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Posted
Jan 23 2008, 05:56 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blogger The Dough Roller. Would you cash a 35-cent check? Two days ago I wouldn't have known the answer to that question. Now I do, and, I'm sorry to say, the answer for me is yes. Yesterday I spent 30 minutes traveling to my bank and back to cash a 35-cent check. Here's the story and what I plan to do with my spoils. Two weeks ago I received a letter from my health insurance carrier. Excited to be receiving an unexpected check, I tore into the envelope and retrieved a check written out to me for the grand sum of $0.35. I went to chuck the check into the trash bin, but some unknown and unseen force held me back.
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Posted
Apr 17 2008, 06:15 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Nora Dunn at partner blog Wise Bread. There are a number of ways to stretch your dollars simply by rearranging your finances. Here are 11 tips to help you find some extra money. Change your withholding tax. If you typically receive a tax refund each year, ask your employer to reduce the amount of tax withheld from your paychecks. I know, I know. You like getting those fat checks at tax time each year. But in reality it's an interest-free loan to the government. Your money is much better in your own pocket, thank you very much. Reduce interest rates on your debt. As cited in a previous article, if you ask for a discount by calling your credit card company, you often will receive one. This also applies to other loans. If you happen to be drowning in your finances, you can call creditors and explain your situation, and they can make concessions for you. If the agent you are talking to can't do it, politely ask for the manager, who has more clout for granting rate discounts. Refinance your car loan. If your car is less than five years old, and you got your loan through a dealer, you may be able to do better. A Web site like Bankrate.com can help you find the best loan rates in your area, and Kelley Blue Book will give you a dollar value for your car.
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Posted
Oct 16 2007, 08:38 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity . It's always possible to get an influenza vaccination unless the vaccine is in short supply, but it's another matter to find a free flu shot. If you're elderly or in another at-risk group, you stand the best chance of getting a free shot. If you're healthy and can afford spending $20, I recommend you leave the freebies for those less fortunate and pay for your shot. Where can you find a free flu shot? Your employer . Many companies offer flu shots to employees because it makes business sense. Ask your company's medical services department or human resources department if flu shots are provided. If they aren't, recommend that your company investigate the idea. Explain how offering a $20 shot for free is better than having to put up with lost productivity when people take sick days. In my short working life, the two companies I've worked for both offered a flu shot. Since everyone in the company generally gets the shot
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Posted
Jul 25 2008, 12:49 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
We've read about how more people are running out of gas on their way to wherever. Were they short on money for gas, or were they employing one of Punny Money's "5 incredibly stupid ways people are trying to save money on gas"? The fact is, with gas at more than $4 a gallon, auto clubs all over the country are reporting an increase in calls from stranded travelers. Some truly didn't have enough money for gas. "A select few morons are even running out of fuel on purpose -- just to get that free gallon of gas their automotive club or roadside-assistance program provides to get them going again," writes Nick at Punny Money. He's right.
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Posted
Sep 05 2008, 04:17 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
There's an interesting debate going on at Prime Time Money about whether it's smarter to buy a new or used car. Right now, used seems to be winning. What do you think? Before you jump in, read the exchange between "PT" and contributor "J." It's instructional and highly amusing. PT also gives great tips to use whether you're buying a new or used car. Here's a serious part, with J arguing for a new car: PRO (J): Interest rate of 1.9%.
CON (PT): The rate may be low but your monthly payment is almost certainly going to be much higher. Not to mention off-the-lot depreciation. That's money you could be using for retirement savings or your kid's education.
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Posted
Oct 14 2008, 08:06 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity. When I was a kid, safe-deposit boxes had a certain mystique. My parents never had one, so the only experience I had with them involved television shows or movies. The scenes were always of bank robberies, of masked men and women running into a smoke-filled room -- after they blew open the door, of course -- full of hundreds of boxes stacked up nicely and neatly in little cubbyholes. Inside each was a little treasure chest of riches and the crooks were there to take them. Only when I became an adult did I realize they typically hold more pedestrian items like important paperwork (car and house titles, marriage licenses) rather than sexy uber-valuable jewelry one could fence.
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Posted
Sep 05 2008, 10:19 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
I.C. Jackson's experience with unemployment benefits is enough to make anyone cringe. After she lost her job, she took her mother's advice and applied for benefits -- even though she had been fired for being chronically late. Her claim was approved. Months later, her former employer apparently won an appeal. "I was ordered to pay back every dime of a benefit that I was told legally belonged to me," I.C. wrote at Debt Blog. "... Who knew that just like buckshot spraying from a barrel, applying for unemployment benefits could blow up in your face?"
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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
Dec 05 2007, 06:37 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller. I hate budgeting. I've tried using envelopes, Quicken and fancy spreadsheets, and the results are always the same. I start off strong, but within a few weeks I lose interest in the time-consuming chore that budgeting can be. The problem is that I still need to manage my money. I confronted this problem about a year ago, and asked myself the following question: How do I effectively manage my money in as little time and with as little pain as possible? To answer that question, I came up with a money-management plan that doesn’t require me to track all of my expenses all the time, and requires a relatively small investment of my time each month. In this post, I’ll share my plan with you.
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Posted
Sep 21 2009, 06:10 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
We knew that health insurance companies refuse to sell individual policies to people who've had cancer or hypertension. But acne or bunions -- or working in a first-responder job?
Insurance company documents obtained and made public by Consumer Watchdog indicate how far some insurers will go to limit individual coverage to only the healthiest people (and those with the safest jobs). A hangnail? You'll get coverage. Toenail fungus? Perhaps not.
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