Money Tips Network
How To Save When Food Costs Go Up
Over the summer, food and household supply prices are expected to rise as much as 15%. According to the average American household budget from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the combined expense of food, household operations, and housekeeping supplies was $10,505 in 2019. A 15% jump in that number means the average American household is […]
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How To Avoid Early Debt When You’re Young
When you’re young and new to your career, there’s a lot of temptation to spend more than you earn. You see people ahead of you in your career path making a lot of money and living an affluent lifestyle, and it’s easy to envision yourself being there in a few years. Why not spend a […]
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We sold our house!
June has arrived and it's glorious! The sunshine and warmer weather make living in Oregon wonderful this time of year. October is better, but June is a damn fine month here in Portland: wild roses, blackberry blossoms, and strawberries; birds, squirrels, and bicyclists; outdoor dining, evening strolls, and morning coffee on the porch.
I've been in a great mood for the past week, and it's not just because of the weather. It's also because, after three months of hard work, Kim and I have sold our country cottage. We're not sure what the future holds, but for now we're renting a small place in the Lake Grove neighborhood. It's fun!
And now that all of that work is finished, I can turn my attention to other things — such as writing about money. To kick things off, here's the story of what I've been up to for the past few months, of how we sold our house in this crazy real-estate market.
How To Calculate Net Worth
Your net worth is a simple indicator of your overall financial health. It’s the total value of everything you own minus the total of all of your debts; that’s it. The higher your net worth, the healthier your financial situation. That number represents how much cash you’d have if you sold off every possession you […]
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30 Essential Pieces of Free (and Open) Software for Windows
We live in a golden age of computer software, where there are freely available software packages for almost any purpose. But isn’t there no such thing as a free lunch? Who makes free software, and why? Some free software is the result of people simply writing programs that they find useful and sharing them with […]
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Staking cryptocurrency: My first adventures
Earlier this month, I decided to try my hand at staking cryptocurrency for automatic income. I'll share a few things I learned diving kind of head-first into this project.
It's hard to miss the exposure that cryptocurrency has gotten this year, particularly the past couple of months in 2021. Literal fortunes have been made and lost with the attention and the market swings.
Since I had only earned a small amount of cryptocurrency at various endeavors, I got caught up in the excitement and decided to try my hand at staking cryptocurrency for some automatic income.
What is staking cryptocurrency?
Staking a cryptocurrency, in simplest terms, involves making the cryptocurrency available for the transaction system to work. In slightly more complicated terms, it involves usually a short-term contract to commit the cryptocurrency to a wallet and not spend it.
Timeline: History of the Housing Market Over the Last 50 years
It’s been a long road the last 60 years in the U.S. housing market. From the quiet years in the 1960s to the surprise jump in buyer interest during the COVID-19 pandemic, this nation’s housing market has seen everything from the go-go years of 2002-2007 and the devastating crash that followed. According to the St. […]
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Mortgage “Half” Payments: How Much Do They Save?
Many mortgage lenders offer borrowers the ability to make half-payments twice a month on their mortgage or make bi-weekly payments instead of making a full payment once a month. How do bi-weekly payments work? What about twice-monthly payments? Which is the right option for you? An example of how bi-weekly payments work Let’s say, for […]
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The Simple Dollar Guide to Auto Loans
Getting an auto loan isn’t as tricky as securing a mortgage since the lending criteria are a bit more flexible. But you still want to begin with a good idea of what you can afford — especially before falling for a budget-busting vehicle and committing to a car loan that stretches you too thin. According […]
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H&R Block Refund Advance Loans Review
Please Note: The Refund Advance loan is no longer available through H&R Block. H&R Block refund advance loans are no-interest loans that provide an advance on your tax return if you choose to file your taxes with H&R Block. These loans are usually offered at the beginning of tax season, and reward filers for getting […]
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When Should You Downgrade Your Car Insurance?
When should you drop or keep collision insurance? What about comprehensive? And what’s the difference between comprehensive and collision? These are all important questions that should be answered before making any changes to your existing coverage.
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Should You Pay Off Low Interest Debt or Invest?
The first few steps of your financial turnaround are simple. Get caught up on your bills. Pay off high interest debt. Build up an emergency fund. If you do those things, you’re already in much better shape. The next step is trickier. At that point, many people have some low interest debts remaining, such as […]
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How Healthy Living Saves Money
Many of the self-improvement goals that people set for themselves boil down to one of two things: improving your health or improving your financial situation. Health improvement and financial improvement have a lot in common: they both require you to focus on making changes to your daily life, and they both take a while to […]
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Best Investment Property Mortgage Rates
Here’s what you really want to know: The best investment property mortgage rates for online applications is from Rocket Mortgage, which we go into more detail in a bit. We’ll also talk about the best investment property mortgage rates for pre-approval (Better Mortgage) and the best investment property mortgage rates for low rates (SoFi). In […]
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Best 203(k) Rehab Loans of 2021
Sometimes referred to as an FHA construction loan, the FHA 203(k) loan is a government-insured mortgage designed for homeowners looking to make renovations or for new buyers looking to rehab a fixer-upper. While a rehab loan may take longer to complete the paperwork and get approved, there are significant benefits like smaller down payments, lower […]
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Best Installment Loans for Bad Credit in 2021
We’ll get straight to the point: We found that the best installment loan for bad credit is NetCredit, which we go into more detail in this post. We also look at the best bad credit installment loan for rate drops (RISE Credit) and the.best bad credit installment loan for easy application (Peerform). In this look […]
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MetLife Auto Insurance Review
MetLife is perhaps best known for providing life insurance, but auto insurance is also available, and we found with our proprietary SimpleScore that this insurance carrier has a lot to offer. With a 4 out of 5 in claims satisfaction, and a 5 out of 5 with coverage options, MetLife is more than competitive. However, […]
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Progressive Home Insurance Review
From its proprietary Name Your Price tool to superior accessibility and support, Progressive home insurance has both traditional and unique offerings for its customers. However, its customer service for claims is not as high as it could be. In this Progressive Insurance review, we look at what we love about Progressive Insurance, what could be […]
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The Best Homeowners Insurance Companies in New Jersey
Our methodology Using our proprietary scoring system, called SimpleScore, we assessed the top home insurance companies. We looked at available discounts, coverage options, customer satisfaction, accessibility and quality of support. We also looked at other reputable reviewers, such as J.D. Power, which tracks customer satisfaction each year, and Consumer Reports, which looks at such factors […]
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Best Flood Insurance Companies of 2021
We found that Liberty Mutual, Allstate, State Farm and MetLife are great options for home insurance companies that offer flood insurance. Using the SimpleScore and our proprietary methodology, our team evaluated the top four insurance providers offering flood insurance. It’s an issue your insurance agent may bring up, because in 2019, the Center for Disaster […]
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