A growing economy needs domestic spending to sustain it. In the years of the recession spending fell as unemployment levels rose. The USA has emerged from that recession with unemployment levels back to normal, halved from the peak when the grip was at its highest. Inevitably part of the recovery has been due to improving statistics that has increased consumer optimism. The problem however is
Please welcome Laura to the blog as she shares her journey toward debt freedom. My name is Laura Harris and I am a recovering sloppy spender. “Hi, Laura,” you all say. Thank you. So kind. Five years ago, I was engaged to the love of my life, wallowing in debt, embarrassed by my dwindling savings account, and anxious about our future. Twenty-two radical months later,
This post is a contributed post from USA.gov. See their Financial Self-Defense Kit for advice on how to build financial confidence as well as safeguard your finances. “It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it.” — Benjamin Franklin Your credit history is your financial reputation. And just like your professional and personal reputations, your credit history takes
I’ve seen quite a few articles lately on why you shouldn’t care about your credit score. The authors state that if you just altogether ban debt from your life that your credit score is an arbitrary number that just doesn’t matter. But it just isn’t so. While I’m definitely on the anti-debt (except for the mortgage) bandwagon I think it’s completely ridiculous to not care
With the year quickly coming to a close many people are now preparing to make a plan of attack for their debt. If you’re in the same boat there is hope. While paying off debt is a long process, depending on how much debt you currently have, there are ways to speed it up. Here are some things you can try to pay off your
When it comes to tracking your money the saying “different strokes for different folks” is certainly true. Personally, I’m not very good at tracking my expenses to the penny. I did it once, actually. Usually I set a “guided budget” and even though my numbers may not fit perfectly within my original estimates, I still normally spend around the same amount of money each month.
It pains me to admit it but when I first took an interest in personal finance I hung onto every word that came from Dave Ramsey. I followed his financial plan to the letter. Which, at the time, was a good thing. Even though the only debt I had was a few hundred dollars spread out across a couple of credit cards, I paid those
Over the past year and a half I’ve been working on increasing my financial stability. I’m happy with where I’m at but I still feel like I could be doing a little more. I find that sharing my financial goals and progress keeps me more accountable. Here is how I’ve been increasing my financial stability one step at a time. Pick Up Extra Jobs While
Income tax time is approaching. Around this time of year the internet is buzzing with articles and blog posts on why getting an income tax refund is a bad decision. I was officially self-employed during the last three months of 2013. This year my taxes are going to be a bit different. I’ve already began calculating my best and worst case scenario for my income
One of the financial goals we’ve made is to have our house paid off before age 55, or at least have the capability to pay it off if we want to. I know that as I get older, I’ll struggle to find a job if I lose the one I have now. I anticipate that sooner or later I will lose my job, so much
