There are many reasons people take out loans. You may want to buy a home, a car or need to borrow money to attend college. Whatever the reason, different types of loans affect your credit score in various ways. Regardless of the type of loan you are applying for, submitting too many applications within a short period of time can have a negative effect on your credit score. With this being said, Continue Reading
How Are You Paying Off Debt?
I've been paying off debt for the last 8 years, and over this time, I've talked about debt a lot. In fact, one of the reasons I started this blog was because I talked about debt so much, my family got sick of it. "Go tell someone else!" they told me. Since I had exhausted all my friend/family reserves, I decided to start this blog to document how I'm paying off debt, my challenges, and to Continue Reading
How I Went From No Credit to Excellent Credit in 5 Years
I looked at the utility statement, then at one of my soon-to-be roommates, then at the paper statement again in disbelief. “The utility company says we can’t get utilities unless I have my parents co-sign or unless we pay a huge deposit.” Our eyes wide, we stared at each other - two hopeless 22-year-olds who still needed their parents (because you know we didn’t have tons of money for a big Continue Reading
How to Protect Yourself After Your Credit is Stolen
Have you ever done anything, ever, with your finances? Paid taxes, checked on your credit/credit score, bought a house? Then you might be affected by the Equifax data breach! You’ve probably already heard of the Equifax data breach, but here’s a quick summary. Equifax is one of three major credit bureaus, and over this past year, it lost control of customer data including Social Security numbers, Continue Reading
How to Make Zero-Based Budgeting Work for You
Is it really wrong to live paycheck to paycheck? This is a crazy question, isn’t it? Of course living paycheck to paycheck is a bad idea! When people say “I live paycheck to paycheck”, most people immediately flash to someone who has no savings, no retirement, and no emergency fund. In the worst cases, we might even think of someone who spends frivolously with no care about her future. But that’s Continue Reading
How You (And Why) You Should Pay Down Student Debt in Grad School
Today we have a guest post by Jacob at Dollar Diligence. Jacob is a math teacher by day and a personal finance blogger by night, and he's constantly looking at and analyzing numbers. He shares some of his best tips and tricks at his blog, Dollar Diligence. You can find him at Dollar Diligence online and on Twitter at @DollarDiligence. For the seven out of 10 undergrads who leave college with an Continue Reading
10 Spending Traps I Avoid After Becoming a Financial Failure – at 18
If you read the title of this post, you’re probably asking yourself, “how does one become a financial failure at 18? Seriously, is that even possible? You’re barely an adult!” I could blame it on a few things: Lack of financial literacy in school Predatory lending to a teen WITH NO JOB (I was even shocked!)/Easy credit back in the freewheeling mid-2000s The Internet My Continue Reading
Saturday Budget Tracker Day!
Happy Saturday! Today’s post is going to be a short, interactive post where you can download a handy budget tracker to get going on your budgeting journey! Not familiar with what I’m talking about? All during the month of April, we’re talking budgets! Last week, we covered why it’s important to start a budget. On Tuesday, we talked about prioritizing our budgets based on what’s Continue Reading
How to Reasonably Pay Off Your Student Loan Debt
Did you know 44.2 million Americans have student loan debt? You may have normal or refinanced student loan debt yourself, or know someone who does. As someone with nearly $80,000 in student loan debt, I've been through it all: the standard repayment plan, income driven plans, and the Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE) plan that came out recently. I've been through it all, but it's been tough! In Continue Reading
Review: Hustle Away Debt
Happy end of April - how are your financial goals going so far? The beginning of May signals the end of National Financial Literacy Month, but here on Sunburnt Saver, every day is financial literacy day! :) In case you missed some of April's financial posts, catch up on 7 financial spring cleaning tips, 3 places to file your taxes for free (hopefully you got those finished, right?), and how to Continue Reading