Free From Broke

A Personal Finance Blog for Regular Folks

Melissa

4 Steps to Make Sure You Are Financially Protected from the Next Natural Disaster

Published or updated by

Millions of people are still reeling from the devastating effects of Hurricane Sandy. 

The rest of the country is watching with sympathy and helping with relief efforts.  All of us, those directly impacted by Sandy, and those who were not, can learn from this storm and make sure that we are properly protected financially from natural disaster.

People often buy a house and take out a homeowner’s policy at the same time.  Then, they dutifully pay their premium every year.

What they often don’t do is revisit their insurance policy to make sure that they have enough coverage as years go by.  Most people just don’t think much about their insurance–until they need it.

Here are some steps you can take to make sure that you have enough insurance to protect you and your assets in the event of a natural disaster or other home damaging event:

[Read more…] about 4 Steps to Make Sure You Are Financially Protected from the Next Natural Disaster

Is a Part-Time Job in High School Really the Best Use of Your Teen’s Time?

Published or updated by

Getting a part-time job is often a rite of passage. 

If your parents don’t shower you with money, that part-time job is your ticket to some financial independence.

My first part-time job was when I turned 16.  I worked at a pizza shop until I was let go after I took an approved one week vacation.  Then I moved to the classic teenage job, McDonald’s.  After being scheduled one too many double shifts, I changed jobs to work at my friend’s grandmother’s dry cleaning business (until my friend tried to steal jewelry that a customer left in the pocket, and I decided I didn’t want to work with her anymore).  From there, I moved to the cafeteria at Montgomery Wards.

On and on it went.

By the time I went to college, I had easily worked 10 to 15 different low end jobs.

Many people encourage teens to take jobs to learn responsibility.

However, I was already a responsible teen and working all of these crummy jobs didn’t teach me much.  (There is not much to learn about following McDonald’s rote directions for every task in the restaurant.)

Maybe instead of encouraging our teens to get low end part-time jobs, we should be encouraging them to spend their time differently.

Detriments of Teens Working Part-time

[Read more…] about Is a Part-Time Job in High School Really the Best Use of Your Teen’s Time?

How to Control Your Emotions When Shopping

Published or updated by

When I was a teenager, I went back-to-school shopping with my best friend and got suckered into buying more clothing than I needed or had money for. 

The saleswoman was smooth and knew all of the right things to tell a 16 year old girl who was nervous about going back to school and looking just right.  That saleslady upsold me on everything—I even bought the matching socks and earrings at her suggestion.

An hour later, embarrassed and a bit angry, I returned everything.

I bought my clothes with my own money from my part-time job, and I simply didn’t have the money to buy that much.

My experience was not unique, but unfortunately, many people now don’t return the items or better yet, stop themselves from buying them in the first place.

We don’t think of shopping as walking through an emotional minefield, but many times that is just what the experience is like.

One of the best ways to combat this minefield is to take your emotions out of shopping, which is easier said than done.  However, knowing why your emotions come into play when shopping can help you better control them.

How to Control Your Emotions When Shopping

[Read more…] about How to Control Your Emotions When Shopping

Paying for a Good Education in the Beginning or the End?

Published or updated by

When I was in graduate school, I met a man who was Puerto Rican and spoke Spanish. 

His wife was Korean and spoke Korean.  When they had a daughter, they made the conscious decision to only speak English to her so that she wouldn’t be confused by the languages.

I still look at that situation and mourn the tremendous opportunity to learn three languages that this child missed.

Imagine the job opportunities for a trilingual speaker who speaks Spanish, Korean and English!

My husband is Japanese, and while I speak a bit of Japanese, I am by no means conversational.  (Just ask my husband’s mother; I still panic when she calls because I only know a few conversational phrases.)

We determined when we married that we wanted to raise our children to be bilingual; however, that is difficult when mom doesn’t speak the language and dad is at work 10 hours of the day.

We decided to pay tuition to send our children to a private Montessori Japanese language school.  We resolved to invest money in our children’s education upfront, fully aware that the money we spend now is money we won’t have available when they go to college.

Why Invest in Education Upfront?

[Read more…] about Paying for a Good Education in the Beginning or the End?

The Many Ways the Internet Saves (and Makes) You Money

Published or updated by 15 Comments

Ten years ago the Internet used to be a luxury that wealthy families could afford, but now most have it. 

According to Nielsen, of the 80% of American homes that have a computer, 92% of them have Internet access.

With this access, they also have a powerful tool to save money.

Sure, we have to pay monthly for our Internet service, but my guess is that people who use the Internet wisely save at least as much as they spend for Internet access, if not more.

Have you given thought lately to all of the ways the Internet saves you money?

Here are just a few I came up with:

Ways the Internet Saves You Money

[Read more…] about The Many Ways the Internet Saves (and Makes) You Money