about what you should make for the week ahead you can go to that one spot and get ideas. See Meal Prep Ideas to Save Time and Money for recipe ideas.

Save Money On Clothing

How often do you realize that in a few days you have something coming up and you have *nothing* to wear? Then, you have to race to go shopping and are either stuck with something you don’t love or you pay way more than you wanted to or both. You may have been able to save $50-$150 or more if you had just planned earlier!

How to fix it: Learn more about capsule wardrobes and focus on building one so you always have something to wear no matter what comes up. If you’re always invited to multiple weddings a year, have accessories and shoes that will go with any dress.

Save Money Buying Gifts

Does all the gift buying of your household fall on you? It’ll seem like every other day there is a birthday or holiday that approached must faster than you thought it would and you’re racing to the nearest store to get something. Especially if you’re in the city, you’ll pay a lot more than if you just planned ahead.

How to fix it: Even if you can’t plan far ahead, if you can at least make the Amazon Prime shipping window you should be able to find plenty of good deals. If there are certain event you always have to buy gifts for (for example newborns or 1 year old birthdays) buy a bunch of stuffed animals and bows when a store is having a sale. You know you’ll need it at some point and can then just pick a gift from your stash.

Save Money On Transportation In The City

In most cities there are a lot of options available to spend little on transportation. Options like walking, biking, public bus and public train. But, most take longer and when you’re running late or don’t feel like looking up public transportation routes it’s very easy to click a button in an app now and order an Uber / Lyft. Even when a trip is only $10, it can add up very quickly, especially if you’re visiting a city and going to many places the same day.

How to Fix It: Plan your day so you can at least group things together. Know how long alternate transportation like walking or the train will take and make sure to leave your house / hotel on time. Look into the time difference between walking or driving. It’ll be easier to walk or take the train when it doesn’t take much longer. If by car it takes 10 minutes and by train it takes 40 minutes, a better option may be to use Uber Pool and only add a few more minutes to your trip verse 30.

What are tricks you’ve learned to save money on travel, food, clothing, presents and transportation? When you’re running short on time, where do you tend to waste money?

Should You Hire a Cleaning Service

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We tend to think about money in terms of dollars, but your time should have a dollar amount attached to it as well. Cleaning your house takes time. At what point is it cheaper to hire someone to clean your house so you can spend that time doing other things? Or, perhaps you don’t enjoy cleaning and would rather spend that time doing something more enjoyable. A cleaning service may seem expensive at first glance. Ask yourself these six questions to determine if hiring someone to clean your house is worth the money.

Things to Consider Before You Hire A Cleaning Service

  1. How big is your apartment / condo / house?
  2. Do you rent or own?
  3. Do you have roommates / live with a significant other?
  4. How much do you value your time?
  5. How often does your house need to be cleaned?
  6. Can you afford to hire a cleaning service?

Size of Your Living Space

Consider how big your living space is. When I lived in my one bedroom condo I had a small kitchen, small living room, small bedroom and small bathroom, all hardwood floors. Since it was a small space with little furniture it was very manageable to clean quickly and wasn’t worth paying someone to come for less than 20 min of work. When I lived in a 5 bedroom house with 4 roommates, large dining room, large kitchen, etc the space absolutely would have made it worth it; however, since we all had recently graduated we felt it was a luxury we couldn’t afford.

Do You Rent or Own Your House?

When you rent it doesn’t matter as much if things stay in perfect condition, but when you own you want your home to stay nice. Plus, when you rent you tend to move around more frequently and in between tenants a rental will usually get a deep clean. When you own and you’ve lived in the same house for 5 years it’s up to you to plan the deep cleans.

How Many People And Pets Do You Live With?

Things tend to get less dirty when you live alone. Additionally, when you live with a significant other or with roommates you need to figure out who is responsible for cleaning what, how often, etc. If it’s going to disproportionally fall on one person for whatever reason (there is always one person that’s cleaner than the other, one person has more time, one person hates cleaning more than the other, etc) sometimes the solution is to hire someone to do it for you.

What Is The Dollar Value of Your Free Time?

When I was right out of college, the issue was money. But, as I grew in my career I had more money but way less time. While I work in business, I usually log back online at night for work and also work on the weekends. My free time is far more valuable today than it used to be as there is far less of it.

When our cleaners come, 3 people spend a little over an hour cleaning our house. It ends up being about $40 per person per hour and they do a great job. If I had to do it, if I focused and cleaned non-stop it would take me at least 4 hours to do the job they do, probably more. Consider, how often do you have this much time available? What would you have to give up to clean yourself / what would you do with that time if you hired someone to do it for you? Or, maybe you’re like me and you hate cleaning so it looks more like 30 minutes, break, 30 minutes, another break, and it never really gets done.

How Often Does Your House Need To Be Cleaned?

Do you have kids or pets? Bad allergies? Bad winter tracking a bunch of salt in? It really depends on how dirty your house gets and also your tolerance for a little dirt. When living with roommates it was clear that “clean” had different meanings to different people. Sometimes cleaners charge a bit more if they come less frequently but the longer you go in between the cheaper it does end up being overall.

Can You Afford A Cleaning Service?

It’s not just about money, but also time. If you are spending more than you earn every month you should look at where else you can cut back before you consider spending more money. But, if money is tight and you’d be using this time instead to grow your own business or are working hard to get that next job / promotion / extra income it may be worth it. If you can afford it, it’s really just down to personal preference. There are also opportunities to look for deals such as on Groupon or see if your neighbors want to join in and ask for a neighborhood discount. At the end of the day $1 is $1 and you always have the choice of where you want to spend, save or invest that $1.

5 Little Known Health Insurance Benefits

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Sure you use your health insurance when you go to the doctor, but did you know some health insurance plans offer more? Health insurance benefits has now expanded to help you stay healthy before you actually get sick. This includes benefits like fitness reimbursements, acupuncture and more. Here are 5 little known benefits that your health insurance may offer.

Fitness Reimbursements

Certain health insurance plans offer a $300 fitness reimbursement per year. This is no longer limited to traditional gyms and even includes Peloton insurance reimbursement! The fitness reimbursement can include classes such as yoga and spin, fitness trackers, and core training equipment (including Peloton bikes & the subscription!). Check your plan to see what is covered before you spend money on a Peloton, FitBit, gym membership or other fitness related item. If you’re not sure what is covered, go to your fitness reimbursement plan provider. In your account, look for a fitness reimbursement account FAQ document. The fitness reimbursement account FAQ will clearly outline what is eligible and what is not eligible. Exercising regularly is a great way to stay healthier and avoid trips to the doctor as well.

Gym Discounts

In addition to fitness reimbursements, some health insurance companies and corporations have negotiated discounts directly with gyms and athletic clubs. These discounts are on top of the fitness reimbursement and help reduce the cost of going to the gym even further. If you aren’t sure if you are eligible for a discount at your local gym, ask them. Even if there is no discount available to you today, ask if they are open to discounts with local companies. There is always an opportunity to help your company negotiate the discount.

Acupuncture Coverage

Some health insurance plans have been expanded to include acupuncture. Acupuncture has been shown to improve your wellness. This includes reduced stress, reduced physical pain and improved allergy relief. My health insurance covers about 20 acupuncture treatments per year and I am charged only a co-pay of $50 / visit.

Dermatologist

Over the counter skin creams including anti-aging creams all claim great results at a high price point, but did you know that you could save money on skin care by going to a dermatologist? My dermatologist prescribed Retin-A which helps with skin aging and acne and with my insurance, the generic costs $8 and lasts about 3 months. Way cheaper than the $50+ per small tube of anti-aging cream at Sephora. In addition, we’ve found a skin care regimen that I stick to, saving money and eliminating the distracting ads on the latest skincare crazes. A dermatologist is considered a specialist, so standard co-pays apply.

Employee Assistance Program

Another benefit some health insurance plans offer is 24/7 access to unlimited phone consultations and eight free sessions per issue per year with EAP counselors. From there, some health insurance plan include in-network coverage where PPO members pay a $20 co-pay per visit.

BONUS: HSA / FSA Eligible Items

You know your doctors visits and prescriptions are eligible to be reimbursed by your HSA and FSA accounts, but did you know what else you can buy with these accounts? This is especially helpful if you have too much money to roll over in your FSA at the end of the year and you have to use it or lose it. Bandaids, Advil and sunscreen are examples of items that are not prescription but can be bought with FSA funds.

FSA store has a full list of FSA eligible items. They also note that medical face masks require a letter of medical necessity to be FSA eligible. Not all HSAs are the same, but here is a comprehensive list of HSA eligible items.

Additional HSA / FSA Eligible Items in the CARES Act

Did you know that the CARES Act passed in Spring 2020 in the United States expanded what you can use FSA and HSA funds? This act temporarily allows people to use FSA dollars to buy over the counter medications such as allergy relief drugs and pain relievers and feminine hygiene products. Take advantage soon though, right now this measure is only temporary!

What little known health insurance benefits have you found?

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