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Posted
Jul 19 2008, 11:24 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
"Broke Grad Student" would like to have a big honking wad of cash as much as the next guy. But that's a dream because of his big honking student loan debt. In a post called "6 reasons why I hate cash," he explains why he otherwise has little use for bills and coins. For instance, if you lost that big wad of cash, it would be gone. Poof. "You can't call an 800 number and have them cancel your $20 bills," he says in this humorous post at Broke Grad Student.
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Posted
Jul 07 2008, 08:08 PM
by
Karen Datko
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Mike the Clever Dude has amazed us more than a few times. He's the guy who wrote about making a month's worth of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in 25 minutes -- with photo illustrations, no less. Another time, he confessed to buying a house with an interest-only mortgage and no money down. He's also railed against "those stupid disposable toilet brushes" as the epitome of waste. So what could he possibly say that would throw us for a loop? "In my teens, I wanted stuff so much, I resorted to stealing," he writes in a post called "Wanting too much." Read More...
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Posted
Jun 23 2008, 11:57 AM
by
Karen Datko
"NCN" at No Credit Needed has noticed a change on the personal-finance front that's due to the rising price of gas. Some gas stations are no longer taking credit cards for payment. Flexo at Consumerism Commentary reports about a variation on that practice: His favorite New Jersey station recently adopted a discount for cash customers. We can understand why both are happening. Gas stations pay a set percentage -- usually about 2% -- of each transaction involving a credit card. As the price of gas goes up, that 2% produces more revenue for the card companies, even though their costs for processing payments remain the same.
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Posted
Jun 16 2008, 06:25 PM
by
Karen Datko
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The federal government may not be winning many popularity contests, but our partner blogger J.D. Roth of Get Rich Slowly found a treasure-trove of wonderful consumer tips in a U.S. government publication, the 2008 Consumer Action Handbook.
The fact is, there are plenty of useful federal government Web sites about all sorts of personal-finance matters. (Two we've found particularly helpful are www.irs.gov and Social Security Online.)
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Posted
May 20 2008, 01:46 PM
by
Karen Datko
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Lying to your spouse about your spending -- and your debt -- can be very damaging to your relationship. But that doesn't stop people from doing it, observes "Gibble" at Gather Little by Little. A survey done for Redbook and lawyers.com found that 29% of people between the ages of 25 and 55 have lied to their significant other about their spending. Also of note: 24% said truthfulness about financial fidelity/infidelity is more important than honesty about the nonfinancial kind, according to a post by Gibble. So, he asks, what should you do if you find out your spouse has been hiding, say, $20,000 in credit card debt?
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Posted
May 10 2008, 05:38 PM
by
Karen Datko
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Did you know that you can learn a lot about personal finance from the Rolling Stones? They said, "You Can't Always Get What You Want." "They didn't say, 'Put it on a credit card,'" writes Debbie Dragon at Destroy Debt. Debbie identifies 28 songs that contain lessons about money management. Here are some of our favorites:
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Posted
May 02 2008, 01:10 PM
by
Karen Datko
Freedom awaits, new high school graduates. After all, "the world is your oyster, and who doesn't like oysters," says brip blap's Steve, a thoughtful guy and somewhat of a jokester. But so does the boogeyman: You'll have to start paying for all the stuff parental units used to take care of. "Yes, of course, the luxuries of shoes, Wiis, ironically detached rock band T-shirts and overpriced notebook computers used primarily for Facebook, but also items you didn't realize were so horribly expensive while Pops was paying for them -- milk, cell phone bills, iTune downloads," Steve says. Steve's 10 tips can help you find your way as you embark on a college career.
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Posted
Apr 23 2008, 03:31 PM
by
Karen Datko
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Credit cards are about to get smarter. A story in BusinessWeek reports that MasterCard is about to introduce the inControl card for corporate clients, which will allow the boss to limit how, where and when employees use a company card on business trips. This has prompted one credit card expert to ask why the technology isn't being offered to regular consumers who have trouble controlling their credit card use but aren't willing to cut them into tiny pieces.
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Posted
Apr 14 2008, 04:35 PM
by
Karen Datko
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Do you automatically think that "budget" is the name of a rental-car company? Chances are you have a problem with spending. A post by Ron at The Wisdom Journal identifies 24 signs to look for to determine if you're a mega-consumer. He said he was inspired to write the post after his kids noticed that someone they know has four yard sales a year and asked, "How much stuff do they have?" Another sign: "You cannot fit anything else in your garage -- and you don't even have your car in there."
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Posted
Apr 09 2008, 03:45 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Do not -- we repeat, do not -- try the drinking game created by "Finance Girl" if you've made a mess of your finances. (Actually, in the name of responsible consumption, you probably shouldn't try it at all.) But Finance Girl's post at Finance Gets Personal about her game -- which she calls "Financial I Never" -- makes solid points about money management in a roundabout way. Plus, her running commentary as she pretends to play (we're actually guessing that she's pretending) is pretty funny. To play this game, all you have to do is down a shot every time you've done one of the things on her "I never" list. The first question is: "I've never bounced a check."
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