All Articles

An emergency fund is money you set aside for surprise expenses, like a car repair, medical bill, home repair, or temporary income loss. If money is already tight, you don’t need to save thousands of dollars right away. You can start with a small amount and build from there.

It started with a couple hundred dollars and a few silent-auction baskets. It ended with $61,030 raised in a single evening, every elementary school in the district covered, and nearly 350 kids guaranteed food on the weekends for the coming school year.

If you stop paying your credit cards, fees and a penalty interest rate kick in almost immediately, your credit score takes a hit after 30 days, and if payments stop entirely, your account can be charged off and sent to collections within six months. If you're already behind, the good news is that the timeline gives you real windows to act.

Paying the minimum on your credit card keeps your account in good standing, but it barely touches your balance. Most of your payment goes toward interest, which means balances can take a decade or more to pay off and cost you far more than you originally borrowed.

Using a credit card to pay for travel makes sense if you have the money saved and can pay off the balance when the bill arrives. If you're planning to pay it off over time, it's worth understanding what that actually costs before you book.

If you have gone through bankruptcy, you may be wondering whether buying a house is still possible. In many cases, the answer is yes, you can get a mortgage after bankruptcy.

Medical bills do not usually show up on your credit report just because you owe a provider. In most cases, they only show up if the unpaid bill is sent to collections and then reported to the credit bureaus. In the past, unpaid medical collections could stay on your credit report for up to seven years.

Debt collectors typically make money by recovering payments on overdue accounts. Some work on behalf of the original creditor and earn a fee for collecting the debt. Others purchase delinquent accounts for less than the full balance and then try to collect more than they paid.

If you’re thinking about bankruptcy, you’re probably trying to answer one simple question: will this actually help, or will it create a new set of problems?

Financial stress can affect more than your budget. It can also spill into your sleep, focus, mood, decision-making, and overall health. According to research from the Financial Health Network, 4 in 10 Americans report high or moderate stress from their finances.