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Posted
Jun 23 2008, 04:17 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Irreverent, hilarious, provocative and profane -- all were qualities of the great George Carlin, who died Sunday from heart failure. But who knew that Carlin was also a good source of financial advice?
What else would you expect from the comedian who so well understood our fascination with materialism, as demonstrated by his "A Place for My Stuff"? ("Bouncing Back" at Bouncing Back from Bankruptcy, one of many Carlin fans who mourned his passing online, provides a link to the "stuff" routine. Considering it's Carlin, the language is only slightly off-color.)
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Posted
Oct 13 2008, 08:23 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
If you want to buy a General Motors vehicle with GMAC financing, you'd better have your financial ducks in a row. GMAC Financial Services announced today that it's temporarily limiting contracts to people with at least a 700 credit score.
"The credit markets are tightening up everywhere and this is just a reflection of that,'' GM spokesman John McDonald told Bloomberg.com. "Dealers have a number of options for customers, including GMAC and non-captive financing, to be able to finance vehicles.''
Whether this will have a widespread impact on GM car sales is debatable. It appears that when the economy is unpredictable, smart people aren't looking for new debt.
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Posted
Mar 10 2008, 05:55 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
"DebtKid," feeling buyer's remorse about his 1 a.m. purchase of a Nintendo DS Lite that has since been gathering dust, is holding a contest for the stupidest purchase ever. He's gotten quite a response from readers and other bloggers. The winner will get his DS Lite. We'll give you a few of the highlights. "Krninco" at Compulsive Debtor's Finance Blog has several doozies: a $400-plus bowling party for her daughter, "Mini Me," (and to prove that she wasn't too extreme, krninco provides a link to a St. Petersburg Times story about parents who threw a $3,000 birthday party for their 1-year-old, complete with a publicist). There's also the $5,000 piano "purchased in hopes that one day Mini Me would become Mini Mozart," and Beauty, a hugely expensive bichon frisé that bites and leaves little presents on the floor "to show you she can." Oops, we almost forgot to mention that krninco bought a $200 car seat for the little dog.
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Posted
May 26 2008, 11:59 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
As the price of gas goes up, many people's desire to own a big honking SUV heads south. And so may be the value of that SUV sitting in your driveway. A growing number of SUV owners are finding that they owe more on their vehicles than they're now worth. And those folks are going to have a heck of a time getting rid of them at a satisfactory price.
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Posted
Oct 22 2008, 05:13 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
What's in our wallet? We can assure you it's not the American Express Black Card. We hadn't even heard of this ultra-exclusive card -- known officially as the Centurion -- until we stumbled upon a personal Web site dedicated to unveiling its secrets. Some guy not in the employ of Amex spends his time singing the praises of a piece of metal (it's not plastic)? We just had to read on, if only to see how the other half lives.
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Posted
Dec 03 2008, 07:43 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
An old friend recently got a job after being first underemployed and then unemployed. One day at noon her new boss noticed she hadn't left her desk. "Aren't you going to have any lunch?" he asked.
Well, no, she wasn't. There'd been barely enough in the house to make brown-bag lunches for her kids. My friend lied brightly about wanting to work through her lunch hour so she could finish on time for once.
It's bad enough to be on the financial edge. It really stinks to be put on the spot, too.
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Posted
Dec 31 2007, 05:32 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Just before Christmas, an Associated Press article reported that Americans are losing the battle with credit-card debt. We're falling behind on payments, and defaults and delinquencies are increasing rapidly.
The subprime mortgage mess is partly to blame, economists say. But they also cite "America's long-standing attitude that debt -- even high-interest credit card debt -- is not a big deal."
Howard Dvorkin, the founder of a Florida credit counseling service, put it this way: "The desire of consumers to want, want, want, spend, spend, spend -- it's the fabric of our nation."
Dvorkin's words irritated the heck out of me. Unfortunately, they happen to be true.
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Posted
Aug 31 2009, 11:22 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
TMZ, the news source for all things Michael Jackson, expressed amazement that MJ had terrible FICO scores.
"Here's a shocker -- Michael Jackson had an abysmally low credit score," said a story at the Web site. In 2007, TMZ says it has learned, Jackson's scores from the three major credit bureaus were 592, 524 and 575, averaging out to just under 564.
It's really no surprise, considering his well-documented ultra-extravagant spending and financial woes, including the fact that Neverland Ranch nearly slid into foreclosure. But there's a lesson for everyday people in the specifics that caused the King of Pop to have poor scores.
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Posted
Jul 27 2008, 12:43 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
The headline on JW's post at We Need To Be Debt Free says it all: "What's the use?" He's been working hard to aggressively pay off about $41,000 in non-mortgage debt, and then his wife revealed at a marriage-counseling session that she's been hiding -- and using -- two credit cards. "When she mentioned it, I felt completely broadsided. It was like being run over by a truck," he wrote. The damage to his debt-reduction plans? Just over $4,300.
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Posted
Nov 14 2007, 11:01 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
A month ago today, I became debt-free – made the last payment to a relative who had lent me some money. This loan had allowed me to throw a big chunk of cash against credit card debt accrued during divorce proceedings. (Lawyers bill by the hour, you know.) Once the credit card was paid in full, I started repaying the family loan. As money came in through diligence or chance, I’d let it build to $300 and then write a check. I'm not sure why $300 became the magic number; it just sounded good. Now I'm debt-free: no student loans (I'm blessed with a scholarship), no car payment (please let it last another six or seven years), no credit card debt (and there won't be any more). It feels about how you'd think it would: pretty darned great. 'A perpetual grin' This relative wasn’t dunning me. But it bothered me to owe money. Some people count sheep; at night I would lie in bed counting ways to stretch available funds to reach the next $300. Reading some postings from a Smart Spending message board
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