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Best-selling personal finance author and TV personality Suze Orman has been inspiring Americans to make better money moves and avoid serious financial mistakes for decades.
With inflation continuing to put pressure on American wallets, she recently urged her readers to be more cautious with their spending. The Federal Reserve has also warned that "inflation remains uncomfortably above our target."
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"Please be extra strong right now, and scour your spending to find ways you can reduce your costs," she wrote in a post for Money Monday with Suze Orman.
Here’s why her advice still applies now — plus four of her no-nonsense tips for how to manage your money through hard times.
Don’t skimp on insurance
As part of her focus on financial health for October 2024, Suze recently reminded blog readers that this is a great time of year to review your benefits and insurance policies.
Having solid insurance coverage is of the utmost importance, but many drivers simply tack their insurance policy onto their home coverage without shopping around.
According to data from Bankrate, the national average cost for car insurance in 2024 is over $2,300 per year. However, by spending just a few minutes shopping around for rates online, you can potentially reduce your yearly car insurance costs by hundreds of dollars.
Luckily, OfficialCarInsurance.com can help you compare rates for free.
Just answer a few quick questions and the platform will sort through leading insurance companies in your area, including top providers like Progressive, Allstate and GEICO, ensuring you find the lowest rate possible.
Don’t waste money on coffee
"You are peeing $1 million down the drain as you are drinking that coffee," Orman once told CNBC (causing coffee drinkers across America to do a spit take).
"Every single penny counts when you’re saving for your future."
And there are much better ways to optimize those seemingly trivial coins. For example, rather than sliding your spare change over to a barista every day, invest it using an app called Acorns.
Once you’ve linked the Acorns app to your bank account, it will automatically round up every purchase you make to the nearest dollar and invest those extra cents in a diversified portfolio tailored to your financial goals.
Sign up now, and you can receive a $20 bonus investment.
Read more: How much cash do you plan to keep on hand after you retire? Here are 3 of the biggest reasons you’ll need a substantial stash of savings in retirement
Don’t take a tax refund
“If you’re getting a tax refund, something is radically wrong,” Orman told Yahoo! Finance in 2021.
More recently, Suze urged listeners to “make a date with their money” in October 2024. Why? Because you’ve got to take a close look at optimizing your gains and losses on a yearly basis. When you get a tax return it means you have effectively given the government an interest-free loan.
That being said, it is possible to use your return wisely as part of your wealthbuilding plan.
"There is no smarter move than working on your emergency savings account if you’ve yet to accumulate up to a year’s worth of living expenses," Suze Orman wrote on her blog in March 2023. And a tax refund can be your kick-off point for doing just that.
Just make sure that you park your emergency fund in a high-interest account that will allow your savings to grow over time.
With a Wealthfront Cash Account, you could earn up to 4.25% APY on your uninvested cash for your first three months (0.50% APY boost on top of the 3.75% base variable APY) provided by program banks. That’s over ten times the national deposit savings rate, according to the FDIC’s September report.
With no minimum balances or account fees, as well as 24/7 withdrawals and free domestic wire transfers, you can ensure your funds remain accessible at all times. Plus, Wealthfront Cash Account balances of up to $16 million are insured by the FDIC through program banks.
Don’t take on debt for things you don’t need
In an October 2024 blog post, Orman urged readers to watch their spending. "Carefully stop yourself every time you are about to spend money and ask yourself: Is it for a need or a want?" she wrote.
She challenged her readers to commit to the lifestyle of needs vs. wants for three months and review the boost to their finances at the end of that time. If you’re not ready to eliminate all of your “want” purchases, the least you can do is spend a bit smarter — that means optimizing your savings and avoiding debt.
Climbing out of debt can be much easier when you consolidate under one lower rate. With Credible, you can speed up the process and even save money.
Credible makes it easy to streamline your debt repayment at an affordable rate. Their online marketplace of vetted lenders provides personalized debt consolidation loan offers based on your needs, allowing you to pay off your debt more efficiently at a fixed rate without juggling multiple bills.
All you need to do is provide some information about yourself, and Credible will present you with a list of loan options to start tackling your debt.
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This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.