| No Images? Click here   Eighteen years ago, I dragged my first Ikea dresser home on a bus to Manhattan from a store in New Jersey. I’d just graduated college and was living in a grimy basement apartment with three friends and one window. The Ikea dresser wiped out my budget for the month, then tilted alarmingly toward the floor when I put it together. I vowed I would never buy Ikea again.As you’ll see below, that vow didn’t last. Ikea and I have both improved our situations: They make sturdier furniture, and my assembly skills are better (I eventually escaped that basement, too). Still, it takes some failure and experience to know which of the company’s products can actually look “adult” and which scream “I’m particleboard!” In this week’s newsletter, we list some of the affordable Ikea products we've grown to love in real life.What else have we got? Great advice about student loan debt, an explainer on how the new tax law might affect your paycheck, an app that helps you simulate changes to your credit score, and a list of deductions you should take while you can. It’s a good day to get better at life.Xx Janie Take back your life It seems our entire lives are decided by our credit score. It’s the biggest factor that determines if we’re able to buy the car we want, get accepted into the condo building we like, or if we have to give utilities a giant deposit up front. I watch my credit like a hawk, but haven't felt ownership over my score because it's been difficult to figure out which changes could have the most impact. Capital One’s free CreditWise site has a simple simulator that solves that problem.Wondering what will happen to your score if you close the oldest of two credit cards, or if you take out a car loan? Curious what will happen if you start making child support payments, or need to be late on a bill this month? Plug those situations into the CreditWise simulator and you’ll have the answers you need to make decisions in confidence. Some other sites and apps have simulators, too, but I find this one to be the easiest to use and understand. Best of all, you don’t have to have a Capital One account for access, or provide your social security number. Just sign up for free.
Deal with itThe trick to using Ikea well is mixing only their best, sturdiest products into your home. Here are a few of my favorites I’ve picked up over the years. If you put them among more solid pieces of furniture and decor, they don’t look like Ikea – and you’ll save a ton of money at home.
 Eket storage combination, $260. |
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