The decision to pay off your mortgage early is a controversial one. But for some who have tackled many of their big financial goals and erased other debt, putting their home mortgage in their crosshairs can make sense. Since your mortgage is such a large, long-term debt, it can be surprisingly easy to pay it […]
Price matching can be a big money-saver, but you need to be able to navigate the fine print. For example, I saved more than 50 percent recently on a camera memory card purchase when Target matched Amazon’s $16.56 price, knocking down Target’s original price of $34.99. Ever better: I didn’t have to wait for shipping. […]
Paying off student loans is easy with standard repayment or using other repayment plan options. But easy doesn’t mean better, and choosing to pay them with just minimum payments means you’ll pay more interest while dealing with payments for a longer period. On top of that, interest rates on some student loans set to double […]
Almost everyone has a collection of some sort. For me, it’s the baseball cards I’ve had since I was a kid. Many of us, myself included, like to dream that the collectibles we own will someday be worth a fortune. But they probably won’t be unless we take steps to make them a profitable investment. […]
Down payments require some serious cash. Even a bare-minimum 5 percent down payment on a conventional loan means coming up with about $9,800 for the current median home sale price, listed on Zillow, of $196,100. And that’s before adding in closing costs. You probably don’t want to wait forever while you chip away at a down […]
The undisputed best way to get your credit report comes from the only source that’s truly free: AnnualCreditReport.com. It’s easy and free because it’s guaranteed by law. Unfortunately for consumers, getting your credit score is not as easy as obtaining your free credit report. The world of credit scores is still a bit like the […]