Here at iMoneyCoach we like to help you save money. It’s just something we do in addition to helping people learn how to manage their finances. And relationships are important to us too, especially when it comes to our kids. So today we’d like to share/compare plans for cell phones where you can apply parental controls to keep your kids safe (and keep your bill down!).
Verizon – has an extensive Usage Control available for $4.99 per month per line. You can control how long your child can spend talking or browsing, how many texts can be sent or received and what types of purchases can be made via the phone. You can build lists of both trusted and blocked contacts and can even set times of the day when calling, messaging, and browsing are allowed (trusted contacts can always get through, so if you, the parent, need to call your child during that restricted time you can). Verizon also offers Family Locator for $9.99/month for the whole family, lets you see where each family member is at any time, can set a pre-agreed range and Family Locator will alert you if your child’s phone leaves that area. As an added bonus Verizon offers a free Content Filter so that you can have more control and choose the age-appropriate content your child might see.
Sprint Mobile Controls allows you to set phone usage limits, see who your child is texting with and when as well as what programs they are downloading, and set up an authorized list of contacts. You can also set alerts to inform you of potential problems with phone behavior. Mobile Controls is $4.99 per month per phone, and you must have an Android phone to run it. Another program, Sprint Guardian allows phone use restriction and offers both the Family Locator and Sprint’s Drive First to prevent texting (and any other non-emergency phone use) while driving. The Family Safety Bundle in the Sprint Guardian is $9.99 per month. You can also purchase the Lookout Mobile Security program, which allows you to back up data and protect your family’s phones from harmful web links, malware, and spyware. This costs $4.99 per month or $49.99 for a year-long commitment.
AT&T offers Smart Controls that allow you to limit browsing and data usage, specify times when browsing is allowed, block a list of up to 30 numbers, and limit texting and purchases. Unfortunately, with this plan you cannot specify minute usage or text messaging limits. And unless a phone number is on the “blocked” list, all incoming calls and messages are allowed even during “restricted” times. The program does not work on 4G phones, and if the user of a smartphone, iPad, or tablet is in Wifi mode, the data usage limits do not apply. This plan is $4.99 per month per line. If you have AT&T you may find it of some value, although it does not provide much true security for your child.
T-Mobile – offers Family Features including free message blocking and Web Guard to block certain websites and text, picture, IM and email. Although the service is free it is not very comprehensive. T-Mobile includes tips on how to teach your child phone safety, putting the responsibility in your hands, so you would have to decide whether your child would be protected enough by learning these phone safety tips or if you should go with another carrier to provide more safety.
Kajeet is a service provider that is aimed at providing parental controls as part of each of their contract-free plans. It is $0.99 per locate to locate your child’s phone, but that may be a better option if it is not something you are going to use often enough to warrant the $9.99 fee on some of the plans mentioned above.
There are also programs out there that you do not have to get through your phone carrier to provide some safety:
- TxtWatcher is a free program that allows you to silently record and see your child’s text. It also helps you make sense of secret text codes (like (B) = Beer) and set up alerts for inappropriate content.
- MobShield for smartphones is $49.99 and offers an incredible list of safety features including the message and usage blocking described in the programs above plus a panic button security code that sends a text message to other family members in case of an emergency.
- Kytephone is a free app for Android phones that is kid-friendly, allows you to determine their location, and control who they talk to and what games they play.
Each of the programs we have mentioned offers its own benefits. Choose what is most important to your family and what offers the type of protection you want. Remember that some of these programs can be worked around (it is possible to circumvent data usage limits by your phone provider on the smartphones by using Wifi). Be sure to talk with your child about proper phone usage and your expectations. And share with them that having a phone is a privilege, not a right. You are the parent, and you get the final word on what phone they are allowed to have and what activity would lead to that phone being taken away. We hope that this guide offers some help as you make decisions to keep your family safe!
And if you use any programs not listed here and want to share with other parents, please let us know!
Tags: kids, parents, safety, save money
If you have been reading our blog for any length of time, you know that each area of your life affects your finances. This includes your personal life, which consists of both your physical and mental health. For example, if you are very unhappy and feel depressed, you may start over-eating comfort foods and gain quite a bit of extra weight, then spend money visiting a therapist, which can get expensive (I am not saying therapy is bad, but realize it does cost a lot of money). In that same situation, what if you started working out a few times a week and eating healthier? Both of those would help with the weight issue, and working out releases endorphins that can give you a great mood boost. Then you could skip the therapist and spend that money on something more important to you.
Anyways, that is an illustration of how your personal life is tied to your finances. But today I thought I would simply share some tips and tricks for making your personal life better with the goal of both helping your finances and just plain making life better:
1. Get an exercise trampoline – A friend of mine has a toddler and a baby at home and works 2 part-time jobs, some of the time in an office and some of the time at home. Needless to say, she does not have a lot of time to go work out (she’ll readily admit she’s been trying to get rid of the baby fat left over from carrying 2 kids). When the kids are in bed and she does finally have time, she can either pay for a gym membership or skip exercising because she can’t go out running by herself in the dark and cold. She would also miss getting to watch the few favorite TV shows she still keeps up on. So she had a great idea. She bought an inexpensive $30 trampoline with digital stats display so she can see how much she’s jumped, how long, and how many calories she has burned all in the comfort of her own home while getting to watch her TV shows. Being able to get exercise to feel healthier has helped her both physically and mentally. Being able to save money in the process is an added plus!
2. Learn how to DIY – If you want a good way to boost your mood and give you confidence and ability in the future, learn some do-it-yourself projects. (Alert: This may also help you save money, provided you take the time to learn how to do the job properly!) Learning a skill can be a great mood-booster. For example, suppose you learn how to change the oil on your car yourself. Have you ever done this? It may be messy, and it may take a little time, but when you get out there and do it, you get a sense of pride and accomplishment. You can also use this skill to help other people, friends and family members, which makes them happy and in turn makes you more happy. It’s a great cycle.
3. Pinterest.com for recipes – There are some really great recipes out there to help you eat healthier. Now, eating healthy is not always the most exciting thing, and it can be tough to find recipes out there you like. Fortunately, sites like Pinterest are a great way to find healthy recipes a little easier. And you can share them with friends when you have found some you like. For example, if you know that eating quinoa is healthier than regular pasta, but you’ve tried cooking it and found it incredibly bland, you might find a fantastic black bean and lime quinoa recipe that knocks your socks off on Pinterest. If you need an invite to get started on Pinterest, let me know and I’ll send you one!
Please know that we here at iMoneyCoach value your health, both physical and mental. And we value you as a person. You are special! Don’t ever forget that. If you would like to learn more about our Life Balance philosophy and see how every area of your life affects and is affected by finances, please be sure to check out our Financial Life Training System at the iMoneyCoach University.
Do you ever get tired of your job? Maybe it’s the people, maybe it’s the long hours staring at the computer screen or standing behind a counter, maybe it’s all the things you would rather be doing. Whatever the case may be, everyone can get stuck in a slump every now and then. The key is to get out of that slump quickly and to do an even better job than before.
Your job is obviously tied to your finances. But that connection goes deeper than you may realize. The better you do your job, the more opportunity you have for raises and bonuses or promotions. The more you like what you do, the better you will probably do it, and the more income you can potentially bring home. See what I mean?
When you do a better job, you create more value for your employer. Why did he hire you in the first place? I can promise you he did not think to himself that it would be a great idea to pay someone your salary to sit around and surf the web or chat on the phone all day. No, your employer hired you to do a job. And the more you do, and the better you do it, the more value you create. If you show your employer that you are incredibly valuable, then he will want to reward you and offer you compensation to show that he wants to keep you around. If you don’t create value, not only do you forfeit those things, but chances are there is someone waiting around the corner who would love to jump into your position.
But how can you do better when you hit a slump? The first thing you can do is avoid bad-mouthing your job. If you go home and all you do is talk about how miserable you were all day, you are going to create what is known as a self-fulfilling prophecy. Each day you’ll expect it to be worse than the day before, and I can tell you it will happen if you believe it. Instead, try a little positivity. Now I’m not saying that all of the sudden you will love your job if you sit in the mirror and say “I love my job!” 850 times. Rather, talk about the good things that happened during your day. Instead of sharing with your husband how Matilda in the next cubicle chewed her fingernails all day and drove you nuts, tell him about the compliment you got on the latest report you turned in. You could even try writing a short list every day of 5 good things that happened or that you were thankful for at work. This will help you have a better attitude about going to work.
Sometimes there really are reasons we need to leave our jobs and look for something new. If this is the case for you, then make sure you get into a career that you can be happy with AND that will generate the income you need. Some people think they may be happy doing volunteer work for the rest of their lives (yes, volunteer work is great, I’m not saying it’s not. I’m saying when you are volunteering and your children are starving, then there’s a problem. You need to find balance and make sure you can support your family). You know, there are numerous resources out there for finding a career that fits you. Make sure it is something that you are passionate about and that motivates you. You’ll do much better if you are doing something you enjoy.
So remember, your work is tied to your finances, just like every other area of your life. You can choose to do a great job and pull yourself out of a slump. Get on out there and get back on the horse!
If you do find yourself struggling with your job or a decision about changing careers, be sure to talk to someone about it. Our Financial Life Coaches are always happy to talk with you to find out where you are at and help you make decisions about the next steps you should take.
by Guest Author Grace Ruskin
Credit cards are objects of huge convenience and if they’re used properly, they can help you in effective finance management. On the other hand, if you misuse your credit cards, they can soon become nasty little debt generators that can spoil your personal life. Credit cards can offer you a great danger as they’ll escalate into an unmanageable heap of debt that will soon become tiresome to manage. As there is lack of cash flow in the country, a large number of people are seeking credit card debt relief on their own in order to save their bucks while repaying their debts. If you too are looking for ways to attain financial success, here are some DIY debt relief tips that you may follow.
Change your attitude towards money: In a country where there is extreme shortage of funds, you should comprehend the significance of each dollar and also know the importance of saving. Money shouldn’t be wasted on unnecessary things that you can do without and unless you incorporate this into your daily habits, you can never see things changing.
- Remove all your cards from your wallet: Remove all your credit cards from your wallet and lock them safely somewhere in your home so that you don’t fall into the temptation of using them when you can’t afford to get things with cash. The more you use your cards, the more you’ll drown yourself in credit card debt.
- Track your pennies: If you want to track your expenses, you have to keep a close watch on everything that you’re spending your pennies on. Write down each and every expense so that you may be able to check whether or not the monthly income is more than your expenses.
- Cut spending: Curb your expenses and try to save at least 10% of what you earn in a month. Distinguish between your needs and wants so that you may devote your dollars at your needs and postpone your wants.
- Negotiate with your creditors: When it comes to DIY credit card debt relief, you have to negotiate with your lenders on your own. Tell them about the financial hardship that is keeping you from making the timely payments so that they might put you in a hardship plan through which you can repay with ease.
It isn’t difficult to learn how to erase credit card debt but you have to be financially disciplined and serious about your money. Follow the above mentioned DIY credit card debt relief steps to forget your high interest debt worries.
If you have followed the iMoneyCoach blog for any length of time, you know that we talk about how the different areas of your life are tied to your finances. When we struggle with an area, it is a natural tendency to throw money at a problem like a band-aid. Unfortunately that often either doesn’t fix the problem or makes it worse, and it can create bad financial situations. For example, if you and your spouse are having problems in your marriage, you may spend a lot of money on counselors or vacations or any number of things to try and “fix” the problem. But if you don’t get to the root of the problem, it’s still there and now you’ve spent a lot of money on top of it (i.e. when you go on that vacation it may be nice to get away, but when you get home you still have to deal with the underlying issue that was causing problems to begin with).
So here’s a bit of advice as you work on those relationships: let go of control. That sounds good enough, and maybe you’re thinking that you’re not after control. But deep down, we all have to face it that pretty often we want to win. We want the other person to do or think or be what we want them to do or think or be. And unlike the very many movies and fairytales out there, we need to realize that we can’t change people. You can sure try, but for the sake of your relationship it would be better if you instead worked on making yourself a better person instead of focusing on your spouse, mother, brother, friend, whoever it may be.
There is good news though. You can improve that relationship! Yes, even though that person drives you nuts and you wish they weren’t so self-centered and you just want to give up. You can make it better. You know that saying about how you can kill more flies with honey than with vinegar? You can take the initiative to be pleasant so as to 1. not cause more problems in the relationships and 2. make the relationship a little better. Remember again that you cannot change that other person. That is up to them. But you can be kind and nurture an environment that fosters a better relationship.
Here are 2 things you can start doing today to improve that relationship by letting go:
1. Give honest, meaningful compliments. In Psychology classes you would learn that people naturally like other people more when they feel that that person likes them first. When you compliment someone and treat them with respect, they will naturally feel inclined to like you and thus probably treat you better. Just remember that when you give compliments and kind words to someone that they need to be honest and from the heart. It is easy to see through superficial comments, and lying is never a good way to build up a relationship.
2. Look past the unimportant. There are things about anybody that you could let bother you. The idea is to look past those things and don’t let them bother you. If you get annoyed by someone who seems to be judgmental of everyone else (now that almost sounds hypocritical doesn’t it?), you can let the comments and remarks go. You don’t have to join in on making judgments, but you don’t have to let anger fester when you hear them. I’m not saying that you need to be a doormat or let someone else demean people you know. I’m saying that sometimes there are things that you can overlook or just plain let go.
So get to work on those relationships and see how in the end your finances are able to improve as you work towards living a life you love!
Tags: control, finances, relationships
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