Joshua Ibanez
Financial First Steps: Cautions on Credit Card Use
Credit cards can be great. Their convenience and ease of use, combined with the ability to extend your budget, makes them almost a necessity in today’s world. However, credit cards are not all good; in fact, they actually lead many people into crippling debt, bankruptcy, and financial ruin. While many of my previous posts have…
Financial First Steps: How to Establish Credit
For those who aren’t students and are attempting to build credit, there is a hurdle to overcome, because lenders abide by the unwritten law, “you must have credit to get credit.” Fortunately, there are a number of ways to overcome this.
Financial First Steps: The ABC’s of Credit Cards
With so many offers for credit cards out there, how do you choose one? We offer a few tips to weigh your options.
Financial First Steps: Why Use Credit?
Credit lets people make purchases and get what they want today, even if they don’t necessarily have the money today, as long as they promise to pay the creditor back at some point in the future. This is an extremely useful purchasing tool, as you may not always have the cash to buy the things…
Financial First Steps: Managing Your Credit Score
Many young adults have extremely limited credit histories. This means that we need to build our credit scores by starting to think about different credit cards and loans.
Financial First Steps: You and Your Credit Score
You’ve probably heard about it a hundred times, and you know it’s important, but what exactly is a FICO score? Understanding what factors go into to calculating your credit score is extremely important to your financial success. Imagine going to school and not knowing what factors contribute to your grade. It would probably be hard…
Financial First Steps: Paying Your Bills on Time
In order to be in a position to pursue your dreams, you need to have your financial basics down. The most important of these is your ability to pay bills on time. The key to accomplishing this is to stay organized. The importance of paying your bills on time cannot be overstated. Late payments negatively…
Financial First Steps: Set Your Goals Now
Many of us in our late teens and early 20’s have never really thought about our financial aspirations. No, I am not talking about having enough spending money for your next semester at college. I am talking about your long-term financial goals. These include if you want to buy a house, at what age you…
