Money

I recently made the decision to begin searching for a van to purchase. With a growing family, my small SUV wasn’t working so well! However, I knew that in order to get what I wanted I would need to take out a loan. Then I began to consider my budget and exactly what I could afford without being stretched. That’s when I decided it was time to reassess my bills. Maybe it’s time you did the same thing. When evaluating your monthly bills and expenses: 1. Look at the bills that are not utilities. Typically there is car and homeowner insurance, home alarm, cable/internet, and home mortgage. Since we had been loyal with the various companies for several years and always paid on

We recently had to put a new, expensive tile roof on our house, and we didn’t have enough to pay for the entire job, so my husband and I applied for a home equity line of credit. When we went to meet with the banker, she coolly informed us that my credit was better than Kevin’s, so my name would go first on all the documents. Of course, I had to gloat a little. We both have excellent credit, so I’m not sure why my score was over 800, and his was lower (although still excellent), but it was a sweet little opportunity for some momentary teasing. Credit scores, however, are not a topic to be taken lightly. Most of us, especially

No one wants to live in fear, but the reality is: what goes up, must come down. Growing up during “The Great Recession” in Detroit, the Motor City, I remember what it was like watching all my friends’ parents get laid off and their savings turned to nothing. The recession hit Detroit hard when all the car companies were getting bailed out by the government. Not-so-fun fact: if the government bails out a company, their stock price and 401ks are now worth $0. Multiply that by the over one million people in our city, and a decade later, Detroit was still in recovery. It became very clear to me how important it was to prepare one’s self for the most unforeseen circumstances.

I recently made the decision to begin searching for a van to purchase. With a growing family, my small SUV wasn’t working so well! However, I knew that in order to get what I wanted I would need to take out a loan. Then I began to consider my budget and exactly what I could afford without being stretched. That’s when I decided it was time to reassess my bills. Maybe it’s time you did the same thing. When evaluating your monthly bills and expenses: 1. Look at the bills that are not utilities. Typically there is car and homeowner insurance, home alarm, cable/internet, and home mortgage. Since we had been loyal with the various companies for several years and always paid on