A weekly roundup of some of the more interesting and helpful personal finance articles I’ve read recently. Seven skills that will help anyone achieve their financial goals (The Simple Dollar). Daily habits that can make all the difference. Watch out for phishing scams in the final weeks of the tax season (Washington Post). In your […]
Benjamin Franklin once said, “It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it.” Financially, your reputation boils down to a three-digit number: your credit score. Each credit-related action you take is recorded, tallied, and turned into this increasingly important number. A good credit score will help […]
My hand-picked list of some of the more interesting and helpful personal finance articles from the past week. Keep calm and step forward (ETF.com). No one likes it when the market falls, but making panicky, emotional investment decisions usually causes more harm than good. 8 most dangerous places to use your debit card (CBS Money […]
People often think of a budget as a ball & chain. In truth, it’s the exact opposite – a tool that leads to great financial freedom. But there is such a thing as a financial ball & chain. It’s called debt. Debt is a drag. It creates stress, keeps us from achieving our financial goals, […]
There’s an ongoing debate among personal finance teachers: Should someone who’s trying to get out of debt pay off their highest interest rate debt first or their lowest balance debt first? In this installment of the Two-Minute Money Toolkit, I’ll introduce you to a simple online tool, Unbury.me, that’ll help answer that question. While the […]
Say what you will about the Occupy Wall Street protesters, but at least they’ve gotten people thinking and talking about our economic mess. While I can’t say I agree with their demands (at least, as I understand them), and I could do without all the name-calling that’s swirled around the discussion, I like the passion […]
I was surprised to read recently that there’s been a strong drop in the number of people turning to credit counseling agencies for help in paying back their debts. After all, plenty of people are still struggling under the weight of too much debt. Gail Cunningham, spokesperson for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, said, […]
Some people seem surprised to learn that I use credit cards. After all, I once had $20,000 of credit card debt. However, I’ve learned from my mistakes and now follow four rules for the wise use of credit cards. Anyone who follows those rules will find that credit cards can work in their favor. Some […]
Your credit score plays an important role in determining whether you will qualify for a mortgage and, if so, at what interest rate. On a $200,000 mortgage, for example, someone with a good score (760 or higher) will pay nearly $200 less per month than a person with a bad score (639 or lower). You […]
I thought I knew a thing or two about making financial mistakes. After all, I’m the guy who once received a $60,000 inheritance and turned it into $20,000 of credit card debt. And it only took me two years! I messed up with money the old fashioned way. I didn’t pay attention to my income […]
