Money Management

Want to save money on prescription drugs? See Costco Pharmacy can help. We spoke with a Costco Pharmacy executive to get exclusive insights. [[{“value”:”

Costco isn’t just a wonderful place to buy rotisserie chicken and $1.50 hot dog combo meals — it can help you save money on healthcare costs, too! Costco members can get exclusive deals on prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, generic drugs, home healthcare and wellness products, and more.

We spoke with Chris Pierce, Assistant Vice President of Pharmacy at Costco and Head of Costco Health Solutions, to hear some of the latest and greatest cost-saving tips for Costco Pharmacy. Let’s look at a few insider strategies on how you can make the most of your healthcare dollars at Costco.

1. Start with the Costco Membership Prescription Program (CMPP)

Costco offers big discounts on many prescription drugs, with savings of up to 80% on popular medications. Pierce recommends starting your savings search by checking out the Costco Membership Prescription Program (CMPP).

You might be surprised at how much you can save on prescription drugs with Costco, even if you have generous health insurance or have tried other cost-saving methods like coupons or prescription drug websites. “CMPP prices are often lower than copays using insurance,” Pierce said. “Costco members have also started to discover that CMPP prices are lower than popular coupon websites and mail-order companies.”

2. Go generic to save even more at Costco

Whenever possible, it’s a good strategy to choose generic prescription drugs instead of name-brand ones. Costco Pharmacy can offer significant savings on thousands of generic medications — even compared to generic prices at other national pharmacy chains. The Ascent’s research found that Costco Pharmacy’s lower prices of five popular generic drugs could save you over $700 per year.

Pierce mentioned a few examples of Costco’s best deals on generic prescription drugs. “Rosuvastatin (generic of Crestor) and Atorvastatin (generic of Lipitor) are generic heart medications for treating high cholesterol,” Pierce said. “Both are priced at $9.99 for a 90 day supply and $19.79 for a 180 day supply for most strengths.”

When you consider that these medications are everyday pills for most patients, Costco gives people a low-cost way to manage your cholesterol — as little as $0.11 per day.

3. Buy a larger supply

Costco is famous for bulk items, like groceries, household items like paper towels, and very large bagged salads. But you can also use the Costco Pharmacy to buy prescription drugs in larger quantities and get a bigger discount.

“Costco has competitive prices for 30-, 60-, 90-, or 180-day supplies on many medications to provide the quantity most convenient for member needs,” according to Pierce.

Depending on what’s allowed by your prescription and appropriate for your healthcare situation, Costco can help you get a larger quantity of the medications you need — at a lower cost per dose.

4. Don’t forget about pet medications

Costco Pharmacy savings aren’t just for people. If you’re worried about rising prices of veterinary care and prescriptions for your pet, Costco can help with those healthcare costs, too.

“Members are reporting savings of 50% or more on pet medication products like flea and tick control, anti-itch remedies, and pain relief,” Pierce said.

5. Ask your local Costco pharmacist

If you have multiple medications and aren’t sure where to begin, or if you’d just rather get some in-person advice, the next time you’re at Costco, stop by the pharmacy for a chat with the pharmacist. Sometimes talking with a pharmacist in real life is the best way to get personalized help with the full picture of your family’s prescription drug needs — and they might have fresh ideas for how you can save even more money in your budget.

“A Costco pharmacist can compare prices for a member and transfer any medications to Costco Pharmacy,” Pierce said. “Costco Pharmacy makes managing medications convenient with refill reminders, status messaging, home delivery options, and managing prescriptions in the Costco app.”

Bottom line

The Costco Pharmacy might be one of the most underrated ways that you can save money with your Costco membership. Whether you take prescription drugs for cholesterol, blood pressure management, or other chronic health conditions, or you need a consultation for a one-time prescription, the Costco Pharmacy and Costco Membership Prescription Program (CMPP) can help. With Costco’s professional advice and surprising discounts, you can help your healthcare dollars go further — and keep more money in your savings account.

Top credit card to use at Costco (and everywhere else!)

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.

Click here to read our expert recommendations for free!

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. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Costco Wholesale. The Motley Fool recommends Discover Financial Services. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Many people avoid starting a business because of startup costs. Check out these business ideas that require minimal to no start-up capital. [[{“value”:”

Three business start-up costs that can really hit your bank account hard are rent, inventory, and staff. So if you can minimize all three of these, you eliminate a big chunk of the cost of starting a business.

How do you do that? By making your time, knowledge, and skills your product. It won’t require office space, there’s no inventory to buy, and you’ll be your only employee (at first). Here are just a few examples of how you could make this work.

1. Educational or training company

If you have a skill and you can teach it to others, the business possibilities are endless. You can start with a simple tutoring company, helping young folks learn the basics. (It’s easier if you have an advanced degree, but being patient is the most useful skill you can have here.)

It doesn’t have to be academic, though. You can create an educational company teaching any kind of skill you happen to have mastered. You’ll even have the choice of whether to do so in person or digitally.

Folks interested in building passive income can put together online courses and sell them directly or through the various educational marketplaces (Coursera, Udemy, etc.). Or create an ebook and sell through Amazon and other retailers. Once the products are put together, your costs are really limited to whatever marketing you choose to do.

2. Digital marketing firm

If you’re handy with social media and spreading the word about the things you love, consider doing so for a living. Lots of businesses will happily hire you to handle social media and email marketing campaigns.

Most of the start-up cost for this type of service will be in your own time, as you’ll want to research best practices and make sure you’re up to date on the latest SEO (search engine optimization) rules and trends.

This is the type of business where a history of proven results will be what drives your growth and profitability. In other words, you may have to work for cheap to build up your reputation, but you can charge more as your skills grow.

3. Pet-walking and sitting agency

According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, there are around 62 million households in the U.S. with dogs and 37 million households with cats. That is a very, very large potential market.

When those tens of millions of people go to work, their dogs still need walks. When those people go on vacation, their cats’ litter boxes still need to be cleaned. Folks who are good with animals can easily capitalize on these widespread needs.

If you can set up a regular list of daily dog walking or semi-annual pet sitting clients, this could be a consistent and profitable business. (Make sure to look into any necessary safety certifications or liability insurance that may be required in your area.)

4. Event-planning company

Are you hyper-organized and great at details? You can make some great money helping the rest of us put together various major events.

Sure, this could be weddings. But that’s hardly the only event people plan. Here are just a few examples of events you could help manage:

Birthday partiesCompany socialsHoliday gatheringsIndustry conventionsCraft or art fairsFundraisersConcerts

Any time a large group of people comes together, there are going to be a lot of moving parts. Folks who can keep all the plates spinning are always in demand. Best of all, your only start-up overhead will be getting the word out that you’re ready to help!

5. Consulting firm

Despite what the movies would have you believe, not all consultants are actually spies. Some of us are just people with specialized knowledge putting it to good use.

In general, people hire consultants when they have a problem they need solved and they don’t have anyone in-house to solve it. It’s likely a temporary problem, so they don’t want to hire a permanent employee. That’s where you come in. You have specialized knowledge and the ability to use that knowledge to solve problems. That’s all you need.

The most difficult part of setting up a consulting business is going to be getting it going. This is a word-of-mouth type of business, so you’ll probably need a few connections in your industry to get started. (Ideally, you made those connections while you were building the skills and knowledge base you’re now trying to profit off of, so you already have an “in.”)

You are your best commodity

In my experience, most people are far more useful than they give themselves credit for. Almost everyone has a skill or ability they can market to others. Yes, even simply being patient is a marketable skill (one that many of us lack these days, it seems). Whatever you can do, you can probably find a way to build a business around it.

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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. Brittney Myers has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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CD rates are really attractive right now. But see why you may be better off steering clear of a CD this year. [[{“value”:”

If you’re like me, you want to grow your money as efficiently as possible. And with today’s CD rates sitting at 5% or even a little higher, it’s easy to see why opening a CD might seem like your best course of action.

But actually, opening a CD this year is a move that might come back to bite you. Here are a few reasons not to put money into a CD, despite the fantastic rate you can lock in.

1. You need your money for emergency bills

It’s not just that CDs are paying a touch more than savings accounts these days. There’s also the fact that with CD, your interest rate is guaranteed for a set period of time.

With a savings account, you could start out earning 4.25% on your money only to see your APY fall to 4%, and then 3.85% a month or so after that. What a great way to mess with your head.

It’s understandable that you’d want the guaranteed interest rate a CD can provide. But if the money you’re thinking of putting into one is cash you might need for emergency bills, then a CD is a seriously poor choice. The whole point of having an emergency fund is to give yourself accessible cash. CDs are hardly accessible.

I mean, sure, you can technically take your money out of a CD before it matures if you’re really in a pinch. But you’d face a costly penalty, the exact amount of which depends on your bank. Why risk a penalty when you could stick to a savings account instead and still earn a decent return on your emergency fund?

2. You’re trying to buy a home

Isn’t today’s housing market a total beast? Not only are mortgage rates ridiculous, but home prices are pretty much out of control. I wouldn’t blame you in the slightest if you were to take your down payment funds and just lock them up in a CD for the next year or two to earn some nice interest on that cash.

But here’s the problem: What if that unicorn of a house hits your local market later this year at a time when mortgage rates have fallen just enough to make it affordable? Suddenly, homeownership may be within reach. But gosh darn it — you’ve got your down payment funds tied up in a CD, and you’re looking at an expensive penalty for taking the money out.

If you have money earmarked for a specific goal that isn’t years out, then you may want to stick to a savings account. And while you might assume you won’t be buying a home anytime real soon based on today’s market, you never know when an opportunity might present itself.

3. You’re not planning to use the money for a really long time

CDs can be a good place to put extra cash. And you can even, in some cases, use them to save for a mid-term goal. But if you’re saving for a far-off goal, like retirement, then you’re truly better off investing your money than putting it into a CD. A 5% return on your money in a CD seems like a great deal, right? But over the past 50 years, the stock market’s average return has been 10%.

Let’s say you have $5,000 on hand you want to use for retirement. You could open a 5-year CD, in which case you’d be looking at a lower rate, but a competitive one nonetheless — say, 4%. But with a stock portfolio, you might earn 10% on your money over the next five years, thereby turning your $5,000 into about $8,052. A 5-year CD at 4% could leave you with just $6,083.

And yes, investing is not something you should be doing over just a five-year window — it’s something you should aim to do for decades. But if the money you’re thinking about putting into a CD is money you want to use for retirement, you might as well get a better jump on building a nest egg by investing it from the start.

To be clear, opening a CD in 2024 while rates are up isn’t automatically a bad idea. Rather, it’s just that you shouldn’t do so if any of the above situations apply to you.

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Click here to read our full review for free and apply in just 2 minutes.

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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Business credit cards have lots of valuable perks. Check out some of the benefits that might not have crossed your mind. [[{“value”:”

When you have a business, no matter how big or small, it’s important to have a business credit card. You need a way to pay for business purchases. With a business credit card, you ensure that your business expenses and your personal expenses stay separate.

That’s only scratching the surface of what a business card can do for you. If you’re new to business credit cards, here are some common perks that you may not have known about.

1. Welcome offers worth up to $1,000 (or more)

A welcome offer is a credit card bonus available to new cardholders. If you open the card and meet a spending requirement, you can earn a big chunk of cash back or points.

Business credit cards tend to have some of the most valuable welcome offers. Take the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card: Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. You could redeem those points for $1,000 in cash back or $1,250 for travel booked through Chase Travel.

2. Zero-interest financing offers

Plenty of business owners have used debt to expand their companies. A small business loan is one option, if you can qualify for one and get a reasonable interest rate. But for short-term financing, a business credit card could be your best option.

Some business cards have a 0% intro APR on purchases you make. That means you can put business expenses on your credit card and pay them off over time without getting charged any interest. The amount of time the 0% intro APR lasts depends on the card — I’ve seen offers for six to 15 months.

Let’s say you need to finance $10,000 in business expenses. If you paid for that with a 12-month loan at a rate of 8%, your monthly payment would be $870. You’d also end up paying $439 in interest. Not bad, but you could get a better deal.

If you put $10,000 on a card with a 0% intro APR for 12 months, you’d only need to pay $833 toward that balance each month to have it paid off in time. You’d save all $439 in interest.

3. Spending reports to organize your finances

Staying on top of your business spending is a crucial part of your success. Credit card issuers know how important this is, which is why most business credit cards have useful tools to track spending.

For example, my business credit cards generate quarterly and yearly spending reports. These break down how much I spent and in which categories: utilities, gas, merchandise, travel, etc. This is a good way to hone in on where your business is spending money and see if there are any places you can cut back.

Some business credit cards can also connect to your accounting software. This makes life much easier at tax time, since you don’t need to import all your expenses yourself.

4. The option to issue employee cards and set up an account manager

As a business grows, the owner needs to delegate responsibilities. There comes a point when buying printer paper isn’t the best use of your time.

You may have already known that business credit cards allow you to issue employee cards connected to your account. Many credit card companies also let you set spending limits on employee cards as an extra layer of security.

In addition, some let you set up an account manager. This person can monitor transactions and pay the bill for you, taking more of those administrative tasks off your plate.

There are all kinds of ways that business credit cards can save you money or time. If you already have one, make sure you’re taking advantage of all its benefits. And if you don’t have one or you’re not happy with the one you have, spend a little time checking out new business credit cards to find a good fit.

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Click here to read our full review for free and apply in just 2 minutes.

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

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I won’t say emergency funds aren’t a good idea. But find out why my credit card is my go-to method for paying emergency expenses. [[{“value”:”

Here at The Ascent, we’re no strangers to the advice that everyone should have an emergency fund with three to six months’ worth of expenses saved. These funds serve to step in and save the day in the event of life’s unhappy surprises — think a job layoff, a major vehicle repair, or a sudden and necessary home repair.

Not only do we recommend that everyone have an emergency fund, but we advise that the best place to keep these funds is in a high-yield savings account. That way, you’ll be able to easily access the money while also benefiting from high annual percentage yields (APYs) that grow your balance over time.

Despite all this excellent advice, you won’t ever find me paying for an emergency expense directly from my emergency fund. Here’s why.

Savings accounts don’t reward you for withdrawing funds

Picture this: You’re driving down the freeway, when suddenly, you hear a loud thunk under your car’s hood. Next thing you know, smoke is pouring out. You don’t know what the problem is yet, but you know it’s going to be expensive. Sure enough, your mechanic hands you a bill for $3,000 to fix the issue and get you back on the road.

You could go to the bank and withdraw cash from your handy dandy emergency fund to pay the bill. Heck, you could even transfer that money to your checking account and use your debit card to pay. The problem? I don’t know of any bank that rewards customers for withdrawing and spending money from their savings account. You’ve just experienced the nightmare of your car breaking down, and an eye twitch–inducing bill to top it off, so wouldn’t it be nice if something positive could come from the experience?

Enter: Credit card rewards

The best credit cards reward you for all your spending. The best credit card for you rewards you in a way that you’ll benefit from the most. If you fancy yourself a world traveler, your best credit card is likely a travel rewards card. If you prefer to keep things simple, cash back rewards might be more your cup of tea, as they can be applied directly to your account to lower your balance. From airline miles and hotel points to cash back, to even more niche benefits like store-specific rewards or discounts on gas, credit cards offer just about any style of reward your heart could desire.

But what does all this have to do with an unexpected emergency expense? It’s simple: Instead of taking money directly from your emergency fund to pay those evil, but necessary, unexpected bills, lean on your credit card instead.

Say your favorite credit card is a cash back card that gives you 2% back on your spending across the board. If you use that to pay your $3,000 mechanic bill from our scenario above, you’ve just earned $60! You could apply that $60 to your bill to bring the cost of your repair down to $2,940, OR you could treat yourself to a nice takeout meal and bottle of wine to cheer yourself up about the whole car breakdown/expensive emergency repair situation. Whichever option you choose, you can be sure it’s better than simply withdrawing $3,000 from your savings account to pay your mechanic, with nothing to show for your troubles.

An important stipulation

Hopefully I’ve convinced you that using a credit card to pay for your emergency expenses is the way to go. There is one very important stipulation to this advice, however.

You should only break out your credit cards to pay for an emergency expense if you already have the money sitting in a bank account ready and waiting. That’s because you’ll want to use those funds to quickly repay your credit card balance. You don’t have to do it the same day, but you should definitely do it before the payment due date on your credit card statement arrives, as interest will begin to accrue immediately after that. And if there’s one feature credit cards are not known for, it’s consumer-friendly interest rates.

The current average interest rate on credit cards is 21.59%, according to the Federal Reserve. Carrying a balance forward from month to month (particularly a large balance) will make your debt more expensive over time, potentially trapping you in a dangerous cycle of debt. For a $3,000 credit card balance at the current average rate, if you paid $200 per month toward your debt, it would take you 18 months to pay it off completely. Over that time, you’d accumulate a total of $527.86 in interest. That’s WAY more than you could ever hope to earn from even the best credit card rewards programs.

Having an emergency fund is still the key

So you see, this method only works if you first save up an emergency fund before laying down your credit card. It’s not in any way a shortcut to suggest that saving an emergency fund isn’t important and you can just charge all your surprise bills on a high-interest credit card instead. If you want to reap the benefits of credit card rewards when dealing with life’s sometimes-cruel jokes, just make sure to pay off your balance before interest swoops in and nullifies your rewards.

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Click here to read our full review for free and apply in just 2 minutes.

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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Credit card rewards aren’t always worth it. Read on to find out when it might be a good idea to back off of using your favorite card. [[{“value”:”

There are legitimate reasons to use credit cards. If you’re building credit, for example, using a credit card can be a great way to show lenders you’re responsible with money and can pay your bills on time.

Many people also use credit cards to earn rewards, like cash back or airline miles. While that’s not a terrible idea, I don’t think it’s the best way to manage my money. After years of using my credit card to earn cash back rewards, I’m scaling back.

Here’s why I’m ditching the plastic.

Budgeting is easier with cash

For many years, I paid my credit card bills on time, earning the cash back rewards for purchases while avoiding paying interest. In general, it was a pretty good system. At the end of the year, I’d have a few hundred dollars of earned cash rewards that I’d use on Christmas shopping. What’s not to love about that, right?

But then, a few unexpected bills popped up, and I forgot about a few expenses I’d put on the card. After avoiding looking at the total balance for a bit (not recommended), I had more than $7,700 in credit card debt. Yikes.

I worked my tail off on a few side projects recently and was fortunate enough to pay off my debt fairly quickly. Since then, my relationship with credit cards has changed.

I manage my money far better with a budgeting app and rely (mostly) on my checking and savings accounts. The money I have is the money I have — no more, no less.

I don’t mind giving up the points and perks

What’s tempting about credit card perks (whether airline miles, cash back, or free hotel stays) is that the benefits don’t always outweigh the high annual percentage rates (APRs). When I used my credit card for most purchases, I earned about $300 in cash back annually. It was a nice perk, but my short time of letting my debt accumulate offset some of the gains.

The average credit card APR is 24.7%, and the average American household has $7,951 in credit card debt. Many people likely signed up for their cards for the perks, just like I did, but now they’re having a hard time paying off their debt.

Don’t get me wrong, I still use my credit card occasionally. But it’s far more intentional than before. If I have a large expense, like special activities or classes for my kids, then I might put it on the card. But I don’t use it without taking a close look at my checking and savings accounts first. And I don’t miss the cash back because it wasn’t part of my monthly budget anyway.

If you’re using a credit card to earn cash rewards or travel points, that’s great. Or if you keep up with the monthly balance like I did for years, then fantastic. But the latest data shows that credit card delinquencies are rising and have surpassed pre-pandemic levels.

This means many of us may want to start rethinking our relationship with credit cards — perks or no perks.

Alert: highest cash back card we’ve seen now has 0% intro APR until 2025

This credit card is not just good – it’s so exceptional that our experts use it personally. It features a 0% intro APR for 15 months, a cash back rate of up to 5%, and all somehow for no annual fee!

Click here to read our full review for free and apply in just 2 minutes.

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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