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In a perfect world, no one would need to use credit cards, but a perfect world is so far away that you have already maxed out one credit card with grocery purchases and other expenses that no one would consider luxuries, and now you are running up the balance on at least one other card.…

How bad your finances are is, at least partially, a matter of perspective. Sure, you don’t have any money left at the end of the month to put into savings. If you are so optimistic that you transfer a percentage of your paycheck into savings every payday, then you end up transferring it back into…

After introductory quotes from texts in Latin, Classical Greek, and Italian, T.S. Eliot’s poem “The Wasteland” begins, “April is the cruellest month.” It is true that April is not especially cuddly, but all of the months are cruel these days. It is as if the financial death toll of the Christmas holidays never ends. Chances…

When people meet with debt relief lawyers to discuss bankruptcy filings and other possible solutions to their debt problems, most of them tell a similar story of a debt problem that started gradually. Yes, there are people whose finances tanked suddenly after a personal disaster such as an injury or a divorce, but an even…

Economists seem to inhabit a world that bears little resemblance to the one where we toil incessantly in pursuit of our bread and butter. Our ordeal is just points on a graph to them, and from their bird’s eye view, it looks like the economy is doing great.  Economists rejoice that the unemployment rate is…

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…

Urban areas in California are among the most expensive places to live in the United States, but California also has a stronger social safety net than almost any other state. People in other states probably have it worse, but the government programs designed to protect Californians from financial catastrophe don’t feel like much relief. For one thing,…

Personal injury lawyers often tell injured clients that the “skate at your own risk” signs at skating rinks and “swim at your own risk” signs at swimming pools are wishful thinking; even though the sign is present, you can still file a premises liability lawsuit if you get injured in a preventable accident at a…

Filing for bankruptcy protection is for everyone, at least in theory. Everyone, regardless of age or income level, has the right to file for bankruptcy protection and discharge their eligible debts. Whether everyone should be is another matter. A bankruptcy filing is a negative mark on your credit score, so even if it grants you major relief…