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. Bill can be reached at [email protected].
April 15 has come and gone, but millions of Americans are still fretting over their taxes, mostly because they haven’t paid them yet. The IRS estimates that 25 percent of…
Whether you’ve landed your first part-time job in high school or made your first career move after college, odds are that you haven’t taken a class on how to file…
A very rich person once said, “We don’t pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes.” Her name was Leona Helmsley. Guess what? She went to jail for not paying…
The Millennial generation is moving back home in record numbers, and their parents are getting some sympathy from, of all people, the IRS. The much-despised agency has a soft spot…
The big financial question for Americans every spring: How should I spend my tax refund? The Internal Revenue Service says most of you – somewhere between 75 and 80 percent…
Tax fraud related to identity theft is a rapidly growing problem. It involves thieves using your personal identifying information to file false tax returns in order to receive big refunds.…
There has been much talk this campaign year about a “Wealth Tax” and whether it would impact the wallets of middle and lower-income America, even if its name doesn’t. Rest…
1099 forms are federal income tax information forms from businesses and other institutions to document certain financial transactions conducted during a tax year. The forms are filed with the U.S.…
The state of New York is ready and willing to help first-time homebuyers who want to fulfill that part of the America dream. If home ownership seems out of reach,…
Loans and Credit Card Relief for COVID-19 One thing isn’t changing right away. Renters who can demonstrate they’ve been economically hurt by coronavirus still can’t be forced out of their…
There always has been two paths of relief for those having trouble making payments on their federal student loans: Deferment and forbearance. Then, the coronavirus came slashing through the U.S. economy and…
We Help You Build Financial Strength Advertiser Disclosure Expand Debt.org wants to help those in debt understand their finances and equip themselves with the tools to manage debt. Our information…
Just as there is no such thing as a free lunch, there’s really no such thing as refinancing a mortgage for free, no matter how appealing a no-closing-costs refi may…
Talking to a credit counselor is probably the last thing on your mind when you’re shopping for a home. The list of people you already have to speak to —…
The reality is about half of all marriages end in divorce, a shattering experience that forces partners to divide assets and debt. Things can get really complicated, especially when mortgage…
There’s a lot to think about when buying a house. Deciding between a 15- or 30-year-mortgage may not seem like something you want to use a lot of mental energy…
The United States operates under a progressive tax code, which means — all things being equal — the more you earn, the more income taxes you owe. (Exceptions apply; we’ll…
Even if you weren’t a fan of the hit TV comedy “The Office,” you may sympathize with its main character, office manager Michael Scott, whose financial difficulties and general cluelessness…
Though there are two major sources of student loans — federal and private – the federal side dominates the action, both in amount of money available and loan repayment programs.…
More than 50 million people depend on Social Security benefits for part or all of their income during retirement. Although most working Americans do not plan on funding their retirements…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
There hasn’t been much good economic news in 2020, but if you’re buried in student loans, there was an astoundingly positive development recently. Thanks to a recent court ruling, you…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Don’t plan on receiving and cashing a second COVID-19 stimulus check just yet. A group of 20 fiscal hawks, many of the close advisors to President Trump, sent Trump and…