Keeping up with the Joneses is  as typically American as apple pie. It probably stems from our national culture of upward mobility — kids are told from the time they’re toddlers that they can do anything, achieve anything, and it doesn’t matter where they start.

That’s great, but too many times we equate “making it” with having a lot of stuff. And the more insecure we are, the more likely we are to bolster our image with the “right” stuff.

In their study Materialism, Transformation Expectations, and Spending: Implications for Credit Use, Marsha Richins and Myron Watkins found that people who get into debt believe, falsely, that their purchases will make them more likable, more fun, more effective and “a better person.”

In her Family Money finance blog, Miranda Marquit says that people tend to overspend in order to purchase the things they see others in their social circles buying – …

Alas, it appears that fixed mortgage rates have crept out of the basement and are on their way up. In other words, things are getting back to normal in mortgage and real estate. That means home buyers will once again have to make a trade-off to get the lowest mortgage rates possible. Here are the trade-offs of the most popular home loan programs:

Program
Benefits
Cons

30-year fixed-rate mortgage
Most stable loan with an unchanging rate and a payment amortized over 30 years
Rate is higher.

15-year fixed-rate
Payment is unchanging, rate is lower, payoff is faster
Payment is higher.

5-1 hybrid ARM
Rate is lower than 15-year or 30-year loan and payment is low. Rate fixed for 5 years.
Rate and payment can increase after 5 years.

1-year ARM
Interest rate may be lower than other programs.
Least stable loan. Rate can change in 1 year.

Individual home buyers have their own set of circumstances, and the trade-offs that make sense for you …

While I’m not a fan of all of the changes Dodd-Frank made to the mortgage industry, preapprovals under the new law are better and more reliable. Here’s what you need to know before getting pre-approved for your new home loan. It may take a bit more time than the pre-approvals of the past, because a human underwriter and not just underwriting software will have to analyze your documents.

What is mortgage pre-approval?

Applying for mortgage pre-approval is the same as applying for a mortgage, except that there is no property to evaluate and appraise. A pre-approval (also called credit approval) says that you as a buyer are approved to borrow a certain amount, and if the property meets the lender’s criteria you will receive full approval and be able to close on your home loan. To apply for pre-approval, then, you’ll need to provide proof of your income, assets, employment history and credit.

Get …