Money Decoded
Articles
Straight answers about credit, debt, budgeting, real estate, and building wealth. Written to be useful on their own. 62 of them so far.
Credit, budgeting, and getting the floor under you
- Do Credit Repair Companies Actually Work5 min read
- How to Budget on One Income With Kids5 min read
- How to Budget When Your Income Is Different Every Month5 min read
- How to Build a $1,000 Emergency Fund on a Tight Income5 min read
- How to Deal With a Debt Collector Calling You at Work5 min read
- How to Dispute Something on Your Credit Report Yourself5 min read
- How to Go From a 500 to a 700 Credit Score5 min read
- I Make $60,000 a Year and I Am Still Broke5 min read
- Is Debt Consolidation Worth It or Is It a Trap5 min read
- Should I Pay Off Debt or Save First5 min read
- Should I Settle a Debt or Let It Age Off5 min read
- The Two Account System That Makes Budgeting Work Without Willpower5 min read
- What a Charge Off Actually Means for Your Credit6 min read
- What Happens If I Just Stop Paying a Credit Card6 min read
- What to Pay First When You Cannot Pay Everything5 min read
- Where Does All My Money Go Every Month5 min read
- Which Credit Moves Change Your Score the Fastest5 min read
- Why Am I Always Broke Before Payday5 min read
- Why Do I Feel Poor When My Income Went Up5 min read
- Why Do I Have No Money at the End of the Month Even Though I Budget5 min read
- Why Every Budget App Stops Working After Three Weeks5 min read
- Why Your Score Dropped After You Paid Something Off5 min read
Real estate, deals, and buying property
- BRRRR Explained With Real Numbers5 min read
- Can You Do Subject To on a Condo5 min read
- Can You Invest in Real Estate With Bad Credit6 min read
- Do You Need an LLC Before Your First Deal5 min read
- How a VA Loan Assumption Works and Why Entitlement Matters6 min read
- How Much Can You Actually Make on One Wholesale Deal5 min read
- How to Assign a Contract, Step by Step5 min read
- How to Buy a House Without Triggering the Lender5 min read
- How to Buy Your First Rental With No Money Down5 min read
- How to Calculate ARV Without an Appraiser5 min read
- How to Find a Motivated Seller Without Buying a List5 min read
- How to Find Cash Buyers Before You Have a Deal5 min read
- How to Find Your First Deal Without Paying for Leads5 min read
- How to Know If a Rental Will Cash Flow Before You Buy5 min read
- How Wholesaling Real Estate Actually Works, Start to Finish6 min read
- Is Wholesaling Legal in My State6 min read
- Lease Option vs Subject To: Which One and When5 min read
- Real Estate Investing When You Only Have $5,0006 min read
- Rent to Own From the Investor Side5 min read
- Section 8: What Landlords Get Wrong About It5 min read
- Seller Financing: How to Ask For It Without Scaring the Seller5 min read
- Subject To Real Estate Explained in Plain English5 min read
- The 70 Percent Rule and When It Stops Working5 min read
- What a Cash Out Refinance Actually Costs You5 min read
- What a Hard Money Lender Actually Looks At5 min read
- What a Non Warrantable Condo Is and Why Your Refi Died5 min read
- What an Assumable Mortgage Is and How to Find One5 min read
- What Credit Score Do You Need to Buy a Rental Property5 min read
- What Is a Due on Sale Clause and Does It Ever Get Enforced6 min read
- What Never to Say to a Motivated Seller5 min read
- What to Say on the First Call With a Seller5 min read
- Wrap Around Mortgage Explained5 min read
Investing, retirement, and what to do once the basics hold
Everything else