With nearly two decades managing collection strategy for a leading credit card company, I’ve witnessed many economic booms and busts. Riding along these economic waves emerged an industry targeting financially distressed customers with a utopian promise: becoming debt-free. Debt relief companies first put down their…

Long gone are the days people paid with cash.  Nowadays, we shop online.  We buy groceries, get movie tickets, pick up takeout, and pamper ourselves with a serious dose of retail therapy by tapping our phones or smart watches at checkout.  Such conveniences are all…

Credit card debt is a big problem in the U.S.  How big is it, exactly?  According to the results released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, our total credit card debt hit $1.129 trillion at the end of 2023.  Yes, that’s right: in…

In the realm of personal finance, the word “budgeting” comes up all the time. How do you feel about it when you hear it being said over and over again?   If you feel restrained, deprived, stressed, overwhelmed, or likely to fail, you aren’t alone.  In…