Money Tips Network

I’m pretty sure that my father will read this sometime today or tomorrow, or else my mother will read it aloud to him. In either case, I’ll start off with the most important thing: thank you, dad, for everything I’ve written about below and so much more.

My father is in his mid seventies now, and simply typing that is almost unbelievable to me. I have a lifetime of memories and experiences and lessons from him, but an awful lot of them come from my memories of him when he was approximately the same age I am now, so I guess that realizing this lately – that my earlier memories of him are from when he was roughly the same age that I am now – has caused me to think a lot about him, the kind of person he’s been, the life he’s led, and the lessons that I’ve learned from him.

Open up your closet door, dig past the first things you see, and look at ten things you happen to find in the back (or everything, if you want). Out of those ten things, how many of them fill you with buyer’s remorse? How many of them had you completely forgotten?

Look at the last ten purchases on your Amazon account (or all of them, if you want). How many of them fill you with buyer’s remorse? How many of them had you completely forgotten?

Find an old grocery store or department store receipt. How many items on that receipt fill you with buyer’s remorse? How many of them had you completely forgotten?

Look at your credit card statement. Take a look at the first ten items on the list (or every item, if you want). How many of those items fill you with buyer’s remorse? How many of them had you completely forgotten?

If you don’t own your home (or no longer do), but you still have plenty of prized possessions, purchasing a renters insurance policy makes sense. This coverage is very affordable nationwide, with average costs of $188 per year according to the Insurance Information Institute (III). However, your coverage could easily save you thousands of dollars if you need to file a claim someday.

Renters insurance from The Hartford is offered in conjunction with AARP, and it comes with the same benefits most renters insurance policies offer. Not only can you get a free quote online, but you can customize your policy to meet your unique needs.

While your landlord purchases a homeowners insurance policy that covers the building you live in, it’s important to note that their insurance coverage doesn’t insure your personal belongings. Ultimately, that’s why many tenants purchase renter’s insurance. With this type of policy, you can insure your personal belongings against damage or theft. Even better, renters insurance tends to be a lot less expensive than people think.

If you’re in the market for a renter’s insurance policy, make sure to keep Nationwide in mind. While this insurer is mostly known for their auto insurance, homeowner’s insurance, and life insurance offerings, they also offer high-quality renter’s insurance for prices most people can afford.

There's a leak in my dining room that my husband and I are afraid to fix. We're not worried about destroying the old plaster (the water is doing a fine job of that on its own).

“Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.” —Bill Gates

One of the biggest changes in my perspective on personal finance since I started The Simple Dollar is how to succeed at your goals.

When I first started to turn things around, I set what I thought was an enormous, audacious goal. I wanted to pay off all of our debts, which were in the mid five figures at the time, in a year. It seemed practically impossible. It was this big intimidating goal. I decided to throw everything I had at it.

It’s really easy to have good spending habits if you’re sitting in a comfy chair in your living room reading a book from the library. It’s really easy to have good spending habits if you’re in the midst of a hike in the middle of nowhere. It’s really easy to have good spending habits if you spend the day in the garden.

The problem is that our lives don’t always guide us into those situations all the time. We’re not always in a situation where we’re free of influences that can nudge us away from good spending choices. In fact, much of modern life is full of things that nudge us toward bad spending habits and away from good financial practices.

Here are 12 of these things and how to watch out for them and minimize them in your life.

There are some household goods that every family needs on a regular basis, like personal care items and cleaning supplies for daily messes. The more people you have in your home, the faster you go through your stash of toilet paper and hand soaps.

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. What should I contribute?
2. Investment income and savings rate
3. Systems versus goals
4. Amazon Prime? Hulu? Netflix?
5. Young people renting everything?
6. Umbrella insurance for average person
7. New versus late model used?
8. Good use for spare change