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Home > Possibly new students, Spending, Car Insurance

Possibly new students, Spending, Car Insurance

November 19th, 2010 at 02:05 am

Last night I worked with two new tutoring students, a 2nd grader and a 5th grader. They're both great kids and I think it is going to be lots of fun finding things for them. Their mom insists on them having homework between sessions. My mom had been working with the fifth-grade boy, as well as his two older brothers. But she wasn't able to work with the second grade boy.

Today as I was waiting for my high-school boy, I ran into the mom of two of my mom's former students. (She'd exchanged hair styling for tutoring.) She asked me if I'd be willing to work with her 4 year old daughter and help her get ready for kindergarten. One or two times a week for an hour each. Right up my alley! We'll possibly start in January.

Then near the end of my tutoring session with the high-school boy, his host mom came home. She's the same person who has essentially helped me get most of my students. She asked me if I thought I could tutor someone in Algebra 1. I gulped, and said that I thought I could. I'd have to get some books and such from the library to review, but I think I could do it. As long as I stayed ahead of the student.

Wow! if both of these new students pan out, I'm going to be quite busy! Yay!!

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Grocery Spending:

11/17 -- $8.01 supper, chocolate oranges (2)

I needed something to eat before tutoring my two new students. CVS had the chocolate oranges on sale 2 for $5. I *love* those oranges, and that is a good price. So ... they are put away until Thanksgiving when the challenge is over. Smile

11/18 -- $7.06 bananas, shredded cheese, green onions, frozen veggies, cream corn,

I decided to make the corn pudding for potluck on Sabbath, so needed a few more ingredients.

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Wow! Yesterday I completed a special offer on Swagbucks for comparing insurance offers. (It gave me enough to get my 5th Amazon card, and have 300+ left.) This morning I was inundated with phone calls and emails. On Tuesday I had written a blog post on

Text is how I've managed to stump car insurance agents. and Link is http://www.livingfrugalandsimple.com/2010/11/how-i-stump-car-insurance-agents-few.html
how I've managed to stump car insurance agents. This morning to my utter shock, someone actually managed to beat my rate by $3 (per six-months.) I told them I didn't want to make a decision right away, but would need to think about it. Or, in other words, research the company.

Good thing I did! It has absolutely terrible ratings for customer service and claims handling. As I was talking to the five different people (the ones I actually answered the phone for) a reoccurring statement made was that I had only been insured for one-year. I thought that was really strange since I was pretty sure I'd been with Geico since at least 2001. I also found out that Texas passed a law raising the amount of the mandated minimums.

So I finally went ahead and gave Geico a call. I found out that most agents when making a quote will just automatically put one-year, and that I had been with Geico nearly 12 years. I also found out that I won't need to worry about the increased coverage rate until my May renewal. Then I asked the agent to add roadside service back to my plan. I couldn't remember why I had taken it off my plan in the first place ($6/term). He reminded me that it usually is only available for people with comprehensive, but that since I've been with them for so long, he'd make an exception. It just so happened that he was a supervisor!

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As I was typing this I got a call from the mom of the 4 year old. She and her husband have decided to have me work with their daughter twice a week! Yes! Apparently she has to pass a test to be admitted into the particular Kindergarten. The mom is going to talk to the pre-school teacher to find out what skills need to be worked on. I'm really running the gambit here - working with 4-year olds all the way through college!

6 Responses to “Possibly new students, Spending, Car Insurance”

  1. Jerry Says:
    1290173029

    It sounds like things are fantastic for you on all fronts. Good car insurance deal and a new tutoring student. I hope all this good karma leads to more good stuff for you!

  2. MonkeyMama Says:
    1290176287

    I agree on the car insurance. I have been with State Farm since I Was 16. Not traditionally the cheapest company. When dh and I married, I was shocked that SF was the lowest quote (he had other insurance, and was the first time I shopped around. I really thought we would switch to his insurance - Mercury or something like that).

    These days, I will shop around for quotes once in a blue moon, but I have never gotten a cheaper quote. I knew loyalty and multi-line discounts were a big part, but I am sure we are grandfathered into the fee structure and discounts, too. I hadn't thought about that before.

    (Makes sense - we are grandfathered into everything - our Blockbuster and cell phone rates, etc., are no longer offered - but we always kind of keep things forever and are used to that. New plans are never entirely enticing when you have older/cheaper plans with better benefits!).

  3. Joan.of.the.Arch Says:
    1290177515

    You are smart to try to find out how responsive a company is with claims. I mean-- when you need them, you NEED them.

    How do you coordinate so many tutorees when most are young with roughly 8am-3pm taken up by school? Doesn't everyone want the immediate after-school hours?

  4. frugaltexan75 Says:
    1290188788

    Thanks Jerry!

    MonkeyMama,

    I love being grandfathered in to plans. Before I moved from my apartment, I was grandfathered in to my DSL rate. I was also grandfathered in to my Netflix rate (until I decided to go for the unlimited streaming.) There's been other things too.

    Joan,

    It can get tricky. Smile Luckily 3 of my students are able to tutor during the school day. I don't know what the possible algebra students schedule is yet, but as of January my schedule will possibly look like this:

    Monday - 2:30 - 3:30 - High-School Girl (her study hall)
    3:30 - 5:00 - High-School Boy
    Tuesday - 1:30 - 2:30 - 4 year old girl
    2:30 - 3:30 - High-School Girl
    3:30 - 5:00 - High-School Boy
    Wednesday - 11:10 - 12:30 - High-School Boy (study hall/lunch) 3:30 - 4:30 - 5th grade boy
    4:30 - 5:30 - 6th grade boy (live on same street) 7:00 - 9:00 - 2nd/5th grade brothers
    Thursday - 1:30 - 2:30 - 4 year-old girl
    2:30 - 3:30 - High-School girl
    3:30 - 5:00 - High-School boy
    Friday - 11:10 - 12:30 - High-School boy

    The two high-school students schedules might change in January depending on when their study halls are. If I meet with the college boy, it is usually on Monday or Tuesday immediately after finishing with High-School boy. (They both live with the same host parents.)

  5. dmontngrey Says:
    1290193967

    Wow, nice full schedule but certainly good news!

    You know, I don't think I've ever been to your other blog before. Looks interesting and I'm now a follower. Smile

  6. frugaltexan75 Says:
    1290194642

    It is pretty full, although I'd like to try to get students for M, T, Th evening hours next semester. I'll only have one class, so I think I could manage that.

    Yay! I'm always happy for new followers. Big Grin

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