Money Management

Love to garden? Read on to see how Costco has you covered. 

Now that spring is in full swing, many gardening enthusiasts are gearing up to get their hands dirty and start working on their lawns, porches, and backyards. Whether you’re new to gardening or have been doing it for years, you may want to turn to Costco as your source for supplies and materials. Here are just a few of the items that might help you tackle all of your gardening needs and create an amazing outdoor space.

1. Varner 14.5″ Planter, 3-pack

Need a way to show off your flowers? This three-pack of weather-resistant planters is a good bet. They’re made of durable, lightweight resin and are UV-resistant. They also include drainage plugs and are suitable for both outdoor and indoor use.

2. Rapid Flo 5/8 in. x 100 ft. Compact Garden Hose

If you’re going to take the time to plant shrubs, vegetables, and flowers, you’ll need to water them on a regular basis — you can’t just count on Mother Nature. This compact garden hose is kink-resistant and makes the act of watering plants a snap. It’s 50% lighter in weight than heavy-duty hoses, so if you want to have your kids help maintain your lawn and garden, they shouldn’t struggle. This hose also comes with a five-year warranty.

3. Earth’s Ally 2.5-Gallon Weed & Grass Killer

When you spend your free time gardening, you want your exterior to look nice. And you don’t want weeds popping up left and right. That’s why it pays to stock up on this fast-acting, natural weed killer. It’s safe for bees and pets alike so you don’t have to feel guilty about applying it.

4. Fiskars Lopper And Garden Shear Set

When you’re tasked with trimming your own bushes and shrubs, you need tools that can get the job done. This set comes with a lopper that’s smaller and lighter than most models, making your job easier to tackle without the strain. You’ll also get a set of heavy-duty garden shears with ergonomically sculpted handles.

5. Smart Pot 15 Gallon Fabric Planter, 3-pack

If you have a smaller outdoor space you’re looking to spruce up, these fabric planters are a great option for patios and rooftop gardens. They’re BPA-free, durable, and designed to release heat in the summer so your plants can stay nice and hydrated. Each pot holds about 51 dry quarts of soil.

You may be tempted to outsource your gardening to a landscaping company to save yourself time. But hiring a landscaper could cost you $50 to $100 an hour, according to HomeGuide. That’s money you may want to keep in your savings account if you’re capable of doing the work yourself. And if you decide to tackle your own gardening, you can rest assured that Costco has a host of helpful items that won’t force you to run up a massive credit card tab. Plus, if you do the work yourself, you’ll get to show it off as your own and have something to truly take pride in.

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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.Ally is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. Maurie Backman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Costco Wholesale. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Want to take cash out of your home via a new mortgage? Read on for some pitfalls to avoid. 

Generally speaking, now’s not really a good time to refinance a mortgage. That’s because mortgage rates are relatively high, so chances are, you won’t reap savings by swapping your existing home loan for a new one.

But if you want to tap your home equity and take cash out of your home, a special type of refinance called a cash-out refinance could make sense. When you do a cash-out refinance, you borrow more than your remaining mortgage loan balance.

Let’s say you owe $170,000 on your current mortgage and need $30,000 to pay for a renovation. You could do a $200,000 cash-out refinance in that situation, use the first $170,000 to satisfy your existing loan balance, and then spend the remaining $30,000 on the project you have in mind.

An estimated 42% of mortgages that were refinanced in 2021 were of the cash-out variety, reports Freddie Mac. Of course, back then, borrowing rates were lower, so mortgage refinances made more sense. But you may find that a cash-out refinance is actually your cheapest option for borrowing money this year. And if that’s the case, you may decide to go for it.

But if you’re going to do a cash-out refinance, make sure to avoid these major mistakes. Otherwise, you might sorely regret your decision.

1. Not working to boost your credit score before applying

You might assume that since mortgage rates are generally higher these days than they were a couple of years ago, it really doesn’t matter what your credit score looks like — you’re probably doomed to a higher borrowing rate no matter what. That may be true to some degree. But it still pays to try your best to raise your credit score before moving forward with your refinance. A higher score might result in a lower refinance rate than what a borrower with a less favorable credit score might get — even if that rate isn’t one you’d necessarily consider a bargain.

Once your credit score gets into the upper 700s, you’re generally in line for the most competitive rate any refinance lender will give out. So if your score is a little shy of that, try checking your credit report for errors, because correcting certain mistakes could result in a boost. You can also raise your credit score by paying off a chunk of credit card debt.

2. Not looking into closing costs

Because borrowing rates are up right now, you’re generally looking at paying more to refinance your mortgage, whether you do a cash-out refinance or a regular refinance. That’s why it’s so important to pay attention to closing costs. Just as you’re charged a series of fees to put a purchase mortgage into place, so too do various fees apply when you refinance to a new loan. Read up on the fees you’re looking at, and if they come off as unreasonably high, ask if any can be negotiated.

3. Applying before you run the numbers

You may get approved for a cash-out refinance based on the equity you have in your home. But that doesn’t mean you can afford to change the monthly payments on your mortgage. So before you submit your application, use an online calculator to get a sense of what your new mortgage payments might be. If they’re too high to fit comfortably into your budget, you might really struggle financially once your new home loan is in place.

Even though it’s gotten expensive to refinance, it may be a logical move for you this year. Just steer clear of these pitfalls so you don’t wind up kicking yourself after the fact.

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If you’ve got a big savings goal, it’s important to keep on top of your progress. Read on to see how one writer is doing with hers. 

Back at the beginning of 2022, I decided that I wanted to buy a house in 2023. Ultimately, I changed my mind about that, based on my finances and watching interest rates rise over the course of the year. We started off 2022 with the average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage loan sitting at 3.22%, and finished the year with the average rate for that same mortgage coming in at 6.42%, per Freddie Mac.

I’m not the type of person to sit back on my laurels, though. Since I reframed my goal to buying a home in 2024 instead, I decided the best thing to do to prepare would be to spend 2023 saving money.

I set a savings goal of $50,000, knowing this would give me enough for a down payment as well as cash to cover closing costs, moving, and some initial inexpensive home improvements, like paint. (While I’d love to buy a home that’s move-in ready, I have no illusions that my taste in wall colors will match that of the seller.) Now that we’re several months into 2023, it’s a good time to assess my progress.

Watching my savings grow

As of this writing, I’m a little over two-thirds of the way to my goal. I was able to start saving before 2023 began, before I left my salaried job and became a full-time freelancer. This meant that for a few months, I was able to put all my freelance income into my savings account (less taxes, of course). My weekly savings rate has since decreased because I now pay my bills out of my freelance income, too. Thankfully, my costs are pretty low since I’m a renter, I work from home, and I drive a 14-year-old car that’s been paid off for a long time.

I’ve been able to keep adding to my savings by taking the following steps:

I pay myself first. When I get paid every week, I immediately take money for taxes right off the top of my total, then my next subtraction is money for my house fund. This way, I’m not scraping at the bottom of my paychecks to set that money aside.I have a weekly goal. I broke down my total goal of $50,000 into a set amount to save every week, so it’s very easy to track my progress (and how many more weeks I’ll need to put that money aside to reach my goal).I sometimes kick in my savings account interest. Since I have my money in a high-yield savings account with an online bank, I earn a nice rate of interest on it. So there have been a few months where I’ve added that interest payment to my house fund, too.

Staying motivated

I haven’t really struggled with motivation to save for a home, as I’m well and truly sick of renting and yearn to buy a place of my own. I’m sure some of that desire is related to the lousy experience I had with homeownership the first time around. But ultimately, I’m tired of constantly moving and feeling as if I’ll never have a real home.

If you’re trying to save a large amount of money for a set purpose, the best way to stay motivated is to let yourself think about the future you want. Every time I add money to my house fund, I contemplate how wonderful it will be to furnish and decorate a house and know that I won’t be pulling everything off the walls and shoving it into boxes in a year or two’s time because I have to move yet again.

What’s next?

I’m feeling pretty good about my progress in saving for a home, but life is full of unexpected complications. If I end up needing to use some of my house money early for a surprise bill, I will be disappointed. But I’d still prefer that over going into debt for an unplanned expense, like I used to before I had a solid amount of savings. Between now and next spring, when I hope to buy, I’m going to keep dreaming about my future home — and socking money away every week to make it reality.

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Dave Ramsey said you may regret having multiple credit cards to keep your utilization ratio below 30%. Read on to learn if that’s really such a bad move. 

The way you use your credit cards can affect your credit score in many ways. If you pay your cards on time, or example, this can help you earn a good credit score. The amount of available credit you use on your cards can also make an impact. Ideally, you will want to keep your credit utilization ratio to 30% or less of your available credit. This means if you have a $1,000 credit limit, you would not want to charge more than $300 on your card.

A low credit utilization ratio helps your credit score because it shows lenders you use debt responsibly and aren’t maxing out the credit available to you. But it can sometimes be hard to maintain if you’re using your card a lot. That’s why some people sign up for multiple cards — so they have more available credit than they need.

Finance expert Dave Ramsey isn’t a fan of this technique, though. In fact, he believes it could backfire on you. Here’s why.

Having multiple cards to maintain a low utilization ratio

Ramsey warns against signing up for multiple credit cards to maintain a low utilization ratio for one simple reason: He believes it can set you up for more financial trouble than it is worth.

“People will often have multiple credit cards as a way to borrow more money without ‘overusing’ their credit limit — in order to increase their credit score,” Ramsey said. “The problem is that it can get out of hand real fast. Multiple credit cards means multiple payments. And it only takes one missed payment to send you spiraling into credit card debt.”

Ramsey’s concern is that you won’t be able to manage having several different cards at once, so something could slip through the cracks. And if you do happen to forget a payment because you have so many cards, it could have a much more detrimental effect on your finances than having a higher utilization ratio would in the first place.

Should you listen to Ramsey?

Ramsey is absolutely right that it does not make sense to open multiple credit cards for the purpose of maintaining a low utilization ratio to help your score — if you aren’t responsible with the way you use those cards.

If you sign up for too many cards, can’t handle keeping tabs on all of them, and don’t make payments on time, you’ll do far more harm than good to your credit. But the reality is, it is pretty easy to avoid this while still opening and maintaining several cards to help you get that coveted low utilization ratio.

See, you can open multiple cards and very rarely use some of them. That would really help your utilization ratio, since you’d have a credit limit with no charges on the card. You do need to use each card once in a while to avoid having it closed by the card issuer, but that’s as simple as putting one purchase on the card every six months or so and paying it off in full.

Ramsey’s assuming you can’t be trusted not to make a basic mistake with multiple credit cards, but many people absolutely can ensure they make payments on several cards on time. If you trust yourself to do that and you want to have some wiggle room so you can charge a lot on a card temporarily without hurting your credit score with a high utilization ratio, you may very well want to have multiple cards to protect your credit.

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Pricey hotel bills can easily eat up your entire travel budget. These hacks can help you get free, or at least cheaper, accommodations. 

It’s no secret that airfare is expensive. And gas surely isn’t cheap. But often, the most expensive part of any trip is going to be lodging. The longer your trip lasts, the higher that bill will be.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. There are actually all sorts of ways you can get free or reduced cost accommodations on your next trip. Here are some examples.

1. Rewards points

Pretty much every major hotel brand has a loyalty program that lets you redeem points for free hotel nights. While you can earn points in a variety of ways, the easiest is often through credit cards.

There are two ways to turn credit card purchases into hotel points. The first is to get a co-branded hotel credit card. The points you earn with a hotel card go straight into your loyalty account, where you can redeem them for free nights directly.

The other option is a rewards credit card with transferable points. These programs partner with hotels (and airlines, but that’s another article). When you know which hotel brand you want to use, you can transfer your credit card points to your hotel loyalty account for redemption.

2. Free night certificates

One of my absolute favorite travel card perks is when hotel credit cards offer free night certificates. These are typically annual perks that are handed out after your cardholder anniversary. Free night certificates can, as the name suggests, be redeemed for a free hotel night.

The quality and value of the certificates can vary a lot. Most will have some sort of point-equivalent cap. For example, you might get a cert that can only be used on rooms worth up to 40,000 hotel points. Despite the caps, however, these certificates can be quite versatile.

3. House/pet sitting

If you’re responsible and willing to do a few household chores to pay for your lodging, then house and/or pet sitting could be a viable option for no-cost lodging while you travel. There are several popular websites that let you match with homeowners who need a little help while they’re away from home. Since most of the listings tend to involve taking care of pets — or even livestock — some animal experience may be required.

4. House swaps

Thanks to the power of the internet, homeowners looking to get away can simply swap places with other homeowners from across the globe. (If you’ve seen a certain Kate Winslet rom-com — or the Hallmark Channel knock-offs — then you already know how magical a house swap can be.) While you’re not guaranteed to fall in love with the attractive neighbor, you can still enjoy the adventure of staying somewhere exotic for free.

5. Couch surfing

Are you more of the vagabond type — or just extremely outgoing? Then you might be a good candidate for couch surfing. While the term may conjure that friend in college who only needs to crash for “a couple of days” (read: months), the concept has been modernized for the digital era. Now, you can hop on a website and find plenty of folks willing to give you a couch — or, ideally, a room — where you can crash for free during your travels.

6. Sales spiels

The good old timeshare spiel is more than just a sitcom punchline. You can actually enjoy free — or at least significantly discounted — accommodations just for sitting through a sales pitch. Alright, so it’s going to a sales pitch with a hard push, so if you’re at all susceptible to such things, this may not be the option for you. (Never buy a timeshare. Just don’t.) But if you’re stubborn enough to ignore the temptation to buy, it could be a good way to travel at a discount.

7. Friends and family

If you’re one of those people who always makes friends wherever you go, well, you’ve got a network of free accommodations built right in! Staying with friends or family is a time-honored tradition, and arguably the most popular way to skip the hotel bill. Just remember that even with family, you can have too much of a good thing — so don’t overstay your welcome!

Hotel, schmotel

Finding somewhere to sleep while you’re on vacation can be a costly endeavor. And it can be especially hard if you forget something really important: Vacations are rarely about where you sleep. As long as you have somewhere safe to spend the night, try to focus less on how many stars your accommodation has — and more on what fun things you’ll do while you’re traveling.

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Are you considering becoming a freelancer? Make sure you make good financial choices. Read on for one freelance writer’s money regrets. 

Freelance life can be rewarding. Having the flexibility to control your schedule and workload is life-changing. But navigating life as a freelancer is a learning experience. No matter what kind of work you do, it’s normal to experience ups and downs throughout your freelance journey.

I’ve been a full-time freelance writer for over six years and love what I do. But I’ve made plenty of financial mistakes throughout my career. Today I’ll share a few money mistakes I’ve made as a freelancer so you can learn from my errors and make different choices.

1. Not considering the work and time involved

In the freelance writing world, some work pays hourly. However, it’s more common to be paid per word or project. Throughout my career, there were times when I took on projects that took much more time and work than I realized, which impacted my checking account balance.

As you take on new projects, make sure you calculate the estimated time it will take to finish the job and the full scope of the work involved. You want to be paid fairly and feel good doing the work. You may regret not considering the total time involved if the project takes you much longer to complete and it could impact your income.

2. Not saving up for time off

Planning for the days when you need to step away from your work is essential. Even if you love working, there will be days when you can’t work. In my earlier career days, I didn’t consider the need to save for vacations or sick days. Because of this, I felt guilty when I took time off to rest, heal from sickness, or spend time with loved ones. That’s not a good feeling.

As a freelancer, you get paid when you work — not your off days. It’s best to set aside money for times when you can’t work. It’s also a good idea to save for days when work is slow or you’re not feeling in the right headspace to do your job well. If you’re forgetful, you can automate the savings process to stay on track and make your life easier.

3. Not diversifying

As a freelancer, it can be easy to fall into a state of comfort — but that can be dangerous. At one point in my career, I became very reliant on a big client of mine. I enjoyed the work, we had a great relationship, and they paid me well. So, I didn’t continue taking on new projects. When the company paused its projects, I was in a difficult financial situation.

No matter what kind of work you do, it’s recommended that you diversify your projects, clients, and portfolio. Doing this makes freelance life more exciting and can help protect you if you lose a project or client or experience significant industry changes. You want to ensure you have some income coming in at all times so you can pay for your living expenses.

4. Not saving for taxes

During my early freelancing days, I didn’t prioritize setting aside enough money for taxes. Instead of saving money regularly, I’d stress out about my next quarterly tax payment a couple of weeks before the payment was due. This poor choice caused unnecessary financial stress, and my lack of planning often required me to pick up last-minute projects.

I’ve since learned from this mistake. I now set aside money bi-weekly so I have enough money to make my quarterly tax payments when they’re due. I stash my cash in a high-yield savings account, so I earn interest. Now I feel well prepared to meet my tax obligations.

5. Saying yes to the wrong projects

Not every project will be a good fit for your experience or interests. When a new project comes your way, it can be tempting to say yes. After all, you probably don’t want to turn down work. But I caution you not to take on more work than you can handle. What you could handle three months ago may not be what you can handle today — and that’s okay.

Throughout my freelance experience, there were times when I said yes to projects that I should have declined. Not only did I create more stress for myself, but I was also filled with resentment, making it even harder to finish the work. Only take on work that feels right for you.

Don’t neglect your finances

If you like controlling your own schedule and workload, are highly motivated, and prefer non-traditional work, becoming a freelancer could be a good solution. But make sure you consider your personal finances as you make critical business decisions to avoid expensive mistakes.

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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.The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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