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The Best Kohls Coupons and Deals
Photo: Mike Mozart
Finding high-quality items for affordable prices is a never-ending pursuit that can often fuel frustration. How do you know you’re getting the best price at the best time when deals keep changing?
When it comes to shopping at Kohl’s, getting a bargain is almost guaranteed — you should rarely, if ever, have to pay full price. But navigating the store’s maze of coupons and promotions is a different story. We’ll break down how to get the most bang for your buck at one of the nation’s largest department stores.
The True Cost of Student Loans
Choose an expensive college or borrow more than you need, and you might still be writing student loan checks when you’re 50.
When you’re 18 years old and preparing to leave the nest, it’s easy to think you’ve got it all figured out. You’re ready for college, and you know that a college degree is a good investment in your future. And you’re willing to do almost anything to make your college dreams come true, even if it means taking on a good deal of debt. But is that really a good idea?
First, let’s put aside the cost of college and focus on the value of a college degree. Almost all modern research points to the fact that yes, a college degree is a good investment.
What Is a Good Credit Score Range?
Ever wonder what is a good credit score, and why this little three-digit number is so crucial to your financial well-being? Can it really affect your everyday life? And what kind of control do you have over it? In this guide to credit score ranges, we’ll tackle all of these questions. We’ll take a look at what your credit score means, what’s considered a good score (and what’s a bad one), how your credit score can help or hurt you, how to improve your credit score, and much more.
Credit Score Ranges at a Glance
The two most commonly used credit scores are those issued by Fair Isaac Corp. (FICO) and VantageScore, and each uses a range of 300-850. If you recently got a peek at one of your credit scores, and you’re simply wondering whether it’s a good one or not, here’s a quick look at what’s considered an excellent, good, fair, and poor credit score, according to consumer credit expert John Ulzheimer:
Choosing Your Personal Financial Focus
When I first started my professional life, my main financial focus was on my career. I tried really hard to establish a great professional foundation and took on a number of hard projects, presentations, certifications, public speaking opportunities, and other challenges in order to cement a positive reputation and resume.
During that time, I didn’t put much effort into other areas of my financial life. I didn’t think much about investing at all. I thought almost nothing about frugality. I dabbled lightly in entrepreneurship, but that was pretty secondary, too.
When I began to realize that my life had changed in several ways – most importantly, my first child was born – my focus shifted from my career to frugality. I focused hard on cutting my spending and using those proceeds to dig us out of our debt hole.
How Much Down Payment for a Car Should I Put?
Whether you’re buying a new or used car, if you’re financing the purchase, you’ll have the option of putting a down payment on a car. A down payment reduces the total amount you will owe on the car, though a good down payment for a car will depend upon the car’s total purchase price. Not […]
The post How Much Down Payment for a Car Should I Put? appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
Using the HARP Program to Refinance an Underwater Mortgage
The real estate market has been recovering, but if your mortgage is still underwater, you might benefit from the HARP program. Photo: Kai Schreiber
Just a few weeks ago, reader Sarah wrote in for advice on how to handle her underwater mortgage. Like many people who bought homes at the peak of the housing market in 2006 and 2007, she and her husband still owe significantly more than their home is worth.
Her note describes her thought process as she considers how to do damage control while getting out from under an underwater mortgage:
I recently got married and my husband and I both owned houses prior to that. We moved into mine and have been trying to sell his. Unfortunately, he bought his house in 2007, and since then the value has plummeted.
How to Create a Budget With a Credit Card
Pairing a credit card with online budgeting tools can help you stay on top of your spending and find your weaknesses.
In the world of personal finance, it’s not very often that you hear “credit card” and “budget” used in the same sentence. Still, I have to be honest here. As a credit card rewards enthusiast and zero-sum budget expert, people are constantly asking me how I reconcile those two opposite areas of interest.
My answer? I think credit cards and budgeting go hand in hand.
Financial Independence and Permaculture
Planting shade trees or perennials like black-eyed Susans is a more sustainable and effortless approach to landscaping than painstakingly manicuring a lawn each year. Learn how to apply permaculture principles like this to your financial life as well. Photo: Eric Skiff
As Sarah and I have continued to work toward financial independence, one of the principles we’ve really come to value is that long-lasting reliable stuff is preferable to less reliable stuff. Reliability is a pretty big virtue for us. If we’re going to buy something, we’d rather buy it for life.
Why You Shouldn’t Lease a Car (and Other Similar Money Moves)
Leasing a car may be tempting — it’s a chance to get a nice new car at a lower price — but it’s not a smart money move.
More than once on this site, I’ve argued on behalf of renting instead of buying a home. Renting comes with a number of financial advantages, not the least of which is that it’s far cheaper per month than owning your own home. You’re not responsible for homeowners insurance, property taxes, property maintenance, or any of those other expenses. You’re just responsible for the rent, and that adds up to quite a bit less per month in most situations.
Yet, at the same time, I’ve regularly discouraged people from leasing cars in almost every situation. Leasing, after all, is much like renting – you pay an amount each month for use of the car over an agreement that last three years or so.
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