Friday, April 23, 2021

8 expenses to factor into your home budget

 

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash


Your home budget, also known as your household budget, is the money you set aside that will go toward essential living expenses. It’s critical to budget your finances to only spend what you can afford and reach your savings goals. 

You can guess what kind of things go into a home budget: rent or mortgage, groceries, savings, debt repayment, utilities, etc. However, people sometimes forget to factor the following expenses into their budgets, which catches them by surprise and forces them to reallocate their spending. Keep these costs in mind when figuring out how to budget your monthly paycheck and savings:


Transportation & Parking

You know you’ll need to pay for your vehicle each month if you own or lease one, but what about gas? Parking? If you don’t own a car, then how much does public transportation cost in your area?

According to Student Loan Hero, the United States' median household income was $61,937 in 2018. Households that earned this amount spend an average of $763 per month on transportation, including gasoline and car payments. Public transportation is cheaper, but again, it depends on where you live — you still might spend as much as $160 per month if you exclusively use Bay Area Rapid Transit in San Francisco.


Insurance Premiums

Insurance premiums are a significant hit on your wallet, but they’re necessary to have. Health and car insurance go without saying, but you may owe mortgage insurance if you put less than 20% down when purchasing your home. There’s also life insurance, personal insurance, contributions to social security, and more.

It’s difficult to calculate how much the average person in the U.S. spends on insurance because people’s situations vary tremendously. You might be lucky and only spend a few hundred dollars a month if you live in an inexpensive state and only need the basics. If you need more, then you could spend well over a thousand. Other factors affect your insurance premiums, too, such as your age, marital status, job, and education level, so combine all kinds of insurance you need to pay for when calculating your monthly household budget.


Out-of-Pocket Costs and Emergencies

Insurance doesn’t cover everything, though. Medical care is notoriously expensive in the U.S., so you should be prepared to pay out-of-pocket costs that exceed the scope of your health plan.

Disasters strike in other ways, too. Hopefully, it’s small — maybe you spilled coffee on your only nice shirt and need to buy a new one for work — but it might be an outright emergency, such as someone robs you or a natural disaster impacts your home. It’s crucial to have emergency money set aside to cover an irregular or unforeseen circumstance.


Pet Care

You budgeted to feed yourself, but what about your pet? These costs might be low if all you need to buy is food every month and a few toys that last you a year, but vet bills can be expensive if your animal friend has health issues. If you prefer to outsource much of your pet care, you should budget much more to account for sitters, boarding, and walks. Of course, pet care expenses depend on the kind of animal you have, so anticipate how much financial TLC your pet will need.


Subscriptions and Memberships

Subscriptions and membership fees on auto-renewal can sneak up on you. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you’ve planned your budget for the month perfectly, only to be hit with a $15 Netflix bill you forgot to account for. These costs shouldn’t be out-of-sight, out-of-mind, so keep track of streaming services, subscription boxes, or shopping memberships you pay for.


Fees, Fees, and More Fees

Fees are everywhere. They’re like pests you can’t seem to get rid of, but you forget about them when they’re not in the room. Make a list of all the fees you might need to pay throughout the month, including:

       Bank account maintenance fees;

       ATM fees;

       Overdraft fees;

       HOA dues;

       Credit card fees;

       Late fees;

       Monthly service fees.

 

And more. There are ways to avoid or reduce many of these, but don’t buy something you don’t need if a fee will hit you later and you’re living paycheck to paycheck.


Home & Vehicle Maintenance

It’s rare for everything to work as it should, especially if you can’t afford high-quality goods that last longer. Expect to pay for vehicle upkeep, appliances that stop functioning, and fixing potential damage. These costs are related to your emergency funds, but paying for regular maintenance will (hopefully) prevent actual emergencies from happening in the first place.


Different Kinds of Savings

Save as much as you can. Don’t forgo leisure entirely — it’s important to your mental health to have fun, and you deserve to — but besides general savings accounts, remember to save to buy a house, pay for college (or someone else’s education), emergencies, retirement, and more. Your monthly contribution to each may vary, but having substantial savings will set you up for major purchases later in life.

Budgeting is an essential skill. You can use a budget finance app if you need assistance, but remember to factor in every possible expense to avoid tight situations.

 

This article originally appeared on Earnin.

 

Please note, the material collected in this blog is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be relied upon as or construed as advice regarding any specific circumstances. Nor is it an endorsement of any organization or Services.


Monday, April 12, 2021

Repaired scratch on touchscreen HVAC surface with Polywatch scratch remover cream

Having a touchscreen HVAC control panel in your car might look cool, but the touchscreen is vulnerable to accidental scratches too.



One day after a car wash, I found an obstructive scratch on my car's touchscreen HVAC control panel.

How to remove the scratch line and restore the touchscreen surface to be as smooth as before? I found the German-made Polywatch scratch remover cream to be a good solution.

The Polywatch cream looks like toothpaste, and comes in tiny 5 grams volume. But that amount of cream is enough for it to be applied multiple times.


I think it is named as Polywatch because it is originally formulated to polish and remove scratches on watch surface. In fact, it can be used to remove fine line scratches on smooth glass, acrylic and plastic surfaces. It works especially well with plastic surface.

It can magically eliminate tiny scratches and restore the surface to be as smooth as before. However, it might not work too well for deep scratches.

Polywatch works by slightly dissolving and grinding down the target surface to smooth the edges of the scratch and fill the gaps with the dissolved material, therefore restoring it to unscratch condition.

Using Polywatch is pretty easy. Just clean the target surface, make it dry and dust free, apply some Polywatch cream on the scratch, and polish it with a piece of microfibre cloth or cotton wool.

If you are facing similar problem of having obstructive scratches on glass, acrylic or plastic surfaces, you might give Polywatch a try.


Monday, April 5, 2021

How to stay calm when dealing with financial stress

 

Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

Have your money problems become so dire that you find yourself searching “I need financial help immediately?” We get it. You’re in a tight spot, and you’re panicking. Hearing that you're not alone doesn’t really help, and you aren’t sure what to do while you’re not thinking clearly.

Take a breath. Financial stress can be overwhelming, but you have more resources and options than you know. However, we need to get you in the right mental space first. Let’s go over some ways to keep yourself calm so you can tackle your financial problems with a clear mind.

Identify the Problems and Make a Plan

One of the reasons why money problems can seem so daunting is the mystery of them. Of course, besides the obvious answer that you don’t make enough money to pay your bills, financial difficulty can have other sources. It might be your spending habits, a past mistake, a misunderstanding of the financial system, or something else. Those you can address right away.

Look over your financial statements and try to identify where the problem lies. Are you spending too much on unnecessary items? Does your paycheck come in too late? If the former is the case, then make a budget that ensures you can pay off your debts before spending anything on excess leisure items. If it’s the latter, then you have more control over when you receive your income than you may know: apps like Earnin allow you to access up to $500 of your paycheck per pay period, giving you time to pay your bills before incurring late fees.

Improve Your Financial Literacy

Next, make an effort to educate yourself about financial topics. Books about personal finance are a great place to start, such as Personal Finance for Dummies, along with blogs about related subjects. Take advantage of free or inexpensive financial literacy courses online or from your local community college. The more you know about the financial system, the more prepared you will be, and the less scary your money problems will seem.

Talk to a Professional

Consult with a credit or debt expert for practical advice regarding your situation. A professional can help you perform the steps mentioned above and guide you through the remainder of the process, including making a concrete debt management plan. Having someone in your corner will bring you peace of mind.

Besides a financial expert, another kind of professional you should talk to is a therapist. Regular conversations with this kind of expert will help you navigate the emotional aspects of financial stress. If your habits are partly responsible for your situation, then hopefully, a therapist can help you change those, too. You can find free and low-cost therapy resources here.

Avoid Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms

People struggling with financial difficulty sometimes resort to bad habits to deal with stress. Unhealthy coping mechanisms will only exacerbate your situation in more ways than one. Avoid the temptation to spend even more money (this is not the time for retail therapy), eat excessively, drink alcohol, or abuse other substances. Call SAMHSA’s free national helpline at 1-800-622-HELP (4357) if you feel that you are about to engage in harmful or addictive behavior.

Practice Mindfulness Exercises

Instead, practice mindfulness exercises to cope with stress in a healthier way. You can replace bad habits with good ones or start practicing mindfulness immediately to avoid unhealthy coping mechanisms to begin with.

Breathing exercises, yoga, meditation, and other activities can help you center yourself and stay grounded. They don’t alleviate your money problems, but you can use them to change your perspective and attitude toward your situation. Other stress-relieving activities include going for a walk, spending time in nature, creating artwork, hugging someone, playing with pets, and learning how to talk about yourself in a more positive light. Dwelling on your stress isn’t productive, so put your energy into something wholesome if you are unable to relax.

Keep Track of Your Progress

Keep track of your progress as you take steps toward addressing your financial problems. Not only is doing so necessary for the process itself (you should keep a careful record of the money you spend and the debt you pay off) but celebrating small goals is beneficial for your mental health. Take pride in your little victories. Keeping track of your progress puts your entire financial situation in perspective, motivates you to push forward, and makes your circumstances seem less bleak.

Remember: financial difficulty is not a moral failing. The money system is complicated and underserves the under-educated and a vast majority of people. Take advantage of the resources available to you and believe that you have what it takes to turn your situation around.


This article originally appeared on Earnin.

 

Please note, the material collected in this blog is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be relied upon as or construed as advice regarding any specific circumstances. Nor is it an endorsement of any organization or Services.