Blog Posts by Quizzle.com

Catch Up on Retirement SavingsBy: Kristie Lorette

It's best to start saving for retirement as soon as you start working. Even if you're only part-time, you should put away what you can from each paycheck. Every little bit helps and will add up over time.

If you weren't able to start saving early like this, however, it's not too late to get back on track and begin saving now. You may need to make some adjustments in your lifestyle today to accommodate for tomorrow, but there's still time.

Start Saving Now

Even if you are reaching 40 and you have not started saving for retirement, you still have about 20 years worth of time on your side. You may have to proactively save more money on a monthly basis than you would have if you had started saving in your early 20s, but you can still reach your retirement goals. As a bonus, when contributing to a tax-deferred retirement account, it doesn't hurt as much to have to come up with the extra cash to save for retirement.

In fact, if you save $1,000 a month for 20 years and

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Budget-Friendly Ways to Beat the Summer HeatBy: Juliana Weiss-Roessler

Summer is here, and it is a scorcher! So much so in many areas that you might just be tempted to hide in your house and crank up the A/C… until you realize how much your utility bill is actually going to cost you. But fear not! In the hot summer months, there are other ways to beat the heat and avoid melting away without your bank account melting away as well.

Go for a dip. Don't have your own pool or a fancy pool membership? No worries. Check around - lots of neighborhoods have public pools that you can use for around a dollar a day. Sure beats the water park, huh?

Set up a fan and some ice. It may seem silly, but trust me when I say this one works. Put some ice out in a bowl in front of your fan. It will pick up the freezing air coming off the ice cubes and send it right at you for a blast of cool air that's just as good as air conditioning… in a very localized area. But unlike air conditioning, ice is a free and renewable resource, and running a fan

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Does Debt Boost Self-Esteem?By: Benjamin Gran

Americans love credit cards. We have nearly 609 million credit cards - two for every man, woman and child in the United States - and owe a total of nearly $790 billion in credit card debt, with an average credit card debt per household of over $14,000, according to CreditCards.com.

Credit cards are at the root of most national discussions about debt and financial security. Whether you carry a balance from month to month or always pay your credit card in full, using it as a cash management tool, most Americans would like to reduce their reliance on credit cards.

So why do we keep buying on credit? It feels good.

Newly published research is shedding light on the psychology of debt, according to a recent article in Slate. Debt has long been associated with feelings of shame, stigma and irresponsibility. The Bible says that "the borrower is a slave to the lender," and many societies, including the early United States, have used "debtor's prisons" to punish people for

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Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover: What's the Difference?By: Angie Picardo

Everyday, we're bombarded with thousands of advertisements, often without even knowing what they're for. Turn on the TV or flip through a magazine, and you'll see ads for alcohol, clothing, accessories, and of course, credit cards. The two major competitors, Visa and MasterCard, have successfully implanted their names in our minds (you can probably say with certainty what card "more people go with," or which one's best "for everything else"), but what's the real difference between the two?

When you're choosing a credit card, you have the option of choosing between one of the four major card networks: Visa and MasterCard, of course, along with the arguably less prolific American Express and Discover. Since acceptance of the last two is fairly limited (4.5 million retailers accept AmEx, compared to 7 million for Discover and 8 million for the big two), MasterCard and Visa are at the head of the pack. But before you make your decision about which card is right for you,

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safewayBy: Kate Parham

We're up to number five in our series where we teach you how to save money at five of the nation's leading retailers. We've covered how to save money at CVS, Kroger, Walgreens and Target; now we take a look at Safeway, the second largest supermarket chain in the country. You may know the store as Carrs, Vons or Tom Thumb (among others), but they're all owned by the same company.

Here's what you need to know about Safeway before shopping:

Sales Cycle: Safeway sales cycles run Wednesday through Tuesday, meaning that advertised sales prices change on Wednesday.

Bonus: Top 5 Places to Find Coupons

Rewards Program: By filling out a short form at the customer service desk, you will receive a Safeway Club Card. You can also apply online. Use this card every time you shop to get advertised sales prices on hundreds of products in the store. Safeway's Club card also entitles you to earn money for education, with their eScrips and uPromise programs.

What's more? While

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By: Kristie Lorette

Tax Advantages of Homeownership People talk a lot about the pride of homeownership. While there is an emotional side to owning a home, there are also some financial benefits. Specifically, there are several tax advantages that homeowners can enjoy that renters cannot. Learn at least five tax benefits that you may be able to take advantage of as a homeowner:

Mortgage Fee Deductions

Each time you get a mortgage to purchase or refinance a home there are fees involved. While some of these are sunk costs, others are deductible costs. You can typically write off mortgage fees, such as:

• Prepaid interest
• Origination fees
• Loan discount fees

You should consult with your accountant prior to deducting any points or fees, but these are the fees that are generally tax deductible.

Property Taxes

Once a year when your tax bill shows up in the mail, it may cause you to cringe. Some get especially frustrated when they see how much the school taxes are when they don't have any kids in the county Read More »from 5 Tax Advantages of Homeownership

Couples Who Budget Together, Stay TogetherBy: Juliana Weiss-Roessler

When you're in a long-term, committed relationship, the topic of combining your money will eventually come up. Some of us would probably have no problem doing this - my husband and I had access to each others' accounts and regularly updated our joint finances long before we were married, so putting our money into a common pot (or pots) didn't seem like a huge step. However, I can absolutely understand why people might be wary about giving their significant other unfettered access to all of their money.

It's a scary world out there and you never really know what might happen. But since financial problems are a leading cause of divorce - especially when partners hide money from each other - combining your finances is an incredibly important part of coming together as a couple. Yes, combining is scary, but keeping your finances separate can hurt your relationship long term. Because of that, here are some things you should think about and ways to ease the

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Lessons from the Uber-RichBy: Benjamin Gran

I recently read a great article in the Washington Post by Barry Ritholtz, who has worked with some very high net work individuals with hundreds of millions of dollars (or more), offering a list of life lessons from the wealthy.

I think it's important to see what we can learn from people who have a lot of money - not because they're better people, and not because having a lot of money is an important goal in and of itself - but because learning from people who have achieved such an extreme level of wealth can teach us something important about how we relate to wealth, and how we truly want to shape our lives for the better.

Here are some of Ritholtz's life lessons from the wealthy, and some additional thoughts about each of them:

It's better to be rich than poor.

Sounds simple, right? But to me, the lesson is: try to be happy that you're not poor. Do you have health insurance, an education, a savings account, a retirement fund and the ability to travel on vacation?

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