Debt Management Blog

Calling in the Experts: When to Seek Professional Money Help

You don’t have to be a millionaire to need professional financial help.  Just about everybody can benefit from some professional guidance when it comes to things like saving, investing, and planning for the future.  But if you’ve never worked with a financial professional, the whole idea can seem a...

Raising Financially Savvy Kids: A Guide for Parents

Being a parent is a full-time job — and it’s not an easy one, either.  In addition to providing basic necessities such as food, shelter, clothing, and so on, parents are also  in charge of teaching life lessons and generally helping kids grow up to become good, caring, and...

Need To Build Credit? Consider a Secured Card

If you’re trying to build (or re-build) credit, a secured credit card can be a helpful tool.  A secured card works a lot like a traditional credit card:  With a secured card, you pay a security deposit and have access to a line of credit that you can use...

Creating a Budget? Avoid These Common Mistakes

For the first few days, budgeting can be sort of fun:  You make a plan and sort your day-to-day expenses into neat little categories.  You review your fixed expenses, and you decide how much you’ll spend on things like groceries and the occasional nice dinner.  You happily imagine how...

Considering Retirement? Here are 5 Things to Think about

If you’re getting close to the finish line in your career, you’ve probably spent some time daydreaming about the things you’ll do when you don’t have to spend your weekdays in the office.  It can be fun to daydream about retirement, but if you want to make sure that...

Billing Errors: How to Find Them – and How to Dispute Them

Okay, be honest: How often do you really look at your bills?  I mean really look at them, as in, go through each bill line by line, scanning for errors and/or charges that don’t seem legit?   If you’re like most people out there, the answer to that question...

The Do’s and Don’ts of Mobile Banking

If you’re like me, you remember the days when you had to swing by an ATM machine or call your bank’s toll-free 1-800 number to verify your account balance or make sure a check cleared.  That seems like a lot of effort, but it was still faster than going...

How to Build Credit Without Using Credit Cards

If you read this blog regularly, you know that I’m a big proponent of responsible credit card use.  I believe that, when used as intended – as in, you don’t overspend and you pay your balance off in full each month – credit cards can be helpful and useful...

9 Money-Saving Tips to Try This Week

Trying to save a little extra money this week?  Searching for easy ways to curb excess spending? Want to make your next paycheck last a little longer?   Well, look no further.  This week, I’m sharing some of my favorite ways to save money and cut spending.  The best part? ...

Three Creative Budget Ideas: Waterfalls, Envelopes, and Nicknamed Checking Accounts

Budgeting isn’t for everyone.  Yes, you read that right.  But let me explain.  What I really mean is, the standard budget – as in, the fussy, spreadsheet-style, track-every-penny type of budget – doesn’t work for everyone.  Fortunately, there are several budget options out there, and I try to make...