DIY Financial Resources

Student loanS

  • Take inventory: Check out your full list of federal student loans at the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) website. I also recommend looking at your credit report at either annualcreditreport.com or creditkarma.com to look for your private loans or potentially any federal loans that were not listed on NSLDS.

  • Read about the possible Loan Forgiveness programs on this Student Loan Hero Post

  • If you owe more than $100K in student loans, you can purchase a consult from Student Loan Planner to create an in-depth repayment strategy. The fee will more than pay for itself over the life of your loan! (If you do this, feel free to email me and let me know how the consult helped you, I’m curious).

  • The Portland-based non-profit Innovative Changes offers free student loan counseling.

Back Taxes

retirement

Buying, and affording, a Home

  • Mortgage payment calculator. Make sure to put in current interest rates, property taxes for the area you’re buying in, and accurate insurance & down payment info.

  • Mortgage affordability calculator Warning!! This calc does not take maintenance costs into account. I recommend factoring in at least $200/month off what they say you can afford to save toward maintenance, or else how will you fund that new roof or heating system when they need replacing?

  • You can read about some examples of affordability on my blog post.

Buying a Home in Oregon

  • Check out the new Portland Home Buyer’s Assistance Program! You can qualify with income limits of up to $113,960/yr, and it’s OK if it isn’t your first home purchase. Only certain lenders are approved for this program, though I know Julie Fast with River City Mortgage (503-740-4530, juliefast@rivercitymortgage.net) is an awesome and savvy choice for a Mortgage Lender (and she offers free credit counseling, too!)

  • Save big by opening an Oregon First Time Home Buyer’s Savings Account. You can deduct up to $5000/year ($10K for couples) from your OR taxable income when you deposit it into an eligible savings account. You can do this for ten years as well, which means possibly not paying state tax on $100,000! It’s also OK if you’ve owned a home previously, but not for the last three years.

  • Check out The Oregon IDA Initiative for 3:1 matching savings grants toward purchasing, or repairing, your first home. The average participant saves $2,000 over a two-year period and receives a $6,000 match. Income limits may vary by program.

  • Portland Housing Center has helped almost 9,000 homeowners to date by offering down payment assistance, financial education, IDA’s and more. Their spring/summer 2019 class schedule can be found here.

Financial Tools and Calculators

Getting your Sh*t Together

  • The old GYST website is now Cake, a free online tool to ease the burden for your loved ones should something happen to you.

  • What Matters Most — A powerful, extremely helpful book written by the founder of GYST.org who experienced the sudden death of her husband and shares all the things she wished she had put in order beforehand.

“Financial Independence does not mean the end of your working career. Instead it means, “Complete freedom to be the best, most powerful, energetic, happiest and most generous version of You that you can possibly be.”

Does this mean you will quit commuting through traffic into a lame corporate office to sit in meetings about products you don’t really care about? Yes. But does it mean you won’t work hard at things that are important to you, for the rest of your life? NO! ”
— Mr Money Mustache

Financial Freedom & Savvy

I love helping clients save tons of money while still living full, happy lives. These resources may inspire you if you feel your budget just can’t budge-

Marriage

More Good reads about money: Check your library!

  • National Consumer Law Center Guide to Surviving Debt- for those of you who feel over-indebted and considering bankruptcy, this is the resource for you.

  • Your Are a Badass at Making Money (I resisted reading, but there is great info here)

  • The Money Book for Freelancers…

  • Personal Finance textbook. No joke, a great reference for those committed DIY'ers.

  • Worth It

  • Wild Money

  • Overcoming Under-earning

  • Your Money and Your Brain

  • The One Page Financial Plan

  • Conscious Capitalism

Financial/Business tools & Freebies

  • Get an extra free month of YNAB (You Need a Budget software) after your trial by using this link (Save $7)

  • New to Square credit card processing? $30 processing credit if you sign up here
    (This one benefits me too, not gonna lie)

  • I just switched to and love Acuity for an affordable, customizable online scheduler. Tip- If you use a Squarespace business plan for your website, you get Acuity scheduling for free!

More Portland/Oregon Resources

Portland non-profits offering Financial Services

 

Low-cost & free Oregon business assistance

Starting a business in ORegon

Tax Preparation

Please contact me if you would like to include additional resources on this page!