Lifehacks

Finances aren’t taught nearly enough. By far the best book I’ve read on this is I Will Teach You to Be Rich: No Guilt. No Excuses. by Ramit Sethi.

Tax:
A lot of people do tax themselves. While I wouldn’t trust chain tax agencies, finding a CPA who runs their own small business and is passionate, and knows their stuff can save you from throwing tons of money away. I’ve paid a CPA $100/yr and saved many times that for doing so.

Throw windfalls/unexpected tax returns, etc. at a RothIRA or emergency fund if you don’t have one already.

Credit Cards:
Pay cards off monthly, never carry a balance. As a rule, if I do pay a balance, my commitment to myself is to cut the card up. Also, if you miss paying a balance (hello autopay), the bank will usually forgive you the first time and refund the fee if asked. The same is true with rare overdrafts.

2% back on everything cards are usually better unless you’re an absolute pro at cards with rotating categories at 3-5% back.

Some cards have an extended warranty perk. This has paid dividends when random electronics failed less than a year out of their 1-4yr warranty. The Amazon Prime card is one of the few that still offers this with no fee if you already have Prime. Also, 5% back.

Banking:
Ally Bank has no fees and much better interest for your emergency savings fund. I still require a brick-and-mortar bank for cash deposits, but nearly everything else goes to Ally. I’ve not found a better competitor.

Home/Apartment:
When moving to a new city for work and looking to rent/buy a place to live, consider commute gas/time/car maintenance costs as part of your rent/mortgage cost. Sometimes it pays to live 2-10 minutes from work rather than 45mins away. I’ve saved thousands by planning a full week of hunting, looking at 40+ places, and then getting to live in a place that saved me a killing for years.

Lifestyle/Mindset:
In many cases, saving and learning to live frugally is more effective than trying to earn more. An irresponsible spender will always lack resources no matter how much they earn.

We are stewards of the 100% that belongs to God. Because of this, tithe and offering are returned, not given. I set aside 10+10% on gross. The first 10% Tithe is given to God through the church right away. The second 10% is offering and can be designated as chosen. I recommend deciding on a percentage that you let accumulate for offering until you have a small charity fund. Having a charity fund to be used exclusively for helping the church, ministries, and others is extremely freeing since you don’t have to rationalize helping others because you have already committed to it. Did you know the Bible also expected a third 10%? Learn more here.

Figure out what your time is worth based on current income/work hours, and learn to say no if you’re going to spend too much time on something you could actually earn more money by either declining or outsourcing.

Clean, maintain and look after your stuff properly before they break, so they will last longer. Especially true of cars, but also many appliances. The little things add up.

Observing the Sabbath by taking the day off each week free from work/chores/shopping can revolutionize production/output during the rest of the week. In my experience, this has saved me from burnout countless times, and helped me re-prioritize from consumerism to what is most important in life.

Debt is Negotiable

Avoid it like the plague and do everything you can morally do to free yourself of it. Borrowers are slaves to lenders (Proverbs 22:17). If you do have debt, here are a few things you could consider trying:

1. Ask for an itemized bill, including billing codes. If they can’t furnish it, they can’t claim you owe it.
2. Financial Assistance Policy. For medical bills, check to see what policies a hospital or clinic has for financial assistance. In particular, you want to look at their financial assistance policy. Most hospitals will waive or forgive most or all of your debt if your household income is within 100%–400% of the federal poverty guideline for a given year.
3. Document everything. If you live in a state where call recording is legal with single consent (that is: your consent as a party to the conversation), record your call on speaker phone. Write down dates of contact, names, key points, etc. If someone tells you they are not able to assist because of __, make sure you’re already familiar with their policy ahead of time and (even if you aren’t) ask where it says that in the policy.
4. Be kind, calm, and respectful without being a pushover. A cheerful tone goes a long way. If you get a “no” answer, ask for details why. If it is unsatisfactory, say so! “That will not work for me.” Financial counselors and billing departments are trained to use scripts to get you to a certain outcome, such as a payment plan. A “no” is a very easy smokescreen designed to lead people to accept imposed limitations and maximize their revenue. This can take 2–3 or more attempts to overcome. Policies aren’t unchangeable laws. Who else you can speak to? Ask for a supervisor, manager, etc., if necessary.
5. Escalate. If something is simply not right and no progress has been made after some time, ask for a patient advocacy or grievance department. The Better Business Bureau is another option for filing complaints to get attention. Most of the time, this will get a senior executive in contact with you within a 1-4 weeks.
6. Limitations. Be sure to check if a debt falls outside of a state’s statute of limitations. If so, collectors can’t come after you for that. I’m not saying you shouldn’t still have the integrity to pay debts you owe, but in this case, you may want to prioritize more urgent debts if you are unable to pay them all immediately.
7. Navigating Collections. If it has just reached or is about to reach collections, pursue the previous steps as soon as humanly possible in case it can be paused or retracted from debt collections. While a financial assistance application is processing, debt is sometimes put on hold from proceeding to collections. If it’s already at the point of debt collection and can’t be retracted, don’t just opt for a payment plan. Consider asking if they would be willing to settle for a down payment of 30%. Debt collectors often buy debt from institutions at around 4% of the total bill, so even if you paid 15%, they would be making a profit. Offering lower than you might be inclined to offer also gives you the opportunity to bargain to a mid-point. So if they decline 30% and counter with 70%, you can still ask them to meet you halfway at 50%. Having someone do the negotiation on your behalf as your financial advisor is also likely to improve the odds of getting your debt settled.
8. Don’t overshare. While financial assistance policies may require income, assets, and other financial information from you in order to assist, you are under no obligation to share any such information with a debt collector. Doing so just enables them to better estimate and work on getting as much as they can. Though they likely wouldn’t disclose it, you can always try asking what they purchased your debt for. Remember, the reason a debt collector has your debt is that the original institution wrote it off and is letting them try to deal with it.
9. Negotiation is a skill. As such, it can be learned. One book I’d recommend is: You Can Negotiate Anything by Herb Cohen.