It always amazed me growing up how much my father knew about money and finances. Even to this day when he is nearing retirement, he knows more than almost every person I’ve met. He is still planning and evaluating his portfolio, always tweaking and always adjusting. He’s continues to make regular contributions to his retirement fund and never misses or is late with paying his bills. He knows how to manage money.

Part of me thinks that my interest in proper money management stems from his passion for it. When I was younger I would continually probe him for information from his past. I asked him how he knew when to change certain funds from low risk to high risk and vise versa. Before the market crash in the late 1980’s he successfully avoided a loss by adjusting his portfolio a few months before everything hit the fan. He did so in early 2000 and again before this most recent downslide. When tens of thousands of people were losing half of their savings and losing their homes he managed to protect all of his portfolio and pay off his mortgage in 15 years.

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The Dollar Stretcher Blog

Written by: Gary Foreman

I recently bought a certified pre-owned vehicle at a dealership. Although I am not struggling to make my montlhy payments I would like to know what my other options are. I’m kind of having regrets buying the car. I don’t really want to pay for the car anymore. This was my first time purchasing a vehicle and the decision was based irrationally.

My loan is $28,000, 6 year, around 10% interest rate. The car is a 2007 Honda Civic Si Sedan.

My boyfriend is bugging me about adding his name to the title. He said he would help me with the monthly payments by matching my monthly payment. By doing this we would be paying off the vehicle faster. He also says that by doing this, it would increase his credit score. Is this true? And what are some benefits to me by doing this?

Michelle Read the rest of this entry

I think it’s time to go back to school. Okay, you don’t actually have to jump on the bus, buy a new school bag and lug around a few pounds of paper and pens and dodge spit balls, but It’s time for a little personal finance help. Here is a fun quiz for you to go through to find out how well you know your finances.

1. It’s always better to choose the longest amortization period with your mortgage because you will have a lower monthly payment.

a: True

b: False Read the rest of this entry

The great debate about money rages on. Depending how you view it, money can a good thing but it has the potential to be a bad thing as well. Money is good because it allows you any type of lifestyle you want. It can fund your goals such as going on vacation or allow you to retire early. Money provides the chance to have a family, live in the neighborhood you want and do just about anything you desire. Proper money management is the simplest form of personal finance basics.

The down side to money is if you live for it. If you spend the majority of your life slaving away at a job that you don’t like to earn money that makes it bad. Money misguides people enough to become workaholics and desert their friends and family.

Without question money has more pros than it does cons. The bad things that are associated with money are usually tied with misuse and greed.

What is Money to you?

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Sometimes its hard to make sense of it all when it comes to your personal finances. Do you know what type of bank accounts are right for you, how long of a mortgage you should have or what type of credit card is right for you? There are plenty of decisions you are forced to make and the more informed you are the better you will know how to manage money.

Here are a bunch of FREE banking tools that can help you make the right decisions:

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If you are like most people you probably feel as though you don’t make enough money and don’t know what to do with the money you have. The ultra rich know how to manage money and are able to manage they lifestyle we all dream of. Here are several tips that you can turn your finances around and make you far more wealthy than you imagined.

Better Time Management at Work

There are ways to use your time more wisely at work. Many of us love the water ‘cooler meetings’ but are they the most productive use of your time? Probably not. Rather than gossiping about the latest episode Read the rest of this entry

You are currently living the ‘American Dream’. You are happily married, have two and a half kids, a dog, the house with the white picket fence, you drive an SUV and a mini van and you are in debt. Your story is the same as millions of other people out there. Okay, so your story isn’t exactly as I just described but close. In fact the debt part is probably the only absolute truth. You are able to make all of your minimum monthly payments and are getting by just fine – or so you think. You have been lulled into the false sense of financial security and think you know how to manage money. The truth to be told is you may be in too much debt. Here is a list of ten warning signs indicating that you may be in over your head.

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The health of your credit score is incredibly important to your finances for a number of reasons. For starters good credit scores are what lenders are looking for when determining whether or not they will lend you money. In a number of cases insurance company’s and landlords often look into your credit when determining whether or not to have you as a client or tenant. This article will show you a number of ways of how to improve your credit score and will help with your personal finance basics.

1. Pay Your Bills On Time

The reason why this is first on the list is because this is probably the most important rule to follow when attempting to boost your credit score. If you go to a bank and are applying for a home mortgage the first thing the bank will look at is if you pay your bills on time. This includes everything from your cable, telephone, credit card or internet bills. Your credit score will directly reflect if you make, miss or are late on your bills. If they see that you religiously miss or are late for payments, chances are you will not be approved.

Some tips so you will never miss another bill payment:

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