Photo Credit: alancleaver_2000
When I first started Family Friendly Frugality, I knew I wanted to approach frugal living from a very relaxed and welcoming mindset. I wanted to create a blog about frugal living that didn’t leave people feeling overwhelmed or less than when they walked away.
The main complaint I hear about saving money nowadays is that it is too darn overwhelming to know where to begin. If you have $20,000 in credit card debt, is clipping a few coupons realistically going to make much of an impact to your bottom line? If you are drowning in student loans and house payments, is living within your means even possible?
The answer to all of the above is yes. While the small things you do might not add up to financial freedom, they do make a big difference. Some of them will chip away at your debt or create more wiggle room in a tight budget. Some of them will simply give you more confidence and a self esteem boost, proving to yourself that you can save money!
So I am starting a Make a Change Monday series where I will simply give you one task to work on for the week. You might already be doing it…so you get to skip that week! If not though, try it out and see if it makes a difference! I’ll keep them small manageable changes that don’t require a lot of effort or learning the drugstore game 
.
This week’s Make A Change Task:
Understand Your Insurance Policies
This week, we need to sit down and pull out all those insurance policies we have protecting our homes, our cars and our bodies. Do you really understand what your insurance covers? If not, be sure that you do.
If you have a $500 or a $1500 deductible, you need to know! Be sure you have enough money saved specifically for paying deductibles if you should need to use your insurance for something major. Also, be sure you are aware of any caps that your insurance might have. The worst time to find out that your insurance is not going to cover a procedure or an incident is after or during a major crisis. Take the time now, when things are calm to look over your insurance and write down the most important stipulations and guidelines.
Also take the time to write down any special restrictions they might have. Maybe your insurance requires pre-authorization for certain doctor visits. Maybe you don’t have a co-pay for doctor visits but you do have a $500 ER fee. Insurance policies are thick and confusing, so make a copy of it and go through with a thick highlighter picking out anything that you need to really stand out and remember.
I recommend setting up a specific sinking fund just for your various insurance policy deductibles and building them up so that if something major does happen and you have to call in several insurance claims on several policies at once, you have the funds to cover things and you can focus on the people that have been injured or who are sick. In the end, it’s the people that matter, and you don’t want finances to take away from being focused on them (or on yourself for that matter).
Previous Make a Change Monday Tasks.
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