Author Archives: Jay Butchko
Beware of Odometer Fraud
The odometer on the car is the part on the dashboard that shows the number of miles the car has traveled since it was manufactured. In other words, how old or new a car is depends not only on its model year but also on its mileage. Odometer fraud is when a seller tampers… Read More »
How to Recover From a Cash Flip Scam
One might think that scammers would set their sights on wealthy people. After all, the more money someone has, the more money he or she can send you, and once the victim discovers the deception, he or she might just say, “Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me,” and… Read More »
Debt Relief Is Better As a Holiday Gift Than As a New Year’s Resolution
New Year’s resolutions are usually about adopting new good habits or abandoning bad habits. In general, it is easier to keep resolutions that you phrase as, “I will start doing this new, but not especially fun thing” than the ones that you phrase as, “I will quit doing this thing that I enjoy.” In… Read More »
Credit Repair, Debt Consolidation, and Credit Repair: Should You Pay Someone to Do It for You?
There are plenty of ways to improve your creditworthiness. The one that pops up at the top of the organic search results, namely reducing your expenses, increasing your income, and putting more of it toward debt repayment, is easier said than done for most people. Prices are high, and wages are stagnant, so even… Read More »
Can You Pickle Your Way Out of Debt?
Whoever said that you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar has never opened a jar of pickles at a picnic. The only reason the flies do not swarm around the pickles is because the human guests at the picnic eat all of the pickles before the flies have the chance… Read More »
Debt Relief for Seniors
People spend decades of their lives working hard and borrowing money strategically, and repaying their debts so that they can retire comfortably. The goal is that, in retirement, your expenses will be low enough that your retirement savings, Social Security income, Medicare, and long-term care insurance can meet all of your needs. Unfortunately, this… Read More »
Does It Affect Your Finances If Your Ex-Spouse Files for Bankruptcy?
Rebuilding your finances after divorce is never easy; you may have to find some new favorite family activities that cost a lot less than the ones you used to engage in before your divorce. If Dave and Buster’s was your favorite Saturday hangout, you might have to substitute it with feeding ducks in the… Read More »
Rent-to-Own Pays $11 Million Settlement to Benefit Consumers Harmed by Its Rental Practices
It is counterproductive, and sometimes downright insulting, when purveyors of personal finance advice say that you should never pay for anything in installments. Most of us simply do not have enough money sitting in our bank accounts to pay the full amount for a purchase that costs hundreds of dollars, and saving up over… Read More »
Can Bots Wreck Your Credit Score?
By now, it is obvious to everyone that bots do not think; they merely remix the information that is already available to them. Despite this, humans authorize algorithms to make decisions all the time. Of course, it is reasonable for algorithms to decide which web pages to display in response to a given search… Read More »
How Hard Is It to Pay Off Credit Card Debt in Pennsylvania?
If you owe a lot of money to credit card companies, you have avoided the worst-case scenario. You are in a better financial position than you would be if all of your credit cards were maxed out and no one would lend to you. If you are making just slightly more than the minimum… Read More »
