Original article by Jason Alderman As you and your spouse celebrate Valentine’s Day over a candle-lit dinner, you may want to avoid romance-killing topics like, “Honey, let’s talk about our financial future.” But you really should have that conversation sooner rather than later to keep your relationship on a healthy footing. Major life changes may [...]

Original article by Ted Hunter, edited by Robert Weinberg   Don’t let a moment of Holiday buying bring you a New Year filled with buyer’s remorse. The brief “feel good” benefit of spending more than you plan to will be totally wiped out by the additional stress and problems you’ll have to deal with when [...]

Black Friday has come and gone. But, if you’re like most people, you probably still have a little holiday shopping left to do. Whether you’re looking for small items like toys and clothing, big-ticket items like electronics or maybe a car, or even a plane ticket home to see the family, the following tips can [...]

Original article By Erin Huffstetler, Edited by Robert Weinberg Tired of ringing in the new year with last year’s Christmas bills? Make this the year that you switch to a debt-free Christmas. Here’s how: Set Your Budget Kick off the holiday season with some Christmas music and a calculator. Before you buy anything, you need to [...]

 Original article byINGDirect Road to Saving It’s an age-old adage: Money can’t buy happiness. Or can it? A recent Princeton University study on the link between money and life satisfaction showed that those people who were fiscally responsible and didn’t worry about making ends meet (and who were also on course with saving for retirement [...]

Original Article by Ted Hunter Some banks have recently announced that they will charge up to $60 a year to use your debit card while others are increasing their fees for every-day services such as checking and savings accounts. I’ll be perfectly honest; these fees the banks are charging their customers really turn me off. [...]

Original article by Jason Alderman The days when you could send your kids off to the first day of school with a lunchbox and a hug are long gone. Today’s back-to-school preparations likely include filing out piles of pre-enrollment paperwork, lining up carpools and, of course, the dreaded shopping excursions for clothes and school supplies. [...]

So many of us have the goal of getting out of debt. Nobody really wants to live with hundreds of thousands of dollars, or even hundreds of dollars, in debt hanging over their heads. The trouble is, how do you eliminate that debt? Do you think to yourself “If only I made more money, I’d [...]

It’s been just a few days since the income tax filing deadline, and several clients & friends who filed early are already receiving income tax refunds. That brought up many questions regarding the best ways to use income tax refunds to make smart moves to get out of debt & improve your financial situation. The [...]

For many people, there is a big moment in their life when they think “I need to evaluate my finances and get out of debt.” This is a life-changing moment. What happens when you have that moment? You spend hours, days or weeks researching the best way to get out of debt. You sit down [...]

Many of us think of supermarket shopping as a dreaded chore. For most, the reason is two-fold: time and money. Here are a few tips that’ll help you save on both. A little organization goes a long way. A supermarket’s busiest times are weekdays between 5 and 7pm and weekend mornings. The slowest times are [...]

Original Article By Jason Alderman   Before the housing crisis, it wasn’t uncommon for people to raid their home-equity piggy banks to pay off bills. Plummeting home values and tougher lending standards helped curb that practice, leading some people to engage in a far more disturbing habit: borrowing or withdrawing money from their retirement accounts [...]

Are you meticulous about your paperwork? Do you file your financial paperwork, keeping every paper that has crossed your desk for at least the last seven years? At this point, you may be drowning in paperwork. How much of that paperwork do you actually need? Here are a few things you can get rid of: [...]

During difficult economic times, colleges and technical schools find their enrollment increasing drastically. When jobs are short, many people return to school to finish what they started long ago, or to gain new skills and degrees to further their careers when the market improves. Here’s the tricky part – most of those attending college can’t [...]

Annual income aside, there’s not a person among us who wouldn’t welcome the idea of having more money in their savings account. This is the money we use on everything from yearly vacations to family presents. Come holiday time, wouldn’t it be nice to have an extra thousand or so dollars at your disposal? Here [...]

The tax deadline is still more than a month away, but it’s approaching quickly. If you think you’ll have trouble completing and filing your taxes on time, remember that it’s crucial that you request and extension rather than not filing and hoping the government doesn’t notice. If you need more time to file your taxes, [...]

I am proud to announce that my investment of the year for 2010 is hands down, Lending Club.  My return for 2010 will be between 12.9-13.1% It’s been a while since I discussed Lending Club on my blog because I was waiting to see how the system worked over the course of an entire year.  [...]

Original Article By Jason Alderman, Edited by Robert Weinberg At this time of year, many people overindulge, whether it’s overeating or drinking too much at holiday parties or spending too much on gifts and decorations. You’ll regret the former the next morning; but with overspending you may not feel the hangover effect until the bills [...]

I fly frequently and do a lot of car rentals, so I have learned how to negotiate for the best deal on a rental car. I have found car rental servers to be most obliging and courteous; however, I have also discovered them to be rather shrewd. For example, a car-rental server never told me [...]

Original article by Janet Bodnar, Edited by Robert Weinberg I’ve always believed that the trick to saving money is just that — a trick. You don’t have to win the lottery, strike it rich on Wall Street or even earn a six-figure salary to build a comfortable savings cushion. You just have to play psychological [...]

For some, merely reading the title of this article may provoke an uneasy feeling in the pit of their stomachs. For others, it may elicit a response such as, “The holidays? It’s only October.” If you identify with the former, we’d like to suggest a mild antacid. If you relate to the latter statement, we’re [...]

If the current economic climate has taught us anything, it’s that financial education and responsibility are critical in today’s fast-paced, wired world. All too often, however, children grow up immune to the financial world around them. As a result, they’re often ill equipped to manage their own finances when they become adults and leave home. [...]

Follow These Tips So Your Kids will Score Well When it Comes to Managing Money While Away at School.  (Original Article written by Janet Bodnar) Forget tuition. Once that bill is taken care of, the biggest financial challenge you face when sending kids off to college is making sure they don’t overdraw their checking account or [...]

– The majority of Americans know the rates they are paying on their credit card and their credit rating – Despite this awareness, they continue to carry high interest credit card debt and many do not know how to improve their credit scores – Of those who know the rates on their credit cards, 31 [...]

Creating and maintaining a savings account requires patience and discipline. For those of us struggling with this important mindset, here are four strategies that might make it a bit easier. Employ Your Employer – If you’re lucky enough to have an employer retirement plan, take advantage and sign up for automatic deposits. Even if it’s [...]

Back in January 2010, I finally dove in and invested $1,000 of my own money in a site called Lending Club. Lending Club seems to be the first company in the P2P lending space who understands all aspects of P2P Lending, from both the borrowing and investing side, and brings them seemlessly together in a simple yet powerful, user friendly way. In this article I want to talk about the way lending club can be used as both a way to earn incredible returns with much less risk than other methods, as well as a way to borrow at lower rates than traditional banks to consolidate debt.

Borrowing from Lending Club was very simple.. I used PayPal for my initial deposit, so it was quick & easy. Within a few minutes I had the money in my Lending Club account and began looking at loans to invest in. I knew I wanted to diversify my risk among as many loans as possible, so if a particular borrower defaulted (did not pay back) their loan then it would not ruin my portfolio return. I invested $50 with several people who needed debt consolidation loans to pay off high interest credit card debt. I looked at their profiles first to see if I felt they would be good risks lend my money too. My criteria was to look for people with good credit, at least 680 FICO scores, good jobs with at least 2+ years, preferably 5+ years, and low debt to income ratio below 40% ( ratio of the amount of their payments to the amount of income they report). Over several days I invested in 29 different loans. That was back in January 2010. It is now mid-April and my portfolio is performing great, with a net annualized return of 13.97%. I am very happy and just put more money into Lending Club. If this return can continue I believe this may be one of the most important financial innovations of our lifetime. I believe this because returns on Lending Club are not related to the stock market, real estate, or other asset classes that are volatile and uncertain.

My experience is on the investing side, so I personally have not borrowed from lending club. However, I have several clients and friends who have borrowed using the P2P method on Lending Club and had success. It works great to implement your own “Debt Melt Down” strategy using the Lending Club loan as a consolidation tool to create a margin which then you can use to accelerate pre-payments on the lending club loan and eliminate your debt much quicker. Unfortunately, as of right now Lending Club does not offer debt consolidation loans which include a mortgage, but if they do in the future this will be a huge market for them.

Sometimes it make sense to make some lifestyle changes in order to free up cash flow to build savings and get rid of debt. Especially with the economy in it’s current state, these days most people would welcome the idea of having more money in their savings account. Here are a few ideas that can [...]

Creating a new habit of cutting back in spending for many people is very hard and you may be one of them. Your emotions play an important role in your buying and in you cutting back. Why you spend? It is not good enough to say you are going to cut back in your spending. [...]

Key dates to bookmark for the year ahead.

Original Article By Edna Ferman, Edited by Robert Weinberg For many of us, eliminating debt we have already created is only half the battle.  It is also important to change our spending habits so that becoming debt free is part of our lifestyle, not just a blip in time.  Right now, times are tough. However, [...]

It’s hard to believe, but Thanksgiving is just two months away. And while that may seem like a lot of time, you’ll be diving into that turkey dinner sooner than you think…and right around the corner will come the Christmas holidays. That’s why now is the perfect time to start planning for your holiday budget. [...]

Battling a spending habit? Here are ten ways to put that bad habit to rest: 1. Go Cash-Only Credit cards make it easy to overspend, but you can’t use them if you don’t have them with you. Leave your credit cards at home, and stick to cash or debit for all of your purchases. 2. [...]

Are your finances keeping you up at night? You’re not alone. Almost three-quarters of adults say money has them feeling stressed, according to the American Psychological Association. That’s not surprising, especially in today’s economy with skyrocketing energy and food costs, tepid investment performance and rising unemployment rates. The remedy? Tackle that tension with a budget. [...]

Retailers are offering a slew of payment options to cash-strapped consumers. But will these new methods end up costing shoppers more? How you pay for holiday purchases this season is just as important as the size of the deal you get. As banks slash consumers’ credit card limits and restrict new accounts to those with [...]

Original article by Tracia Graham, Edited by Robert Weinberg I heard a staggering statistic the other day about the number of homes that are going into foreclosure each day. In addition, people are losing their jobs as many businesses experience a decline in revenues and are struggling to keep their doors open. It’s certain that [...]

In today’s economic environment, many people are paying more attention to their monthly budgets than they have in a long time. One of the best ways to rein in your budget is to get a handle on your spending habits. The tips below can help you figure out where your money is going every month, [...]

We’ve all heard about high tech online and email scams that are used by criminals to trick consumers out of their money. But now, some scammers are relying on good old low-tech skills to steal money from consumers… sometimes without being detected for months! Authorities are reporting increased “credit card shaving” activity. Credit card shaving–or [...]

It is understandable to be unsure of what to do when you become so overwhelmed with the amount of debt you owe, but not paying your bills is not the answer. Below is a very real hypothetical situation that could occur if you let your bills pile up by not paying them. 1.  Your creditors will [...]

If you have seen or read about the Law of Attraction within the last 12 months then you will be aware that one of the principles explained about the way most people have been dealing with their credit card and loan debts is actually wrong. According to the teachings of the Law of Attraction, you [...]

One of the primary ways banks make money each year is through the fees they charge their customers. While some of these fees are understandable and unavoidable, like safe deposit box fees, others are totally within the control of the consumer. An example of a controllable fee is a late payment fee. Banks like it [...]

Foreclosures have become a growing part of today’s economic reality. A combination of greedy lending and irresponsible home buyers have created a lose-lose scenario for everyone involved. So what should the train of thought be for a homeowner who is behind on their mortgage payments? The longer you wait to get help, the harder it [...]

When it comes to achieving your financial goals, whether it be funding a retirement account, savings, or reducing your debt, the (often overlooked) key to success can be as simple as automation. For most Americans, the 401K is the cornerstone of their entire retirement. One of the reasons that 401K’s have become so popular is [...]

Life happens, and sometimes in life people fall behind on their bills. When a person starts having money troubles, it can be difficult to determine just what bills should get paid first, and which ones can wait. There are however, some bills that are more important than others, and these should of course be paid [...]

What happens after you have reduced all your credit card debt? You have worked hard to get here and can now reap the freedoms that come with your new found financial flexibility. Here are a few important tips and things to think about to be sure you make the most of the positive circumstances you [...]

In this post I am going to cover a topic which has seldom been spoken about on other personal finance & debt related sites/blogs: The Concept of Credit Positioning. For those of you who are already in a deep debt situation or behind on payments, this strategy will not be of help, but for those [...]

The government’s Economic Stimulus Plan has been in the news a lot lately, and the $168 Billion package is intended to jumpstart the economy by distributing tax rebates that should be arriving in your mailbox as early as spring. The question is: what should you do with your rebate check? The info below can help [...]

Originally Posted on February, 16th 2008  Along with the tax man come the inevitable new breed of scam artists. Be on guard – criminals who want your personal information use this hectic and confusing time of year to prey on unsuspecting individuals. Watch out for unscrupulous scammers, who are sending emails that appear to be [...]

Originally Posted on February 4, 2008  It looks like lenders, landlords, insurance companies and employers aren’t the only ones interested in credit scores these days – now the health industry is getting in on the act. Credit industry giant Fair Isaac is working with Healthcare Analytics and Tenet Healthcare to create a new “MedFICO” score. [...]

Originally Posted on January 28, 2008  It’s that time again…time to start gathering all of that dreaded documentation to send to good old Uncle Sam! Although I do not usually cover tax related issues in my blog, I thought this information would be valuable for my readers, clients, and associates.   Recent stats say the IRS [...]

Originally Posted on January 15, 2008  While we all hope that we never have to deal with a sudden medical crisis caused by the discovery of a life-threatening or life-altering illness the reality is that at some point, many of us will have to face this situation. As they say, life is a terminal condition. [...]

Originally Posted December 28, 2007    Fair Isaac’s Revamped FICO Aims to Forgive Small Slips, Punish Repeat Offenders. By JANE J. KIM December 19, 2007; Page D1 The company that cooks up credit scores for millions of Americans is changing its recipe — and that could affect how easily you get credit in the future.Fair [...]

It is time to slap the credit companies where it hurts! Did you know that the 3 major credit card bureaus are selling your personal credit information to other vendors without your permission? Not only is this legal it is happening non-stop. Did you know when you apply for any credit that these credit card [...]

If your credit-card balance has crept up to uncomfortable levels, you’re not alone. Millions of Americans have learned — the hard way — how easy it is to use and abuse their credit cards and how difficult it can be to pay them off. Check out these credit-card debt elimination tips: · Always be aware [...]