If you’re looking to buy a new home, then you’re likely asking yourself, how much house can I afford? How much mortgage can I afford, and what’s a reasonable monthly payment to take on? You don’t want to get in over your head, but you also don’t want to live in a shoebox in the middle of nowhere. Where does the balance lie?

This guide will help you answer the question, "How much house can I afford?" based both on the numbers and your overall happiness. To begin, let's go over some general guidelines to consider when buying a home.

Standardized tests have a reputation for presenting questions in formats that are tricky and confusing. Wouldn't it be great if there was a way to get past all that and take a shortcut to the correct answer? This article provides expert SAT hacks to help you solve SAT questions that might otherwise leave you stumped!

ACT Math questions can be confusing. Many leave readers wondering what's being asked and where to start. That's why it's such a good idea to have a reliable method for dissecting these questions in your back pocket. That way, whenever you sit down to a confusing ACT Math problem, you know where to turn.

In this article, I outline four fool-proof steps to clearing up what a question is asking, as well as offering a few other tips for attacking ACT Math.

While everyone in the US pays a federal income tax, not everyone pays a state income tax. There are seven states in the US with no income tax whatsoever, plus two more that don’t tax wages.

While people who live in these states don’t pay income tax, they may pay higher taxes in other ways, like when they go shopping or stop at the gas station. This guide will explore whether or not people in income tax-free states save money overall, along with the pros and cons of moving to one of these states.

First, let’s look at the nine states with few or no taxes on income.

Thomas Stanley and William Danko didn’t expect The Millionaire Next Door, their case study of America’s millionaires, to become a huge bestseller. Both academics at the University of Georgia, they set out to learn about the habits and lifestyles of the nation’s highest earners, not to write a personal finance bible.

Readers were blown away by Stanley and Danko’s findings, though, namely that most millionaires don’t own fancy cars or throw lavish yacht parties. On the contrary, they live by principles of “thrift, low status, discipline, low consumption, risk, and very hard work.” From this book, many readers realized that the dream of amassing over $1 million was not as out of reach as they had thought.

Stanley and Danko’s 1996 bestseller can still teach us a lot about personal finance today, but it also falls short in a few key ways. Read on for a full summary and critique of The Millionaire Next Door.

Between online bill pay and money-transferring apps like Venmo, many of us don’t fill out checks very often. On the occasion that we do need to write one, like to pay rent, take care of a bill, or send a birthday gift to a relative, we might find ourselves feeling uncertain about whether we’re doing it right.

This guide will tell you everything you need to know about how to fill out a check. To start, let’s get up close and personal with this small but mighty piece of paper.

You've invested in a business, started to make profits, and now need to step back and reevaluate: are you getting enough bang for your buck?

This guide will explain what exactly return on investment is, how to calculate ROI, and why it's useful. I'll also discuss some factors that make return on investment a more complicated analysis than it appears at first glance.

The PSAT is coming up—fast.

Test day will be here whether you've been studying or not. For the SAT, I would recommend delaying for a later test date, but that's not really possible with the PSAT.

If you have less than three weeks left, you're going to have to cram.

So? How are you best going to prepare for the exam?

In this article, I'll guide you through how to prepare quickly, including what to focus on for each section of the test and the best test-day techniques.

Do you have the option of setting up a 401k plan? Does your employer offer a 401k matching benefit? Are you confused about what these words even mean? Don't worry! We'll explain everything you need to know about these accounts, but, first, what is a 401k, exactly?

A 401k is a retirement savings account sponsored by an employer and designed by the government to give you tax benefits on your savings. Your money quietly grows until the time you can withdraw it in your late 50s.

This guide will explain exactly what a 401k does, what you can and can't do with it, how to put money in it, and how it can set you up for a financially secure retirement. For anyone new to the world of 401k plans, let’s start with a quick review of terms.

The ACT has implemented a number of security measures to maintain the integrity of the exam. One such measure is requiring test takers to show a photo ID. If you don't have an appropriate ID with you on test day, you may not be allowed to take the ACT.

In this article, I'll detail all of the ACT photo ID requirements. What's an acceptable form of ID? What should you do if you don't have a photo ID? Read more to find out.

The most basic answer to the question of how many pounds in a ton? There are 2000 pounds in a ton.

Still feel confused? You're not alone. But why is the ton a measurement that no one ever quite understands or remembers? This conversion is endlessly confusing because a ton can refer to 11 different forms of measurement.

In this article, I’ll explain exactly what a ton is, what it measures, and how to convert tons to pounds. I'll go into the differences between a ton, a metric ton, and several other kinds of tons. And finally, I'll give you a brief history of this often mixed up and misused unit of measurement.

Fenugreek is truly a multi-purpose herb. People from Western Asia and the Mediterranean have used fenugreek for thousands of years to flavor food, improve health, and soothe skin maladies. In more recent years, fenugreek has gained global popularity as an herbal supplement with a variety of health benefits.

While fenugreek has many promising applications, not all of its uses have yet been backed up by rigorous scientific examination. This guide will tell you which of fenugreek’s health benefits are supported by evidence, and which ones remain more folklore than fact.

Read on to learn what fenugreek is, what it does in the body, and where you can buy fenugreek to try it for yourself.

Wouldn't it be great if there was a key that unlocked all the shortcuts to success on the ACT? Although that dream might be a little unrealistic, the advice in this article will give you the next best thing in the form of mini-strategies that will cut down on your stress levels and improve your scores.

If you're planning to take the SAT, you need to upload a photo of yourself when you register online. Do you know the photo requirements? Did you know that if your picture doesn't meet the SAT photo requirements, you may not be allowed to take the SAT on test day?

In this article, I'll thoroughly explain how to make sure that you use an appropriate SAT picture. Also, I'll let you know how to upload your photo, and finally, I'll give you some important tips to remember so you don't have any unforeseen issues test day.

Lively jazz, extravagant costumes, 19th-century steamboats, spicy Creole food, and cold cocktails are a few key ingredients that go into the unique mix of New Orleans, Louisiana.

This eclectic southern city goes by many names—NOLA, Crescent City, the Big Easy—and its culture has many faces, including French, Creole, Caribbean, African-American, Irish, German, and Vietnamese. No wonder the specialty food of this melting pot is gumbo stew, and the music it invented is an improvisational jumble of mixed musical heritage.

Read on for the 11 top things to do in New Orleans, the vibrant, multicultural city on the banks of the Mississippi.