Category: budgeting

Spending: Where Travelers Go for Cosmetic Surgery

By Emma Patch From Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Traveling abroad for lower-cost cosmetic procedures remains a burgeoning industry, and hundreds of thousands of Americans do so each year. Most cosmetic surgery is elective and not covered by insurance, and it costs a pretty penny. Travelers having cosmetic surgery should heed the advice of their doctors regarding…


How to Get Your Credit Score Above 800

One of the best things you can do for your finances is to have a good credit score. Having a good score will help you get some good deals on credit, but the best deals come to those with credit scores of 800 or more. Along with it, you can enjoy the 800 credit score…


It’s Not as Difficult as You Think

Dear Dave, I’m single, and I make $35,000 a year. Next year, my salary and bonuses should be around $50,000. I have a little over $30,000 in debt right now, including student loans, and I’m not sure how I’ll be able to keep up with bills and everything else right now if I have to…


What You Need to Know About the Bill of Rights for Renters

The federal government has taken a step toward providing better protection for renters. President Joe Biden has released a document called a Blueprint for a Renters Bill of Rights. The white paper is merely a proposal that presents some principles, guidelines, and goals that laws in the future might contain to protect renters. In its…


Construction Loans—What You Need to Know

Are you thinking about building a home? Unless you have the cash on hand, you will need financing. Building a home is different than purchasing a home. You take out a different type of loan. If you plan on building, it’s essential to know the difference between a new construction loan and a mortgage. Construction…


In Your Debt: How Couples Can Team up on Debt Repayment

Between financially helping his parents and losing income as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jeremy Mazza landed into serious credit card debt. Relief came from a source he wasn’t expecting: his partner, Ginna Lambert, who had come into a small inheritance. She suggested “investing” part of her bounty in their shared future by lending…


Family Finances: a Vintage Budgeting Method is Back

By Lisa Gerstner From Kiplinger’s Personal Finance In a video from TikTok account AbundantGains, a woman separates cash from her paycheck into clear plastic envelopes with labels: $40 for Black Friday shopping, $50 toward getting a tattoo, $355 to save for a future home purchase, $215 for a vacation. There’s something satisfying and soothing about…


Airline, Hotel Elite Status: Harder to Get (Or Keep) in 2023

For the past couple of years, hotel and airline loyalty programs have extended elite status in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. But in 2023, that’s coming to an end. A tsunami of downgrades will wipe out some travelers’ elite status because pandemic-era offers are expiring and loyalty programs are upping the qualification requirements. On Jan….


Family Finances: Job Hunters Have a New Negotiating Tool

By Sandra Block From Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Mariann Madden, the North America Fair Pay co-lead at WTW, a global human resources consulting firm, has some advice for job seekers. Question: Under a new New York City law, companies that post a job that may be performed in that city are required to include a salary…


Millennial Money: Rekindle Fizzling Financial Resolutions

Save more, spend less and pay off debt are popular New Year’s resolutions—and perhaps the ones most likely to fall by the wayside a few weeks into the year when reality sets in and expenses derail plans. But an early-in-the-year setback, like paying your health insurance deductible or the credit card bills after a costly…