Some financial disasters are a long time in the making. It typically takes years of unfortunate choices — minimum credit card payments, forgone savings opportunities — to create suffocating debt or a poverty-level retirement.
Other disasters you can trigger almost instantly. The decision itself costs money, or the clock starts ticking toward a consequence you might not have foreseen. In my latest for the Associated Press, three common ways to trash your finances fast, plus how you may be able to undo or limit the damage.
Today’s top story: How to keep Mother’s Day spending down. Also in the news: How the rise in student loan rates will affect borrowers, where to sell your stuff online, and will you see a Social Security check in your lifetime.
Spending, saving, or investing your graduation gift. Also in the news: How to find your net worth, how to avoid auto repossession, and avoiding a huge salary negotiation mistake.
Today’s top story: Budgeting for newlyweds. Also in the news: What you need to know about May’s Fed meeting, should a partner’s debt keep you from marrying, and a retirement literacy quiz you need to pass. 
Today’s top story: NerdWallet’s best credit card tips for May 2017. Also in the news: VA loan funding fees, the best banks for multiple savings accounts, and 401(k) myths you can’t afford to believe. 
Today’s top story: Making a habit of checking your financial health. Also in the news: Online business ideas for couch potatoes, how one couple paid off $20K of debt in 18 months, and how Trump’s tax plan may affect your 401(k).
Today’s top story: Trump’s Tax Plan: Big Changes, Big Unknowns. Also in the news: Savings lessons from retirees for millennials, how to teach your kids about money when you’re a financial disaster, and why 40% of Americans spend up to half of their income servicing debt.
Today’s top story: How to manage money in your 30’s. Also in the news: Student loan holders catch a home buying break, why you should get to work building an unemployment fund, and the 10 best entry-level jobs for 2017. 
Today’s top story: 3 keys to budgeting as a freelancer. Also in the news: What you can learn about saving from a former big spender, why small business owners should offer pension plans, and what you need to know about credit cards when you travel abroad.