While a budget may seem restrictive and burdensome, in reality, it gives you control of your life and allows you to make proactive choices about your money. Bringing down your debt and living within your means enables you to feel good about your life again.

Overwhelmed about where to begin? Here’s a five-step plan from Lending Club to put you on the path to taking control of your finances. Even if you already have a budget in place, it’s a good idea to re-evaluate using these guidelines.

Buying a house that needs some work and turning it from a fixer-upper into a home can be daunting. A lot of effort is ahead, requiring potential buyers to determine their skills, budget and schedule to get the job done.

Here are some ways to determine the true costs of a fixer-upper:

We’ve all seen news reports about fly-by-night contractors who took thousands of dollars for home improvement projects and disappeared without completing the work. And you might have friends or neighbors who thought they had hired a competent contractor, but the company ended up doing a shoddy job or going way over budget.

Local governments and school districts raise a large portion of the money that goes toward paying for education, emergency services, transportation and other public goods through property taxes. The amount that individual homeowners pay is determined by the assessed property value and the mill rate. Each of these is calculated through a complex process.

 Let’s face it, the fall market gets a bad rap. The majority of buyers assume that they’ll be unable to find a house that fits their needs during the fall—hence the mad rush during the summer. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Here are four reasons why a buyer should disregard the myths, and make a fall real estate purchase.

People love autumn for many reasons. For buying homes? Not so much. But this doesn’t mean autumn doesn’t have its own distinct benefits if you’re in the market for a new home.

Crunch time has arrived.

For homeowners whose property is still on the market after summer, nervousness is likely settling in—their house still hasn’t sold, and the holidays are approaching—so they might be motivated to negotiate, sell, and settle before the holidays hit.

Less competition.

It’s a well-established pattern: Home sales heat up every spring and summer, and then, as the leaves begin to change, the market begins to cool. By November, with the holidays looming, few people are focused on real-estate shopping. And that’s why it may very well be the optimal time to begin your hunt. Here are 9 reasons why this counterintuitive move can be a very wise one if you’re hoping to buy a house.

MORE MOTIVATED SELLERS