Recent Blog Posts
The Nursing Home Debt Nightmare
“Don’t get sick” is both the truest piece of financial advice and the most difficult to follow. Approximately half of adults in the United States have medical debt, and what you should do to address the debt depends largely on whether or not you are still young enough and healthy enough to work. If… Read More »
What Are Charge Offs?
In horror movies, sometimes the scariest sound is silence and the scariest sight is nothing at all. The same thing can be true with debt-related communications. As nerve-wracking as it is to receive constant reminders about debts you can’t pay, whether these reminders arrive by postal mail, email, or phone, it is even scarier… Read More »
Credit Card Debt: Is It Time For An Intervention?
Credit card debt is one of the main manifestations of financial insecurity; medical debt, student loans, and buy now pay later obligations are other common sources of financial insecurity. The majority of adults in almost every U.S. state carry a credit card balance from one month to the next; Florida ranks somewhere in the… Read More »
The Perils Of Renting An Apartment When Your Credit Score Is Low
These days, complaining about how your credit score does not enable you to qualify for a mortgage loan sounds like a humblebrag. If your credit score is high enough to pass muster with the landlords of reputable rental properties, then you are in a better financial position than most people. A low credit score… Read More »
Can You Boost Your Credit Score By Paying Your Utility Bills On Time?
Watching your debts get bigger every month, even though you spend every waking moment on work and gigs is incredibly stressful and frustrating, but just breaking even each month brings its own kind of discouragement. Just barely being able to pay your bills each month is a lot better than not being able to… Read More »
Debt Is For Doctors, Too
The motivations for pursuing an advanced degree are various. Some people do it for bragging rights, or maybe you just wanted to let your nerd flag fly. Almost everyone agrees, though, that doctors, lawyers, and professional scientists can easily get jobs that pay six figures. If you spent years in school to get a… Read More »
Is Another Mortgage Foreclosure Crisis On The Horizon For Florida?
Florida deserves its reputation as a place where people spend money beyond their means, especially on real estate. Who can resist the siren song of Florida thunder echoing through a Star Island beachfront palace or suburban McMansion? Local news reports are replete with tales of people who bought mansions, horse ranches, and luxury condominiums… Read More »
Using Your Inflation Relief Check To Make A Dent In Your Debt
This summer, the state government of Florida sent $450 checks to about 59,000 families. Gov. Ron DeSantis and other Florida officials decided to use the $35.5 million in the state’s budget for the benefit of the Floridian families that it determined needed the money the most. Florida’s leaders have branded the checks as an… Read More »
Dirty Tricks That Collection Agencies Play And How To Avoid Them
The fifth book of Plato’s Republic, written in Greece in the fifth century, B.C. includes a reference to a riddle in which a man who is not a man threw a stone which is not a stone at a bird which is not a bird sitting on a tree which is not a tree. … Read More »
Can You Go To Jail For Failure To Pay A Debt?
Until the 19th century, imprisoning people who could not repay debts was a common practice in many countries. There are even some buildings still standing in the United States that used to be used as jails for debtors. While the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution forbids excessive fines and cruel and unusual… Read More »