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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]
Class Actions
Cellphone Extras Aggregator Mobile Messenger Agrees To Pay Out Triple Damages
If you or your teen racked up surprise monthly fees from Mobile Messenger after texting a random code to a strange number because the tv told you to, then you may be eligible for a refund, if not triple damages. More »
Time Warner Cable
Make Time Warner Pay For Shoddy Service By Demanding Free Premium Channels
According to a tipster, Time Warner Cable resets their complaint list every three months, allowing users with shoddy service to continually request perks like free premium channels year-round without reprisal. More »
Judge's Orders
Not So Fast: Judge Blocks Wachovia Sale To Wells Fargo, Citibank Rejoices
Tsk tsk, Wells Fargo. You should've known that stealing Citibank's unspoiled bride at the alter was going to draw a bitter legal challenge. Late last night, Citibank's team of repo-lawyers claimed a partial victory, announcing that a New York judge has agreed to block Wachovia's sale. Citibank is also demanding $60 billion from Wells Fargo for interfering with the deal. More »
Hackers
GMail's Achilles Heel: Terrible Customer Service
Losing access to your GMail account is tantamount to banishment from the internet, but Google's non-existent customer support makes it nearly impossible for rightful owners to regain control of their accounts. The New York Times asked Google why they couldn't afford to offer phone-based customer support, a simple question Google needed three people to answer. More »
New York Philharmonic
MyPhil Lets New Yorkers 35 And Under Build Affordable Concert Subscriptions
MyPhil from the New York Philharmonic lets anyone 35 or younger build their own concert series for $29 per ticket. Nearly every Philharmonic concert is eligible for purchase, and the cheap tickets don't land you in the cheap seats. More »
In Brief
Cost To Drive Calculates Per-Trip and Car Fuel Costs
FROM LIFEHACKER.COM: Handy webapp Cost To Drive estimates how much gas you'll have to buy to make a given trip in your vehicle. Enter your starting point and destination, then the year of your car, make, and model, and Cost to Drive uses your car's MPG, the average price of gas, and the distance to estimate the fuel c... More »
Class actions
Apple Offers Cash To Powerbook, iBook Owners With Defective Power Adapters
Apple has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit prompted by PowerBook and iBook power adapters that could fray, break, or dazzle the eyes with spectacular bursts of dangerous sparks. Anyone whose power adapter failed within three years of purchase and then bought a replacement adapter is a part of the settlement. More »
KitchenAid
This !@#$% KitchenAid Refrigerator Won't Stop !@$% Beeping!
Beep... Beep... Beep... That's all Robin's new KitchenAid fridge does. For the past two months, nothing but !@#$ beeping. Sears claims that they replaced every circuit board in the fridge, and that Robin's only choice is to wait another beeping month for a replacement unit. Think that might drive you a little crazy? Try reading Robin's letter... More »
Rebates
Don't Assume That Rebate Will Be Redeemable For Cash
Companies love rebates because they are difficult to redeem and easy to forget. But you clever shoppers are getting too good at their game, so instead of paying out your rebate in cash, you'll get something different altogether. Take, for example, Buy.com's supposed "$26 mail in rebate..." More »
Innovis
Don't Ignore The Fourth Credit Reporting Agency: Innovis
Did you know there are more than three credit reporting agencies? Sure, you've heard of Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion, but what about Innovis? Smaller agencies can do just as much damage to your ability to get a good deal on credit as their bigger brethren. Learn how to pull your credit report from Innovis, inside. More »
royal Caribbean
Royal Caribbean Levies $14.95 Steak Surcharge
Do you like flying? Well then you're going to love cruising with Royal Caribbean! The cruise line recently announced plans to charge customers who order steak in the main dining room a $14.95 surcharge. More »
I should be on On The Money again tonight, CNBC, 8pm eastern. Turn on, tune in, drop out.
PSAs
Consumerist Forced To Cut Staff
This is the one internal memo I'm unhappy about leaking: In light of the recession, Consumerist will have to say goodbye to two writers. You've got two weeks to enjoy the excellent work and writings of Carey Greenberg-Berger and Chris Walters. Our owner, Gawker Media Network, is forcing me to make these very painful cuts. This means it will just be myself and Meghann posting during the week. Not sure what to do about the weekends, maybe we'll just post some raw reader letters. It's very sad. Carey has been with us for two years, Chris has been with us for a year. They've completely killed during their time, and I'm proud to have worked by their side. The site won't be the same without them. Any smart publisher would be lucky to hire them now that they're on the open market. You can read the full text of our boss's email announcement, inside. More »
Fail
7 Stupid Online Security Mistakes You're Probably Making
A new study National Cyber Security Alliance says that you're probably making one of these 7 stupid mistakes when it comes to your own online security. The study shows that when Symantec, polled 3,000 online users and scanned the computers of 400 of them, 81 percent of respondents said they were using a firewall, but only 42 percent indeed had a firewall installed on their computer. Whoops. More »
Toyota
Toyota: Bad Economy, Bad Car Sales, Cheap Financing
Toyota, long resistant to the sort of interest-free financing deals that their domestic counterparts survive on, is offering 0% interest financing on 11 of their vehicles, including Corolla and Camry, the Tundra full-size pickup truck, Matrix; RAV4, Highlander, FJ Cruiser, 4Runner and Sequoia SUVs; Sienna minivan; and Tacoma pickup truck. More »
Money meltdown
