Money Tips Network

This has been a brutally cold winter in many parts of the country, and furnaces from Maine all the way down to Florida have been working overtime.

Do you consistently spend more than you make? Do you go on shopping sprees to celebrate a raise or to soothe your disappointment at not getting a promotion?

Saving money and living frugally can be hard work. While there's something romantic about living the ascetic life, most of us need to let loose once in a while. But how can you inject fun into your life when you're trying to save every penny? That's easy!

Using a credit card responsibly is one of the best ways to improve your credit score over time. However, anyone who’s been working to push that three-digit number closer to 700 knows that applying for a new credit card can sometimes hurt your score.

One way to find a new credit card without affecting your credit score is to use Credit One Bank’s new pre-approved offer tool that allows you to check if Credit One Bank already has a pre-approved offer for you. Simply input your first and last name as well as the last four digits of your Social Security number, which will be automatically encrypted. It’s safe, secure and just that easy!

Budgeting has something of a bad reputation. It’s not because budgeting doesn’t work, but because many budgets are created out of thin air and are then impossible to follow, creating a sense that personal budgets are simply a bunch of work for little benefit.

One big reason that hastily-assembled budgets often fail is because of “money sinks.” Money sinks are simply costs that aren’t accounted for in the budgeting process. Usually, they’re completely reasonable expenses – they just happen to eat up a lot more money than was expected for a number of reasons.

A really robust budgeting process usually seeks to find those money sinks and incorporates them into the budget, but that can take a very long time, something that many people aren’t quite willing to do.

Your 30th birthday is fast approaching. There's no denying it now: You're an adult. But when it comes to those credit cards in your wallet, are you still acting like a kid?

Credit cards are an important financial tool.

Wild winter weather keeping you cooped up inside? Cabin fever got you down? You're not alone. Send your stuck-in-the-house blues packin' with these cheap or free ways to have fun indoors while Mother Nature does her thing.
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If you're short on funds but need access to cash right away, using your credit card for a cash advance might seem like the easiest way out. Unfortunately, getting a cash advance is one of the most expensive ways to use a credit card.

First, the basics.

No doubt about it, being a freelancer is hard. From serving clients to staying on top of your money game, there's no shortage of work to do. Sometimes, things may be overlooked or set on the back burner while you tackle pressing business matters.