Just like the living debt, sometimes old debts can come back to haunt you. This is called zombie debt. The good news is that you can fight this illegal debt collection without having to pay them a penny. I tell you how in the last of my five-part series on credit. What is Zombie Debt? Zombie debt …
If you haven’t already consolidated your federal student loans, then you’re currently out of luck. Due to Congressional budget cuts, most student loan issuers have decided it’s not economical to consolidate federal loans. You can consolidate private loans, but it’s more difficult. Nevertheless, you can find ways to save money on student debt. Here are …
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Yesterday, as you probably heard, the Federal Reserve Bank cut the key overnight interest rate by 75 basis points. The LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate) has also been dropping due to credit concerns. So, you may be wondering what this means for you. The answer is that it depends on how your finances are arranged. Credit cards: …
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There are two kinds of personal loans – the loans you receive from banks and the loans you receive from individuals. For most people, personal loans from individuals take the form of family loans, but they can also be fraught with tension. Now, you can also give or receive personal loans to people you don’t …
This post is my 203rd post at Sound Money Matters! I passed the 200 mark while I was out of town, so I’m celebrating now, instead. June wasn’t a great month for debt reduction, but we got back on track in July and are now 60% towards our $35,000 goal. We also received word that our …
Reader Question: My GF is burdened by enormous student loan debt and it is impacting my life as well. She has a mixture of private and federal loans, mostly private so the income based payment plans and such do not apply. I was suggesting she consolidate them, which would take the current amount and bring it …
The Ins and Outs of Private Student Loan Consolidation Read More »
I’m buying a new car this weekend. My husband and I considered spending our entire emergency fund to pay cash for the car, but then we took a look at the budget and decided it was too big a risk. So, we’ve decided to get a car loan. Rates are pretty reasonable right now for …
First, let me say, that if you must take out a loan or go into debt to take the vacation you want, then you can’t afford it. You’d be better off taking a summer vacation within your budget now and waiting to take the dream trip when you can afford it. You don’t want to be stuck …
So this week we accidentally paid our mortgage twice. Fortunately, we have a large enough cushion in our checking account right now that we could cover both payments without moving money around. Unfortunately, we have only ourselves to blame for this snafu. How We Came to Pay the Mortgage Twice It started like this: we …
These days, weddings happen year round, but spring through early fall are peak wedding season. If you’ve got invitations and save-the-dates stacking up on your fridge, you’re probably already wondering how you’re going to afford it all. Use these ten tips to survive wedding season without going into debt or using up all your spare …
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