When it comes to money advice, everyone wants to throw in their two cents.
Oh, you should definitely buy and not rent. Stay away from credit cards; they’re evil. Why are you so worried about your credit score? It doesn’t matter.
There’s a lot of — quite frankly — dumb financial advice floating around out there, and it can be hard to figure out what’s up and what’s down.
Well, we’re here to set the record straight. Here’s some of the dumbest money advice out there — and what you should do instead.
Dumb Advice No. 1: ‘Shopping Online is Cheaper.’ Use This Free Tool to Stop Overpaying
Ever felt that sinking feeling after shopping online? Overpaying will do that to you.
Luckily, a free browser extension called Capital One Shopping will warn you if you’re about to overpay on a purchase.
This free browser extension scans over 30,000 websites to find the best price — plus any available promo codes. You can even set up price-drop alerts so you can sit back and wait until the price is right.
In the last year, this has saved people $160 million.
You can get started in just a few clicks to see if you’re overpaying online.
Capital One Shopping compensates us when you get the extension using the links provided.
Dumb Advice No. 2: ‘You Have to Pay Your Credit Card Bill Every Month’
How could that be bad advice? Of course you have to pay your credit card bill every month, right?
Well, not exactly. A website called Fiona could help you pay off your entire bill as soon as tomorrow. Yep. No credit card payment this month.
Here’s how it works: Fiona can match you with a low-interest loan you can use to pay off every credit card balance you have. The benefit? You’re left with just one bill to pay every month, and because the interest rate is so much lower, you can get out of debt so much faster.
If your credit score is at least 620, Fiona can help you borrow up to $250,000 (no collateral needed) with fixed rates starting at 2.49% and terms from 6 to 144 months.
Fiona won’t make you stand in line or call a bank. And if you’re worried you won’t qualify, it’s free to check online. It takes just two minutes, and it could save you thousands of dollars. Totally worth it.
All that credit card debt — and the anxiety that comes with it — could be gone by tomorrow.
Dumb Advice No. 3: ‘You Should Get 3 Auto Insurance Quotes’
Sure, this sounds like good advice. Here’s why it’s wrong: Comparing only three companies isn’t nearly enough. We suggest comparing 175. But who has time for that?
A website called EverQuote will show you all your options at once.
EverQuote is the largest online marketplace for insurance in the US, so you’ll get the top options from more than 175 different carriers handed right to you.
Take a couple of minutes to answer some questions about yourself and your driving record. With this information, EverQuote will be able to give you the top recommendations for car insurance.
In just a few minutes, you could save up to $610 a year.
Dumb Advice No. 4: ‘You Don’t Need Any Help.’ Ask This Company to Reduce a Big Chunk of Your Credit Card Debt
Not trying to be dramatic, but card debt is like a dark, suffocating abyss that swallows your finances and leaves you feeling trapped and helpless.
So, what if you could just… get rid of credit card debt that’s weighing you down?
A company called Freedom Debt Relief could help you do just that. Its negotiators could work directly with your credit card companies to reduce your overall credit card debt.
It’s free to talk with a Freedom Debt Relief debt consultant to determine the best strategy for your situation. You’ll need to show why you’re struggling to make your payments and tell them a little bit about your finances.
Then, Freedom Debt Relief will work out just how much of your debt they could reduce — they’ve already helped over 850,000 people settle over $15 billion in debt.
Once enrolled in the program, Freedom Debt Relief will negotiate a settlement with your creditor, and if you approve the offer they come back with, you’ll pay off that reduced balance through a monthly program deposit.
It’s free to see just how much of your debt you can get rid of.
Dumb Advice No. 5: ‘You Need to Get a Second Job to Make Extra Money’
Money is tight for everyone these days. If you’re struggling to make ends meet, the common advice you’ll hear is to take on another job.
Yeah right. Who has time for that? Here’s some better advice: Get paid up to $225 a month just to go down a rabbit hole on your phone.
When you open a free account with InboxDollars, they’ll show you short video clips to choose from every day, then pay you to answer a few questions about them.
You just have to answer honestly, and InboxDollars will continue to pay you every month. This might sound too good to be true, but it’s already paid its users more than $60 million.
It takes about one minute to sign up and start getting paid for your nightly zone-out.
Dumb Advice No. 6: ‘Keep Your Opinions to Yourself.’ This Site Pays Up to $140/Month Just for Sharing Your Honest Opinion
It sounds strange, but brands want to hear your opinion. It helps them make business decisions, so they’re willing to pay you for it — up to $140 a month.
A free site called Branded Surveys will pay you up to $5 per survey for sharing your thoughts with their brand partners. Taking three quick surveys a day could earn up to $140 each month.
It takes just a minute to create a free account and start getting paid to speak your mind. Most surveys take five to 15 minutes, and you can check how long they’ll take ahead of time.
And you don’t need to build up tons of money to cash out, either — once you earn $5, you can cash out via PayPal, your bank account, a gift card or Amazon. You’ll get paid within 48 hours of your payout being processed, just for sharing your opinions.
They’ve already paid users more than $20 million since 2012, and the most active users can earn a few hundred dollars a month. Plus, they’ve got an “excellent” rating on Trustpilot.
It takes just a minute to set up your account and start getting paid to take surveys. Plus, right now, you’ll get a free 100-point welcome bonus just for becoming part of the community.
Dumb Advice No. 7: ‘Stocks are Hard.’ This Free App Will Give You up to $1K in Free Stock Just for Signing Up and Funding Your Account
Inflation is doing a great job of making it really difficult to buy, well… anything. And that includes stocks.
Luckily, when you open a free SoFi Invest account and fund it with at least $10, they’ll give you free stocks in return — worth up to $1,000.
With SoFi, You can buy full or fractional shares of popular stocks, plus you can invest in exchange-traded funds — or collections of stocks.
If you’re new to investing, SoFi has automated investing tools to help simplify things. Plus, they won’t charge you any SoFi management fees.
It only takes a minute to open a free account and get started. Then, once you fund it with at least $10, SoFi will reward you with your free stock — which could be worth up to $1,000.
*See terms
*Customer must fund their Active Invest account with at least $10 within 30 days of opening the account. Probability of customer receiving $1,000 is 0.028%.
Terms for ‘Claw’ Promotion: https://www.sofi.com/invest/clawpromotion/rules
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