Monthly Archives: February 2025
Collections Debt and Your Credit Score
All overdue debt payments are stressful, but collections agencies are the most unpleasant creditors out there. When they contact you by mail, they print their notices in garish colors. They offer several options for lump sum payments and installment plans, but as often as not, they tell you nothing about how you incurred the… Read More »
The Mature Debtor’s Guide to Reducing Your Expenses
Some people tell you that your 50s are the most stressful time of your life. You are a source of support and protection for your parents, when they used to fulfill this role for you; your happy memories of better days with your parents become bittersweet, and your painful memories become even more painful. … Read More »
The Frugality Paradox
These days, it seems like everything is performative. People are loudly outspoken about their political views and quick to judge others for speaking up about their views. Families post videos of themselves doing mundane things like eating jelly beans, visiting a mall food court, or counting the days until Christmas by hiding the Elf… Read More »
A Tax Credit for the Rest of Us
You know you have officially joined the middle class if you know the difference between a tax deduction and a tax credit. A tax deduction is a qualifying expense that the IRS subtracts from your taxable income before assessing how much you owe. With a tax credit, the IRS calculates how much you owe… Read More »
An Emergency Fund for the Rest of Us
Personal finance experts have been saying for decades that most Americans cannot afford a $400 emergency expense, such as a home or vehicle repair or a medical bill. If you have ever been able to afford an emergency expense, your financial situation has only gotten worse since then. You can barely afford necessities like… Read More »
What Would a 10 Percent Credit Card Interest Rate Cap Mean for You?
When you first got a credit card, swiping the card at a retail store or restaurant or entering your credit card information in a phone app to make a purchase felt like a thrill, but that was a long time ago. Once you saw how quickly the balances would climb up, you made it… Read More »
High Credit Card Debt, Low Credit Score
As consumers’ financial problems in our society get worse and worse, fretting about your credit score is starting to seem like a high-class worry. Everywhere you look, there is aspirational content about borrowing strategically so that you can improve your credit score and apply for an affordable mortgage, but this content makes the false… Read More »
Keeping Your Car in a Bankruptcy Case
Filing for bankruptcy can simplify your life by making your eligible debts disappear quickly, as in a chapter 7 case, or by combining them into one monthly payment, as in a chapter 13 bankruptcy filing. It can also make life more complicated, and not only because it stays on your credit report for a… Read More »
Should You File for Bankruptcy With or Without a Lawyer?
Most New Year’s resolutions fall apart quickly, especially those where you resolve to make permanent changes to which you can recommit on a daily basis or those where the outcome is largely outside your control. For example, most of the people who resolve to never eat junk food again do not make it past… Read More »
Debt Does Not Have to Define You
You have probably never told anyone how much debt you are in. If you did, they would probably understand perfectly why you are in debt; it is the same reason that everyone, including your interlocutor, is in debt, namely everything costs money. Teachers and journalists lament that no one reads anymore, but well-written stories… Read More »