So, I always think of Karen, as the day gets lost in trivia. Mine, or my friends'.

What kinds of things affect the average person in an average month?

• * Insurance - Each time another policy comes up for renewal, our first inclination is to just pay it (at once, or in installments). Do you also get sticker shock every time you see the new increase in your premiums? You, too, eh? So, you just have to call the insurance company/agent and see if you can do something to bring down those miserable rates.

  But there are so many policies! You haven't noticed? What can you do about them? Let's see....

  • Auto - Review your liability coverage. You don't need $300,000 coverage if your whole net worth is only $30,000. Cut that! On the other hand, you've only got $15,000 for uninsured motorist. Because of the way the coverage is named, you always thought it covered the jerk who hit you, right? Uh, uh!!! It covers YOU, if the jerk who hit you doesn't have coverage. Raise that as high as possible.

  • Renters - Most apartment dwellers don't bother, thinking, if anything happens, we'll just stick it to the building owner. You fool! This coverage is actually quite cheap - and can really come through for you if your apartment is flooded when the random pipe bursts, burned out, whatever...and need to get temporary residence somewhere or replace your belongings...including the contents of your computer.

  • Homeowners - Sigh. I used to think Californians who did not carry earthquake insurance were totally irresponsible. But, after the Northridge quake standard coverage got to be so skimpy, the deductible has gotten larger than most people's equity in their homes. So, why pay for coverage if you can't afford to cover the shortfall? These days, you need to make sure that your policy does cover things like building code upgrades, replacement value, separate structures (garages, gazeboes and other things that don't start with 'g's.). Does my policy cover people who come to visit or to do work at the house? Gardeners, pool guys, housekeepers, nannies,...) You've GOT to read that policy! What about the door-to-door solicitor whose nose gets hit when you slam the door?

  • Health - Sure, you're the lucky one. You've got coverage at work. Yeah, but you pay a few extra bucks, for part of the policy, or your spouse, or your child. Oh, you mean, you really are spending money on the coverage, but it's one of those things that comes right out of your check, so it's not like you're really paying for it, right? Give me a break! And you could have had all the payments and your medical co-pays deducted from pre-tax dollars, but you missed the enrollment period. Or you didn't understand it. Or you just didn't bother to read the papers. [shrug] Just more annoying trivia.

    Well, my friend, you've just cost yourself about 30% of those dollars!

    Thirty percent I say? Read it and weep. Between IRS taxes (20%), state taxes (5%), Social Security (6.2%), Medicare (1.45%) and local payroll taxes (1%), yup - OVER 30%! DO THE TRIVIA!

    No health insurance - that means you're periodically stuck searching for some. You often kill hours looking, calling, surfing online. While you may end up deciding not to get any, it's still cost you half a day. Was that on your boss's time?

  • Life - (Oh, this is where some of my clients are going to really yell at me.) There is no excuse to ever get term life insurance. STOP IT! Each time you pay one of those term policy payments, you are plunking down a bet that you will die - THIS MONTH. Because if you don't make next month's payment, there is no policy. So, you have to die NOW to make the term policy pay off. Stupid, isn't it?

    On a whole life policy or life annuity-type product, you build up savings. You build up money that you can draw out in case you don't die for a very, very long time. Heck, with some of those policies, you can start drawing money and, if the telemerase technology works and your lifespan increase by an extra 50-100 years, they'll have to keep paying you as long as you live. Anyway, you still have to remember to make your payments - at least for the first several years, until the policy starts to pay for itself through internal dividends.

    Want to know a secret? Your insurance agent makes some really big bucks on these policies, right up front. So, there is some room to negotiate the cost.

    Surfing - I just did a little test on Google.com to see what happens if I look for online quotes. The word 'insurance' results in over 25 MILLION hits. Searching within those results for 'quotes', there's still over 1 million. Narrowing it down with 'online' leaves over half a million hits. So, naturally, with an over abundance of choices, you're just going to blindly pick one of the sponsored links on the top or side of the page. Or a major name you recognize. There's just so much information overload, that you really can't find the absolute best rate. Me, I call my broker and have him do the shopping for me. Sure, it costs me just a tad more. But, I don't mind if he makes money - my time is worth a LOT to me. And, when I need help, he's there to take care of the problem.

  All that, and we've only covered insurance trivia?! Sheesh, there's so much more.

• *Credit Cards - You've got statements that you must examine to make sure you haven't been charged for things you didn't buy. And, of course, there's that charge you don't really recognize, but it kind of tugs at the corner of your memory. Iiiittt'sss sort of familiar, but... and the only way the credit card company will research it for you is if you sign a statement swearing that you didn't make that charge. (I think that is CRIMINAL of the CC industry!) Why can't you just call them and ask them to pull the original charge information for you? They have it on record. I'm a merchant. I KNOW that I put a detailed, but brief description into the field for all my clients' charges. If they CC could simply pull it up on the screen and read it, there'd be no reason to go through the inconvenience and embarrassment of perjuring yourself. But, you DO have to ask. See if you can just get the phone number of the merchant and call them before you sign any paperwork.

• * Phone Bills - Don't even get me started here! Have you looked at your phone bill? Or do you just give up and pay it? Have you gotten at least 5 calls today from AT&T or one of those pesky solicitors? I've reached the point where it's not even worth the trouble to ask them politely to remove my name. It's much easier to hang up quietly. But, they do interrupt my work and train of thought, really, yes, at least 3 times, practically every day. No wonder so many people screen their calls.

  Don't be discouraged. Though, do look at your phone bills. And if they are low (under $40.00), stop switching carriers. If they are high (over $100.00), you really must look at your alternatives. The first free moment I have, I'm making copies of bills for each of my phone numbers and phone services and shipping them off to my friend, Jacqueline Freeman, at Excel - If you see the kind of philanthropy she inspires among her team, I'd turn over most of my phone contracts to her, even if she kept me even, without saving money.

  Personally, I like to deal with real people. (I'm still hanging on my 800 contract with National Comtel because, despite their name, I can call and talk to the same person in the office every time. Or even the owner. I don't go through voice mail hell.)

Oh, there's more trivia that eats up the day. But, then, I'd eat up the day writing about it. Wouldn't I?

You too, stop wasting your time, get back to work!

Your TaxMama,