Financial and Lifestyle Resources for Vermont

Do you want to buy a car but worry that your bad credit will make it impossible for you to get financing? Bad credit can certainly create challenges for the car buyer, but it does not necessarily mean you’re out of luck. You may just need to take a few steps to prove to a lender that you are a trustworthy borrower.

How much would you pay for a budgeting app that helps you save money in the long run? As we did with the best free budgeting apps, we’ve created an overview of some of the more popular personal finance apps available for a monthly fee: You Need a Budget, Simplifi, Mvelopes, and Acorns. We’ll cover how they’re best used, highlight a few handy features, and outline the pros and cons for each. But before we get into the details of each budget app, we have to address the elephant in the room…

If you’ve ever bounced a check, you know that it’s an expensive mistake to make. Not only does your financial institution charge you a fee, you may also have to pay a fee to the person or company you bounced the check with. A bounced check could cost $30 or more, depending on your situation. And if your checking account is already low on funds, that can feel like a blow to the gut.

Budgeting can feel hard. Although the concept and the steps are simple enough, it can still be intimidating to figure out where to start or know if you’re budgeting correctly. But it doesn’t have to be. As with everything in our digital age, there’s an app for that. Actually, there are several personal finance apps to help you manage your money. (And that’s just one type of budgeting tool you can use.) But what’s the best budgeting app for saving money? To help you save time (and money), we’ve created an overview of some of the more widely used money management apps out there, starting with a few of the best free budgeting apps on the market. We’ll cover how they’re best used, highlight a few handy features, and outline major pros and cons to help you choose for yourself. Let’s log in.

How do you think about money? In many ways, our psychology of money determines what we do with it. Before you can build better spending habits, you may need to change the way you think about money. For all the budgeting tactics and money-saving life hacks there are, they may not help you stop wasting money if you don’t have the proper money mindset. Whether you’re just starting to independently manage your finances or are looking to escape a money mentality you inherited from your family, here are seven ways to adopt a healthier mindset and a wealthier savings account.

A first checking account is a rite of passage. Many children have savings accounts opened in their names when they are born, but as your child gets older and develops, he or she will need a checking account to gain experience managing their money. As said by the character Benjamin Parker in Spider-Man, “With great power comes great responsibility.” A checking account can be a great responsibility, so it’s important that your teen knows how they work.

If you have ever tried or looked into the idea of brewing beer at home, you know all the great benefits. You can control the taste, carbonation, alcohol content, and character of what you drink; it makes a great last-minute gift; and by brewing at home, you are saving on cost and won’t have to recycle your own bottles. There is, however, one major drawback to home brewing—the high volume of leftover ingredients you have to deal with after every brew. These leftover ingredients are all the oats, wheat, barley, and other grains that are “spent” during the brewing process.

COVID-19 has changed many aspects of our day-to-day lives. Among other things, our personal finances, 401(k) accounts, job security, food security, social lives, and family lives have all been impacted. To mitigate the pandemic’s effect on our personal lives, the U.S. government enacted new laws to help Americans deal with the novel coronavirus. Passed at the end of March, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the Families First Coronavirus Response (FFCR) Act made notable changes in how we take care of our health, our work, and our finances. Here are the key impacts both the CARES and FFCR Acts have had on these areas of our lives in 2020.