Why Grocery Delivery Isn’t Always More Expensive Than Shopping Yourself
While online grocery shopping has been around for a while, it really took off during COVID. Having groceries delivered to your house or the trunk of your car was strongly encouraged by health officials asking us to isolate. While having someone else roam the store grocery store aisles can be a big timesaver, there are downsides. Grocery stores charge for this service by slightly marking up their online items more than the shelf price or adding a fee to the order or both. So if you’re tracking your pennies closely, you might think that you need to shop in the store to save money. But what if there is more to it than just the sticker price?
Shopping in person makes tracking your spending during the trip difficult. You guess the final cost while tossing items into a rolling metal cart. Online shopping apps display your running total on the screen in real time.
~Shay Huntley, Grocery Coupon Guide
In this article, Shay Huntley claims that shopping online might not be more expensive than physically shopping at grocery stores. While Huntley does not deny the markups and fees of online shopping, she notes that the price per item is just one aspect of your entire grocery bill. For example if you’re someone prone to impulse purchases at the store, you could easily spend more in a given week going to the store (and throwing in an extra bag of chips) compared to an online order where you stuck to the list and weren’t lured in with temptations. Huntley also notes that with online shopping you can immediately check your pantry and don’t have to remember if you have eggs in the fridge or not. This can help you avoid duplicate purchases and food spoilage. If you’ve ever wondered about the pros and cons of online shopping, this article is definitely worth a read.
The Most Important Part of Your Social Security Statement That Many People Miss
We all know we’re supposed to check our Social Security statements on a regular basis. But what does that even mean? Most people, if they have logged onto the Social Security website at all probably just take a look at their expected benefit calculation, file it away, and forget about it. So it may be surprising to learn that the expected benefit is not what experts say we should be checking when we log onto the website.
The earnings record matters because Social Security uses a worker’s covered earnings history as part of the benefit calculation, making those numbers much more than a nostalgic look at old jobs and paychecks.
~Brandon Marcus, The Free Financial Advisor
In this article Bradon Marcus explains what we should really be doing when we’re supposed to be checking our social security statements. Instead of focusing on the potential monthly payments, we should be checking our earnings history. This information is at the bottom of the statement and many people might miss it. The reason that it’s important to check the earnings history is to make sure it matches with what you think you earned. If your work history has a gap in it that doesn’t match your actual work history, Social Security might be missing part of your work history, which means you’ll have lower benefits. If you haven’t checked your earnings history lately (or ever), you’ll want to read this article to learn about how to review your earnings history and correct potential errors.
12 Self-Imposed Financial Burdens Tough to Overcome Once You Fall In
Do you know someone who is “bad with money”? Perhaps they’re always complaining about being behind on their bills or getting hit with an unexpected expense and having to take out a loan. You feel bad about them until you see them showing off their new guitar the next week. Seeing our friend who is bad with money can make us think that being poor is someone’s own fault. While the entire picture is more nuanced, and there are structural aspects that keep many people from getting ahead, it’s also true that many of us are our own worst enemies when it comes to money. In fact, some habits can easily identify which of us are sliding off the economic ladder.
Although many financial burdens, like stagnant wages and rising living costs, aren’t our fault, bad money decisions can wreak havoc on an already unstable life.
~Melanie Allen, Partners in FIRE
In this article, Melanie Allen details a dozen of the worst money habits that stop people from getting ahead with their money. Instead of discussing societal issues that keep people poor, Allen focuses on choices people make that work against their own self interest. For example, pay-day loans charge extraordinarily high interest rates (up to 400%). Once someone takes their first payday loan, it can be hard to not get caught in a cycle that prevents you from getting ahead. But it’s not just predatory loans that get people in trouble. Always driving a new car can be another trap- especially if you’re financing much of the purchase price. Overall, the article points out how some of these habits become slippery slopes where once you start down the path, it can be difficult to right the course. The article is certainly worth a read to check your financial health and look for potential blind spots in your plan.