Money Management

Costco will generally give you a refund for spoiled food — within reason. Read on to learn what the store’s policy entails. [[{“value”:”

One thing that makes Costco so great is its commitment to customer service. Costco stands behind every item it sells, and it also stands behind the value its memberships offer. If you have a good reason to take back an item you’ve purchased, you can generally get a full refund with limited exceptions. You can even cancel your Costco membership and get a full refund for it if you decide it’s not working out for you.

As you might imagine, Costco will make things right if you buy food that spoils before its sell-by or best-by date. But the way the store’s policy works may surprise you — in a good way.

Costco doesn’t give partial refunds

If you return spoiled food to Costco that’s gone bad before its best-by or sell-by date, then you’ll generally be entitled to a full refund. All you need to do is bring the item back.

And the best part? Even if that food is partially eaten, if a portion of it has gone bad before its sell-by or best-by date, Costco will give you a full refund.

This has happened to me on more than one occasion. Once, I bought a two-pack of feta cheese and ate the first pack with no issue. The second pack developed mold despite being sealed in my fridge, so I took it back to Costco about three weeks before its sell-by date and asked for a 50% refund.

What the customer service person then did surprised me. They didn’t give me a partial refund — they gave me a full refund.

I was told Costco doesn’t do partial refunds in situations like that. You’re entitled to all of your money back if your item goes bad before it should, even if you’ve already eaten a part of it.

To be clear, Costco’s generosity applies in situations where you’re bringing back spoiled food before the date printed on it. If you buy milk with a sell-by date of June 14, don’t expect to get a refund if you attempt to return a carton of clumpy liquid on June 24. That’s well beyond when milk with a sell-by date of June 14 will typically last.

Be careful about buying food in bulk — especially perishables

Clearly, Costco will make things right if you buy food that spoils before it should. And if you don’t have your receipt, worry not — Costco can look up the item based on your membership number and refund you the money.

But when you buy groceries in bulk — especially perishable items like produce and dairy products — you risk having it go bad before you finish it. To avoid wasting money:

Limit your bulk perishable purchases at Costco to items you consume regularly.Pay attention to expiration dates, in case they’re not far out enough to give you time to use up your food.Ask friends or neighbors to split bulk purchases with you, so you can both benefit from the lower price per ounce or unit without risking spoilage.Check the temperature of your fridge to make sure it’s cooling at an optimal level. The USDA recommends a fridge temperature of 40 degrees Fahrenheit or lower. A newer fridge may give you a reading on its display. For an older one, Amazon sells cheap digital thermometers for under $10.

Costco is more than fair when it comes to refunding customers for spoiled food. So if you buy something from Costco that goes bad ahead of its best-by or sell-by date, don’t hesitate to bring it back.

Also, if you can’t get back to the store in time, take a picture of the mold or spoilage so it’s date-stamped. This way, if, say, your strawberries with a sell-by date of June 15 are moldy by June 13 but you can’t get back to Costco until June 16, you have the proof you need for a refund. This method has worked for me on multiple occasions, and it’s yet another example of how fair Costco is with its refund policy.

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If you’re shopping with a debit card, you could be missing out on hundreds or even thousands of dollars each year. These versatile credit cards offer huge rewards everywhere, including Costco, and are rated the best cards of 2024 by our experts because they offer hefty sign-up bonuses and outstanding cash rewards. Plus, you’ll save on credit card interest because all of these recommendations include a competitive 0% interest period.

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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.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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Credit card companies have a method to their madness. Here’s how long it’ll take to increase your spending limits. [[{“value”:”

I’ve been approved for a credit card, but the limit is smaller than my already-strained patience. I want a higher limit so that I can spend more without hurting my credit score.

I can do a couple of things to increase my credit card spending limits. I can wait for credit issuers to increase my limits on their own, or I can manually request an increase.

Six months is the minimum it will take for an automatic increase

Your credit card company will bump a low limit when it thinks you can handle it. At the bare minimum, you’ll need to wait six months after being approved for a shiny new credit card.

It could take longer than that, though. Discover® raised the limit of my first credit card a year after it approved me, tripling it from $500 to $1,500. Thanks to a steady hike of automatic credit increases, my limit has increased to more than 10 times that.

To get those hikes, I proved to Discover it could trust me to spend responsibly. I did this by paying my credit card bills on time and using no more than 30% of my total credit limit, which is sometimes referred to as credit utilization. It matters.

Why credit card companies like Discover care about whether I spend responsibly: If I overspend and fail to pay off my credit card debt, then Discover loses money. It’s why the best credit card issuers start you off with low limits and steadily raise them.

One month is the maximum it will take for a manual increase

Your credit card company might take up to a month to approve you for a new credit limit increase when you manually request it, according to Experian. But some companies approve you on the spot.

You can request a credit card increase manually by going through your credit card’s app or website. Discover lets you request higher credit limits by:

Opening the Discover app,Navigating to your credit card,Tapping the “Services” tab,Tapping “Credit line increase,” andEntering your gross annual income plus your monthly rent paymentTapping “Submit”

(As of this writing, I have gone through these steps and have been instantly approved for a $3,000 credit line increase, from $9,000 to $12,000. Not too shabby, Discover.)

Some companies, like Chase, prefer you to call them to request an increase. You should have your estimated yearly income and rent payments handy. You also want to wait at least six months between requests, rather than making them back to back. Otherwise, you’ll probably be denied.

Obstacles to increasing your credit limit

Late payments, using too much credit, and losing income could all make it harder for you to snag a higher credit limit. All these things signal to your credit card company that you are at risk of failing to repay your credit card debt.

But these factors don’t tell the whole story. You may be on solid ground despite losing income or making a single late payment.

Unfortunately, credit card companies rely heavily on FICO® Scores, which summarize your situation in a way that’s easy to digest. A lot of nuance is lost. Chances are, credit card companies will trust the numbers over whatever personal stories you have to tell.

That makes late payments, income loss, and high credit utilization obstacles to increasing your credit limits. If you can, wait to request an increase until you have boosted your credit score. That way, you maximize your chance of getting access to more credit.

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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.Discover Financial Services is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. Cole Tretheway has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends JPMorgan Chase. The Motley Fool recommends Discover Financial Services. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Can you imagine paying five figures per year for car insurance? See where this sky-high car insurance is possible — and how you can save money on coverage. [[{“value”:”

Buying car insurance is like buying real estate: The most important three words are “location, location, location.” Where you live has a huge impact on the cost of your car insurance. That’s because car insurance companies are constantly trying to predict and manage their risks. People who live in areas that have higher rates of car crashes, auto thefts, severe weather, and other car damage are typically going to have to pay higher auto insurance premiums.

But according to a recent survey from CarInsurance.com, one state in particular is home to some shockingly high auto insurance costs. And ironically, it’s the state that is known as the home of U.S. automakers: Michigan.

The highest car insurance premium in Michigan costs $16,397. Let’s see why Michigan residents have to pay such high costs for car insurance — and what it means for your auto insurance premiums in 2024.

Top 10 most expensive states for car insurance

A recent survey from CarInsurance.com shows just how expensive car insurance can be depending on where you live. The survey found that the national average cost of car insurance is $1,682 for a full-coverage policy. But your costs can be much higher if you live in certain states.

Here are the 10 most expensive states for car insurance, based on CarInsurance.com’s survey.

Michigan: Home of Motown and massive auto insurance costs

According to the CarInsurance.com survey, residents of Michigan have the fourth-highest average car insurance costs in America. It’s ironic that the state that’s the home of “Motown,” and headquarters of some of America’s most famous car companies, has such expensive car insurance.

One reason why Michigan car insurance is so expensive is because Michigan is a no-fault car insurance state; no matter who causes a car crash, as a Michigan car insurance customer, you can demand that your car insurance company help pay for the damage. Another reason is because of issues with how much minimum insurance coverage people are required to buy.

Until 2019, when the Michigan state legislature passed auto insurance reform legislation, Michigan drivers were required to buy unlimited personal injury protection (PIP) coverage as part of their car insurance policies. Michigan drivers have more choices now for how much PIP coverage to get, but many people still keep paying the full price for unlimited coverage — and that makes average premiums higher.

Michigan also has a high percentage of uninsured drivers — about 25% of Michigan drivers are uninsured, according to The Flint Courier News. When car insurance gets unaffordable, some people make the risky decision to go without insurance altogether. And along with being potentially ruinous to their own personal finances, uninsured drivers cause car insurance premiums to go up for everyone else.

But how does anyone end up paying $16,397 for car insurance — almost 10 times the national average? Let’s look at one more reason why some people in Michigan are paying so much for car insurance.

Are non-driving factors to blame?

The CarInsurance.com survey doesn’t specify where within Michigan that $16,397 premium came from. But based on other media coverage and research into Michigan’s auto insurance market, I would guess it was Detroit. For many years, drivers in Detroit have been charged much higher auto insurance rates than residents in other areas of Michigan.

Research from Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan found that as of 2020, average auto insurance rates in Michigan were $2,535, but average rates in Detroit were $5,146 — about 103% higher than the state average! In Detroit, auto insurance premiums cost about 18% of the median income — while the U.S. Department of Transportation considers “affordable” car insurance to be 2% of median income.

Higher costs of car insurance for Detroit are not just about one city — they involve racial disparities, too. The university’s research also found that, as of 2019, in 37 Michigan ZIP codes where the majority of residents are Black, the average car insurance premium was $5,500 per year, compared to $3,106 for the Michigan state average. Some activists and researchers have called this “insurance redlining,” where Black people are getting charged unfairly high prices for car insurance just based on where they live.

To fix Michigan’s high car insurance costs, the University of Michigan recommends new limits on how car insurance companies can set premium rates. Instead of using “non-driving factors” like credit scores or ZIP codes, the researchers want car insurance companies to focus more on customers’ driving factors, like miles driven, safe driving record, and years of driving experience.

Bottom line

Even if you live in a high-cost state for car insurance, you still have options. Start by shopping around for cheaper car insurance quotes. If you want special discounts on car insurance, you might consider car insurance that rewards safe drivers. Some of the best car insurance companies now offer special plans that (if you agree) can track your driving data and reward you with lower premiums for safer driving. Or you could consider raising your deductible or eliminating optional coverages.

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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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