I can’t say enough about how much insurance can do for you. In Arizona, car insurance is required to cover you if you cause an accident and that may seem ridiculous if you’re a good driver but even the best drivers can get in accidents because of other people driving badly. It may be decided that the accident was your fault even if you don’t think so. You certainly don’t want to be without insurance then. Home insurance is another must. I’ve heard so many times on the news about a family who has lost their home and everything in it to a storm or fire and they didn’t have insurance. It seems like a huge gamble to let the biggest purchase of your life go without any kind of protection. Even if you live in a tornado free, rain free, fire free zone (and if you do, where is it so I can move there), you could get robbed like I was. Without home insurance I would not be able to blog this blog, because the bad guys took my monitor. What about life insurance? I don’t know how other people decide if they need it or not. In my family, we decided we need it because there would be no one to watch the kids if something should happen to my spouse or myself and day care doesn’t come free because your husband or wife died. I don’t want to have to deal with that kind of worry and I don’t want my husband to deal with that kind of worry so we have life insurance.

So have you gotten your CFLs (compact florescent lights) yet? I’ve been using them for a couple years and they work really well. I’ve never actually replaced all my bulbs because I have some lights that require specialty bulbs and some fixtures that they don’t fit into, but I don’t have any horrible buzzing sound from them like I do my kitchen light that has regular sized florescent bulbs. I have to say, though, that I don’t think they last as long as advertised. It might be that I have my lights on a lot more than other people, but these things are supposed to last for up to 5 years and I’ve replaced many, some multiple times, since putting them in. It’s not like I’ve been keeping track of the number of hours I’ve used each but I still think that my CFLs have been lasting longer than regular bulbs. I’m also fairly confident that it makes up the difference in cost. I just wish they actually did last longer so I would know for sure and not just suspect it.

It depends on where you are in life whether or not it is easy to get credit. Many of us find ourselves in the position of needing credit after we’ve wrecked our rating by buying things we didn’t really need. I started my credit career in the most innocent of ways – in college. I got it just so I could start a credit history for later on. I assumed just having it would be enough, that I didn’t need to use it. I was soon told otherwise and after buying a $2.00 pair of shoes that I didn’t need, I was on my way to a large amount of debt. To this day I do not know if that piece of advice was true. What I do know is this – it’s not a good idea to buy things you don’t need with money you don’t have. I believe credit cards have their uses. They are good for online purchases since they usually offer some form of protection if you don’t receive the merchandise or your card is used fraudulently. I would not recommend that anyone get one until they have a job, though. And I don’t mean the job you’ve got to work your way through school – I mean a real job that you make real money at. If you’re scrimping to get by, you don’t need the additional bill that comes with a credit card. Once out of school it can be more difficult to get a credit card and it takes work to find the best credit cards. Look for one that doesn’t have an annual fee and one that has a low interest rate. If you need to make a balance transfer, look for one with the lowest fee to do so. Also, try to get a card that is accepted at a lot of locations. I’d say steer well clear of department store credit cards since their interest rates are usually high and they obviously limit where you can use the card. Credit cards are not inherently evil – they have their place. Remember, though, that credit card companies are out to make a profit off of you. Don’t make it easy for them.