Blogs

Unfortunately, data thieves don’t take a break during the Holidays. In fact, that is when they increase in bogus email schemes that seek to steal your hard-earned money or personal information.

It seems like every time I watch the news; every single story is negative or sad in some way.  I don’t know about you but when I wake up in the morning the last I want to hear is a ton of negative news to start my day.  Fortunately, in the past week, there have been a few stories highlighting some random acts of kindness.

Over the last 10 or so years, we have seen a decline in the real estate market. It does seem to be improving a bit of late, however, many people have come to us for help because their home or other real estate has little or no equity and has become too burdensome to maintain and afford, particularly those folks with adjustable rate notes!

With Thanksgiving over and Christmas just around the corner, it’s time for many Americans to start thinking about holiday shopping.  The holidays are a time to gather with friends and family and enjoy great food, relax by the fire, and hopefully exchange a few gifts.

As we all know, the holiday season can be one of the most stressful times of the year.  The added pressure of trying to buy gifts for family and friends can push an already strained budget to the breaking point.  With the tax filing season fast approaching, it can be tempting to consider taking out a tax refund loan, but there are some important points to keep in mind.

Christmas time is here again, and with that comes the stresses of gift giving.  Getting wrapped up in the season makes it easy to overspend.  I put together Christmas shopping tips to help with shopping on a budget!

1. Set a Spending Limit.

Take a look at your finances and figure out exactly the amount you are going to spend in all.

Working as a secret shopper, being paid to have your car wrapped with a company logo, and winning the lottery all have one thing in common—they are all tactics scammers are using to try to steal your hard-earned money.

We have all dreamed of hitting the Power Ball and thought of all the ways we would use the money IF we won. We’d pay off our debt, go on elaborate vacations, and buy a new house and cars. However, lottery and sweepstakes scams rank among the most common consumer frauds.

Navient is a publicly-traded student loan servicer familiar to many Americans with student loan debt. The company formally split off from Sallie Mae and contracts with the U.S. Department of Education to service and collect upon student loan accounts.

On this Thanksgiving Day, we are thankful for the things we have.  We generally celebrate Thanksgiving by eating a large meal to include meat and vegetables.  Our local radio station had a radio program on this week and discussed what are called Food Deserts prompting me to research it a little.