Overwhelming debt? Creditors calling? Missed payments? Notice of foreclosure? If you can answer “Yes” to any of these questions, you know stressful is when finances are tight. Luckily, you can take action to bring some financial relief. Everyday Expenses Be smart about your smart phone: Many smart phones can be tethered to a laptop or  … Read more

It is ultimately the consumer’s responsibility to know their rights and obligations when using any banking product or service. Everyone knows to “read the fine print,” yet that’s exactly what people fail to do, blindly walking the path of financial ruin. Foreclosures, credit card negotiations and short sales are often the result of years of  … Read more

The first banks did something fairly novel and simple: they provided loans. If you were a startup merchant and you wanted to make your fortune, you would go to a lending house for the money to supply your ships with the provisions needed to get to Africa, Italy or India. Of course, you would have  … Read more

You have some money saved, and you’d like to invest—what do you do? Countless volumes of information and entire TV shows are dedicated to this, instead, there a few basic guidelines to consider before making an investment. Only invest what you can afford to lose: the average American household isn’t overly capitalized. Often, the money  … Read more

The government isn’t the only ones experiencing problems with balancing their budget. More of us are becoming overburdened by debt with each passing month, and many are experiencing financial setbacks that could take years for a recovery. The increasing debt load among college students and young professionals is a growing trend and many are learning  … Read more

Most Americans are holding significant amounts of debt. That doesn’t include things like electricity, phone bill, gasoline, or food.  The debt that most Americans are being burdened with are mortgages, credit cards, and vehicles. Mortgage payments and credit card debt can consume our paychecks. Unfortunately, most of us don’t get raises that allow hammer blows  … Read more

You are perpetually short on cash. Many people are. You, however, are tired of having that tightening knot in your stomach as each mortgage payment gets harder to make. It’s hard telling your son or daughter ‘no’ when they need things like books and clothes, and even harder that you always have to deny the  … Read more

Need financial help? The truth is, many of us choose to live in the cozy but foggy realm of fiscal white lies. Instead of taking a precise account of what we spend and what we earn, we let discretionary spending go forth at its own discretion. Besides being unable to save, our bad discretionary spending  … Read more

Let’s be honest—much of America is in the financial tanks because of poor financial planning. When you look at your finances, what do you see? A house payment?  A car? Dusty, old college debt?  Our collective financial struggle is the product of excess and fiscal imprudence. Before you consider big refinancing options, like your mortgage  … Read more

For years you have been carrying credit card debt and strapped with a car payment. But you finally ‘made it,’ and all the once faraway promises of your chosen career are beginning to come true. Is being a fiscally responsible person your whole life, the first imperative of your newly liberated financial agenda? Pay off  … Read more