Eight years ago, I dropped an article on reducing debt, breaking down the debt snowball vs. the debt avalanche approach. It blew up—big time. It happened to be one of my most popular articles ever. In a nutshell, the debt avalanche has you tackle the highest interest rates first, while the debt snowball says to start with the smallest balances. The idea?...
For most of my adult life, I acted like a kid with my money. Kinda like a financial version of Tom Hanks in BIG. Even though I had a beard and a receding hairline, when it came to spending, I hadn’t changed much since first grade. If I wanted it, I bought it. The only difference between the “first grade me,” and...
I wasn’t built be a professional wrestler. Not like my high school buddy Anthony — aka “Santino Marella” — who become the WWE Intercontinental Champion. He’s like a brick wall and I’m just a skinny guy with a big beard. He bodyslams 300-pound men and I couldn’t hurt a fly. But we have one thing in common: We both...
If I gave you $500 a month to put towards your debt, what’s the best way to use it? Should you chisel away at the debts with highest interest rate? Or knock off the smaller ones first? I’m going to take you through two strategies to tackle your debt – Debt Avalanche vs Debt Snowball — and I’ll show you...
Retail marketing scientists have mastered the art of seduction. They make a living by influencing your purchasing decisions and, on occasion, roping you into buying something you really don’t need. They have a myriad of analytics at their disposal, and they’re not shy about using them to tempt you into abandoning all rational behaviour and making impulse purchase decisions –...
The urge is typical. You’ve completed your tax return, happily confirming your hope the government owes you a refund. Before you’ve even received your refund in that recognizable brown envelope, it’s likely you’ve already earmarked that money for goodies you want, but haven’t had the chunk of cash to pay for. In the back of your mind though, you know...
In this time of historically low interest rates, you would think people must be paying off their mortgages at lightning speed. Why? When interest rates are low, less money from each payment goes towards paying interest and more money is applied against the principal of the loan. This means homes can be paid off months, maybe even years earlier. The...
