Tara Mastroeni

Tara Mastroeni is a staff writer for LendingTree, where she focuses on personal loans, auto loans, small business loans and mortgages. She specializes in breaking down complex financial concepts in a way that’s easy for readers to understand.

Born into a family of real estate agents, Tara has always had an interest in financial topics. After graduating college, she decided to forgo joining the family business and start her own freelance writing business instead. 

As a freelance writer, Tara specializes in covering personal finance topics. Her bylines have been published in a variety of well-known media outlets, including Forbes Advisor, The Motley Fool, Insider and Realtor.com.

Tara also freelanced for LendingTree for about five years before joining the team as a staff writer in 2023.

When she’s not writing, you’ll find Tara going to concerts and volunteering on the board of her condo association.

Specialties

• Debt consolidation and debt management strategies
• Rate shopping techniques
• Credit score improvement
• Budgeting strategies

Achievements

• 12+ years of personal finance writing experience
• Nearly 70 articles published on LendingTree
• Bylines in Forbes Advisor, Realtor.com, Insider and The Motley Fool

Education

• BFA, Emerson College, Media Production

Tara’s advice for finding the best rate on a loan:

“Always shop around for the best rate. Comparing quotes from multiple lenders could save you thousands over the life of the loan, especially on larger, long-term loans, like mortgages. And shopping around is unlikely to ding your credit score. The credit bureaus allow for a ‘rate shopping period’ that lasts for 14 days. During that time, all inquiries for the same loan type will count as one.”