I’m filling in for Sara for a few days and I have to say, I’m a little nervous. What do I know about money that I can share with you? Since most of my life is consumed with raising my daughter to be a good person, and that includes someone who is fiscally responsible, I’ll start with what we are teaching our kids about money, and what we should be teaching them. Are your bills in a pile on the counter? A pile that keeps getting bigger and bigger while you ignore it? Are your credit cards maxed out? Do … Continue reading →

Here’s something many people don’t know about me: I was the victim of identity theft. It happened less than a decade ago by a guy I worked with. The FBI, as well as local police got involved because the incident crossed state lines. The guy’s motives were beyond sick and he ended up being tried and convicted. Fortunately, I didn’t lose too much financially, though I can’t say the same for the emotional toll it took, especially since I feared for my safety nearly every day after he was caught, arrested, and then freed on bail. According to an identity … Continue reading →

Are you sick of getting credit card offers in the mail? More importantly, do you ever wonder how these companies are able to track you down in order to offer you a card that could potentially damaged your credit rating? Turns out credit card companies use target marketing techniques and services to keep their business going. In some cases, the method is blatant, such as individuals trying to get you to sign-up for the card on a college campus or near an outdoor Farmers’ Market. In other cases, like the offers that are sent via snail mail, credit card companies … Continue reading →

How low can you go? Do you know your FICO score? The three-digit number says a lot about your money management skills and can make or break you when it comes to obtaining a loan to buy a house, car or boat. Pioneered by the Fair Isaac Corporation, a person’s FICO score falls somewhere between 300 and 850. Numbers above 700 are generally considered good-to-excellent, while scores under 680 are fair and those below 620 are considered poor. To determine your score, credit bureaus consider: 1. Payment history: This factor accounts for 35 percent of your FICO score and consists … Continue reading →

If you are like the tens of millions of Americans, who have racked up large credit card debt since the economy took a dive, you may be wondering how to dig yourself out of the abyss of hopelessness. Many financial experts advise against debt consolidation unless you can find a very low interest rate. Instead, their method of choice is to systematically and aggressively pay down the accounts beginning with the ones that have the highest interest rates. Regardless of what method you employ, financial experts warn that you will never truly be debt free unless you analyze your spending … Continue reading →

We live in a society of instant gratification. We have fast food, instant messaging, we can go through a drive-through for our banking—we have forgotten what it means to wait. Credit cards have taken the concept of waiting and turned it into something foreign. Why wait for something we want? All we have to do is swipe the card and the thing we want is ours. But this kind of mindset is detrimental in so many ways. First off, when we forget how to wait, we forget to be grateful. When everything we want is just handed to us without … Continue reading →

My dad despises credit cards. He always says that using a credit card is spending money you don’t have. In essence, a credit card is a type of loan, which can carry an extremely high interest rate if you are not careful. One of the ways you can keep your credit card balances from ruining your financial future is to examine the reason you use them. For example, if you regularly whip out a credit card to make purchases whenever you see something you really, really want, but really, really don’t have the money for, then you might be an … Continue reading →