Student loan refinancing offers a way to cut interest rates, simplify repayment, and in some cases, fast-track paying off your loans. But lenders don’t hand out great refinancing offers just because you say please. Refinancing lenders size you up from multiple angles. Understanding what they care about can make the... Read more

It’s commonly said that you can afford anything but you can’t afford everything. That might not be entirely true. There are certainly some things that I (and probably you) couldn’t buy even if we used every dollar we had. But the sentiment is so true. We all make choices daily... Read more

Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) has long been a political target, with many borrowers fearing that a second Trump administration would eliminate the program outright. But instead of pursuing a broad PSLF repeal, the current strategy centers on more targeted efforts to restrict PSLF. Republicans previously attempted (and failed) to... Read more

One of the first major financial decisions new graduates face is how to repay their student debt. For many borrowers, the question comes down to whether to refinance into a private student loan or stick with a federal income-driven repayment (IDR) plan that comes with the opportunity for lower monthly... Read more

For married student loan borrowers, your tax filing status — “married filing jointly” versus “married filing separately” — affects how much you pay in taxes. It also impacts how much you pay on your monthly student loan payment, especially if you're using PAYE or IBR payment plans. However, the decision... Read more

I alluded to some budget surprises in our June 2025 Family Budget Update, but I wasn’t quite ready to talk about how our finances would be changing yet. I was still alternating between shock, fear, excitement, and dread. Frankly, I wasn’t sure how to tell you all that we chose... Read more

When you say “I do,” it’s common to merge your finances. If you both borrowed funds for college, you might want to consolidate student loans with your spouse for one simple monthly payment. That sounds like a no-brainer, right? Before making any changes, read on to learn more about spousal... Read more

Student loan refinancing can be a great hack to save money on interest rates by lowering your rate and saving you thousands of dollars over the life of your loan. But what if you refinanced your student loans with a company and then see another lender with a better rate?... Read more

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) has set historically low borrowing limits for graduate and professional school. Here are the limits that kick in starting July 2026 for students who have not borrowed at least one loan for their program before that date: Grad school programs: $20,500 per year,... Read more

Insurance is an incredibly important, yet confusing, topic. Think of all the different policies people tell you that you need: health insurance, auto insurance, homeowner's insurance, umbrella insurance, and don't even get me started on all the different life insurance products out there. This can be the impetus to finally... Read more

Millions of federal student loan borrowers are struggling to navigate a seemingly ever-changing landscape of federal student loan programs. Between legal challenges, regulatory updates and new legislation that will reshape repayment and loan forgiveness in the coming months and years, figuring out the best course of action can seem like... Read more

As a family of eight with financial goals, we are all about saving money on the things that don’t matter to us so that we can be free to spend on the things that are our priorities. My husband and I were both raised in frugal families, so we aren’t... Read more

I love budgeting because it makes so many things possible that otherwise wouldn’t be. When I first saw that our law school debt added up to six figures, I felt physically ill. I couldn’t envision the crushing weight of that debt ever going away, especially when our take-home pay was... Read more

Mike and I are coming up on our 20th wedding anniversary this year, so I decided to plan a surprise trip to celebrate! Mike knew that I was taking him on a trip, but he didn’t know where we going or what we were doing. He didn’t have a clue... Read more

Do you like living by a budget? Some people associate budgeting with being poor or feeling restricted, but that’s far from the way I see it. Living by a budget is for everyone, no matter your means. Budgeting allows you to be in control of your money (whatever amount that... Read more

At the end of the month, I love reviewing our budget and planning our finances for the next month. When we look at our budget at the end of the month, we aren’t checking to see if we our spending matched up exactly with the amount we set for our... Read more

We recently returned from a 6-night cruise with our family of 8. We’ve been planning and saving for this trip for about 18 months. We’ve never taken a trip like this before, so we were super excited! As always, I’m reporting back to share all of our spending with you.... Read more