Personal Money Management Tips and Advice

Category: Money Management

piggy bank in a safe
Money Management

Tips and Tools for Building a Better Emergency Fund

by Kyle Burbank
Life can be unexpected. Given this reality, it’s important to prepare yourself — and your finances — for the worst-case scenario. In the latter case, one of the best ways to ensure that an unforeseen expense, job loss, or other setback doesn’t become exacerbated is to have an emergency fund on hand. That’s probably advice you’ve been told before. However, you might not have heard about some of the different...
credit cards and tax forms
Money Management

Paying Taxes With a Credit Card: Pros, Cons, and Considerations

by Kyle Burbank
When you first get a rewards credit card, you'll surely start to enjoy earning cashback and rewards on your everyday purchases. From there, though, some enthusiasts take things furtehr and start thinking about how they can really start racking up rewards by using their favorite credit cards for their largest purchases. So, besides housing, what's one of the largest expenses many Americans (and especially business owners) have? Taxes. Sure enough,...
SoFi logo and SmartStart Student Loan Refi book next to a money tree and a stack of books
Money Management

SoFi Introduces SmartStart Student Loan Refinancing Option

by Kyle Burbank
The FinTech SoFi has announced a new student loan refinancing option built for those eyeing a big life change. About SoFi SmartStart: With SoFi SmartStart, those refinancing their student loans have the option to make interest-only payments for their first nine months. As the company notes, this allows borrowers to divert funds that they'd otherwise be using to make student loan payments and utilize them for other ambitions. This could...
Tipping Survey
Money Management

WalletHub Survey Highlights Consumer Sentiment on Tipping

by Kyle Burbank
The personal finance site WalletHub has shared the results of a survey it conducted asking consumers for their thoughts on the current state of tipping culture in the United States. About the Survey Results: Headlining the survey is this stat: 86% of respondents agreed that tipping has gotten out of control. Along with that, 55% said they believe businesses are using tips as a replacement for paying their employees higher...
George Kamel and his book Breaking Free From Broke
Money Management

Book Review: "Breaking Free From Broke" by George Kamel

by Kyle Burbank
Throughout 2025, Fioney will be posting a new book review each month. In the meantime, you can check out our list of the top 10 financial books to start the new year off right and view my Goodreads for more. When I attended 2024's FinCon event in Atlanta, one of the speakers I was introduced to was George Kamel. From his short talk, I could tell that I liked his...
Save 10¢ a gallon
Money Management

Amazon Prime Introduces New Fuel Savings Perk

by Fioney Staff
Amazon's uber-popular Prime membership is gaining a new benefit — with a tease of more to come. About the new benefit: Amazon Prime users can now save 10¢ per gallon at select gas stations. Specifically, this includes BP, Amoco, and AMPM locations in the United States — of which there are approximately 7,000. According to Amazon, this new benefit is expected to save the average Prime member nearly $70 per...
HoneyBook Finance screenshot
Money Management

HoneyBook Introduces HoneyBook Finance for Small Businesses

by Fioney Staff
The independent business CRM platform HoneyBook has unveiled its latest offering: HoneyBook Finance. About HoneyBook Finance: HoneyBook has rolled out a new money management platform for small and independent businesses. This suite of financial tools combines a business checking account and debit card with cashflow management and payment tools. With these features, business owners can manage all of their finances in one place. The HoneyBook Finance features will also integrate...
man writing a flow chart on a white board
Money Management

Unexpected Expenses: My Back-Up Plan Flow Chart

by Kyle Burbank
Picture this: you've finally managed to get your finances in order and are making progress toward your financial goals... when a large, necessary but expected expense pops up. This is something that happens to Americans every day. What's more, as all too many surveys have told us, the great majority of us have no good plans for paying off such purchases of $500 or more. Even as someone who's "good...
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Checking Account Review

2025 SoFi Checking and Savings Review

by Kyle Burbank
 Ever since I started taking an interest in the FinTech sector, one company whose name I’ve seen pop up over and over again is SoFi. That was later sent into overdrive as the company has not only become a household name thanks to its stadium naming rights deal but also because of the company’s continued product expansions. The most interesting development in my mind is SoFi’s acquisition of Golden Pacific...
Rakuten: Where it pays to shop.
Financial

A Look at How Rakuten (Ebates) Works in 2026

by Kyle Burbank
Since taking an interest in personal finance, one site I’ve come across again and again is Rakuten, formerly Ebates. If you’re still unfamiliar, Rakuten is a cashback site — and is the largest of its kind by far, boasting deals from over 3,500 retailers. Its popularity has endured even with the odd Rakuten re-branding and the platform remains one of my most-used money-saving tools. Since joining Rakuten / Ebates some...
Travelers with two Best Western Credit Cards
Credit Card News

Best Western Debuts Two New Rewards Credit Cards

by Kyle Burbank
After pausing applications for their previous rewards card, the hotel chain Best Western has unveiled a new pair of rewards credit cards with a new issuer. About the Best Western cards: Best Western is partnering with First Bank & Trust and Mercury Financial to introduce two new co-branded credit cards. First up is the no-annual-fee Best Western Rewards Visa Signature Card. With this card, customers can 4x points on Best...
Marriott Bonvoy card and a woman on vacation
Credit Card News

Marriott Bonvoy Bold Card Launches Travel Contest

by Kyle Burbank
Chase and Marriott Bonoy have unveiled a special contest while continuing to offer its best-ever welcome bonus. About the welcome bonus and Bold Chat Court Contest: Marriott Bonvoy and Chase have launched a special opportunity called the Bold Chat Court contest. As part of this contest, 10 lucky travelers will be awarded 500,000 Marriott Bonvoy points (for a total of 5 million) as well as $5,000. For this contest, the...
Bilt and All Reward logos
Credit Card News

Bilt Adds 2 New Transfer Partners Including First 3:2 Transfer Rate

by Kyle Burbank
Bilt is once again expanding its travel transfer rewards program — and is even breaking the mold with one new partner. About the new additions to Bilt: This week, Bilt launched partnerships with two more travel brands: TAP Air Portugal and Accor. As a result, Bilt members will now be able to transfer their points to Miles&Go and ALL Reward, respectively. In total, Bilt now has 18 transfer partners including 13...