Category: Financial Manage

Yes, it’s possible to transform your outdoor space for a hundred bucks. There are plenty of patio ideas on a budget that can dress up a small apartment balcony or backyard patio.

6 Ways to Dress Up Your Patio and Yard

Refreshing your outdoor living space with some store-bought or DIY projects doesn’t have to be expensive. We have tips for both dressing up the garden and making your patio or porch fit for evening cocktails. Each of these projects will set you back about $100.

1. Gravel Is Your Best Friend

If you want to extend your patio (assuming you’ve got the space), don’t spend gobs of money pouring concrete or buying any lumber. Instead, grab a few bags of gravel.

All you need to do is to make sure your ground is level (or level it out with the gravel), place some landscape fabric to prevent weeds, and pour away! Purchase a few paver stones, and for less than $100, you’ve got a larger space. You may even have left over money to use toward other decorative items.

2. Design Your Own Outdoor Rug

Outdoor rugs can get expensive fast. The good news is that you can purchase cheap ones, but they’re often plain or come in drab colors (if you like taupe, all the power to you). Better yet scour your local thrift store or yard sales — make sure the color is light enough you can paint over it.

Once you’ve got your rug, grab some

Read More

Oct. 31, 2022 is an important date for student loan borrowers in public service, and it has nothing to do with Halloween. (Though missing it could be just as scary.)

That’s the last day you can apply for the limited Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) waiver, which allows borrowers to receive credit for past periods of repayment that typically don’t qualify in the program.

If you think taking advantage of the waiver while it’s still available won’t make much of a difference, you might want to think again. The differences between the standard PSLF requirements and the more lenient requirements available through Oct. 31 are significant.

Under the temporary PSLF waiver, you can receive credit for:

  • More loans count. Periods of repayment on direct, FFEL (Federal Family Education Loan) and Perkins Loans. Typically, only direct loans are eligible.
  • All plans count. Periods of repayment under any plan count, not just the 10-year standard plan or income-driven repayment plan.
  • More repayment counts. Periods of repayment on loans before consolidation count, even if on the wrong repayment plan.
  • More payments count. Late payments or payments less than the amount due count.
  • Different employment counts. Periods of repayment when unemployed or not employed by a qualifying employer at the time of application and forgiveness.
  • Other jobs count. Periods of service for teachers that led to Teacher Loan Forgiveness eligibility will count toward PSLF if teachers certify their PSLF employment for that period.

Remember, the PSLF program is unrelated to the government’s student debt

Read More

A charge card is one of the many forms of plastic you can carry in your wallet (or the virtual plastic you can keep in your digital wallet app). It looks, feels, smells and tastes a lot like a credit card, but there are some key differences between the two.

Here’s everything you need to know about charge cards, how they work, how they’re different from credit cards and why you’d want one (or not).

What Is a Charge Card?

A charge card is a payment method that resembles a credit card but has no preset spending limit and must be paid in full each month. A charge card doesn’t come with a minimum payment option like a credit card, and will charge late fees if you don’t pay off a monthly balance, rather than letting your balance accrue interest.

Charge cards are quite rare for individuals (you’re more likely to see credit cards), but you might see this credit option for cards offered by gas stations or retail store chains (though many store cards are regular credit cards now, too).

Most remaining charge cards are designed for businesses or high-earning individuals.

The terms “charge card” and “credit card” are often used interchangeably, but they’re not the same type of account. The key differences are in how you repay the creditor for your charges.

Charge Card vs. Credit card

Features Charge Card Credit card
Transactions Swipe or enter number to make a purchase on credit Swipe or enter number to
Read More