Beating Broke

Personal Finance from the Broke Perspective

5 Ways to Save on Utilities and Amazon

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If money is tight and your income is lower than you’d like it to be, there are many ways you can save money.  Several utility providers and even Amazon offer discounts to those with documented lower incomes.  These discounts can provide necessary help to those who most need it.  Here are five ways to save on utilities and Amazon.

5 Ways to Save on Utilities and Amazon

Ways to Save on Utility

Depending on the season, utilities can cost several hundred dollars a month.  If you’re at or near the poverty level, paying these bills is difficult.  The following discounts can help customers meet their basic needs.

Gas and Electricity

5 Ways to Save on Utilities and Amazon
Photo by Clint Patterson on Unsplash

The Connecticut Legislature lists 11 states that are required to offer discounted gas and electricity to those with lower income.  The states are Arizona, California, Georgia, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.  Most states require an income level 150% or below the poverty level.  However, some issue a maximum income based on a family of four.  The discounts range from 25% to 35% off to a percentage off your utility bill.  The amount depends on your income as based on the federal poverty level.

Phone Service

A number of phone and internet providers are part of the Lifeline Program.  As part of this program, low income customers can receive reduced rates on phone and internet services.  Only a few states are participating.  These include Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia and D.C.

You are only allowed to receive Lifeline services from one provider, not multiple providers.  Discounts and requirements vary by state.

Spectrum Internet Assist

Spectrum offers phone, internet and television services.  Customers who receive the National School Lunch Program, or The Community Eligibility Provision, or Supplemental Social Security are eligible for Spectrum Internet Assist.

Comcast Internet

Comcast offers internet for $9.95 per month (plus tax) as well as free installation to its low-income customers.  Families can qualify if their child is eligible for the National School Lunch Program.   Customers are also eligible if they receive HUD housing support.  In addition, Comcast has rolled out a program for senior citizens, available in select locations.  To qualify, the customer must by 62 or older and receive federal or state public assistance.  Lastly, community college students are also eligible if they’re enrolled and are receiving a Pell Grant.

Ways to Save on Amazon Prime

5 Ways to Save on Utilities and Amazon
Photo by Christian Wiediger on Unsplash

An Amazon Prime membership is $10.99 a month.  However, for low-income customers, Amazon Prime offers membership for $5.99 a month.  To qualify, customers must have either an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card or Medicaid card.  These customers can renew their memberships yearly up to four times.

Living on a tight budget can be difficult.  Yet, with these five ways to save on utilities and Amazon, you can stretch your money further.  Utility discounts help low-income customers have their most basic needs provided.  In addition, internet and phone service discounts help people to work from home and students do their work.  Amazon Prime provides families with low-cost entertainment and cheaper goods that are delivered right to their own doors.  This is especially important if low-income customers live in food deserts.

What other discounts do you know of for low-income customers?

 

 

Why You Should Let Your Teen Make Money Mistakes

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Why You Should Let Your Teen Make Money Mistakes

As parents, we want to help our children avoid the mistakes we made.  This is especially true with money mistakes as they can set people back years from achieving their financial goals.  (Sad to say, but some adults never achieve their financial goals.)  However, there are several reasons why you should let your teen make money mistakes.

My Biggest Money Mistake

Teen Money Mistakes
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I made so many money mistakes when I was young!  Probably the costliest one was transferring to a university for the winter semester and choosing a dorm room.  I called my future dorm roommate just to say “hi”, and she was so rude and gruff!  Because I was shy and fearful about living with someone, I backed out of staying in the dorm, but I couldn’t get a refund on my money.  I paid for that dorm for four months, and I never lived there!!

My mom never said anything; she let me make my own choice, and that decision was certainly one I learned from.

Watching My Son Make Money Mistakes

My son is now 15, and while he used to be a great saver, over the last few years, he’s become a spendthrift.  If he has any money in his pocket, he will try to find a way to spend it, often on items he doesn’t even need.

I live in fear that he’ll move out, get a credit card, and rack up incredible debt, which will take years to pay off or cause him to file for bankruptcy.

Why You Should Let Your Teen Make Money Mistakes

As hard as it may be, as parents, sometimes the best thing we can do is step aside and let our teens live their lives as they inch closer to independence.

Better They Learn as Teens Rather Than Adults

Keep in mind, it’s better to let our teens make money mistakes now than as adults.  My son is trying to save for a school-sponsored trip to visit some college campuses.  However, he’s struggling with this goal because any time he makes some money, he feels compelled to spend it.

The worst-case scenario here is that he won’t be able to go on the trip.  As an adult living on his own, he’ll face much more serious consequences if he can’t save his money. The worst-case scenario may be that he doesn’t make rent and is evicted.  I’d much rather he miss the trip this year and be envious of those who did get to go.  Hopefully that will motivate him in the future to save for large goals.

Experience Is the Best Teacher

While our toddlers soaked up every word we said and thought we were the experts, our teens our cynical and eager to break free from parental control.  Simply put, they don’t like to listen to us.  Sometimes as parents the best we can do is not say anything and let natural consequences take their course.

Think back to your own teenage years.  Did you learn best from your parent lecturing you or the experience of making your own decisions and dealing with the consequences?

When your teen stumbles after a money mistake, don’t swoop in with an “I told you so!”  No one appreciates that.  Instead, be a sounding board and encourage them to make smarter decisions in the future.

Watching our teens make money mistakes isn’t easy, but as they crave more and more independence, letting them experience life, and fail sometimes, is exactly what they need.

5 Benefits and Drawbacks of Keeping a Change Jar

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5 Benefits and Drawbacks of Keeping a Change Jar

Do you keep a change jar?  My mom keeps all of her change and has been saving it for the last two years for a vacation.  She is not alone as many people hoard their change as a way to save money, especially if  they feel they’d otherwise be unable to.  However, just as many (or more) argue that keeping change is a waste of time and space.  Both sides have valid points; I find there are 5 benefits and drawbacks of keeping a change jar.

Benefits to Keeping a Change Jar

There are benefits to keeping a change jar, which is why so many people do so, even in this age of prevalent credit card usage.

Save for Something Special

5 Benefits and Drawbacks of Keeping a Change Jar
Photo by Deanna Ritchie on Unsplash

Have you ever seen the big five-gallon jugs that people use to collect their change?  One man saved for 10 years, and when he cashed it in, he had over $3,000, which he used for a trip to Europe.  Would he have saved that money without keeping his change?  He says no.  If you don’t have the discipline to save, keeping your change is a good, mindless way to save.

Cash Emergency Fund

Another woman saves her change for a rainy day.  She and her husband had an expensive car repair that they hadn’t planned for, and they robbed all of their budget categories to pay in cash for the expense.  That left her with no grocery money for her family of four for the month, so she raided her change jar.  She had $224 in there, which she used to feed her family.  It was still a tight month, but she didn’t go into debt, and her family didn’t go hungry.

Drawbacks to Keeping a Change Jar

Unfortunately, there are risks and expenses with saving this way.

Could Earn Interest

One of the major drawbacks to keeping all of your change in a jar for years is that you miss out on the interest you could be receiving.  Take the man who had $3,000 in change.  He could have invested his money as he saved and been earning interest.  He would have made more money than he did just leaving it in his closet.

May Lose It All

An even bigger drawback is that you have the potential to lose all of the change.  A friend of mine had about $120 in change she’d been saving, and, unfortunately, her house was robbed.  All of that money was gone.  Even if your house isn’t broken into, you could lose the money if you have a fire.  Even teens have been known to dig into their parents’ change jar for a little extra money.

You May Pay a Fee

A select few banks still offer coin counting machines for free, but many won’t take coin rolls.  If you have to rely on CoinStar, you’ll pay an 11.9% fee, so if you turn in $300 in change, you’ll pay $36 in processing fees.  If you need to pay a fee this high, is it still worthwhile to save your change?

Saving change has been a fun way to save money, but as these 5 benefits and drawbacks of keeping a change jar demonstrate,  it’s becoming increasingly costly.  If you can have enough self-discipline to save the money on your own in a bank or invest it, that is the better way to save.

Do you save your change? What benefits and drawbacks do you see?