Obtaining a home equity loan is a common method of refinancing debt and it has several advantages. But there are a few potential ‘gotchas’ that are worth considering before taking the plunge.
First, what is a ‘home equity loan’? The basic idea is simple: obtain a line of credit, secured by the equity in your home. [...]

One very important element in your overall credit worthiness package is your FICO score. But what exactly is that and how does it affect your debt management choices?
FICO is an acronym formed from the letters of its founder, the Fair Isaac Corporation. It is a number between 400 and 800 that ranks credit worthiness according [...]

It might seem that developing a budget should be an elementary task. But many people are simply not inclined to use spreadsheets, balance checkbooks or lay out a formal budget. Whether by nature, or as a result of a reaction to public school mathematics training, some people just aren’t ‘number people’.
But everyone will find it [...]

There are multiple ways to reduce your total (and monthly) debt load, some less painful than others.
The obvious one, of course, is to simply pay down your debts. That can be difficult, and for some it may seem hopeless. But there is one method that has been employed by many with great success: the snowball [...]