Sage Personal Finance

Our local utility company just announced that they will start charging more for water usage this summer. In many parts of the country, water and sewer rates are increasing faster than inflation. Here are a few tips for saving on your water bills.

1. Turn your sprinklers off when it rains. Often, you can go up to seven to ten days without watering your lawn if you receive solid rainfall for most of a day. In addition, ensure your sprinklers are set to go on before 9am or after 4pm so the water doesn’t evaporate right away.
2. If you notice an unusual spike in your water bill one month, check for water leaks. If you turn off everything that uses water inside your home and you still see movement on your water meter, you may have a leak within your home. You can buy a water leak detector and go through your home looking to see where there might be an issue. Also, it helps to walk around your property to see if there are any leaky sprinklers, pipes, or hoses.
3. Take steps to conserve water usage at home. By taking shorter showers, turning off the water during teeth brushing, and taking your car to an energy efficient car wash, you can save water on a weekly basis.
4. Ensure your water-using appliances are efficient. A new energy-efficient dishwasher can save gallons of water every time you run it. A new toilet can save you gallons of water every time you flush. Water efficient showerheads are also a great way to reduce water usage.

According to Forbes.com, the average debt for a student loan borrower in the U.S. is now $28,950. Since the cost of living has increased greatly in recent years, this debt burden can be very high and take many years to pay off. Here are a few tips for avoiding large amounts of student loan debt:

1. Graduate from College. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, about 37 percent of borrowers enrolling in a four-year college do not obtain a degree within six years. Individuals who take out loans but don’t graduate can’t reap the financial benefits of completing a degree. Those with a four-year college degree earn about $24,000 more per year than those with only a high school diploma (Indeed.com). This is $24,000 more a year that college graduates can use to help pay off their student loans.
2. Attend a Junior College and Transfer to a Four-Year College. According to communitycollegereview.com, the average cost of attendance for a junior college for in-state students is $5,169 per year. And, in some states, junior college is free for in-state residents. Many junior colleges offer a guaranteed path to a four-year college if certain criteria are met.
3. Take AP, IB, and/or College Courses in High School. Most colleges will grant college credit for strong scores on AP tests. Students who take a handful of AP exams and do well on them could graduate a semester or a year early from college, saving quite a bit of college tuition. Also, in many places, high school students may take community college courses at no charge and apply their college credits toward graduating from a two or four-year college later on.
4. Strongly Consider Finances When Choosing a College. If a student has the option to choose between multiple colleges, it helps to think about the actual amount that student will have to pay to attend that college. Some colleges may be more selective, but may ask for a larger payment from the student. It may be better to choose a less selective school that might carry a smaller price tag.

According to Forbes.com, one of the biggest trends in personal finance today is the use of financial apps. App-based services such as Venmo and Klarna are being used by more and more people to pay for merchandise, transfer money, etc. If you plan on using these kinds of apps, it helps to follow some guidelines for ensuring the security of your money and personal data:

1. Keep your data private. With Venmo, you can change your settings to “private” and hide your history of transactions and your friends’ names.
2. Double check to ensure the money you are sending is going to the right entity. Be sure the cell number, email, name, etc. all match to ensure the correct person receives your payment.
3. Limit the amount of money you will send someone using Venmo. If something does get mixed up, then you won’t experience a significant loss.
4. If you use Klarna to pay for something in installments, be sure they aren’t requiring you to pay interest. Also, ensure you don’t miss a payment so Klarna doesn’t charge you fees for missed payments.
5. Enable two-factor authentication for financial apps. This makes it more difficult for a scammer to gain access to your account or your financial data.

According to Investopedia, Americans spend about $10 billion each year on Halloween items. This amounts to over $75 per person. Here are a few things you can do to spend wisely this Halloween.

1. Make your own costume, re-purpose a costume, or buy costumes from a second-hand store. Good Housekeeping has a helpful website with ideas for making your own costume: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/halloween-ideas/g1709/homemade-halloween-costumes/. You can also see what types of clothes you have or your kids have in their closets that might work for a costume. Second-hand stores such as Goodwill and Salvation Army may also have relatively inexpensive costumes. Costco carries reasonably priced ones as well. For the kids, consider swapping costumes with your friends so the kids have new ones to wear each year.
2. Instead of sending greeting cards in the mail, consider emailing out your greetings. If you are sending out Halloween party invitations, save money and trees by emailing them out with evite.com or another email invitation service.
3. If you stay home to greet trick or treaters, consider buying a certain amount of candy and then when that amount is used up, closing up shop. Buying candy in bulk and at least a few weeks before Halloween can save you money. Getting kid-sized candy bars can be more economical as well.
4. After Halloween ends, stock up on decorations for the following year. You can often get decorations much more cheaply in November. The dollar store is a great place to check out for Halloween décor.
5. Check out Freecycle were people give away things they do not need, and also ebay were you can bid on Halloween costumes and decorations and get them at lower prices.
6. Instead of buying your pumpkin at a pumpkin patch, grab one from your local grocery store.

Many Americans are continuing to work through their retirement years because they don’t have enough retirement savings to live comfortably. Starting at age 62, social security payments can help, but oftentimes the social security payments aren’t enough to cover living expenses. Right now, the maximum monthly social security payment you could earn at age 62 is about $2,600 a month.

So, it is pretty important to save money for retirement rather than just depending on social security. How much money will you need? Let’s start by looking at the average life expectancy. Today, in the U.S., the average life expectancy is 76. To provide a little padding, you might want to ensure you have enough retirement money to live until 80. If you retire at age 64, you will need about 16 years of savings combined with social security.

First, determine how much social security you will earn each month. Then, determine what your monthly expenses will be in retirement. Will you cut down on expenses or do you plan on spending more on travel, entertainment, etc. once you stop working? Then take your monthly expenses and multiply them by 12 to get one year’s worth and then again by 16 to get 16 years’ worth. How much do you have? Here’s an example: Julia is single and has no dependents. She will get $2,000 a month in social security at age 64. Her projected monthly expenses are about $3,800 a month in retirement. So she will need to save up for $1,800 a month (or $21,600 a year) times 16 years. This is $345,600. This seems like a lot of money but if she works for 40 years, she would need to save about $700 a month. Also, keep in mind that if she starts saving early in her career, her early savings can be invested and can grow a lot before she reaches retirement.

This summer, many Americans will be taking to the roads and skies to vacation domestically and internationally. Since the costs of hotels, airfare, and travel activities can be high, we have compiled a few tips for saving money on these things now.

*Book a local trip at the last minute. Airfares tend to increase a lot if you wait until the last minute to book them, but hotels often offer last minute rates that are enticing. For instance, websites such as priceline.com and hoteltonight.com offer lower-priced last-minute bookings.

*Use Google’s flight tracker to track airfares. By entering your departure and destination cities and your dates of travel, google will inform you about whether airfares advertised right now are above or below the normal price for that trip. You can also have the website send alerts to you when airfares change.

*Don’t check a bag on your flight. Checking a bag can cost $25 or $50 one-way. If you can purchase a small carry-on bag with enough space for the clothes you need, that saves quite a bit of money. Even doing laundry during your trip is a lot cheaper than paying for checked luggage.

*Use an app such as Gasbuddy or Upside to locate gas stations on your route that have cheaper prices. 

Nowadays, it can cost a lot of money to maintain a home. According to angi.com, American homeowners spend on average $3,192 a year on upkeep for their homes. This doesn’t even include larger repairs that might arise, such as fixing a leaky roof, buying a new furnace, or replacing a broken appliance. Here are a few tips for spending wisely on home maintenance.

1. Get multiple quotes for larger projects. Have a few different people come out to give you a quote on large repairs. This will tell you if any one repair person is trying to charge you too much.
2. Before buying a new home, ensure your home inspector looks at everything thoroughly and provides a detailed report about the things that may need to be fixed.
3. Ensure you have adequate insurance that covers flooding, earthquake damage, and/or fire damage. This is especially important if you live in an area that has experienced these disasters before.
4. Check your toilets, faucets, and sprinkler valves for leaks. Water leaks not only cost money due to wasted water but also can cause damage to your home, so it is a good idea to get them fixed quickly.
5. Perform regular maintenance tasks such as changing your furnace filter, oiling your automatic gate, cleaning your refrigerator coils, etc. to ensure everything is working as efficiently as possible.

During the pandemic, many Americans were able to save quite a bit of money. They spent less on travel, dining out, and other leisure activities. And, many individuals received pandemic-related financial assistance that allowed them to grow their savings. Now that society has opened up, Americans are starting to spend more and household credit card debt has grown greatly. According to Bloomberg.com, Americans now have a combined credit card debt of $986 billion. And with credit card interest rates climbing, paying off debt can become more difficult.

Here are a few ways to help reduce credit card debt:

1. If you have more than one credit card, consider finding the card with the highest interest rate and working on paying off that card first.
2. Consider transferring your debt to a new credit card with an introductory interest rate of 0%. Use the new credit card and pay off as much as possible before the rate goes up.
3. Bring in more income to help pay off your debts. You could do this by taking an additional job, asking for a raise if you deserve it, and/or taking on more hours at your current job.
4. Talk to your credit card company about getting a lower interest rate or working out a plan for paying back your debt.
5. Save money by eliminating any monthly charges for things you don’t need. For example, end magazine subscriptions, cable TV subscriptions, gym subscriptions, or meal subscriptions. You can check out magazines from the library, get a cheaper streaming service, or exercise and cook meals at home.

-Allison G.

Technology has advanced a great deal in recent years and there are ways to use it to save money. Here are a few tips.

1. Set up automatic bill pay. Pay all of your bills automatically by putting a credit/debit card on file or setting up a withdrawal from your checking account. This can save you from paying late fees and many companies offer financial incentives if you sign up for this helpful feature.
2. Use a browser add-on so the internet can find you the best deals. For example, if you add Honey as a browser extension tool, whenever you are on the checkout page on a website, Honey will search the web for applicable coupons to save you money.
3. Terminate your phone landline. Now you can use a cell phone for all of your calls and you don’t even need a home landline anymore, saving monthly phone bill fees.
4. Install a smart home device. You can get a home device that will automatically turn off your heating/air conditioning and electricity at certain times a day, saving a lot on heat and electricity bills.
5. Take virtual tours. If you’re interested in visiting a certain museum or taking a college campus tour, you can virtually visit for free.

Now that schools are back in session and students are back in the classroom after a few difficult years during the pandemic, school-related expenses have returned as well. Here are a few tips for saving money this school year.

1. Have the kids walk to school, take the school bus, or use public transportation. Gas prices continue to be at historic highs, so the dollars add up when you drive your students to school and back. Carpooling is another great option if other families live nearby and can help divide up the pick-ups and drop-offs.
2. Purchase uniforms online. If your students need school uniforms, retailers such as Amazon and JCPenney sell solid-colored polo shirts and khaki pants/skirts that are fairly inexpensive. You can also buy them mid-year rather than right before school starts. Prices are generally lower for school related items after August and September.
3. Instead of donating money to your school, donate time. Many schools ask parents for an annual donation or contribution to classroom funds. Instead of providing money, you could volunteer at the school fundraising events, or ask your childrens’ teachers if you can help out with classroom prep.
4. Shop at second-hand stores for Halloween costumes, athletic gear, and school supplies.
5. Take advantage of price-matching. Retailers such as Wal-Mart and Best Buy will price match so if you find a cheaper price online or at a different store, take in the price you found and ask them to match it.