Dollar Matters: Insurance

Posted: 17 Aug 2011 09:00 AM PDT

You probably know that insurance is vital if you want to protect your assets. While it can be painful to make insurance premium payments, it is, nevertheless, an important part of stable finances, since you often can’t afford to pay for catastrophic events. Here are some posts on insurance, from around the web:

How to Compare Health Insurance Plans

Jeff at Good Financial Cents offers a look at health insurance, and provides helpful tips on comparing your options. For Americans, this is definitely a must-read post.

Self-Employment Challenges: Affordable Health Insurance

At Promo Spread, I take a look at getting affordable health insurance when self-employed. It’s important to consider your options, and do your best to shop around.

Life Insurance After Retirement

Do you need life insurance beyond your retirement date? At Cash Money Life, Emily takes a look at the pros and cons of life insurance after retirement. An informative and helpful post.

How much does a life insurance agent make?

Jay at Bankrate.com takes a look at how a life insurance agent is paid. You can learn more about compensation — and become a better financial services consumer — by understanding how it works.

Rental Cars: Should You Buy Insurance?

Kay Lynn at Couple Money explores rental car insurance. It’s important to check to see if you already have rental car coverage through your auto policy — or even due to credit card perks.

Cut Your Home & Car Insurance Costs with 5 Easy Tips!

If you want to learn to save money on your home and car insurance costs, you can use this great advice from Kristina at Dinks Finance. Some practical tips on reducing your insurance bill.

Long-term insurance gets a makeover

Reuters Money takes a look at long-term care insurance. This type of insurance has been the subject of reform and debate for years, and it appears that more changes are coming.

Social Security Shortfall

It’s not exactly insurance, but many of us plan to rely on Social Security to ensure a livable retirement. Invest With Passion takes a look at what the future of Social Security could look like.

Other Financial Posts

Here are a few more posts from around the personal finance blogosphere:

5 Tips to Go from a Job to Self-Employment at Out Of Your Rut.
10 Tips for Investing in Real Estate at Real Estate Pro Articles.
Is the Financial Services Industry Failing African Americans? at Quizzle.
Ethical Investing? at THE Canadian Personal Finance Blog.
Low Interest Rates: Good or Bad? at Canadian Finance Blog.
10 Weird And Unconventional Ways To Make Money at Bible Money Matters.

Money-Saving Side Dishes for Food Lovers

Posted: 17 Aug 2011 04:00 AM PDT

A side dish can make or break a meal. It's also an opportunity to seriously increase the wow factor of the average family dinner. It can be tempting to overspend on this portion of the meal, particularly if company is coming over. But the truth is, trying to get too fancy with side dishes can send your food budget out of control quite quickly. Here are several money-saving side dishes that pair simplicity with flavor, frugality and flair.

photo credit: derivativeofcourse

Spicy Black Beans:

Full of antioxidants at an affordable price, black beans bring protein, color contrast and style to the budget cook's repertoire. One attention-grabbing way to serve them is to mix cooked black beans with a small jar of hot pepper jelly. It's a trick I learned from my favorite Mexican restaurant. They serve them this way on their signature soft taco plate.

String Beans:

Even if you're not growing your own, string beans are affordable and can be used in side dishes ranging from rustic to elegant. Sliced into section and sautéed with garlic and sesame seeds, string beans pair well with mashed potatoes and gravy, along with your meat of choice. They can also be used in casseroles for holidays, or enjoyed whole with veggie dip.

Jewel-Toned Root Vegetables:

Pair peeled and cubed beets with the same form of sweet potatoes in a baking dish. Toss with olive oil and cover with aluminum foil before baking at 375° for forty-five minutes. The result is an earthy, succulent side dish that's jam-packed with color and nutrition. The colors look amazing with a green salad and make a significant statement on a plate.

Savory Quick Bread:

There are many savory quick bread and muffin recipes online, but one of my favorites is beer bread. It tastes great with homemade soup or a spaghetti dinner, and is an affordably fun dinner side to serve when company comes over. You can also put this recipe in a quart-sized canning jar and add a gift tag for a rustic hostess gift.

Cabbage:

There are several ways you serve cabbage. Traditional coleslaw is one of the most popular with the budget crowd, but there are other ways to prepare this cancer-fighting vegetable. Sauerkraut is certainly affordable, and can easily be preserved. During the summer, we enjoy a peanut-lime cabbage salad with dry-roasted peanuts, jalapenos, red pepper, purple onion and cilantro. It's a full-flavored, low-fat dinner side that pairs well with grilled pineapple, pork chops, tuna steaks or tilapia.

For those trying to keep food costs under control, these side dishes provide a significant amount of budget support. All are cost-conscious, relatively simple to prepare and varied enough to suit a number of different palette preferences.

Life Insurance Blog