Category: Personal Finance and Money

One of the worst forms of creditor harassment is relentless debt collection calls. For some people, the collection calls become so annoying that they are forced to change their phone numbers or even disconnect the phone altogether. Though the FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act) has laid down clear guidelines…

This post's title was drawn from a recent USA today article which looked at the debt issue plaguing our younger ("Y") generation (20's to 30's) Interestingly, while the recession exacerbated their financial issues the cause is much more due to Generation Y's mindset and poor personal finance habits. There were…

Most people make common credit card mistakes that end up costing them a lot of money. Learn how to avoid these mistakes in this article. If you are not using your credit card correctly and you are making basic credit card mistakes, you are simply handing over money to your…

Many employers, and certainly the larger ones, use a prospective employee’s credit history as a pre-employment screening methodology to judge their character and credibility. The reasoning is that your inability to handle your financial commitments may be a sign of personal irresponsibility, which may spill over into the workplace. For…

In the current financial climate as the economy slows with rising inflation, many of us are under pressure to pay the bills, buy basic household items and meet our day-to-day expenses. Finding spare cash to pay off loans, save for your kids college expenses and to build up a decent…

Debt is a part of life, but when debts careen beyond control to a point where you can no longer repay, filing for personal bankruptcy is a way out. However, before you file for bankruptcy, there are important repercussions you should consider, especially facts related to your life insurance premiums.…

You may have heard the terms good debt and bad debt before, but it is not as simple as labeling credit card debt as bad, and a home loan as good because a home loan can in fact be considered bad debt too. It is important to understand the differences…

President Obama has released his latest budget and one of it's the hallmarks has been an increase in taxes on the "rich". This would be done by reinstating 10-year-old income tax rates of 36% and 39.6% for single Americans earning more than $200,000 and joint filers making more than $250,000…

It's that time of year again when workers have to review and are able to modify their employer sponsored health care insurance and other "fringe" benefits. Unfortunately as I reviewed my health care benefits it seems that my employer is providing less (like excluding Chiropractic benefits) but raising premiums, co-pays…

Despite a strengthening economy many low- and middle-income families are struggling to make ends meet and the last thing these families want to think about is taxes. However, it is precisely at the this time, with all the government stimulus payments on offer covering unemployment to housing that people need…

People who opt to live a frugal lifestyle don’t usually cite their health as a reason that motivates them to save money. However, there are actually a lot of health benefits to choosing to live a frugal lifestyle. Those health benefits are related to stress reduction, food choices, frequency of…

I recently went to a ball game in my hometown and had a great time watching the local team win. However one thing I have noticed for the longest time is the rising price of things sold at the ball games and I am sure at many other sporting events.…

According to a recent journal article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, it is possible to use publicly available data on state and date of birth to predict someone's Social Security number, particularly if they were born after 1988 and in smaller states. The ability to…