Tip of the Day

  • Written by Guest Blogger | March 11, 2014

    The first step in getting out of #debt is to stop borrowing. Get tips on how to begin at http://ow.ly/tMA0N

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  • What You Need to Know About Payroll Tax Deferral Repayment

    Written by Lila Quintiliani | January 13, 2021

    Last fall, we talked about the payroll tax deferral that affected most military members and many federal employees. The deferral equated to a four-month, 6.2% increase in pay. But the catch was that it was just a temporary boost and needed to be repaid in 2021. Well, the time to repay those taxes has arrived, and here is what you need to know before the first pay period of the year.

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  • Ten Great Ways to Spend Your Second Stimulus Check

    Written by Lila Quintiliani | January 4, 2021

    The federal government has started sending out the second round of stimulus checks (more formally called Economic Impact Payments). These may be the final round of payments to go out, so having a plan in place is key.

    Previously, we’ve told you about things to ask yourself before you spend your stimulus check, and we’ve given you a decision tree to help you make spending choices that are right for your situation. Now we’re giving you ten ideas for this next – and possibly last – payment.

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  • Three Things About Money That I Learned from Hallmark Movies

    Written by Lila Quintiliani | December 11, 2020

    The leaves have fallen, the air is crisp, and the flavors have shifted from pumpkin spice to peppermint mocha. Yes, it’s winter and time for the television programming lineup to be filled with movies that have improbable plot twists and lots of foreign princes. Yet aside from the epically decorated houses, the fake snow, and the cheesy love stories, you can actually learn some money lessons from these holiday flicks.

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  • Your Pay May Be Going Up This Month – But There’s a Catch

    Written by Lila Quintiliani | September 9, 2020

    Later this month, the United States government will be implementing a payroll tax deferral for about 1.3 million federal employees. The White House order specifically targets a 6.2% tax that employers deduct from wages to help fund Social Security. The details have not been completely fleshed out, but if you are a federal employee, including a military service member, here’s what you need to know about this deferral:

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Saver Stories View all »

When You Start Small, Saving is Easy

When Attiyya first got married, she and her Marine husband had just graduated from college and were focused on paying off student loan debt. They had both attended private schools and had sizeable loans. Then three months after the wedding, the couple found out they were pregnant with their first child.

The first year of their marriage, says Attiyya, was a balancing act between paying down debt and saving for the future.

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Building a Six-Figure Savings While Enjoying Life

Written by Jackie Toops | November 13, 2020

Does the idea of saving up hundreds of thousands of dollars seem impossible? How about doing it while still living an enjoyable lifestyle?

For military spouse Martina and her husband, an E-5 in the Navy, accumulating a six-figure savings has become a reality. One might think that in order to save this much, it would take a great deal of sacrificing and forgoing a certain quality of life, but Martina and her husband would disagree. “Over the past few years (about five), we've managed to save almost $120,000 while mostly living on one income. We've learned so much about easy ways to save money and live a good life,” shares Martina.

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From Shopaholic to Saver

Written by Jackie Toops | January 13, 2021

Many of us spend too much money on things we don’t need, but we don’t always know why. It’s easy to get a quick fix from retail therapy, but before we know it, our hard-earned money is gone. Oftentimes, when we engage in a “shopaholic” lifestyle or sporadic shopping sprees, we still experience feelings of emptiness, but to make it worse, we now have debt, too.

Khanmany was a shopaholic who turned everything around. She is active duty Navy and shares, “I was spending too much on things I didn't need. I was going shopping for no reason and was trying to fill a void. I was running up every credit card I owned to include Victoria's Secret, Military Star, Navy Federal, TJ Maxx, JCPenney, Macy's, USAA, and was only paying the minimum payments.”

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