Category: Finances

13 Ways to Save $13 a Day & Become a Millionaire

There’s a common excuse I hear from my 20-something friends and family members: “I can’t save for retirement. Between student loans and bills, I don’t have enough money to save. I’m young and I have plenty of time to save for retirement.” I understand it, I’ve been there, living paycheck to paycheck, just struggling to

2012 Student Loan Debt Update and 2013 Goals!

Happy New Year everyone! So, 2012 is over, and what a crazy year it was. I’m not sure how it passed me by so fast. The last half of the year was very busy for me between a lot of extra work at my day job (including some overtime) plus a side project eating up

Sallie Mae’s New Online Pay System – Pay Extra on your Principal

I don’t know when Sallie Mae started this, but I didn’t discover it until February. Previously if you made extra payments beyond your monthly amount due and you wanted it applied to specific loans, you had to make all of your payments by check with written instructions telling them how to apply the extra amounts.

2011 Debt Update and 2012 Resolutions

Happy New Year everyone! Last year sped by so fast, and although I do not feel like I made much of a dent in my students loans over the year, I did hit a major goal and my networth is slowly increasing. So as I’m reflecting on the past year and making personal resolutions, I

How to Check your Credit Report and Score for Free

With all of the bank research I’ve done the past few weeks, I’ve thought a lot about my credit score and how it effects this whole process. It’s kind of silly how a number defines whether or not you can open an account, interest rates and all sorts of other things related to your financial

5 Ways To Stay Optimistic & Productive While Unemployed

The economy is in the dumps, the unemployment rate seems to always be rising, and everything kind of sucks. It sucks even more if you’re unemployed, especially for a long period of time, which is becoming more and more common for people in the United States. I’ve been unemployed for 7 months since my temporary

Upromise: Earn Money For College or Pay off Student Loans

I’ve mentioned Upromise here and there, but never really talked about it much, so I figured this is the best time to do a post, especially with many people going back to school this fall. College is expensive. Even more expensive in hindsight if you have student loans to pay off. Upromise gives you many

Paying a Little Extra on Student Loans Really Adds Up

I haven’t written too much about my personal finances on this blog in the past year, and that’s mostly because I’ve spent the majority of the year unemployed, so it’s been very tough. One of the biggest strains on my finances is the immense amount of student loan debt I amassed before I graduated from

Smart Ways to Spend Your Tax Refund

Tax day is two weeks away, and hopefully you’ve file by now. If not, get on that! If you are lucky enough to receive an income tax refund this year and not owe any money to the IRS, then congratulations! Everyone enjoys the thrill of receiving a big check or extra money they didn’t plan

Tricks to Pay Off Student Loans After College

If you went to college, it’s pretty likely you’re one of the 2/3rds of student who graduated with an average of $23,186 in student loan debt. I’m one of them, and my debt amount is way more than the average. Now that I’m out in the real world, I have the challenge of repaying that