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Financial housekeeping

February 15th, 2020 at 08:27 pm

It’s about time to do review recurring monthly expenses. I try to do this at least once a year, to see if better deals are available and try to keep fixed monthly bills in check. Auto insurance is a great deal around here and should stay the same (I was mildly injured by another driver this year, which weirdly goes through your own auto insurance per our state laws, and Geico was very helpful. Great customer service. Can’t say the same for the medical billing people at the ortho clinic, but that’s another story). Renters insurance is bundled. Medical, dental, and vision insurance premiums are determined through work. I locked in a promotional $40/month rate for home internet for two years a few months ago. Disability insurance will go up a little because I’m adjusting my policy, but that’s worth it. Need to look into getting a better deal on my cellphone plan, but I’m nervous something will get messed up with my keeping my current number, which is essential. Honestly the headache of that has been putting me off. My regular monthly student loan payment went up by around $400/month when I refinanced, but when you factor in the lower interest rate and the fact the term switched from 10 to 5 years, this was a savings overall.

Other financial housekeeping goals for this year: Need to sit down and figure out/change how my 401K is allocated. They automatically put me in an age-based fund when I was hired, but the mix is probably too conservative (too many bonds) for me. I should also probably move some of my savings into the market to earn better interest, but I’m pretty conservative about having a liquid cash cushion for emergencies.

Recently sent some extra money that had gradually built up in other budget categories toward my student loan.

Consolidated student loans:
Total: 121,233.34
Daily interest cost: $10.65

3 Responses to “Financial housekeeping”

  1. creditcardfree Says:
    1581808410

    I'm pretty sure it's rather easy to keep your cell phone number, even if you change carriers. I'd just give a call to one that you are interested in and just ask them. Hopefully, they will be fully transparent or can confirm your number would be eligible. Here's
    Text is an article and Link is https://www.whistleout.com/CellPhones/Guides/Switching-Cell-Phone-Provider
    an article that confirms there is federal legislation that allows the porting of phone numbers, even across state lines.

  2. MonkeyMama Says:
    1581812655

    Agreed with ccfree. I have never had any problems keeping my phone # with any cell carrier.

  3. rob62521 Says:
    1581884168

    I concur with both CCF and MM -- we changed and got to keep our numbers. Just check ahead of time.

    Sometimes having to pay upfront for refinancing a loan seems counterproductive, but in the long run, it sounds like you will save money.

    Perhaps if you look at what you have in savings, figure out what you need as liquid, you can decide what to do with the rest. Since we are both retired, we have some of our "liquid" savings in CDs. We have laddered them and have them at different places and make more than if we just had them in savings or money market. We could still get the cash if we needed it, but far better than making a piddling amount.

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