Money Management

New cardmember bonuses require you to meet spending requirements. Be sure to determine if that’s possible before signing up for a card. 

Many credit cards offer a bonus if you sign up as a new customer. The rewards cards that offer these bonuses can be pretty generous, with some cards offering hundreds or even thousands of dollars worth of cash back, miles, or points.

But if you’re hoping to earn a bonus from signing up for a new credit card, there’s one important question you need to ask yourself before you move forward.

The answer to this question will determine whether the cardmember bonus is within reach

Before you even consider signing up for a credit card with the goal of getting the bonus for new cardmembers, you need to read the details to find out what the spending requirements are to become eligible. Then you need to ask yourself if you can meet those requirements with your everyday spending, without charging a lot more on your credit card than you normally would.

See, cards offering bonuses usually mandate you spend a generous amount of money on the card in a short period of time. You might have to spend $500 or $1,000 or even more within the first three months of opening up the new credit card.

If you do not normally spend that much on your cards, that’s a huge problem. Either you will not get the cardmember bonus you had hoped for since you didn’t meet the requirements or you will end up spending more on your card than you normally would just to get the bonus.

Spending more than normal could leave you struggling to pay off your card and getting stuck carrying a balance and paying interest charges. You could also impair your ability to stay on budget in the future since you’d now have a credit card payment coming out of your income.

You do not want to find yourself missing out on a bonus you signed up for or losing money just to earn a new cardmember bonus. So ask yourself if you’ll be able to meet the target spending requirement before opening any card.

How to meet your spending requirements to earn a new cardmember bonus

If you really want to get a reward for opening a new card and you find you’d struggle to meet the spending requirements most credit card companies require, there are ways to be strategic about hitting your target.

One option is to wait until you have a huge purchase coming up, such as a new appliance. You can time your card opening to your purchase so you can use that spending to meet your limit. Or, if you spend a lot on the holidays, you can open up your new card right before the festive season.

Charging everyday expenses you ordinarily wouldn’t could also work, if it’s feasible. For example, your utility company might let you charge your payments, which could help you get over the threshold.

Just be sure you can afford to pay your bill in full even as you try to increase your balance so you don’t end up costing yourself a lot of money in your efforts to earn a bonus. Credit card companies create these bonuses to entice you to charge more on the cards, so be smart about how you earn the rewards.

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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 positions in and recommends Target. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Once my daughter was born, I was faced with a lot of new surprise expenses. Here’s what caught me off guard. 

Having kids is undoubtedly expensive, and the costs only go up when you go from one to two. I expected that the birth of my daughter last March would mean my bank account balance got a lot smaller, but I was surprised at just how much extra cost I incurred when I added an extra child to the family.

Now that it’s been more than a year since my daughter was born, I’ve taken a close look at my credit card statements and other transactions and I’ve noted that these have been my biggest surprise expenses.

1. Higher food costs

I of course expected that eventually my food costs would increase when I went from one child to two since I would have an extra mouth to feed. But I was still surprised by a few things.

First, my daughter wanted to start solid foods much earlier than my son did, which meant I had to start buying more food for her earlier than I expected. She also ate much more than my son did. I attribute both of these two things to the fact she was watching her brother eat, which wasn’t the case with my son since he was my first child.

Second, and more unexpectedly, my son started eating more when his sister started solids, mainly because if she was eating something, he wanted it, too (he’d previously been pretty picky). This meant I was also buying more food for him.

2. Extra activity expenses

I also knew I would eventually need to start paying for activities for my daughter — but I didn’t expect this to start so soon either. The issue is, when my daughter sees my son doing something, she wants to do it, too. This means when we go to Disney Springs and pay to ride the merry-go-round (or to various other places), we end up having to buy two tickets instead of one.

With my son, we didn’t go to all of these child-friendly activities until he was older, but since we’re taking him and she tags along, we are incurring these expenses much sooner.

3. Multiple baby slings

As a second child, my daughter has had to eat and sleep on-the-go a lot. I also have to manage her while chasing a toddler. Because of these two things, she has been in a baby sling for a lot of her life.

While I had one sling for my son, I’ve had to buy multiple slings for her so I have them for different purposes (one sling is more comfortable for napping, and another for looking out while awake). I also require multiple slings because if she has a diaper blowout in one, I can’t just go home and wash it — I have to switch her into another one and keep playing with my son.

Good baby carriers are costly, so this has been a big added expense.

4. Extra childcare costs

I’m lucky enough to have a flexible work schedule, so my kids have never been in daycare. That’s why I assumed my childcare costs would stay mostly the same once I added my second child to the mix. But this ended up not being the case for the simple reason that there are two of them and one of me.

I’ve had to hire a babysitter for my daughter in order to be able to volunteer at my son’s preschool, or a sitter for my son so I could take my daughter to mommy-and-me music.

These were things I didn’t really think about ahead of time, and I suppose I theoretically didn’t have to volunteer or sign her up for music class. But I didn’t want to miss out on these experiences or cause sibling rivalry because I couldn’t do what I normally would thanks to having two kids at home.

Ultimately, I was lucky enough to be able to absorb these added costs since I had some extra wiggle room in my budget. But anyone considering adding a second child to their family should be aware their expenses may go up more than they might think.

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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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Pet and human health insurance can both pay for medical care, but there are important differences in terms of coverage rules and limits. Find out more. 

Pet owners buying coverage must make sure they know exactly how pet insurance works — including the ways in which it differs from the health insurance humans get.

While both human and pet insurance coverage are meant to ensure that an illness doesn’t empty out a bank account, the differences between the two types of policies could have a major financial impact.

Here are three big ways in which pets are not as well provided for by insurance, compared with people who get covered.

1. Pet insurers can exclude coverage for pre-existing conditions

If you buy human health insurance, it will pay for treatment of all medical conditions that the policy covers — even if you had one of those conditions before you got your policy. An insurer also can’t stop you from buying insurance even if you are already sick when you do it. Plus, the insurer can’t charge you more if you have an illness before getting covered.

With pet insurance, that’s definitely not the case. Insurers can and will deny all coverage for any pre-existing medical conditions your pet has. And some insurers define this broadly — for example, denying all future problems related to digestive disorders if your pet’s medical records show they were in for tummy trouble before you got covered.

While you can still buy a policy for a pet with a pre-existing condition, you need to be aware that coverage for related issues will be excluded. And, ideally, you should get coverage before your pet develops health problems to make sure these medical issues aren’t excluded.

2. Pet owners usually have to pay the entire bill out of pocket and then request reimbursement

If you see your doctor and your insurance covers your care, you aren’t going to have to pay the costs upfront and wait to get reimbursed when you have human health insurance. You’ll probably have to pay a copay (depending on your insurance plan), but the doctor will bill your insurer and get the rest of their money from the insurance company.

If you have pet insurance, though, you will need to be prepared to pay the vet for care out of your bank account or use your credit cards when the care is received. It’s then up to you to make a claim with your pet insurer for reimbursement.

This puts the responsibility on you, rather than the doctor’s office, to submit info about the care to the insurer. It also means you may need to come up with a lot of money upfront for care and then wait to get it back, so be sure to choose a pet insurer that pays claims in a timely manner.

3. There are typically lifetime coverage limits for pet insurance

Your health insurer can’t cut off coverage for most medical issues once you have spent a certain amount of money getting treated for them. There are no lifetime limits on how much care your human health insurance will pay for. That’s not the case with pet insurance, as most insurers impose caps on coverage.

Being aware of these three big differences can help you better understand what pet insurance can do to help your finances and help ensure your companion animal’s care is within reach.

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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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Choosing the wrong auto insurance could cost you and leave you with inadequate coverage. Read on to learn more. 

It costs almost $9,300 a year, on average, to own a car, according to AAA. And when you think about the numerous expenses car ownership entails, including maintenance, fuel, and auto insurance, it’s easy to see why.

But if you don’t choose the right car insurance, you might end up spending even more than you bargained for in one way or another. So it’s important to select your coverage carefully.

When your car insurance isn’t adequate

The purpose of having auto insurance is to protect yourself financially if you get into an accident or if your vehicle is stolen or sustains damage. States generally have laws requiring drivers to have a minimum amount of liability coverage, and those can vary depending on where you live. But if you opt for the bare minimum, you may not end up with enough coverage once you’re required to actually use it.

If you don’t have enough coverage and are found to be at fault for an accident, you could end up having to pay beyond what your auto insurance company will cover. So for example, if you’re covered for $25,000 worth of damage but you’re found to be liable for $30,000 worth, you might have to shell out the difference in the absence of having adequate coverage.

When you have more coverage than you need

You might think it’s best to err on the side of buying more auto insurance coverage than you need. That way, you won’t have to worry about having to shell out money in the event of an accident or other incident.

But paying too much for auto insurance could mean throwing your money away. And that’s not something you want to do either.

One trap you might fall into these days is paying for a standard auto insurance policy when you’re working from home on a full-time basis and are barely driving your car. In that case, it’s definitely worth it to contact your auto insurance company and see if there’s a better option, such as a policy where you actually pay by the mile rather than pay a blanket premium for the year.

Do your research when buying auto insurance

Auto insurance can be a big expense, but it’s important to secure the right coverage for you. The best way to avoid a scenario where you’ve chosen the wrong auto insurance is to do plenty of research and make calls to different auto insurers to compare the rates they have to offer. The more questions you ask and the more you shop around, the less likely you’ll be to end up without enough coverage or paying too much for coverage.

Furthermore, once you land on an auto insurance company, it’s always a good idea to ask what discounts you might be eligible for. Drivers may be able to shave some money off of the cost of their auto insurance by bundling it with a homeowners insurance policy or by taking a course that teaches them how to drive more defensively.

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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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