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Posted
May 14 2009, 10:50 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This guest post comes from Mr. ToughMoneyLove at Tough Money Love.
Have you ever asked yourself: Is this as good as it gets? If not, maybe you should start thinking about that question now.
Some pundits are already calling the beginning of the end of the recession, including exhortations to aggressively buy into the current (sort-of) rally in the market. That may be good for investors willing to take on risk once again.
Wage growth may stagnate or decline
But what about those who depend more on employment income to maintain a sense of economic well-being? Maybe they are fortunate enough to have a job but are hopeful that better jobs and increased wages are in their future. Unfortunately, for some of them, this may be as good as it gets.
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Posted
Dec 19 2008, 10:46 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Truman Lewis at partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com. Much-hyped foreclosure-prevention programs relying on voluntary loan modifications are failing to reach a significant number of troubled homeowners and are often backfiring when they do so, according to newly updated research released today by the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys. That puts pressure on President-elect Obama and Congress to clear the way for court-supervised loan modifications that will prove more beneficial for homeowners, the lawyers group asserted. The findings released today by NACBA come on the heels of a dire new projection from Credit Suisse that more than 8 million foreclosures are now expected over the next four years in the U.S.
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Posted
Nov 17 2008, 12:29 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
People who've recently dropped out of the middle class are turning to the nation's food banks and soup kitchens for help, further straining agencies that always struggle to keep up.
And that doesn't include the people who are too ashamed to ask for food.
"For some people it's very difficult to go to a pantry -- it's the straw that breaks the camel's back," Paule Pachter, director of the Long Island Cares food bank, told Reuters.
There are several ways you can help.
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Posted
Nov 05 2008, 05:17 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This guest post comes from Abigail Perry at I Pick Up Pennies. About a week ago, my husband and I were notified that our credit card issuer had increased our spending limit. In fact, none of our credit cards are cutting our limits, even in this economy. Yet all I read or hear about is a series of lamentations. Foreclosures. Stocks plummeting. Card companies slashing limits and raising rates. Instead of focusing on the question "How bad is it?" perhaps we should be asking, "How many Americans will actually be affected? And for how long?"
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Posted
Sep 03 2008, 12:36 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
When I was a kid, I couldn't wait to earn money -- and not just so I could buy penny candy. Working was a sign of being grown-up. I wanted badly to be a grownup.
That's why in elementary school I would pick and sell flowers and strawberries. It's why I rejoiced when it snowed -- the local doctor would pay a buck to have his sidewalk shoveled. It's why I started baby-sitting at age 11, when I was barely older than some of my charges.
It's the only possible reason I could have enjoyed my first "real" job, the summer of my 13th year: picking tomatoes inside an explosively hot greenhouse. It was a two-mile bike ride to get there, and I'd come home slimed with sap from being constantly brushed by tomato leaves. When I washed my hair, the shampoo bubbled green.
But I was making big money, baby: $1.35 an hour.
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Posted
Apr 04 2008, 09:04 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Who's up for a $15 cup of coffee, a $35 movie ticket, an $81 burger and a $480 cocktail?
Oh, and I'm not buying.
I'd be awfully surprised if you were buying, either. Those who read this blog are not likely to want to spend $81 on a sandwich.
Not that this is just any old burger. It's a 14-ounce Japanese Kobe beef patty formed around a quarter-pound seared Kobe medallion, according to an article at wcbstv.com. No plebeian Heinz or Hunt's for this sammich; it comes with house-made sake onion catsup and a miso and ginger aioli.
And if that doesn't fill you up? It also comes with a side order of Tater Tots. Honest.
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Posted
Nov 05 2007, 02:57 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
JLP chimes in about news of casualties of the subprime mortgage debacle in a short but sweet post at AllFinancialMatters called "I don't understand severance pay." He notes the huge compensation of Stan O'Neal, the ousted CEO at Merrill Lynch ($161.5 million in restricted stock, options and retirement benefits) and Charles Prince, who quit as head of Citigroup Inc. (and "appears to be eligible to depart with cash and equity valued at roughly $31 million," said The Wall Street Journal). "When most people get fired from a job, they walk out with a box full of their stuff, not a nice monetary gift. Why is it not the same for a CEO?" JLP asks.
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