New Paint vs. New Siding as a Home Improvement Project

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Many homes in the United States are covered with aluminum or vinyl siding. If you do have this siding on your home, you probably already know that your siding is not going to last forever. Generally speaking, you can expect your siding to stay in good condition for approximately 20 – 25 years. Of course, [...]

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Is a Bad Inspection Cause for Losing a Home? – Financial Considerations

Having an offer accepted on a home is cause for celebration. Unfortunately, even if a seller accepts your offer, it does not mean you’re in the clear. You are still 30 to 60 days away from closing, with plenty of potential for slip-ups along the way. One of the most nerve wracking points during this [...]

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5 Factors to Consider When Comparing Local Banks

Many people have a number of options when it comes to selecting a local bank. This can be both a good and bad thing. It is always nice to have more than one choice; however, this can make it difficult to make a final decision. As a consumer with many options, it is important that [...]

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6 Do-It-Yourself Maintenance Tasks for Improved PC Performance

Whether you use the Internet for work or pleasure, nothing is more frustrating than having pages load slowly or not at all. You can have the fastest Internet connection in the world, but if your PC is not maintained on a regular basis, you’re still going to encounter problematic issues. Rather than having your computer [...]

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5 Ways to Save on Car Insurance Costs

Auto insurance costs can be affected more by outside factors than most other things we buy. Sure, we can shop companies, study various policies and provisions, but the real cost of the plan we select will have more to do with us—how we buy insurance, how we behave while driving, and even what type of [...]

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Is Buying Groceries in Bulk at Wholesale Clubs Always Cheaper?

My wife and I split many household chores and one of them is grocery shopping. I handle the food warehouse and she tackles the traditional chain grocery store runs. We’ve found we need both, since neither has the best deals all the time. I realize that conventional shopping wisdom holds that food warehouses—Sam’s, Costco, BJ’s, [...]

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5 Better Uses for Your Tax Refund Money

A tax refund is something of an annual windfall in many households, and the tendency is often to spend it on long delayed purchases. While spending it immediately can be beneficial, it’s important to consider the options that are available and to realize that some are better than others. Since tax refunds are so common, [...]

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Do We Spend More Money When We Use Credit Cards?

There are different opinions when it comes to credit cards. Some people, usually those who have gotten over-extended or had a major issue with one or more card companies, have come to see them as debt enablers and therefore as something to be avoided. Others marvel at the convenience and the various rewards programs that [...]

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Where Are Your Kids Learning About Money?

Kids learn about a lot of subjects in school, but personal money management isn’t on the agenda. By the time they finish high school, they won’t have been taught basic financial survival skills such as budgeting, paying bills on time, saving for retirement or even balancing a check book. They won’t learn any of that [...]

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The Best Gift Cards to Give When You’re Out of Ideas

Many times we think of gift cards as one step short of “I forgot to get you a gift, so I got you one of these”. And while there may even be a lot of truth to that assumption, some gift cards are more welcome than others. In fact, there are some gift cards we [...]

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