Author Archives: Jay Butchko
Getting the Right Personal Loan Takes Strategy, Patience, and Luck
One of the symptoms of financial long COVID is that most of the pieces of mail that arrive in your mailbox are either bills and past due notices or advertisements for personal loans. At certain times of year, there might be the occasional holiday greeting card in the mix, but other than that, everything… Read More »
Closing on a Home Mortgage Loan Is a Marathon, Not a Sprint
Applying for a home mortgage is an awkward in-between stage, to say the least. On the one hand, you are so close to the dream of homeownership that is beyond most people’s reach that you feel like complaining about your financial situation would be in poor taste. On the other hand, until you walk… Read More »
Preparing Documents for Your Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Filing
The most successful New Year’s resolutions are the ones you start working on in the old year. People who are really serious about losing weight adopt healthy habits starting now, to whatever extent they can, instead of procrastinating until some apparently auspicious date. The agony of smoking the tenth to last cigarette in what… Read More »
Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Can Be a Relief If You Are Between Jobs
You have probably heard a lot of conflicting information about filing for bankruptcy. Filing for bankruptcy gets rid of all your debts, except when it doesn’t. The bankruptcy court can sell your possessions, except when it can’t. Everyone has the right to file for bankruptcy protection, but filing for bankruptcy costs money. Once you… Read More »
Does It Make Economic Sense to Lease a Car?
It is usually cheaper in the long run to pay for assets on a permanent basis than a temporary one. If you make mortgage payments on a house for five years, your monthly payments will be less than if you were to make five years’ worth of rent payments on the same house, and… Read More »
The Worst Legal Problems That Debt Can Cause
Debt is a major source of stress for most people. People worry constantly about debts they cannot repay, but really, what is the worst that can happen if you do not pay your debts? You can’t go to debtors’ prison, but you can face some unpleasant consequences. People choose to address their debt because… Read More »
Programs to Help Miami Residents Afford Homeownership
Improving your credit score requires a lot of work over a long period of time, so most people do not do it merely for bragging rights. Someone out there loves attention enough that they might tweet the number “700” to everyone they know on Twitter, just to rub it in their online friends’ faces… Read More »
How Do Your Parents’ Debts Affect Your Finances?
The personal finance industry is fond of reminding us that wealthy people have a different attitude toward money than their counterparts with fewer resources, and this manifests itself in the different financial behavior of the members of each income bracket. Being knowledgeable about the long-term consequences of your financial decisions is admirable, regardless of… Read More »
Frequently Asked Questions About Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
The vast majority of bankruptcy filings by individuals take place under chapter 7 or chapter 13 of the bankruptcy code. The shorthand descriptions of the differences between these two types of bankruptcy filing commonly used in the media do not tell you all the details about how the case will go if you file. … Read More »
Frequently Asked Questions About Broward Home Buyer Purchase Assistance
Personal finance experts who tell you that all you have to do if you want to be able to afford to buy a house is to get your act together are grossly oversimplifying the matter. Buying a house is a huge financial undertaking, and most people are only able to do it through a… Read More »