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Tamila McDonald is a U.S. Army veteran with 20 years of service, including five years as a military financial advisor. After retiring from the Army, she spent eight years as an AFCPE-certified personal financial advisor for wounded warriors and their families. Now she writes about personal finance and benefits programs for numerous financial websites.

Do This If You’re Priced Out of The Housing Market

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priced out of the housing market

Many people would love to buy a house, only to be stymied by the prices in their LA local housing market. In many parts of the country, home values are moving up quickly, making it harder for prospective buyers to find a suitable property that they can afford. Luckily, even if you’re priced out of the housing market, that doesn’t mean you can’t achieve your dream of home ownership. If you aren’t sure where to begin, here are some things you can do.

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5 Things You Should Know Before Buying a Condo

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buying a condo

It’s normal to be excited when you’re getting ready to buy a condo. The thing is, you don’t want to let your excitement blind you along the way. If you overlook certain critical points, you may end up with issues that are hard to come. Some aspects of condo living may increase your costs or lead to frustration, potentially so much so that you regret your purchase. If you want to make sure you’re happy with your new condo. Here are five things you need to know before buying a condo.

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Are People Still Selling Books on Amazon

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selling books on Amazon

Whether you’ve simply decided to get rid of excess books on your shelves or are looking at selling some books to bring in extra cash. Figuring out where to list your items can be tricky. While Amazon has long been a great place for books, thanks to alternatives like Kindle versions. You may be wondering, “Are people still selling books on Amazon?” If that’s the case, here’s what you need to know.

Are People Still Selling Books on Amazon?

In short, yes, people are still selling books on Amazon. Some people using the platform are actually are full-time booksellers, while others do it on occasion for a bit of side cash.

Now, it’s important to note that the Amazon Book Trade-In program is no longer available. This means you can’t sell books to Amazon directly. Instead, you would need to become a third-party seller, using the site as a platform for marketing the books you want to sell.

How to Sell Books on Amazon

If you want to sell books on Amazon, the first thing you need to do is register as an Amazon seller. The process is incredibly straightforward, and most people can get their accounts launched in short order.

Generally, you’ll need to decide whether you’ll be an individual seller or a professional seller. As a basic rule of thumb, if you’re selling less than 40 products per month, you’ll be in the former category. With more than 40 products, you’d go in the latter group.

You’ll also need to figure out how you want to handle fulfillment. Generally speaking, you have two options. You can either sign up for Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) program or for the Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM) option. Each approach has pros and cons, so it’s best to do a little research to pick the right one for you.

Once you have that worked out, you’ll be able to get an idea of what it will cost you to sell items on Amazon. Each program has its own fee structure, though they are usually pretty simple to understand since you know the type of products you’ll be selling.

With those decisions made, you can create listings. If you’re selling a book that’s already for sale on Amazon, this is incredibly easy. You can use the main listing page as a starting point, filling in details about your selling price, the book’s condition, and other important pieces of information.

The FBM Approach to Selling Books on Amazon

If you’re using the FBM approach, once you’re done, your copy appears on that page within about 30 minutes. If you’re using FBA, you’ll get instructions to send your book to Amazon, and the listing will appear once it’s processed by a fulfillment center, which usually takes up to two weeks, though it can be longer during peak seasons.

At that point, you simply wait for your book to sell. If it’s FBM, you’ll mail it out when a person purchases it. If your FBA, Amazon will handle that part for you. When all is said and done, you’ll have money in your seller account that’ll get disbursed based on Amazon’s set schedule, which usually happens once every one to two weeks.

Have you recently sold any books on Amazon? If so, do you think it’s a smart way to make some money? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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How Much Does It Cost to Drive Across Country?

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cost to drive across county

For many people, a cross-country road trip sounds like the perfect vacation. The issue is, figuring out how much it costs to drive across the country can be surprisingly challenging. As a result, you may not be sure how much to budget for driving-related costs. Luckily, it is actually possible to work it out. If you’re wondering, “How much does it cost to drive across the country?” here’s what you need to factor into the equation.

Route

Traveling cross-country doesn’t necessarily mean you have to take a specific route. Where you start and where you end is up to you, as well as the roads you decide to travel along the way. That means you may end up driving a different number of miles than another person planning a trip across the country simply because your route plans varied.

If you want to estimate your travel costs, you need to outline your route first. This lets you get a solid idea of the number of miles you’ll cover and can help you figure out if there are any route-related expenses you need to contend with. For example, tolls can add up fast, so you’ll want to make sure you either factor in the cost or choose routes that let you avoid them.

Fuel Costs

Once you know how many miles you’ll be driving, you can use your vehicle’s miles-per-gallon metrics to figure out how many tanks of fuel it will take for you to complete the trip. However, you don’t want to count on that figure. After all, you may want to sightsee – causing you to take small detours – or you could end up idling in traffic, which does burn fuel.

Precisely how much extra you want to factor in can vary. However, planning for an additional two fuel tanks isn’t a bad idea.

After that, if you’re going to estimate your fuel costs, you’ll need to do some research. Gas prices vary all across the country, so you can’t rely on your local prices to accurately reflect how much you need to budget. Often, using an app like GasBuddy can help, especially if you want to find low-cost stations along your route. Just make sure to round up a tad, as prices do frequently fluctuate, ensuring you have a suitable buffer.

Accommodations

When you’re driving cross-country, you probably aren’t going to do it all in one go. Instead, you’ll usually need to make some stops, allowing you to get some much-needed sleep each night.

When you’re planning for accommodations, you first need to decide how far you want to drive every day. This helps you identify cities near the appropriate points on your route, giving you places to check out for accommodations.

Additionally, you need to decide on the type of accommodations you’d like. Hotels and motels are classic choices, but you may want to explore Airbnb properties, campgrounds, or other options that may be available. Consider what you’ll need when you stop for the night and use that to help you decide where to stay.

Meals

Cross-country trips take time, so you’re going to do a lot of eating on the road. However, you do have control over how you approach meals, drinks, and snacks.

For example, you could opt for restaurants the entire way. If so, you may need to estimate spending $10 to $20+ per person per stop, depending on the types of establishments you prefer.

However, you can also go in a different direction. If you have a well-made cooler, you could head to grocery stores for food instead. Essentially, you’d pack daily picnic-style breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, allowing you to avoid the higher costs of dining out.

With the grocery store approach, a bit of meal planning can help you estimate your costs. Just keep in mind that food prices do vary nationally, so you may want to check out local store websites near your stops to get estimates.

Ultimately, by looking at the points above, you can set a budget for your drive across the country. Just make sure that you factor in some extra cash for miscellaneous or unexpected expenses, giving you a safety buffer that can ensure your trip is a success even if something you don’t anticipate happens.

Have you ever driven across the country and, if so, where you aware of how much it cost to drive across country? Do you have any tips that can help someone save while driving across the country? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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Are Medical Collections Still Relevant to Your Credit Score?

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do medical collections still affect your credit score

Staying healthy can be surprisingly expensive. As a result, many households end up with large medical bills. At times, the bills pile up so high that paying them seems (or legitimately becomes) impossible, causing the household to default on the debt. When that happens, the account can end up in medical collections. If you’re wondering do medical collections still affect your credit score, here’s what you need to know.

How Medical Debt Impacts Your Credit

Medical debt doesn’t usually have an impact on your credit score as long as you are paying the bill on time every month. When that happens, most healthcare facilities don’t bother reporting the account to the major credit bureaus, so neither the amount you owe nor your payment history ends up in your file.

In some cases, even a late or missed payment or two doesn’t cause an issue. Typically, it’s only when you default on the debt and end up in medical collections that you put your credit at risk.

What Are Medical Collections?

Medical collections are a recovery process designed to help healthcare facilities secure payments on past-due medical debt. In some cases, the standard procedure involves selling the debts to a traditional collections agency. However, larger healthcare facilities may have internal collections departments that essentially serve the same function.

It’s important to note that internal collections teams can differ from the healthcare facility’s regular billing department. However, some may use a blended approach.

Do Medical Collections Still Affect Your Credit Score

Once a medical debt ends up in collections – either internally at the healthcare facility or by being sold to a debt collection agency – the default can end up on your credit report. Once it does, it has a similar impact to any other debt that is past due, including a negative impact on your credit score.

However, unlike traditional debts, medical collections don’t appear on your report right away. All three major credit bureaus have a grace period of 180 days, giving you time to resolve the debt before it ends up on your credit report and impacts your score.

Once the grace period passes, the account appears on your report. At that time, you’ll see a negative impact on your score, including potentially a drop of 100 points or more.

How to Avoid Medical Collections

Usually, the simplest way to avoid medical collections is to make payment arrangements. Many healthcare facilities offer payment plans, particularly for large balances. At some facilities, extended payment arrangements can be set up for free and may not involve any interest.

If you can pay most, but not all, of what you owe, the healthcare facility may be open to considering your account paid-in-full in exchange for that lump sum. This is particularly true if you can pay in cash, as some clinics and hospitals do offer discounts for that.

If you’re a low-income household, you may qualify for financial assistance through the healthcare facility as well. Many larger hospitals and clinic systems do have financial assistance programs available, though you typically have to ask about them directly. Request information about eligibility and, if you may qualify, see what you need to do to apply. With that, your balance may end up fully paid or significantly reduced, making it more manageable.

What to Do If Your Account Is in Medical Collections

If your debt is already in medical collections and is legitimately yours, paying it off is usually your best bet. For internal collections, contact the healthcare facility to see if you can work out payment arrangements. If the debt has been sent to an external collections agency, then you’ll need to work with them.

While paying off the debt won’t remove the account from your credit report, the account details will be updated to show that you ultimately ended up handling it. This can benefit your credit score.

If paying it genuinely isn’t feasible, then you need to do some research. Learn more about the statute of limitations on debt collection efforts based on where you live, as the rules can vary from one state to the next. Additionally, find out what kinds of actions reset the clock, as a seemingly innocuous statement on your end can potentially give a collections agency more time to pursue you.

It’s also important to note that, even when a collections agency can no longer attempt to collect the debt, it doesn’t disappear from your credit report right away. Instead, it can show up for up to seven years from the date the account originally became delinquent, causing long-term harm to your score.

How to Dispute Medical Debt That Isn’t Yours

Sometimes, a medical collections account appears on a credit report even though the debt doesn’t belong to that person. This is normally identity theft or administrative errors relating to the account.

If the medical debt isn’t yours, then you do have the ability to dispute it. Usually, the first step you’ll need to take is to contact the collections agency or healthcare facility. Do this by sending a certified letter and tell them you want them to validate that the debt is yours. Also say that, if they can’t provide validation within 30 days (or whatever is allowed by state law in your area), you want the account removed from your credit report.

You can also go another route. All three major credit bureaus have dispute procedures in place. Through those, you can provide information showing that the debt doesn’t belong to you and request it be removed from your report. However, this approach usually only yields results if you have proof of an error.  Which isn’t always easy to find.

While disputing a medical debt can be a lengthy process, it can be worth pursuing. That way, you can get the illegitimate account off your report. Thus, restoring your credit score along the way.

Do medical collections still affect your credit score to this day? Has there been an impact in your financial life in other ways due to a medical bill going to collections? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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What You Need to Know About Solo 401(k)s

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solo 401k

If you’re looking at retirement account options, a solo 401(k) isn’t always on your radar. However, it could be a good choice for a range of professionals, suggesting you’re eligible to open one. If you’re curious about this retirement option, here’s everything you need to know about solo 401(k)s.

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Every Homeowner Should Have Flood Insurance-Here’s Why!

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every homeowner should have flood insurance

No homeowner imagines being the victim of a natural disaster. A serious flood can be devastating. Floods can damage your home and personal property with surprising speed. However, not having flood insurance can make the entire situation worse. Without the right coverage, your losses may not be covered. If you’re wondering why every homeowner should have flood insurance. Here’s what you need to know.

What Flood Insurance Is and What It Covers

Flood insurance is a type of coverage that is separate from a traditional homeowners insurance policy. Anyone who lives in an area with flood risk can potentially purchase this supplemental policy.

It specifically focuses on flood-related damage caused by natural disasters, as well as other causes. Usually, flood insurance covers damage in specific categories.

First, flood insurance will commonly handle structural damage to your home. This includes the actual building, as well as some related systems, like electrical, plumbing, and HVAC.

Second, flood insurance may cover your personal property. This includes damaged furniture that isn’t salvageable and similar household items, as well as clothing. However, this isn’t always part of the starting flood insurance policy, so you may need to request it be added if you want this protection.

Now, certain high-value items may not be fully covered by base flood insurance. This can include art, antiques, jewelry, firearms, or electronics above a certain value. In those cases, you may need flood insurance riders to add that coverage, just as you do with traditional homeowners policies.

Additionally, it’s important to note that every policy is different. Before you make assumptions about your coverage, review your flood insurance policy carefully. Ask questions about what is and isn’t protected, and request add-ons if needed to provide you with the level of protection you’re after.

Why Homeowners Need Flood Insurance

Typically, flood insurance fills a gap that many homeowners have in the primary policy. While homeowners insurance does cover some types of water damage under the hazard insurance segment of their policy, flooding events usually aren’t classified as the covered kind of hazard. As a result, damage caused by a flood may not be covered, leaving you without financial support to repair your home or replace your personal property.

Essentially, if you don’t have flood insurance, you’ll have to handle all related costs out of pocket. For most homeowners, this simply isn’t feasible. Flood repairs to a structure can be incredibly costly. Similarly, replacing all of your damaged personal belongings could take thousands and thousands of dollars.

It’s also important to note that homeowners with mortgages who live in higher-risk areas may be required by their lender to have flood insurance. This is especially true for anyone who uses government-backed financing sources, as there are federal laws requiring the coverage for properties they finance in high-risk zones. However, other lenders often follow suit, even if there isn’t a legal requirement.

The mandate for flood insurance through a company like this Minneapolis water damage restoration service, is similar to them requiring homeowners insurance in general. It ensures the property is protected should a flood event occur and, since the lender is technically the owner until you pay off the mortgage, they have a vested interest in protecting its value.

How to Find Out if You’re in a High-Risk Flood Area

If you want to see if a property is in a high-risk flood area, the simplest way is to use the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Flood Map Service Center. Simply enter your address into the search bar, and the site will display a map that identifies your home’s risk level.

You may be able to turn to other state and local resources as well. State emergency management agencies may have flood maps, for example, so they can be worth checking if you find the FEMA results lacking.

Should Low-Risk Property Owners Skip Flood Insurance?

No, homeowners in low-risk areas shouldn’t skip flood insurance. Even if you live in a low-risk area, going without flood insurance means you aren’t protected should the unexpected occur.

Low-risk doesn’t mean risk-free. Many natural events are unprecedented. But even if they weren’t deemed likely, your base homeowners policy won’t cover the related damage if it is excluded in your policy.

Additionally, risk levels can change over time. An area that wasn’t previously flood-prone can suddenly become so for a variety of reasons. Climate change, land development, and similar shifts can alter water flow through regions, turning areas that previously didn’t experience flooding into moderate or high-risk areas.

Where to Get Flood Insurance

If you need flood insurance, you can call your homeowners insurance company to see if they offer it. Some insurers have flood insurance riders, while others may require a separate policy for that specific kind of coverage.

However, not all insurance companies offer flood insurance. If that’s the case, you may not be able to secure flood insurance through your homeowners policy provider. Instead, you’ll turn to the National Flood Insurance Program, a system run by FEMA, that can help you find a provider that covers homeowners in your area.

Do you think every homeowner should have flood insurance?  Have you decided to risk it and go without flood insurance? Has flood insurance ever saved you from financial hardship? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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What Is a PACE Loan and Are You Eligible for One?

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PACE Loan

When you want to update or upgrade a property, finding the right kind of financing options is often essential. For some property owners, PACE loans may be the perfect fit. However, it won’t work for everyone. PACE loans have unique benefits. Yet, they can only be used under specific circumstances. If you are wondering what a PACE loan is and whether you’re eligible for one. Here’s what you need to know.

What a PACE Loan Is

A PACE loan is a property improvement financing option that focuses on energy efficiency-related upgrades. PACE actually stands for Property Assessed Clean Energy, denoting the purpose of the program.

There are two segments of the PACE program. First, there are commercial PACE loans that focus on business properties. The second option is a residential PACE loan. This is also known as an R-PACE, that is available for qualifying residential projects.

With a PACE loan, the property itself serves as collateral, similar to what you’d see with a renovation mortgage, a cash-out mortgage, or other options many people pursue to finance improvements. However, with a PACE loan, you can finance up to 100 percent of the renovation costs, all without having to cover a down payment or go through a traditional underwriting process.

Plus, unlike those alternatives, the PACE loan is tied to the actual property, not the property’s owner. Since the loan is associated with the property, the remaining balance can be passed from one owner to the next if the property is sold.

Additionally, how a PACE loan is paid back also differs. Instead of the typical monthly payment approach, PACE loans are subject to property assessments. The assessments occur regularly over the course of a set amount of time, usually between five and 20 years, depending on the life of the improvements involved in the project.

The assessment functions similarly to a property tax. Once the assessment is complete, the property owner pays the identified amount. Failing to do so usually carries consequences that are a lot like what you encounter if you don’t pay property taxes.

PACE Loan Eligibility Requirements

The primary eligibility requirements for a PACE loan are two-fold. First, you have to be a property owner, not just a renter or lessee. Second, the updates must be energy efficiency improvement-related. This can include a wide range of project types, including solar panel installations, boiler upgrades, and LED installations, as well as for certain disaster preparedness purposes, like earthquake seismic retrofitting.

It’s also important to note that your project may need to meet a minimum cost requirement. For example, you typically have to borrow at least $2,500.

However, a few other factors may disqualify you. For example, being behind on your mortgage or property taxes, a recent bankruptcy, or liens or judgments on the property could prevent you from securing PACE financing.

Otherwise, you have to be in an area with an active PACE program. The PACE loans are usually administered by a local municipality or through a partnership between a government entity and a private company. They aren’t broadly available, particularly for residential property improvements.

It’s also important to note that you may have to choose from a select list of approved contractors. You’ll need to review your local PACE loan program to determine if only specific contractors are permitted.

How to Apply for a PACE Loan

If you want to apply for a PACE loan, you’ll need a loan servicer in your local area, as that may be the only entities you can work with based on how the programs are usually structured. Since these are administered at the local level, some of the application processes may vary.

However, applying tends to be straightforward and not completely unlike securing other kinds of renovation financing. You’ll need to provide details about yourself – including credit and wage-related information – as well as information about the property and your proposed project.

Once you submit that information, your eligibility is determined quickly. After approval, the funds are disbursed for the qualifying project in accordance with program rules.

Have you ever gotten a PACE loan? If so, what was your experience like? If not, do you feel it is a good option for you? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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Can an Employer Charge Fees to Turnover Your 401(k) After You Quit a Job?

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Fees to Turnover Your 401(k)

Nobody wants to pay fees to turnover your 401(k). When you quit a job, you usually lose access to the various benefits your former employer provides. However, while the company may manage your 401(k), that doesn’t mean you don’t have a right to the funds. In some cases, you may even be required by your former employer to move the money out of their program.

While you may have the option of leaving your retirement savings in place, there are also benefits to rolling over your 401(k). However, you may be worried that your former employer will charge you a fee to make that happen. If you want to ensure you’re fully aware of the potential costs, here’s what you need to know.

Can an Employer Charge Fees to Turnover Your 401(k) After You Quit?

Generally, no, a former employer can’t charge a fee if you are rolling over your 401(k) into a new retirement account after quitting. They have to turn over the balance that belongs to you. At a minimum, this means your personal contributions, along with any vested matching funds from your employer.

Now, if you have a match from your employer but it isn’t fully vested, then the employer can keep that money. Until it vests, it isn’t technically yours. So, while losing the unvested match may feel like a fee, it actually isn’t.

It’s also important to note that you may have to contend with fees when you roll over your 401(k) from the company or program that is managing the receiving retirement account. All retirement programs come with costs, and they can vary from one program to the next.

However, there usually isn’t any fee to actually complete the rollover. Instead, the new account will come with unique maintenance and administration fees, commission costs, or similar expenses.

You may also have to deal with taxes or withdrawal penalties. When you are not of retirement age and choose to cash out your 401(k) when you leave your former employer, you’ll have to deal with both. If you are of retirement age, then you’ll bypass any early withdrawal penalties but will still owe taxes in most cases.

If you choose to roll over your 401(k), you may or may not have to pay taxes. That will depend on how the rollover is managed, as well as the kind of account receiving the funds.

Can You Keep Your 401(k) With Your Former Employer?

If you like the 401(k) program your former employer offered, keeping it in place may seem like a good idea. However, whether that is an option depends on the company’s program and policies, along with other factors.

With a 401(k), the employer is responsible for the program’s management, and that comes with costs. As a result, they may not want to shoulder that burden for former employees. Instead, they require them to transition the money out of that account and into another one, such as by rolling it over into a new employer’s 401(k) or an IRA.

Mandating that you move the funds is more common for 401(k)s with contributions made – and earnings achieved – during your time with that employer totaling to less than $5,000. It isn’t actually the balance that matters; it’s the amount of money added to your account while you were working for that company.

For example, if you rolled over a previous 401(k) worth $9,000 and then contributed $4,000 to the account while working with the new employer, your balance would be $13,000. However, only that $4,000 is factored into this decision process.

Contribution Factors

With contributions below $5,000, the expenses associated with managing the account may seem unreasonable to them, and they are perfectly within their right to tell you to move the money.

If the contributions are below $1,000, the company might just cut you a check for the balance. In most cases, this is something you want to avoid, as you’d end up owing taxes on the money and may also have to pay an early withdrawal penalty, depending on your age. Luckily, you usually have 60 days to transition the funds into a different kind of retirement account, giving you a pathway for avoiding the fees and taxes.

If the contributions are between $1,000 and $5,000, your former employer may even initiate an involuntary cashout. With this, they transition your money to an IRA of their choice, suggesting you don’t take other action. To avoid this, you’ll need to handle a rollover within 60 days, giving you the ability to choose the destination.

For accounts with contributions above $5,000, you can typically keep the money in place. This can be beneficial if there is a unique aspect of the program that you can’t get in your new employer’s plan or with an IRA. For example, if the fees are far lower than what’s common or there are investment options that are hard to access otherwise, it could be worth leaving the savings in place.

However, you won’t be able to make new contributions to a former employer’s 401(k) plan. Instead, it will simply exist as-is, only growing based on the investments themselves.

What It Means to Rollover a 401(k)

Rolling over a 401(k) simply means transitioning the money into a different retirement account. It isn’t a withdrawal, as you won’t actually gain access to the cash. Instead, it’s shifting the held assets straight into another similar retirement plan.

Generally, you have two options for rolling over a 401(k). First, if you have a new job with an employer that has a 401(k) or similar retirement plan, you might be able to roll over the money into that account. This would allow you to centralize and consolidate your 401(k) savings into a single place, which could make it easier to monitor and manage.

Second, you could roll over a 401(k) into an IRA. With this option, you may get access to a wider range of investment opportunities, have the ability to choose a company with a better fee structure, or, if you already have an IRA, consolidate some of your retirement savings.

With a 401(k) to IRA rollover, you will be responsible for overseeing the account. If you decide to roll over your 401(k) into your new employer’s program, they’ll handle most of the management, though you may still need to set asset allocations or make similar decisions.

Should You Rollover your 401(k)?

Whether you should roll over your 401(k) depends on several factors. First, it may not be optional, particularly if your contributions are under $5,000.

Generally speaking, if your 401(k) contributions are below $5,000, it’s wise to plan for a rollover. There is a decent chance the company may require it, so it’s best to prepare for that situation. However, if you like your 401(k) offerings and the company is fine with maintaining your account, you can always opt not to initiate the rollover.

If your balance is below $1,000 and your former employer would cut you a check for that amount, rolling it over is more urgent. If you don’t, you’ll owe taxes, as well as an early withdrawal penalty if you aren’t of retirement age.

For contributions above $5,000, then you’ll want to look at the virtues of the program. If it has a low fee structure, unique investment options, or other benefits you can’t get elsewhere, then you may want to leave it in place. If not, then exploring your rollover options is wise, as it may let you pay less in fees, access investments you can’t tap currently, and more.

Have you ever had an employer try to charge a fee to turn over your 401(k) after you quit a job? If so, what did you do? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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Are You Financially Prepared to Return to The Office?

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financially prepared to return to the office

Now that vaccine rates are rising, and restrictions on gathering are loosening. Many professionals will soon be returning to their traditional workplaces. While the idea of transitioning back may not seem like a big deal. As many people have years and years of experiencing going to an office. That doesn’t mean there won’t be an impact. Returning to the office will come with a financial burden. If you aren’t ready, it can be hard to start shouldering again. If you want to make sure you’re financially prepared to return to the office. Here’s what you need to know.

The Costs of Heading Back to the Office

Often, you can’t determine if you’re financially prepared to return to the office without first understanding the costs you may face. That way, you can estimate how they may impact your budget, giving you a chance to make adjustments in advance.

Commuting

One of the biggest shifts in your expenses will involve your commute. Since you won’t be working from home, you’ll need to tackle transportation costs that may not have been a part of your life for some time. This can include increases in fuel expenses, tolls, parking fees, and wear-and-tear costs if you drive your own vehicle. If you use public transit, then you may need a new pass or to factor in the price of tickets.

Lunch, Drinks, and Snacks

Another point you may need to cover is food and drinks. While you can certainly pack a lunch to bring with you and only drink beverages available for free at work, meals and drinks out may also be part of the equation. If you don’t plan on bringing your own, you need to factor in these costs.

Wardrobe

Additionally, you may have to spring for new clothing. You’ll need to look at your wardrobe to determine two things. First, you need to see if your clothes are in good repair. Second, you need to find out if they still fit.

Many people saw their weight change during the pandemic, as being stuck at home altered activity levels and may have also led to diet changes. Since you want to look professional when you head back to the office, you need to make sure your clothing is the right size for you now.

PPE

Finally, you may need to cover some PPE costs that you didn’t have to shoulder before. This could include a higher quality mask, particularly if you aren’t yet vaccinated, and your job doesn’t allow for six feet of separation, as well as personal stashes of hand sanitizer, gloves, or other items that may not be available through your employer.

Child Care

If you have children at home, you may need to make child care arrangements for when you head back to the office. This is especially true if your children aren’t school-aged or if schools have not reopened in your area and your kids aren’t old enough to take care of themselves.

It’s also important to note that these costs may be higher than they were pre-pandemic. Many child care facilities have seen their costs rise and may still be dealing with restrictions about the number of kids who can be on-site at a time. As a result, they might have had little choice but to raise their prices in order to sustain their operations.

How to Financially Prepare to Return to the Office

If you want to make sure that you’re financially prepared to return to the office, your biggest step is to review your budget. Estimate the cost of any expenses you’ll have to cover once you start heading to a workplace and see if you can cover them comfortably. If not, you may need to cut back in various areas, ensuring that any costs that you can’t avoid can fit into your budget.

Additionally, for any items you need to buy – like clothing or PPE – shop around. Discount retailers like TJ Maxx or Ross Dress for Less may help you stretch your budget, or you may find solid options from thrift stores.

It’s also wise to keep a close eye on your food and drink expenses. Dining out is convenient, but it typically costs far more than bringing your own meals, snacks, and beverages. If you’re worried about safety, consider investing in an insulated lunch box or thermos if you need to keep items cold or hot. That way, you don’t have to store your food or drinks in areas that all employees can access, which may give you more peace of mind.

Finally, try to make room for saving. Keeping a solid emergency fund and your retirement on target should be priorities. While you may have to scale back while you regain your financial footing, try to stay committed to setting aside as much as possible. That way, you can maintain your savings habit.

Do you have any tips or insights that can help people financially prepare for a return to the office? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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