Savings

We all know bad credit doesn’t do anyone any favors, but renowned financial guru Liz Pulliam Weston recently put a dollar amount to the cost of an underachieving credit score. It’s eye opening, as you’ll see.

Weston compared two fictional women. Emily and Karen, two friends who borrowed about the same amount of money over their lifetimes. Here’s the breakdown of that borrowed money:

1. $20,000 in private student loans
2. $8,000 in average credit card balances
3. New vehicles every seven years through age 70 ($25,000 per vehicle)
4. First home at age 30; $300,000. Upgrade to $400,00 home at age 40
5. $50,000 home-improvement loan

The big difference between Emily and Karen? Emily has a FICO credit score of 750; Karen 650. Emily maintains her score primarily by paying her bills on time, but also not maxing out her credit cards. Karen is a bit lax about paying her bills on time, having had several late payments over the past few years. She’s also a lot closer to maxing out her cards.

The examples that follow are only for illustration purposes as real-life interest rates can go up and down over time.

The 2011 tax season is in full swing. Almost 52 million Americans have filed their 2010 tax returns. Many of you have likely already completed the prepare-file-refund-spend process. Here are some interesting tax facts to think about:

• About 45 million people have received refunds so far
• About two-thirds who file expect a return
• The average refund is running at about $3,000
• Online filing is at about 47 million, up 2% from last year

Old windows. Insufficient insulation. Inefficient appliances. You’ve heard it all before, they’re energy thieves, things that steal both your comfort level and your money. They’re the more obvious culprits that always comes up in energy-saving conversations, but what about the little things around your home that sap energy from you as well? It may be on a smaller scale, but chances are good you have stealth energy bandits robbing you of precious energy and budget funds.

Most homes have devices that drain power even when not in use. Some refer to this drain as vampire power, standby power, phantom load, leaking electricity … it’s all power that is sucked out of outlets even when a device(s) is turned off. According to the Department of Energy, the average amount of wasted energy via standby power is five to ten percent. Considering that the average household spends $2,200 on energy per year, you could save up to $220 per year by driving a stake through vampire power.

Do you ever sit at your desk, paying all the bills, dreaming of a life without mortgage payments? It’s kind of like dreaming about winning the lottery. Wouldn’t it be nice to rid yourself of the most significant monthly bill you have?

Have you thought about paying off your mortgage early? If so, have you asked yourself the following questions?

$32.8 billion.

That’s the dollar amount put on unclaimed property in state custody, according to the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA).

Is there a forgotten or lost treasure out there with your name on it? It would be a shame for it to sit in the “Unclaimed” file when you could use a new refrigerator or set of tires. Why not do a bit of online investigating? For just about every type of unclaimed property, there’s a government department out there ready to host a reunion party.

Valentine’s Day approaches. You did remember, didn’t you? February 14. Hearts. Love. Tokens of affection. It’s a day for giving and receiving love. But although your heart is involved, it doesn’t mean you have to bleed your savings account. In the spirit of romance, we want you to know you can put your heart on your sleeve while still keeping your budget in your hip pocket. Here are some ideas:

So that New Years resolution to save some money isn’t working out so well? Your budget has more leaks than WikiLeaks. What are you doing wrong? Why don’t we concentrate on what you can do right. Let’s plug those money-draining holes and keep your budget afloat with some relatively simple ideas on how to save up to $500 over the course of a year. Really, they’re quite simple.

The W-2s are in the mail, if they haven’t already found your mailbox. Guys dressed like the Statue of Liberty are dancing around intersections near you. It can only mean one thing—tax season!

While some of us kind of like the tax season because it means refunds (and that’s whole other story if you’re giving Uncle Sam an interest-free loan every year), most people will admit they hate the actual job of preparing their tax returns. It never seems to get any easier. As a mater of fact, the government seems to delight in confusing us. But there are a few things you can do to make tax season less, well, taxing. The following mistakes have been charted by the good ol’ IRS and reviewed by MSN Money. They show up on returns year after year, so make note and take care to not make the same mistakes and create a headache for yourself.

We’re having an evolution at Vantage January 23, and it’s going to make managing your budget that much easier. Our personal financial management tool—My$Manager—has undergone a renovation and will show off a new look and feel complete with enhanced features and greater accuracy.

In a nutshell, here’s what you’ll experience: