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In the past, there was one place to go when you wanted a loan: the local bank. In 2015, you have many more options, and peer-to-peer lending is proving to be an attractive choice for many borrowers looking for a good deal – plus individual lenders looking for an investment option. In fact, peer-to-peer lending companies, including Lending Club, Prosper and SoFi, are exploding so fast in popularity they are doubling their lending every nine months or so!
So what’s peer-to-peer lending all about? We have the scoop for you.
What is peer-to-peer lending?
Peer-to-peer (P2P) lending marketplaces offer loans outside of traditional banks by using algorithms that match borrowers with investors according to each party’s requirements. These companies face fewer regulations because they aren’t banks – they are simply acting as intermediaries between the borrower lender(s), meaning fees and rates are lower. Americans borrowed $6.6 billion in loans last year from P2P lenders.
What are the advantages to borrowing from a peer-to-peer lender?
For borrowers with good or excellent credit, you can expect to receive a more competitive interest rate than from a bank. This is especially helpful for consolidating debt: Lending Club recently revealed that borrowers who used a personal loan to consolidate debt or pay off high interest credit cards reported the interest rate on their loan was an average of 7 percentage points lower than they were paying on their outstanding debt. But don’t forget: when consolidating credit card debt you are moving it, not necessarily dealing it with it. Have a plan to make lifestyle changes so you can effectively pay the loan each month – Mint can help you make your plan!
Other advantages? Some lending marketplace create a loan-worthiness profile from credentials in addition to your credit score, including job history, education and social media activity. Plus, the entire application process is much more streamlined: you’ll fill out much less paperwork and can get approval in a day or two.
Who are the lenders on peer-to-peer marketplaces?
In short: anyone! Facing continued stagnation in savings interest rates, investors are looking for new options to grow their money or diversify their investment strategy. Most P2P loan terms are only a few years, so lending to peers creates a return on investment returns without locking up funds for long periods of time.
But a word of caution, there is more risk involved, so potential lenders should do their research – luckily, most marketplaces allow you to diversify investments across hundreds of loans taken by borrowers.
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Last Friday is affectionately known as Black Friday, and and today is Cyber Monday. These colorful monikers are used to describe two of the heaviest shopping days of the year, both of which kick off the holiday shopping season. This isn’t a secret and the retailers see you coming.
The National Retail Association will release the official results of Black Friday shopping on November 28th, but we already know that the numbers are going to be massive, because they always are. In fact, the billions that will be spent from Black Friday until the after Christmas sales will likely outpace what we’ve spent at retailers in the preceding 47 weeks.
So, why am I telling you all of this? I’m telling you because many of you have, or will open, new retail store credit cards or general use credit cards during the holiday shopping season because their offers are very enticing this year. Retail card issuers will offer between 10 and 20 percent off daily purchases, and some of the general-use card issuers are offering $100-$200 cash back bonuses if you charge more than $500 over the next three months.
Because you’re likely to spend more than normal, you’re more likely to consider at least one of these offers. While many of you will permanently add the card to your wallet’s inventory, some of you will use the initial discount offer and then close the credit card after the holiday season. For those of you who’ve followed my Mint blog, you know that closing a credit card can cause problems for your credit scores. So, what gives? Is it a good idea or not to close a credit card?
The Good News
The good news about closing credit cards is that you eliminate the potential for fraudulent use, which shouldn’t be much of a concern to you since the Fair Credit Billing Act caps your liability to only $50. There’s also no way you can use that card to get yourself into excessive (or even modest) credit card debt, and that’s not a bad deal either. Although, I’d argue that getting into credit card debt is a choice, not a requirement.
Generally, it’s ok to leave your credit cards open and use them all from time to time just to prevent the issuer from closing them because of inactivity. Having unused credit limits is actually very good for your credit scores, even if you never use the card. Of course, you only have unused credit limit if your cards are open.
The Bad News, and More Good News
The bad news when closing a card is made up of one big deal and one myth. When you close a credit card you lose to access to the credit line, which can lower your credit scores. The amount it can lower your scores is going to depend on how much of a line you just lost AND how much credit card debt you carry on other credit cards. If you have no debt, then the closure might be meaningless. If you carry a lot of debt, then the closure will likely be significant.
If you’ve ever explored the downside to closing a credit card on the Internet, then you’ve inevitably seen someone talk about how you should close newer cards and leave the older ones open. This is the myth and it suggests that closing older cards can make your credit file look younger, which lowers your credit scores. Credit scoring systems take the average age of your accounts when calculating your scores.
The problem, and what makes this one a myth, is that the average age of your credit accounts considers both open and closed accounts, including credit cards of all types. According to Craig Watts, a FICO spokesperson, “When assessing length of credit history, the FICO score considers the origination date on all accounts on the credit report, open and closed.”
This is great news for consumers who want to close down unused or unwanted credit card accounts. Now they can choose which ones to close based on how expensive the rate is or how high the annual fee, and not based on whether it’ll hurt the average age of your credit report.
I’d strongly suggest when you’re choosing which cards to close that you consider closing retail store cards instead of general-use cards like Visas, MasterCards and Discovers. The reason is the limits on retail cards are generally very low, at least when they’re initially issued, compared to the limits on your general use cards. This will limit the damage you’re going to cause to your credit scores because you’re probably not closing credit cards with thousands of dollars of credit limits.
Happy shopping!
John Ulzheimer is the President of Consumer Education at SmartCredit.com, the credit blogger for Mint.com, and a contributor for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. He is an expert on credit reporting, credit scoring and identity theft. Formerly of FICO, Equifax and Credit.com, John is the only recognized credit expert who actually comes from the credit industry. The opinions expressed in his articles are his and not of Mint.com or Intuit. Follow John on Twitter.
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Last month’s average temperatures nationwide were the second highest ever recorded, and July is showing no signs of relief. The hot weather paired with many large utilities already raising customer rates means that Minters could see their highest utility bills ever this year.
Luckily, there are steps you can take now to reduce the cost of cooling your home. So sit back, pour yourself a cold drink and take advantage of these tips to keep your utility bill from heating up.
Replace Your Air Filters
You should be replacing your air filters once a month, especially during the summer. Dirty filters restrict airflow, which means the air conditioner runs longer and uses more energy. Replacing a clogged filter will reduce your energy consumption by up to 15%! Buy several filters at once and create a recurring calendar reminder on your phone.
Cool Down Your Bed, Not The Room
Feeling hot when you try to fall asleep is uncomfortable at best, but running the air conditioning all night is the quickest way to a steep energy bill. Instead of turning down the temperature on your thermostat, consider purchasing a bed fan or cooling mat. Bed fans are special bed-height units that send cool air between your bed sheets, using much less energy than central air or a wall unit. Cooling mats use no energy at all! Just pop it in the refrigerator during the day, and place in your bed when you’re ready to turn in for the night.
Consider a Smart Thermostat
Your thermostat controls half of your energy bill, so any cost savings strategy deserves a long look at that tiny box on your wall. Thermostat innovator Nest reports that a correctly programmed thermostat – ones that make adjustments based on your activity – can save about 20% on your heating and cooling bill. In fact, average annual savings with the Nest Learning Thermostat is $173/year – with units costing around $250, you’ll see a return on your investment in your second year.
You can use Nest’s online tool to calculate how much money you can save based on your location, home size and system specifications. Even if you don’t have a smart thermostat, don’t forget: adjusting your temperature just one degree can cut your energy use up to 5%.
Get an Estimate for Radiant Barriers
If you live in a region with prolonged hot temperatures, updating your home’s insulation is a great option for reducing cooling costs for good. Radiant barriers – also known as reflective insulation – reflect heat away from the home.
Heat travels in three ways: conduction, convection, and radiation. Traditional insulation materials slow conductive and convective heat flow, but do not account for radiant heat that travels through your roof and into your house. Radiant barriers are easiest to install in new construction, but can be installed in your existing house, especially if it has an open attic. Studies show that radiant barriers can reduce cooling costs 5% to 10% when used in a warm, sunny climate.
What are some tips and tricks you use to keep things cool around your house? Share with us in the Comments or on Twitter with #MyMintTips.
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Last week, I tackled two questions from fans of Mint.com on Facebook. This week, I’ll tackle three more.
Q1: How does having student loans really affect your credit “image” and at what point/value?
A student loan is just that… a loan. And, if that particular loan (or loans, if you’ve got several of them) is reported to the credit reporting agencies, then the same rules about how loans impact your credit scores are going to apply. The point being, you don’t get more or less “points” simply because it’s a student loan.
Student loans are installment loans, which means there is a fixed payment for a fixed period of time. Installment loans don’t have a huge impact on credit scores because they’re normally more stable than, for example, credit cards. The reason installment loans are more stable is because the downside to not paying them is more invasive than the downside to not paying credit card debt. For example, your tax returns can be affected if you don’t pay your student loans.
Having said that, student loans are a perfectly effective way to build a solid credit report. If you’re paying your debt on time month after month, then that will help you to establish good credit scores.
Q2: How do I get credit for paying my student loan that’s in my parent’s names? The lender won’t let me switch or refinance it.
Well, that is quite a conundrum. Basically, you’re paying off a loan that belongs to your parents and they’re the ones getting the value of your on-time payments. While it might seem easy for the lender to swaps names on the promissory note, it’s never that simple.
Here’s a solution: Take out a personal loan and pay off the student loans in full. This way, you’ll become obligated to pay back the loan, which will show up on your credit reports and it gets your parents out of the equation. There are some downsides to this strategy that you should keep in mind:
First, if the aggregate amount of your student loans is too high, then you might not be able to qualify for a personal loan large enough to wipe it out. Second, you are going to lose any tax benefit because interest on personal loans is not deductible and interest on student loans normally is. Finally, the interest rate on a personal loan is probably going to be much higher than the rate on the student loans, so the debt just became more expensive.
I’d suggest that you perhaps look at other solutions for building your credit reports and scores. There are many credit card options that won’t cost you a dime, as long as you pay the balance in full each month. Opening a card is the most cost-effective way for responsible consumers to build credit.
Q3: Are my student loans going to ruin my chances for a mortgage, even with no late payments and excellent credit?
Coverage of student loans has been pretty negative over the past few years, and for good reason. We’re now in $1 trillion dollars of student loan debt, which outpaces our credit card debt. Student loan debt can’t easily be wiped out with a bankruptcy, so we’re stuck with it until we pay it… or die.
Having said that, from strictly a credit reporting and scoring perspective, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with student loans. In fact, your student loans could be help your chances to qualify for a mortgage, especially if you’re paying them on time, which it sounds like you are.
The one thing you should keep in mind is how the debt impacts your “DTI” or debt-to-income ratio, which is the amount you’re obligated to pay relative to the amount you earn. The point being, even with solid credit scores, having too much debt of any type can disqualify you for a loan, even if you’re got fantastic credit scores.
The best thing you can do is to continue to pay your loans on time, month after month.
John Ulzheimer is the President of Consumer Education at SmartCredit.com, the credit blogger for Mint.com, and a contributor for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. He is an expert on credit reporting, credit scoring and identity theft. Formerly of FICO, Equifax and Credit.com, John is the only recognized credit expert who actually comes from the credit industry. The opinions expressed in his articles are his and not of Mint.com or Intuit. Follow John on Twitter.
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Don’t speak personal finance? Not to worry! Mint is celebrating World Dictionary Day with a list of must-know money terms to bring some savvy to your saving.
Quiz yourself to see how many terms you know! Have a definition of a term that’s not on our list? Need help with an tough acronym? Ask us on Twitter with the hashtag #MyMintTips.
Must-Know Money Terms
401(K)
A qualified plan established by employers to which eligible employees may make salary deferral (salary reduction) contributions on a post-tax and/or pretax basis. Employers offering a 401(k) plan may make matching or non-elective contributions to the plan on behalf of eligible employees and may also add a profit-sharing feature to the plan. Earnings accrue on a tax-deferred basis.
IRA
An investing tool used by individuals to earn and earmark funds for retirement savings. There are several types of IRAs: Traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs and SEP IRAs.
Traditional and Roth IRAs are established by individual taxpayers, who are allowed to contribute 100% of compensation (self-employment income for sole proprietors and partners) up to a set maximum dollar amount. Contributions to the Traditional IRA may be tax deductible depending on the taxpayer’s income, tax filing status and coverage by an employer-sponsored retirement plan. Roth IRA contributions are not tax-deductible.
Net
The final amount that remains after all other amounts have been taken away. Examples: net profit, net income, net worth
1095 Forms
In 2014 the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, introduced three new tax forms relevant to individuals, employers and health insurance providers. They are forms 1095-A, 1095-B and 1095-C. For individuals who bought insurance through the health care marketplaces, the 1095-A will provide information that will help to determine whether you are able to receive an additional premium tax credit or have to pay some back. 1095-B’s and C’s are for people with private insurance or from their employer — you just need these for your records, and they’re not required to file.
APR
The annual rate that is charged for borrowing (or made by investing), expressed as a single percentage number that represents the actual yearly cost of funds over the term of a loan. This includes any fees or additional costs associated with the transaction.
FICO Score
A type of credit score that makes up a substantial portion of the credit report that lenders use to assess an applicant’s credit risk and whether to extend a loan. FICO is an acronym for the Fair Isaac Corporation, the creators of the FICO score. Using mathematical models, the FICO score takes into account various factors in each of these five areas to determine credit risk: payment history, current level of indebtedness, types of credit used and length of credit history, and new credit.
A person’s FICO score will range between 300 and 850. In general, a FICO score above 650 indicates that the individual has a very good credit history. People with scores below 620 will often find it substantially more difficult to obtain financing at a favorable rate.
ARM
An adjustable rate mortgage is also known as a “variable-rate mortgage” or a “floating-rate mortgage”.It’s a type of mortgage in which the interest rate paid on the outstanding balance varies according to a specific benchmark. The initial interest rate is normally fixed for a period of time after which it is reset periodically, often every month. The interest rate paid by the borrower will be based on a benchmark plus an additional spread, called an ARM margin.
Debt to Income Ratio
A personal finance measure that compares an individual’s debt payment to his or her overall income. A debt-to-income ratio (DTI) is one way lenders (including mortgage lenders) measure an individual’s ability to manage monthly payment and repay debts. DTI is calculated by dividing total recurring monthly debt by gross monthly income, and it is expressed as a percentage.
For example, John pays $1,000 each month for his mortgage, $500 for his car loan and $500 for the rest of his debt each month, so his total recurring monthly debt equals $2,000 ($1,000 + $500 + $500). If John’s gross monthly income is $6,000, his DTI would be $2,000 ÷ $6,000 = 0.33, or 33%.
Equity
Equity is the value of an asset less the value of all liabilities on that asset. The term’s meaning depends very much on the context. You can think of equity as one’s ownership in any asset after all debts associated with that asset are paid off. For example, a car or house with no outstanding debt is considered entirely the owner’s equity because he or she can readily sell the item for cash, with no debt standing between the owner and the sale. Stocks are equity because they represent ownership in a company, though ownership of shares in a publicly traded company generally does not come with accompanying liabilities.
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When they’re finally ready to make the jump from renting to home ownership, most first time homebuyers enlist a real estate agent to help them through the process. No wonder: buying a home is complicated and when it’s your first time, you feel like you could use some hand-holding.
Real estate agents provide a valuable service and are generally well-paid as a result. There’s nothing wrong with that. But money does have a way of distorting relationships — even when honest people are involved.
Here are some tips that will help you, as a first time homebuyer, take full advantage of today’s real estate market and get the most out of your relationship with your real estate agent.
1. Your agent is your agent
When you’re new to the process, it is easy to believe that the guy with 20 years’ experience calls the shots. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Your real estate professional is your agent: he or she works for you, gives you advice and negotiates on your behalf. He doesn’t make decisions for you and you should not expect him to.
2. Only fools fall in love
After you’ve looked at a few houses that weren’t quite right, your agent will probably tell you not to get discouraged, and that eventually you will “fall in love” with the right property.
Love makes you do stupid things. Stupid things like paying too much or looking past costly repair items. As a first-time homebuyer, you should develop a healthy ‘like’ for a property, but keep the relationship open, see other houses. There will be plenty of time for “love” after you’ve put in the 300 hours of sweat equity to make your house a home.
3. Be willing to walk away
If you never fall in love with a piece of real estate, you’ll never cry when you have to walk away from it. Real estate agents often use the phrase “my client will walk away” and some use it quite loosely to stress the importance of a point for negotiation. If you want to retain the full strength of your position as a buyer, you’ll need “I’ll walk away” to mean that you are done if your demands aren’t met.
For your agent to communicate this correctly to the seller, he needs to know that you mean what you say. And yes, if it reaches that point, you will need to walk away from a property. Not to worry: there are others out there. But don’t be surprised if you hear back from the seller a week later that he is willing to work with your demands.
4. Time is on your side
Your agent is going to tell you that you have to move quickly and make the best offer possible when you find the right property. This is not always the best advice. As a first time homebuyer, you are in a unique position of strength in terms of the real estate transaction. You aren’t selling your home, so you don’t have to move. You can look at and make offers on many properties. You can start with a low offer and negotiate upwards if the seller balks. You can table a counter-offer and look around a bit before deciding to pay more. The opposite is generally true of sellers in a buyer’s market. They need to sell the property and are motivated to move as quickly as possible. Use time to your advantage.
5. Your agent is not your friend
Your agent performs valuable services in the real estate transaction, but he really doesn’t make anything until you buy a piece of real estate. That makes him a salesman. Being a salesman, he wants you to feel like he is a friend who has your best interests at heart.
The reality is that your interests and your agent’s may not be aligned. He is actually better off financially if you make a quick decision and pay too much for a property. This is, after all, likely the largest business transaction of your life. Make sure that your agent, regardless of how personable he is, understands that you are a customer and that you need him to drive the best business deal for you.
6. The listing agent just might be your best friend
In the New York Times best-selling book Freakanomics, authors Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner point out that real estate agents typically market their own homes for 10 days longer than they market their clients’ homes. Is this because they are so busy with their clients that they don’t have time to market their own homes?
No, it really comes down to how we incent real estate agents with commission. When an agent is selling his own home, he enjoys the full benefit of any increase in sales price so he is extremely motivated to market for as long as possible to get the best sales price possible. But when it comes to a client’s home, an extra week on the market might lead to a higher sales price for the seller — but the agent will only enjoy a very small amount of that increase in the form of marginal increase to commission. Meanwhile, marketing a home for another week would take him away from marketing someone else’s property. As such, the listing agent is highly motivated to convince the seller that your offer is the best offer he is going to receive. Use this to your advantage and make offers that are good for you.
7. There is no such thing as an embarrassingly low offer
When it comes to a property that has been sitting with no action, there is no such thing as an offer that is too low. Some agents will tell you that that you could offend the seller or that your offer is embarrassing. A good agent will encourage you to make strategically low offers. Offers are really not a lot of work and the worst thing that can happen is that your offer is not accepted. Often, however, in a buyer’s market a low offer will turn into a counter-offer. Think of the first offer as the starting point for negotiations and be prepared to consider counter-offers.
8. Online real estate companies can save you money
Over the past decade, online real estate companies have started to take market share away from traditional brick-and-mortar agencies. They’ve grown by offering discounts and rebates on the traditional 3% real estate commission. RedFin, one of the leading online real estate companies, offers buyers a rebate of up to 50% of the commission at close. RedFin also compensates their agents with salary as opposed to commission, which alleviates some conflict of interest issues. Granted, the service may not be as extensive or personalized — but the extra cash may offset the drawbacks.
8 Home Buying Secrets Your Real Estate Agent Won’t Tell You was provided by CreditSesame.com
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It’s almost 2016 and the start of a new year and new beginnings. It got us thinking, is the “American Dream” what it used to be and is it in fact, still alive? Making up ⅓ of the American workforce, the millennial generation is working hard to pursue what they love and aren’t afraid to change the status quo set by former generations. They value old ideas, while striving to make a few new ones of their own.
Indeed, the idea of the “American Dream” is unique to everyone and that’s an awesome thing.
So now’s your chance to chime in. We want to hear what the “American Dream” means to you. All you need to do is take a few seconds to fill out our survey, share your brilliance with your friends using the hashtag #MyMintDream, and we will select a few lucky survey takers to win some Mint swag.
1 Dream. 4 Questions. Start here: What is YOUR American Dream Survey
*Survey will end on Monday, November 30, 2015
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The advent of fall serves as a good reminder that you may need to correct course and keep your financial responsibilities in mind. On the first day of fall, the autumnal equinox, the lengths of day and night are roughly equal, and the daylight grows shorter from there. Use the diminishing sunlit hours to get you and your money back on course after a summer of sun and fun.
Start over
Every year at back-to-school time, there are ads for notebooks, fancy pens and backpacks. Even if you don’t have children, the fall season brings to mind stacks of blank paper, waiting for you to write your story….or re-write it! Are you financially off-track and your money goals are nowhere in sight? Start with a clean slate and get back to basics. Create fresh goals. Redo your monthly budget. Commit anew.
Become a night owl
We turn our clocks back on November 1. Use that hour to reflect on your day, unwind and set action items for tomorrow that will keep you on the right financial path.
Spring cleaning isn’t just for spring
If you live in a cold climate, now is the time you are pulling winter gear out of storage. Purge ill-fitting or never-worn garments and gear and have a fall yard sale. You’ll clear space in your life and earn a bit of money you can put towards your saving goals.
Give your bills a checkup
Scrutinize your bills. Are you paying the right amount for utilities, cable or broadband, phone, and other recurring monthly expenses? Are there any hidden fees? This is a good time to get organized, adjust your data plan or cut some channels out of your satellite TV package to save a few more bucks.
Pay attention to open enrollment
Many employees benefit plans run open enrollment — the period when you can make changes or sign up for new benefits — at this time of year. Instead of ignoring those flyers or emails, open them! Make sure you are taking advantage of vision, dental, and health insurance, and contributing to your employer’s retirement plan. Look at how much you spent this year on healthcare costs and see if a healthcare savings account may benefit your family. Keep in mind that Health Insurance Marketplace open enrollment for 2016 is from November 1, 2015 through January 31, 2016.
Stock up for next year
Now is the time to purchase used summer gear like patio furniture, pool toys and bikes. When others are deciding what doesn’t get to stay in the garage for another year, you can snag a great bargain on something you’ve wanted to add to your warm-weather activities. Grab it now and look forward to using it next year.
Resist the pumpkin spice latte
You can’t open your eyes in September without seeing an ad for a pumpkin spice something. It can be tempting to embrace the fall flavor, but did you know that a pumpkin spice latte can be as much as $5.25? I don’t know about you, but every year I succumb to the advertising pressure and long for the tasty warm treat. It’s a good reminder to skip the coffee stop and make your latte at home and save a fiver. Or at least custom order yours, which could save you half the cost!
Watch the calendar
The countdown to Christmas is alive in social media feeds. Whatever winter holiday you celebrate, plan accordingly. They happen at the same time every year, so now’s the time to make your plan — don’t let them sneak up on you and force you into overspending on food, travel, or gifts at the last minute.
Snuggle and save
When it gets cold outside, we tend to stay in, watch movies or invite friends over. While this routine may get old by March, at least you’re not out somewhere spending money! Silver lining, right?
Kim Tracy Prince is a Los Angeles-based writer. If she didn’t have a husband and 2 young boys who love sports, she’d save money by staying in and reading all the books that she never has time for.
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Being a personal finance writer, I thought a lot about how my husband and I (who I married just a few short weeks ago) would merge our finances. Despite writing about finance daily over the last seven years, it may shock some that even after living together for a year and a half pre-marriage, we waited until we were legally husband and wife to merge any element of our finances.
But that’s not to say we didn’t discuss money along the way. In fact, having open and honest discussions pre-marriage has helped us sail smoothly into our first year of married life, although getting there wasn’t without its trials.
#RealMoneyTalk When You’re Dating
As privy as I am to the most intimate details of people’s finances, getting to the point where I felt comfortable talking about my own took longer than I thought. I’d never been at the point in the relationship with anyone else prior to meeting my husband.
I always admire couples who know they’re getting serious and decide to just lay it all out there. My friend and fellow blogger and author Erin Lowry famously calls this “getting financially naked.”
But for me and my now-husband, our overall approach to money talk was like peeling back the layers of the onion. Slowly, as we became more comfortable, we began to let one another “in” to our respective money situations a little bit more, and perhaps now I prefer this approach.
Here are the most common money conversations couples have when they’ dating:
As the relationship progresses, eventually you’ll discuss more serious conversations like moving in together, and how much you can afford jointly and how you’ll split the bills. You’ll have to discuss credit scores (if you apply jointly for a loan) and how you’ll split payment for items like furniture or a new television.
#RealMoneyTalk in Marriage
The #RealMoneyTalk you and any new partner you’re dating might be initially uncomfortable, largely because everything is so fresh and you’re still getting to know one another. But it can be awkward still once you’re married and the “real money talk” becomes “actual money practices.”
Here’s what my husband and I have covered so far in the short time we’ve been married:
Our savings goal and how we’ll get there together
How we’ll spend for our fixed expenses and utilities
How we’ll handle our personal spending (video games for him, Sephora runs for me)
Saving for retirement
But it hasn’t been a breeze.
For example, my husband and I applied for a mortgage and for the first time he found out my actual credit score (it’s 720) but his was over 800 and my score cost us a lower interest rate. He teased me about it, but I still remember feeling slightly anxious and embarrassed. Revealing details about your personal money situation is no joke, even if you’re willing and prepared.
I also remember those first feelings of indignation when my partner would see packages from Sephora arrive and comment on their frequency or remind me to pay the water bill.
We were both older when we met: both in our 30’s, we both owned homes, had both (unsuccessfully) lived with other partners, both paid off significant amounts of debt (him his law school student loans, me and my credit card debt.) The slow pace of our financial merger was due, in part, because we’d both been managing our finances completely on our own for over ten years and were comfortable and strongly preferred doing things a certain way.
We’d cleared the hard money convos, but we were both set in our own financial patterns and habits. In the end, it took us coming to the table with our feelings around money, instead of actual numbers that helped us get on the same page and start fresh managing money as a team. It’s different than how others would do it, but it’s how we’ve done it and it works for us – which is the most important goal.
Perhaps, I’m so enamored with how couples manage money because, quite frankly, I’ve never met two couples who managed it in exactly the same way. There’s the couple where one partner is the only earner, and the other stays at home yet completely controls the bank account. I met a couple who even after having several children still split everything 50/50 (“Do you Venmo one another for diapers?” I asked, “Yes.” She replied.) I even met a couple who has just one joint bank account and both agreed they’d never spent a day fighting about money.
Fascinating, right?
No matter how you and your partner decide to manage your finances, remember that the first step is getting the courage to have the talk.
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Apartment hunting can be a real hassle. Newspaper listings don’t give you enough information, apartment guide magazines are almost always out of date, and driving around town looking for “For Rent” signs wastes time and gas.
Apartment search engines aim to make finding a new apartment easier by showing listings from multiple sites in a single, easy-to-read format. Some sites hit the mark, while others miss it by miles.
As a renter, here’s how I rank apartment rental sites from best to worst:
PadMapper
PadMapper is the one site I’ve had the most success with because you can customize your search results in nearly every way imaginable. The basic search goes by price, number of bedrooms, and type. The expanded search lets you enter in your own keyword or look for pet-friendly spots. But the best feature of PadMapper is the super-secret setting (seriously), which is a blue bar called “Show Super-Secret Advanced Features.” With this setting, you get a crime map, walk score, neighborhood layout, and mass transit map for each listing.
MyApartmentMap
If you’re looking for a specific type of rental, MyApartmentMap is the site to search. It sorts results by pets allowed, military housing, college apartments, or affordable housing. You can also refine your search within each option, such as, choosing cats, small dogs, or large dogs under the “pets allowed” subsection. The listings themselves are the easiest to browse of all the sites. Each listing has a photo and the rent price clearly marked.
HotPads
If you’re an organizational nut like me, you’ll love the interactive map on HotPads. Each apartment listing appears on the map as a color-coded “hotspot.” Clicking a hotspot pulls up the listing, and from there you can hide the apartment or add it to your favorites. Hiding a listing removes the hotspot, while adding to your favorites puts a star on the map. After sorting all the listings, you’re left with one easy map showing you which apartments you want to look at.
RentLinx
RentLinx does have some cool search features. You can look for income-based, Section 8-approved, handicapped-accessible, and smoke-free rentals. The site was harder to navigate than the others, and even after sorting by most recent listing, all of the ads I saw were a year or two old.
MyNewPlace
MyNewPlace is pretty bare-bones. The site does have some advanced search features that will let you sort by rent price or show you pet-friendly apartments, but the available listings are sparse. My ZIP code only showed 27 listings, whereas PadMapper, MyApartmentMap, and HotPads showed hundreds. After searching, the site required I give my email before I could view any of the listings. The signup sheet had a disclaimer that basically promises to spam my email with advertisements from the site. It adds, “Generally, you may not opt-out of these communications.”
Rentals.com
In my area, Rentals.com mainly listed sponsored ads from corporate apartment complexes with a few private rentals mixed in. While the site listed tons of complexes, the listings themselves weren’t all that comprehensive. None of the ads had floor plans, the photos included were mostly of the complex, and the pricing usually said “Varies.”
RentCompare
RentCompare was a navigational nightmare. The site’s two search options, sort by ZIP code or sort by city name, both came back with errors no matter how many different combinations I tried. When I finally got a search to work, the site required me to sign up before I could see the listings. Sign-up took four separate tries with four separate errors. In the end, I was able to see a few listings with some decent information, but the site wasn’t worth the hassle.
While I tried to cover most of the popular sites, there’s no shortage of others out there. Do you have a favorite site I didn’t mention, or one to avoid?
“The Best and Worst Apartment Rental Sites” was provided by MoneyTalksNews.
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