Here are three of the week's top pieces of financial advice, gathered from around the web:
Paying off credit cards
It's called the snowball strategy: paying off smaller debts first, to motivate yourself to dig out of credit card debt faster, said Kelli B. Grant at CNBC. A 2012 study of debt-payoff strategies from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management found that consumers using this strategy were more likely to eliminate their entire debt than those employing other approaches. But beware: Experts say snowballing "is a potentially dangerous strategy for the wrong consumer." Paying off cards with the highest interest rates first reduces the amount paid in interest overall, saving money needed to whack away at debt. "Knocking out a small balance can also generate false optimism," making people with a spending problem feel they can incur more debt. The average American with credit card debt owes more than $15,000, so any strategy should start with cutting up those cards.
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Slacking on school supplies
Back-to-school shoppers "seem to have hit their limit," said Brad Tuttle at Time. The amount of money parents spent on back-to-school shopping has increased 42 percent over the past decade, according to the National Retail Federation. But this year, the average household with school-age kids is expected to spend only $630, down from $669 a year ago. Roughly a third of parents are also waiting to shop until after the school year starts, up 5 percent from 2014. Whether they're procrastinating or not, "there's some strategy behind the refusal to buy in advance." Clearance sales start after Labor Day, as stores make room for Halloween and even Christmas merchandise.
Mostly paperless mortgages
"Anyone who has purchased a home knows how stressful the closing of a mortgage loan can be," said Ann Carrns at The New York Times. Closings can take hours and involve signing stacks of jargon-laden documents. But now some lenders are starting to automate the process using paperless "e-closings." Crucial closing documents are provided electronically to borrowers in advance, with only the mortgage note signed on paper. An encouraging pilot program conducted by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, involving seven lenders and some 3,000 consumers, found that borrowers who used e-closings felt more empowered and showed a better understanding of the mortgage process. "Overall adoption of electronic closings remains low," but it can't hurt to ask your lender if it's available.
