Budgeting
How Much House Can I Afford on My Salary?
How much house you can afford: 28/36 DTI rules of thumb, worked income examples, cash reserves, and why lender preapproval beats a blog calculator.
6 min read
Blog
Deep dives and practical playbooks across investing, budgeting, credit, retirement, and more—written for U.S. households and checked against primary sources when numbers or rules are involved.
Prefer topics? Start from the category index.
How much house you can afford: 28/36 DTI rules of thumb, worked income examples, cash reserves, and why lender preapproval beats a blog calculator.
6 min read
LifeLock review: Core, Advanced, and Total plans, credit monitoring coverage, scam reimbursement, Norton bundles, and when a freeze is enough.
11 min read
Medicare Open Enrollment 2026 runs Oct 15–Dec 7. What you can change, when coverage starts, and a plain checklist from Medicare.gov dates.
7 min read
myFICO review: Free Equifax FICO 8, Basic through Premier tiers, mortgage simulator, and when to cancel after you finish the loan process.
10 min read
SoFi Coach credit score guide: free TransUnion VantageScore, weekly updates, soft vs hard pulls, and when you still need FICO or freezes.
10 min read
TransUnion Credit Essentials vs Credit Premium ($29.95/mo): what you get, who should upgrade, three-bureau alerts, and how freezes compare.
12 min read
How to build U.S. credit with no history: secured cards, authorized user status, credit-builder loans, and CFPB reporting basics.
6 min read
HSA vs health FSA for 2026: contribution limits, HDHP rules, rollover vs use-it-or-lose-it, and which account fits which job—from IRS figures.
6 min read
2026 Child Tax Credit: up to $2,200 per child, refundable ACTC, income phase-outs, and SSN rules from IRS Schedule 8812.
7 min read