The Sun's Financial Diary

It may be common knowledge to have an “ICE” (in case of emergency) number listed in your cell phone, but what about establishing ICE financial efforts in advance? In today’s economic climate, it’s important to prepare now for the worst. While you may very well not be able to anticipate the unexpected, you can at [...]

Yes, you can pay taxes with credit cards, but no, it may not be such a good idea to do so. The deadline to file 2009 taxes is only 19 days away. If you owe a large amount of taxes but have difficulties to arrange the money on April 15th, one way to pay the [...]

When we were in the market for our first house six years ago, we pretty much relied on our realtor for everything: She found listings for us and she took us to see the houses. This time around, things are a lot different than last time. Though we still relied on our agent to take [...]

My husband and I have a long-standing war over stuff. Hubby is practical and sentimental and I am unemotional and crave freedom from things that weigh me down… things like stuff. When we aren’t using an object, my unemotional hands try to fling it to the nearest trash can. Hubby’s sentimental side compels him to [...]

But I ruined my wife’s perfect credit I was on the phone with our mortgage agent last week, talking about the term of our loan and the rate we could get.During the conversation, our agent mentioned something that surprised me. She said we didn’t really have the best credit, as I thought we do. You [...]

Over the course of my adult life, I don’t think I’ve ever come across a political issue that’s caused as much debate and derisiveness as the recent discussion surrounding health care reform. For the few of you who may not have already heard, the House this past weekend narrowly passed a sweeping reform bill that [...]

If you’ve ever written a resume or had to sell yourself in an interview, you know how important it is to know your strengths. Believe it or not, it’s just as important to know your financial strength as well. After all, when it comes to your hard earned money, ignorance is most definitely not bliss. [...]

Like a lot of Americans across the country right now, my neighbors have put their house up for sale.  They want to downsize and lower their monthly mortgage payment.  The house has been on the market for a few months now.  It’s a good size house, is well maintained and is in a desirable neighborhood [...]