Let’s be honest, nobody likes carrying around change. It clinks around in pants pockets and jingles noisily in purses. Plus it’s heavy. It’s no wonder that the “dollar coin” movement failed pretty quickly. In practice, though, everyone has more spare change than they want. What is the best way to get rid of it all? There are a few ways, all varying in degrees of effectiveness. Continue reading
Health care reform, even though certainly needed in some aspects, will affect every family in this country. It is one of the most expensive bills to pass Congress (the Congressional Budget Office projects it to cost $940 billion over ten years) and also one of the most widespread in terms of effects. Continue reading
For the many of you who might use your credit cards more than others, you might notice some of the rules will change for the credit card companies. Previous to May of this year, some credit card companies might have been promoting some not-so-awesome policies toward card holders. However, Congress and the current administration pushed through the Credit Cardholder’s Bill of Rights Act of 2009, which by law has ended many of these foul practices by credit card companies. Continue reading
One of the most controversial bills Congress has passed recently was the stimulus package. The bill stipulates $787 billion of public spending in order to create jobs. The argument is whether or not government spending can even stimulate the economy. Did the stimulus bill work? Continue reading
Thanks to the “Great Recession” as it is being called, unemployment figures have almost doubled since 2005; and they have ripple effects into other aspects of peoples’ lives. For many people, higher unemployment means a lower chance of getting accepted by a graduate school. Continue reading
In my last blog I discussed the importance of budgeting. The simple skill can keep your costs and income levels in check, and can help you manage your finances with impeccable accuracy, and with as little guesswork as possible. Under this framework, you treat your finances like a business – as long as you come out positive after all costs and factored out of your income, there will be money left over. Continue reading
I attribute many of my advantages in society to the Boy Scouts of America, including my ability to budget. It is a very basic skill that surprisingly not many people know how to do. I believe that if people were to follow basic budgetary principles, a lot of crises could be completely averted. Continue reading
Remember the so-called “housing bubble” back in 2007? Economists were predicting its implosion for a long time, but many did not predict the fall of the financial industry. Continue reading
Everyone knows, catchy jingles aside, that credit scores are incredibly important. They can determine whether or not you will be given a loan, a mortgage, or what your interest rates will be for leasing a big-ticket item such as a car. This is why in recent years companies have begun capitalizing on the importance of the three digit number. There are a number of places to turn, but which is the best? Continue reading
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