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Mortgage Insurance? Not on Your Life!
Dear Mary: I just bought a house, and I've been getting a lot of flyers about mortgage protection insurance. Is it something good for a new homeowner or just a waste of money? — Donna, email
Dear Donna: Great questions. "Mortgage …Read more.
Tips That Make You Feel Like a Genius
Secretly, I feel like a genius when I discover a secondary use for this or that — in case I run out of this, but have plenty of that! Like using a paper coffee filter to wash a glass top or mirror when I'm in a pinch for paper towels. Or using …Read more.
Supermarket Tricks That Makes Us Spend More
I've always thought of myself as pretty sharp when it comes to spotting supermarket trickery. I'm not even fazed by an end-cap display announcing, "Special." I know their ways. They hope we'll just assume that "special" means …Read more.
The Struggle to Actually Use up Gift Cards
My love-hate relationship with gift cards has intensified. What a pain, really. I'm one who just forgets to use them, and when I remember, I try to figure out how to use each one to the last cent. I was reminded of my situation recently when I …Read more.
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Pet Health Insurance? Get Real!If you have pets, you know that animals come with unavoidable expenses. But the day-to-day expenses to own a healthy pet are a drop in the food dish compared with what you'll spend if you decide your pets deserve the latest and greatest medical treatments when they get injured or become seriously ill. Even if your pet is perfectly healthy, you can expect annual wellness checkups, pushing the average tab to $140 for kittens and puppies and as much as $340 for geriatric cats and dogs. You may have asked yourself whether you should have health insurance for your pets. There was a time when I would have advised pet owners against pet health insurance. David T. Roen — board-certified veterinarian and owner of the Clarkston Veterinary Clinic, in Clarkston, Wash. — told me several years ago, "Pet insurance is a gamble, and the odds are really stacked against you." However, in the years since, I've changed my mind, not because Dr. Roen was wrong, but because of my personal experiences since then and the emergence of Embrace Pet Insurance, which offers a new way to insure the health of dogs and cats. My first granddog, Sir Boddington, an English bulldog, died at a young age, but only after my son spent a lot of money on vet and hospital bills. Jeremy spent so much, in fact, that he took the time to figure out how things may have been different had "Boddie" been insured. When he got a new puppy, Newcastle, he decided to take out a policy with Embrace.
There is no way to say for certain that all pet owners should carry health insurance for their pets. It depends on each pet owner's financial situation. What can be said, however, is that if you choose to own a pet, you make a contract with that animal to give it the best life possible. For many, the best way to make sure that happens is to protect against the high costs of pet illnesses and injuries. Here's some great news: Embrace is sponsoring a giveaway at http://www.DebtProofLiving.com. One lucky winner will get $400 toward the purchase of a one-year policy to cover a dog or cat. Learn more and sign up to win at http://www.DebtProofLiving.com/Giveaway. Mary Hunt is the founder of www.DebtProofLiving.com and author of 18 books, including her latest, "Can I Pay My Credit Card Bill With a Credit Card?" You can e-mail her at mary@everydaycheapskate.com, or write to Everyday Cheapskate, P.O. Box 2135, Paramount, CA 90723. To find out more about Mary Hunt and read her past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2010 CREATORS.COM ?? ?? ?? ??
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