5 Tips For Making Financial Resolutions For The New Year

What are your personal goals for 2018? How will your financial planning support you in achieving them? While you have your New Year's cap on, take this chance to make the personal financial resolutions that will get you closer to the life you want.

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Questions About HELOCs, Gift Planning, Pocket Notebooks, Basic Income, and More!

What’s inside? Here are the questions answered in today’s reader mailbag, boiled down to summaries of five or fewer words. Click on the number to jump straight down to the question.
1. Money conversations before engagement
2. HELOCs and taxes
3. IRAs that accept rollovers
4. Gift advice (for next year)
5. Forever stamps
6. Long lasting headphones for exercise
7. Scared to spend
8. Buying glasses online
9. Praying for financial success
10. Thoughts on basic income
11. Best sturdy pocket notebook?
12. Running for office?

Like many Americans, the turn of the calendar year brings with it resolutions and plans. There’s simply something about a fresh, empty calendar that fills people with possibility for a better future.

For me, the biggest commitment I have for 2018 centers around fitness and exercise. My flexibility is poor and I’m unhappy with my cardio – I get out of breath easier than I’d like. I want to be able to play soccer with my kids as they grow older and not just in relatively short bursts.

Another big commitment I have for 2018 is a commitment to more meaningful reading with a focus on nonfiction and personal development. I hope that some of these books have a direct positive impact on my writing here at The Simple Dollar.

A final initiative that I have planned for 2018 is to improve my daily routines, particularly in the morning. I find that when I stick with a daily routine, almost everything moves more efficiently and I allowed my daily routines to fall apart in 2017 for a number of reasons. That will change this year.

How am I doing these things? I’m basically relying on my handy to-do list. I have items related to each of these areas that I’ve added as recurring tasks to my to-do list so that I think about and do them each day. In fact, I’m actually trying a new method for many of the changes… which I’ll talk about in a post later this week.

Q1: Money conversations before engagement

I am a 37 year old scientist. My boyfriend is a 36 year old nurse. We’ve dated for year and just learned our finances are quite different. He has about 12,000 in a retirement account and 4,000 in a savings account. He was a professional athlete and engineer and went back to school to be a nurse. He has 85,000 in debt and is considering grad school to earn a masters degree in nursing. I’m worried about his financial situation. I’ve saved more for retirement, I have savings in investments. What are your thoughts? Marriage material? Important discussions to have?
– Dana

I wouldn’t be as concerned about his debt load as I would be about his actual daily practices. Does he live a lean, frugal life? Does he live in a simple apartment? Does he spend a lot less than he earns? If that’s how he lives his day to day life, I wouldn’t be worried about the debt. The truth is that a significant pile of debt is part of the startup cost of many career paths today.

What would concern me is if he’s not just racking up student loan debt but consumer debt, too. Does he have an expensive apartment? Expensive tastes in things? Does he simply spend too much money?

For me, daily spending habits are far more of an indicator of someone’s long term financial health than any amount of debt they’ve accumulated over the years. They can be fixed, but it requires a lot of internal commitment from the spender. Ideally, they already have good spending practices in place.

Q2: HELOCs and taxes

I have a question about HELOCs. Will they still be tax deductible?
– Maxwell

You’re fine for 2017 taxes, but 2018 taxes, under the new tax bill, won’t allow HELOC interest to be tax deductible. That’s a pretty painful change.

Prior to that change, HELOCs used to be a pretty effective way to borrow money at a low interest rate and have that money be tax deductible. The only risk, of course, is the use of your home as collateral.

Now, with this change, the tax deductibility is gone, which means that the tax benefits of a HELOC vanish as well. It just becomes a lower-interest credit card with your home as collateral, which isn’t nearly as good of a deal.

Of course, things change in Washington. This may be patched up in future revisions to tax law.

Q3: IRAs that accept rollovers

I have had an IRA with chase but they no longer accept rollover from a 401k. I am looking for a plan that I can pick the riskiness I’m looking for and my account will stay within stocks that match or I am given options to match the riskiness I am looking for. I don’t plan on trading much.
– Lindsay

I looked around at my two preferred investment houses, Vanguard and Fidelity. Both seem to offer this service.

Here’s a link to Vanguard’s 401(k) rollover policy and here’s a link to Fidelity’s rollover policy.

I recommend both of those investment firms. Both have done right by me in the past and I agree strongly with their individual investment philosophies. If you have a decent amount to invest ($3,000 or more) and are committed to an index fund based investment philosophy, I’d point to Vanguard; otherwise, Fidelity is a great choice.

Q4: Gift advice (for next year)

Those considering giving gifts at holiday time should proceed if they know the tastes of their receiver well, and if they are prepared to think hard about what to get. Otherwise, it’s best to go with cash (or perhaps gift cards, which are less efficient than cash but which may be more acceptably gift-like).

http://ift.tt/2zYl8g6
– Jim

Cash and gift cards are solid gifts if you don’t know the recipient well but are actually interested in the recipient having the best outcome from the gift.

However, if you do know someone well, cash can feel pretty impersonal. It can give the impression that you just tossed some cash in an envelope at the last minute because you didn’t bother to put any thought into the gift. I think a gift card that’s carefully considered and centered around that person’s personal tastes is actually a better gift idea, as it opens the window to them buying something they’ll actually like while still indicating thought and care.

My solution is that I often pair gift cards with a thoughtful gift. One thing I love to do for someone who is a avid reader, for example, is that I’ll pair a book with a small gift card to a local independent bookstore. I’ll pick out a book I think they’ll like, buy a small gift card to fill out my budget for them, and slip that card inside the cover. That way, the gift is thoughtful – I thought about their interests and considered a book that I thought they’d like – and also flexible – the gift card lets them get what they want.

Q5: Forever stamps

The price of Forever Stamps are going to increase a penny to $0.50 on January 21, 2018. While this isn’t a huge increase, it still makes sense to buy stamps now vs. having to buy in, say, February. Also, something that a lot of people don’t know is that the USPS has been legally limited to only raising stamp prices to match inflation: they had to get special permission to increase rates higher than inflation. HOWEVER, the USPS has recently gotten permission to raise stamp prices inflation + 2%. While the upcoming rate increase is already set, I anticipate future increases will often be inflation + 2% (as it is, the USPS would like to have no restrictions on raising stamp prices).
– Jeff

Historically, even without such federal restrictions, the postal service hasn’t really beaten inflation for stamp price adjustments. In fact, over the history of the service, the price of a stamp has tracked carefully with inflation.

My feeling is that if they ever go away from that by too much, another service will jump in and replace them. If there is profitability in mail delivery, then UPS or FedEx will start offering the service. They’re primed to do so.

In other words, I think the threat of competition will keep stamp prices from going too much above inflation.

Having said that, buying a “forever stamp” just before the price goes up is an “investment” that beats inflation, at least by a little. If you use stamps regularly, stocking up this week is probably a smart idea.

Q6: Long lasting headphones for exercise

I want to buy some long lasting headphones for exercising. I do NOT want earbuds! I want headphones outside of the ear. The last set I bought was a Sony MDR 7506 which still works great but the ear pads seem to melt in sweat and they were gone after about a month.
– Richard

My honest recommendation is to get a pair of
Amazon Basics headphones. They’re really inexpensive and have surprisingly good sound quality for what you pay – far above what I expected for just a few bucks.

The thing is, if you use these for exercise and they disintegrate over the course of several months or a year, then it’s not that big of a deal. You got nice value out of those headphones.

I would absolutely avoid ear pads that aren’t protected in some fashion when exercising unless they’re attached to very inexpensive headphones. You want either hard plastic or something that’s protected against sweat. Sweat is salty and moderately acidic, which is just destructive over time to the kind of foam that you find in headphones.

Q7: Scared to spend

At the start of 2017 I made a big commitment to curb my spending and turn my financial life around and I did it! I paid off about $13,000 in student loans and wiped out my credit card debt and built up a $2,000 emergency fund. Way better shape a year later!

The problem is that now I’m almost scared to spend. When it came time to buy holiday gifts, I felt really anxious about buying things for my nieces and nephews (I am single and childless but I adore them). I don’t want to be an old spinster aunt who gives weird cheap gifts. I want to give them meaningful stuff they will like. But the thought of spending all that money put a knot in my gut.

Do you have advice for this? How do you get over feeling really guilty about spending money on nonessentials that are still really important to you?
– Angelica

If I were you, I’d step back and look at your annual budget for gift giving. What do you spend on birthdays and on Christmas/Hanukkah/winter holiday, ideally? Who all do you buy gifts for, and how much do you intend to spend on those gifts?

When you figure out that total, start putting aside a few dollars a week so that you match that annual total after a year.

Let’s say, for example, that the only people you buy gifts for are your eight nieces and nephews.

If you want to buy a birthday gift and then a holiday gift for one of them and want to spend $25 on each gift, then that adds up to $50 over the course of a year. If you put aside $1 a week, then you’re covering that gift.

If you have eight such kids, then put aside $8 a week and the gift is covered.

Think of it entirely in terms of the $8 you’re putting aside each week, not the $200 you would actually spend during the holiday season buying $25 gifts for each of them. Once you put aside that $8, it’s gone. It’s invested toward those gifts. Actually “spending” that money during November or December is just the culminating act of that gradual process.

Q8: Buying glasses online

My mother in law gave me a “new pair of glasses” for Christmas. Literally, it was an envelope that had it on the inside. She is going to pay for an optometrist visit to get a good prescription and then pay for a pair online.

I have never done this before and am very apprehensive about buying them online. I’m a bit price conscious but my MIL is well off and is pretty serious about me not worrying about it. Mostly worried about them actually working.
– Stephen

The first thing I would do in your situation is sit down and talk to my mother-in-law about those concerns. Tell her that you’re concerned that you’ll end up with glasses that won’t work.

I’m almost 100% sure that she’ll say that she’ll help out until you get glasses that really work for you, even if that involves returning a pair and incurring a few extra fees along the way.

This is especially true if you involve her in each step of the process along the way. Be very open and clear about the steps you’re taking to get those new glasses. Let her know when you’re going to the optometrist. You might even want to actually order the glasses when she’s around – just take your laptop there along with your prescription.

If you want some help, Consumer Reports offers a great guide to buying glasses online.

Q9: Praying for financial success

Do you think praying for money success works?
– Anna

In my experience, prayer helps with the internal world, not with the external world. Prayer helps you find internal resolve and strength, but doesn’t cause significant change in the outer world. That outer world change occurs as a result of your stronger internal resolve and strength.

Rather than praying for money to rain from the sky, pray to improve yourself in the ways needed to improve your financial state. Pray for strength and wisdom. Pray for focus.

I often think of the words of the well-known Serenity Prayer, a beautiful short prayer written by theologian Reinhold Niebuhr:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.

In my eyes, that’s a powerful prayer, one that’s likely to bring about the kinds of change that the person desires.

You can’t change the world if you can’t change yourself.

Q10: Thoughts on basic income

In December, my book club read Basic Income: A Radical Proposal for a Free Society and a Sane Economy. We try to read books on controversial ideas and discuss them and this one was a doozy.

Have you read the book? Do you have any thoughts on basic income?
– Ash

I haven’t read the book, but it is actually on my 2018 “to be read” list. However, I am familiar with the idea of a basic income and have read several articles on it.

Wikipedia summarizes basic income as follows: “A basic income is typically a form of social security or welfare regime, in which all citizens (or permanent residents) of a country receive a regular, liveable and unconditional sum of money, from the government. The payments are thus without strings attached, i.e. no work requirements or requirements to look for work, and also independent of any other income.”

The idea of basic income is to solve widespread unemployment problems and enable people to not starve if they’re facing a career downturn or taking a career risk. It also cuts down on the administrative costs of welfare programs because there’s no need to “check up” on people as everyone receives the payment.

The main concern, obviously, is that people simply will choose not to work if they have basic income. I don’t think that’s true, for a few reasons.

One, a sensible basic income would be low enough to cover just the most basic needs for a person – staple foods and a tiny shared living space. It shouldn’t provide enough for any kind of affluence, just enough to avoid starving.

The big factor, however, is that it eliminates the welfare disincentive to work. The biggest problem with the current welfare system is that benefits disappear at a certain income level, so if your income is close to that level, you are actually disincentivized to work. If you work harder to earn more money, you lose benefits and end up gaining nothing – or actually losing ground financially – by working more.

A basic income eliminates that trap. It doesn’t matter what you make – you won’t lose that basic income. So, if you want more money, you go to work. You don’t have to worry about whether or not you’ll break through some “limit” and lose your benefits. You work, you have more money.

I actually doubt that very few people will just be “lazy” with basic income. Rather, I think it’ll greatly help low income people, far more than the current system does, and it gives a small safety net to everyone.

Furthermore, during periods of high unemployment, a basic income will help keep people from being disruptive to society. There will be no bread strikes or anything like that. There will be no bonus army. People won’t starve. Instead, they’ll figure out what’s next for them.

AI and robotics are on the verge of seriously disrupting a lot of industries and drastically changing employment options. It’s going to happen quickly in the coming years, when industries like the trucking industry and the taxi industry and the train industry melt away rapidly due to self-driving vehicles, for example. Letting those people starve while they struggle to figure out what’s next is a horrible idea for society.

On the whole, I am in favor of basic income. It will undoubtedly be costly, but the benefits for everyone up and down the economic ladder are tremendous. I look forward to reading more about it.

Q11: Best sturdy pocket notebook?

I have read that you carry a pocket notebook around with you all the time. What do you use? I tried using a Mead notebook but they fall apart within a few days.
– Jerry

I used the Mead ones a long time ago, too. They’re just not worth it. They fall apart and get ruined so easily that you end up using just a few pages of each one – at least, that’s my experience. Plus, the spiral would bend, making it hard to flip through pages, and the ends of the wire would often snag on my clothing.

A better option: Field Notes are great, and they’re my preferred pocket notebook. They seem expensive but if you actually fill one up you’ve gotten your money’s worth out of it.

If you find that you’re often in situations where the notebook would get wet, I would check out Rite in the Rain pocket notebooks. They’re very water resistant – the pages are made out of some form of plastic that can be written on.

Q12: Running for office?

Have you ever considered running for office?
– Andrew

No, at least not beyond the local level. I have zero interest in running for a statewide or nationwide office, ever. I don’t want to deal with what it would do to my family, more than anything. My kids and my wife don’t deserve the attacks that seem to hit family members of candidates. Even in our congressional races, I have seen some ridiculously nasty attacks leveled at the spouses and children of people running for those offices.

If I were single, I’d consider it, but there’s another big issue: I think of myself as a moderate, and moderates don’t seem to last long in today’s political climate. I don’t fully agree with the platform of either major party – in fact, I’m not really close to either one of them.

I think I’ll just stick to local things. I’ve been on a few local boards and may wind up on a city council at some point. That’s enough for me. I like seeing positive change on the local level.

Got any questions? The best way to ask is to follow me on Facebook and ask questions directly there. I’ll attempt to answer them in a future mailbag (which, by way of full disclosure, may also get re-posted on other websites that pick up my blog). However, I do receive many, many questions per week, so I may not necessarily be able to answer yours.

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How I Bunked With Eight Strangers in Miami to Save Money

When I landed in Florida, I had about $500 to my name.

It was the summer after I graduated from college, and I had moved to Miami on a whim. I had a job lined-up in the Magic City, but I had two weeks to go until I saw my first paycheck.

Without enough money to pay the first month’s rent, let alone a deposit and last month’s rent, which is a standard requirement to sign a lease in Miami, I rented a bed in an eight-person hostel room on South Beach.

What I lost in privacy, I gained in dollars. By living in a hostel, I was able to save money more quickly than I would have in any other housing option, and there were a few unexpected perks that trimmed my monthly budget without sacrificing my social life.

Free Breakfasts to Start Your Day

Free breakfasts are becoming a staple amenity in hostels, and these meals are usually already included in the room rate — I found that the additional price is almost always lower than what I would have paid buying groceries to make my own breakfast.

The diversity and quality of food varies from place to place, but fresh fruit, coffee, and a granola bar or oatmeal are typically included. Once you build a rapport with the staff, they’ll usually even accommodate your work schedule by giving you food to go or serving you your breakfast a little earlier, if you need it.

Community Kitchens to Shape Your Diet  

Hostel kitchens typically don’t have a stove or oven, so the types of food you can eat while staying there are naturally limited.

Soups and sandwiches are an easy option, and they’re cheaper than most things you could cook outside of a microwave. The communal refrigerator situation also poses some difficulties because you never know how much space you’ll actually have to store your food (or who might snag your tasty leftovers when you’re out of the room.) Spaces aren’t rationed out, so it’s every guest for him/herself when it comes to finding a coveted spot in the refrigerator.

Be warned: By living in a hostel, you’re constantly surrounded by tourists on vacation who have restaurants and expensive cocktails built into their budget. Remember you’re not them, and stick to food you prepare yourself.

Free or Discounted Activities

VIP access to that club you’ve been eyeing? Late-night showing of that new movie you never got to see in theaters? Hostels consistently boast overflowing activity lists, and most seasoned establishments offer free activities every night in order to attract guests.

Take advantage of these perks! I never pictured strolling into Mango’s Tropical Cafe on South Beach with a gaggle of men and women speaking Spanish, Portuguese, French and German, and my budget benefited from going out with my hostel-mates instead of strolling in solo due to the discounted tickets our hostel was able to get for us.

Free Local Knowledge

Your hostel staff most likely lives in the immediate area, and they’re usually required to have an extensive knowledge of the city where you’re staying.

Take advantage of this opportunity to ask them what you’re dying to know about the city — best places to eat in the lesser-known parts of your new city, cheapest way to get around town and best places to go to meet other locals.

In my experience, they love these questions because it breaks up the monotony of the same old inquiries they receive daily Taking advantage of this local knowledge can help you make informed long-term financial choices in your new city.

Free Common Areas to Meet New People

If you’re really looking to stretch your budget, hanging out in your hostel’s common area is a great way to meet people without being required to pay a cover charge or buy a drink to linger.

Enjoy knitting or journaling while you sit, and you’re guaranteed to have a fellow hosteler strike up a conversation with you — and you can pocket whatever money you would have spent during a night on the town.

Free Language Lessons

My favorite thing about living in a hostel is the variety of people I can meet in an hour and the dozens of languages I can hear in a day. People who enjoy staying in hostels are generally open to having conversations with complete strangers, and most people are delighted when someone takes an interest in their culture.

Take advantage of your hostel’s multicultural clientele to brush up on that Spanish you haven’t used since college or learn a few basic phrases in Swahili. You’ll save the money you would have spent on a language lesson, and you’ll make a new friend in a different part of the world.

While a hostel isn’t the most glamorous housing option, the money I’ve been able to save has made the communal living more than worth it. I’m able to spend my paycheck on experiences that are important to me, like traveling abroad and attending events around Miami. Living in a hostel is a great option for anyone who is moving to a city for the first time, and I recommend it for men and women of all ages.  

India is a thrifty travel writer based in Miami, Florida. She has lived in West Virginia and Argentina and is on a quest for the world’s best empanada.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.

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Three Reasons Everyone Should Consider Buying Flood Insurance

The hurricane season of 2017 will long be remembered for the chaos and damage it caused. Caribbean islands including Puerto Rico, Barbuda, St. Maarten, and Dominica were irreparably harmed by hurricane-force winds and rain, causing tens of thousands of residents to become homeless overnight. Texas and Florida also received their share of damage, much of which was caused by the excessive rainfall and infiltration of storm waters.

While much of the stateside damage will be fixed after homeowners insurance kicks in, some homeowners in Texas specifically are now facing the startling reality that damage caused by flood waters is likely not covered by their policies.

That’s because most homeowners insurance policies don’t cover damage from flooding or any other source of ground water unless the cause of the intrusion is covered, notes insurance insider Todd Erkis, author of What the Insurance Companies Don’t Want You to Know: An Insider Shows You How to Win at Insurance. 

While U.S. homeowners who live in a “special flood hazard area” – as determined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) — are required to buy flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) for as long as they have a mortgage, most homeowners aren’t required to carry special flood coverage.

According to CoreLogic, Houston was left in a particularly tough spot after the floods because more than 50% of properties in the city at high or moderate risk of flooding are not in designated flood plains. Since these homeowners weren’t required to purchase special flood coverage, many didn’t. Some studies are saying that as many as 80% of Harvey victims didn’t have flood insurance at all.

Three Reasons to Buy Flood Insurance (Even If It’s Not Required)

While your mortgage lender will require you to purchase flood insurance if your home is in a FEMA-designated special flood hazard area, that doesn’t mean you can’t – or shouldn’t – buy flood insurance voluntarily.

If you’re on the fence about flood insurance or feeling vulnerable after hearing about the flood damage in Houston, here are some reasons to consider purchasing this important coverage.

#1: Flood insurance outside flood-prone areas can be very affordable.

Katie Foley, a licensed insurance agent in Massachusetts with 15 years of experience providing homeowners with insurance and risk management advice, recommends nearly all homeowners buy flood insurance whether they’re required to or not. If you’re purchasing a traditional homeowners insurance policy already, your firm may be able to add flood coverage at a reasonable cost, she says.

Foley also says some eligible property owners can buy flood insurance though the NFIP at a cost that “tends to reflect the lower hazard.”

But, how much can you expect to pay? Mark Welstead, who is the President of restoration firm Rainbow International, says the average cost of flood insurance is around $660 per year. However, rates will vary depending on your home’s value and your proximity to a flood plain.

#2: Living outside a designated flood zone doesn’t mean your property is safe.

While the government does its best to estimate where flooding will occur, their models can become quickly outdated and may not reflect today’s risk for flooding.

“Flood zones are determined by past conditions but cannot predict future conditions or climates,” says Foley. “It’s impossible to draw a line and determine exactly where the water is going to stop.”

Because of this, Foley says many floods occur outside these designated special flood hazard areas. This includes recent flooding in Houston, but also elsewhere around the country – specifically near the nation’s coasts and in low-lying inland areas near rivers and lakes. FEMA says more than 20% of flood insurance claims fall outside flood zones each year.

James Howard, an insurance agent from Fidella Insurance Agency in New Jersey, says one way to assess your home’s vulnerability if you’re worried is to check the dates on the flood maps in your area. Older maps will not account for recent developments, he says, and those changes can alter the risks of water getting close to your home.

“Take the town I grew up in, Hamilton, Ohio,” says Howard. “Residents complained when new flood maps placed them at risk saying it had never flooded before. Literally a month later, those same residents were under four feet of water. What changed is a huge amount of development had increased runoff surrounding the community, leaving the water one place to go.” The same pavement principle probably exacerbated flooding in fast-growing Houston.

#3: Flood damage tends to be catastrophic.

Floods are the most common and costly natural disaster in America, according to FEMA, causing billions of dollars in damage every year. On average, floods cost Americans $8.2 billion in damages annually.

And, the flooding doesn’t have to be extensive, either. As FEMA estimates, recovering from just an inch of water inside your building can cost about $27,000. Without flood insurance, you’d be left to cover the costs of those renovations entirely on your own.

• Related: Flood Insurance: The Homeowner’s Guide

Buying Flood Insurance

If you’re thinking of buying flood insurance, it’s important to speak with your insurance agent to figure out how much coverage to buy, what exactly it covers, and how long your waiting period is. Welstead says that you typically need to pay for your flood insurance policy for 30 days before your coverage is in force; you can’t just pick up a policy at the first sign of a big storm system in the forecast.

And if your current insurer doesn’t offer flood insurance, you can buy a separate flood insurance policy without switching agents. Welstead suggests going to floodsmart.gov to find an agent in your area.

Before you buy coverage, some of the questions you should ask include:

• Do I have enough coverage? Welstead says that, if you haven’t reviewed your policy limits in a few years, you may be underinsured. Make sure to document improvements to your property along with large purchases you’ve made, then keep the information somewhere safe where it won’t be damaged by water or fire. And if your policy isn’t beefy enough to cover your property and possessions, ask your agent about the prospect of raising your policy limits.
• Should I reconsider my deductible amount? “Discuss with your agent the benefits and drawbacks of raising or lowering your deductible,” says Welstead. If adding flood insurance to your policy pushes your price up beyond what you can bear, raising your deductible might bring costs back down.
• Does my policy cover full replacement cost? “Most policies do not cover true replacement costs and involve a cap on your home’s structure and contents,” notes Welstead. As a result, you may want to consider paying extra for “guaranteed replacement cost” in your policy. If you don’t, Welstead says you may only get a few hundred dollars for aged electronics and other items that would cost you thousands to replace. Drywall and other construction materials tend to spike in price after a disaster as well, he notes. “Some policies will pay up to 125% of a home’s insured value to compensate for this – make sure your home is one of them.”

Holly Johnson is an award-winning personal finance writer and the author of Zero Down Your Debt. Johnson shares her obsession with frugality, budgeting, and travel at ClubThrifty.com.

Related Articles:

• Armageddon on a Shoestring: Disaster Prep Without Destroying Your Budget
• Handling Your Finances During a Disaster
• The Best Homeowners Insurance for 2018

Do you have flood insurance? Why or why not?

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These Apps Provide Free Movies, Audiobooks and More Thanks to Your Library

When I first read J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” series, I dreamed of visiting the magical Hogwarts library. (Yeah, I’m a book nerd.) After working in a real library for four years, I’ve realized we muggles have got some secret magic too — and it’s not just in book form.

You don’t have to be a nerd to appreciate the hidden world of virtual resources, which are offered by many U.S. public libraries. Do you want to stream music, movies and audiobooks? Check out a hundred magazines? Learn a new skill? You can do all of this through your local public library — for free.

Even better, you don’t have to be at a library to use these tools. You can experience these resources at home or on-the-go. (FYI, some of the content I’m going to tell you about — like particular movies or magazines — may vary from library to library.)

Grab your library card and read on.          

Hoopla

With Hoopla streaming service, you can watch movies and TV shows, listen to music and audiobooks and read eBooks or comics. Plus, the site is beautifully designed, both as a desktop browser and app. (Check out the app via Apple, Google and Amazon.) Your library will limit how many titles you can check out with Hoopla — for example, my library restricts me to 10 total items per month.

Here’s how to get the most out of this service:  

Music

Get pumped with the alternative beats of Imagine Dragons’ “Evolve,” and entertain your kids with the “Moana” soundtrack. Unlike the radio, you won’t have to hear ads. If you add a musician to your “favorites” section, Hoopla will let you know the next time it acquires one of their albums.

Audiobooks

Hoopla has a “huge selection of audiobooks,” according to Angela Falsey, adult services coordinator for the St. Petersburg Library System. “I’ve found that our patrons who use e-audiobooks really like Hoopla,” she said.

If you only listen to one audiobook this year, make it “The Raven Boys” by Maggie Stiefvater. Narrator Will Patton’s gravelly, evocative voice brings the quirky characters in this fantasy adventure to life. If you enjoy falling asleep to a story, Hoopla’s “sleep timer” will let you drift off without missing a chapter.

Movies and TV Shows

Looking for a new favorite movie? Hoopla will match you to new content based on what you’ve already watched. I’ve found that the movies and TV shows are mostly older titles, rather than new releases, but that shouldn’t dissuade you — you might rediscover a classic.

I’d recommend Hoopla’s recent acquisition, “Barefoot in the Park” — a witty comedy based on the play by Neil Simon. If you want to binge a great TV show, borrow season one of “Humans” — a stand-out science fiction series that explores the world of sentient robots.

eBooks

With Hoopla, you’ll never have to wait for an eBook to become available to check it out. If they have the title you want, you can read it immediately.

If you read one eBook a month with Hoopla, rather than purchasing it through Amazon, you might save at least $3.99 a month. (That’s the current price of “How to Unplug,” as of November 2017.)

Graphic novels and Comics

You’ll be impressed by Hoopla’s variety. Along with audiobooks, “the other thing Hoopla is really strong in is graphic novels and comics,” Falsey says. Enjoy classics like Charles Schulz’ “Peanuts” or dive into the gory world of Robert Kirkman’s “The Walking Dead.”

If you enjoy streaming audiobooks, movies and music through Hoopla, you can even cancel your Audible, Netflix and Spotify accounts. Canceling Audible would save $14.95 a month, canceling Netflix would save $7.99 a month and canceling Spotify Premium would save $9.99 a month.

OverDrive

Remember when I said you could only check out a certain number of titles a month through Hoopla? That’s why you also need OverDrive. This streaming service offers an unlimited number of videos, eBooks and audiobooks. (According to my library’s rules, you can only have six items checked out at a time, but once you return them, you’re allowed to keep streaming more.)

You can use the desktop browser or the mobile app. If you use the app, you have two options: the traditional Overdrive app, and the newer, more streamlined Libby app.

With its cartoon of a smiling librarian, Libby is designed to welcome first-time users. Use it to read eBooks and listen to audiobooks.

While not as cool as Libby, the traditional Overdrive app offers even more features. Use it to read eBooks, listen to audiobooks and stream videos. If you use programs like TalkBack or VoiceOver, you’ll appreciate the Overdrive app’s accessibility options.

Through my library system, OverDrive makes you wait for a title to become available before you can check it out. That means you may have to be on hold for a while before you can view a popular book like “Turtles All the Way Down.”

If you use the Libby app, it will tell you exactly how long you’ll have to wait before a title becomes available. You can also keep track of your eBooks with emoji ratings: thumbs up (loved it), thumbs down (hated it) or a stack of books (want to read).

Whichever app you choose, you’ll love Overdrive’s collection of popular titles. Here’s what to read, watch and listen to this fall:

eBooks

Check out John Green’s latest novel, “Turtles All the Way Down.” Filled with Green’s sharp dialogue, it’s an unflinching depiction of life with an anxiety disorder. (I think it’s his best work.)

Movies

“Silver Linings Playbook” may have been released in 2012, but the chemistry between Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence is timeless. If you’re worried about what your kids may watch, you can use “audience filters” to make sure your children are browsing age-appropriate content.

Audiobooks

Check out “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” by Stieg Larsson, narrated by Simon Vance. Detective Lisbeth Salander is one of the most electric protagonists I’ve ever encountered. Her story will keep you up all night until you finish. But if you do want to rest your eyes, the OverDrive app offers a sleep timer similar to Hoopla’s.

If you use Overdrive and Hoopla together, you can save about $37 by cancelling Netflix, Spotify and Audible and by purchasing fewer eBooks.

Lynda

Lynda is a platform for online training that boasts over 6,000 courses.

“I love Lynda,” said Falsey, explaining that some of the in-depth courses “are comparable to a class you would take at a local college.”

Most of the classes are focused on technology or business, said Jessica Rehbaum, principal librarian for the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library. She appreciates Lynda’s user-friendly features, like the transcripts offered along with each video. You can even “adjust the speed at which the instructor is speaking.”

That’s the brilliance of Lynda: You can learn at your own pace. Watch a 10-minute video on graphic design. Embark on a 14-hour “learning path” to become a C++ developer. Check out a 45-minute training on creative thinking. These high-quality videos are updated frequently, so you’re sure to have engaging and current content.

The only downside? The mobile app may not work with your library, so you may need to use Lynda through its web browser. Check with your local librarian for more details.

As of November 2017, Lynda costs $19.99 per month for a basic subscription. If you use your library account to access its services, you’re saving almost $20 a month.

RBdigital

RBdigital offers a huge selection of popular magazines in digital form with no limitations on the number of magazines you can read.

Check out “American Girl” for your kids, (I really hope that magazine is still popular, or else I’ve just outed myself as a 90s kid.), enjoy recipe ideas with the latest issue of Martha Stewart Living or explore the world with National Geographic.

To find a new favorite, try displaying the magazines by your genre of interest (Food and Cooking, Crafts, etc). Hit “Checkout” to put your magazines on your digital shelf. These magazines won’t disappear from your collection unless you choose to delete them.

“When you check out a magazine,” Falsey said, “it’s basically yours to keep.”

The best feature? Zinio offers to email you when the next issue comes out, so you’ll never miss a story.

If you’re used to reading a magazine in print, it can be an adjustment to read a digital copy. You might have to zoom in and out on a page to read it properly. After a while, your eyes will adjust — and it’s totally worth the savings.

Zinio is also available as an app (via Apple, Google and Amazon), so you can take the magazines with you wherever you go.

Even if you get a great deal for a digital subscription, it will likely still cost you $1 per month for each magazine. (National Geographic is running a special, as of November 2017, that offers 12 issues for $12.) If you read five magazines a month through RBdigital, it would save you $5 a month.

Let’s add up all these savings. Using Hoopla and OverDrive instead of Netflix, Audible, Spotify and Amazon eBooks could save you $37 a month. Learning through Lynda could save you $20. Reading magazines through RBdigital could save you $5. That’s a total of $62 a month in savings.

Do you still feel unsure about using these resources? Are you wondering whether your particular library offers them all? Try visiting your local librarian or chat with one online. (Some states, like Florida, offer virtual librarians.) They’ll be thrilled to show you the world of online tools. When your friends ask you how you’ve saved so much money, you can tell them. Magic.

Emily Young works at a college library and writes freelance food articles for the Tampa Bay Times. Ask her about the time she almost got eaten by a badger.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.

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