Reduced bills by $160 monthly

[CharlesSowAV]

Took a hard look at our budget and where we can cut back. Here's what we did.

10.61 - Eliminated our Gerber Grow-up plan for the middle son. We got this when our son was very, very sick. Our other 2 kids had "Portfolio Builders" for 20K worth of life insurance coverage for $45 a year, but because of our son's medical problems he didn't quality for that so we had to get the Gerber "Grow-Up" plan for him to the tune of $10.61/monthly. I was just able to insure all 3 kids for 20K worth of coverage each for $2/monthly at work. :-) (Because of my son's 8 hospitalizations and near death experiences, we feel the $2/month is justified)

27 - Got rid of our full-coverage insurance on our older cars. They're hardly worth anything, so liability only seems like the way to go.

69.29 - Got rid of our AFLAC Accident insurance (I have a different accident insurance through my work) and ICU policy. We still have hospital indemnity (2 different plans) and cancer insurance we feel are valuable for our family of 5.

50ish - Our cell phone bill is 170ish monthly for 2 phone lines. Sprint just quoted us a price of the exact same plan for $75 plus tax monthly. We haven't signed up yet, but that will be a big savings!

So, what do you think? That's over $1000 yearly we'll save!

[CharlesSowAV]

Well, *I* thought it was pretty cool, anyway.

[Bob W]

Pretty cool!   You may want to look into Republic's $10 a month phone plan to add an additional $55 per month in savings.  We have 3 of the $100 phones.   They use the sprint towers,  so if you are cool with sprint you should enjoy paying $23 instead of $75 per month. 

[CowboyAndIndian]

10.61 - Eliminated our Gerber Grow-up plan for the middle son. We got this when our son was very, very sick. Our other 2 kids had "Portfolio Builders" for 20K worth of life insurance coverage for $45 a year, but because of our son's medical problems he didn't quality for that so we had to get the Gerber "Grow-Up" plan for him to the tune of $10.61/monthly. I was just able to insure all 3 kids for 20K worth of coverage each for $2/monthly at work. :-) (Because of my son's 8 hospitalizations and near death experiences, we feel the $2/month is justified)

You do not need life insurance for a child!

You only need life insurance when the loss of someone will create a financial hardship to the survivors.
For example, the loss of a earning parent who has insurance will help pay for maintaing the family at the standard they are used to. Or the loss of a non-earning parent (SAHM/SAHD), will require the family to need extra services (e.g day care etc) which can be paid thru life insurance.

[Blonde Lawyer]

10.61 - Eliminated our Gerber Grow-up plan for the middle son. We got this when our son was very, very sick. Our other 2 kids had "Portfolio Builders" for 20K worth of life insurance coverage for $45 a year, but because of our son's medical problems he didn't quality for that so we had to get the Gerber "Grow-Up" plan for him to the tune of $10.61/monthly. I was just able to insure all 3 kids for 20K worth of coverage each for $2/monthly at work. :-) (Because of my son's 8 hospitalizations and near death experiences, we feel the $2/month is justified)

You do not need life insurance for a child!

You only need life insurance when the loss of someone will create a financial hardship to the survivors.
For example, the loss of a earning parent who has insurance will help pay for maintaing the family at the standard they are used to. Or the loss of a non-earning parent (SAHM/SAHD), will require the family to need extra services (e.g day care etc) which can be paid thru life insurance.

While I generally agree with you, do children's plans continue into adulthood? If so, it might be nice to have a grandfathered plan in the event that they develop an illness that makes them uninsurable.

Also, until you have a good emergency fund, it's not a bad idea to have life insurance on your kids presuming that if the worst happened you might need extended time off from work unpaid.  That policy could allow you to take that time.  Also, cost of burial et al.

Once you have an emergency fund you should be able to self-insure for that though.

[forummm]

Nice going! That savings, continued and invested for 10 years, will probably be like $30,000!

[CharlesSowAV]

10.61 - Eliminated our Gerber Grow-up plan for the middle son. We got this when our son was very, very sick. Our other 2 kids had "Portfolio Builders" for 20K worth of life insurance coverage for $45 a year, but because of our son's medical problems he didn't quality for that so we had to get the Gerber "Grow-Up" plan for him to the tune of $10.61/monthly. I was just able to insure all 3 kids for 20K worth of coverage each for $2/monthly at work. :-) (Because of my son's 8 hospitalizations and near death experiences, we feel the $2/month is justified)

You do not need life insurance for a child!

You only need life insurance when the loss of someone will create a financial hardship to the survivors.
For example, the loss of a earning parent who has insurance will help pay for maintaing the family at the standard they are used to. Or the loss of a non-earning parent (SAHM/SAHD), will require the family to need extra services (e.g day care etc) which can be paid thru life insurance.

While I generally agree with you, do children's plans continue into adulthood? If so, it might be nice to have a grandfathered plan in the event that they develop an illness that makes them uninsurable.

Also, until you have a good emergency fund, it's not a bad idea to have life insurance on your kids presuming that if the worst happened you might need extended time off from work unpaid.  That policy could allow you to take that time.  Also, cost of burial et al.

Once you have an emergency fund you should be able to self-insure for that though.

Regarding life insurance for a child: While we have plenty of savings, my son has a health condition that has hospitalized him 8 times in 5 years. We choose to pay the $2/month to insure him, especially since he would not be able to get coverage any other way (my work HAS to cover him). The great thing is that $2/month covers all 3 children (or however many you have, though I don't plan on adding any more). So we felt it was worthwhile to have, as it gives us peace of mind.

We also have AFLAC and several other supplemental insurance policies. It may not be mustachian, but those policies have paid for themselves over and over with our child needing hospitalization and procedures.