Free From Broke

A Personal Finance Blog for Regular Folks

Miranda

How Age Affects Your Car Insurance Rate and What You Can Do About it

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When car insurance companies look at your risk profile, they take a number of factors into account. From your driving record, to your coverage amounts, to your credit score, an insurance company wants to get an idea of how likely it is that they will have to pay out on a claim on your behalf.

One of the factors that insurance companies look at when setting premium amounts is your age.

If you want to save money on your insurance premiums, it helps to understand how age affects what you pay.  There might not be a lot you can do about it, since you can’t change your age, but you can compensate for your age.

Let’s take a look at how age affects your car insurance and what you can do about it. [Read more…] about How Age Affects Your Car Insurance Rate and What You Can Do About it

Find the Money to Pay Down Debt

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Many of us, when looking at the debt we have, feel despair: How is it possible to pay down so much debt? When my husband and I were first married, I had credit card debt, and it didn’t take long for him to get into the spirit of using credit cards, since we were poor students without jobs.

A couple years later, we were staring at the bills and wondering how we ended up with so much credit card debt.  We had income by then, but it wasn’t much.  We were already so careful about our spending!  How could we cut back even more? How could we find the money to pay down debt?

The cold, hard truth, of course, was that we really weren’t being careful with our spending.  I had an “ah-ha” moment when I read a book my mother gave me, Debt Free on Any Income.  The book suggested that studies show that the average household wastes between 10% and 15% of its monthly income.  After taking another, more honest, look at our finances, it became clear that there was still plenty of room in our budget.

All we had to do was find the waste and apply it to our debts. [Read more…] about Find the Money to Pay Down Debt

What are Credit Unions and Why are They Good for You?

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With Bank of America in the news for its new debit card fee, and other big banks adding fees left and right, and with free checking beginning to disappear from major financial institutions, consumers are looking for other options. Credit unions are once again receiving attention as those disgruntled with big banks turn to smaller, community financial institutions. But what are credit unions and why re they good for you?

What is a Credit Union?

[Read more…] about What are Credit Unions and Why are They Good for You?

How to Prove Your Usefulness, Keep Your Job, and Maybe Even Get Ahead: Be Indispensable

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One of the lessons many learned from the recent economic troubles is that almost no one is indispensable. You never know when your job could be on the chopping block.  You can, however, decrease the chance that you will be the one laid off when these decisions are made.  The key is showing that you are valuable — and possibly indispensable.

Here are some ways that by being indispensable you can prove your usefulness, keep your job, and maybe even get ahead:

[Read more…] about How to Prove Your Usefulness, Keep Your Job, and Maybe Even Get Ahead: Be Indispensable

Buying Physical Gold: The Basics

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Economic turmoil has many concerned about the future — including the future of the dollar.

All of the talk about another round of quantitative easing has some worried that hyper-inflation is right around the corner.  Since gold is seen as a hedge against inflation, it isn’t surprising that some feel that physical gold is a protection against the problems that can come when the Fed is pumping trillions of dollars of created money into the economy.

Others are just worried that the economy is on verge of complete collapse, and that physical gold might be the best currency available if the entire economy falls to pieces.

But before you jump on the gold bandwagon, it’s important to understand some of the basics of investing in physical gold.
[Read more…] about Buying Physical Gold: The Basics