zaut toe, a senior editor at money and lanette, a writer for wallet pop.com. ladieses, thank you. our first question is from lynn in florida i was divorced inty 08 and inherited all the credit card debt. i have sense spent timeorking and paying down the debt. my credit score has improved what score would indicate that i can purchase a home, donna? well, you know, there s no one magic number that says, yo can now purchase a home. but generally you need a score of at least 620 or higher, most lend erpds use the fico r score which raises 350 to 850. the best rates go to a 780 or higher. but r she s got a 740 oran highr or can work toward that, that s when you re going to get really decent terms ad a good rate that what she should be aiming for. right. just keep your eyes on it, but it should work out. next is from william what are the tax advantages of my 83-year-old parents selling their house to me for just a av buck. i have heard of people doing this. i don t really understa
still ahead, they are freed now but their stories of what it was like being held in libya rine credible. we will tell you what happened to those four new york times journalists coming up. first, stephanie elam with some free money advice. time now for the help desk, we get answers to your financial questions w me right now, donna row sat toe, senior editor at money and len net cox is a writer for wallet pop.com. glad you are here. we have questions coming in. first from brian in connecticut, i m a grad student graduating in the next few months and trying to get a handle on my debt. can you give me an idea where i should start? probably good thing, get it done. start with a budget no question about it, get a hand only your expenses, find out how much money you have got going out the door. you don t want to deficit spend. in other words, you don t want to spend more than you are actually earning. hopefully as a recent graduate, he has actually found a job that
chomping on the police car. this is bad. police used pepper spray and a taser but the dog wouldn t let up. other dogs even got in on the action. he called in his posse. animal staffers finally showed up. they captured the dog. they cited the owner of the nearby welding shop where the dogs escaped. that is unreal. that is funny. if you re betting on the ncaa tournament, you are in good company. according to estimates, more than $7 billion will be gambled illegally worldwide on march madness games. officials in washington and idaho threatened legal action against unlawful betting. that apparently has not stopped a lot of people. if you re on the if you re a betting man or woman, the website wallet pop.com suggests keeping wages small and winnings to yourself. specifically with the upsets so far that we ve seen in the tournament and there have been a lot of upsets. good stuff. coming up, dateline nbc s ann