An article by BudgetQueen Sometimes it feels as if you are treading water financially. It seems that you are in the exact same spot as you were six months ago, or a year ago, or two years ago. But oftentimes you are better than you were just a few months ago. It is important to recognize your small achievements, because with several more small achievements you will be well on your way to being where you need to be. Take a minute. Take two to realize what you have achieved in the past year. … [Read more...]
What is the job market like out there? An insider’s perspective
An article by BudgetQueen If you are out looking for a job right now, I don’t need to tell you that it is tough right now. I interviewed a friend who even with an impressive resume didn’t get her first job offer for six months. There is hope though! She says that she has seen a lot more offered for her field in the last couple of weeks. However, she also has found that the interview questions are getting tougher. I interviewed her to see if we can get any insight on what challenges she … [Read more...]
Help! My sibling is a mooch!
Dear Christine, My brother is 41 and he has been using people his whole life – and he gets away with it. He often gets my dad to pay his rent. He gets his girlfriend to buy him plane tickets. He even once charged my mom to plant flowers in her yard when she injured her back on Mother’s Day! I know that you are going to tell me that it is none of my business – most people do. But my parents are spending so much money on him when they can’t really afford it. I am also worried that he will never … [Read more...]
Is now the best time to buy a house?
When I bought a house for the first time 15 years ago, the best mortgage rate I could get on my $130,000 fixer-upper (with a $10,000 down payment) was 6.8% fixed. That didn’t sound so bad at the time – mostly because that was the lowest rate available. I soon realized that if I used the full 30 years to pay it off, with compounding interest, I would have ended up paying over $302,500! That is well over double the amount of the original price of my house. Fortunately I was able to refinance over … [Read more...]
Should I get a home equity line of credit?
An article by BudgetQueen You have owned your house for five years. Five years you haven’t missed a payment. You are one smart home owner! Your house also has increased in value quite a bit. You wonder if you can get a loan on this “equity” or the amount that your house is worth minus the amount you owe. The interest rate on this loan is really low right now and you are wondering if you could use it to pay off a few things like credit cards, or add an addition, or just to add a security net. … [Read more...]
