Money Management

Sometimes, even the best-laid plans to save money don’t work out. See why one writer must adopt a new grocery approach — or simply accept higher bills. 

As inflation has started to cool, the cost of many common expenses has started to shrink. That includes groceries.

This past June, grocery prices were up 4.7% on an annual basis, as measured by the Consumer Price Index. Compare that to the June prior, where grocery prices were up a whopping 12.2% annually, and I can say that I’m noticing a modestly lower credit card tab these days than I was around the same time last year.

But still, groceries are a big expense in my household, so I’ve been trying to do my part to reduce my spending there. And I’ve pretty much failed, despite having done these three things.

1. Making lists

Shopping lists are great. They tell you what you need to pick up so you don’t end up having to make a return trip to the supermarket, and they can help you stay on track and avoid impulse buys.

Here’s the problem, though: Unless you consult every member of your family when making your lists, which I don’t always have time to do, you might buy the wrong items and then find yourself back at the store spending more money a few days later.

This past spring, my kids were on a huge sour cream and onion potato chip kick, so I went and bought a couple of bags to divide up for snacks. Only when I returned home and presented those bags, instead of a resounding “Thanks, Mom,” the response was “These again?”

Clearly, that was a fail, and seeing as how I’m a giant sucker who doesn’t like to disappoint my kids, I found myself back at the store the following day to stock up on that week’s preferred snack: cheese puffs. I suppose I could’ve returned the other chip bags, but the customer service line at my supermarket tends to be really long, and frankly, it wasn’t worth the 15 minutes of my time. But once again, list-making failed me.

2. Planning meals in advance

You’ll often hear that meal planning is a great way to save money at the supermarket. That way, you’re buying items you’re bound to use, as opposed to toss out.

But here’s one pitfall of planning out your meals: Unless you do so in conjunction with seeing what’s on sale, you may not end up saving yourself much. This is the trap I’ve fallen into many times over the past six months.

Not so long ago, I mapped out a weekly menu that included a pasta dish with mixed vegetables as well as salmon with broccoli and rice. Each dish was set to last for two meals, getting us through the workweek until Friday (otherwise known as “I’m Caving and Ordering Pizza Night” in my household).

I thought I had a good plan. But when I went to the store, almost every vegetable I wanted for my pasta dish was more expensive than I expected it to be, and it was hard to pivot on the spot.

Along these lines, at my supermarket, I can often find salmon for $8.99 a pound — sometimes less. That week, it happened to be $11.99 a pound. But at that point, I felt committed to the menu, especially after having gotten my kids’ buy-in. So all told, I didn’t reduce my grocery spending that week despite having seemingly gone in prepared.

3. Loading up on digital coupons

My supermarket offers digital coupons you can load to your store card so you don’t have to carry around tiny pieces of paper and hope they don’t get lost. I make a point each week to load up on digital coupons in an effort to save money on food. But often, I find that the deals my local store has available don’t align with the products I need.

If I were more organized, I could consider stocking up on certain items while they’re on sale and reserving them for later. But I’m admittedly not so organized when it comes to food shopping and all things related.

It’s tough for me to even do a week’s worth of meal planning at once. So even though I take the time to check out those digital coupons, they commonly don’t end up doing me much good.

I’m resigned to higher grocery bills

At this point, I’m not really sure what else I can do to spend less at the supermarket. Thankfully, there’s room in my budget to spend the way I do.

My husband and I intentionally keep our large household expenses, like our mortgage, on the low side relative to our income to allow for higher spending in categories that improve our day-to-day quality of life. And so if I have to cut back in other areas of my personal finances to give myself leeway to spend more at the grocery store, so be it.

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Kids cannot open a bank account on their own, but you can open a custodial account or a joint account with their name on it. Read on to learn how. 

Opening a bank account is a great way to learn about money. As a result, many parents may want to open a savings account or even a checking account for their children so they can start saving money and learning how to work toward financial goals.

But, the big question is, can you open an account for a minor who is not yet 18?

The rules for opening a bank account for kids

Children who are under the age of 18 are not considered to have the legal authority to open a bank account of their own since they are classified as minors. However, this does not mean it is impossible to get a bank account for a child.

Parents, and even grandparents or other relatives in some cases, can open a bank account for a child. This could take the form of a custodial account with the parent managing and having legal authority over the child’s money. Or, parents could open a joint account with their child that is co-owned.

In many cases, banks actually offer special kids’ accounts that are linked to a parent’s account and are designed with child-friendly features in mind. These accounts are specifically designed to provide an introduction into the world of banking and personal finances, so kids can begin to develop responsible financial habits at a young age.

How to find a good bank account for your child

If you have decided to open a bank account for your child, you may be tempted to just open the account at the place where you have your current savings or checking account. But there may be better options out there.

A number of financial institutions offer dedicated bank accounts for kids and teens. These usually have features that are designed with this kind of account in mind. For example, they typically won’t charge any fees or have any specific requirements for maintaining a certain minimum daily balance — which is important, as kids may not have a ton of money to put in, and you don’t want them learning that putting cash into savings actually costs them.

A good bank account for kids will also allow parental monitoring or limits on when money can be withdrawn from an ATM; an easy and free way for parents to transfer money to kids; account alerts for parents; and even tools to help kids set savings goals, monitor their money, or receive financial education.

You will likely also want to be sure to choose a bank that has a mobile app kids can easily use so they can monitor their account independently as they get older. At the same time, though, you may also want to prioritize finding a bank that is convenient to you so your children can have the experience of physically depositing and withdrawing money sometimes rather than doing everything digitally. With so much of the financial world being done on the computer only, it’s good for kids to get to experience physically having cash once in a while.

Help your child learn financial responsibility

To find the right account for your kids, you’ll need to think about these and other features you want to prioritize and then shop around with different local and national banks to see which one is the best fit. You’ll need to help your child get their account open once you find the right one — and can then guide them in their journey of learning to manage their money wisely.

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We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.Christy Bieber has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Changing insurance companies requires shopping for a new policy and canceling an old one. Keep reading to learn why it’s worth the time it takes. 

Switching insurance companies is not something most people would describe as fun. Changing which insurer provides coverage for a home or an automobile can mean taking time to shop around and get quotes. It can also mean canceling a policy, stopping insurance payments from coming out of a bank account, and setting up a new payment process with a new insurer.

Despite the fact it can be a hassle, there are some good reasons to consider changing coverage anyway. Here are three of them.

1. A new insurer may offer a better deal

Sad as it is, insurance companies do not reward loyalty from customers. In fact, the reverse is true. When an insurance company thinks a policyholder is unlikely to shop around for insurance coverage, it may end up charging that individual more money.

There is no reason to accept higher rates when a different insurance company would offer more affordable coverage. But, people won’t know that unless they shop around. After getting quotes, if a different insurance provider offers a better deal — and the current insurer won’t match it — there’s solid justification to switch.

Even a savings of $10 or $15 a month can add up to $120 a year or more, which is well worth going through a little bit of hassle for.

2. A new insurer could provide better coverage

Insurers offer different kinds of protections. For example, some insurers may offer a disappearing deductible that brings down the amount a policyholder has to pay out of pocket for each year that they don’t make a claim. Others may offer special protections as well, such as coverage for pets hurt in a car accident or more money for a rental car while waiting for a claim to pay out.

Unless policyholders shop around and see what is out there, they may end up settling for substandard coverage. Their current insurer may not offer all the protections it would make sense for them to have, and they may not know it unless they look around and check out all their options.

That’s why it’s important to not just get quotes from several insurers each year, but also to look at policy offerings. If a different company provides better, more comprehensive coverage and a policyholder wants to transfer the risk of those particular losses, then switching to that company is worth the time and effort involved.

3. A new insurer could offer better customer service

Finally, it’s important to make sure that an insurance company isn’t just providing coverage but is providing quality coverage. If a policyholder experiences problems with customer service, whether that comes in the form of an improperly denied claim, premiums being charged incorrectly, or simply non-responsiveness to questions, then this alone could be worth changing companies.

No one wants to fight with an insurer in their time of need, so don’t settle for a company that has already proven they won’t take good care of their clients.

For any or all of these reasons, it may just make sense to switch insurance companies. Set aside a little time to see if a change is worth the effort.

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Kids can’t get a credit card without a parent until they are 18, or 21 if they have no independent income. Find out if you should help them get one. 

Kids are not allowed to open a credit card account on their own until they turn 18 — and, even then, they may need a cosigner if they don’t have enough independent income to show a creditor they can pay the bills.

However, you can get a credit card for your children if you want to. You can add them as an authorized user to your own account, or cosign for them if they are between 18 and 21 and don’t have the income to qualify on their own.

But just because you can help your child get a credit card doesn’t mean you should. Before you sign your child up for credit, you’ll want to be on the lookout for these five signs that they are ready for the responsibility.

1. They earn income to pay the balance

Unless you want to pay your child’s credit card bills for them, you may want to wait until they have income of their own to help them get a credit card. If you make them an authorized user on your card, you’ll be responsible for all charges they incur. And even if you help them get a card of their own, you don’t want them to damage their credit by not making payments on time.

2. They know how to live within limits

It’s very easy to get out of control with a credit card. But you absolutely do not want your child to max out the card and charge up to the limit — or even get close to it. Not only could a maxed out card lead to a huge balance that must be paid back, but it could also damage the cardholder’s credit score.

See, your credit score takes into account your credit utilization, or the amount of credit used relative to credit available. If you use more than 30% of your available credit, you’ll find yourself with a reduced score. Whether this happens to your child or to you if you made your child an authorized user, you don’t want this to occur.

So, unless you are confident your child knows how to keep track of limits and stop charging long before maxing out the card, you don’t want to help them get it.

3. They have a good handle on their spending

A credit card makes spending money seem effortless since you don’t have to part with cash. It’s also easy to justify putting just one more thing on the card and worrying later about how you’ll pay it back.

Since you don’t want your child to end up drowning in credit card debt, be sure you can trust them to spend responsibly and not go overboard once they have a card of their own.

4. They can be trusted to make payments on time

If your child will be responsible for making payments on the card themselves, you’ll want to be sure they’re organized enough to do it on schedule. Once a payment is 30 or more days late, the late payment is reported to the credit bureau, and this can do serious damage to a credit score. A late payment could also trigger an expensive penalty APR and a late fee — both of which you’d want to avoid.

5. They have a bank account they’ve managed responsibly

Finally, it may be a good idea to start your child with a bank account before getting them a credit card. While you can still get into trouble with a bank account if you overdraft your account, the consequences of mismanaging a bank account are usually not as dire as that of mismanaging credit.

Once your child shows they can be responsible with the bank account, that’s a good sign they’re ready to move up to a credit card. Plus, ideally, they’ll have the money in the bank to pay the credit card bills they rack up so you don’t end up in a situation where you might have to bail them out of trouble.

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Sometimes, even personal finance writers manage to throw their money away. Read on to see what pitfalls this mom has fallen into. 

One of the things I like about being a personal finance writer is that I get an opportunity to actually help people. I’ve had friends come to me and say they’ve read my articles, took my advice, and were able to save money because of it. And that, frankly, makes me feel awesome.

What makes me feel less awesome, however, is the fact that I routinely find myself falling into the trap of wasting money on kid-related purchases. Here are a few things I’ve basically thrown my money out on so far this year — and it’s only July.

1. Nicer restaurant meals

Now that my kids are getting a bit older, my husband and I have been eager to expand our eating out options beyond the local diner. And so on occasion, we’ve taken our kids to nicer restaurants. Big mistake. When you go to a nicer place for dinner, you end up spending even more money on a meal your child will ultimately reject due to pickiness.

Not so long ago, we went out for Italian food and proceeded to spend $14 on pasta and butter that probably would’ve cost us $0.50 to make at home. It’s hard enough spending that kind of money on a basic entree your child actually consumes. It’s another thing to force yourself to eat their rejected leftovers the next day because they cost so darn much you can’t bear to toss them out.

2. School fundraisers

When you have school-aged kids, you’re going to be asked to participate in fundraisers. This is basically a given. But whereas some parents have the patience to go out and get people to buy stuff to fund school programs, I don’t.

Not only do I lack the patience, but I also lack the time. So what inevitably happens is that I’ll buy something like a $50 box of chocolate bars I’m supposed to sell, only instead of doing that, I’ll keep them at home and eat them myself because I can’t bring myself to knock on doors asking people to buy candy for $1 a pop. The result? Wasted money.

And yes, you can argue that I’m doing a nice thing for the school. But the more cost-effective thing would be to make a $20 donation (or whatever the school’s cut of the fundraiser is) and call it a day.

3. Extra school supplies

I do not enjoy shopping in stores, which is why I’m happy to bear a $139 annual credit card charge for an Amazon Prime membership. But when you have kids, sometimes, they need school supplies in a pinch — as in, right now. And at that point, free two-day shipping won’t bail you out.

What I’ll commonly do is buy extra supplies when I’m at the dollar store or Target to save myself a return emergency trip. What commonly happens, though, is that I’ll buy the wrong supplies, or I’ll buy supplies that end up getting lost between when I bring them home and when they’re actually needed. Fail.

4. Dress clothing for my kids

We’ve had some nicer occasions to attend this year, like communion parties for my kids’ friends and some festive family gatherings. To avoid showing up looking like a gaggle of slobs, I decided to purchase my kids some nicer clothing for these events. Since most of their clothing is markedly unfancy (and, if I’m being honest, ripped), I figured it was worth the investment.

Big oops. Every time I presented a nicer outfit to my kids, they either refused to wear it by virtue of it being “uncomfortable” (because cotton is just oh so hard on the skin) or agreed to wear it, but destroyed it after about an hour.

Now, I can make my peace with a $4 t-shirt getting battered the first day it goes on my child’s body. But seeing my son spill soda down the front of a brand-new $25 dress shirt wasn’t so fun. Neither was seeing my daughter rip her brand-new $30 dress by being impatient and removing it before it was fully unzipped.

A fate I’m resigned to

All told, I pride myself on being someone who spends money carefully. But thanks to my kids, I’ve managed to effectively toss away a few hundred dollars this year already.

One thing I am good at is not wasting money on food at the grocery store. I tend to have a pretty solid handle on what we need and will step up and cook when there are items in my fridge at risk of going bad. Seeing as how 70% of Americans routinely waste money by tossing expired food, I guess I’m ahead of the game in that sense. But I’d still like to do better overall.

Now, I could tell myself that since 2023 is only half over, there’s ample opportunity to improve during the remaining half of the year. What’s more likely is that I’ll continue to find ways to throw out money, inspired by my kids and their antics and demands. So it goes.

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We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Maurie Backman has positions in Amazon.com and Target. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon.com and Target. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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After you’re approved for a loan, you’ll need to sign loan documents and have the funds deposited into your bank account. Read on for what happens next. 

Applying for a personal loan allows you to obtain funds you can use for a wide variety of purposes. Your ability to get approved is going to depend on many factors, including your income and credit. But once you have been approved, what happens?

Here’s what you can expect after you’ve been approved for a personal loan.

1. You’ll sign any required loan documents

Once you have been approved for your loan, you will need to sign documents accepting the terms and conditions and agreeing to repay the loan on schedule.

Be sure to read the fine print carefully so you understand what your interest rate is, what fees (if any) you will pay, when your first payment is due, how much your payments are, and whether there is any prepayment penalty.

If you are happy with the terms and confident you can pay back the loan as planned, sign the documents so you can officially move forward with the borrowing process. In most cases, you can do this online — especially if you applied for a loan over the internet.

2. You’ll specify where you want the money delivered

Next, you’ll need to tell the lender where to deliver the funds that you’re borrowing. In most cases, the easiest thing to do is to have the money electronically transferred to a checking account or a savings account. From there, you can do whatever you need with it.

You’ll likely need to provide your account and routing number to the lender in order for the money to be transferred.

3. You’ll receive your funds

Once you’ve told the lender where to send your money, it’ll initiate the process of actually transferring the money to you.

The length of time it takes to receive your funds can vary by lender. In some cases, you could get the money the same business day or within 24 hours. In other circumstances, it may take several days for the money to be delivered to you. When you apply for a loan, be sure to pay attention to the funding schedule different personal loan lenders provide if you know you’ll need the money quickly.

Once you have the money, you can use it to do just about anything you like with it, whether that’s paying off credit cards or other debt or financing a big purchase.

4. You’ll begin making payments

You will agree on a repayment schedule and repayment terms with your lender at the time you borrow. Typically, about a month or so after you’ve received your loan funds, you will need to begin making payments.

Each payment you send in will cover interest costs and pay down some of the principal. The more you borrow and the shorter your repayment term, the higher each monthly payment will be.

You’ll need to make sure you pay on time to avoid late fees and other consequences. If possible, consider setting up automatic payments so your lender is paid directly from your bank account each month.

5. Your payment history will be reported to the credit reporting agencies

Your personal loan lender should report the account and the payment history to the credit reporting agencies. If you build a positive payment record, it can help your credit score. If you pay late, it could hurt your score.

You’ll continue paying back your loan over time, and once you’ve made your last payment, you’ll be free of the debt, and your account will be reported as paid and closed.

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