Trying to figure out how to pay for college will keep any parent up at night. Unfortunately, mistakes made while applying for financial aid could cost your child thousands of dollars in lost aid. Consider the FAFSA (Free Application For Federal Student Aid). The FAFSA is your gateway to obtaining money to pay for college. While its intention is to determine eligibility for … [Read more...]
Housing Horrors: 10 Things to Know When Buying a Home
Three months ago, my husband and I finally realized a long-term dream and purchased a home. We were thrilled. For the past two years, we've been looking for homes, either falling in love with a home we couldn’t afford or finding a slew of dumps and duds within our range. Well in May, it seemed like everything was finally falling into place. We found a house—a turnkey home … [Read more...]
Money Monday: The Average Wedding Approaches $33,000. Is It Worth It?
Getting married is becoming more expensive than ever. That’s the conclusion of The Knot 2015 Real Weddings Study conducted by the wedding planning website TheKnot.com. According to the study, couples spent, on average, $32,641 for a wedding in 2015. This represents an all-time high for wedding spending. Worst yet, the figure doesn’t even include the cost of a … [Read more...]
Don’t Have a Investment/Savings Plan? Here’s My Effortless Trick to Grow Your Nest Egg
We all want more money, but we all also HATE hearing (reading) about how important it is to budget. The same tired messages of ‘pay yourself first’ and ‘save for a rainy day’ are downright maddening. Ugh. The truth is, saving can be hard. I mean honestly, how on earth am I really supposed to take care of my living expenses, pay for my adult responsibilities (here’s looking at … [Read more...]
How To Avoid Getting Fleeced By Your 401K Plan
Imagine if someone stole $1,000 from you? I'd bet you'd be rather hot. But what if someone took $155,000. How mad would you be then? Unfortunately, that’s exactly what’s happening to millions of hard-working Americans. The culprit is excessive 401(k) fees, which siphon vast sums of money away from your retirement savings. According to Demos, a public policy research … [Read more...]
Money Monday: How to Keep Financial Infidelity From Ruining Your Marriage
Few people can readily forgive a spouse's romantic infidelity. But millions of Americans are tolerating a marriage transgression that’s just as divisive. Financial infidelity is undermining more marriages than we realize. According to a new poll commissioned by CreditCards.com, nearly 13 million Americans could be hiding secret bank accounts or credit cards from their … [Read more...]
Money Monday: Here’s Why You Can’t Always Trust Your Financial Advisor
Trust. It's something that you expect when hiring a professional. You trust your doctor will "do no harm" and keep you healthy. You trust your lawyer will go to the mat to defend your interests in court. Yet, you might be surprised to know, unlike a doctor or lawyer, your financial advisor is not always required to put your best interests first when offering you financial … [Read more...]
Don’t Let a New Car Shatter Your Financial Dreams
Don’t feel alone if you flinch at the size of your monthly auto loan payment. According to a new report from Experian Automotive, our monthly car loan payments have reached an all-time high. The average American paid nearly $493 a month for their new vehicle. But the news gets even worse. As car prices have climbed dramatically, we are finding ourselves borrowing more than … [Read more...]
How to Make Sure Your Marriage is Built on the Right Foundation
Do you remember the story of the three little pigs and the wolf? The first two pigs built their houses with straw and sticks quickly then partied because they were lazy. The third pig worked hard to build his house with bricks. The wolf watched as the first two pigs sang and danced and commented that they were easy prey so he went to the first house of straw and blew it … [Read more...]
4 Unusual, Yet Lucrative, Ways to Increase Your Income in 2016
If you are living from paycheck to paycheck, you may find yourself coming up short for the monthly bills. Since charm, your degrees, and your fabulousness won't keep your gas, heat, and lights on, you may have to resort to some extreme measures to make those ends meet. Here are four unusual yet viable ways to increase your income in 2016. Rent Your Style: Maybe one of the … [Read more...]
7 Couponing Tips for the Non-Couponer That are Guaranteed to Save You Money
When I’m checking out my groceries at the self-serve lanes, I always get my feelings hurts. The computer always asks me, “Do you have any coupons?” And I always press the button that says no in defeat. Each time this happens, I shake my fists at the screen—I feel like I’m missing out on savings. Each time I exit the supermarket, I promise myself that I would start couponing— … [Read more...]
Money Monday: The Price You Must Pay to Get Your Financial House in Order
Spend less than you earn. Save, invest, or pay off debt with what's left over. This may be the most crucial concept in the universe of personal finance. It’s deceptively simple, but oh so difficult to master. Part of the reason is that it’s extremely difficult to control spending. Let’s face it, most of have absolutely no clue as to where our money goes. We can’t recall … [Read more...]
Can I Trust Him With “My” Money? 2 Ways Sharing Bank Accounts Can Help Heal Trust Issues
“We have a bank account for shared housing expenses, but we each have our own separate accounts.” That’s how a friend described her and her husband’s financial arrangement. I didn’t think much about it until I overheard a second-hand conversation from a divorce attorney. He said that couples should share bank accounts, because separate accounts lead to a breakdown in trust. … [Read more...]
Is Their Marriage Doomed If a Woman Goes Half On Her Engagement Ring?
One of my coworkers ran up to me one Monday morning to share some good news. She told me one of her friends got engaged over the weekend. She even showed me a picture of the engagement ring. I thought it was beautiful. Since I didn’t know the friend, I didn’t have much more to say. As I was about to return to my computer screen, my friend shared some more information. My … [Read more...]
Money Monday: How A High School Teacher Became A Millionaire Before Age 38
The Book: Millionaire Teacher: The Nine Rules of Wealth You Should Have Learned In School The Big Idea: You can beat the financial pros and become wealthy by simply investing in low risk, low cost index funds. The Author: Andrew Hallam worked as a high school teacher but didn’t let his teacher’s salary hamper his dreams of attaining wealth. By controlling his spending … [Read more...]