My 2025 Spending Review
Personal Finance Buck by Buck Personal Finance Buck by Buck

My 2025 Spending Review

Hey everyone. Long time no see! Usually, my year-end reviews focus on how my investments performed, whether I plan to rebalance or reallocate them, and how my personal goals fared. However, today I’m simply going to focus on credit card spending, because it surprised even me once I looked at our annual credit card spending reports. Let’s take a look!

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How to Build Your Kid's Credit Score
Credit Score Buck by Buck Credit Score Buck by Buck

How to Build Your Kid's Credit Score

I purchased my first home when I was 22. I didn’t have enough cash to pay the entire down payment, but my lender didn’t mind because my credit score was already high enough to convince them I could handle more debt. This was made possible due to my parents’ insistence that I start using a credit card as soon as I turned 18. I didn’t know how useful building credit would be at the time, but I certainly understand now. This begs the question: At what age can someone begin building credit? And what are some ways to do it?

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Bad Debt, Better Debt
Debt, Debt Consolidation, Loans Buck by Buck Debt, Debt Consolidation, Loans Buck by Buck

Bad Debt, Better Debt

Okay, you made a mistake of carrying your credit card balance over one month. So what? It’s just a month. Next, you continued to carry that balance over one more month. No problem, you’ll pay it off in the 3rd month for sure. Uh oh, time has really gotten away, and now it’s been an entire year, and that balance has really grown! Now you’re in a real pickle and don’t know how to stop the vicious cycle. How will you get out of this cycle?

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