Beating Broke

How to Recover Financially After a Car Accident Leaves You Broke

August 11, 2022 By Erin H Leave a Comment

Being involved in an accident is something that no one wants and that can never be predicted. It comes with a lot of life-changing conditions, and these can leave you incapacitated physically and financially. Read on to see some suggestions that you can follow to help you recover financially if you get into a car accident and your finances suffer on account of it.

Talk to Your Lawyer

The first step to take is to talk to your lawyer, especially if you were not responsible for the accident. If you experienced an injury, you should seek the help of a personal injury lawyer as soon as you’re able to do so. They will help you understand how the exact nature of your accident can impact your settlement. For example, if a plaintiff is found to be over 50% at fault for the collision, they are not entitled to recover any damages in some states. A good lawyer will help you avoid overpaying for medical treatments, not receiving an insurance claim that you’re entitled to, and more. Look for a lawyer whose fees are reasonable and that won’t charge you unless you win so that you’re not at risk of suffering more financially if you don’t receive a settlement.

Don’t Seek Help From Questionable Sources

While you may be pressed to seek assistance to cover your bills, it’s important to practice caution. Avoid falling prey to predatory loans that could see you pay a hefty fee back. You could try social lending or crowdfunding, in which case you may manage to pay your debts thanks to compassion from people around the world. If you have good insurance policies, these could also come in handy and help you get some money to boost you in time of need. Speak to your agents so that you can find a way forward without compromising your future even more.

Restructure Your Budget

When your finances are left in shambles, it only makes sense to rethink your future budgeting. Keep in mind that the latest figures from the New York State Department of Transportation share that the average cost of an auto accident depends on where the accident took place. It will cost $15,000 on the lower end and $63,000 on the higher end, with most accident costs falling between $30,000 and $40,000. These are considerable figures, so you may need to come up with a different budgeting strategy to deal with them effectively.

Get a Side Gig

If you are in a position to work, there are plenty of options of side gigs available to you to pick from. Even if you’re unable to do physical activities that involve moving around a lot, there are many online-based gigs that you can try out. If you have specific skills or talents, there is likely a way for you to monetize them and reap the financial rewards. Whether it’s writing or graphic design, you can find someone willing to pay for your services and this amount will help you in some way.

You can even rent out an extra room in your home after making some adjustments to your lifestyle. For example, by moving unused items to the garage to empty out one of the rooms in your house. For around 50% of homeowners, the garage is their home’s most unorganized room, so it’s important to get yours in order as doing so could help you get some money through a garage sale or clearing space for a tenant.

Use these suggestions to start your financial recovery after getting into a car accident. Don’t forget to prioritize your physical well-being as well because your health is ultimately your most important form of wealth.

Temporary Health Insurance Options

August 8, 2022 By MelissaB 2 Comments

My husband accepted a new job in another area of the country, allowing us to relocate to a place that we prefer from one we didn’t care for as much. His salary has increased significantly, and he feels the job will be better for his mental health and his career. The only difficulty is that he will not qualify for health insurance during the first two months he’s employed. We’ve searched for temporary health insurance options, but there aren’t many good options.

Why Not Go Without Health Insurance?

We could always take a chance and go without health insurance, but we’re not young; we’re firmly in middle age, so we visit the doctor more than we used to. Plus, young, middle-aged, or old, on any given day, we could be involved in a catastrophic health event such as having a car accident or being diagnosed with cancer.

My husband and I aren’t gamblers, so we don’t feel comfortable foregoing all health insurance options.

Utilize the Spouse’s Insurance

Another option for many couples is to utilize their spouse’s insurance during this time. However, I am a freelance writer, so my only insurance coverage is through my husband’s employer. This option is not available to us.

COBRA Is an Expensive Option

When my husband leaves his current employer, he can opt for COBRA insurance. COBRA allows us to retain our current insurance for the two months we’re without health insurance with the new employer. However, rather than paying our portion of the health insurance premium, we also pay the employer’s portion. Therefore, we would need to pay $1,659 a month for COBRA insurance or $3,318 for the two months we’re without insurance. Ouch!

Insurance Through the Affordable Care Act?

I looked into the Affordable Care Act, but getting insurance here is not much more affordable for us than COBRA. Insurance here is based on your income, and my husband’s income is good, so theoretically, we can afford to pay more.

We would need to pay nearly $800 a month for health insurance, and we would also have a high deductible. The insurance would only cover us for catastrophic events until after we meet the high deductible.

Insurance Through Our Car and Home Insurer?

We also looked to see if our car and home insurer offers medical insurance. The company does, but not in the state in which we’re moving.

What We Decided

Ultimately, we looked at our temporary health insurance options and decided to take advantage of a stipulation in COBRA. You have up to 60 days after leaving your employer to apply for COBRA. When you do, you pay for the time since you left your employer and are retroactively covered.

So, if the next two months don’t involve any health issues, we can save ourselves $3,300 in COBRA premiums. If we do need insurance coverage, we will pay for COBRA. This is a bit like gambling, but a safer way to help us stay protected while potentially not costing us thousands of dollars.

Reasons Not to Buy Long-Term Care Insurance

There Is No Ideal Time to Contribute to Retirement

3 Lessons I Learned When Looking for a New House

July 18, 2022 By MelissaB Leave a Comment

This is a crazy market in which to buy a house. While I knew that from watching the news, recently we got to experience the market firsthand because we’re moving from Arizona to New York. The plus side is that our house in Arizona sold within three days of listing. The bad news is that we had to visit many properties in New York and put in offers on three different houses before we finally got one. Along the way, there were many lessons I learned while looking for a new home. These were the most important ones.

Beware of Low Prices

We started our search by looking at houses at the lower end of our price range. We have one child starting college this year, and two more in the next five years, so keeping housing costs low made sense. However, we quickly veered away from those houses for two reasons:

House Problems

Most houses in the lower end of our price range had problems. Two of them stunk. One smelled throughout the house, and the other smelled fine until we opened the basement door. Then we were confronted by an awful odor we couldn’t place. Others were outdated or had a strange layout such as having to walk through one bedroom to get to another one.

Neighborhood Problems

If the houses in the lower price range didn’t have problems externally, the neighborhood did. We saw one meticulously kept and updated property. However, it was the nicest house in the neighborhood, which means it might be more difficult for us to sell later. Plus, the neighbors were gathered outside and started talking about us as we walked into the house. Not the type of neighborhood in which we wanted to move.

Beware the Unkempt Exterior

I was amazed how many homeowners didn’t attempt to create curb appeal. We walked up to homes with dirty siding, peeling paint on the window frames, and a rotted piece of wood with a hole on the steps to the home, just to name a few problems.

Unfortunately, many of the backyards weren’t much better. One had a tiny mowed section, but the rest of the small yard contained weeds and overgrown grass.

If you want people to buy your home, try to make the yard and exterior of the home inviting! Not surprisingly, most properties with unkempt exteriors were also not in good shape inside.

Final Thoughts

Finding a home to purchase is a challenge no matter when you’re looking. However, in this current seller’s market, there are important lessons I learned when looking for a new house. Hopefully, we won’t need to buy another house anytime soon, but if we do, I know what to look for and when to walk away, sometimes before even seeing the inside of an unkempt house.

Making an Offer on a House

Shopping for a New House