Survey Results: More Money for the Holidays
by Scott Bilker
Hey, we all wouldn't mind having more money! Many people are doing extra things this holiday season to earn more money. From working overtime to selling stuff online, it seems there's always a need for more cash this time of year. DebtSmart Readers responded to last issue's survey with their own strategies for making some extra money.
Survey: "Sucess Is..."
by Scott Bilker
Add your motivational quote to DebtSmart® by completing this sentence: "Success is..."
Household Math™: Susan is loanly
by Scott Bilker
Susan just left her boyfriend Jim because he didn't want to get married. Susan originally planned to buy an investment property with Jim but that plan is over. She decides to go ahead and get the house herself. She gets approved for a 30-year, 7% APR loan with payments (principal and interest) of exactly $800.00. Susan decides, after making the first monthly payment of $800.00, that starting the next month, and until the loan is complete, she is going to add one crisp dollar bill to the monthly payment. So her next payment will be $801, then $802, and so on. How long will it take her to repay the loan?
Household Math™: Cheaper Gas vs. Savings
by Scott Bilker
Jenny lives 30 miles from where she works. Her car gets 22 miles per gallon. Jenny works 5 days a week, every week in the year--no holidays or vacations; that hurts! Last year she added up how much she spent totally for gas which equaled $885.65. She likes to get gas at the closest gas station for convenience but this comes at a cost of 5 cents more per gallon. If she bought all her gas for the year at the lower-priced gas station, how much would she save in one year?
Household Math™: House Painting
by Scott Bilker
Dave and Jennifer just got married. They each have a little debt from student loans and decide to earn extra money on the weekends by painting. If it takes Dave 15 hours to paint a house, and it takes Jennifer 10 hours to paint the same house, how long will it take if they both worked on it together?
Amortized Loans
by Scott Bilker
I would like to know what the formula is for an amortized loan. How exactly do they calculate each payment? I suspect that all the interest for the loan term (i.e., 30 years, 15 years, etc.) is loaded up front in some way, but I would like to know exactly HOW? I want to teach my teenagers about this. I think it's very important for everyone to know.
Survey Results: Are you Organized?
by Scott Bilker
Are you organized? I am with some stuff, like the finances, but in other areas I need to improve (like the garage). Being organized is surely the key to success in any undertaking so I wonder just how organized we think we are...
Which credit cards look better on your credit report?
by Scott Bilker
I have been told that certain credit cards (e.g. Capital One, Cross Country, and others like those) do not carry a lot of weight on your credit report. I was always under the impression that all credit cards carried the same weight. What is the truth?
Household Math™: Future Savings
by Scott Bilker
Kelly wins $25,000 in the lottery and decides to put this money away for the future. She deposits the cash in a money market fund and expects to earn an average of 4% for 10 years. Kelly's younger sister, Audrey, wants to accumulate the same amount of money as Kelly in 10 years but Audrey doesn't have $25,000 lying around. Audrey decides to make monthly deposits at the same bank as Kelly and she expects the same rate of return. How much does Audrey have to deposit each month to have the same amount as Kelly in 10 years?
Survey: Worst Buying Decisions
by Scott Bilker
Best Buying Decisions I'm frequently asked about "good debt" and "bad debt." Actually, there's no such animal. There is simply DEBT. There are however, good buying decisions and bad buying decisions. Buying your home is probably a good buying decision. Buying a new Audi Mazzerat, for people with an average income, is probably a bad buying decision.
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