Monthly Archives: July 2014

Grocery Shopping On A Budget

Everybody knows that eating out and ordering in is a quick way to blow your food budget for the month but grocery shopping can feel expensive too. In order to make sure you save the most, you need to plan ahead.

Making a ListĀ not only helps you remember what you plan to buy, it also helps you narrow your purchases to the things you need. A list can also be a way of tracking deals and coupons.

Don’t Shop Hungry. Make sure you eat a snack before you go grocery shopping because everything looks delicious and cheap compared to an empty stomach.

CouponingĀ isn’t just for soccer moms. When done the right way, you can save tons of money by getting a few cents off here and there on essentials. Just make sure you read the fine print, sometimes a buy one get one deal is really a 50% off deal trying to get you to buy double.

Check Unit PricesĀ before deciding which brand or size to buy. Sometimes a larger size container is still the same price as the smaller per unit.

Store Brand foods are often just as good as a popular brand’s product but much cheaper. Only special foods differ much in taste by brand.

Don’t Buy Prepared Foods.Ā A couple extra minutes washing and cutting up your produce isn’t that bad. You pay significantly more for the convenience of a ready-to-eat vegetable.

Prepare Your Meals On Weekends.Ā Getting all your meals ready at the beginning of the week saves you time when you’re tired from school or work. It also prevents the lazy food ordering because you don’t feel you have the energy to make a whole meal.

Buying Produce in SeasonĀ means you can still eat the things that are good for you and fresh without breaking the bank.

Buy FrozenĀ when a food you want isn’t in season. It doesn’t really lose nutritional value and is cheaper than buying a food out of season when the shipping costs sky rocket.

Buy Deli Meat. Packaged meats are generally more expensive than going over to the deli counter and having them slice off the amount you want. That means you also get the right amount too, without more packaging, that you pay for.

Watch the RegisterĀ as you check out. Sometimes sales advertised in the store haven’t made it into the programming of the register yet and things don’t always scan properly. If you watch the register and check your receipt, you can avoid accidents that cost you money.

Renter’s Insurance: Why should you consider it?

Why Renter’s Insurance Is A Good Idea

You may not have thought about getting renter’s insurance in your search for an apartment but it is a very good thing to consider. Your landlord’s insurance will not cover your belongings, it only covers damage to their property and the appliances that are rented to you with the apartment. Many things could go wrong that would leave you without your things such as a fire, storm, or even theft. Thinking that you don’t need the insurance because these things probably won’t happen to you isn’t the mindset you should have either, considering renter’s insurance is actually pretty cheap for what you would get out of it should the need arise.

Payments

With renter’s insurance, there are options on how you pay for it. You can pay month to month or you can choose to pay all at once, once a year. If you choose to pay all at once, there is often a discount on the overall cost but sometimes it’s easier on the bank account to pay month to month even though you end up paying more in the end.

Being Ready

So now that you’re looking into insurance, you should know how to be prepared in the event that you end up needing to use it. A good plan of attack is to have all of the numbers that you would need to call in one place along with a list of information that they are going to ask for.

Inventory

One of the main things that they are going to want you to have is an inventory of your belongings and their actual worth. You may not think that you own that much capital in your belongings but the average person owns about $20,000 in belongings. Your table may be a thrift shop find but you’ve still got your computer, textbooks, clothes, etc. to consider. After you’ve got a list put together of your belongings, make sure you keep it safe. A hard copy kept in the freezer (in a plastic bag) should keep it safe in the event of a fire or your computer being stolen.

Understand Your Policy

Your renter’s insurance covers more than just your belongings. Depending on your policy, it would most likely also cover liability if somebody is injured and there are medical expenses in your rental property and it should also cover living expenses if you are displaced from your rental for reasons such as repairs.

Types Of Coverage

There are many types of rental insurance coverage. The thingĀ to consider is whether you want to get ACV (Actual Cash Value) or RV (Replacement Value) insurance. ACV takes into account the depreciation of your belongings on a payout where RV estimates a payout based on what it’ll cost you to replace the belongs. An RV policy will have a higher premium but the policy would make it easier to replace your things should anything happen to them.