• citibank

    20% Of Citigroup Cardholders Can Expect Rate Increases For 2009

    If you have a Citigroup-issued credit card and you haven't had a rate increase over the last two years, expect to be notified of a 2-3% rate increase on your November statement. Congratulations! You're going to help Citigroup offset its losses in the global credit card division, whether you were directly part of those losses or not. As the New York Times points out, by doing this Citigroup is breaking the promise they made to Congress in 2007 that they would not arbitrarily raise rates on accounts—which may be why they're offering a fairly lenient opt-out policy. More »

    6:20 PM on Mon Nov 17 2008
    By Chris Walters
    6,448 views, 61 comments

    Most discussed stevejust: It's times like this, I yearn for the good old days. I mean, the good old days like Shay's Rebellion more »

  • success stories

    Reader Talks Citibank Down To A Lower Interest Rate On Her Credit Card

    Nicole was hit with a surprise 6 point interest rate increase on her Citicard, so she fought back. Her story is a good reminder that you should look at all of your options and be prepared to argue on your behalf, even if you're not in a position where you can just pay off the entire balance and walk away. More »

    1:27 PM on Mon Nov 17 2008
    By Chris Walters
    7,096 views, 47 comments

    Most discussed h3llc4t: I like how she casually threw in that the rep didn't have an accent. Classy. more »

  • budgets

    How To Make A Spending Plan

    It's not a "budget," it's a "spending plan," and here's how to make one. [WSJ] (Photo: Jeff Keen)

    12:20 PM on Thu Nov 6 2008
    By Ben Popken
    4,611 views, 7 comments

  • prosper

    Use Prosper.com Loan To Get Lower, Fixed, Interest Rate

    Blogging Away Debt wrote about the 7 things she did recently to cut her finance charges from $400/month to zero, and one interesting one was using a loan from peer-to-peer lending site Prosper.com to get a break on interest rates: More »

    11:21 AM on Wed Nov 5 2008
    By Ben Popken
    5,712 views, 39 comments

  • netflix

    Maximize Your Netflix Membership With FeedFlix

    We first discovered the very useful FeedFlix back in May, and since then the site's been updated to present more data on how well you utilize your Netflix membership. By pasting in any of your private Netflix RSS feeds, you'll see a breakdown of your activity stats, like how long on average you keep titles and your average cost-per-rental. A handy new feature is the "email alerts" function, where you'll receive a weekly reminder if you've kept a title past a certain number of days. We've included a screenshot below. More »

    11:51 AM on Fri Oct 10 2008
    By Chris Walters
    7,913 views, 42 comments

    Most discussed Thanatos: I used to have movies 1 day at most and had unlimited 3 at a time plan after i got more »

  • getting out of debt

    5 Expenses To Cut Right Now If You're In Debt

    Let's say that like so many storied former-investment-banking-giants, you, the average consumer, have found yourself over-leveraged (wink, wink) and are looking to clean up your act before the whole thing falls down around you like the house of cards it is. Well, since you can't increase revenue at will, you'll have to decrease your costs. Where should you start? Here are 5 expenses that you can cut right now — so you can take the extra cash and throw it at your debt. More »

    Feature

    2:19 PM on Thu Oct 9 2008
    By Meg Marco
    58,983 views, 60 comments

    Most discussed Quatre707: If I cancel my cell phone, cable TV, Internet service, gym membership, and stop eating out... I may as well more »

  • 12 Signs You're Addicted To Debt

    The headlines are screaming that America is more addicted to debt than crack. Then there are people out there who actually have a psycophysical need to spend spend spend. Are you one of them? Is your partner or friend? These are the 12 warning signs to watch out for... More »

    12:49 PM on Wed Oct 8 2008
    By Ben Popken
    16,449 views, 38 comments

    Most discussed JackAshley: I meet most of those criteria, but I'm a student who's getting married in 8 months and graduating in 3 more »

  • hotel bills

    Don't Even Look At Your Hotel Room's Minibar Or You Might Get Charged

    Gregg emailed us from the Westin Hotel in San Francisco:

    My wife and I are there right now. We opened the minibar last night to put a piece of pizza in there in a pizza box. This morning, there’s a $26.04 charge for food on the bill slid under our door. Why? My wife just called to ask and was told, "If you open the mini bar door, there’s a sensor in there and if you move anything in there... you get billed for it." In our case, we must have jiggled a $20 bottle of wine.

    More »

    6:18 PM on Tue Oct 7 2008
    By Chris Walters
    28,521 views, 134 comments

    Most discussed mkguitar: This happens all the time. 1.) do not be afraid to ask the hotel to inventory the contents at check in. more »

  • personal finance

    On The Money's Budget Calculator Helps Guide Your Monthly Spending

    On The Money's budget calculator makes it easy to determine how much you should be spending across the seven categories that make up any responsible budget. Regardless of income, tracking and limiting your overall spending is a foolproof strategy for keeping your accounts in the black. Though the percents will vary according to geography and personal situation, On The Money's calculator gives you a quick glance at concrete spending targets that you can compare against your credit card bills and bank statements. Give it a try and tell us in the comments what other tools you use to control your spending.

    Budget Calculator [CNBC]

    5:30 PM on Sun Oct 5 2008
    By Carey
    18,738 views, 49 comments

    Most discussed homerjay- Smiling politely: This is worthless. There are so many variables in peoples lives that you simply can't say "You should be paying more »