SoFi Blog

Home sweet home hasn’t been looking so sweet lately. Maybe you spend your days fantasizing about a kitchen any professional chef would dream of. Or perhaps you want to soak your worries away in a brand spanking new bathtub in your freshly tiled bathroom.

Your home is a sacred space, but it might take a little work—and money—to make your home feel that way. Whether you’re working on a fixer upper or want to give your home a mini-makeover, here are six home renovation questions to consider asking yourself before you launch into a remodel. Thinking about these questions out before you start home improvements could potentially save you a lot of time, money, and stress!

College can be a blast—dinners in the dining hall, late-night gab sessions with the roommates, and weekend parties with the crew. It is an exciting time for self-exploration and learning.

As a college student, you might have more freedom than you’ve ever had before. No parents checking in to make sure your homework is finished or telling you to go to bed and get a good night’s rest. It’s really all up to you. While this transition can be challenging, college can also be a chance for you to grow in your independence.

Oftentimes, the skills you learn in college will be invaluable as you enter the real world—and isn’t that why you’re going to college in the first place? The work you put in during your college career could even lay the foundation for your future success.

So, what do college students need to be successful? There’s no one single guide for how to be successful in college, but these tips could help you make the most of your college years.

During the summer of 2019, two different attorneys general—from Washington, D.C. and Nebraska—filed lawsuits against two large hotel chains, Hilton (Hilton Dopco Inc.) and Marriott International, Inc., accusing them of charging hidden hotel resort fees. Although the lawsuits are not identical, they’re similar in their language, with each calling these hotel fees “deceptive and misleading.”

These types of fees vary by location and by the amenities and services they cover. For example, some hotels charge guests for Wi-Fi access, gym access, newspapers, in-room safes, even bottled water—whether these amenities are used or not.

At the heart of the lawsuits against Hilton and Marriott is the allegation that these hotel resort fees are not included in room rates published online, which makes it challenging for people to compare rates.

Hotel guests typically aren’t aware of these fees until after they have started booking—a practice called drip pricing—and, according to the lawsuits, these practices violate laws put into place to protect consumers.

So, what fees should a hotel guest expect to see on their bill? What do they actually cover? Which of these hotel fees should be questioned?

Side hustles: it can seem like everyone has one. From that fashion influencer account you follow on Instagram who works full time, to your rideshare driver who’s also got a day job, to your friend who has his own YouTube channel, you’ve probably come across side hustles across both digital and IRL platforms.

College graduation can be a wild time. You go from juggling your last term papers and final exams (and graduation parties) to managing a career, often in mere months.

This period may be one of the most glorious—and confusing—transitions in your life. There is so much to learn about being an adult, especially in regards to managing your money. And learning this stuff is not an overnight process.

For many college grads, a good first step to successful money management is understanding student loans—including a loan’s grace period. If you have federal student loans, you may even be in your student loan grace period now.

For those of you that graduated in the spring, student loan grace periods may soon be coming to an end. It’s important to start there: What is a student loan grace period? And what happens when that student loan grace period ends?

Here are some tips for managing your student loans for the first time, including ideas on how to make payments once your student loan grace period is over.