Recent Blog Posts
Debt Repayment Can Wait?
Despite what the Internet says, people under 50 aren’t spoiled or entitled. We are just pushed to the limit with stress. The only way we can survive is by focusing on the things that matter at the expense of everything else. We scrambled day and night until we realized that life is too short… Read More »
Fear Is Your Worst Enemy in Mortgage Foreclosure Cases
What could be a worse end to your dream of homeownership than foreclosure? You place a down payment for the purchase of your house, and then you make payments on your mortgage every month until one financial catastrophe after another strikes, only for the bank to swoop down and take everything you worked for,… Read More »
Is Bankruptcy the Best Solution to Medical Debt?
In more than half of all bankruptcy filings by individuals, the applicants cite medical debt as the main type of debt they are seeking to discharge and the biggest contributor to their financial hardships. Medical debt can strike almost anyone; only the wealthiest people can afford to pay a hospital bill in full when… Read More »
Facing Your Tax Debt After the October 15 Filing Extension Deadline
When you filed for an extension on filing your income tax return back in April, the new deadline, October 15, seemed like a lifetime away. You have been filing for extensions on your tax returns almost every year for as long as you can remember, and every year, you manage to put together the… Read More »
Inside the Underwater Car Loan Epidemic
This month, the CNBC website published more bad news about American consumers and their car loans. We already knew that vehicle prices are beyond almost everyone’s budgets, but good luck getting to work in Florida without a car. Likewise, we already knew that, even when we work around the clock, and our job and… Read More »
Wait Times Between Bankruptcy Filings
Filing for bankruptcy feels like a reset, like accessing a bonus life in a video game, but how many bonus lives do you get? Seeing your debts disappear is exhilarating, or at least it brings you a feeling of relief, but then life goes on. Eventually, the record of the bankruptcy case even disappears… Read More »
Beware of Bottom of the Barrel Bankruptcy Filings
On the first business Monday of every year, employees of the family court order their morning coffee with an extra shot of espresso and head to work to find the biggest stack of new divorce filings that they will see all year. While epic fights during the holidays are the impetus behind some of… Read More »
Will Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Make Your Financial Situation Better or Worse?
The federal Bankruptcy Code includes many different categories for bankruptcy filings, but most individuals who file for bankruptcy protection use chapter 7 or chapter 13. Which category should you choose? The Google snippet answer is that, if you have a steady income and own assets beyond the bare necessities, you should file for chapter… Read More »
How to Improve Your Credit Score When You Are Broke
Google is not known for its emotional intelligence. If you ask Google how to improve your credit score, it will tell you to open one credit card account and take out one non-revolving personal loan and never to use more than 30 percent of the available credit on your credit card. Of course, Google… Read More »
Are Any Budgeting Methods Even Feasible?
When people who make a living giving personal finance advice tell you that you should budget, it feels the same as when physicians in private practice tell you that you should diet. You work 80 hours per week, and another 10 commuting, and you could spend the other 38 on meal prep and traveling… Read More »