by Lisa Rowan, Rachel Christian, CEPF® Weddings are back — and more expensive than ever. After two years of cancellations and postponements, an estimated 2.5 million couples are expected to get hitched in 2022, according to The Wedding Report, a research company that collects and forecasts wedding statistics. All that pent-up demand — plus inflation and supply chain issues — are driving up prices on everything from floral arrangements to
by Timothy MooreContributorMoving money within accounts at one financial institution is easy enough. You can visit your bank in person, give them a call or use your bank’s website or app to move funds from one account to another.But what if you have accounts at separate banks, fintechs or credit unions? What if you have retirement accounts to fund? What if you need to send money to someone else, whether
Best for Customer SupportDiscover4.15% to 8.99% APRBest for Borrower-Friendly TermsSoFI5.74% to 21.78%APRBest for Borrowers Who Want OptionsWells Fargo5.74% to 19.99%APRBest for Those With So-So CreditUpstart5.22% – 35.99%APRby Kathleen GarvinContributor Home improvement is big business in the United States — to the tune of $457 billion. And that figure is expected to grow mightily in the next few years. Couple that with the hot housing market, and people will be looking to
Real Answers for Life’s Money Challengesby Robin Hartill, CFP®Senior EditorMy husband and I have excellent credit and very little debt. We lost everything, including our home, in 2008. We had to declare bankruptcy to get out from under our home we bought and poured money into with new tiles, a pool and landscaping. These last 10 years, we’ve rented. We’ve been excellent tenants and redid the home inside and out. Now
by Grace SchweizerSocial Media and SMS While theme parks are high on the list of favorite vacation destinations, they can get really expensive really quickly when you factor in extras like hotels and food. Here at The Penny Hoarder, we believe in a healthy balance between work and play. So if you can afford it, take that dream vacation and enjoy every second of it — just make sure you
by Mike BrassfieldSenior WriterThere’s all kinds of perks out there. If you’re lucky, you get perks at your job. You might get perks from your credit card or from customer rewards programs.But what about investing? Shouldn’t you get perks for that, too? After all, you do own part of the company.That’s the idea behind Stockperks, a free app that earns you perks for being an investor — things like discounts,
by Michael ArchambaultSenior Writer If you’ve ever found yourself staring down a large purchase without enough money on hand, Klarna is a Swedish fintech company that may be able to help you. Possibly the greatest thing out of Sweden since IKEA and those delicious tiny meatballs, Klarna allows you to make large purchases and split them up into smaller payments — most of the time, without interest. So, if that
by Kari FaberStaff WriterLots of Americans need access to affordable credit. We need it to consolidate debt, pay off credit cards, pay medical bills and more.So why is it so hard to get a decent interest rate on a loan?Because so much of the approval decision is based on a credit score, which really only tells part of the story.That’s why online lending platform Upstart uses artificial intelligence to approve
by Timothy MooreContributorForget making it Facebook official. Opening a joint bank account is the true way to show you’re committed.OK, so not really. But for many married couples, long-term domestic partners, families and even roommates, joint bank accounts make budgeting and sharing bills easier to manage. A joint bank account is much like any other account you open with your bank or credit union. You can use it to save
by Tiffany ConnorsEditor/WriterThe hospital bill arrives in the mail, and you’re tempted to throw it away (again) without opening it. After all, you don’t have the money to pay for that trip you took to the emergency room.Ignoring medical bills isn’t going to make them go away, and the longer you wait — much like the cough that turned into pneumonia — the worse it’s going to get. But there
