According to the American Psychological Association's survey, which measures causes of stress, money consistently lands near the top with 61% of Americans reporting money-related anxiety. The biggest factor in this stress is overspending according to CNBC Personal Finance. We worry when total expenses (amount spent monthly) exceed total income (amount made monthly), causing mounting debt. 

Create a monthly budget to ensure you do not spend more than you make in a month, forcing you to take on additional debt. 

The basic idea behind putting in long work-hours is that our quality of life will improve. Maybe you pull some overtime or go above and beyond to earn a raise or promotion. Regardless of how you go about increasing your salary, there’s an expectation that bank accounts will swell, and life will get a tad easier. One of the things that hold many of us back from saving a lot of money though is controlling our spending.

If you are thinking about buying a new home, then this is an exciting time; however, buying a home is also a big decision. For this reason, you need to make sure that you take the time to get this decision right. That also means working with the right mortgage lender. Unfortunately, there are a lot of common mistakes that homebuyers may make when looking for a lender. Understand these common pitfalls so you can make sure to avoid them.

If you are thinking about refinancing your mortgage to a lower rate, then you are probably looking forward to saving money on your monthly payments. You can also go through the refinancing process to tap into the equity in your home to finance home improvements while also consolidating your other debts. At the same time, this is a big decision and you need to work with the best mortgage lenders to get a new home loan that is favorable to your financial situation. When it comes to refinancing your first mortgage, there are a few tips to follow.

Everyday people secure home improvement loans for a wide variety of reasons. Some feel they need to upgrade rooms or build an addition for resale value purposes. Others want to improve the quality of life experience of living in the space. The different goals make it nearly impossible for someone to definitively say that one way or another is the best way to utilize home improvement loans. That’s because it really comes down to maximizing the benefit you want. But for argument's sake, let’s consider two tracts about “best” uses — lifestyle and return on investment (ROI).

At its core, the concept behind home equity is a simple one. It’s a term that describes the difference between the fair market or “appraised” value and the outstanding balance of any and all loans that you may still owe. If your home was worth $200,000 and you still owed $100,000, for example, the equity on your home would be $100,000.

If you are dreaming of owning a home of your own, but are intimated by the home-buying process, don’t be! While there is a lot of paperwork and verification involved, it really is not as difficult as you may think. In fact, if you work with the right team of real estate professionals, including an experienced realtor and a reputable credit union or bank, the home-buying process is really a breeze! 

Your home-buying experience should be an exciting time, yet the process ahead is not without its drawbacks and potential problems. For many home-buyers, failing to do enough research at the beginning of the process can lead to problems down the road, and in real estate those problems can be costly.

Life happens, and along with it often comes debt…and you know what? That’s ok! Whether we have debt in the form of student loans, medical bills, an emergency of some sort that had to be financed, or too much spent on credit cards - we have all had our share of debt to repay.

5 Tips to Relieve Your Debt and Stress

The average debt load for Americans, including mortgages and car loans, is $132,529. Of that, over $16,000 is tied up in credit cards. All of this debt contributes to a high level of stress for many families.