It can be frustrating to have a steady paycheck but still run out of cash before payday. The possible reasons you are in this situation could be any one of many, including: 1. You make enough money to be able to cover your expenses in any given month, but then something out of the ordinary happens. Maybe your car breaks down, or your family experiences a medical emergency that requires a trip to the emergency room, or maybe you are still recovering from credit card debt you piled up over the holidays. 2. You make almost enough money to make ends meet, but most months you find yourself falling short. You are currently looking for a second job so that you can make enough money to cover your monthly expenses, but times are tough and you have not found one yet. You expect to be making more money within the next few…

If you know you could write off credit card debt and loan debt would you? A lot of people wouldn’t. Many people see it as unethical to wipe off debts they have incurred from over spending and believe they should pay back what they owe, which in some senses the correct thing to do. We have all overspent at some point in our lives on useless things we don’t need, especially over the last few years in the build up to the recession where you couldn’t walk past a bank or building society without them trying to drag you in and lend you some money. I suppose it all depends on perspective and how we view the people that lend us the money… i.e. the banks and loan companies. But first we still need to answer the question; Can you actually write off credit card debt?…

If you have tried and failed to open a bank account, you are not alone. In the current economic climate, many of us have a credit history that we’d rather keep to ourselves. Default payments, CCJs, Bankruptcies, IVAs, Debt Relief Orders, Trust Deeds.. . the list goes on. Unfortunately, when you attempt to open a bank account, that list of financial indiscrepancies is exactly what your potential bank account provider is looking at. If your credit history contains one or more of the aforementioned ‘hiccups’, you may well find yourself on the wrong side of an acceptance – in other words, rejection. While being rejected is never pleasant, and lets face it, rejection isn’t something we’d ever choose to experience, it isn’t the end of the world (and it isn’t the end of your hopes of getting a bank account). Unless you’ve ever experienced bad credit & the financial obstacles that go…

The housing market has been a roller-coaster ride for everyone over the past couple of years. On the one hand, rates are sharply down relative to where they were just a few years ago. At the same time, many lenders are becoming much more strict in terms of who gets approved and who does not. While the possibility of securing a good mortgage deal is always there, many people who are shopping for a cheap, fixed-rate mortgage find that the options for taking the right action are not always crystal-clear. Sometimes, having too many choices can make the decision-making process even harder. The problem is made worse for many people due to less-than-perfect credit scores. If you are looking for the cheapest fixed-rate mortgage possible, here are 8 tips to help guide your way: 1. Take advantage of low rates: When interest rates are low…

Seeing an overdraft bank fee show up on your bank statement can be a rude awakening. Life these days is already pretty expensive, even for those who try to live frugally and within their means. But having your own bank, whom you were led to believe you should be able to trust, charge you overdraft bank fees is pretty unsettling. You are not alone. In fact, banks make billions of dollars per year in overdraft fees in the United States alone. Bank fees have become big business. And, as government regulations reign banks in on their often reckless (and some say abusive) practices around credit card issuance, banks are going to be looking even harder than ever for ways to recoup those lost profits by charging – you guessed it – more bank fees. A Brief History of Overdraft Fees So why are all of these bank fees being charged? The overdraft…