The Complete Guide to Haggling in this Economy
From cars to hotels to medical bills, the cost of things we purchase everyday is more negotiable than you might think. Click here for strategies for asking for a discount.
You Need an Emergency Fund!
Have you ever had one of those months? The water heater stops heating, the dishwasher stops washing, and your family ends up on a first-name basis with the nurse at urgent care. Then, as you're driving to work, you see smoke coming from under your hood. Bad things happen to the best of us, and sometimes it seems like they come in waves. That's when an emergency cash fund can come in handy. One survey found that nearly 25% of [...]
Establishing Good Credit in College
Establishing Good Credit in College After you get that first card, how can you build up your FICO score? Good credit opens doors. It is vital to securing a loan, starting a business, and buying a home. When you establish and maintain good credit in college, you create a positive financial profile for yourself that can win over lenders, landlords, and potential employers. Unfortunately, some college students do not [...]
Bad Money Habits to Break
Bad Money Habits to Break Behaviors worth changing. Do bad money habits constrain your financial progress? Many people fall into the same financial behavior patterns, year after year. If you sometimes succumb to these financial tendencies, now is as good a time as any to alter your behavior. #1: Lending money to family & friends. You may know someone who has lent a few thousand to a sister or brother, a few hundred to an old buddy, and so on. [...]
How Retirement Spending Changes with Time
How Retirement Spending Changes With Time Once away from work, your cost of living may rise before it falls. New retirees sometimes worry that they are spending too much, too soon. Should they scale back? Are they at risk of outliving their money? This concern is legitimate. Many households “live it up” and spend more than they anticipate as retirement starts to unfold. In ten or twenty years, though, they may not spend nearly as much.1 The initial stage of [...]