Overcoming Financial Hardship to Buy a Home

Almost everyone was happy to see 2020 come to an end but, unfortunately, the pandemic continues.

For people who suffered from unemployment, reduced wages or lost commission income, the financial impact of covid-19 could linger even after the virus is under control. Renters who had planned to become homeowners can still work toward fulfilling their aspirations.

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How to Negotiate With Your Credit Card Company

DO-IT-YOURSELF PROJECTS are a popular way to save money, which is one reason why there are several TV shows and loads of magazines celebrating the joys of hands-on home improvement.

There is another DIY opportunity that gets much less fanfare and can take about as much time as fixing a leaky kitchen faucet – negotiating with your credit card company.

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Free trials can be costly

Free trials can be costly

Getting free stuff is cool…until it isn’t free. It is decidedly uncool when, after luring you in with “free trials” for products you might like, a company hits you with surprise charges during the supposedly “free” trial period.

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5 Ways to Control Emotional Spending

Sometimes it may seem like shopping has become America’s favorite pastime. With advertising popping up everywhere—from TV to billboards to city buses— shopping seems to be everywhere. Advertisers spend billions of dollars annually convincing us that products can make us feel successful, prevent us from being bored, help us attract a partner, and a myriad of other things. With ads carefully designed to manipulate our spending habits, it’s no wonder so many people have become emotional spenders.

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The New Payday Lender Looks a Lot Like the Old Payday Lender

Apps promising to “advance” a user’s wages say they aren’t payday lenders. So what are they?

Jonathan Raines needed money. An app promised to help.

He searched online for an alternative to traditional payday lenders and came across Earnin, which offered him $100 on the spot, to be deducted from his bank account on payday.

“There are no installments and no really high interest,” he told me, comparing the app favorably to a payday lender. “It’s better, in that sense.”

Earnin didn’t charge Raines a fee, but asked that he “tip” a few dollars on each loan, with no penalty if he chose not to. It seemed simple. But nine months later, what was originally a stopgap measure has become a crutch.

“You borrow $100, tip $9, and repeat,” Raines, a highway-maintenance worker in Missouri, told me. “Well, then you do that for a bit and they raise the limit, which you probably borrow, and now you are in a cycle of get paid and borrow, get paid and borrow.” Raines said he now borrows about $400 each pay cycle.

“I know it’s a responsibility thing, but once you are in that cycle, you are stuck,” Raines told me. Borrowing against his own paycheck hasn’t made stretching his money any easier. Especially because the app changes its terms based on users’ cashflow: Earnin requires constant access to users’ bank-account balances, and when its algorithms detect that a user might not be able to repay, the app lowers the borrowing limit. (A representative from Earnin said the company tells borrowers two days before their next check what the next borrowing maximum is, and that it sets these limits so users can’t borrow more than they’ve earned in a pay period.)

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