Moving from the UK to USA was a smart thing to do. I moved with my family 5 years ago to Houston, Texas. We bought a large house - Very nice people, very nice neighbourhood and much more space.

After a couple of weeks my neighbour brought to my attention a thing that we don’t really have in the UK, a home warranty insurance. I told him that I already have an insurance for my house. He looked at me and said: “don’t be silly, it’s an appliances insurance, for your dishwasher, refrigerator, oven, oh and even for the main systems like plumbing”.

When I googled it, I found a very interesting thing - a home warranty in the UK is very different from a home warranty service in the US. In the UK, the phrase “home warranty” suggests an insurance for new buildings. Usually this insurance lasts for 10 years. In the US, a home warranty plan is a service provided by home warranty companies all over the country. It provided to homeowners as an insurance for the home appliances to save repair or replacement costs.

This idea was new to me, but I thought it was a good one. An insurance plan that will cover the entire systems of the house, like plumbing system and heating or cooling system, so you won’t have to worry about it. I was curious to know more about this subject, and after a couple of minutes I found myself strolling online looking for information.

Some say a home warranty plan in Texas has its advantages.
1. It gives you a peace of mind and spares you a lot of headaches.
2. The cost is relatively low.
3. You can make all the needed repairs (if broken) with one provider only, without coordinating a thing.
4. There is a 24/7 support center.

Home warranties are not for everyone. Those who have fresh, top notch, systems in place, don’t really need them in the first few years…. But I was not in that position at all.

As I always do before making a purchase, I read some reviews about the companies that provides the home warranty service.

Choice home warranty review caught my eyes. It seems like a large company with high credibility and with variety of plans in different prices.

Another review about a home warranty provider that found on my little research was this. It was interesting to find out that this industry was founded in 1971 and there are still companies from back then that exists today. It gave me a little peace mind knowing that fact.

I discovered many things about home warranty in Texas, but what I treasured the most is understanding the fact that there are more than a couple of options available. Finding the best home warranty company paid off big time! Come wintertime, we had 3 urgent repairs to make which could have seriously damaged my financial status, and the home warranty provider took care of them.

At the beginning of the year, many people are reflecting on how they can implement a positive financial change in their lives. Here are some recommended ways that you can save money and still have fun in 2016:

1) Eat In During the Week and Celebrate on the Weekends: While this may sound obvious, you would be surprised how much money you would be able to save by cooking at home on the weeknights. This will free up some extra funds to go out with your friends on weekends.

2) Take the Metro at Times: There are many times on the way to a night out that you do not need a taxi. By eliminating your taxi on the way to your destination, you can at times cut your
transportation cost in half.

3) Consider Not Having a Car: Some cities actually do not need cars. With the popularity of Uber and metro/bus options, you would be surprised how much you would save by eliminating gas, insurance, and car payments from your budget. Not to mention, you would also be leaving a positive carbon footprint as well.

4) Join Loyalty Programs at Grocery Stores: Many grocery stores have coupon programs that allow you to save on what you are already spending. These coupons could be a great asset to your budget overall.

5) Sign Up for Airline Credit Cards: Many airlines have mileage cards that allow you to spend a certain amount on your normal expenses and get a free international flight. By doing this, you will have a free vacation that will not harm your budget.

6) Do Not Forget About Your Change: While coins can be annoying, you may be surprised that they can really add up to a lunch or a coffee with a friend.
7) Avoid Going Out for Coffee for Breakfast: If you turn your coffee habit into a social or afternoon tradition, you will be surprised at how much you can save in your bank account!

8) Rent Your Literature: With the abundance of digital reading devices, you will find that in the long term renting is a viable option that could save you an average of 20 USD to 30 USD per book.
9) Apply for Rewards Credit Cards: Many cards provide a percentage back on what you spend. Why not make a profit on what you already spend on your daily life, right?

10) When Going on Vacation, Buy in Bundles: Many travel sites offer all-inclusive deals including hotel, food, and flights. If you find one of these at the right moment, you may just find yourself unexpectedly in a five star resort for half the price!

Saving money is never a fun concept to consider; however, there are ways to save money and still live life to the fullest in the New Year.

Let`s admit it. Christmas, for devoted Christians, is a time in the year to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ. For others, its simply a time to enjoy a peaceful feast with their families. For almost everybody, its a time to express their tremendous kindness of heart through the act of bestowing gifts upon their families, friends, neighbors and co-workers.

Many allot a significant part of their time and energy towards finding the most appropriate gifts for their respective receivers. These people are fueled by an innate fear, deeply rooted into western society - they fear of being considered as cheap. The problem? they are indeed quite cheap, and dont feel comfortable at all with spending massive amounts their surrounding environment dictates.

Businesses absolutely enjoy preying on these people.

Fear-driven shopping is great, for the salesman, of course. It usually translates into an instant, no-questions-asked, no-haggling-involved, sale. Just look at businesses which are either selling or advertising dietary pills, bed bug “solutions”, and terminal illness “cures” - they make tremendous amounts of money sucking the life of the lifeless.

Second best to fear-driven is impulse buying. Just ask the street hustlers what brings their clients to dark corners, willing to skin off their babies for another hit, and theyll say right off the bat - IMPULSE. If someone wants something and he cannot rationally explain that, he is hooked. You can give the poor bastard what he needs, if you have it, and he'll give you everything he has and beyond.

Third best is what I call cheapster buying. It's for those who want to buy something that looks expensive but in reality, is dirty cheap. They are usually shopping for someone they don't particularly care about - marking another one off a list. You can sell them crap in a box as long as it appears fancy.

So here are my thoughts on that:

1. If you don't particularly care about someone, just skip him. Creates some discomfort at first but gets you off at a better status quo next year.

2. If you insist on getting someone a present, make the minimal amount of effort and spend whatever others are spending. You don't need to spend more than that, and it's probable you can afford to spend as much as your coworkers.

3. If you have decided to cheap out and buy very inexpensive gifts, at least don't try to shop for inexpensive stuff that looks expensive because it never does. If you're buying something for 20 quid, where you know it should cost at least 50 quid, in all probabilities you are buying something of poor quality.

Instead you can always find inexpensive stuff which is personalized, funny or plain cute.

4. If you genuinely cannot afford Christmas presents, keep your head high. There's not shame in that. It's just a custom, nothing more. Those who are familiar with your situation will be sympathetic. Those who aren't would honestly don't care (do you remember who bought you what last Christmas? I bet you don't).

Welcome to my blog. My name is Matt. I want to help everyone with advice in regards to personal finance. My focus is on financial products you can find outside of bank.

If you do the following activities as per your bank's recommendation, and don't look sideways for better opportunities, you are not maxing out on your saving.

Here are a few examples of things you can do outside of banks:

- Borrowing money - besides Payday loan companies that have a different functionality than the bank loans people usually take, there are many other alternatives.

The focus of my blog will be on peer to peer lending which is a very sustainable option, and for some, will be preferable to bank loans.

Another topic I will focus on are grants, social lending, and crowd funding.

- Investing money - again I vote for Peer to Peer investing, that allows you to act as a bank (to some degree), and do what banks do with your money (after taking a big chunk of it) which is peer to peer investing.

Other means of investing I shall cover include private investment companies, equity investment, crowdsourcing investmens, and anything I can find OUTSIDE of banks that will have higher returns on your money and shall not feed the monster.

- Transferring money for remittance or business. There are plenty of FX firms that serve this purpose much better.

- Credit cards - there are credit card offer that are better than what banks can propose you.

- Bitcoin and alternative coin as mean of

a. investing
b. shopping
c. remittance transfer

This is only a selection of the topics I want to cover, and I have much to say about.

About me -

Matt, 31, PR Officer for a financial data website, an enthusiastic blogger, that hopes to participate in the senior Olympics, when he's old enough to do so.