Money Beagle

Should College Students Be Forced To Have Health Insurance?

Money Beagle — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:30:53 +0000

I wasn’t aware of this, but apparently more and more colleges are requiring that students have health insurance.

One of our local papers reported that Michigan State is the latest school to put this type of program in place, and say that it’s currently in place or rolling out at 25% of colleges across the country, a number that is growing.

The cost ($1,500 per year) is nothing to sneeze at, but when it comes to health insurance, is actually pretty cheap, though I’m guessing it’s a pretty bare bones plan, and that since most college kids stay reasonably healthy, is a pretty low cost plan to the provider as well.

Still, it raises a few questions:

What if you forget to provide proof? Could you get billed for coverage you already have? If so, will some simply overlook this or have an administrative battle on their hands to back out of it?
Is this any of the schools business? The article I posted the link to never really indicated the rationale behind this, except to say that colleges want to ensure that students don’t have to choose between education and paying for a health care bill. I can see this but it seems a little flimsy.
Is this tied into Obamacare somehow? I thought this bill required that everybody have health insurance by a certain date. Is this a way to get in front of this for the student population?

Back in my college days, I was covered under my parents insurance plan, so this wouldn’t have applied to me. But, I expect more and more students are uninsured, and I wonder how this affects them.

If you were attending college, would this type of requirement make you more or less likely to attend that particular college? Do you see this as an infringement on a students right or as a way to take a potential bad decision out of the students hands?

Thanks for reading! Please subscribe to my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, or check out my Facebook page. This original Money Beagle post Copyright 2012 Money Beagle is authorized to appear only on www.moneybeagle.com. Thank you for reading and remember: It’s a great day to be alive!

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Staying Accident Free Pays Off

Money Beagle — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:40:03 +0000

Our auto insurance through Allstate renews every six months. They send out a new policy with insurance cards and let us know how much it will cost.

Like everything else it usually goes up.

So I was very pleasantly surprised when I saw it going down, by about $25 per month. Upon further inspection, I saw that everything stayed the same on the coverage, but that we had moved from Premier to Premier Plus status.

I contacted my agent and she confirmed that we got this status after having not filed a claim for five years.

That’s pretty cool. Of course, on the flip side, if you figure that for the last five years they’d been getting an ‘extra’ $25 per month, they made back $1,500 out of whatever claim it was I had last filed.

But, I digress.

I also saw that they have a new program where if you pay up front, we qualified for an extra $10 per month discount. So, I decided to do this.

Saving an extra $35 per month is pretty nice. Right now, I’m still allocating the monthly amount toward our insurance ‘sinking fund’ as before just because I don’t want to rely on getting this discount, only have the cost come back should we ever need to file a claim.

Now, the trick is to stay accident free.

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The Economics Of Free Coffee

Money Beagle — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:38:37 +0000

I’m not sure if it’s a national or regional thing, but McDonald’s has been giving away a cup of free coffee on Wednesdays for the months of January and February.

This is awesome for me because I love their coffee, and there is a McDonald’s on the way to work. Since I go in pretty early, I beat the rush, and I can hit the drive through and get my free coffee and be back on my route in under five minutes.

I think the free coffee idea is great. First, I’m sure a lot of people that stop buy something else, so they make up the lost sales elsewhere. Second, it exposes people to the coffee that might start coming back. It is darn good coffee!

So far I haven’t bought anything else so I’ve been an admitted mooch.

But, I’ve noticed that the amount I get has gone down slightly since I’ve started taking advantage of the deal. When I get to work, I pour the coffee into my regular coffee mug so that I can add sweetener to my liking. When I first started going in early January, I could fill my mug up and have enough in the container to pour another half cup or so. As time has gone on, I can now pour one mug full, meaning that they’ve apparently created an ‘extra small’ version.

I can’t complain. After all it is free.

Is McDonald’s running this promotion anywhere else? Do you feel guilty if you get a free item and don’t buy anything else in situations like these?

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The First Step In Organizing Your Tax Information

Money Beagle — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:44:37 +0000

Now that it’s February, chances are that you’ve received most (and hopefully all) of your tax documentation.

The problem I’ve found is getting it all together. So much mail comes in that sometimes it’s easy to overlook something, not to mention the fact that we get electronic statements for more than a few things, which can save on paper and such, but require you to actually print those tax documents.

Getting everything organized can be a challenge.

For me, what I’ve found works best is to rely on the fact that we are creatures of habit.

What does this mea?

Well, most of us probably work at the same job, have accounts at the same banks or brokerage firms, give to many of the same charities, etc.

For us, that means that the best way to start organizing our tax information for 2011 is to look at our 2010 tax return.

I can quickly go through the return and jot down the items that we used in 2010 to create a checklist of what we need in 2011. This process will also trigger thoughts of things that were different and lead me to note what I need to do there.

For example:

Charitable deductions – We typically give to church, schools, Salvation Army, and a few other charities. Looking through the list is a good way to remind me to look up the exact amounts
Mortgage – The biggest deduction we have is the interest deduction on our mortgage. Jotting this down will remind me to check for our statements, and this year, we re-financed, so I can write down a note to pull out the closing statements since we can write off some of the closing costs as well.
Income – My wife doesn’t work and I didn’t change jobs, so this seems easy, but I also note that I should declare income from blogging, so I add that to the list.

You get the idea. Now, there might be other changes as well that you won’t necessarily see from the list, but if you check last year’s statement as a first step, you’ll typically cover almost everything you need to get yourself ready for this years taxes.

How far along are you in getting your tax info ready for the upcoming tax season?

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Weekend Roundup: February 3, 2012

Money Beagle — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:22:07 +0000

So, yesterday, the groundhog saw his shadow which means we’re in for six more weeks of winter (I almost typed in six months, yikes!) if you believe all that.

But, with the winter we’ve had so far, I wouldn’t have a problem with that.

Here are some recommended blog articles to read as well as some blog carnivals which I was included in.

Investorz Blog – Be A Dividend Millionaire (Book Review)
Beating Broke – I Quit My Job: Overcoming The Fear
DollarVersity – A Guide To Getting Ready For Your Tax Return
Smart Wealth – Our Frivolous Guilty Pleasures
Not Made of Money – 10 Must Have Rental Amenities
Fat Guy Skinny Wallet – What You Can Do To Fix Poor Credit
Vaerdi Financial – Is College A Worthwhile Investment?
The Jenny Pincher – Carnival of Personal Finance
The Amateur Financier – Yakezie Carnival

Have a wonderful weekend!

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What I Got Done In January

Money Beagle — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:29:36 +0000

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the list of 500 or so things to do this year. It’s mostly a list of small tasks (though there are a few time-consumers on there), that if accomplished, would keep things around the house clutter free, up to date on maintenance, and just a better sense of order.

Order is good

I was asked to publish the list, but since there’s so much on there, I thought I’d take a first stab at looking what I accomplished (and didn’t) for the month of January. Seeing how it goes, I’ll consider publishing future monthly updates.

Here’s the list, as well as the planned recurrence and any noteworthy blurbs about the task in question:

Clean out the washing machine filter (Quarterly) – There’s a trap / drain at the bottom of the washing machine. I didn’t know about this until the machine stopped spinning at full speed about a year ago. Actually reading the manual gave me the insight that this needs to be done regularly as things get trapped there (I found 11 cents!) I cleaned it out and now do it every three months.
Clean washing machine gasket (Monthly) – Our front loading washing machine, as many do, will get mildew inside if you forget to leave the door open, as moisture gets trapped inside and accumulates on the rubber seal. I wipe it down with bleach and scrub this down.
Clean under the dining room table (Monthly) – Cats like to hang out there so it gets quite hairy
Clean end table glasstops with newspaper (Quarterly) – We dust regularly but paper towel leave a film. Newspaper makes it sparkling clean!
Clean doorwall glass and tracks (Monthly) – Again, cleaning the glass with newspaper, as well as wiping out the track which can get pretty nasty, even if it’s not used! We have two doorwalls.
Clean storm door and window in entry way (Monthly) – As the entrance to our house, I do another go with newspaper to give the glass a sparkle.
Clean baseboards around the hardwood floor area (Monthly) – Part of the first floor is hardwood and the baseboards around can get kind of gunky. I have a thing against dirty baseboards.
Vacuum stairs to the basement (Monthly) – Kitty litter boxes are down there, so despite cleaning and sweeping, the stairs inevitably get some tracked.
Clean out the inside of the microwave (Monthly) – Regular use leads to spatters and this can get quite nasty if not handled routinely.
Wipe down the top of the fridge (Monthly) – Out of sight, out of mind, but this keeps the dust down.
Clean out the floor around the garbage cans (Monthly) – We don’t make a habit of throwing food on the floor, but the area around the garbage cans still gets spilled on, so this involves a deeper cleaning.
Clean out under the sink and check for spills (Quarterly) – Took everything out and cleaned the dishwashing supplies and other stuff that tends to build up under there. Got it organized and wiped down all the gunk.
Wipe cabinet bottoms and around edges in the kitchen (Monthly) – We have to wipe around the edges by hand, no matter how often we vacuum, sweep, or steam mop. Especially with cats that shed.
Wipe cabinet bottoms and around edges in the half bath (Monthly)
Dust and clean our office (Monthly) – It’s in the basement so this falls on me
Dust and clean playroom (Monthly)
Organize the paperwork basket (Quarterly) – Stuff ‘to be filed’ goes in a basket in the office. I’ve been getting to it about once a year, but plan to do so more often.
Clean out office drawers (Semi-Annually) – Along with the previous task, this would go through the filed paperwork to clean out any dated stuff.
Sync and backup external hard drives (Monthly) – We store documents and data on external hard drives. My wife and I each have one, and we have a third that backs up the other two.
Clean my tool area in the basement (Monthly)
Replace furnace filter (Monthly)
Tidy up storage area in basement (Monthly)
Sweep and scrub floors in basement (Monthly) – Mainly to keep the area around the litter boxes sanitary.
Dust bookshelves (Monthly) – They get dusty being in the basement, so they need a good dusting.
Organize basement pantry area (Monthly) – Our kitchen pantry is small so we have a shelf dedicated to storing perishables. This involves going through it, bringing anything about to expire to the front, and making sure nothing gets ‘hidden’.
Check car maintenance schedules for upcoming to-dos (Monthly)
Clean garage workbench area (Monthly)
Check tire pressure in both cars (Monthly)
Sweep out the garage(Monthly)
Clean floor grout in the master bathroom (Quarterly) – We actually had never done a deep clean on this, so it was a big job which I will post about. Hopefully doing it more regularly will be a less involved process.
Clean floor grout in the master bathroom (Semi-Annually) – For now, this area gets a lot less use, so I’m only planning on a couple times a year here for now.
Clean grout in master bathroom shower (Monthly)
Clean out under the sink in the hall bathroom (Semi-Annually) – When we buy extras on toiletries, we put them here. Going through them regularly will ensure that we don’t forget that we have something and buy it again (which happens too often)
Clean out drawers in hall bath (Semi-Annually)
Clean out closet in master bath (Quarterly)
Vacuum under beds (Monthly)
Iron my work shirts (Monthly)
Organize and re-fold clothes as necessary in my dresser (Monthly) – I freed up almost an entire drawer!
Run a full virus scan, malware scan, and defrag my desktop computer, making sure everything is up to date (Monthly)
Ditto on my wife’s laptop (Monthly)
One more time on the other laptop that we also use mostly for browsing (Monthly)
Clean and polish my work shoes (Monthly) – Didn’t get to this one this month!

I was pretty happy with as much as I got done. Goals moving forward are two:

Continue with good momentum
Make it so that if many of these tasks are done often enough, they become less time consuming. For example, I spent an hour and a half tidying up one of the areas in the basement, throwing away garbage, getting stuff ready for donations, and wiping away lots of dust. If I spend five minutes a month keeping this area clean, hopefully the hour and a half projects start becoming few and far between

Thanks for reading! Please subscribe to my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, or check out my Facebook page.This original Money Beagle post Copyright 2012 Money Beagle is authorized to appear only on www.moneybeagle.com. Thank you for reading and remember: It’s a great day to be alive!

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So You Broke Your New Years Resolutions?

Money Beagle — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:24:43 +0000

It was only a month ago, but I’m sure for many, both the New Year and the resolutions that came with them are distant memories.

How many diets have been busted? How many workout programs have been abandoned? How many smokers are smoking again?

If you’ve already broken those promises, here’s what you do:

Take a look around. Know that anybody you see has likely broken their resolutions as well.

Then, start them over.

People have gotten into this mindset that we can only improve ourselves but once a year. The New Year brings a new you and when the shine wears off the list of things we want to do to better ourselves, so many of us shrug our shoulders and figure they’ll try again next year.

Why wait?

The fact is, there’s no good reason not to start again. Why not try again to hop on the treadmill or throw away the smokes? Are you really going to give yourself another eleven months of bad habits? That extra eleven months is not going to make it any easier to change next year.

It’ll just make it harder.

So, forget about the fact that you’ve blown your New Years Resolution.

It’s a new month, so I ask each of you to kick off your New Month Resolution. Today.

And, the good news about that is, that if you fail, it’s the shortest month of a year so in a few weeks you can start all over again

Thanks for reading! Please subscribe to my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, or check out my Facebook page.This original Money Beagle post Copyright 2012 Money Beagle is authorized to appear only on www.moneybeagle.com. Thank you for reading and remember: It’s a great day to be alive!

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Our Next Credit Card

Money Beagle — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:38:22 +0000

Last week I posted that I was looking for a good credit card which offers cash rewards specifically to improve upon the 1% we get for gas purchases on our current Citi Dividends card.

Two stuck out as the favorites, the Pen Fed card (which is for military based people but you can get around that pretty easily) or the Costco American Express True Rewards card.

My dad and a good friend ended up backing the Costco card pretty strongly, and the fact that we’re Costco members means that there’s no charge, so I’m pretty sure that’s what we’re going to get.

Basically, the card offers 3% on gas purchases, 2% on other categories (I think eating out is one) and 1% on everything else.

I did some research and it looks like they’ve had this for awhile, so while there are no guarantees, the fact that these payouts are in place seems to bode well for the long term viability of these percentages.

It’s not a straight cash rewards program. They send you a reward certificate once per year that you have to redeem in the store. You can either get cash there or get a Costco gift card. Since we do a once-per-month Costco trip, this should work out just as easily as cash. We can just use the gift card that we get to pay for our purchases, and take that budgeted amount and funnel it into the earmarked portion of our savings account which we use for rewards. Easy as pie.

My wife is nervous about adding one more card to the mix. I don’t think we’re too card crazy, so while this is another thing to keep track of, I think the extra bucks we’ll get in reward money will make it worth the hassle, especially since we’ll be consuming a lot more gas given the camper purchase we just did over the fall.

What do you think? Are we making a good choice? Am I putting too much effort into what will likely amount to a few bucks difference per month?

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No Thanks, Magazine Subscription Service Company!

Money Beagle — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:01:52 +0000

Around two years ago, I wrote about how we were able to keep our frequent file miles from Delta alive by putting activity on the account via a magazine subscription. At the time, if you went so long without some sort of addition or subtraction of miles, they simply wiped you out of their system (they’ve since updated the policy and miles no longer expire).

At the time I wrote about how I redeemed some of the miles for a one year subscription, and also wrote about how awesome it was that I was able to add a second year for the price of two dollars.

Oops.

Look like I spoke too soon.

Because, as it turns out, that two dollar agreement also must have specified that you would auto renew the subscription at the end of the term.

I found that out when I logged into our bank account and found a $49 charge, that I quickly tracked back to my Entertainment Weekly subscription. Logging on to the website informed me that the subscription was being managed by a third party vendor (can’t recall the name) and gave me a 1-800 number to dial in reference.

And dial I did!

After verifying my information, I politely told the rep that I had a charge on my bill for a renewal that I did not authorize and wished to have cancelled with a full refund.

He looked it up and verified that, sure enough, they’d taken the funds, but he wanted to make a deal.

First he offered to give me the renewal at a rate of $20 per year, and would refund the $29 back to my card.

For some reason, this actually annoyed me more than enticed me, because it basically told me that they were overcharging and they knew it with the original rate. So I said, no thanks.

And repeated my request. I was still polite but I realized I’d have to be a bit more firm.

He still had to take one more shot.

He basically tried to tell me (without asking) that, because I’ve been such a great customer, he was going to give me a six week ‘free subscription’ and that I could call back to cancel any time during the six week period.

In other words, the same thing. Counting once again on people forgetting to call back or whatever. And, the way he did it, he basically tried to tell me that’s what they were doing and was ready to end the call.

I didn’t even bother to sarcastically ask whether the renewal would be at the rip-off price of $49 or the miraculously discounted rate of $20. I told him in no uncertain terms that I wasn’t interested and that I wanted to continue with the cancellation and full refund.

Defeated, he put me on hold for a couple of minutes, and came back to tell me that it had been processed.

So, let’s see their strategy:

Put something in place that nobody is going to remember two years later. Hope that people don’t even bother noticing or doing anything about the $49 charge.
For the people that do call in, try to keep them around with a 60% discount. I’m guessing that a good percentage of people do this.
Try once again to get people to forget themselves with the dangling carrot of ‘six free’ issues.

I wonder how many people they sink their teeth into by getting people to stick during one of these ‘steps’.

They didn’t get this one.

Two days later, the credit showed up.

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Weekend Roundup: January 27, 2012

Money Beagle — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:41:44 +0000

It’s been a couple of weeks so I thought I’d share some of the favorite blog posts I’ve read recently as well as some of the carnivals I’ve participated in.

Afford Anything – Is This House A Good Investment? (a must read for anyone considering purchasing investment property)
Life And My Finances – How To Avoid Lifestyle Inflation
Weakonomics – How Professional Athletes Are Like Blue Collar Workers
Darwin’s Money – Confidence Is Great, Right? Nope, It’ll Wreck Your Life
Squirrlers – Crazy Job Interview Stories
Funny About Money – What’s Your Choice: More Years Or A Better Life?
Man Vs. Debt – Two Emotional Money Stories
Prairie Eco Thrifter – Five Home Renovation Savings Tips
Passive Family Income – When Being Gazelle Intense, Take Time To Recoup
Frugal Toad – Festival of Frugality
Prarie Eco Thrifter – Yakezie Carnival
Family Money Values – Totally Money Carnival
Diva In Debt – Carnival of Personal Finance
Little House In The Valley - Yakezie Carnival
Passive Income To Retire – Totally Money Carnival
20s Finances – Carnival of Retirement
Matt About Money – Carnival of Personal Finance

Hope you have a great weekend!

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