If you use email, you have undoubtedly heard of phishing by now. Phishing scams have been around for quite some time, and unfortunately they still find plenty of victims. If you have a cell phone like so many people do, you may be targeted by a cousin of the phishing scam – the smishing scam. Smishing is SMS text phishing, and scammers are using it to get bank account and credit card information of unsuspecting cell phone users. Tonight, when my husband came home from work, he was telling me about how he keeps getting these text messages that appear … Continue reading →

The internet is a very useful tool for keeping on top of all things financial. We can check bank balances any time, pay bills quickly without using a stamp, research investments, and more. It can also be a budget buster, if you are not careful. Online shopping is fast and easy – almost too fast and too easy. Advertisements are everywhere you turn. Sometimes, you visit an online store to buy something that you need, only to be enticed to add an extra item or two or more to your cart in order to get free shipping. Of course, that … Continue reading →

Are you feeling like you receive more phone calls from bill collectors than you’re your friends and family combined? Getting those calls can make you feel awful – chances are that you are well aware of the debt but you are simply not able to pay it at the present time. You may avoid picking up the phone because you do not feel like there is anything that you can do about the debt, so why bother. Unfortunately, bill collectors are allowed to call you in an attempt to collect money from you. Fortunately, there are rules that they must … Continue reading →

No, this post does not feature tips on dowries; rather, it will hopefully help debunk myths that many people have regarding monetary wedding gifts. Some individuals staunchly believe that it is tacky or lazy to give newlyweds cash in lieu of an item listed on their wedding gift registry. According to wedding etiquette experts, cash is actually a very practical wedding present, in more ways than one. For starters, unless it is culturally acceptable, most couples can’t get away with requesting guests give cash-only as a wedding gift, so by taking the initiative to present money as a gift you … Continue reading →

I love a good sale; however, to save money when buying discounted merchandise, you really have to exercise self-control. Lack of self-restraint is one of the biggest reasons many people overspend when they are shopping at a sale, or even a Dollar Store. Or in my case, especially a Dollar Store. I challenge anyone to walk into a Dollar Store with the intent to purchase a single item and not leave with a basket full of other junk. I fail every.single.time. Why is it that I can’t go into that store to buy one can of rug cleaner and leave … Continue reading →

They say that your credit card statement says a lot about the way you spend. I suppose if you don’t get a statement that says even more. So, what kind of spender are you? If you whip out your card faster than Quick Draw McGraw every time you see something you want, then you likely fit into the impulse buyer category. If you have the means to support your compulsive buying habit, that’s one thing. However, if you are using your credit to fund your spendthrift ways and you don’t have the cash to make payments, then you are asking … Continue reading →

Many of us dream of the day when we receive a windfall of some sort. Whether it’s a winning lottery ticket, a bequest, a settlement, a bonus, or some other unexpected sum of money a windfall is a wonderful thing. However, there is something about getting money unexpectedly, especially lots of money, that can cause even fiscally responsible people to act in strange and unwise ways. It will probably come as no surprise that the most common mistake many people make when they come into money is to spend every last dollar of it. It is a very deeply rooted … Continue reading →

One sure way to get into or stay caught up in a financial mess is called the “ostrich approach”. Ostriches are pretty cool birds, but they are known for sticking their heads in the sand when confronted with danger. In case you are curious, ostriches do not really stick their heads in the sand – that is myth which has been perpetuated through time. They do lie down and play dead when confronted with something that they feel they can not outrun. The “ostrich approach” is still an appropriate analogy for what not to do about messy financial situations. Some … Continue reading →

With the wide range of financial struggles that we see in our daily lives, we may be tempted to flip past or tune out news stories about economic crises in other countries. Unemployment, inflation, foreclosures, and other troubling things are things that we hear about on a daily basis and sometimes they hit close to home, or even worse, at our very own homes. The financial goings on of the entire world do have an impact on us – some more and some less, but an impact just the same. The Eurozone crisis has been in the financial news a … Continue reading →

Imagine how you would feel if your spouse, parent, or other close relative passed away. Now, imagine that shortly after their death you begin receiving phone calls from debt collectors multiple times a day, asking you to pay their debts. You may think that this could not possibly happen, that collection agencies are not allowed to do that. Unfortunately, creditors and the debt collection agencies that represent them can and do pursue collection of the debts of the deceased from their survivors. This practice is very upsetting for a number of reasons. First, the survivors do not have a legal … Continue reading →