I wasn’t lying when I said I had a lot of shoes in last week’s post but the real debate over my shoe collection came this week when my boyfriend asked me why I was buying a new pair of Uggs to replace my old pair.  He wanted to know why I needed to buy new Uggs when I had perfectly good rain boots.  (read: he dislikes Uggs and finds them ugly which I cannot deny BUT they are so comfy!)

Let me explain something to you about my boyfriend: he has about 15 pairs of sneakers, he tells me that each pair goes with a different outfit, yet every day he wears jeans and a hoodie.  I cannot fathom why me having two pairs of winter boots is foreign to him but multiple sneakers for slight variations on one outfit is fine.  I would appreciate your input on what you would do in this situation because this should be a hands down win for me!

My reasoning behind having two different pairs of winter boots is this…

I wear my Uggs (or any other wintery boots for the sake of the debate) when it is cold out but I wear my rain boots when there is some sort of nasty weather going on in Boston.  They clearly have different purposes and it seems logical to me to have two pair but he still does NOT get it.  He thinks that I should be able to wear my rain boots all the time and not spend the extra money on replacing my Uggs.  I completely understand where he is coming from with spending the extra money but having two pairs with each serving a different purpose is a valid purchase in my book.   Am I wrong?

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I went to a Catholic high school and enjoyed my days in a plaid skirt and oxford shirt but when I went to college my wardrobe expanded immensely. I’m not sure how it happened but I started to love clothes and accessories! I literally bought anything and everything that looked good on me – until my closet and drawers would not take another thing. I was/am a clothes hoarder!

This actually went on for years and only until recently did I have to scale back (read: I moved in with my boyfriend and had limited space). I had to determine what I actually “needed” in my wardrobe and not what I “thought I needed”. I had to sit down and actively go through every piece of clothing in my entire room and determine what would make the move and what would be purged. I felt like one of those people on the television show “Hoarders” as I started to feel attached to certain items. Then I came to terms with what I was actually doing and started to make it interesting. I found a great place called Buffalo Exchange (now in Allston and Somerville) that will buy back your clothing from you – keeping in mind that someone will pay me for my clothes made me more realistic in getting rid of items. (See how it works) My mentality was that if I could get a few dollars for an item, then get rid of it! It made the attachment to clothes start to fade away quickly. In addition, anything that Buffalo Exchange did not purchase from me – I donated to Goodwill in hopes that it would be passed along to someone who would appreciate it!

Once I purged through all my clothes I was ready to make the move. In my new apartment I have a tall wardrobe style closet and a full dresser of six drawers. I needed to figure out the best possible way to get everything I wanted into that space without spending a lot of money. I started looking into an easy way to organize my clothing and accessories to make the most of my living space. The best finds that I purchased were hanging sweater bags, slim felt covered hangers and a hanging jewelry organizer.

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Is balancing your checkbook an out-dated process?  Does anyone actually do this anymore?  Balancing a checkbook is something that I remember my parents diligently doing when I was a child.  I can remember some Sunday nights when my father would sit down with all the bills, the checkbook registers and the bank statements to make sure everything balanced to the penny.

The concept of why one should keep a check register or something of the sort needs to be clearly understood.  If you do not understand the importance of why you are doing something, then you honestly will not put the effort in.  The biggest advantages of having a check register are that you can verify what you think you spent to what the bank has on record for you, you can ensure that you actually have money in your account to avoid any overdraft fees and if you ever need to go back to a specific transaction you actually have a record of it without having to dig too much.

I, however, do not spend a single Sunday or any other day for that matter sitting down with a check register and hand writing out everything that I spent.  I have too many bank accounts for that to even make sense for me.  Should you only have a single bank account and run all your income and expenses through it, then keeping a traditional check register would be a valid way to track what you are spending.  If you did want to keep a traditional check register and do not know exactly how to do it, WikiHow spells it out for you in easy to understand steps.

For those of you with multiple bank accounts, this is what I would suggest that you do… keep track of your receipts for anything that you buy.  It seems like a very simple idea, but people struggle with it.  I find it rather easy to take the receipt from the cashier, fold the receipt up and place it into my wallet since I always carry my wallet.  At the end of the week/month, I will take the receipts out and put the receipts into envelopes marked with which account or credit card I used to make the purchase.  Then at the end of the month, I match my receipts to what the bank and/or credit card company cleared in my statements.  If you want to do it with hard copy statements, just put a check mark next to each transaction on the statement to ensure that it was accurately recorded by the bank. Once everything cleared, you are free to get rid of the receipts unless the receipt is for a large purchase (generally something with a warranty attached to it) or it is necessary for your taxes.

If you do not receive hard copy statements or prefer to do it online, I would suggest using a FREE service like Mint.com to compare your receipts to what the bank and/or credit card company recorded for you.  All you need to do is go to the transaction tab and click on the account that you want to see on the left hand side.  Then you can compare your receipts to what the bank and/or credit card company recorded for you!  The main advantage that I see in using Mint.com is that it automatically pulls all of your financial information into one place.  It is virtually a “snap shot” of your finances without having to go to each site and look at the individual balances.  Another advantage is that if you are tech savvy, you can download an app for it on your phone (iphone and android) for convenience while you are away from your computer.

Again, Mint.com is FREE. There are tons of tracking systems like Quicken and Quickbooks that cost money – but this is FREE!  If you haven’t checked it out yet, I would suggest you watch the video below on how it works.  I recommend the site to all my clients and it only takes a few minutes to set it up, integrate all your bank accounts/credit cards and set up a monthly budget.  The best part about the site is that it sends you reminders of when your bills are due – “nobody likes bills, but late fees are even worse” is my favorite email!  You can also set up alerts that will tell you when balances are low in your account, when you are over your budget and a weekly snapshot of where you stand going into the weekend.

Have an experience with Mint.com?  Please let me know about it in the comments!

90 Second Overview of Mint.com

As I sit at work I can hear my new coworker, recently relocated to Massachusetts, randomly calling insurance agencies in the Boston area looking to insure her car. Realizing that she does not know anyone in the area I decide to give her my insurance guy’s information to help her out. As I approach her to help her out I think, while I have car insurance of my own, when was the last time I checked to see if I was saving as much as I could? So I asked my insurance guy and here is what he had to say:

A lot of people pay for their insurance and never look twice at it. It is something they have to have, so they pay it and forget it. But, even more people will pay for their insurance, never look twice at it and then complain about it…  but if you do not take action, you have no right to complain. So, what can you do to save?

When it comes to auto insurance there are numerous discounts available on most policies. Companies allow discounts for the following:

Low Mileage – some companies offer discounts to customers who drive as much as 12,500 miles or less per year. And don’t worry about knowing what your mileage was last year, your agent can check that for you

Anti-Theft – does your car have any kind of anti-theft system? If it was built after 2000, chances are it does. Ask your agent to verify it for you.

Hybrid Discount – saving the environment saves you money in a lot of cases.

Green Discount – some companies will give you a credit for going paperless. And since you check your email more than your snail mail, you’re more likely not to miss a bill.

EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer) – Did you know that every time your insurance company mails you a bail, they tack on a minimum of a $5 installment charge? So if you pay ten bills over the course of the year, you’re paying an extra $50 (at least) on top of your premium! Well setting your policy up on automatic withdrawal allows you to avoid that.

Good Student Discount – if you are currently a student, and have less than six years driving experience, you probably qualify.

Group Memberships – Certain companies strike deals to offer discounts to people who are: AAA Members, BJ’s Members, College Alumni, etc.

Additional Lines of Insurance – here is where you can really save. Companies offer discounts to customers who have multiple lines of insurance with them. So if you have a homeowners policy (any type – meaning tenant, condo, or home) you can likely save anywhere from 5 to 12% on your auto policy and 15 to 25% on your home policy.

The list of discounts is long, and they are all company specific. But they are out there and available. Why not ask if you qualify?

One final piece of advice: Review your policy. When you get something in the mail, check it to make sure it’s correct. Why, you say?

Have you changed addresses? The rates from town to town differ, and you certainly don’t want to be charged for living in Boston if you recently moved to the suburbs.

Are you still living with the same people? You should always list all licensed household members on your policy to avoid issues with coverage should they be involved in an accident while driving your car. But if you move, make sure your spouses/roommates are updated just the same way your address is. Who knows? One of them may actually be a good driver, and adding them could lower your premium.

Are you getting all of those discounts we mentioned earlier? Your declarations page will tell you which discounts you currently receive. And if you notice one missing, do something about it. Call your agent.

So yes, you have to carry auto insurance in MA, but it does not mean you should just blindly pay for it! Take advantage of the discounts available, and if you do not know how, just ask. We’d rather talk to someone with a plan to save than someone with plans to complain!

If you are looking for someone in the Boston area to help with your insurance needs I would highly recommend My Insurance Guy!