Safeguarding your social security number is critical to avoid identity theft. Here are three preventive ways you may not know about:

1. Create a SSA.gov account
2. Enable ‘extra security’ on the SSA.gov account
3. Consider blocking electronic access on SSA.gov account

https://moneytalksnews.com/3-wise-ways-to-protect-your-social-security-number-today/

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Rules of thumb can be a good approximate guideline for making decisions. While everyone’s financial situation is different, these financial rules as a good starting point. Look at these rules of thumb:

1. Budgeting – the 50/30/20 rule (50% of income for necessities, like housing and bills)

(20% should go toward financial goals, like paying off debt and saving for retirement)

(30% of your income can be allocated to wants, like dining and entertainment)

2. Buying a vehicle – 20/4/10 rule  (20% downpayment; 4 years to repay loan; 10% max of income on transportation)

View the others:

https://twocents.lifehacker.com/10-good-financial-rules-of-thumb-1668183707

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Americans are accumulating more debt, particularly around student loans, but borrows in some states are struggling more than others to pay back these loans on time. Overall, about 44.7 million people have student loans in the U.S. – that adds up to $1.5 trillion in debt and breaks down to roughly $32,731 per person. Although studies show those with a college degree have a higher earning potential, student loan debt has the highest delinquency rate in the country. Delinquency rates vary from state to state see how this varies from state to state. View the map:

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2018/09/26/this-map-shows-highest-student-loans-delinquency-rates.html

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It is good to explore new and novel ways to save money.  Sometimes we forget the basics that served us well in the past. Being vigilant in all areas of our financial lives – from big stuff to the small stuff – can make  real impact on our bottom lines. Consider these 7 classic money-saving tips:

1. Buy used
2. Lighten up on the utilities
3. Skip the treat (sometimes)
4. But in bulk
5. Ride a bike or carpool
6. Learn a money-saving skill
7. Save your pay raise

https://www.moneytalksnews.com/slideshows/duh-7-obvious-money-saving-tips-people-often-forget/

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Any substance that you feel compelled to consume that doesn’t fulfill a dietary need os not only an unnecessary expense that’s draining your wallet, but likely damaging to your health as well. Are you feeding an alcohol addiction? Smoking? Soda? Coffee? Do you find it difficult to function without these things? Are you spending money constantly on these things? If you’re nodding your head yes, even reluctantly, it’s a sure sign that you need to cut back on a habit. Then take the money used to finance these habits to add to your emergency savings account.

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Got a gym membership you never use? Cancel it.  Don’t watch your Netflix subscription? Drop it. Got Amazon Prime but only order stuff once every month or two? Drop it. Subscribed to DailyBurn but rarely exercise? Drop it. Unused subscriptions and memberships do nothing but devour your money month after month. Take a stand and cancel memberships that you no longer use or are interested in. You will save money that can be set aside and placed in your emergency savings account.

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Figure out how much you earned last year after taxes, then subtract from that all of the costs of commuting, professional clothes, work-related meals, and other expenses you paid out of pocket. Then, figure out how many hours you worked (including those at home), plus the hours you commuted and attended other business meetings. Divid your your after-expenses income by your total hours work to get your true hourly wage. That’s how much you actually sell an hour of your time for.

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We all get bills. Some of them aren’t useful at all. Many of them have extra expenses tacked on that we don’t really need. Go through each of your monthly bills with a fine-toothed comb, looking at every line. If you don’t know what the expenses is, call up the company and ask to have it removed. If you don’t think you need the bill at all, call up the company and cancel the service. This is a useful thing to do on at least on a yearly basis.

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If you have an emergency fund in hand you should next focus on eliminating your high-interest debt. Set up a simple debt repayment plan by organizing your debt by interest rate, then attempt to make a double payment (or more) on whatever debt has the highest interest rate. Make that double payment every month, then when that debt is gone, add the total amount of that payment to the payment you’re making on the next debt on the list. Keep repeating until your high-interest- debts are gone.

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If you do not have a cash emergency fund just sitting in a savings account at a local bank somewhere, this should be your number one priority. Cash is king for solving all of the problems that life throws at you. Unlike credit, cash is available in situations of credit problems or of identity theft. You can start building an emergency fund by setting up an automatic weekly or monthly transfer from your checking account to your savings, then leaving the savings alone until an emergency beckons.

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