This weekend, the New York Times ran a series of articles on debt in America. It’s definitely worth reading, but if you don’t have the time to go through all of them, there are two paragraphs that I think are absolutely key:
Average late fees rose to $35 in 2007 from less than $13 in 1994, [...]

Even with the rough spots in the housing markets these days, ‘flippers’ are still buying houses. These folks buy houses in poor condition, fix them up and sell them at a profit. Home buyers often like them because flippers need to sell their houses as fast as possible to avoid paying more than a month [...]

I currently live on the third floor, with several heavy pieces of furniture. Next time I move, I promise you that there will be movers doing all the heavy lifting. I might pack a few boxes, take care of the dishes and other little stuff, but the furniture at least will be handled by professionals. [...]

Our article Pinching Pennies is in this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance, our article Saving Money on Groceries is in this week’s Festival of Frugality, and our article Do Bigger Payments Really Make For a Faster Payoff? was featured as an Editor’s Choice in this week’s Carnival of Debt Reduction. Check out both carnivals to [...]

Memorial Day is a day that is famous for more than its national importance. It is also famous because most of the major retail chains have huge Memorial Day sales! Summertime is rampant with sales—Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, Christmas in July, Back to School and Labor Day…The retailers will find any excuse to [...]

We face enormous societal pressure for buying a house: it seems to be the major goal for just about every family. And those houses that we’re supposed to buy seem to all look pretty similar: a single family home with a nice back yard in the right neighborhood and with the right appliances. But [...]