TessMore Finance Blog

I use Avail to manage my two rental units. Here’s my full review… R ental properties are a great passive income source. Not many will disagree with that. Leasing out units is a fairly low-effort side hustle that can scale as you wish. If you’re after passive income, like me, chances are you’ve considered investing in real estate . But not everyone pushes through. Oftentimes, the issue people have with owning rental property is property management. And we’ve all heard the horror stories of tenants not paying rent, damaging your property, or the difficulties of finding tenants to begin with. These hassles are enough for budding investors to give up on real estate altogether. The platform “Avail” ( Avail.co ) offers a solution. Their goal is to level the playing field by helping individual landlords mirror the property management capabilities of large investors. But is listing your property with them worth your time, or are there better alternatives? I think Avail is the best pro...

Have you heard of this latest TikTok “craze” called cash stuffing ? The term is new but the strategy isn’t – even if you’ve never heard of cash stuffing, chances are you’ve heard of the strategy. It’s been around for ages and it’s a solid approach, it just hasn’t gone viral because no one came up with a clever name. Table of Contents What is Cash Stuffing? What are the benefits of Cash Stuffing? What are the drawbacks of Cash Stuffing? Is Cash Stuffing Worth it? What is Cash Stuffing? Cash stuffing is a catchy name for envelope budgeting . Envelope budgeting is where you budget with the use of envelopes to represent different categories of expenses like groceries, dining out, “fun money,” gifts, debts, and more. You should also include envelopes for saving like for a sinking fund or retirement or future needs, like a car. It’s meant to cover expenses that tend to change from month to month, not fixed expenses like your rent or mortgage. As you get paid, you take the cash...

Many personal finance apps specialize in specific tasks like saving money, earning a high-interest rate, paying bills, and potentially earning spending rewards. Finding one platform offering both banking and investing accounts can be challenging. That’s not the case with Albert . Albert can help you save, invest, and receive hands-on financial guidance with a single app. This Albert app review dives into the various features that can help improve your finances, potentially for free.   Table of Contents What Is Albert? Albert Pricing Albert Genius   Best Albert Features Albert Cash Albert Savings Cash Advances Albert Investing Albert Genius Albert Pros and Cons Pros Cons Albert Alternatives Digit Cash App Acorns Truebill Current FAQs Final Thoughts on Albert What Is Albert? Albert is a personal finance app for Android or iOS devices powered by Sutton Bank, a member of FDIC. You can open an FDIC-insured savings account (up to $2...

What is Skewness? In statistics, the term skewness refers to an asymmetrical or distorted distribution of values of a data set. When a data set is plotted on the x and y-axis, it can either indicate a normal or skewed distribution. A normal distribution is represented by a bell-shaped curve produced if there are equal denominations on both positive and negative sides of the mean. Hence, a normal distribution is symmetrical where mean, median, mode, and mode are equal, and skewness equals zero. ( mean=median=mode, skew=0 ) On the other hand, a skewed distribution is formed when unequal positive and negative denominations are plotted around the mean. A skewed distribution is of two types; positive ( right-skewed ) and negative ( left-skewed ). Positive Skewness: When a positively skewed distribution is produced on a graph, the tail of the bell-shaped curve is tampered with towards the right due to the concentration of positive values. The inequality of the positive Skewness can ...

It simply means USCIS is working on your file . This status is usually accompanied by the statement that “no action is required” and that the filling is being processed in the order it was received. This status means that no additional documentation is required at the moment. The USCIS will update the case status when it’s moved into the queue for further processing. How long does it take for USCIS to complete an active review case? Ideally, it takes 120 days to process if no document is missing. But it can take months (sometimes years, depending on the case to get in the hand of someone that will handle it. The next question is, how long may a USCIS case take from an officer assigned to a final decision? It depends on the workload your local field office has and whether or not you have included required documents and responded amicably to document requests. Overall. USCIS decides 26,000 cases per day. So, it takes several months to process certain cases because of backlog. Firs...

International stock funds have turned in a disappointing performance in recent years, at least when compared with US stocks. But long-term investors understand the importance of diversification, including the need to spread capital into underperforming asset classes. After all, asset classes tend to cycle between gains and losses. Though the S&P 500 has been on a tear for the past dozen years, things could change. Two popular international stock funds include Vanguard Total International Stock ETF (VXUS) and Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US ETF (VEU). Each is a foreign large blend fund that invests in large stocks of companies outside the US. Either one can provide the type of exposure you’re looking for if you want to add international stocks to your portfolio. The question is, which is the better international ETF for your portfolio – VXUS vs. VEU? Table of Contents VXUS vs. VEU: How Each One Works VXUS vs. VEU: A Direct Comparison Basic Information Portfolios Performance...

Getting scammed for a loan is pretty common these days. Scammers or Fraudsters platforms take advantage of People who want to pay their educational expenses, bills, or make a big purchase by offering them a loan with terms that seem too good to be true. Anyways, people still fall under their trap and even lose their savings. Loan Jam is one of many platforms on which people have some reservations as it is recently launched. Wondering whether it is one of the scams, or is it legit? Loan Jam is indeed a legit loan service. It has listed 13 lenders who review your applications and then decide whether you are eligible or not. You should know that Loan Jam isn’t itself a loan lender. It merely provides a platform between you and your lender. So, you can try the Loan Jam service if you need a loan.   If you want to know about the application process and some crucial information that is necessary to know before you apply, then read on. Loan Jam Service: Reviews And Process Loan...

A couple of weekends ago, Kim and I enjoyed a short vacation on the Oregon Coast. She's been taking foraging classes , and she had an early morning workshop on harvesting sea vegetables one Sunday. Rather than wake in the middle of the night to drive out, we rented a small place in Tillamook and took the dog for an adventure. (The dog loves the coast.) We let Tally lead us on a walk through town one rainy afternoon. Coming home, we cut through a trailer park. “We're in the poor part of town,” Kim said. “Yep,” I said. “But look at that trailer house right there. That is almost exactly like the one I grew up in.” Here's the trailer I grew up in: We stopped to look at the trailer. I pointed out the tiny windows and the sagging roof. “It's small,” Kim said, frowning. “Yes,” I said. “Yes it is.” The trailer was a beat-up 1970-era single-wide. Nothing about it looked appealing. I could imagine the inside: shag carpet, thin wood paneling on the walls, faded linoleum, col...