Category Archives: Debt Relief
Pennsylvania Law Protects You From Stubborn Auto Renewing Subscriptions, Even When Federal Law Does Not
Federal laws that aim to protect workers or consumers establish a minimum standard. States may enact their own laws that expand on those protections; if they do not, then the federal law will apply in the state. For example, federal law establishes a minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Pennsylvania does not have its… Read More »
Your Payday Ritual May Not Get You Out of Debt, but It May Give You Clarity About Your Finances
The people who tell you that the secret to happiness is making a major life change probably stand to gain financially from you making that change. Happiness does not come from nutritional supplements or from quitting your job and moving to Portugal on the advice of a travel blogger. Instead, it comes from celebrating… Read More »
Personal Loans Are Aspirational Now
If you are living paycheck to paycheck these days, you are living the dream. You are in a better financial position than the people who sink deeper into debt with each passing pay period, as they use buy now pay later (BNPL) to buy groceries at the end of the money, and the installments… Read More »
Would 50-Year Mortgage Loans Solve the Housing Affordability Crisis?
In times of financial stress among consumers, lenders tend to offer loans with longer repayment terms. These options are often attractive to borrowers, because the monthly payments are lower, whereas the payments on a loan with a shorter term of repayment would have been unaffordable. Meanwhile, the true beneficiary is the lenders. Longer terms… Read More »
New Year’s Resolution: Break Free From Your Family’s Financial Control
Keeping New Year’s resolutions is notoriously difficult. Sometimes the problem is that the goals are too vague, such as eating healthier or controlling your temper. Sometimes they are so detailed as to be unrealistic, such as deciding that throughout the new year, your breakfast will be two eggs, one avocado, and one slice of… Read More »
Consumers’ Biggest Financial Regrets of 2025
You have been in debt for so long, and you know so many other people who are in the same boat, that by now you have accepted that your debt problems are not your fault; they are mostly due to factors beyond your fault. Anyone who blames you for being in debt when you… Read More »
Would Basic Income Help You Get Out of Debt?
Basic income is when a government or private organization gives a monthly cash allowance to beneficiaries with no restrictions on how the beneficiaries spend the money. Many cities in the United States have conducted basic income programs of limited duration to study the effects of these programs, such as the financial stability, physical health,… Read More »
Who’s Afraid of Solo Aging?
Everyone seems to be in dire financial straits these days, and the fact that so many other people are in the same boat should, by itself, make you feel less lonely. Some people got into so much debt because of peer pressure; they tried to match the lifestyle that their friends projected on social… Read More »
Riskiest Strategies for Paying Down Credit Card Debt
As long as you have available credit on your credit card, it is easy to ignore the fact that the balances keep creeping higher every month. You keep making the minimum payments each month and then unthinkingly swiping the plastic every time you get to the part of the month where “paycheck to paycheck”… Read More »
At What Price a Perfect Credit Score?
If you doubt that the perfect is the enemy of the good, just try spending time with perfectionists. They are drop dead gorgeous, but they constantly fret about their looks. They can’t enjoy their food, because they are always thinking about how it could be tastier, more nutritious, or more aesthetically pleasing. People who… Read More »
