The Latest Debt & Finance Blog

retired couple counting money

Debt Weighs Heavily On People Near Retirement

By Bill Fay | October 7, 2014

The duel between debt and income is spilling over into the retirement years for more and more people. At one time, it was common to have all the major bills…

Olaf Cake Topper

How to Host a Frugal Frozen Birthday Party

By Karen Carlson | September 15, 2014

I thought we could avoid it. I promoted alternatives. But it was inevitable. My daughter asked me to throw her a Frozen birthday party, like the half dozen we’d already…

top secret envelop

Your Credit Score: Secret, Especially From You

By Bill Fay | September 4, 2014

Do you think you know your credit score? Credit scores – the numeric measure that shows lenders whether a person is likely to repay a loan – are a must-have…

close up of iPhone 5 screen

Frugal Man – Cell Phone Virgin Stumps Apple on iPhone 6 Release

By Bill Fay | August 27, 2014

I went shopping for a cell phone the other day and found out I’m not as special as I thought I was. I have never owned one and for at…

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is sweeping social media by storm.

Ice Bucket Challenge: Ways To Give Back Without Spending Money

By Bill Fay | August 26, 2014

Admit it. You’ve considered de-friending the person that challenged you to the Ice Bucket challenge on Facebook.  The videos that are flooding your news feed are all apart of the…

cell phone money holder

Frugal Man — Might Buy a Cell Phone

By Bill Fay | August 25, 2014

Not sure you are aware of this, but the cell phone industry will pass a fairly significant milestone this year and there is a good chance I could be the…

empty desks in front of chalkboard

Student Loan Debt Continues To Make News Over Summer

By Bill Fay | August 15, 2014

When the bell rings to start a new school year, college students, especially the 70 percent using loans to pay for expenses, need to catch up on a few news…

Cindy and Michael Hufnagel

California Couple Learns Financial Lessons the Hard Way

By Bill Fay | March 21, 2014

The phone rang at Michael Hufnagel’s desk nearly every day for three years. Hufnagel is an accountant for a production company in California and phone calls are part of doing…

ITT Tech building

CFPB Sues ITT for Allegedly Exploiting Students with Predatory Loans

By Bill Fay | February 28, 2014

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sent a jolt through the for-profit college industry this week when the federal agency sued ITT Educational Services Inc. for predatory lending practices, saying it…

Origami money heart

Avoiding the Financial Sting of Cupid’s Arrow on Valentine’s Day

By Bill Fay | February 14, 2014

For most men, the goal of Valentine’s Day has not changed since the holiday was more or less invented by the Romans a few thousand years ago. The Romans called…

Sources:

  1. Emmons, W., Noeth, B. (XXXX, 2014) Despite Aggressive Deleveraging, Generation X Remains “Generation Debt”. Retrieved from (http://www.stlouisfed.org/publications/itb/articles/?id=2541#figure1
  2. Bricker, J., Dettling, L., Henriques, A., Hsu, J., Moore, K., Sabelhaus, J., Thompson, J., Windle, R. (2014, September 2) 2013 Survey of Consumer Finances Chartbook. Retrieved from http://www.federalreserve.gov/econresdata/scf/files/BulletinCharts.pdf.
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