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Posted
Oct 10 2008, 02:45 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Oh, to live in Alaska, where the annual check all permanent residents get from the state rose to a record high $3,269 this year. Not bad, particularly in a place where people pay no state income or sales tax. (Residents do pay other state and local taxes.) The record high $2,069 dividend from the Alaska Permanent Fund was enhanced this year by a one-time $1,200 "resource rebate" to help offset higher heating and other fuel costs. Now, before you think all Alaskans went on a big spending spree when the checks came out last month -- some did, as witnessed by the Anchorage Daily News -- check out a thread at VoxBox, a forum sponsored by the Juneau Empire. It seems that lots of people who registered thoughts there are using the money to pay basic bills. "We will get prepared for winter -- wood is in dire need at our home, at least five cords or more we will be looking for -- stocking up the cupboards for another long winter," wrote "RBDCDD."
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Posted
Oct 09 2008, 03:13 PM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Remember that tainted-pet food scare? It's time to file a claim to benefit from a class-action lawsuit settlement if that consumer-safety debacle affected you and your cats and dogs. There's also good news for those who purchased department store cosmetics over a somewhat recent nine-year period. As a result of another settlement, many stores will be handing out freebies like perfume and makeup. We know these things because we've begun reading a very helpful Web site called TopClassActions.com. No only can you find out how and where to file your claim, but these folks explain the legal intricacies of each class-action suit in a way that regular people can understand. They're obviously also pet lovers. Under a "TCA Staff Tidbit" on the pet food lawsuit page, they wrote, "This is definitely a heart-wrenching lawsuit settlement. We here at TopClassActions.com express our deepest sympathies to those who had beloved pets affected by the contaminated food."
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Posted
Oct 09 2008, 11:36 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
People are more than a little miffed about the weeklong hoedown AIG held for independent life insurance agents days after the government threw the company an $85 billion lifeline. More details about the gathering at the palatial St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort came out the same day the government extended a second loan, for $37.8 billion, to the massive -- and massively troubled -- insurance company. Total taxpayer bailout so far: $122.8 billion. Total cost of fun-filled week at super-posh California resort: $443,344. But get this: Despite the public outrage, AIG was going to proceed with similar get-togethers as planned.
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Posted
Oct 06 2008, 03:59 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
The $25 Challenge is over in Illinois, and we're sure the participants are thrilled about that. They agreed to spend no more than $25 on food for a week -- that's about $3.50 a day -- and blog about what they learned during the experience. It was a real eye-opener for most. When you have so little money for food, you realize that "there is food all around you, all the time, but you can't eat it," wrote Frank Finnegan, who was planning yet another dinner of ham and beans. He added, "Forget nutrition. When shopping, the only thing that matters is price."
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Posted
Oct 03 2008, 02:46 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Doesn't this sound like something from David Letterman -- "Top 10 tax sweeteners in the bailout bill"? But this is no joke. It's a partial list of the pork included in the $700 billion Wall Street bailout Congress approved today. The list was prepared by the nonpartisan budget watchdog Taxpayers for Common Sense. This explains why the once-brief bailout plan expanded to 451 pages. Senators added about $150 billion in tax breaks to overcome resistance to the bill. It worked, but it's prompted howls of complaint. "I believe there was even a tax cut for poodles who earn money in dog shows," wrote Jazz Shaw at The Moderate Voice. (That was a joke.) Who benefits from all of these tax breaks? Here are a few examples:
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Posted
Oct 02 2008, 02:17 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Plenty of news stories point to gloom and doom in the U.S. economy, and "FMF" at Free Money Finance informed his readers about three: Car sales have tanked, bidding for a date with tennis star Maria Sharapova topped out at a mere $10,000, and -- the craziest by far -- a woman bought an old vacant house in Michigan for $1.75.
FMF said in his tongue-in-cheek way, "I knew things were bad in Michigan, but never thought they were this bad."
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Posted
Oct 01 2008, 06:32 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
The federal government's new $300 billion Hope for Homeowners program opened for business today with the intent of staving off foreclosure for 400,000 homeowners in trouble. But we just have to wonder how effective it will be.
Here's a clue, from an Associated Press report: "Lenders, rather than borrowers, will decide whether to participate in the program, which requires them to take a loss on the initial loan."
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Posted
Oct 01 2008, 02:13 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Want to help out the government and your pocketbook at the same time? You can do it by buying surplus government property. Thanks to a post at Greener Pastures: Personal Finance, we found great deals on everything from cameras and calculators to mountain bikes and chain-link fence. We even found corkscrews. This federal government Web site provides links to those states that sell surplus government property to the public. Another site, GovSales.gov, takes you to the inventory of federal government property available for online bids. The selection is impressive. Need a piano? We found several there.
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Posted
Sep 30 2008, 05:20 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
"Paidtwice" resents that school districts are "trying to turn our kids into little salespeople" by holding so many fundraisers. She made that remark after her preschooler came home with a fundraising packet, which she promptly tossed in the trash. Her husband gave a neighbor's kid $15 for popcorn she could have bought at a store for much less. She's not upset about the purchase, but "I hate feeling obligated to buy stuff I don't want to be neighborly or nice or just to make the kid not feel bad," she wrote in a post at I've Paid For This Twice Already. We know what she means. Schools seem so strapped for funds that students must peddle goods door-to-door to pay for basic things. But has it gotten out of hand? And is there an alternative?
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Posted
Sep 30 2008, 03:15 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
By day, Joe Morgan works in the IT field, where co-workers routinely upgrade their personal computers every two or three years. By night, he says, he's like Scotty on "Star Trek," "always beating the odds to do the impossible with limited resources at hand ...." Joe comes by that claim honestly: He has coaxed two PCs to operate for an amazing 10 years each. He explains how to get more life out of your computer in a post at Saving Advice that's written in language non-geeks can understand.
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