Frugal Living, Saving Money & Life Hacks

Frugal Living, Saving Money & Life Hacks

Half of the Cardholders Will Avoid Stores Hit by Data Breaches

A study of a randomly selected 865 American adults who use debit or credit card showed that nearly half of them are reluctant this holiday season to return to hacked stored. We all know that data breaches are very common nowadays and people just want to protect their personal information.The study,conducted by landline and cell phone from 2 – 3 October by Princeton Survey Research Associates International for Credit.Cards.com showed that,Five percent of the respondents who use credit or debit cards would avoid stores that experienced a data breachSixteen percent of the respondents said that they would definitely not return to a store that had experienced hacking and twenty nine percent stated that they would probably not return to a hacked store.We have been

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Frugal Living, Saving Money & Life Hacks

Mark Cuban Thinks Lowering Student Debt Is The Answer To Saving U.S. Economy But He Himself Is A Proponent Of Unpaid Internships

I don’t claim to be an expert on economic matters and neither am I trying to poke fun at Mark Cuban. On the contrary, I hugely respect Mark Cuban for what he has achieved and I am sure he is an incredibly smart guy. Having said that, his approach to saving the U.S. economy flies right into the face of his stance on unpaid internships.Student Loans Are Curtailing College Graduate’s Purchasing PowerMark Cuban is right on point when he says that Student loans are bad for the U.S. Economy! As an international student with a decent job, a good chunk of my salary goes towards paying my student loan debt which leaves me with very little to buy things or put another

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Frugal Living, Saving Money & Life Hacks

3 Signs You Need Help with Your Debt

One of the most difficult issues to overcome is debt. If you have a lot of debt, it can be difficult to move forward with your finances. The interest payments suck away your disposable income, and once you are stuck in the cycle, it can take serious effort to get out. In some cases, you might even need help dealing with your debt. You can get help from a legitimate counselor with the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, or get help from a fee-only financial planner. Here are 3 signs that you might need to seek professional help with your debt: 1. You Only Have Enough for Minimum Payments When you only have enough money to make minimum payments, that’s a huge red flag. It means that

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Frugal Living, Saving Money & Life Hacks

What Do You Do With Your Savings?

One of the basic pieces of advice that we are often given about money is to save more. But where do you put that money? And what should you do with it? Create Goals for Your Savings While saving money just to save money does make sense in some ways, the reality is that few of us are willing to keep doing something “just because.” As a result, it makes sense to carefully consider your desired outcomes and figure out what you hope to accomplish with the money you are saving. First off, really think about what you hope to have happen with your money. Do you want some of it to go toward creating a comfortable retirement? Do you hope to save up enough

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Frugal Living, Saving Money & Life Hacks

Why I’d Rather Pay $10,000 to Unload My House Than Become a Landlord

There are people out there who are made to be landlords. They like the idea of having someone else pay the mortgage on a home or apartment building and enjoying the ability to build equity on the property without using their own money. Once the property is paid off, the monthly rent is income (offset by the cost of taxes, insurance, and keeping the property up). I totally get why some people love the idea of getting into real estate and renting out property. I even get why many people who, upon moving, decide that they would rather rent out the old home than sell it. I am not one of those people. I am getting ready to move across the country, and my husband and I

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Frugal Living, Saving Money & Life Hacks

Watch Out for Interest-Only Home Loans

Now that the economy has picked up some, the housing market is recovering a little, and memories of the financial crisis are fading, some lenders are re-introducing a few “creative” financing methods. It’s possible to get an interest-only mortgage again, or get a loan with a low, low rate at the beginning. An interest-only loan is tempting because the borrower only pays the interest each month. This state of affairs can last from five to 10 years. When you only pay the interest, it feels like you can “afford” more house. You aren’t paying the principal, so you are only paying one part of the loan, and it seems like a good idea. However, you could actually end up in big

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Frugal Living, Saving Money & Life Hacks

Chocolate Substitutes

Bittersweet chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, unsweetened chocolate – with so many different types of baking chocolate out there, it’s all to easy to find that you don’t have the one that you need. Fortunately, these simple substitutes can save you a few bucks and a trip to the store. Chocolate Substitutes: Bittersweet Chocolate Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder Mexican Chocolate Semi-Sweet Unsweetened Cocoa Powder White Chocolate Substitute Photo © Erin Huffstetler Follow on Facebook | Follow on Twitter | Follow on Pinterest

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