Wage garnishment is the worst-case scenario, at least in California. The Constitution and its amendments outlaw debtors’ prisons; the worst creditors can do is ask the courts to divert your earned income to them. This dystopian process is known as wage garnishment or wage attachment. The bad news is that even when wage attachment seems inevitable, you must…

In the old days, financial stress during the holidays was a rite of passage. You knew you were an adult when, instead of being excited about the Christmas cookies in the kitchen and the presents under the tree, you worried about the cost of plane tickets and learned to bake your own cookies from scratch to…

If you are feeling stuck financially, your feelings are completely understandable. Even if you work full-time, your income is barely enough to cover groceries, utilities, and rent.  It is easy to feel like the people who own their own houses, and therefore build equity with every mortgage payment, have it made while you are just treading…

Even though you may have seen other couples be there for each other in difficult times, you probably cannot imagine how difficult life will eventually get for you and your spouse. Maybe you saw your grandmother take care of your grandfather at home for years when he was in poor health, while all of your other…

If we lost our ability to socialize during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, we began to rebuild our social bonds by grumbling with our neighbors and coworkers about grocery prices. People cannot agree on much these days, but we can reminisce about the times when it was possible to find enough coins between the couch cushions to…

More than half of small businesses close down and cease to operate within five years of being incorporated, but once a business reaches a certain size, it takes on an ability to reinvent itself. If you think that big corporations can shed their debts and morph into themselves, like a snake shedding its skin or a…

You do not have to be destitute to file for bankruptcy protection. In fact, one could even argue convincingly that bankruptcy cases work better when you have substantial assets. This is why you see wealthy business owners run up lots of debts with their failed marriages and failed business ventures, discharge those debts in bankruptcy court,…

Gratitude is an underrated personal finance strategy. Credit card debt does not rank highly on most people’s lists of things to be thankful for, but consider this. If you have credit card debt, it means that you once got approved to open a credit card account, which means that you also have a bank account. Some people are…

When people complain about the expenses and annoyances of homeownership, they can expect a derisive response from at least part of their audience. Complaining about homeownership, no matter how well the numbers back up your complaints, always comes across as sounding like a humblebrag. By complaining about the annoyances of your house, your mortgage, and your homeowners’…

Psychologists have long referred to people’s response to a fear-inducing stimulus as “fight or flight.” When the frightening stimulus is a notice of mortgage foreclosure, flight seems like the less futile response. If your choices are to abandon your home or dig in your heels and wait until the lender spends a tiny fraction of its immense…