Engineer Your FinancesA Systematic Approach To Money

USDA Loans. Are for everyone?

Is the American dream of homeownership still in your dreams?  Thanks to USDA loans, more and more Americans are becoming homeowners, and you can become one of them. With huge benefits and easy qualification measures, if you’re looking to buy a home in a rural area, a USDA loan could be the perfect finance option for you. When financing a home, one of the biggest hurdles is often coming up with enough cash to make a down payment on your loan. But with a USDA loan, you don’t have to worry about t...

Career Lessons from Dating

Probably one of the more fun articles I've written, I was ecstatic when Budgeting in the Fun Stuff let me reprint this article.  The original link is included, so check out all the great comments!  I'd been on a string of career-type articles, being added to a few Wisebread listings courtesy of Linsey Knerl.  ENJOY... Parallels are all around us. Browsing the site, you may have already come across Financial Lessons From Engineering or Financial Lessons from Running, which made relationsh...

5 Steps to Repair Credit

Today, we've got a quick guest post from one of the community members over at Credit Magic. Still on autopilot, will get back to regular writing after The Big Day. Repairing your credit report and removing negative items can make your financial life much easier. The reason? Because good credit is required to get home mortgages, auto loans, credit cards, and more. Credit repair thus, becomes very essential. To repair your credit record, you can get help from a credit repair company or do ...

How to Compare Rates for Mortgage Refinancing

If you've heard of Zillow, and like it, then you need to check out FinestExpert.com.  A guest post from Dr. Boyer, the article argues that one can't simply look at interest rates when considering mortgages.  Understanding other factors, like how long you intend to keep the loan, are required in order to make the right decision. “How do I compare rates to find the best mortgage?” is often the first question people ask when considering mortgage refinancing or when looking at homes ...

“Enough” by John Bogle – Wrapping Up: What’s Enough?

What's Enough For Me I have never played in that billion-dollar-plus major league; nor, for that matter, even in its hundred-million-dollar-plus league. Why not? Simply because as the founder of Vanguard, I created a firm in which the lion's share of the rewards would be bestowed on the shareholders of the truly mutual mutual funds that compose the Vanguard Group... So, in comparison to nearly all, if not all, of my peers in this business, I'm something of a financial failure. P 234-235 ...

“Enough” by John Bogle – Life Section (Ch 8-10)

Ch 8 – Too Much Focus on Things, Not Enough Focus on Commitment Commitment and boldness – these are among the things that truly matter, the things by which we can measure our lives, the things that help turn providence in our favor. Their reach goes far beyond how we earn our living, for never forget that none of us lives by bread alone. P 189 Ch 9 – Too Many Twenty-First Century Values, Not Enough Eighteenth-Century Values But I fear too, that this pathological mutation has spread m...