financial zen

It’s surprising how many people don’t realize what will cut your rates.

For my wife and I, we got our rates cut by a few factors:

1. We shopped around. Luckily, we’ve got a great agency we work with that ran the numbers and factors and scored us a payment that lowered our insurance by $100.
2. We increased our deductible. Both cars have $500 deductibles, and unfortunately we still need two cars (I’m researching the bus system - I’m being moved to a different building much closer to our home, but out of my wife’s way to work).
3. Having our renter’s and car insurance (and then our Home Owner’s Insurance) with the same company, we’re getting a discount.
4. Our credit scores are very good (well, mine is V.G. Hers is Excellent).
5. We’re getting miscellaneous discounts:
   *Being a paramedic, my wife has taken defensive driving courses - that equals a reduction in insurance!
   *My wife’s wreck from three years ago is going off her record = reduced rate for her!
   *I need to ask about AAA and being a good student - but I’m not sure if that will apply since it’s *my* insurance and not under my parents.

Thanks to this site I found this check list:

When you comparison shop, inquire about discounts for the following:*

[ ] $500 deductible
[ ] $1,000 deductible
[ ] More than 1 car
[ ] No Accidents in 3 Years
[ ] No Moving Violations in 3 Years
[ ] Driver Training Courses
[ ] Defensive Driving Courses
[ ] Anti-Theft Devices
[ ] Low Annual Mileage
[ ] Air Bags
[ ] Anti-Lock Brakes
[ ] Daytime Running Lights
[ ] Student Drivers with Good Grades
[ ] Auto and Homeowners Coverage with the Same Company
[ ] College Students away from Home
[ ] Long-Time Customer
[ ] Other Discounts

The key to savings is not the discounts, but the final price. A company that offers few discounts may still have a lower overall price.

*The discounts listed may not be available in all states or from all insurance companies.

For more information, call the National Insurance Consumer Helpline (NICH) at 1-800-942-4242

And naturally, after I do this, I stumble on these gems from the Consumerist:
10 Insurances You Don’t Need
DIY Title Search
Save On Insurance By Calling Around. Duh.
Pay Your Health Insurance Way Before It’s Due, A Cautionary Tale
HOWTO: Appeal Denial of Care

AskDong has a great write up about Salon’s article about a jazz musician looking to make a change late in life.

I seriously doubt the musician will read this, but bra-vo! He made a living as a musician for this long, I know so many musicians who wish they had a steady stream of gigs to help supplement their passion - and as the article states - they fall into the “I’m a musician, that’s it” bag of players who refuse to think they need a day job.

So I figure it’s time to point out how many musicians held day jobs before making it big (and a few I know who are not big, but still playing with a day job!)
Take for instance the numerous groups on MySpace.com - I know a bass player works at a non-profit by day, a few guitarists that are composed of a farmer, a manager of a fast food joint, an apple technician, and a couple college students.
And in my search, I found a couple related articles about the topic at hand:
Real Musicians have Day jobs
A Day in Life of a Musician (at Princeton Review)
Ask Metafilter asks the same question - do big names have day jobs?

It’s something worth realizing - sometimes your dream job is your night job, and that sometimes you can make a living (but may not be rich).

I hate guessing taxes on my wife’s paycheck.

I do. I hate estimating, guesstimating, et al. with taxes (I’m still learning to master them!)

Luckily, Ms. Ducky has posted a calculator that will do the work for you!

I’m plugging through my wife’s numbers to get a rough idea, it’s a cool tool to utilize!