debt
Top Financial Leader Thinks Second Wave of Foreclosures Coming July 1
“We have a wave of foreclosures coming after July 1, which may make the first wave look small by comparison.” – Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT)
Earlier this week, Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, expressed his less than enthusiastic financial forecast for the coming months during a Securities [...]
How Much Were Your Closing Costs?
Do you remember closing on your first home loan? You sit down in a small room with your realtor, the seller, the seller’s realtor, and a title agency. The agency plops a huge stack of documents in front of you and one by one, you sign your paychecks away. If you are [...]
A Tipping Point to be Free From Broke
I work in the IT industry and it’s a true fact that I am currently making an income that is below both the median income for my industry as well as the median income for my area. Why am I not crying myself to sleep every night and fretting about how I am going [...]
Can I Save My Home?
As we all sit around, glued to our bank accounts, waiting for our stimulus check, the country is hurdling towards an unknown that won’t officially be settled until July. Once the magic “R” word comes out, I would imagine that there is going to be a new shock to the system as a whole. [...]
My Credit Card Interest Rate Raised for No Reason
Credit card companies are coming under fire lately, and in our opinion, deservedly so. Credit cards of all kinds are now taking advantage of the 10 pages of fine print you agree to when signing up for a new card, which gives them the rights to basically do whatever they wish to your interest rate. [...]
Use Credit Card Rewards Programs to Save for Retirement
Participating in your employers 401(k) match program allows for a great way to accelerate your retirement savings, but have you ever considered using your credit card rewards program as a means to save? Although rewards programs are all over the map in their offerings, certain programs present a great way to add to your future [...]
Investing in Real Estate vs. Stocks – Which Is Best?
For years, the United States Government has encouraged citizens to become homeowners, primarily with tax incentives like deductions from mortgage interest, mortgage points, and property tax. However, if the U.S. Government was held as a fiduciary by encouraging home-ownership, our tax breaks might subside based off recent numbers highlighted in a recent Washington Post article [...]
Simple Ways to Boost Your Credit Score
Improving and maintaining your credit score is one of the best ways to qualify for lower interest rates, acquire credit, and reduced insurance premiums. However, the majority of us don’t keep a close enough eye on our credit scores and frankly probably don’t understand them. How your credit score is actually determined is [...]
Reverse Mortgages Are Tempting But Costly
Homeowners – especially those creeping closer to retirement – may find that the majority of their savings is in their homes equity. Arguably, this is not the ideal way to prepare for life after work, but to those who rely on their homes equity now, find themselves with multiple ways to spend that equity [...]
United State’s Newest Epidemic – Insufficient Financial Literacy
Opinion -
Congress, regulators, and the financial services industry are pointing fingers at each other in an attempt to pass the blame regarding who is at fault for our current credit crisis. In reality, everyone probably shares a piece of the blame; however, to leave a lack of sound financial literacy out of the equation [...]
My Student Loan Decision
In a recent post, which you can view by clicking here, I broke down a recent offer my student loan lender, Iowa Student Loans (ISL) has presented. Because of the recent turmoil in our credit markets, the Federal Reserve has been cutting the Federal Funds rate, which for many has been a good thing. These [...]
25 Biggest Real Estate Mistakes
Right before I left work today, I read an interesting article at Bible Money Matters, that couldn’t have come at a better time for me. Peter expands upon the notion that purchasing a home, especially for first timers, is a long, complicated and inevitably full of hidden costs. Some of these I had [...]
Jump Start Your Frugality
We hear from a good number of people that they would like to have more money. Not just have more, but make more. They talk about the need to get a better paying job, how they can barely afford to pay the bills and if only they made more money every month, [...]
Rare Opportunity – Interest Rate Cuts and Private Student Loans
MilkYourMoney.com has received an increasing amount of traffic directed to an earlier post titled, “How Do the Federal Interest Rate Cuts Affect My Student Loans,” in recent days and with good reason. The Federal Funds Rate has been dramatically reduced in the last couple of months, which has adjusted borrower’s monthly payments for nearly every [...]
The Importance of Talking About Your Finances with Friends and Family
In a recent Bankrate.com survey they found that 47 percent of survey respondents would rather fess up about their weight, age or monthly mortgage than discuss how much credit card debt they are carrying. There is a certain amount of human embarrassment associated with debt (especially credit card debt), which makes talking about our finances [...]
