By Valerie S. Johnson
You’ve finally done it — earned that coveted diploma. You’re feeling a bit cocky. Your parents are wondering why they had to pay for your expensive education when you already knew everything.
Now it’s time to enter The Real World, the place that you have talked about for years as if […]

Compiled by Valerie S. Johnson from SA Forum Members
One issue many people have with trying to save money is that they believe it takes too much time and effort. The members of the forums came up with 33 money-saving tips, each of which takes less than a minute of your time to implement.
1. […]

Compiled by Valerie S. Johnson from SA Forum Members
Many people assume that the penny is no longer good for anything, but not according to members from the forums - there are still a lot of things that you can do with a penny. Here are 83 of them (Disclaimer: Some of these activities involve defacing […]

By Valerie S. Johnson
We all know that walking has health rewards, but it can have financial rewards as well. Here are ten financial reasons you should consider walking:
It’s free. This is the most obvious reason. You have to pay to own or rent a car, hop a bus, or ride the subway. […]

By Valerie S. Johnson
Math. Like many people, for some unknown reason I grew up with fear and loathing of mathematics. It was always my worse subject in school. Just mention words like “hypotenuse” and “calculus” and my eyes still glaze over. So it’s no wonder that dealing with my finances raises […]

Early Adopter Tech Nightmare: We’ve mentioned before that having the patience to wait can save you a significant amount of money. This highlights that exact same issue on a grander scale when communities locked in monthly rates for Internet service in the early stages and are now paying much more per month for inferior […]

By Valerie S. Johnson
Fair Isaac Corporation’s best known product, the FICO score, is a teenager who has virtually cornered the market. For eighteen years, the three-digit number has been the preeminent risk predictor used by lenders when deciding whether to grant credit to consumers. To date, over 100 billion FICO scores have been […]

By Valerie S. Johnson
It’s almost time for summer vacations, but did you know there is no U.S. law that requires your boss to give you a single paid day of vacation time? Ever. Many companies do, probably due to competitive pressures, but twenty-five percent of private sector employees get no paid vacation time or holidays. […]

How can you win a lawsuit without paying for a lawyer? Be a member of a class action lawsuit that settles.
A class action lawsuit starts as a David vs. Goliath struggle when an ordinary consumer takes on a corporate giant. Many others might be in the same position as David, although they may not know […]

The IRS hears so many of the same ridiculous arguments by people claiming they are not liable to pay income tax that it has posted a 64-page document on its website called “The Truth About Frivolous Tax Arguments.” It sets out the basis for each argument, and then meticulously sets the record straight, complete with […]

It’s been a long, cold, rough winter in many parts of the U.S., but due to a new federal law, spring will be coming early this year. As part of the The Energy Policy Act of 2005, the U.S. will switch to Daylight Saving Time (DST) on the second Sunday in March (3/11/2007). This means […]

There is yet another shady deal going around with mortgage loans these days. If you receive an offer from a lender or mortgage broker under a “Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) Program” endorsed by the Federal Reserve Board, raise that red flag right away. First and foremost, the Federal Reserve does not endorse or sponsor any […]

At some point it’s likely that a friend or family member will ask you for a financial favor. When this happens, you may genuinely want to help or you may also feel pressured to do so. In either case, you need to take the time to look at the financial favor being asked and determine […]

This isn’t your typical school. Imagine a school where there are no grades, classes, tests, or homework. Instead, the students, who range from ages 5 to 15, can do whatever they want all day. And for letting the kids do what they want, the annual tuition cost reaches $10,000 although those who cannot afford […]

One of the many problems with getting a good cell phone plan that meets your needs is that there are a dizzying array of cell phone plans available. To make it even more confusing for the average person, the offers change constantly. The question becomes how to cut through all the static to find the […]

Frequent flyer miles was a fantastic and simple idea when it began a few decades ago. All you had to do was fly on your favorite airline and you could earn points for every mile you traveled. When you had amassed enough points, you could redeem them for free travel. And “free” is a golden […]

No matter where you stand with your job, even if you have just started, it’s in your best interest to always keep an updated resume handy if an opportunity arises. You never know who you might meet, when you may get laid off or when you stumble across something new that might interest you. In […]

It’s the con artists’ job to try to part you from your money and they continue to practice their line of work in new ways. One of their latest ploy that is meeting with success and you should be on the look-out for involves sending you a counterfeit check to you for you to […]

You’ve likely heard of numerous stories in the past about the government spending ridiculously high amounts of money on basic items such as the $640 toilet seat, the $435 claw hammer and $7,600 for coffee makers.
In an effort to try to change these perceptions, the Office of Management and Budget recently upgraded its website to […]

If you are looking for areas where workers will be in high demand in the coming years, look to the computer and health industries. The Department of Labor estimates that jobs in these occupations will make up the bulk of the 20 fastest growing jobs for the period 2004-2014. More than 50% of these jobs […]