Financial and Lifestyle Resources for Vermont

If you’re struggling to make ends meet, make budgeting your New Year’s resolution in 2020. Budgeting isn’t a skill we’re born with. It’s something we’re taught, or we learn on our own. But with money being one of those things you aren’t supposed to talk about around the dinner table, it can be scary to ask for basic advice.

If you’re in the market for a new home, it’s time to review your credit report. The information in your report helps your mortgage originator determine your creditworthiness (whether you’re likely to pay back money loaned to you).

Two weeks ago, we published a Facebook post about the security and convenience of mobile wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay and heard from several people interested in learning more about the technology. Here is what you need to know about mobile wallets!

It’s hard to get through the holidays without hearing about Black Friday or Small Business Saturday, but in an increasingly online age, it’s Cyber Monday that offers the best deals (and you don’t have to wait in line). We rounded up some of our favorite Cyber Monday deals so you can save this holiday season!

Each year, millions of individuals flood the stores on Thanksgiving night, and into what we now refer to as Black Friday, to score awesome deals. The phrase "Black Friday" has a long history that hasn’t always been focused on commerce, and it is now followed by two other shopping-related holidays that encourage people to buy in different ways. How have these holidays evolved and how should you navigate them? Here’s a little advice.

The holiday season is heralded as a time of joy … and a time to buy. For those who have the means, it’s exciting to think about the new things you may get and the gifts you can give. For those who can’t afford holiday costs, it can be a time of anxiety and loneliness. For those who don’t have family or are going through their first holiday season without a loved one, it can be devastating.

If an image of your credit card immediately comes to mind when you hear the words “holiday shopping,” you aren’t alone. Some people do it the right way—saving throughout the year so they don’t need to buy on credit. The rest of us mere mortals start thinking about the holidays when they’re a couple months away and do the best we can to cover costs. If you’re a mere mortal, like myself, here are some holiday credit card habits that will help you make it through the season with your finances intact.

My wife and I are new homeowners and in preparing for winter, we've begun the yearly process of budgeting for our heating bill. In auditing how our house deals with heating over the past few chilly weeknights, we realized we wanted a better way to control the heat, while also saving on fuel oil!