I bought a fixer-upper home when I was making 6 figures but now that the commission has slowed, I ran up my credit cards. Please help!

Dear Olga, What is your best advice to get out of debt? Thanks, Jack Carter Dear Jack, My first piece of advice for getting out of debt is: commit to no new debt starting today. Many people say they want to get out of debt, but continue to add new balances to the old balances carried over on their credit cards. This means you should be prepared to pay for everything upfront, in cash. If you don't have enough cash, this may be a sign that you're spending more than you make. Th

Dear Olga, Should you use financing for big purchases? What are the advantages and disadvantages of financing and how can you decide what's best for your personal situation? Thank you, Tight on Cash Dear Tight on Cash, Before we discuss how to decide if it's the best decision for you, let's talk about what financing means. Financing a purchase means that you will be getting a loan to cover the large purchase. For example, you want to buy your child a new computer and instead

This guide to graduate student loans will help you understand what is a FAFSA form as well as federal and private loan options.

Dear Olga, I have a really bad credit record. Long story. Someone has offered me a way of clearing out my record, so that I can get credit again. It sounds like a really affordable option for me. What would you advise? Thank you, Anonymous Dear Anonymous, When money hardships impact your credit score it can be stressful and all you want is to get over this hurdle. Before you sign up for an "affordable" credit repair service check your current credit score. My favorite tool to

When it was time to prepare for college, I had my eyes set on Marymount Manhattan College. As a private, liberal arts college in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, it wasn’t going to come with a cheap tuition tab. My parents didn’t have enough knowledge or understanding of the college system in America, let alone think about college savings! By the time I was ready to apply to colleges, there wasn’t much to lean on and my mom was very honest about the kind of support I could e

Dear Olga, I have been working as a Developer (entry level) for 1.5 years. I used all of my money so far to pay off student loans from a different country. I want to go to a good business school in1.5 years. How can I save up enough to fund my education? I’m afraid of accumulating another student loan but I want to dream big. Please share your thoughts on this. Thank you, Pink Panther Dear Pink Panther, I can relate to wanting to keep your student loans down and staying out o

With student debt in the US up to a staggering $1.6 trillion, it's important to understand some of the basics.

Dear Olga, When my husband separated from the military we suffered from eviction and a car reposition. How can we fix our credit so we can live and rent in a more suitable environment. Thank you BadCreditBarbie Dear BadCreditBarbie, It sounds like you've had some difficult events hit you all at once in a short span of time. It's never easy to go through one difficult situation, let alone several situations at once. To move forward from any situation, it's important to underst

Dear Olga, I am trying to get out of debt asap. I am looking at getting a part time job to supplement my income. If it rains we don't work. We have been slow at work so I am not earning enough to pay extra on anything at the moment. Thanks for any advice, Anna Dear Anna, I have several suggestions to point you in the right direction. While you're looking for a part-time job, focus on making the most of your situation as it stands right now. My first suggestion is review your

Just like many good choices, it doesn't actually always feel good making those decisions. I've learned the tougher it feels making a smart money choice, the better the choice is for your wallet. The hardest part about making smart choices, the chance of making a smart choice is 50% each time. Irrelevant of the choices you made up until this point, the wrong choice will always be on the table. If you're not careful, it can wipeout all of the hard work you've put in. A poor mon

Before we go into advice for dealing with financial setbacks, it's important to address that not all setbacks are the same. Types of Financial Setbacks There are minor setbacks like a car emergency that required you to dip into your savings or slipping from your budget, making a purchase you couldn't afford and now can't return. These setbacks don't drastically change your overall picture. Maybe your savings is $500 less or your total credit card debt is up by $200, but overa

Many people have been taught that it's inappropriate to talk about money. This mindset may be something you brush off as insignificant but it can impact many parts of your life. You may find yourself avoiding financial conversations until very last minute or when you're faced with a hardship you ignore all of the warning signs and once you're in the weeds you're too overwhelmed to face your mistakes head-on. I've been reading Activators: A CEO's Guide to Clearer Thinking and

Additional income is any income received outside of your regular stream of income. With tax season underway, some of you are receiving refunds in upcoming weeks! One of the biggest questions I'm asked around this time is what to do with a tax refund. Do you use all of it to pay down debt? Do you put it all towards savings? Spend it all?! There isn't a simple answer that can be applied as a blanket statement to everyone's life, but here are some things to keep in mind that wil

Last week's blog talked about categorizing your debt. Now that you've thought about what kind of debt you have, let's talk about how to tackle your debt and set you on a path towards financial independence! The first step to tackling your debt is putting together a debt snapshot. A debt snapshot is a list of all of your debt and the minimum payment due for each. Here is an example of a debt snapshot: A debt snapshot allows you to see where you are today and what you're workin

There is a tendency to classify debt into two groups: good and bad. "Good debt" is typically associated with investing in your future so that could be your student loans (as burdensome as they are) and a home. "Bad debt" doesn't add wealth or have any long-lasting value, a good example would be carrying high balances on credit cards and paying high interest. These classifications normalize debt and create shame around hardships that are out of your control. Unless you've inve

In Q2 2018, total US household debt has reached $13.29 trillion. In June 2018, student debt in the US is up to a staggering $1.52 trillion with 44.2 million debtors. In July 2018, US consumer credit card debt is up to $1.04 trillion between 123 million households. These are pretty scary numbers, but the good news is that you're not alone. Making poor choices with money can have all sorts of consequences like poor credit score, debt burdens that are overwhelming and arguments