Tips from the Diva!

Make efforts to improve your health to bolster your bank account. One of the biggest expenses consumers face is medical care. It’s important to invest in your personal health and wellness to prevent excessive medical costs. Simple, inexpensive lifestyle changes can make a big difference in improving your health and keep you out of the doctor’s office. Incorporate exercise into your daily routine through walking or free community physical fitness activities, eliminate costly and unhealthy snacks and beverages from your grocery list and include more fruits and veggies in your diet, and make sure to get 6-8 hours of rest each night. If you are a smoker, take immediate action to quit. Make efforts to improve your health to bolster your bank account. One of the biggest expenses consumers face is medical care. It’s important to invest in your personal health and wellness to prevent excessive medical costs. Simple, inexpensive lifestyle changes can make a big difference in improving your health and keep you out of the doctor’s office. Incorporate exercise into your daily routine through walking or free community physical fitness activities, eliminate costly and unhealthy snacks and beverages from your grocery list and include more fruits and veggies in your diet, and make sure to get 6-8 hours of rest each night. If you are a smoker, take immediate action to quit. According to The Price of Smoking, a study published by MIT Press, the cost of smoking to a 24-year-old woman smoker is $86,000 over a lifetime; for a 24-year-old male smoker the cost is $183,000. This doesn’t include medical costs related to illness and disease attributed to smoking.

Check your credit report! A credit report includes information on where you live, how you pay your bills, whether you’ve had a judgment filed against you, a lien filed against your property, or filed bankruptcy. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies – Equifax, Experian and TransUnion – to provide consumers with a free copy of their credit report, once every 12 months. If you find a mistake on your credit report – an account that isn’t yours or a disputed amount – you should act quickly to correct it by completing the error form that comes with the report.

Want a quick and easy way to get in the habit of saving money? Get cash back. Round up to the nearest ten when you cash out at a grocery, pharmacy, or retail register and slip the small amount into your savings jar when you get home. Give yourself a due date each month to put money in your savings account. Determine a monthly minimum payment and include this critical payment to yourself in your monthly budget.

The easiest way to avoid mindless spending on items you don’t need is to ditch cruising malls, surfing shopping websites and watching television shopping networks for entertainment. The more you are exposed to product marketing the more likely you are to make unplanned purchases of non-essential items.

Never give out more personal information than needed – particularly your Social Security Number. Don't print your SSN on your checks. With your SSN, address, and bank account number an identity thief has enough information to open an account in your name. Keep careful watch over your ATM and debit cards. Unlike credit cards that limit consumer losses to $50, ATM and debit cards don't have any limits and, you might be held responsible for all money taken from your account fraudulently! Notify your bank as soon as you know your ATM or debit cards are missing. If you lose your purse or your wallet, containing all of your plastic, get on the phone as soon as you get home and call the bank's 24-hour hotline to limit your liability.