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.
You can have as many credit cards as you want. That doesn’t mean you should get as many as you want. What is the right number for you? That depends…
The average American has about four credit cards. If you’re an average American, you might want to get rid of at least one of them, thinking it will help you…
Few concepts are more rooted in the ideal of the American dream than owning and operating your own business. But making the dream a reality demands more than a great…
When the federal government shuts down, the first question millions of federal employees ask is: Who still has to work, and who gets paid? Shutdowns happen when Congress fails to…
Among the myriad wonders of medical care in the United States, medical debt stands stubbornly as the one incurable malady. And like any lingering condition, it can quietly weaken your…
A lot of people would rather inherit a doghouse than a timeshare. At least the doghouse won’t require a $1,000 annual maintenance fee. If someone dies and leaves you a…
If you can’t pay your credit card bills, you’re probably losing sleep. But there is at least one thing you don’t have to worry about – you can’t be thrown…
Bankruptcies are increasing in the U.S., which means financial dishonesty is also on the rise. The legal term is “fraud,” which is an all-purpose word for lying, cheating, or other…
Divorce does more than end a marital contract. It also severs most of the couple’s financial entanglements — most being the keyword. Debt is stubborn; as surely as it dogs…
Collections — the process of pressing a borrower to repay money owed to a business or organization — can present a thorny patch in the road to your financial goals.…
You’ve bought a house. You’ve locked down all the details, signed all the papers, and are set to make a monthly payment for at least 15 years. Then one month,…
Anyone new to bankruptcy can’t be blamed for thinking the whole process equals doom, gloom, and forfeiture. After all, filing bankruptcy is not going to look good on your resumé…
Credit card debt has skyrocketed to more than $1.1 trillion. So has looking for ways to avoid paying interest on that mountain of money. For millions of Americans, the search…
Borrowers who’ve gotten themselves tangled in a charge-off situation face difficult choices. Pay the debt in full? Try to settle for a lesser amount? Run away and hide? “The world…
For those seeking a fresh financial start, Chapter 7 bankruptcy has plenty of upsides. It’s the cleanest, most straightforward, least time-consuming, and least expensive of the various bankruptcy options. The…
When people get married, they often vow to take each other through thick and thin. Bankruptcy can get pretty thick for a husband and wife. Bankruptcy is when a person…
Growing older never was for the fainthearted, but it takes exceptional courage to navigate those Golden Years with dents on your credit report and a need for cash. Chins up,…
Choosing to declare personal bankruptcy can be among the most difficult decisions ever to confront an individual. Tougher still: Having to pick, under unmatched duress, which type of bankruptcy best…
There are plenty of reasons to consider making car loan payments with a credit card — everything from piling up rewards points or cash back, to scoring a bit of…
With President Biden declaring an end to pandemic emergency provisions effective May 11, and states and companies already having rescinded most of their debt collections suspensions, debt collectors are totally…
The government is taking a bigger bite of American workers’ paychecks this year, which could mean another slowdown of the U.S. economy. American workers are paying 2 percentage points more…
It may be too late for a pound of cure, but half a dozen years after the bursting of the housing bubble helped precipitate the Great Recession, the U.S. Consumer…
A new federal regulation puts the onus on lenders to take meaningful steps to ensure a person can afford a home loan, before they actually give them one. The “ability-to-repay”…
Millions of taxpayers banking on refunds from the IRS will have to wait a little longer to get them this year. The last-minute passage of the American Taxpayer Relief Act…
The first week of 2013 has not been a happy new year for some of the nation’s largest banks, particularly Bank of America. On Monday, Bank of America agreed to…
Workers starving for good news got a few morsels this week with positive reports on unemployment and pay. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says December’s unemployment rate was 7.8 percent,…
Here on the landless side of the fiscal cliff, there’s nothing but the wind. And as every parachutist and cliff diver knows, the wind can be tricky and unpredictable. Just…
Parties all over the world found reasons to celebrate the legislation that helped America avert the fiscal cliff. The bill, passed by the Senate in the early morning hours of…
Ever wonder how some of the country’s richest hedge fund managers succeed in making such huge fortunes on their stock market bets? How guys like Steven A. Cohen, founder of…
House Republicans dragged America to the rim of the fiscal cliff Tuesday before bowing to pressure from the Senate and passing legislation limiting tax hikes and spending cuts. The final…
Congress allowed America to stumble over the fiscal cliff Tuesday morning but left itself enough rope to pull the country out of trouble, perhaps before lunch. Senate leaders of both…
So the world didn’t end, after all. Whew! Looks like we dodged another bullet. Speaking of bullets, I hope everyone has their holiday shopping done. Just one last thought before…
The clock is winding down on the Jan. 1 deadline for the fiscal cliff crisis, and the Republican Party has punted. House Speaker John Boehner, who introduced what he thought…
Are you ready to take a dive off the fiscal cliff? I am. I have read, written and regurgitated enough information about the economic doom that awaits all of America…
The sword-fighting between Democrats and Republicans could get nasty in the next few days as the battle heats up over how to avoid the fiscal cliff. Republican House Speaker John…
Morgan Stanley, the lead underwriter for the Facebook initial public offering (IPO), was fined $5 million for creating an uneven playing field among investors, Massachusetts’s top securities regulator said this…
The momentum Republican House Speaker John Boehner and President Obama built Monday toward a resolution of the fiscal cliff crisis lasted less than 24 hours. It ended when Boehner chose…
Four years after the crash, the United States is still limping along in what can best be described as an anemic recovery — better off than some nations, but not…
If you’re a taxpayer worried about Congress not extending the Bush tax cuts by Jan. 1, brace yourself: An even bigger hit – the Alternative Minimum Tax – might be…
As the nation continues to wrestle with high unemployment rates and a recuperating real estate market, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) decided to continue one of its popular programs. The…