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1. Get actual rates: instead of googling “U-Haul rental cost” call your local place, & find out the exact price of truck + insurance + tax.

2. Clean out the fridge: before moving, start eating up all the froze veggies in the fridge, the apples in the pantry & use that up before buying food before you leave and having to transport it. Plus no wasting food is betta for the world too 

3. Negotiate everything: rental car, new apartment rent, old apt deposit, new furniture, you name it—it’s negotiable.

4. Plan for the unexpected: shit will happen and you’ll forget you need a new shower curtain rod & need a target run. Don’t fret—just plan some extra moola for unexpected expenses.

5. Decide what you want for new place: most likely you’ll want a few new things for the new place—plan it out to decide what you want to spend & then facilitate that as you go along.

6. Communication....

What do you need to think about before moving in together? Have this conversation WITH your partner.

The transition into living together/marriage can be such an easy one financially if you work on this before-hand. Personally, I don’t think you should live with someone if you are not comfortable enough to talk about finances.

Let’s talk about 10 things you need to do…

1. Know the cost of everything before moving in together, because both people have to be cool with it. What are your priorities? Talk about this before you move in to be sure you’re on the same page. Also, decide how you are splitting everything. Will it be 50-50? 70-30? Agree on this to avoid arguments down the road.
2. Put both names on everything.
3. Decide who is paying what… whose card is being charged? Whose name is on that card? The partner of the payer also needs to have a due date – the date by which he/she pays the person whose card is being charged. No more “hey, can you...

Due to the Covid19 pandemic, the Federal student loan rate has been changed to 0% until September 30, 2020. So, is now the best time to pay off your student loans? While this may be a great opportunity to pay toward your loans, it’s not necessarily the thing you should be focusing your money on right now.

There is a common misconception that with the current rate of 0%, the loans are interest free — wrong. If your loan had already begun accruing interest before this temporary rate was put in place, you will still have to pay that interest. So, though you don’t have more interest currently accruing , you still have to pay the interest that already accrued. Then in October, the interest will start accruing again.

How do you figure out if you should be paying off your student loans now? Follow these 3 steps:

1. Are you getting by right now? Are you paying your bills, doing the basics? Priority #1 is making sure that you are okay right now. If you’ve lost your job...

Before we go into 2020 with finance goals, it’s important to know where you landed financially in 2019.

Step 1: Do a 2019 year-in-review. To know where you’re going you have to know where you’ve been.

• Brain dump where your money went in 2019. This is crucial to understanding where you spent your money this past year. There is no guilt and no shame! I don’t care where you’ve been… I care where you’re going! Remember to go big picture here, such as ‘bought a new couch’ (ignore the micro, such $5 on paper towels). This is likely to be an eye-opening experience!

• Write down what you saved over the year (what’s the amount in your savings today?).

• Write down what specific debt you paid off, and how much total over the year.

• Write down any investments you made, including retirement, etc.

• Add up the total you spent in all these areas as well as the total you saved. This will help you get a realistic view of where your...