Staff Writer

Bill Fay

Bill “No Pay” Fay has lived a meager financial existence his entire life. He started writing/bragging about it in 2012, helping birth Debt.org into existence as the site’s original “Frugal Man.” Prior to that, he spent more than 30 years covering the high finance world of college and professional sports for major publications, including the Associated Press, New York Times and Sports Illustrated. His interest in sports has waned some, but he is as passionate as ever about not reaching for his wallet.

Learn the difference between Debt Management and Settlement

Debt Settlement vs. Debt Consolidation

By Bill Fay | June 26, 2017

Debt settlement and debt consolidation share a common goal – help consumers find a way out of credit card debt – but take very different routes to achieve that goal.…

Table with school supplies scattered and sticky note that says Fafsa Pell Grant

Pell Grants

By Bill Fay | June 16, 2017

A Pell Grant is the gold-plated financial award at colleges and universities for a lot of reasons, the most obvious one being it is money for tuition, room and board that doesn’t…

Personal Loan Agreement Options

Personal Loan Options

By Bill Fay | June 16, 2017

What Are Personal Loans? Most personal loans lack collateral – property that can be taken if the borrower defaults – so they rely on the integrity of the borrower to…

Avoiding Debt

How to Avoid Landing in Debt

By Bill Fay | June 12, 2017

The best way to avoid debt is to be proactive about managing your money. Avoiding debt requires you to establish a sound financial plan and steer clear of the foolish…

What to know about upside down car loans

What Is An Upside Down Car Loan?

By Bill Fay | June 5, 2017

Being upside down on a car loan happens when you owe more than the vehicle is worth. In other words, you have negative equity. Upside-down loans are almost inevitable –…

Man Filing Papers For Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy

By Bill Fay | May 22, 2017

Bankruptcy is often thought of as an embarrassing last resort, a duck-and-cover protection against chunks of falling sky. But it’s more helpful to think of bankruptcy as a legal tool…

Debt Lawyer, Gavel & Money

Do I Need a Debt Lawyer?

By Bill Fay | May 21, 2017

A debt lawyer is someone with the knowledge, credentials and skill to help consumers struggling with debt sort through their financial troubles. Representing clients in cases against debt collectors is a…

Over 4 million Americans have defaulted on their student loans. Here are some ways to take control of your student loans.

Using Rehabilitation Loans for Student Loan Default

By Bill Fay | May 20, 2017

Tens of millions of Americans struggle with a mountain of student loan debt and each year huge numbers simply stop making payments and end up in default. That is a…

Create and Manage your personal Budget

How to Create and Manage a Budget

By Bill Fay | May 20, 2017

Budgeting has a bad reputation among a lot of America households who view it as a way to strip all the fun out of spending money. No more shopping. No…

We will describe the difference of debt so that you may have a better understanding.

Good Debt vs. Bad Debt

By Bill Fay | May 18, 2017

The one thing that keeps most Americans up at night is not a lumpy mattress or getting chased by a naked Woody Harrelson in a dream. It’s the Big D…

If you are facing a partial financial hardship, this plan offers you the lowest monthly payment amount of the repayment plans based on your income

PAYE vs REPAYE: Pay As You Earn Student Loan Repayment Plans

By Bill Fay | May 17, 2017

After providing an endless supply of loan opportunities to help students solve the problem of paying for a college education, the federal government was faced with the obvious follow up:…

Dices are arranged in a word DEBT on a silver mouse trap

The Rule of 78 & Precomputed Interest

By Bill Fay | April 28, 2017

The Rule of 78 is a financing method that allocates pre-calculated interest charges that favor the lender over the borrower on short-term loans. The Rule of 78 can be traced back…

vector illustration of public service icons for managing and city administration concepts in circles network shape design

Public Service Loan Forgiveness

By Bill Fay | April 25, 2017

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program was created in 2007 to offer federal student loan borrowers an incentive to choose careers in government, public service and nonprofits. And with that…

Empty College Classroom Blurred

Students & Debt

By Bill Fay | April 16, 2017

TOTAL U.S. STUDENT DEBT $0 Trillion STUDENT DEBT ACCRUED EVERY SECOND $0 AVERAGE STUDENT DEBT 2017 $0 Financial Aid & Student Loans The average college tuition cost ranges from $9,410…

Loan Agreements With Family And Friends

By Bill Fay | October 19, 2016

Friends, family, and financial institutions may have more in common than you think. According to the Census Bureau’s 2022 Household Pulse Survey, over 25 million consumers had to lean on…

Texas Desert Background

Debt Relief Options in Texas

By Bill Fay | October 19, 2016

Debt Relief Programs in Texas If you need debt relief options to help with credit card debt, there are many choices in Texas. Credit counseling agencies (nonprofit and for-profit), banks,…

State of California Beach Background

California Debt Relief

By Bill Fay | October 19, 2016

Debt Relief Programs in California California led the nation in Chapter 7 bankruptcy filings in the first quarter of 2022, so there are a lot of people there who could…

Educational grant theme with pink piggy bank with chalkboard in the background as concept image of the costs of education

Aid Awarded By Your College

By Bill Fay | April 24, 2015

Are you aware of how much money colleges and universities give away with grants and scholarships? A lot more than you think! The College Board Trends in Financial Aid says…

Glass jar with money for education on wooden table against green background

Graduate School

By Bill Fay | January 19, 2015

The steps needed to pay for graduate school are not a whole lot different than the ones taken to get a bachelor’s degree – fill out the FAFSA form, investigate…

When is it time to retire

When Should I Retire?

By Bill Fay | January 8, 2015

There was a time when no two words were more closely associated with each other than “65” and “retired.” The two were a couple for so long they were interchangeable.…

Chalkboard with guide on how to survive inflation

How to Survive Inflation

By Bill Fay | July 22, 2022

With a nod to Mark Twain, inflation has replaced the weather as the thing everyone talks about it, but nobody seems to do anything about it. Until now. Not that…

Employee resigning from his job

The Great Resignation: Why Is It Happening?

By Bill Fay | February 8, 2022

America has turned into a nation of quitters, though that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Spurred by the COVID pandemic, millions of people have joined “The Great Resignation” that’s happening…

Man handing refund of cash

How to Get a Refund on Your Student Loan Payments During COVID-19

By Bill Fay | May 3, 2021

The rules governing repayment of federal student loans contain so many nooks and crannies that it shouldn’t come as a surprise that you may have missed one created during the…

Envelope containing the third stimulus check

Third Stimulus Check

By Bill Fay | March 10, 2021

The average Joe – not Biden – figures to benefit most from passage of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan. Approximately 145 million Americans will receive a third round of…

$15 minimum wage

$15 Minimum Wage Increase: Will It Happen?

By Bill Fay | February 10, 2021

Biden wants the minimum wage – currently set at $7.25 an hour – to jump to $15 an hour by 2025. The increases would be phased in at approximately $1.75…

Joe Biden announces American Rescue Plan

Details on the American Rescue Plan

By Bill Fay | January 14, 2021

President-elect Joe Biden unveiled the American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion war on the prolonged suffering of Americans hardest hit by coronavirus. Included in his proposal: a fresh round of…

Image of newspaper titled Covid-19 Relief Bill with ribbon attached

Covid-19 Relief Bill

By Bill Fay | December 30, 2020

The second COVID-19 relief bill is now law – all 3,126 pages of it. The people in Congress who passed it admit they don’t know what all is in it,…

Second stimulus check on top of the first stimulus check

Second Stimulus Check Update

By Bill Fay | December 29, 2020

If you haven’t looked at your bank account this week, now might be a splendid time. The long wait for a second stimulus check from the U.S. government finally is…

Calendar with dart on second stimulus date

When Will a Second Stimulus Check be Delivered?

By Bill Fay | December 23, 2020

A second stimulus check – the financial gift from the U.S. government to help consumers recover from the economic belt coronavirus gave the American economy – needs only a signature…

Google search bar with phrase student loan benefit

Google Is the Latest Company to Offer Student Loan Repayment Benefits

By Bill Fay | November 3, 2020

If the biggest employee benefit you receive is when your company bothers to fill the toilet paper rolls in the employee bathroom, you might not want to read this: Google…

Woman deciding whether or not to pay down student loans during COVID-19

Paying Down Student Loans Before the COVID Suspension Is Lifted

By Bill Fay | October 28, 2020

If you are paying on a federal student loan, you probably already know that the government CARES Act has provided benefits that suspends payment and interest requirements through May 1,…

Campaign buttons for Trump and Biden

Trump vs. Biden: How Their Plans for Student Loan Debt Compare

By Bill Fay | October 16, 2020

Americans with student loan debt have a $1.6 trillion question on their minds: What would President Trump or a President Biden do about all that money these 45 million borrowers…

Woman applying for a new credit card on her computer

Should I Apply for a New Credit Card During COVID?

By Bill Fay | September 24, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has created record unemployment, erased profit margins, closed businesses and wreaked havoc on almost every family’s money outlook. It has even affected America’s ultimate get-out-of-jail financial symbol…

Sign for VA office

VA Extends COVID-19 Debt Relief to Veterans Through 2020

By Bill Fay | September 15, 2020

Veterans indebted to the Department of Veterans Affairs won a partial payment reprieve this summer that will last at least through the end of 2020. The VA action extends a…

For sale sign in front yard of house

Coronavirus and the Real Estate Market

By Bill Fay | August 14, 2020

Dorothy surely wasn’t thinking of life in a COVID-19 pandemic when she clicked those heels in the “Wizard of Oz” and opined that ‘there’s no place like home.’ But her…

Senator Mitch McConnell at a podium

Details on the HEALS Act

By Bill Fay | August 5, 2020

Congress and the White House are still debating whether the HEALS Act, HEROES Act – or some compromise Act in between – will deliver the next round of coronavirus relief…

Nancy Pelosi at a podium

Details on the HEROES Act

By Bill Fay | July 21, 2020

When the House of Representative passed the $3-trillion HEROES Act on May 15, it all but guaranteed that a second stimulus check would arrive for Americans in need of financial help…

Bankruptcy court with COVID-19 sign

COVID-19 Bankruptcies

By Bill Fay | July 16, 2020

The storm is coming. American consumers will be filing personal bankruptcies in record numbers by the end of 2020. That is the projection from bankruptcy attorneys, bankers and other experts…

Image of the stimulus COVID-19 relief check distributed by President Trump

Stimulus Checks for COVID-19 Relief

By Bill Fay | July 1, 2020

The phrase “stimulus check” is second only to “coronavirus” or “COVID-19” as something to talk about these days and people are definitely talking. About 159 million Americans have received the…

Calendar with July 15 marked as tax day

Tax Season Countdown All Over Again

By Bill Fay | June 30, 2020

Everyone knows the old saying: Time flies when you’re procrastinating. Seems like only yesterday we were breezing past April 15 — the traditional deadline for income tax filing — and…