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Posted
Jan 28 2009, 08:17 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller.
Riding on the D.C. Metro last week, I saw a billboard that caught my attention. It asked which was financially more costly -- a bounced check, a payday loan, or a credit card late-payment penalty. The answer surprised me, and it's worth considering this question.
Most of us at one time or another have bounced a check (I have), obtained a payday loan (I haven't), or paid a credit card payment late (I have). For many of us, a bounced check or late credit card payment is the result of disorganization or distraction. But in some cases, tough choices have to be made.
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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
Nov 21 2008, 07:02 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This guest post comes from Terry at Savvy Frugality. I came across an intriguing headline while doing some of my personal-finance reading the other day. It was over at MSN Money, and it really caught my attention. It was "7 surefire ways to stay poor." Liz Pulliam Weston described money mistakes that poor people make, such as paying too much for rent or a mortgage, confusing needs with wants, making only minimum monthly payments, failing to budget, having no emergency savings, and spending retirement savings. Those things will guarantee that poor people stay poor, but they didn't address my own personal situation a few years ago, when I was really poor. I wasn't just poor, I was "po" -- I couldn't even afford the extra "or." The worst part: It was really all my (and my wife's) fault. Worse yet, the mistakes we made are ones that so many other people make.
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Posted
Jul 15 2008, 11:02 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
We like the new blogger who posts at Sallie's Niece. She "went to school thanks to my Aunt Sallie Mae," her site says. "Now watch me struggle to pay and pay." She owes $72,735 to Sallie Mae, and that's not including a nearly equal amount in private loans. Sometimes it is a struggle. She has done battle with the "Evil Overdraft Monster" and payday loans. Her latest nemesis -- now vanquished after two years -- was the gyros truck outside her workplace. "At five days a week for three months each year, I am just now realizing that I spent $900, a whole emergency fund's worth of George Washingtons, on very thinly cut lamb rolled in pita bread with some tomatoes and onions!" Our foodie heart goes out to you, Sallie's Niece.
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Posted
Jun 30 2008, 01:09 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
What amount of money would vastly improve the life of blogger "Too Smart"? He says $3,600 would pay off a loan from a friend -- and get him out of the downward spiral of payday-advance loans. In his case, the interest on those loans is 400%. "We float checks every two weeks at three different payroll-advance places. The balance is around $2,000. The interest and fees are approximately $300 each time we flip. That's about $600 a month," he wrote at a new blog called Too Smart to Live Like This. How did a bright guy get himself into this fix?
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Posted
Jun 16 2008, 06:25 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
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
Apr 23 2008, 09:08 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
I had to laugh when I read a recent Seattle Times article, "The crunch of rising food prices." There's nothing funny about its subject: Americans are paying a lot more for groceries. It was the newspaper's choice of real-life examples that caused my sardonic chuckle.
One was a woman who spends a total of $700 a month at three different supermarkets to feed her family, which includes two small children. Presumably she's a stay-at-home mom; her husband is a technical analyst for an engineering firm. The article noted that she's "disappointed that she can't afford to buy organic milk and produce as often anymore."
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Posted
Apr 09 2008, 03:45 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
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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Posted
Mar 04 2008, 08:08 AM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
If anything is apparent from our recent economic slide, it's that many good people could use help to learn more about the financial basics they need to get through life. It doesn't stop with shopping for a mortgage. How many people know the best way to pick car and health insurance,  and investment and retirement accounts? For starters, did you know that you can get all three -- yes, there are three -- of your credit reports for free? Help has arrived in the form of National Consumer Protection Week. Organizers around the country -- including government agencies and consumer-advocacy groups -- have joined forces this week to teach people about these fundamentals. As this government Web site notes: "Education is the first line of defense for consumers to manage their money wisely and protect themselves against frauds or rip-offs." For a comprehensive list of online resources, click here.
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Posted
Jan 25 2008, 12:38 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Before his happy experience with CashCall, "Chris B." wrote at CashCall's "testimonials" page, "I have never dealt with a company who was willing to give the little guy a chance without feeling like I was selling my first born." Well, maybe not your firstborn this time, but how about the roof over your firstborn's head? CashCall's Web site advertises loans with interest ranging from 24.58% APR to an astronomical 141.42%. At CashCall, you can conveniently look up the interest rates available in your state. The highest in California, a 99.25% APR, applies to a $2,600 loan with a payment schedule of 42 payments of $216.55. So, after you subtract the $75 loan fee, you're paying $9,095.10 to borrow $2,525. In all fairness, we must mention that the site also lists a $2,600 loan at 26.88%, and, according to the Web site, there is no penalty for prepayment.
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