It's a Money Thing - Adulting Adulting Financial Tools & Resources

When you start looking for financial advice (or any kind of advice, for that matter), experts will share their take on what’s “good” and what’s “bad.” In personal finance, there are some classifications that we can all agree on: Debt is bad. Emergency funds are good. Overdrawing your account is bad. Earning interest on your savings is good…(Read More)

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Checks hold an odd place in our personal finances. In many ways, checks seem like relics from a previous era. We maybe write one or two checks a month (usually for rent or similar bill-paying situations where electronic payment simply isn’t an option). This is vastly different from only a few decades ago, when checks represented more than 85% of all non-cash retail payments. (Can you imagine whipping out a checkbook in line at the grocery store? Times have certainly changed!)…(Read More)

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News outlets and credit card companies are quick to label millennials as being credit card-shy. According to a recent survey, millennials apparently fear their credit card debt more than climate change, the threat of war and even death. It may sound like an overreaction, but the underlying trend is substantial: millennials are carrying fewer cards and have lower balances, compared to the previous generation of young adults…(Read More)

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It’s the night before the interview. Your outfit is all laid out, your resumé is hot off the press and you’ve Google-Mapped your route. You’ve done your company research and you’ve practiced answering the tough questions. You are perfectly prepared—and you still feel like a nervous wreck…(Read More)

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You just got your paycheck. Your eyes scan down the list of deductions and settle on the most important part—your take-home pay. You take that number and start subtracting your bills, your day-to-day purchases, or that expensive item you’ve got your eye on. However, hiding in the often-overlooked payroll withholdings, you may find some untapped potential…(Read More)

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If you’re considering financing your college education with the help of a student loan, the smartest thing you can do for yourself is to only borrow what you truly need. (This advice applies to pretty much all loan products, by the way.) Pursuing post-secondary education should be an exciting time in your life. You’re making decisions and opening up possibilities that will shape your future—a future that is adventurous and fulfilling and that decidedly does not include years and years of crippling debt…(Read More)

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Choosing a career is tough. Whether you’re a new grad or considering a career change, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed when tasked with selecting your next gig. And why shouldn’t it? It’s an enormously costly decision, in terms of both time and money. In many cases, it defines your lifestyle: it determines where you live, how you spend your time and what you can afford. It has influence over your stress levels and your general happiness. It’s a big deal and, to complicate matters further, there are over 10,000 options to choose from—even Barbie has had 130 different careers over the years…(Read More)

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Consumer debt is an extremely contradictory part of our personal finances: it’s at once common and incredibly personal. According to numerous sources, the majority of US adults owe money in some way, shape or form—and yet what this consumer debt represents can vary drastically from person to person. To some, a debt might signify a major accomplishment or progress toward a large goal. To others, it might be a constant reminder of a time of crisis or hardship. The decisions that lead us to consumer debt can be thoughtful and deliberate, or rushed and misguided…(See more)

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According to the American Pet Products Association, nearly 70% of all US households own a pet. That translates into an estimated $86 billion spent on food, supplies, medical care and pet services in 2018. Although the love and companionship our furry (or feathered, or scaly) friends provide is priceless, it’s impossible to ignore the effect that pet ownership has on our wallet…(Read More)

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Successful scholarship applications take considerable time and effort. Although there’s no shortcut to a quality application, there are steps you can take to make your efforts as rewarding as possible. Tackling your scholarship search with strategy and efficiency can translate into extra applications—and therefore, extra tuition dollars. For best results, incorporate the following tips into your application process as early as possible…(Read More)

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Losing your job is stressful. Even with an emergency fund in place, it doesn’t take very long to feel the financial impact of a sudden loss of income. When recovering from income loss, the focus instantly shifts to finding a new job. Although the job hunt is an important part of overcoming a financial setback, it fails to address some of the less obvious consequences of losing your job. When you lose your job, you lose more than a regular paycheck—you also lose the routines, the socialization and even the sense of identity connected to that job. Ignoring the non-financial consequences of job loss can have a profound impact on your mental health and sabotage your recovery effort…(Read More)

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Budgets are like the New Year’s resolutions of personal finance. We all know we should have one and we all know it’s a fairly simple thing to follow—at least in theory. Like resolutions, we often map out personal budgets with the best of intentions, only to abandon them a couple of weeks later…(Read More)

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Living on your own for the first time can be empowering. It means having independence and all the things that come with it. Some of those things—like not having to share a bathroom—are wonderful. Others—like killing spiders yourself—are not so fun. And leading the pack in the not-so-fun category: bills…(Read More)

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Picture this: you’re steering your shopping cart through the sliding doors of the supermarket, shopping list in hand. As you walk the aisles, there’s a strategy you can use to save an average of 33% on your entire purchase. It doesn’t require any coupon clipping or rewards cards. And the best part? You still get every single item on your list. The secret? Buying private-label products instead of brand-name products…(Read More)

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Every year, it’s nice to do a bit of “financial spring cleaning” and declutter your filing cabinet, your desk drawers, and the various hiding places where miscellaneous scraps of paper tend to accumulate and multiply. Read on to find out what you should be saving, and what’s OK to shred…(Read More)

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