Money & Credit
What You Actually Pay to Send Money Home
The advertised fee is rarely the real cost. Most of the money is lost in the exchange rate, which is why comparing providers on…
Amrita Chellappa
Contributing writer, Chakk De America
Amrita writes about food, festivals and the parts of settling that no form covers.
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15 articles
Housing & Daily Life
Security Deposits: What They Secure and How to Get One Back
The deposit is the largest sum most tenants hand over and the one most often disputed. Almost every dispute is decided on evidence…
Housing & Daily Life
What to Check on an Apartment Viewing That Nobody Tells You
Listing photographs are taken with a wide lens on a bright morning. Twenty minutes of systematic checking catches most of the…
Housing & Daily Life
Lease Renewal Is a Negotiation, Even When the Letter Says Otherwise
The renewal notice arrives looking like an announcement. In most unregulated markets it is an opening position, and the landlord's…
Housing & Daily Life
Deductible, Copay, Coinsurance and Out-of-Pocket Maximum, Explained Properly
American health insurance vocabulary describes a payment structure with several stages. Learn the four terms and the whole thing…
Housing & Daily Life
In-Network, Out-of-Network and Why the Bill Arrives Weeks Later
The single most expensive mistake in American healthcare is seeing a provider outside your insurer's network. It is also remarkably…
Housing & Daily Life
Emergency Room, Urgent Care or a Family Doctor: Choosing Correctly
Going to the wrong one costs hundreds or thousands of dollars and often takes longer. The categories map onto severity in a way…
Housing & Daily Life
Buying a First Car Without a Credit History or a Trade-In
The purchase price is the part everyone focuses on and the smallest part of the negotiation. Financing, insurance and running costs…
Housing & Daily Life
Why Car Insurance Costs So Much When You Have Never Driven Here
Insurers price on evidence, and a driver with no American record looks like an unknown rather than a good bet. The premium falls…
Money & Credit
Starting to Invest When You Do Not Know How Long You Are Staying
Investing is usually explained to people with a fixed horizon and a single tax system. Neither assumption holds here, which changes…
Housing & Daily Life
Finding Somewhere to Live Before You Have Landed
Searching for housing from another continent means judging places you cannot visit, through people you cannot meet, in a market…
Housing & Daily Life
Roommates, Sublets and the Economics of Sharing a First Home
Sharing halves the cost and doubles the ways an arrangement can go wrong. Most of the failures are about money and expectations…
Housing & Daily Life
Heating, Cooling and the Bill That Follows Your Thermostat
American homes are climate-controlled year round, and the energy bill swings with the season. The habits that produce a large bill…
Housing & Daily Life
Pharmacies, Prescriptions and Buying Medicine in America
Medicines that were available across a counter in India frequently require a prescription here, and what you pay depends on a chain…
Housing & Daily Life
A Car Is a Standing Set of Obligations, Not a Single Purchase
The price you negotiate is the smallest part of what a vehicle costs. Registration, inspection, insurance, maintenance and…