Category: Blog

Why Pay to Borrow Your Own Money?

Many people look at tax refund time as a second Christmas—the time when the government returns to you a chunk of money that had been withheld from your paycheck. Some people are so anxious to spend the money that they apply for a tax refund anticipation loan (RAL) so they can get the money as […]

Are You Spending Too Much on Groceries?

How many times have you checked out at the grocery and were surprised by the total? It’s easy to let our grocery bill get too big if we’re not careful. Yes, food prices have gone up for certain items lately, and we’re making more meals at home now than eating at restaurants, but there are […]

5 Resolutions to Trim Spending and Reduce Stress

With the new year approaching, now is the perfect time to make a resolution to save more money. These five tips will help you trim spending, beef up savings and reduce stress. 1. Pay it off.Pay off your credit cards to save money. Let’s say you have a $2,000 balance at 18% interest. If your minimum […]

Don’t Fall for Gift Card Scams

Gift cards are extremely popular to give as well as to get. They’re a convenient way to treat someone to a meal at their favorite restaurant, purchase an item of their own choosing at a favorite store, or simply to give them cash to use anywhere the card is accepted. Unfortunately, scammers also love gift cards […]

Watch Out For Phon(e)y Messages   

Few of us can imagine going a day without using our cellphones. For many people, it’s become their preferred method of communicating and doing business. Scammers take advantage of our reliance on cellphones and use them to trick us into giving them our personal information. It’s important to be aware of the kinds of scams […]

5 Tips for Managing Stress in the Sandwich Generation

About 25% of adults in their 40s and 50s belong to the sandwich generation—the population of middle-aged adults who are taking care of their children and at the same time providing some level of care or support to their elderly parents. Mothers in particular feel more stress trying to balance caring for their young children […]

How to Fill Out a FAFSA Correctly

Each October, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid or FAFSA is made available for the next school year. This is the form that families fill out to apply for federal grants, loans, and work-study funds for college students. It is administered by the U.S. Department of Education, which provides more than $150 billion in […]

Take These Steps with Your Student Loans

All good things must come to an end—and that applies to the upcoming end of federal student loan payment relief measures, which paused federal student loan debt collection and reduced interest rates on federal student loans to 0% during the moratorium.  For those with government-held loans, the relief options provided a record-long “breather.” Now it’s […]

Avoiding Postmortem Identity Theft  

Ghosting. Grave robbery. Impersonating the dead. Any way you say it, postmortem identity theft is scary, and unfortunately common. Postmortem identity theft happens when a scammer obtains information from an obituary or stolen death certificate, or buys personal information about a deceased person off the internet. With the stolen information, thieves open fraudulent credit accounts […]

Understand How Mortgage Rates Are Determined

Every potential homeowner wants to get the lowest interest rate for their mortgage loan, but not everyone understands the factors that go into determining your mortgage interest rate. In addition to your credit score, lenders will use the following factors to determine your interest rate: Home Location: Lenders will often offer different interest rates depending […]