From the Editor’s Desk

Andrea Norris-McKnight

April Is Financial Literacy Month

Hello Frugal Friend!

According to a recent National Financial Educators Council survey, the cost of financial illiteracy to the average American was $1,819 in 2022. If you’re looking to save more money in 2023, financial literacy could help you save quite a bit.

Thankfully, April is Financial Literacy Month. I’d like to share three articles with you to kick the month off. The first is a quiz to test your financial literacy, followed by some signs a lack of money knowledge is hurting your finances and then a guide to avoiding financial illiteracy:

• A Financial Literacy Test: How Knowledgeable Are You?
• 10 Signs a Lack of Financial Literacy Could Be Costing You Money
• A Guide to Avoiding the High Cost of Financial Illiteracy

Why not take steps to hold on to more of your money this year?

Keep on Stretching those Dollars!
Andrea

Adult Children and Parents Back Under the Same Roof

Hello Frugal Friend!

Two popular Google search terms bringing visitors to The Dollar Stretcher and After 50 Finances daily are “moving back in with parents” and “when to kick your grown child out.” It seems some adult kids are considering moving home, and some parents are contemplating booting their adult kids out.

For some families, this can be a frustrating experience for everyone involved. Others navigate such living situations with very few problems. So no one-size-fits-all solution can make it easier for adult kids and parents who cohabitate. However, it can help if there are some ground rules and a clear understanding of expectations.

My 23-year-old still lives at home. She never moved out, so we never had to transition to her moving back in. She is a college graduate working on a second degree while working full-time. She pays rent, her car insurance and her phone and buys much of her own food and toiletries. I wish she would clean up after herself more often in the kitchen, but that is my only complaint.

Even though her living with us has never been a problem, when she graduated with her Bachelor’s degree, we sat down and devised a plan for her to get out on her own eventually. We regularly talk about the many expenses she will have and how expensive things are. I’ve taught her about budgeting, how to save money at the grocery store and other skills that should help her launch successfully. We don’t charge her much rent with the agreement that she regularly saves money so she can afford to move out, although I think we’ll eventually have to nudge her out whether she wants to go or not. But I don’t worry, knowing she has built a healthy bank account balance.

Not all adult kids are as responsible as my daughter. I am related to a few who still live at home, won’t hold a job or don’t save a dime so they can someday be self-sufficient. They don’t help around the house. The parents of adult kids like these are the ones Googling “when to kick your grown child out,” and I don’t blame them. It is a challenging situation that can damage the relationship between parent and child.

If you are an adult considering moving home or a parent who thinks it might be time to tell your adult child to find another living arrangement, we have some articles you might find helpful:

• 3 Important Objectives To Consider When Moving Back In With Your Parents
• Moving Back In With Your Parents: 15 Ways To Make It a Positive Experience
• Give Boomerang Kids a Hand Up, Not a Handout
• 5 Tips for Coping With Boomerang Kids
• 10 Reasons to Kick Your Adult Children Out of the Home
• Adult Children Still Living at Home? Getting Them To Contribute

Keep on Stretching those Dollars!
Andrea

Tips for Spotting Fraudulent Shopping Sites

Hello Frugal Friend!

Whether you’re shopping from a site you find through a Dollar Stretcher newsletter, Google or some other place on the web, you should check a few things on any new site you’re considering buying from that might alert you to the site being fake.

• Check the site’s contact information. Does it have a phone number you can call and is the number active? Is the contact email address the same as the company name or does it have a Google or Outlook extension? For instance, customerservice@mycompany.com vs. mycompany@gmail.com. Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo and other “free” email addresses can signify a fraudulent site.
• Does the site contain a lot of grammar and spelling errors?
• Is the cost of the site’s products a bit too good to be true?
• Are all of the links in the site’s navigation and footer active or are many of them dead links or not links at
• Does the site accept credit cards, or are payment methods limited to PayPal, Bitcoin or a money transfer?

Not all of these things mean a site is fraudulent, but a site with all these traits likely means you should not make a purchase. However, if you choose to buy, ensure you are mindful of how you pay. Whenever I shop from a new site, I like to use PayPal. When I was scammed buying the guitar, PayPal refunded my money after I submitted proof that I had filed a report with the FBI (this can easily be done online) and that the merchandise I received was not what I ordered. It can be beneficial to read up on PayPal’s refund policy. Many credit cards also offer buyer protection, but you should confirm this with your card provider. You may not get the same protection when using a debit card or a money app.

It can also help to research any new site on which you are shopping. The site might be legitimate, but the products might be very low-quality.

Keep on Stretching those Dollars!
Andrea