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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 some shady credit repair services might try to convince you otherwise, a bankruptcy filing does not cast a dark shadow over your creditworthiness for the rest of your life. All the restrictions that bankruptcy imposes on your financial choices eventually go away, at least in theory.  The bankruptcy filing eventually disappears from your…

Expecting your fortunes to quickly and dramatically change for the better is not an effective way to deal with your debt situation, at least not if you also have a short-term strategy. Much personal finance advice falls into either of two categories; it either focuses on big decisions, such as filing for bankruptcy or getting…

One of the most frustrating things about debt is that in today’s economy, prices are higher than wages. You are not in debt because you spent carelessly on impulse purchases or lived an extravagant lifestyle; you are in debt because you went to the doctor when you were sick or because you bought groceries during…

People who are trying to get out of debt tend to have the same kind of love-hate relationship with credit cards that people who are trying to lose weight or improve their diet have with doughnuts. In their best moments, they write out a budget or a meal plan and follow it, but when things…

Having a salaried job can feel a lot better than not having one. You are not always scrambling to find enough gigs to pay your bills in time to avoid late fees. Your work schedule is at least somewhat predictable, so you can plan for your errands and housework instead of doing them in a…

Whoever is sharing content on social media about working adults being broke because they keep splurging on Starbucks and avocado toast did not have you in mind. If anyone knows where to find a discount, it is you. In fact, it seems like you spend all your time looking for discounts. You belong to Buy…

Californians have plenty of reasons to have a sunny demeanor, and not just because of the weather. California offers more paid medical leave than most other states, and in many California cities, it is easy to get from home to work on your bicycle or public transportation. Despite this, there is no escaping the fact…

It often takes a year or more for new business ventures to be more profitable. You might spend your first round of startup funding on business costs but then need to borrow more to keep it going. You are in good company if your New Year’s resolution is to start a business, but you do…

Family law attorneys advertise Divorce Monday, the first business Monday of the year, when unhappily married people act on their New Year’s resolutions and file for divorce from their spouses; the courts receive more divorce filings on Divorce Monday than on any other day of the year. Although bankruptcy lawyers do not advertise Bankruptcy Monday,…

Finances are in Bad Shape You have big plans for overhauling your finances in the new year. You have been disciplined about spending for as long as you can remember, but despite cutting out all unnecessary spending in order to put every possible penny toward debt repayment, your debt balances stubbornly stay the same, or…