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Consider Filing Previous Year's Tax Returns

By Bargaineering.com on March 8, 2011 11:10 AM   26 Comments

1.1 million taxpayers didn't file their taxes in 2007 and the IRS believes that there are about $1.1 billion in unclaimed tax refunds from that year. They are kind enough to mention it this year because this will be the last year in which you can file your 2007 tax return. The IRS gives you three years to file a tax return and you have until April 18th of 2011, since it's the due date of your 2010 tax return, to file your 2007 tax return to see if you are due a refund. More »

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What the Tax Bill Means For You?

By Bargaineering.com on December 25, 2010 9:51 AM   125 Comments

With the clock winding down on 2010, one of the most biggest news stories about the lame duck session of Congress was whether we'd get a resolution to the issue of income taxes. With tax rates set to increase in 2011 after the sunset of the Bush era tax cuts, which the name given to the tax cuts in the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 and the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003, Congress passed the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010. More »

(mortonfox)

How to Protect Yourself From Inflation

By Bargaineering.com on November 6, 2010 12:33 PM   89 Comments

I'm sure you've seen all the talk of quantitative easing after the FOMC announced they'd be buying $600,000,000,000 (isn't that just an absurdly large number?) worth of assets. You've also probably seen a lot of pundits warn that this, along with already low interest rates, puts us in a position of dealing with high levels of inflation in the future. When you increase the money supply, the existing money becomes less valuable.So how does one protect ourselves from inflation, should it rear its ugly head? More »

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3 Reasons Debit Cards Beat Credit Cards

By Bargaineering.com on October 9, 2010 12:06 PM   161 Comments

Debit cards get absolutely no respect.Talk with enough personal finance experts and you can collect a laundry list of reasons why credit cards are better than debit cards. For some consumers, a credit card is better than a debit card, but if average credit card debt statistics are any indication, many consumers would be better off using debit. More »

(FastFords)

How to Build Credit Without Credit Cards

By Bargaineering.com on September 18, 2010 12:03 PM   111 Comments

With fall approaching and students going to or returning to college, you'll start to see more credit card marketers talk about how it's important that students start building credit early. When the average household credit card debt in August 2010 was nearly eight thousand dollars and the average student loan at over $28,000, students are facing enough debt as it is. More »

(c-towner)

Don't Obsess About Your Credit Score

By Bargaineering.com on September 4, 2010 12:03 PM   56 Comments

I've read a lot of stores lately about "credit score enthusiasts" who want to get the perfect credit score or are obsessed with improving their score. While it's certainly better than not caring about your credit score at all, it almost never pays to get a perfect score. More »

(Brymo)

Ticketmaster Promises Better Transparency On Pricing

By Bargaineering.com on August 24, 2010 9:00 AM   61 Comments

Ticketmaster has announced that for some venues, it will begin showing the combined ticket price (actual ticket + service fees) up front, and will allow a short refund window of three days. The company is still loathsome—on their blog, the CEO Nathan Hubbard chummily states that when it comes to service fees, "You don't like them mostly because you don't understand what the heck they are for." But these are still welcome changes to what's almost always the worst part of attending a live event: dealing with Ticketmaster. More »

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Simplify Your Financial System

By Bargaineering.com on August 21, 2010 12:20 PM   56 Comments

Phil Villarreal's article earlier this week highlighted some of the new bank fees we're likely to see now that new legislation has taken full effect. If you're affected by any of these new fees, it's about time that you take a look at simplifying and optimizing your banking system. More »

(RichSeattle)

Why You Should Track Your Net Worth

By Bargaineering.com on August 7, 2010 8:00 AM   31 Comments

Earlier this week Ben shared a quick way to calculate your net worth and you might be wondering - why bother? More »

(largeprimenumber)

How to Safely Build Credit

By Bargaineering.com on July 31, 2010 8:00 AM   68 Comments

It's becoming increasingly clear, especially in this economy, that having a good credit score is absolutely crucial. Whether it's credit checks for job applications or one of the other unexpected places your score is used, it's clear that your credit score has a significant impact on your life... even if you don't need a loan.That's why it's absolutely crucial to begin building a responsible credit history as soon as possible. It might feel like you're reinforcing a broken system but, then again, you probably don't use kilometers and kilograms either. More »

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• Commented on Buying Fixtures In A Retail Liquidation Sale: A Cautionary Tale
  Isn't this kind of obvious? Considering how much of chaos there is at one of these liquidation sales, I'd never leave without the product in hand. They probably sold the hand truck to someone else anyway....
• Commented on Consider Filing Previous Year's Tax Returns
  Nah, you're just back in time....
• Commented on Consider Filing Previous Year's Tax Returns
  I find that difficult to believe... I expect they are obligated to tell us this information....
• Posted Consider Filing Previous Year's Tax Returns to The Consumerist
  1.1 million taxpayers didn't file their taxes in 2007 and the IRS believes that there are about $1.1 billion in unclaimed tax refunds from that year. They are kind enough to mention it this year because this will be the last year in which you can file your 2007 tax return. The IRS gives you three years to file a tax return and you have until April 18th of 2011, since it's the due date of your 2010 tax return, to file your 2007 tax return to see if you are due a refund.
• Posted What the Tax Bill Means For You? to The Consumerist
  With the clock winding down on 2010, one of the most biggest news stories about the lame duck session of Congress was whether we'd get a resolution to the issue of income taxes. With tax rates set to increase in 2011 after the sunset of the Bush era tax cuts, which the name given to the tax cuts in the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 and the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003, Congress passed the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010.
• Commented on What Is The Most Efficient Checkout Line?
  Many grocery stores in Europe do this too....
• Commented on Help, I Accidentally Shoplifted A Glass Pickle
  Go back, explain, and pay for it. How is this even debatable?...
• Posted How to Protect Yourself From Inflation to The Consumerist
  I'm sure you've seen all the talk of quantitative easing after the FOMC announced they'd be buying $600,000,000,000 (isn't that just an absurdly large number?) worth of assets. You've also probably seen a lot of pundits warn that this, along with already low interest rates, puts us in a position of dealing with high levels of inflation in the future. When you increase the money supply, the existing money becomes less valuable. So how does one protect ourselves from inflation, should it rear its ugly head?
• Commented on 3 Reasons Debit Cards Beat Credit Cards
  I agree... which is why that reason was listed first. :)...
• Posted 3 Reasons Debit Cards Beat Credit Cards to The Consumerist
  Debit cards get absolutely no respect. Talk with enough personal finance experts and you can collect a laundry list of reasons why credit cards are better than debit cards. For some consumers, a credit card is better than a debit card, but if average credit card debt statistics are any indication, many consumers would be better off using debit.
• Commented on Restaurant Makes The Best Out Of Health Department Ding
  If it's not against the rules now, it probably will be the next time they review it....
• Commented on How to Build Credit Without Credit Cards
  25%? That's absurd, get a credit union....
• Posted How to Build Credit Without Credit Cards to The Consumerist
  With fall approaching and students going to or returning to college, you'll start to see more credit card marketers talk about how it's important that students start building credit early. When the average household credit card debt in August 2010 was nearly eight thousand dollars and the average student loan at over $28,000, students are facing enough debt as it is.
• Commented on Groupon Responds To Cafe Owner Who Says Using Service Was "Single Worst Decision"
  There is a definitely a cap, I suspect the owner didn't have a good handle on her numbers because there really no reason why you'd open up a firehose like that without making sure it was profitable....
• Posted Don't Obsess About Your Credit Score to The Consumerist
  I've read a lot of stores lately about "credit score enthusiasts" who want to get the perfect credit score or are obsessed with improving their score. While it's certainly better than not caring about your credit score at all, it almost never pays to get a perfect score.
• Posted Ticketmaster Promises Better Transparency On Pricing to The Consumerist
  Ticketmaster has announced that for some venues, it will begin showing the combined ticket price (actual ticket + service fees) up front, and will allow a short refund window of three days. The company is still loathsome--on their blog, the CEO Nathan Hubbard chummily states that when it comes to service fees, "You don't like them mostly because you don't understand what the heck they are for." But these are still welcome changes to what's almost always the worst part of attending a live event: dealing with Ticketmaster. Don't worry, Ticketmaster isn't suddenly trying to rehabilitate its image. This just...
• Posted Simplify Your Financial System to The Consumerist
  Phil Villarreal's article earlier this week highlighted some of the new bank fees we're likely to see now that new legislation has taken full effect. If you're affected by any of these new fees, it's about time that you take a look at simplifying and optimizing your banking system.
• Commented on 10 Companies That Were Once Great But Now Kinda Suck
  Radio Shack...
• Posted Why You Should Track Your Net Worth to The Consumerist
  Earlier this week Ben shared a quick way to calculate your net worth and you might be wondering - why bother?
• Commented on Chase Banker: I Hate That We're Required To Pull People Out Of Line To Offer Upsells
  Unfortunately, if they don't use these tactics to sell more products, they run the risk of losing their job anyway if the branch underperforms and is closed (or (s)he's replaced). It's a catch-22....
• Commented on How to Safely Build Credit
  I agree with you all, it's a broken system... but it's what we have and until we fix it, we have to play by the rules....
• Posted How to Safely Build Credit to The Consumerist
  It's becoming increasingly clear, especially in this economy, that having a good credit score is absolutely crucial. Whether it's credit checks for job applications or one of the other unexpected places your score is used, it's clear that your credit score has a significant impact on your life... even if you don't need a loan. That's why it's absolutely crucial to begin building a responsible credit history as soon as possible. It might feel like you're reinforcing a broken system but, then again, you probably don't use kilometers and kilograms either.
• Posted How to Watch Television Without Cable Service to The Consumerist
  There was one good thing about the recession; it made a lot of people think about where they're spending their money and how they can be smarter about where they're spending it. Top on that list? Cable television bills. When I was younger, our cable bill was in the neighborhood of $20 a month. It seemed expensive to me at the time but somehow, over the course of fifteen years, it suddenly seemed reasonable that cable service would cost $80 to $100 dollars a month after fees and taxes!? There's a better way and many people are discovering alternatives to paying for cable television service.
• Commented on Meet The KFC Double Down Krispy Kreme Cheerwine Doughnut Sandwich
  So gross......
• Commented on Mom Sues Starbucks After She Spills Hot Tea On Her Baby
  What a bunch of scammers... maybe this Mom should be arrested for child endangerment....
• Commented on Go Easy On Tapping The 'A' Button If You're Getting An Xbox 360 Demo
  This story is kind of a joke for two reasons - 1. you bought the game, it doesn't matter how you programmed your brain to do things faster; 2. you should be able to return the game if you don't...
• Posted Understanding APR and APY to The Consumerist
  Ever notice that interest rates on loans are expressed in Annual Percentage Rate (APR) while interest rates of savings deposits is expressed in Annual Percentage Yield (APY)? It's all because of marketing. If you have a loan or a deposit with a specific rate, the APR will always be smaller than the APY. Loans want to look the cheapest, so they use the smaller of the two. Deposits want to look better, so they use the larger of the two. They differ because of compounding. When you deposit funds into a savings account, you earn interest every month (or day,...
• Commented on Filibuster Scuttles Jobless Benefits Restoration For Third Time
  Technically you need to be "looking for a job" to get unemployment benefits......
• Commented on Wait On Line To Show Your Costco Receipt Or You Will Be Assaulted
  This isn't 'Nam, there are rules....
• Commented on Burglars Take 34 Seconds To Swipe Nearly $10K From AZ Apple Store
  This is more a story about how overpriced Apple products are. :)...