Skipping Home Maintenance Can Be Disastrous To Your Insurance

Water damage from a leaky roof and poor maintenance.

If you are a homeowner, you know that it is expensive to maintain. I never realized how many things you are nickeled and dimed for until buying my first house. Not only do you have your mortgage, insurance, taxes, utilities, and possibly even association dues, but you’ve also got the little things you don’t dream of like home maintenance now falls on your shoulders. The yard or fence needs to be refurbished.

These were not issues when you were a renter. With all of these bills adding up, you may be wondering if you could skip out on something as minor as home maintenance or maybe cut a few corners here and there? Here are some reasons why home maintenance is so important and can affect your homeowner’s insurance.

Pay a Little Now, Or Pay More Later

Home maintenance can be expensive no matter what the project is. Maybe you are replacing a broken sprinkler or repairing some broken boards on your deck? No matter what the project happens to be, it takes time, effort, and money. Some projects are bigger than others, but every project requires all three.

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How A $2 iPhone Covers Can Bring Back Your Youth

What if you can get a flash from the past? What if you can recapture your youth for as little as $2? That’s what these iPhone covers did for me. I recently saw a few of these on J. Money’s Pinterest page. There are some really cool things on that site. You can check out a few of my favorite things as well on my Pinterest page. Follow me on Pinterest! In the meantime, below are several of the coolest iPhone covers that I found.

Cassette Tape

This case keeps your iPhone 4 safe and protected in style. Snap-on case is designed to offer all-around external surface protection to your phone without compromising usability. Provides easy access to all functions without having to remove the case.

Leather Book iPhone Cover

Wallets and phones go hand in hand. You rarely leave home without the two of them. Now you can carry both in one BookBook made exclusively for iPhone 4. This little book has a convenient ID window and slots for your debit/credit cards, reward cards and cash. Instead of grabbing your wallet, phone and keys when you walk out the door, simply grab BookBook and your keys.

Nintendo Gameboy

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What Is Gap Insurance on Your Car and Why You Need It

What Is Gap Insurance On Your Car?

What is gap insurance? And, do you need it? Gap insurance is a type of car insurance policy that is designed to cover the gap between what the value of your car actually is, and what you owe on the vehicle, in cases where the vehicle is totaled in an accident. Depending on the type of car insurance you have, the insurance company may not cover the full value of the loan in certain cases. This is where gap insurance comes into play. How Gap Insurance Works Gap insurance is designed to help those who put low down payments on a car, or for other reasons, do not have a lot of equity in the vehicle. In cases where the … Read more

Reader’s Question: Do Single People Need Life Insurance?

Essential Money Tips for New Parents to Implement on Day 1
Do Single People Need Life Insurance?

Understanding the purpose of life insuranceHere is the next installment in our the Reader’s Questions Series which highlight questions emailed to me by you, the readers of Money Q&A. Be sure to find out at the end of this article how you can receive a free copy of Dave Ramsey’s book, The Total Money Makeover if your money question is chosen to be featured a future week’s blog post.

If you’re not familiar with Dave Ramsey’s book, you should run right out and get it. It is one of the best personal finance books that everyone should read. Now….on to our reader’s question.This week’s Reader Question is from Michelle in Fargo, ND. She asks…

Do single people need life insurance?

This is a great question that I hear quite regularly actually, and it all stems from people not understand the true purpose of life insurance.

Do single people need life insurance if they do not have an heir or someone that they look after or who relies on their income?

The True Purpose Of Life Insurance

Life insurance is meant to protect your most valuable asset, your income stream. More importantly, it is designed to protect your future income stream should you die a premature death. Life insurance protects your income and replaces it for your loved ones who depend on it in order to survive and live day to day.

So, if you have no one who depends on your income to live such as a spouse or children, then you most likely do not need life insurance. This is a prime example of why children do not need their own life insurance policies.

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Money Q&A Interview On KGO 810AM San Francisco

I was recently interviewed on KGO 810AM San Francisco. This was my first interview talking about money matters and consumer savings tips. I was interviewed about the article that I wrote detailing how to save money on my moving expenses. Ten Ways To Cut Costs On Moving Expenses Moving from one home to another or into your next apartment is expensive. But, there are many moving tips that can help you save money on moving expenses. I have come to find this out the hard way. For years, I have been blessed with an employer that covered all of my moving costs, but this time it is different. This time I am footing the bill by myself. You may remember … Read more