Tips for Singles: Finding The Right Roomate

Finding the Right Roommate: What to Look for

Choosing a roommate doesn’t have to be overwhelming. In fact, the interview process can actually be a very enlightening experience if you do it right. This article will look at ways to interview a potential roommate and how to find someone these can actually live with!

Take a Personality Inventory

You may not realize it, but your experiences and social lifestyle may be completely new and novel to someone else. It’s a good idea to take your own personality inventory and make a list of the things that you enjoy, as well as the little things that aggravate you. It can be stuff as small as dirty dishes in the sink or as large as partying at all hours of the night. If your lifestyles are incompatible with each other, this personality inventory will help make your needs clear up front and help both you and your potential roommate determine if you are suitable to be housemates with each other.

Interviewing Roommates

When interviewing potential roommates, you can easily gauge their personality and reactions to different questions to help you determine if you can live with each other. For example, if you have a unique lifestyle such as gay, lesbian, or transgendered, you may find it difficult to interview someone who isn’t exactly accepting or tolerant of your choice. One such website which can help with this is Pride Roommates, which specializes in matching like-minded individuals who share the same lifestyle and sexual orientation.

One of the most important things that you can do when interviewing roommates is to lay out all your expectations up front. No one likes to find out later that there are unexpected costs, curfews, or other restrictions on how they can live their life as a result of renting together. Be clear about how much rent is due and plan, and other expectations such as dividing chores, care and feeding of pets, and so on. This will make the process go much more smoothly for both of you!

Have an Open Mind

Remember that no one is exactly like you, nor should you have a roommate whose interests completely match your own. By finding someone who enjoys different things, you may learn and share new experiences that you otherwise may never have known about. No matter which roommate you choose, it’s important to have an open mind and be accepting of diverse experiences, upbringings, and lifestyles that may be different than your own. In doing so, you may learn new things about yourself that you never realized! Good luck!

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70 Things That Can and Will Go Wrong In A Disaster

This article is part two in my prepping series.  You can read part one here: Important Documents - Are You Prepared?

So often when I mention being "prepared" to friends or family their eyes glaze over.  Thanks to shows like Doomsday Preppers, most folks associate prepping as something only loony people do - people who fear a government shutdown, world-wide plague, or zombie attack!    But the fact remains, that it is the little everyday disasters that we ought to all be concerned about.  Things like tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, and hurricanes can literally shut down a town for days or weeks.  If this happen near you, would you be prepared?

I recently came across a very well written article (originally written by a police officer) that lists out 70 things that can (and will) go wrong in a disaster.  It was eye opening.  

Please take a moment to read the article, and then think about what you would do if thrown into any of the situations mentioned in the article.

Are you prepared?

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I'm missing that 'new car smell'!

I’ve written before about how much I love my car.  It is a 2007 Volvo V70 (wagon) – safe, practical, and comfortable to drive!  Recently I hit the 100K mile mark, yet it seems like just yesterday we met for the first time.  I’ve never regretted buying this car.  I love it!

But lately I have started to see it showing signs of its age.  There is a small tear in part of the fabric on the wall.    In another spot, the fabric seems to be coming loose.  I’ve had a cracked windshield for years now.  Something keeps tripping the fuse for the cigarette lighters/cell phone chargers… and while those fuses are cheap to buy, getting to them to replace them is a huge pain in the neck.  I know I am long past due for a new battery.  I notice the leather seats are starting to look worn in a couple spots.  And perhaps the biggest issue of all, something is leaking from my car and leaving deposits on my garage floor.  I am having that looked at soon.

For the most part, these issues are cosmetic and as for the rest, they should be fixable.  So unless the leak turns out to be something major, I don’t think I am ready to say goodbye to my old friend just yet.  But it has made me realize that I ought to study up on my options so that when the time comes I can make an informed decision.

I’ve started researching cars at ISeeCars.com.  I’ll likely be sticking with a Volvo next time I get a new car (have I mentioned how much I have loved all my Volvos?), but I am still keeping my options open in case something better comes along!  Besides the obvious features – comfort, safety, and price – I will also be looking at things such as cargo room and miles per gallon when I make my ultimate buying decision.  But hopefully I won’t be making that decision for a long time yet!

What features do you look for in cars?  At one point do cosmetic issues cause you to succumb to the lure of a shiny new car?  And do you have any predictions of how long I will hold out before I convince myself I need something new?  J

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This bites!

Sometimes disaster strikes when we least expect it.

Last week, I was bit on the lip by a friend's dog.  I bent down to give her a hug.  She reached up and bit me.  I must have spooked her.  This is my own fault... this dog has a track record of being nervous and has bit before.  Somehow I assumed it would never happen to me.  WRONG!

I will spare you all the pictures, but the rend result is my lip was split clear open through to both sides.  A trip to the ER was in order.

Here we come to LESSON #1 - Know which ERs are the most friendly towards your health insurance.

I got lucky here.  When an emergency strikes, you don't have time to do research to see which ERs and urgent care facilities are preferred by your insurance (preferred normally means they reimburse more of the costs with less of a hassle).  Some insurance is more lenient than others in an emergency situation, of course, but there is still follow-up visits to worry about.  Going to an 'out of network' medical facility can lead to hassles down the road.

In my case, I had no clue where to go.  I am healthy and my regular doctor can take care of most things.  Being that it was after 9pm, my regular doctor was not an option here.  Being that my lip was hanging open, we threw caution to the wind and drove to the nearest ER.  At that point, I needed medical care more than I cared to potentially save money and hassle from the insurance company.  Fortunately, that ER had a contract with my insurance so the payment process should go fairly smoothly. I got lucky!

LESSON #2 - Getting injured is expensive! (Not just medical bills, either.)

I am not just talking about medical bills here.  For many days after the incident I was on some heavy pain medicines.  I did not feel like doing ANYTHING.  Cooking was out of the questions.  So my friend (who was here visiting from out of town) got me a lot of take-out.  Granted, my very guilty feeling friend paid for the meals and even went to pick them up for me, but it still was pricey.  In the last five days I have spent more on take-out meals than I have on my entire month's grocery budget.  But since the first few days had me almost completely incapacitated, it was either take-out or not eat at all.  I also have had extra expenses with medications (OTC and prescription), follow-up appointments, and more take-out food (!).  My friend has offered to pay for everything, but I think I will save that for the big medical bills.  After all, I do not hold my friend responsible for the dog getting spooked (by me).

The lesson here is to always leave a little extra in your budget for emergency spending... sometimes you just need to pamper yourself with a take-out meal or some Oxycodine!  At these moments, you do not want to be worried about your budget.

LESSON #3 - I hate pain!

Okay, that lesson has nothing to do with money and isn't exactly helpful to you.  I just felt the need to whine a little.  My lip hurts!  It has been 5 days and it still hurts.  I have cut back on the Oxycodine since I am back at work and my employer isn't real fond of us napping on the job (go figure).  I know mouth injuries have a lot of pain associated with them, and I know they also heal quickly, but that doesn't stop m from really not liking this pain.  Rant over.

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Important Documents - Are you prepared?

Important Documents - Are you prepared?

"Prepping" seems to be all the rage these days.  Rather you are a Doomsday Prepper, or just an informed citizen who likes to be prepared for reasonable worst-case scenarios, there are things we should all be doing to protect ourselves.  And so, I am going to start a series of things we should all be doing to prep for disaster. 

Today's topic is IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS.
Consider the following:

Scenario 1:  You are at work.  A bad thunderstorm rolls in.  Lightning strikes your house and it quickly burns to the ground.  What vital documents have you lost and how easy are they to replace?  What information do you know regarding your insurance coverage?  Could you easily give your insurance company an inventory of your home's possessions?  Do you have copies of priceless old family photos?

Scenario 2:  You spent a fun-filled afternoon at the county fair.  Driving home, you decide to run through a fast food drive-through to pick up dinner.  That is when you discover your wallet is gone!  Did you drop it at the fairgrounds?  Were you pick-pocketed?  You suspect the latter.  Do you know what credit cards/debit cards are in your wallet, their account numbers, and how to quickly cancel them before a bad guy can access your accounts? 

Scenario 3: The shit has hit the fan!!!!  Due to massive unemployment and dissatisfaction with the government, civil unrest has broken out in your community.  You are suddenly forced to flee the area quickly with just a few minutes to grab what you can and throw it into your car.  You seek refuge in a bordering country.  Do you have proper identification with you? Do you have all you need to rebuild your life? 

Chances are, at some point you have thought about at least one of the above scenarios.  Are you prepared?

When disaster strikes, having copies of important documents will make the recovery process much easier.  An easy solution is to digitize all important documents and keep them in a safe off-site location on a portable USB drive.

Here are some examples of important documents:
* birth certificate
* social security card
* passport
* driver's license
* marriage license
* concealed carry permit
* house title
* car title
* insurance policies
* investment records
* digital photos from around your house to help with inventory (I update mine every 6 months or so)
* digital copies of priceless family photos (not life or death, but nice to have a back-up in case the originals are destroyed)
* front and back of credit cards
* list of important phone numbers (banks, insurance agents, family, lawyer, doctors)

These documents can all be saved/scanned into digital files and stored on a USB drive.  You can - and should! - password protect your USB drive to protect it should it fall into the wrong hands. 

The USB drive should not be kept with the documents themselves (sort of defeats the purpose).  Instead, keep it in a secure off-site location such as with a trusted family member, in a safe deposit box, at your office, or in a bug out bag located in your vehicle.  Ideally, having this information at two off-site locations is best (remember, 'one is none and two is one.'). 

Every six months or so you should double-check your files to see if anything has changed, or if you need to add any new documents.  A good rule of thumb is to do this at the same time you change the batteries in your smoke alarm. 

Want to get started?  Here is a great little portable USB drive that I recommend:
Verbatim TUFF 'N' TINY 16 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive - this little USB is small enough to hang on your key chain without adding bulk or weight, and it is very durable (resistant to water, dust, and static charges).  It is also very nicely priced!  It is also 16GB, which should easily hold all that you will need.  And as it is black, it will not be instantly noticeable, which is good as you don't want it to become a target for thieves. 


How prepared are you should your important documents become lost or destroyed?  What other documents do you include in your preparedness planning that I have not mentioned?

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How I lost 10 pounds!

Earlier this year I set a goal to lose 19 pounds in 2013, which would put me at a weight of just under 120 pounds.  My lack of willpower (why must chocolate be so tasty?) finally caught up with me over the holidays last year, and I knew I had to make my weight a top priority or else I would lose control of it completely. 

I am pleased to report that as of last week I have lost 10 pounds.  I am now just over halfway to my goal!   And I thought I would share how I did it.  The journey started out sort of rough, but now things are going much better. 

The beginning...
I started out in January by following a Weight Watchers-like plan.  Between friends who are in the program and stuff I have found on the web, I was able to follow the Weight Watchers plan for free without having to buy a membership.  I've done it before to drop a couple pounds so I thought I would give it shot this time.  For exercise, I used my Wii Fit Plus nearly every day doing mainly the jogging, step aerobics, kick boxing, cycling, and hoola hoop activities.  I dropped 4 pounds FAST, but then I plateaued.  And on top of that, I was starving and exhausted (I have later learned that the starving and exhaustion was due to not getting enough calories, but more on that in a bit....). 

I wasn't happy, and knew something had to change or else I was going to give up.  Weight Watchers was not fitting into my life.  That's when I found "My Fitness Pal."

My Fitness Pal...
Late in January I signed up for a free account on myfitnesspal.com.  It is a program that allows you to track your calories consumed and calories burned through exercise.  In addition, they have a very active online community.  It was through this online community that I learned a few useful things. 

First of all, your body needs a certain number of calories just to function.  This is your BMR... which is basically the number of calories your body needs to function if you are in a coma.  Eating below this number will mess up your metabolism and make weight loss (after an initial drop) very difficult.  As weight watchers was having me eat less calories than my BMR, I now understood why I dropped the initial weight but had then stalled.  I also understand why I was so exhausted.  My body simply wasn't getting enough energy to fully function.

Secondly, there is another important number we need to know - TDEE.  TDEE is the number of calories your body actually uses in a day.  Factors such as weight, age, body fat percentage, and activity level go into determining your TDEE.  Eating more calories than your TDEE results in weight gain, eating less results in weight loss.  And eating less calories than your BMR causes your body to panic and stall any weight loss.  Pretty simple, eh?

Switching to this new way of thinking meant that I needed to up my calorie intake by 300-400 calories a day.  Everything I had been taught over the years told me that this is a bad idea, but the science behind it made sense so I decided I would try it out for a week or two.  To my amazement, I didn't gain any weight and soon I was actually losing again!  And best of all, I was no longer hungry! 

Not being hungry is a BIG plus for me.  I like food, and I don't like being restricted to what I can or can't eat.   I also like the fact that this approach has you losing weight at a safe and sustainable pace of around a pound a week, and that will decrease the closer I get to my goal weight. 

Another big plus is that I have been able to cut my exercising back to 3-4 times a week.  I now mix up what I do to keep things interesting (Wii Fit Plus, Leslie Sansone DVDs, treadmill, and elliptical). 

Why I am sharing....
I am sharing this info here - on a personal finance blog - because this weight loss journey has been completely FREE!  No need to join an expensive program.  No need to buy expensive food.  All it required was some basic knowledge and the ability to track my calories. 

If I can do it, so can you!  And did I mention, I did it for FREE?

How are your health and fitness goals coming along for 2013?  What approaches do you use to lose weight?

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Debt Envy

The other day I read with great awe and envy as a fellow blogger told a story of how she was able to use cheap payday loans to meet her long-term financial needs.  While many people are nervous about such loans, this particular writer explained that she used a payday loan to get cash at a time when she needed it.  She used that money to pay off some other debts before their deadline, hence saving a bundle in fees (overdraft fees, late fees, and increased interest rates).  Prior to making the decision so weighed the pros and cons and expenses involved and made a wise and informed decision.  I admit I actually felt a little jealous that this writer was able to take a problem, think outside of the box to find a solution, and come out of the deal a few bucks richer than she would have been otherwise.  I envied her situation where she could tackle a problem in a creative way.  Yep... I was actually a little jealous.

I have been unmotivated to blog much lately here at The Single Saver.  In some ways I have felt like a hypocrite and just couldn't bring myself to write about my life.  This blog started out as a site to share tips for living frugally.  I lived frugally so I could pay off my mortgage, pay off my car, and put a healthy amount into my savings.  Big goals indeed, but I always work best when I am aiming for something big.

My savings over the last decade or so have multiplied faster than I could have ever imagined considering I have a pretty average salary.  Making extra payments helped me to pay off my car early (and save for a new car), cut my mortgage in half (plus some) in just four years, and I was making good contributions to my retirement and investment accounts.  My frugal tricks were working to help me set my goals and I felt like I could offer good advice to others.   

Then a close relative passed away and I was giving a generous inheritance.  With the inheritance I paid off the rest of my mortgage, bought my first investment property, and beefed up my investments and retirement accounts even more.  And while my frugal ways certainly have been a big contributor to my success, I would be amiss to not acknowledge that I also have had some lucky breaks along the way (parents who taught me about money management at an early age, a good education, and the inheritance... Just to name a few). 

In short, I am now financially comfortable and while I still live by my frugal ways, it is by choice and not by necessity.  So sometimes I get lazy and do things in a less frugal way... And then I feel like a failure as a financial blogger who offers tips for living frugal!!!



DEBT ENVY

I think I am suffering from "debt envy."  I read other financial bloggers with big debts and follow along in their journey as they formulate plans to get rid of the debt.  I am excited for their journey and sad that I don't have a similar goal to plan for and work towards.  I truly get excited when a blogger updates their debt/savings numbers and has gotten $100 closer to their goal.  I've actually cried with happiness as I have read about how one blogger managed to hit their goals during a particularly difficult month.  I live for reading about these successes... But I also get jealous that I am no longer part of that "lifestyle."   

Don't get me wrong - being debt-free is awesome, but there is also a certain thrill in the journey to get there.  When the journey ends, you feel let down.  (Sort of like how sometimes the 'chase' of getting a special boy/girl to like you is better than the resulting relationship!)

I have realized that while I don't miss having debt, I do miss having a purpose (which for so many years was to reduce debt and increase savings).  I still hope to increase savings, of course, but it isn't as urgent of a situation as it was in the past.  And so, I need to find a new big goal to accomplish.  More on that in an upcoming post. 

Am I insane here to have "debt envy."  Has anyone else hit a major goal, only to be disappointed that the journey was then finished?  Is the chase really better than the catch?  

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