American Eagle Credit Card Review
American Eagle Outfitters credit card snapshot Editor’s Note: The AEO® Credit Card and AEO® Visa® Card offers mentioned in this article are expired and are no longer available Retail credit cards can be a great tool for savings-minded shoppers who are loyal to specific brands. Many of these cards offer perks like in-store and online […]
Bank of America Prepaid Card
EDITOR’S NOTE: ALL THE OFFERS MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE HAVE EXPIRED AND ARE NO LONGER AVAILABLE Paying with plastic can be a lot more convenient than carrying around a wallet full of cash and for some people, a prepaid debit card may be the answer. With a prepaid card, you have the ability to […]
BankAmericard® Secured Credit Card Review
The BankAmericard® Secured Credit Card offer mentioned in this article is expired and is not available through our site A solid credit score can go a long way towards helping you qualify for loans and getting the best interest rates on what you borrow. Credit cards are an invaluable tool for building credit because […]
What is a FICO Score and Why Do I Need to Know About It?
How many times have you heard the word FICO thrown around in discussions of personal finance, but not actually known exactly what it meant? You might not even know the difference between FICO vs. FAKO. Hopefully this article can help you gain a better understanding of just how important FICO is to your financial situation. […]
The Simple Reason College Kids Are Losing Out on Thousands in Scholarship Money
College tuition and associated costs are rising at incredible rates, with the cost of attending a degree-granting institution coming in at $20,234 per year according to the National Center for Educational Statistics[1]. The scary part is, paying off such large amounts of debt takes time. You also have to figure, grads will need to take on even more debt as they […]
10 Simple Tactics I Used to Save $18,000 for My 6-Month Dream Trip
When my husband, Andrew, and I got engaged, we knew two things for sure: We wanted to live debt-free and we wanted to travel. We were lucky enough to have parents on both sides who could contribute to the wedding. Between that and careful budgeting, we avoided wedding debt. Travel was a trickier matter. I […]
6 Tips For Making Your Home-Buying Process Easier
Buying a home is a big step for most people, which is understandable. It will likely be the largest purchase you have ever made. Because there is so much involved in purchasing a home, it makes sense to try and prepare as best you can for the experience. The better prepared you are, the smoother […]
5 Real Grads Share Their Extreme Student Loan Debt Payoff Stories: How They Did It
Student loans are an albatross around the necks of millions of Americans. More than 70 percent of today’s graduates walk away from school with debt, averaging about $35,000. We are not immune at any age. Many borrowers struggle with the payments for decades, far beyond the school years. Nearly one million retirees carry a record $18.2 billion in student […]
Store Cards Have a Bad Rap But Can Be a Good Way to Improve Your Credit
Store credit cards, with their typically sky-high interest rates and low credit lines, often get a bad rap. But they aren’t so bad if you know how to use them wisely. Store cards can actually be leveraged to help improve your credit. Even if you are feeling a bit of a holiday credit hangover from […]
7 Steps I Used to Create a Realistic Budget, After a Few Failed Attempts
We’ve all heard before that we need to budget in order to be financially successful. It’s not so easy, though — most of us picture hours of slaving away in front of an out-of-control spreadsheet, or waving goodbye to friends as they go out to do fun things without you. Not surprisingly, most of us […]
Save For an Emergency Fund vs. Pay Off Credit Card Debt: What’s the Right Move?
The “emergency fund” is the one of the most confusing ideas in personal finance, because it means different things depending on the guru you talk to. For some people, it’s a contingency fund, to cover car repairs or last-minute babysitting needs. But those aren’t emergencies — cars just break down sometimes and babies sometimes need […]
How I Broke Out of the Credit Card Debt Cycle: I Took Out a Personal Loan
I have a confession to make. I’ve been guilty of carrying a balance on my credit card from month to month almost continuously since I first started using credit cards. I’ve given up tons of my own hard-earned money in interest charges to wealthy banks who surely didn’t need the money as much as I […]
What’s the Real Cost of a Millennial-Friendly ‘Farm House’?
Once upon a time, the American Dream centered on buying a comfortable home complete with a white picket fence in a quiet suburban neighborhood. While there are still plenty of first-time home buyers who are chasing that vision, many millennials are shaking things up in their approach. Quick Tip: Your mortgage approval depends on your […]
Credit Score Rating
Your credit rating is an important part of your financial life but not everyone knows why or how it can affect you. To really grasp just how significant it is, it helps to know a little bit more about how credit scores and credit reporting work. Take a look at our quick guide to the […]
Pay for Delete: One Man’s Success Story Should Still Be a Warning For You
Reddit user Kyle Gardner (not his real name) recently posted a thread about how he was able to increase his credit score 100 points by using a pay for removal service to make his delinquent accounts disappear from his credit report. Basically, Gardner paid a service to get his bad accounts removed from his credit […]
