Some years ago, I held a garage sale to get rid of excess junk.  After spending an entire day in the heat, watching strangers paw through, make fun of, and attempt to steal the items up for sale, and making only thirty dollars in the process, I decided I would never host another garage sale. [...]

Massive flooding and tornadoes throughout the United States this spring have destroyed thousands of homes.  Hopefully, you’ll never be affected by a natural disaster, but there are a few things you can do to protect yourself financially from the unexpected. Check Your Insurance If a natural disaster should destroy your home, will your insurance cover [...]

Elmo, Cookie Monster, Grover, Big Bird and the rest of the Sesame Street gang teach youngsters their ABCs and 1-2-3s, but now the Muppets are tackling a new lesson plan – financial literacy. In a project called “For Me, for You, for Later,” the Sesame Street Muppets use games, activities and videos to teach preschoolers [...]

A commercial currently showing on television features a man at a gas pump who puts his wallet into a suction tube in order to pay for his fuel.  With gas prices running, on average, one dollar more per gallon than a year ago, many people are feeling the pressure on their budgets.  There are some [...]

Unfortunately, scam artists always seem to be on top of every trend.  The recent recession has left millions of Americans out of work and looking for a new job, so scammers are there, trying to make a quick buck on their misfortune.  If you’re on the hunt for employment, watch out for these signs of [...]

Customers of popular arts-and-crafts retailer Michaels recently learned that they got something extra with their purchases:  debit card fraud.  Authorities say that debit card readers in 80 Michaels stores in 20 states were surreptitiously outfitted with skimming devices, designed to read card and personal identification numbers, or PINs.  The fraud occurred between February and early May [...]

When it comes to making financial choices, it looks like we have mom to thank for how we manage money and handle our personal finances. According to a survey conducted by the polling firm GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media, parental influence, whether positive or negative, shapes our spending habits and financial discipline. In a [...]

We all know what it’s like to overpay for something, make a bad deal, or lose money on an investment.  But are you making any of these money blunders right now?  Carrying Too Much High-Interest Debt It’s understandable to want the biggest house, the coolest car, the most fashionable clothes, and a luxury vacation every [...]

The recent recession and housing bubble has left plenty of people in foreclosure or otherwise struggling to stay afloat financially.  Anything from a missed credit card payment to a mortgage modification to losing your home altogether can be disastrous to your credit score, and it will take time to bounce back, but it can be [...]

If the recession has left you struggling to make your mortgage and credit card payments, you may have seen ads from companies promising to help you out.  The promise of being debt-free is tempting, but some unscrupulous companies will take your money and still leave you deep in debt.  How do you know which companies [...]

As rising prices make staying on budget an even greater challenge, personal finance help is literally at your fingertips. For smartphone and mobile device users, the mobile finance industry has introduced a number of apps that make it easy to create a budget and track spending. “For those who don’t keep close financial records, seeing [...]

The IRS recently unveiled its list of “Dirty Dozen” tax scams, with a warning to taxpayers not to fall prey to the claims of dishonest financial advisors, unscrupulous tax preparers, or other scammers.  Here are some of the more common tax scams from the IRS’ list. Tax Scam 1: Hiding Income Offshore Many dishonest promoters [...]

If you’ve got a desk or filing cabinet that’s jammed full of paper, you may want to clean it out but fear you’ll throw away something important.  Here’s a quick guide to what you should keep and for how long. Tax Documents The thought of an IRS audit strikes fear in just about everyone.  But [...]

Think you’re broke? You may have money in places where you least expect it. Have you skipped filing a tax return because you didn’t owe anything? You may be passing up a sizable refund. The Internal Revenue Service recently announced that $1.1 billion in previously unclaimed tax refunds are waiting for nearly 1.1 million people [...]

Your tax return.  You’ve been avoiding it for months now, and you know you need to file it soon, but you just can’t face the dread of lots of rules and numbers and lines and crazy forms. While the tax laws don’t ever seem to get simpler, you can take away some of the pain [...]

The economy has been brutal, and you may have built up debts you can’t pay.  Or, your identity may have been stolen, and now ambitious debt collectors are looking to you to pay for someone else’s bad behavior.  Media reports suggest that debt collectors have become overzealous, and are using unprecedented tactics to get you [...]

Expectations of retiring early and enjoying a comfortable retirement lifestyle have all but disappeared as the 2011 Retirement Confidence Survey finds that Americans have accepted working into their 70s because they won’t have enough money saved for retirement until then. Conducted annually by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and Mathew Greenwald & Associates, [...]

One of the greatest advantages of being a homeowner is the ability to deduct your mortgage interest on your tax return using the mortgage interest tax deduction.  But just like anything else IRS-related, there are rules to follow.  Here’s a primer. What’s a Home? Your “home” for the home mortgage interest deduction is your primary [...]

Angry that every penny YOU make gets taxed, while your handyman, hairdresser, or plumber hides thousands of dollars every year from the tax man? Well, now there’s a way to get even. The IRS has beefed up its rewards program for ratting out tax cheats.  Now, you can rat out your neighbor, lawn guy, or [...]

Although the economy is showing signs of improving, a new survey finds that the Great Recession has taken a major hit on Americans’ personal finances. The study, commissioned by the American Savings Education Council and the America Saves campaign, finds that people are unable to save money and they are extremely concerned over it. According [...]