Money Tips Network

We’ve heard it time and time again — climate change will determine the fate of our future and of generations to come. And, it’s no secret that we’ve witnessed an increase in natural disasters not only in our lifetime, but in the past few years. 

Remember the 2018 California wildfires that destroyed over 1.6 million acres and 23,314 buildings? Or, Hurricane Harvey in 2017, which damaged over 135,000 homes? That’s not to mention the devastation that natural disasters have caused worldwide. 

Find the Best Home Insurance

Enter your ZIP code below and be sure to click at least 2-3 companies to find the very best rate.

Travelers homeowners insurance offers substantial discounts and customizable coverage with more add-on policy options than most companies on the market. Carrying strong financial standing with more than 160 years experience, Travelers provides customers a 24/7 claim center and even a smart home incentive for new policy holders.

Years ago, I worked in an office environment where I was expected to dress reasonably nice. The office was about a 25 minute commute from my house. A few times a year, I had to travel for work, usually for most of a week, and the travel usually wasn’t to anywhere interesting, usually just to the same remote location I’d been to several times before so that I could work there instead. I often went out for lunch with coworkers, usually because we were interviewing or hosting people and it was kind of expected that we would go out to lunch with them without reimbursement. There were times when my job was really stressful and I would just go home, flop on the couch, and either play a mindless video game or watch something unplanned on TV just to unwind.

At the time, I didn’t really think too much of those things. I thought of them as part of what it meant to be a professional in my field.

Hello! I have returned from my final big trip of the year, and I've resumed working behind the scenes here at Get Rich Slowly. Soon, new articles will begin to appear on this site.

Oh, wait. Here's a new article now!

On my most recent trip, I happened to tell the same story twice to two different groups. In doing so, I realized that it's a story I've never told here. That's unfortunate. It's about an event that had a profound impact on the course of my life — and my finances.

To bide the time while I work on longer articles, today I'd like to share how my fate was decided by the literal toss of a coin.

What’s inside? Here are the questions answered in today’s reader mailbag, boiled down to summaries of five or fewer words. Click on the number to jump straight down to the question.
1. Family travel expenses
2. Finding cash on the ground
3. Considering health insurance options
4. Financial news sources
5. Healthy and super cheap lunches
6. Mother moving in
7. Detailed tracking of expenses
8. Does coffee grinding save money?

Link for teaser title: 

https://www.wisebread.com/3-tips-to-get-a-bigger-kick-out-of-your-reward......

66% of Americans don't have a good rewards strategy.

The “Books with Impact” series takes a deeper look at specific books that have had a profound impact on my financial, professional, and personal growth by extracting specific points of advice from those books and looking at how I’ve applied them in my life with successful results. The previous entry in this series covered Atomic Habits by James Clear.

HELOC vs Personal Loan

Coming up with the funding for a major purchase or project can be challenging if you don’t have the cash on-hand. Luckily, personal loans or a home equity line of credit (HELOC) can make financing those large purchases possible.

Deciding between a home equity loan or a personal loan takes some thought, though, since the two options are quite different. Not only are the qualifications different, but there are also certain circumstances that are better suited for each option.To figure out which funding source is right for you, it’s important to understand the differences between a HELOC, home equity loan and a personal loan. Let’s take a look.

Recently, I’ve heard from a few readers asking some very general questions about consolidating their student loans. Their questions mostly boil down to the fact that they’ve heard that it’s a good idea, but they don’t really understand why. What’s the benefit of student loan consolidation – or consolidating any loans for that matter? This is a great “personal finance 101” question, the type of question I already answer sometimes for my children and I expect to answer more and more as they migrate into adulthood.

Almost always, the reason you should consolidate is so that the sum total of everything you owe over the lifetime of your loan (or loans) is as low as it can possibly be, and consolidation is often a way to lower that total. The lower the total is, the less you’re paying in interest and the more you’re keeping in your pocket.