SoFi Blog

Having hobbies that you enjoy can add significant pleasure to your life. From skydiving to knitting, or archaeology to photography, hobbies can provide endless possibilities for fun and engagement. Some of them can be fairly inexpensive (and there are even hobbies that cost nothing, or nearly so), while others can cost some pretty big bucks.

To add to the picture, what’s affordable for one person may be pricey for someone else. If your hobbies fall into the big-bucks category, based on your financial circumstances, you may find that you’re spending more than what you can finance from your income alone—and, in that case, you may be going into debt to continue to enjoy the hobbies you love.

So, is it worth it? Are hobbies worth going into debt for? Only you can answer that question, but we’ll provide observations and insights for you to consider in this post, including ways to budget hobbies effectively if you’d like to better manage expenses. And, if you’ve found that you’re already in more debt than you’d like from the pursuit of hobbies, and you’d like to get out of that debt, we’ll offer up some practical tips.

When you’re working on your tax return each year, it’s tempting to get through it as quickly as possible, then forget all about the stress it caused.

But tax season is actually a great time to take a look at the year that’s behind you and use that information to plan for the years ahead—especially if you’ve made some major transitions in your life.

If you’re newly married, new parents, or new homeowners, for example—or expect to be sometime soon—your tax situation may change. And so, by extension, will the ways you budget and invest for the future. Look at it as an opportunity to sit down with your spouse, maybe with a glass of wine, and strategize.

Looking for a life partner who is compatible with both you and your career ambitions isn’t always easy. Of course, there are plenty of online dating questions to ask before meeting—like what a potential date does and whether they enjoy their work.

And you probably already know how to check someone’s career out online. What does their LinkedIn profile say about their career path? How do they interact professionally on Twitter, and what topics do they engage with?

If you’re really looking for career compatibility, here are a few other things to keep in mind.

Following the one you love to the ends of the earth may sound like an incredibly romantic notion. And, if it sounds that way to you, this would include going to college with your beloved boyfriend or girlfriend, right? Because college, wherever it’s located, does technically fall somewhere within the parameters of “to the ends of the earth,” doesn’t it?

Although we’re having a bit of fun and using some hyperbole when asking these questions, the dilemma can be quite real. Whether you’re finishing up high school and planning to transition to a college away from home, or you’re an adult returning to school and have a significant other attending college, you may be considering whether or not the two of you should attend the same school.

Like just about any other question in existence, of course, there are pros and cons to attending college with your sweetheart, and this post will explore them. We’ll also share how these reasons might evolve the longer you’re attending college together.

So, if you’re wondering, “Should I attend college with my boyfriend (or girlfriend)?” we encourage you to keep reading this post!

Bringing home a bundle of joy from the hospital is the start of a new adventure. You’re responsible for a new life and are now party to the ups and downs, the laughter and stress, of raising a child.

If you plan on having kids, you may already be considering how the new addition to your family will factor in financially. From the cost of health and prenatal care, to childbirth, to actually raising your child—things can get expensive. There’s a crib, maybe a new nursery, diapers, formula, clothes, and that’s just the beginning.

Young people are facing unprecedented levels of student loan debt and increasing costs for health care and housing. At the same time, millennial salaries are lower than those of previous generations, partly because many entered the job market after the 2008 recession.

While millennials are having kids later than older generations, a majority still rate being a parent as their most important life goal.