Are You OverExtended?

Are you managing your debt, or is it managing you? Practical guidance for managing personal debt and credit.

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  • Spending more than paying off
  • Trouble paying bills
  • Buying without down payments
  • Maxed out credit lines
  • Retirement not properly funded
  • No payoff strategy
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Recent Articles

Protecting Your Credit When Closing Joint Accounts After Divorce or Separation
Divorce or Separation

Protecting Your Credit When Closing Joint Accounts After Divorce or Separation

Divorce or separation forces you to untangle money. Joint credit accounts are often the messiest part. A joint account belongs to both people in the...

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How Divorce or Separation Can Affect Your Credit and How to Protect It
Divorce or Separation

How Divorce or Separation Can Affect Your Credit and How to Protect It

Divorce or separation can turn your financial life upside down. One important thing to understand is that your marital status is not part of your...

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The Minimum Payment Trap: How Financial Illiteracy Fuels Credit Card Debt
Financial Illiteracy

The Minimum Payment Trap: How Financial Illiteracy Fuels Credit Card Debt

Many middle-class consumers carry credit card balances from month to month. When the statement arrives, they look at the minimum payment due and pay...

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Your 40s Are the Best Time to Fix Your Credit for the Long Haul
40s

Your 40s Are the Best Time to Fix Your Credit for the Long Haul

Your 40s are often a busy decade. You may be earning more than you did in your 20s and 30s, but you may also be juggling a mortgage, car payments...

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Video

Consumer Credit Tips

Each video breaks down one practical way to get out from under debt and stay there — straightforward advice on credit, budgeting, and the habits that keep you from getting overextended again.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Conduct a spending audit to identify non-essential leaks (subscriptions, dining out). Use windfalls like tax refunds or bonuses. Sell unused items. Start with any amount, no matter how small, to build the habit.

The original creditor (e.g., your credit card company) is the entity you originally borrowed from. A debt collector is a separate company that now either owns the debt or is hired to collect it. They are often more aggressive in their tactics.

Financial illiteracy is a lack of the knowledge and skills needed to make informed and effective decisions about managing personal finances, including budgeting, saving, investing, and borrowing.

Missed payments, high credit utilization, and new credit inquiries during financial stress can significantly lower credit scores, making future borrowing more difficult and expensive.

Mediation is often cheaper and faster than litigation, reducing legal fees and helping preserve resources that might otherwise be spent on protracted court battles.