A year ago we had a horrible experience. Our basement flooded so badly that most of it had to be redone, and it took a year to get everything finalized.
As much as I tend to bad-mouth insurance companies and their practices, I have to admit that they covered my repairs and losses to my satisfaction and they must have paid out quite a bundle in the process.
I have never had a home insurance claim before, especially one of this magnitude, and I have come up with a few tips to minimize the process if (heaven forbid) it should happen again.
- Include a water damage clause to your home insurance policy. At about an additional $15 a year it’s very inexpensive protection.
- Make sure your sewer drain has a back-up protection valve. Some insurance companies won’t cover sewer back up without this in place.
- Get rid of anything you don’t need. When I purchase a new item, I have a bad habit of storing the old one in the basement to sell at a garage sale, give to my kids or otherwise donate, or what if the new one breaks (?).
- If you store items on the floor, put them in waterproof containers. My treasured, irreplaceable art books that were temporarily placed in a box on the floor were destroyed, while my ratty old Christmas decorations were safe in their Rubbermaid tote.
- Take pictures of, or otherwise record all your belongings including insides of closets, cupboards and drawers and keep them in a safe place because you won’t remember all of what you own. Our restoration crew consisted of mainly “very-little-English-speaking” workers who listed the items that were thrown out. To this day I still don’t know what some of the items were from their vague (and strange) descriptions.
- Also, keep receipts for furniture, electronics, renovations done (carpet, etc) and other expensive belongings as long as you own the items.
- Get the adjuster’s instructions and other information in writing. We had several misunderstandings with our adjuster when she told us conflicting information about purchasing our replacement items.
All in all, while we had a stressful year, the results were satisfactory. Although our planned upstairs renovations were temporarily put on hold, we ended up with a brand new basement with new drywall, flooring, furniture, accessories and other assorted items. Now, all I need to do is get over my fear of heavy rainfall and we will be back on track.
Have you ever made a home insurance claim? Do you have any tips to share?
Some people enjoy travel rewards cards, but I prefer either cash back or points towards free groceries. I even redeem AirMiles for free gas.
I’ve written before about how I maximize my credit card rewards. The way I see it, if I am going to spend the money anyways, I might as well get something in return.
Using The PC MasterCard
My main credit card for monthly purchases is the PC MasterCard, which gives me 10 PC Points for every $1 spent. So far this year I have earned over 180,000 PC Points, which is worth $180. I redeem the points for groceries, diapers, and other baby supplies at our local Superstore.
So how did I maximize my rewards? I started by changing the way I pay my monthly bills and my regular expenses.
In the past, after I got paid I would proceed to pay bills online through my chequing account. I rarely used cash, but would use my debit card for all of our other monthly expenses like groceries, gas, clothes, and entertainment. Now I pay for everything I can with my PC MasterCard:
Automatic Monthly Payments
- Electricity and Gas
- Water and Sewer
- Cell Phone
- Cable/Satellite TV
- Internet
- Auto Insurance
Regular Monthly Expenses
- Groceries, cleaning, baby supplies
- Entertainment
- Gas
How To Get Free Groceries
I end up spending around $2,000/month on my credit card, which gets me 20,000 PC Points, or $20 in free groceries each month. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but it adds up over time. Add in bonus offers for purchasing items at Superstore, and the points accumulate quickly.
I know there are other rewards cards out there that pay 2 percent cash back or higher, but I notice that most have quite a few stipulations about shopping at participating locations, etc. Plus, I don’t spend nearly as much on my credit card as some people who travel for business, and I don’t want to pay an annual fee either.
Using a credit card responsibly is a great way to put a few bucks back in your pocket by spending money that you were going to spend anyways. I don’t really care about the credit card interest rates offered since I don’t plan on paying any interest.
Which is a reminder to pay off your balance in full at the end of every month, or your rewards strategy will backfire quickly.
Do you use a credit card for all of your monthly expenses so you can get free groceries or cashback rewards?
I recently came across a retirement calculator that determines how much you need to save to provide an income after retirement. I was quite horrified to discover that I need to put away approximately $3600 per month in order to have a lump sum large enough to provide me with an annual retirement income of $40,000.
You see, I was a late starter. Like most young people of my generation who listened to song lyrics that stated, “hope I die before I get old” (courtesy of the Who), I didn’t give much thought to saving for retirement. We were too busy dealing with the present.
Retirement Income: How Much Do You Need?
So now, the experts tell me, I’m in danger of outliving my money if I don’t get on board with “super-sizing” my contributions. First of all, I don’t even earn that much at my part-time job and, secondly, I can think of a lot of things I’d rather spend that kind of money on right now if I did have it.
Having a “financial plan” and building a retirement nest egg became popular as mutual funds became more readily available when they started being sold through the banks. The stock market was booming, returns were projected at 8-12% (or even higher) annually and easy regular contributions made that lump sum seem easily achievable for early retirement.
It was a big blow when the market dropped and many people had to decide whether to work longer or reduce their income, or both, when their savings total dropped by almost a third.
In contrast, my parents’ generation purchased GIC’s and Canada Savings Bonds and used the earned interest to supplement their retirement income. The principal was left intact for the most part unless an unexpected expense arose. What is wrong with this model? I say nothing at all. I plan to do the same thing.
My investments are dividend-paying stocks instead of GIC’s, but the principle is still the same. I will supplement my retirement income with dividends and, hopefully, the capital will remain as long as possible.
My parents are well into their 80’s so I hope to enjoy at least another 35 – 40 years without having to worry about running out of money. And if all goes well, my children might even receive somewhat of an inheritance. 🙂
How much retirement income do you plan on needing?