9 Money Management Check-Ups to Pencil in While Working from Home

1. Find a better insurance rate

When was the last time you compared homeowner’s or auto insurance rates for the lowest premiums? That’s easy to do nowadays using a site such as Progressive or other insurance providers, where it takes only 5-15 minutes to provide information about your auto and/or home and get a rate instantly.

Try calling your current insurance agent while whipping up a nutritious, work-from-home lunch to find out ways to lower premiums on the insurance policies you already have.

2. Search for unclaimed money

Your state treasurer could be holding money from utility companies, former employers and others that never made it to your mailbox because you moved. Searching for unclaimed money takes only a few minutes. You can even check on your phone when you stand up for your hourly work-at-home stretch.

Search your unclaimed property administrator for your name – and names of deceased relatives if you’re an heir – and apply to receive money owed. ^[1]

3. Create a budget

You can’t work all day without a break, so why not take 5-10 minutes a day to list expenses you can look up easily such as utility bill history, spending patterns on credit and debit cards, how much you typically spend on gas and other expenses so you’ll have easy access to that information on hand when you sit down during non-work hours to create a monthly budget.

4. Apply for a better rewards card

There are plenty of rewards credit cards out there for people with good to excellent credit, many offering lucrative sign-up bonuses. ^[2] With a new card and more available credit, you’ll also decrease your credit utilization ratio (if you don’t carry a balance), which can improve your credit score.

Be careful, though. Don’t take the chance of racking up more debt unless you know you can pay off the balance each month.

5. Look into a balance transfer credit card

Are you paying interest on a high credit card balance that’s going to take months to pay off? When you have 10 minutes to spare in your workday, search for a balance transfer card with an introductory 0% APR for 12 months or longer. Remember, you want to pay off the debt, so no new purchases.

6. Find a way to pay off student loan debt faster

Have 15-20 minutes to spare? Give your student loan provider a call and ask when your debt will be fully paid with your current payment plan. Then ask about ways you can pay it off faster such as larger payments and how that could affect your payoff date.

7. Negotiate with creditors and bill collectors

Now’s the time to call that hospital billing department or collection agency and work something out. You have more freedom to choose the time to call now, since you don’t have to do it on your lunch hour.

And you may be less stressed working from home, too. That’s always a good starting point for wading into potentially annoying negotiations.

8. Ask about ways to cut utilities

Another call you can make during non-peak hours is to your gas, electric and water providers to find ways to lower your bill. You may (or may not) be better off with a level payment plan. Or the utility company may offer rate discounts if you wait until after 8 p.m. to run the dishwasher, washing machine or dryer. ^[3]

9. Double-check when 0% APR financing ends

If you made a large purchase using a 0% APR offer or transferred a credit card balance with a 0% APR offer to save on interest, take five minutes to check online to see when that special APR ends.

With a retail card, you could pay high interest retroactively from the purchase date if the balance isn’t paid off in time. Most other credit cards charge higher interest after the intro period, too.

This article by Deb Hipp was originally published on Debt.com.