TessMore Finance Blog

Maybe you have too much downtime. Maybe you don’t have nearly enough. Maybe working from home makes it a little too easy to open emails about sales at your favorite stores and spend a few minutes browsing — and buying. Whatever your particular trigger, it’s easy to indulge in retail therapy. That’s when you use shopping to cheer yourself up or stave off boredom. The euphoria of scoring a sweet deal on a purchase can be short lived, though, when you open next month’s credit card bill. We’re here with some strategies for stopping the credit card creep before it starts. 6 Tips to Stop Yourself from Indulging in Retail Therapy There are healthy, helpful ways to use your downtime. Spending yourself into debt is not one of them. 1. Create a Routine Retail therapy often fills a void when there’s space in your day. So keep yourself too busy to need mindless browsing, advised Todd Christensen, an Accredited Financial Counselor with MoneyFit.org. “Keep your morning routine of breakfast,

Whether you’re a skilled home chef or love to eat out, food is something we all need to budget for. This year, we welcomed all the advice for saving money on food as rising inflation made everything more expensive. Here are some of our best articles for saving on food in 2021. 11 Top Tips to Save Money on Food Stress less about food costs with these nuggets of helpful advice. 1. Get Someone to Do Your Grocery Shopping for Free You don’t always have to pay a premium to enjoy the benefits of a personal shopper. Grocery chains across the country offer free grocery pickup . Not only do you save time by not having to do the shopping yourself, but you can avoid impulse purchases, like buying that candy bar at the register when it wasn’t on your shopping list. 2. Shop Wisely for Grocery Delivery Services Choosing grocery delivery is another way to stick to your shopping list and stay within budget. Just be aware of the additional delivery or membership fees. This article on the best

Fiat Currency Definition Fiat money is a type of currency that’s issued by a government and is not backed by physical commodities, such as gold. The U.S. dollar, the euro, and the pound are examples of fiat money. Could you imagine having to carry gold when buying your groceries for the week? Earlier in history , people used gold in exchange for goods and services, instead of the paper money we’re all used to today. But now, instead of gold, we use currency such as the U.S. dollar, the euro, and even cryptocurrency in exchange for products. Nowadays, there are different types of currencies — some can be backed by a government, such as fiat currencies, and some are decentralized and backed by blockchain technology, such as cryptocurrencies. This article will go over the answer to “What is fiat currency?,” its pros and cons, as well as how it differs from other currencies. What Is Fiat Money? Fiat currency, or fiat money, is a type of currency that’s issued by the government and

In 2021, the costs of new and used cars increased due to computer chip shortages, low inventory and increased demand. We also saw gas prices rise and rental car rates soar. You’ve likely felt the financial pinch. Still, we’ve also come away from this year learning how to better navigate these expenses. Here are our top stories from 2021 to help drivers save money on auto expenses. 9 Ways to Save Money on Auto Expenses Take these tips with you into the new year. 1. Learn to Buy a Car Without Haggling For many people, the worst part of the car-buying experience is trying to haggle with the salesperson for a better price. Negotiating is an art not everyone has mastered. However, there are other approaches you can take at the dealership that can still score you sweet savings. A former car sales manager explains how to buy a car without haggling in this article . 2. Decide Whether Buying or Leasing Is Best for You Rising prices didn’t make car buying favorable to consumers in 2021

A bond is considered a fixed-income debt instrument that provides finance to companies and issuers. In most cases, these instruments come with a fixed interest rate.  However, some may also come with a floating rate. Either way, bonds allow companies to raise finance. In exchange, it provides the investor with the right to receive interest based on the rate. This relationship allows both parties to benefit from the underlying instrument. Bonds include several terms, such as the coupon rate, maturity, face value, etc. These terms are a part of the bond indenture. Usually, these terms play a significant role in the relationship between the bond issuer and the holder.  The issuer drafts these terms in the bond indenture and provides them to a trustee. The trustee acts as an intermediary between both parties in this relationship. The accounting for bonds is also straightforward. These are financial instruments that allow companies to raise capital. In accounting, bonds fall under the def

A company’s capital structure represents the combination of equity and debt finance it uses. Usually, the former includes money collected from shareholders by issuing shares. These shares may consist of both ordinary and preferred stock. On top of that, equity also consists of retained earnings and other reserves. This finance source is long-term compared to debt finance. However, it may cause a dilution of ownership. Debt finance, in contrast, is money collected from third parties. More accurately, it is any financial obligation towards those parties. Those third parties may include suppliers, lenders, and other debt providers.  These parties may provide dedicated finance or credit terms based on their relationship. Furthermore, debt finance usually comes with a specific maturity period. Therefore, it lasts shorter than equity. For most companies, debt finance may be cheaper. The primary reason includes this finance source not diluting ownership. On top of that, debt finance require

You may have heard of pump-and-dump schemes – when investors take advantage of an asset in a steep price increase (pump) followed by an even faster price fall (dump). These schemes can happen with different types of assets, including cryptocurrency. Pump-and-dump schemes  typically happen when a group of investors enter an asset early and then convince other investors to make purchases and drive prices up further. Then the original investors “dump” most or all of their holdings into the market, precipitating a crash. The investors who were not first in on the trade could realize heavy losses. The process is much the same with a crypto pump-and-dump scheme. Here, we’ll outline how it happens, offer examples, and discuss the risks and legality of cryptocurrency pump-and-dump schemes. How Does a Pump-and-Dump Work in Cryptocurrency? There are two phases to a Crypto pump-and-dump scheme: the pump, in which the price of an asset is driven up, and then the dump when a mass selloff ultima

When you see stocks like Amazon and Google parent Alphabet trading for thousands of dollars, investing can seem out of reach. Those high prices may tempt you to seek out a bargain. Enter penny stocks. Penny stocks seem like an opportunity to buy into an up-and-coming company for dirt cheap. At penny stock prices, you can afford to buy hundreds or even thousands of shares. But watch out: Trading penny stocks could easily leave you broke. Here’s why it’s so easy to lose money buying penny stocks. What Is a Penny Stock? The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission defines a penny stock as one that trades for $5 or less per share. Most investors, though, take a narrower definition. Many define it as one that trades for under $1. The low share price isn’t the only thing that defines a penny stock. You can find stocks trading for under $5 a share on major stock exchanges, like the Nasdaq or New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). But most investors don’t consider these to be penny stocks. Penny

Everybody likes to save money anywhere possible. Grocery shopping is of particular interest to many money savers, because food and grocery purchases are one of the highest monthly expenses for most people. There are many different ways to save money on your overall food purchases, including eating out less, using coupons and limiting impulse purchases. Buying in bulk is another way you can save money while grocery shopping and here we will look at some of the do’s and don’ts of grocery shopping in bulk. What is Bulk Grocery Shopping? At its simplest, bulk grocery shopping is the idea to stock up on certain products when the price is low. When a particular product goes on sale, buy several weeks or months worth, so that you don’t have to buy it until it goes on sale again. While grocery shopping in bulk is easier for people with larger houses and more storage space, even apartment dwellers can get creative with space requirements. What to buy in bulk (and what to avoid) Naturally, c

If you’re feeling shaky about your retirement savings, you’re not alone. According to a February 2021 research report by the National Institute on Retirement Security, 56% of respondents said they’re worried about achieving a financially secure retirement. If your savings fell short in 2021, the new year is a great time to get back on track and reach your retirement goals. We’ve rounded up a few tips to help get you there. 6 Ways to Boost Your Retirement Savings in 2022 There was a lot going on this year. We get it. Maybe you started a new job or picked up a side hustle. Maybe you exited the workforce for a while to take care of your family. Putting aside money for retirement may have been the last thing on your mind. Following these steps can help transform saving for retirement from a scary to-do list item into a wealth-building reality. 1. Stash Money in Your 401(k) Before 2021 is Over Stepping up your retirement savings now — before 2021 ends — could give you a nice tax

The year is almost over, and you’re no doubt rushing to wrap up holiday shopping, get ready to travel or meet a final work deadline.  The last thing you need is another item on your to-do list, but a little bit of financial reflection and planning is essential before the calendar turns to 2022.  Making these end-of-year money moves will help you handle whatever comes your way next year.  6 Money Moves to Make Before the End of the Year 1. Set Your Financial Goals for the Coming Year When you think ahead to the end of 2022, what would make you feel accomplished? What if you cut your credit card debt by half? What if you were able to boost your savings account to four — or even five — figures? Or build up that emergency fund you may have had to dip into this year? Think about what you want to celebrate at the end of 2022, and then set some goals to help you get there.   We’re fans of the SMART method of goal-setting . A SMART goal is:  Specific  Measureable Attainable Realis