If you follow such personal finance gurus as Suze Orman, Dave Ramsey, and many others, you’ve heard them tell you repeatedly to pay down your home mortgage as quickly as possible. Whether by making an extra payment each year, or by adding extra money to each payment, they want you out of that debt as […]
Article after article on personal finance exhorts you to create a budget and a financial plan. You’re finally (reluctantly) willing to do it. But if you’re gonna do it, you really want to get it done already.
Credit card debt in the US topped a trillion dollars, $1.08T as of a few weeks ago, according to debt.org. That’s over 26% of the $4T-plus total US consumer debt. On average, each household with credit card debt owes nearly $8400 on their average of four-plus credit cards. If you’re part of those statistics, do […]
Mortgage Accelerator Offers Are Bad for Your Financial Health When I bought my first home, the mortgage servicer included a pitch with each monthly statement. They called it a “Mortgage Accelerator” offer, which painted a really pretty picture. If I signed up, they would bill me half my monthly payment every other week instead of […]
Has the shame of never having “enough” to save prevented you from saving at all? I feel your pain. In fact, if you and I went toe to toe in the Shame Olympics, you’d be lucky to get the bronze. I’m a guaranteed gold medalist in any shame game you’d care to play. That’s why […]
I’m sure we would all like to have a little more money, right? Think of the things you could do with an extra $50, $100, $200 a month (or more). Treat yourself, save up for a vacation, or anything that comes to mind. But what is the easiest (and legal) way to get some extra […]
“I’d give you a straight answer about what [my debt] is, but to do that I’d have to look straight at it. And I don’t know if I’m ready to do that, or if I ever really will be.”–Eva Hagberg Fisher, “I’m Definitely in Debt, But I’d Rather Not Say How Much,” Buzzfeed It’s hard […]
I was on the phone with the roofing company, giving them the humiliating details of my life (as one does), awaiting credit approval, when, just like that, Katy-who-was-helping-me came back on the line. “You’re approved for $19,000,” she said brightly. “Um. Okay, like…just like that?” “Yep, you’re all set. The roofers will come out on […]
It sometimes seems like savers can’t get a break these days, at least not at their local brick and mortar bank. Interest rates have been low for quite some time. And while that might be great news if you’re in the market for a loan, it’s not so great news if you’re looking to squirrel […]