One of the reasons that debt can be such a difficult financial issue to deal with is the fact that interest charges keep you making payments for a looooong time.

If you want to get rid of high interest debt, finally retiring what you owe, it makes sense to negotiate.

Figure Out What You Can Pay

Your first step is to figure out what you can pay. Look at your income and expenses. Which expenses can be cut to make it a little easier to make payments? Is there a way to make a little extra money? Honestly evaluate your situation, and figure out exactly how much you can afford to pay on your debts in an effort to pay them down.

While you want to pay off your debt as quickly as possible, you also want to make sure that you are being realistic. Start small. Don’t get too ambitious about your plans, or they could turn out to be unsustainable.

Call Your Creditors

One of the things you can do is negotiate a lower interest rate. This is one of the best ways to manage your debt payments. If you can get your interest rate cut, more of your payment each month goes toward the principal, rather than to interest that does nothing to reduce your overall obligation.

When you call your creditors, make sure you are polite and you explain what you want to accomplish. Impress upon your creditors that you really want to repay what you owe, but that your financial situation makes it difficult. Make it clear that an interest rate reduction would go a long way toward helping ensure that you can pay off your entire obligation.

As long as you are polite, and state your case sincerely, there is a good chance that you can see a lower credit card interest rate. This will go a long way toward helping you get rid of your debt.

Do You Need a Payment Plan?

If you are really struggling with your debts, it can make sense to work out a payment plan. In some cases, this might mean that you have to close your credit card account, and then make regular payments. With other types of debt, such as hospital bills and other medical debt, you can usually work out a reasonable payment plan that makes the whole thing a little more manageable in the long run.

Settle Your Debt

Another option is offer to settle your debt. If you can pay a lump sum right now, and it is more than the company is likely to get if you default and can’t pay anymore at all, you might be able to pay less than you owe. In many cases, credit card issues have already received more than what you originally borrowed, just in interest payments. Settling might cost them more interest, but it also means the surety of more money immediately.

With hospitals, it is sometimes possible to settle for as much as 50% of the bill if you can pay a lump sum right now. Find out what your options are, and then consider settlement as well as payment plans.

Yes, tax season is “officially” over. April 15th has passed, and hopefully everything’s been taken care of as far as your last year’s taxes are concerned.

If you experienced a last minute rush this year, though, don’t set yourself up for the same thing next year. You don’t have to confine your tax organization to the time between January 1 and April 15. If you plan your tax strategy all year, you are less likely to miss things, and more likely to improve your tax efficiency.

What Deductions and Credit are You Eligible For?

Do you find yourself in December trying to figure out what deductions you can squeeze in at the last minute? Instead of waiting until the end of the year, plan for your tax deductions and credits all year. Put together a giving schedule that spreads out your charitable donations throughout the year so that you aren’t straining your budget at the end.

The same strategy can be employed for other deductions. If you have a home business, plan out those deductions year-round. From office supplies, to points paid on refinancing your mortgage, to HSA contributions, plan ahead now

You can also plan ahead for tax credits. Look at what credits you are eligible for (or could be eligible for) and make sure that you meet the eligibility requirements. It’s much easier to plan to reduce your tax bill if you look at the situation now, and plan out over a year. That way, you can make sure that you are positioned to take advantage of tax breaks, rather than being disappointed when you don’t quite meet all of the requirements later.

Organize Your Paperwork Now

You can also keep your paperwork all year. I keep a file just for tax-related documents. As soon as I bring home a receipt, whether it’s for business travel or for some other reason, it goes right into the tax folder.

It doesn’t even have to be a hardcopy folder. You can set up a folder on your computer, and then scan receipts and other relevant documents into it. The important thing is that you stay organized all year. That way, you won’t be scrambling to figure out what happened to all of your documentation later. The right filing system can help you stay on top of things all year, and prevent last-minute meltdowns during tax season.

Consider Using a Tax Professional

If you are unsure of your options when it comes to tax breaks and other items, it can help to consult a tax professional. My accountant helps me prepare my taxes, but he also discusses possible tax strategies for the upcoming year, and for the future. This can be a great help later on down the road if you want to continue to improve your tax efficiency.

While you might have to pay a fee for the help of a tax professional, it can be worth it. The tax savings that I receive as a result of taking advice from my accountant outweigh his fee.

A financial fast can be a great way to kick-start your savings, figure out the holes in your budget, and find contentment with the things you own. While it may seem a little extreme to go on a financial fast—a period anywhere from one week to one month wherein you refrain from all spending other than necessities—it’s an excellent exercise in self-control with lessons that will last long after the fast is over. Here are four tips for making your financial fast go smoothly and enjoyably:

1. Define necessity ahead of time.

This can be one of the toughest aspects of financial fasting. While taking part in this exercise is supposed to be somewhat extreme, of course you will need to be able to purchase things like medicine and food. But once you allow one necessity, it can be easy to say “I really NEED these new shoes/this lunch out with co-workers/etc.” So before you start, make sure you know what will constitute a necessity, and what you truly can live without.

2. Plan ahead.

Know what kinds of issues may come up during your fast that you would normally spend money on. For instance, if you know your children are invited to a birthday party during your fast, figure out ahead of time how you can bring a gift without having to spend money on it. It may be easy and convenient to stop at the toy store, but re-gifting a gently used toy or book or making something as a gift can be more meaningful and better for your pocketbook.

In addition, even if you define food as a necessity for your fast, you will need to make decisions ahead of time as to what and how much you can buy. For example, you don’t have to eat at restaurants at all, and you may be able to get away without grocery shopping during this time. Your fast could be the impetus for your family to eat through everything in the pantry and freezer.

3. Pay with cash.

If you do need to make a purchase during your financial fast, make sure you leave your credit and debit cards at home. You’ll feel the loss of your money much more keenly if you have to count out the bills to pay for your purchase—and that means it will be much less tempting to cheat on your fast.

4. Avoid temptations.

As Americans, we’re constantly bombarded with messages to buy buy buy! You can make it easier on yourself to avoid this if you don’t hang out at malls or shopping centers during your fast. They may be easy places to meet friends for socializing, but they are incompatible with a fast. (Just like you wouldn’t go hanging around an ice cream shop or an all-you-can-eat buffet if you were on a diet.)

You might also want to limit your exposure to television during your fast. We are all susceptible to advertisements, and it can be awfully tempting to give in and order a pizza after you see a mouth-watering commercial for your favorite pizza chain. By avoiding all buying situations and stimuli, you’ll feel much more in control of your own money. (Here are five more ideas to avoid the temptation to spend.)

Using these tips can help your fast to be a jumping off point for many positive changes in your life.

If you surf the Internet for any period of time, it soon becomes obvious that certain ads seem to be following you around. After you make a purchase at a certain store, you might see more ads for that store. Often, ads target your current location, sending you offers related to where your computer’s IP address happens to say you are located.

Big data is able to provide this information to advertisers looking to get an idea of how to target users. And credit card companies are no exception. Basically, your credit card purchases are compiled in data centers and analyzed, then the data related to purchases are being packaged and sold.

Anonymous, But Targeted

Don’t worry, though. You aren’t being specifically identified when your information is sold. Instead, your data is combined with others’ data from your region. Information about what is being bought in a specific area can provide advertisers with a general idea of what might sell well in your locality.

Advertisers can look at the data, and then decide whether or not they want to bid on the opportunity to access consumers in your region. The leads improve for the advertiser, and you see ads that look eerily prescient.

Credit Information and Pre-screened Offers

Another way your information is used is to market pre-screened offers. Credit bureaus sell information to marketers looking for those who might “pre-qualify” for certain products and services. Think all of those credit card applications in your mailbox. Information about your mortgage can be sold to those trying to get you to refinance using HARP. Even insurance companies use the marketing information sold by credit agencies to see whether or not you might qualify for a certain premium — and then they send you marketing information.

It can be a bit disconcerting to be receiving oddly specific offers. And the reality is that these are targeted to you. They are meant to appeal to you, and increase the chance that you will actually buy. To tell the truth, they are sent to you in the first place because there is an increased likelihood that you will take advantage of these products and services.

What Can You Do?

One of the things you can do, if you want to avoid pre-screened offers is to opt out. There are sites online, such as OptOut.com and DMAchoice.org, that allow you to opt out of these offers. While you might not be able to opt out of everything, it is possible to reduce the amount of junk mail that shows up in your inbox.

As far as getting rid of those creepy online ads that follow you around, there’s not a lot you can do. Incognito browsing can mean that cookies aren’t stored and can reduce the amount of targeted ads you see, but if you regularly use online shopping services, or if you are involved in social media, it’s really hard to avoid having the information collected.

What do you do to keep your information private?

Unemployment is tough to weather no matter where you are in your career. But for those individuals who are close to retirement and are laid off or forced into an early retirement, unemployment can be even more disastrous — particularly considering the fact that laid-off workers over the age of 55 will likely be looking for work for 11 months; three months longer than their 20- and 30-something counterparts.

But if you are in that limbo state — where you’re too young to retire but having difficulty finding another job—what are your options? Here is what you need to know about collecting unemployment if you are forced into an early retirement:

Keep Looking for a New Job

While specific unemployment laws vary from state to state, the basis of unemployment insurance is to help laid-off workers who are actively looking for a new position. If you are prematurely retired and have no plans to look for a new position, then you cannot apply for unemployment insurance—no more than a lazy 30-year-old could apply for unemployment if they had no intention of pounding the pavement.

Social Security Does Not Affect Unemployment

One piece of good news, however, has to do with your Social Security benefits. If you have already reached the minimum age to begin drawing on your benefits, those benefits will not be deducted from your unemployment insurance benefits. So if you are already collecting Social Security, or are considering collecting it in order to help you weather your late-career unemployment, you can count on it being an addition to your unemployment benefits.

Severance Packages and Pensions Do Affect Unemployment

Again, the exact laws will vary from state to state, but if you receive a severance package from your company at the time of your lay-off or enforced retirement, then you can expect your unemployment benefits to be smaller. Many states will determine the amount of unemployment benefits based on the size of your severance.

In addition, if you are drawing some sort of pension from your company, that can also affect your unemployment benefits. In general, if you receive a lump-sum pension payment, it will not be deducted from your unemployment compensation. But if you have the option of taking your pension payments on a monthly basis, rather than in a lump-sum, and you choose the lump-sum payout, then your unemployment benefits will be reduced based on what you would have received per month.

The Bottom Line

If you are facing the prospect of unemployment close to the end of your career, the best option is to check out your state’s Department of Labor website. It will help you to understand the specific rules that apply in your area, and it will provide you with the necessary paperwork to apply for unemployment benefits. (Here are more steps to take while you are unemployed.)

While it’s not ideal to be forced into early retirement, it does not have to be a financial disaster as long as you know your rights and keep your options open.

One of the ways that you can create a good revenue stream is to become involved in income investing. Income investing is all about making solid, relatively safe investment choices that produce income. This can include interest-bearing investments like bonds and some cash products. It can also include dividend stocks.

Income and Capital Appreciation

Dividend stocks are so popular because they provide the stockholder with regular dividend income, on top of capital appreciation. Companies that pay dividends do so regularly, sharing a portion of their profits with shareholders. Every period (usually each quarter, but some companies pay monthly or semi-annually), the company announces how much it will pay for each share. The more shares of a stock you own, the more you are paid.

If a company has a dividend payout of $0.20 per share, and you own 200 shares, you will receive $40 each quarter. If you buy more shares, you can receive a bigger payout. Additionally, many companies raise their dividends regularly. One group of dividend stocks (the dividend aristocrats) features companies that have increases their dividends each year for at least the last 25 years. Some of the dividend aristocrats have increased their dividend payouts each year for almost 40 years.

This type of payout comes on top of any capital appreciation from the stock. It’s an extra “bonus” that can provide you with income. At the same time, your nest egg is growing as your holdings (hopefully) see increases in value.

Building Your Dividend Income Portfolio

It’s important to understand, though, that you won’t see significant income at first. Any investment strategy requires a degree of patience. The same is true of a dividend portfolio — especially if you have to start out using dollar cost averaging. You might only be able to buy 10 shares of something to begin, and that payout is only going to be $2 per quarter if we use the example above.

The key to building an income portfolio is to plan to build your portfolio over time. It can take 10 years or more, when you start from scratch, to build your dividend income portfolio. However, if you are persistent, you can eventually build up a solid portfolio. A good place to start is with a dividend index fund that can help you with instant diversity. As you begin building assets with your dividend fund, you can then use gains to branch out and purchase individual dividend stocks if you want.

Another great strategy is to use DRIPs during the building phase. DRIPs allow you to automatically reinvest your dividend earnings so that you buy more shares. Essentially, you get these extra shares for free. The extra shares add up over time, and contribute to your total dividend payout. The more shares you can buy, the bigger the payout. DRIPs help you boost your share purchases automatically.

Recognize that building a good income portfolio with dividend stocks takes time. Make a plan, and consistently invest. Add DRIPs into the equation, and over time you’ll build up a portfolio that provides you with regular income you can count on.

We all know the basics of improving and maintaining a good credit score: pay your bills on time, don’t max out your credit, and keep an eye on your credit report for inaccuracies. However, beyond these well-known perennial good habits, there are some other, more surprising ways you can improve your credit score. Here are four things you should be doing to keep your credit on the up-and-up:

1. Do your loan shopping within a short period of time. When you apply for new credit, the fact that you applied can lower your score for up to a year. Applying for multiple credit lines can compound that problem, as it looks to the credit bureaus that you are planning to use more credit.

But when you take out a mortgage, an auto loan, or a student loan, the credit bureaus recognize that you may put in multiple applications for a loan while you are rate shopping, but you will only actually take a single loan. Because of that, the scoring formulas will allow for multiple credit inquiries within a “shopping window”—generally 45 days, although some older scoring formulas only allow 14 days. During that window, the multiple inquiries are treated as a single application.

So if you are shopping for a mortgage, auto, or student loan, make sure you don’t waste time between inquiries.

2. Ask for a goodwill deletion. You never know what you can get just by asking nicely. If you have one or two late payments on your credit record, you may be able to get your lender to delete them, especially if you are a long-time and good customer. Simply call your lender and request what’s known as a goodwill deletion. Make sure you speak to a supervisor, remain polite and friendly throughout the conversation, and go into the phone call with no expectations. They don’t have to do this—but they just might if you’re pleasant and easy to work with.

3. Don’t neglect parking tickets and library fines. We tend to think of municipal fines as something separate and different from our credit history. However, if you forget to pay a parking or traffic ticket, or still have the library’s copy of War and Peace despite receiving increasingly desperate communications from the book return enforcement squad, you could be seriously damaging your credit. If these bills go to collection, your credit score could drop by as much as 100 points. So pay all of your bills on time—even those that are not credit-related—and hold onto records of payment just in case.

4. Establish a P.O. box if you know you’ll be a nomad for a while. Credit scores are all about stability, which means regularly changing addresses, phone numbers, and employers can potentially keep your score lower than you want. If you know that you’re going to be moving quite a bit over the next few years, take the time to establish a P.O. box and a stable cell phone number to provide to your creditors. The post office can forward your mail from the P.O. box—which shouldn’t be a regular occurrence, considering the ubiquity of online payments and statements.

Mortgage rates are still rather low. And, as a result, it might be the perfect time to refinance your home.

But what if you’re having trouble refinancing?

If you can’t refinance your home, consider looking into a HARP refinance. These streamlined home refinances are fairly quick most of the time, and they can help you take advantage of the low mortgage rates. I recently used a HARP refinance with my home, and I’m saving $300 a month.

What is HARP?

The Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) was put into place a few years ago, but many homeowners still don’t know about it. HARP was recently extended through the end of 2015. It’s designed to help those homeowners who have been responsible with their home payments, but have been unable to refinance because of falling home values.

I was in this boat. My home value dropped after the financial crisis, and values in my neighborhood are still low, with those around us selling for less than they bought for, as well as engaging in outright short sales. There were even a couple of foreclosures. My bank wouldn’t refinance my loan — even with HARP.

Quicken Loans ended up refinancing my loan, though, and that was rather helpful. Here’s how to tell if you are eligible for HARP:

• Your mortgage must be guaranteed by Fannie or Freddie, and must have been sold/guaranteed to one of these servicers on or before May 31, 2009. Most people with FHA loans are likely eligible for HARP.
• Your current loan-to-value ratio must exceed 80%. It’s possible to refinance up to 125% of your home’s current value. This is a big help for those who have seen their home values drop.
• Payments on your mortgage must be current. Your payment history over the last 12 months must be good.

If you meet these requirements, you are eligible for a HARP loan. This loan also gets rid of some of the appraisal requirements, which can be a big help in moving the loan through quickly. My loan took just over six weeks to close. However, others might have a faster experience. The fact that I’m self-employed slowed things down a little bit. However, in the end, it worked out.

Choosing a Loan Provider

There are many loan providers that can help you with a HARP refinance. Compare offers, including closing costs and interest rates. I paid closing costs, but they will be recouped in about six months with my lower monthly payment. Make sure that you are working with a reputable lender. If you know that your loan qualifies for HARP, talk to your current banker first. It may be that your current mortgage lender is willing to help you with a HARP refinance.

You can find out more about HARP, as well as get help determining whether or not you qualify, by visiting MakingHomeAffordable.gov. With the right refinance, you can improve your cash flow, and save money on your long-term interest payments. Consider a HARP refinance before the program ends — and before mortgage rates start rising.

Spring is prime real estate season, but in a buyer’s market, it can be difficult to make certain that your home stands out from all the rest. Staging your home for sale is an important part of enticing buyers, but hiring a professional stager can cost money that the average home seller might not be able to afford. Instead, it’s entirely possible to stage your home yourself, for very little money. Here are some ideas:

Depersonalize

We all know that it’s a good idea to repaint the fire-engine red walls in the bedroom and clear away clutter and family pictures. You want potential buyers to imagine themselves in the house, rather than feel as though they are visiting someone else’s home. But there’s more to staging than just making the home agreeably neutral. Remember issues like lighting and storage space, as well. For instance, you may really enjoy a dimmer ambiance, but it might not show your home to the best advantage. It’s a good idea to change out your light bulbs to the wattage that will look best in each space.

In addition, even if your closets are incredibly generous, the space will look stingy if your wardrobe can barely fit in it. When you are packing away the rest of your clutter and personal items, box up out-of-season clothes and other non-essential things you store in closets and drawers. It will help show off your storage space without giving potential buyers too intimate a view into your life.

Rearrange Furniture

In our home, we have set up the dining room as a family room with couches and a television, and we do all our dining in the eat-in kitchen. This set-up works well for our family, but the first thing we’d do if we were to sell our home would be to re-establish the dining room.

Even if none of your rooms have been re-purposed in such a way, it is a good idea to go through each room and re-evaluate its organization for appearance and presentation. Simply moving a sofa or table could vastly improve the appearance of the room’s size and livability.

One great tip about dealing with dents in carpets from furniture comes from the First Team Real Estate Blog: “Rearranging furniture often leaves dents in your carpet that can persist for days or even weeks. If you need them out sooner than that, leave an ice cube in each divot. It will melt into the carpet and once it dries, the carpet fibers will be revamped.”

Curb Appeal

We all know the importance of making a home look great from the outside. That’s why you need to make sure your lawn is mowed, your driveway and sidewalk are in good repair and cleaned (using a rented pressure washer is a good and easy weekend project), and you have an easily visible and attractive house number.

Finally, for all that weeding and other gardening you may not have time for while selling your home, remember that mulch can not only cover a multitude of sins, but it can also make your garden beds look neat and well-kept.

The Bottom Line

The benefit of professional staging is that someone else will be looking closely at the details of your home—which can be difficult to notice after you’ve been living there for years. But you can do your own staging as long as you are willing to examine your home with new eyes and do a little work to improve the look of your house.

We have so many accounts these days, and so many places where we keep money, that it can be hard to keep track of everything. Sometimes, money in a bank account lies forgotten, or you don’t realize that you have a credit to the utility company from when you moved a few years ago.

After a while, the bank or company that has your unclaimed money no longer wants to deal with the cost associated with maintaining the account. The money is turned over to the state. The state holds the money until someone (the owner or the heir) claims it. In many cases, the state might even invest the money to earn interest for the government until the rightful owner comes forward.

Most of those who have unclaimed money waiting for them are likely to only discover small amounts. It might be a few dollars, and it will probably be less than $100. However, in some cases, there is more at stake. There stories of those who have been surprised to find that they have a few hundred dollars in unclaimed money. But you’ll never know if you don’t run a search.

How to Find Out if You Have Unclaimed Money

You don’t want to leave money that belongs to you just sitting out there. You need to find out if there is unclaimed money owed to you. The good news is that finding out if you have unclaimed property is fairly easy. There are two main sites that can help you:

1. Unclaimed.org
2. MissingMoney.com

It’s important to understand that these are sites that make use of databases from states. Each state has its own database, and the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators runs Unclaimed.org as a way to let you get access to state databases.

Your search for missing money through these channels is free, so don’t be fooled by scammers who will try to get you to pay for these searches. You can do it yourself, and fairly quickly, using the free resources available to you.

Claiming the Money

If it turns out that you do have unclaimed money, you need to go about establish your claim to it. States aren’t going to release this money to just anyone. You are going to need to show proof of identity. If the original owner of the property is dead, you will need to have proof of the death, as well as proof that you are a rightful heir.

When you locate unclaimed money that is yours, contact the appropriate state office. Find out what, exactly, you need to do in order to claim the money. Knowing ahead of time can help you gather the documentation you need to make your claim.

If you have been scrupulous about your record-keeping, and you are efficient with your finances, there is a good chance that you don’t have any unclaimed money. However, even so, it doesn’t hurt to check. It only takes a few minutes, and you can see whether or not you have a small windfall coming your way.