Category Archives: Debt
Is Co-Signing On Loans Fatal To Friendships And Family Ties?
Conventional wisdom says that you should not let a sociable conversation turn to the topics of politics, religion, and sex, although it seems that fewer and fewer people are observing this rule these days. Meanwhile, people hesitate to talk about their finances, even though evidence suggests that doing so can only open the door… Read More »
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Imposes Penalties On Wells Fargo For Mismanagement Of Consumer Loans
Banks routinely charge people money to access their own money, and the less money you have, the more lenders charge you to borrow, and most of this is legal. It’s all written into the fine print of your loan agreement. When lenders fail to abide by the terms of the loans they have issued,… Read More »
Can Gap Insurance Protect You From A Car Loan Catastrophe?
Cars are virtually the only means of transportation in Florida, but many Floridians have a love-hate relationship with their cars. It’s fun to watch YouTube channels about the aspirational vehicles you will probably never be able to afford, but when you see the trust fund babies on South Beach parking one such vehicle across… Read More »
Unsurprising Medical Bills Can Still Ruin Your Day
Two new policies implemented in the past two years have provided a modest measure of relief from medical debt. First, the No Surprises Act, which went into effect at the beginning of 2022, limits the amount that healthcare providers, including physicians, radiologists, and air ambulances, among others, can bill patients for services rendered on… Read More »
Reality Check: Rolling Over Your Underwater Car Loan Into A New Loan Is A Terrible Idea
If you are looking for a corner of the Internet that is just grumpy enough to make you smile without being the incessant torrent of vitriol which is current events-themed social media feeds, you can do worse than the Jalopnik website. Here, curmudgeonly car enthusiasts throw a wet blanket on the latest trends that… Read More »
Despite Recently Enacted Protections, Medical Debt Can Mess You Up
The medical debt crisis in the United States is not new. The cost of healthcare, even for Americans with health insurance, has been unaffordable for decades. Three years into the COVID-19 pandemic, the panic has subsided, and almost everyone you know has been infected with COVID, vaccinated against it, or both, but the economic… Read More »
Yikes! Florida Can Suspend Your Driver’s License Just Because You Can’t Pay Your Debts To The Court
Everyone you know would probably balk at the idea of imposing criminal penalties on people for unpaid debts; in the popular imagination, debtors’ prisons belong to a Dickensian dystopia, which is where they belong. Despite this, there are plenty of ways in which the law punishes people for being poor. First, despite recent measures… Read More »
Unglamorous But Effective Workarounds For The Cycle Of Poverty
The fact that you are in debt is largely due to factors beyond your control. Even if you have forgone all nonessential purchases and if you spend all of your time either working to earn money or seeking out discounts so you can spend as little of it as possible, it is virtually impossible… Read More »
3 Ways That People Sabotage Their Own Efforts To Get Out Of Debt
Getting out of debt is much harder than it sounds. Even if you made a budget at the beginning of 2022 and did not exceed your spending on any of the budget categories for the whole year, you are probably still in debt. In the best-case scenario, your disciplined spending enabled you to increase… Read More »
Don’t Panic If You Can’t Afford To Pay Your Taxes
Another year in the gig economy has gotten far enough that the deadline for filing income tax returns is approaching. Without your income from gigs, you wouldn’t even be able to survive paycheck to paycheck; your debt situation would just be in free fall. Your gig income enables you to keep up with your… Read More »