A few years ago, I signed up for Bank of America's "Keep the Change" program. With Keep the Change, every charge to your debit card is rounded up to the nearest dollar, and the difference is automatically deposited in your savings account. The idea is that you save a small amount with each purchase without even thinking about it, which gradually adds up over time.

So far, so good. However, somewhere along the line, Bank of America started charging a $5 monthly maintenance fee on the account. I was never formally notified of this additional fee, and so I didn't even realize it until I noticed one month that my savings account balance had gone DOWN instead of up. It turns out that I wasn't even accruing $5 worth of change per month, so I was losing more money due to the maintenance fee than I was saving via Keep the Change!

I called Bank of America and they explained that I could avoid the maintenance fee either by making a minimum deposit of $25 into the account each month, or by maintaining a minimum balance of $300 (I had $250). Of course, these terms aren't detailed anywhere on their website (at least not that I could find); Keep the Change is described as a "free service," and the only stipulation is that your savings account has an initial $25 balance.

In summary, if you prop up your savings account by depositing more money into it than you'll ever realistically save with Keep the Change, you'll avoid the fees - but then you might as well not even bother with the program in the first place. And if you don't, you'll never even reach the $300 balance on a new account as the maintenance fee could well end up costing you more than what you're saving!

The easy solution: find out what you need to do to avoid maintenance fees on your savings account, and if you agree to the requirements, follow them every month.

In this case, scheduling a $25 transfer from checking to savings every month would suffice, but James never intended to use the service in that manner. Not every bank product is designed to eat up your money, but if you're not careful you can get hit with unnecessary fees, so always take the time to look for ways the bank can charge you and then make sure you're willing to do the opposite—or walk away from the offer.

Update: I failed to address James' real issue, which is that he says BofA never told him about the fee. If your bank institutes a new monthly fee and doesn't tell you about it, contact them and request a refund. If they refuse, tell them you plan on reporting them to the appropriate agencies, and then follow up on that threat. (You might also want to move your business elsewhere just on principal.) Banks do make mistakes whether they like to admit it or not, especially when they're "too big to fail" and running themselves ragged trying to find new ways to generate revenue.

(Photo: Nieve44/La Luz)

— FREE MONEY FINANCE (Photo: kevindean)

Intended as a safety net, the hefty cya later pay packages can however seduce ex-employees into thinking that they can continue to spend like everything is hunky-dory—until the reckoning comes.

Commenter Coles_Law put it best:

"Mr. Joegriner, 44 years old, has had several offers. He's turned each down in hopes of landing a position comparable to what he held before."

+

".By Mr. Joegriner's own calculations, the family will be out of money in six months if he doesn't find work."

= *head explodes*

Life on Severance: Comfort, Then Crisis [WSJ] (Photo: JoshuaDavisPhotography.COM)

Penny-pinching Citibank will put the squeeze on small-fry customers, charging them up to $90 a year by demanding a fee every time their average monthly checking account balance sinks below $1,500.

Starting in February, Citibank will no longer automatically waive its $7.50 monthly fee for its "EZ" and "Access" checking-account holders who make either a direct deposit, or two bill payments online monthly.

A management consultant told the Post that if customers stay with Citibank even after they implement the new fee rule, it will send a signal to other banks that they can do the same with low-balance checking account customers. Hmm, maybe it's time to start looking around for a good credit union?

"Really Citi treatment" [New York Post] (Thanks to Kearas!)
(Photo: Mike McCaffrey)

Basically what you do is send back a professional letter to the address on your denial. State your case, and why you're a good credit risk. Point out the specific factors in your credit history that show you are a good debtor. This is what Frugal Travel Guy's letter looked like:

To: Blah Blah Blah

RE: Credit Card Reconsideration Request

To Whom it May Concern:

I was surprised to receive an online denial of my recent SPG Amex card application reference # 123456987654.

I am asking you to reconsider your decision based on the following facts:

My wife and I are both employed full time as professionals and have an annual income in excess of $___________.

Although our past credit is limited, you can see from our credit report, we have never missed a payment or been late. I know, as I checked my credit score just before applying for your card to insure it's accuracy. I note the current credit score is 745 which is better than over 55% of the public and is considered good credit by the credit reporting agency.

We are not heavy users of credit and never plan to be, but have heard from many sources that your card is the best rewards card on the market today, and we believe we are responsible credit risks and deserve a chance with your card.

We do not need a large credit limit and would be happy with a small credit line at first to prove to you our reliability.

Although I am not including our most recent paystubs, I can send them to you if you need them.

I look forward to your reconsideration and receipt of my new Starwood Preferred Guest Amex card.

Respectfully

Josh Xxxxxxx

And it worked, his son was approved after they got this letter.

Have you ever tried a reconsideration letter? How did it go?

I'm Proud of Me Today a Successful Reconsideration Letter [Frugal Travel Guy] (Photo: the prodigal untitled13)

A new study says yes.

American researchers conducting a study overseas teamed up with banks to send text messages to consumers to remind them to save. There was a 16% increase in savings account balances by the cohort that got messages pointing out how the bank offered specific incentives for consistent deposits.

However, the messages that pointed out the bad things that could happen if you don't save money did not affect the amount of money saved.

This could be a good strategy for US banks looking to shore up deposits (provided the service was opt-in, of course). Another idea is that you could program some self-help messages, personal finance or otherwise, into some kind of automated online text message service to help you reach your goals. I would probably use the calendar function on my phone because it pushes meeting reminders to the front of my phone.

What messages would you send yourself? What service would you use to do it?

Text Messages: Bad 4 Grmr, Good for Savings [WSJ via Consumer Reports Money Blog] (Photo: sfxeric)

9. There are very few aspects of your life that cannot be changed.
8. Karma always comes around.
7. The more time you spend improving and educating yourself, the better your personal and financial life will be.
6. Blaming others for your problems is a dead-end road.
5. The fewer unsupportive people you have in your life, the better off you are.
4. The more supportive people you have in your life, the better off you are.
3. The most valuable resource in the world isn't money, it's time.
2. The second most important part of personal finance is setting clear, concrete goals.
1. The single most important part of personal finance is truly knowing yourself.

Pretty meta, but once you think about it, it's our choices and behaviors and lifestyle that have the biggest impact on our bank account, rather than getting the one with the best APR or being the super-best at using online coupons.

Do you agree with this list? Is there anything you would add or take away?

The Ten Most Important Things I've Learned About Money and Life Since Starting The Simple Dollar [The Simple Dollar] (Photo: sawyer87)

"Extended Unemployment Benefits: F.A.Q." [New York Times]
(Photo: Kapungo and laurenatclemson)

Once the vet joins, their spouse and children are eligible for membership as well.

Here's the official word on who can join now:

Military personnel

* All current members of the U.S. Armed Forces, active duty, Guard and reserve, as well as those who retired or honorably separated in the past, regardless of dates or branch of service (Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard).
* Cadets, midshipmen, and officer or warrant officer candidates in government-sponsored programs leading to a commission.

Family members

* Adult children, widow(er)s, and un-remarried former spouses of USAA members.
* Widow(er)s of officer and enlisted personnel who were killed in action while eligible.

USAA wins rave reviews because of it's awesome customer service and because they don't try to rip people off. Also, they let you deposit checks by taking a picture with your iPhone or scanning and uploading them.

Even if you don't qualify based on the above, you can still take advantage of USAA's basic checking and savings services.

[Press Release] (Photo: hectorir) (Thanks to Chad!)

What you're doing is actually settling the debt for less than you owe. As such, the lender will probably report the debt as "settled" rather than paid. Often it's more important to get the debt off your back than to maintain a pristine credit score, but you should just be aware you might incur a ding. But don't let that stop you from getting debt-free if that's what it takes!

Negotiating reduced payments can hurt credit scores [Ask Max] (Photo: Colin Tobin)

Boost your 401k contributions
Make the most of your flexible spending account
Buy a house
Buy a car
Sell losing investments
Maximize your tax credits and deductions
Pay college bills
Give to a charity
Max out tax breaks for the self-employed
Keep track of medical expenses

Ok, we didn't say they were ten good suggestions. Anytime you have to spend a few hundred thousand dollars (like to buy a house) to get an $8,000 tax credit, it's probably not a good deal. Then again, if it's a question of buying now or a few weeks from now, get a move on and save yourself eight grand!

To give them credit, there are several that make good sense — many people can benefit from boosting their 401k contributions, making the most of flexible spending accounts, selling losing investments (anyone out there have any?), and giving to a charity. Pretty basic ideas, but if nothing else, this piece reminds us that the year is ending soon and any appropriate tax-reducing measures we want to take need to happen quickly.

10 ways to lower your 2009 taxes now [MSN Money]

— FREE MONEY FINANCE (Photo: The Consumerist)

Mint founder Aaron Patzer, who is now the new vice president and general manager of Intuit's Personal Finance Group, told TechCrunch, "Over the next 6 to 9 months we will end-of-life Quicken Online and their customer's data will be migrated over to Mint." Patzer also talked a little about what Mint might look like in the future, as Intuit weaves products like Turbo Tax into the service:

Patzer has other ideas for connecting Mint and TurboTax as well: "What I want to do is to take your stock transactions and everything you've tagged in Mint as a medical expense or business expense and push that over to see if you should itemize deductions. If we pull in your 1099s and deductions, we have done half your taxes for you. We could reduce the time it takes you to do your taxes to 20 minutes or less."

"Mint's Aaron Patzer: "We Will End-Of-Life Quicken Online" In Six to Nine Months" [TechCrunch]

Why would they do such a thing? Not just for the sake of greed. It's because of their "buy one Blackberry, get one free" promotion for the holidays. WIthout the ETF hike, this could have led to an exciting new way to subsidize your purchase of a sexy new Tour: get another Blackberry of any type on the second line, cancel it, eat the $175 ETF, sell it on eBay and profit from the difference. Instead, there's now a $350 ETF, which will decrease by $10 for every month that the phone is activated.

Confirmed: Verizon Wireless to charge up to $350 early termination on "advanced devices" [Boy Genius Report] (Thanks, GitEmSteveDave!)

(Photo: Honou)

— FREE MONEY FINANCE (Photo: EricGjerde)

Everett wrote in how Capital One called him up and said, "due to the changes made by [the Card Act], Capital One would have to deny any charges that goes over your credit limit starting in February of 2010. However if you want to maintain the ability to go over your credit limit you could opt to have your account stay the same as it is now. Your fee for going over your credit limit would be dropped to $29 (from $39) if you chose to do this."

What's up is that the new CARD act says that if you're going to charge overlimit fees, customers have to opt-in to it. Most credit card companies have chosen instead to drop overlimit fees entirely. Capital One is actually trying to get permission here, they're just misleading in saying that they have to "deny any charges that go over your credit limit starting February 2010. In reality, after Feb 10. Capital One has to stop charging this consumer fees for any overlimit transactions.

So you're not giving up all your rights, you're opting in to overlimit fees. I'm sure there's some subset of the population that enjoys paying fees, so I commend Capital One for developing a product line that addresses their needs.

PREVIOUSLY: Capital One: Waive Your Rights, Get $10 Off Your Next Overlimit Fee!

Their reasoning is simple: if you have an easy way to constantly jot down notes on things like prices or items you want to buy, you'll have higher quality information to make purchasing decisions. Some uses from The Simple Dollar:

• Write down sale prices so you can research their true value.
• Do warehouse price club comparisons.
• Write down recipes or other food ideas.
• Make a simple price book that focuses on the staples. (Real price books require a near-obsessive level of dedication, so I like this idea best of all.)
• Record great gift ideas.
• Keep a master list of "preferred brands" and their average prices.

Lifehacker's Jason Fitzpatrick noted that recording gift ideas lets him come up with great gifts cheaply:

A perfect example of this in action: I was having dinner with a friend some months ago. When the wine was decanted, the particular funnel that the sommelier used caught my friend's eye-it was quite an interesting one. When we were leaving the restaurant I quickly scribbled a few notes about the style of the funnel. A little Google-fu later and I found that it wasn't a particularly pricey item, but it would be much appreciated by my friend and show that I notice things that matter to him.

The problem, of course, is determining which "easy way to constantly jot down notes" works for you. The Simple Dollar recommends a pocket-sized reporter's notebook, which you can buy at any drugstore for around $1. One of the readers over there suggests you avoid clutter in your notebook by keeping temporary items on a removable page:

I keep a loose page in my journal for the "To Do" and "Shopping" lists. I can move that page along the current page so it's easily found, and cleanly remove it when completed.

Lifehacker takes the hardcore (and expensive) Getting Things Done route by suggesting a "notetaker wallet" that carries cards.

Using your phone may be more convenient for some people, and it also gives you the flexibility of snapping photos. It can also be a lot slower to use if you don't have a good note-taking solution. Evernote is a good free option, and it's available for everything but the Android platform (although they're working on that, and in the meantime you can use their mobile site).

"14 Ways a Notebook in Your Pocket Can Save You Money" [The Simple Dollar via Lifehacker]
(Photo: theilr)

"8 Signs You Should Not Buy a House" may be a tough list to absorb if you've been turning a blind eye to immediate financial issues like credit card debt and savings accounts, but following this advice will put you in a much safer position for a new home. Once you've made sure it's the right time to buy, "8 Home Buying Blunders" has some tips that should help protect you from unanticipated problems at closing or after you've moved in.

"8 Signs You Should Not Buy a House" [Morningstar]
"8 Home Buying Blunders" [Morningstar]
(Photo: Smath.)

# Bought and converted into high-yield bonds tens of thousands of mortgages from subprime lenders that became the subjects of FBI investigations into whether they'd misled borrowers or exaggerated applicants' incomes to justify making hefty loans.

# Used offshore tax havens to shuffle its mortgage-backed securities to institutions worldwide, including European and Asian banks, often in secret deals run through the Cayman Islands, a British territory in the Caribbean that companies use to bypass U.S. disclosure requirements.

# Has dispatched lawyers across the country to repossess homes from bankrupt or financially struggling individuals, many of whom lacked sufficient credit or income but got subprime mortgages anyway because Wall Street made it easy for them to qualify.

# Was buoyed last fall by key federal bailout decisions, at least two of which involved then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, a former Goldman chief executive whose staff at Treasury included several other Goldman alumni.

Whether this really constitutes fraud depends on who knew what, and when did they know it.

How Goldman secretly bet on the U.S. housing crash [McClatchy] (Photo: C. Barr)

All-Hallow's is when the spirits come out, and come out they did; In the largest banking failure since WaMu, massive commercial lender CIT filed for bankruptcy. 9 US banks were also seized on Friday, bringing the number of banks that failed in 2009 to 115.

I know, I know, but you just need to be patient America. Exorcism is a process.

Nine U.S. banks seized in largest one-day haul [Reuters]
CIT Group Files Bankruptcy, Seeks to Reduce Debt [Bloomberg]
(Photo: peasap)

Everett writes:

The person on the other end of the phone informed me, "due to the changes made by [the Card Act], Capital One would have to deny any charges that goes over your credit limit starting in February of 2010. However if you want to maintain the ability to go over your credit limit you could opt to have your account stay the same as it is now. Your fee for going over your credit limit would be dropped to $29 (from $39) if you chose to do this." I find it interesting that I can waive federal law applying to my credit card account for a potential savings of ten dollars. Comparing that to everything I'd lose out on, I decided to "opt in" for the law to apply to me.

I was also told I could "change my mind at any point, and give Capital One a call to let them know."

Actually, this is brilliant. Some people don't need the government telling them they can't live outside their means and they should be able to claim a discount for being a more profitable credit card customer.

I am curious whether "have your account stay the same as it is now" means that you would opt out of ALL of the CARD act provisions, or whether it's just the overlimit fee part.

UPDATE: Turns out that this is just about getting people to opt-in to overlimit fees: Update: Capital One: Waive Your Rights, Get $10 Off Your Next Overlimit Fee!

(Photo: helgasms!)

Some airlines are adding on credit card transaction fees at the time of ticket purchase that far exceed their actual cost, and are only disclosed at the very last stage of the purchase process. Spirit charges $4.90 for the favor of running your plastic, and Allegiant charges $14. With American Airline's laser eye on the bottom line and US Airways trying to do everything Spirit does, might this become the latest fee fad for the struggling airline industry? Christopher Elliot thinks so.

(Thanks to Rebecca!) (Photo: Cranky Media Guy)

Fees like:
$1.75 for each ATM withdrawal
$1 for each ATM balance inquiry
$.50 for each purchase
$4 monthly maintenance charge


Prepaid debit cards are a way for people who can't or won't get a banking account to do ATM withdrawals, make purchases online and to buy stuff without carrying cash around. But the hidden fees and sparse regulation can mean the unbanked get jacked once again.

The real cost of prepaid debit cards [FST] (Graphic by GDS Digital)

TD Bank says Chase has it. Chase says TD has it. Oopsies!

Greg and Dmitry write:

Dear Consumerist,

We've been having a real nightmare with TD Bank in the past week, not to even mention the basic delays we've experienced since late September. We don't know what to do.

We are a small web design company. We don't have thousands and thousands of dollars in the bank. But we work hard and expect our money to be protected.

We wrote a check to one of our employees on October 12th. He deposited it on October 13th. On October 14th he received a letter from his bank (Chase) saying that the money was being held. He can see the money in his account, but cannot access. The $1800 has left our account.

We've called our bank (TD Bank) to see where the money is, they tell us Chase has the money. Our employee calls his bank, they tell him TD Bank has the money. We've spent hours on the phone talking to employees who can't seem to think of anything besides what's displayed on their computer screen.

The banks won't talk to each other because Chase will only talk to the account holder, and they refuse to do a 4 way call to get us all on the line.

Yesterday, my business partner and I went into our branch to find out there was a 2 hour line to speak to someone. We had to leave.

Today we came back and noticed there was no line. Why wasn't there a line? Because the computer system is down.

We then noticed that the LCD screens displaying promos for the bank had an interesting error in the middle of the screen. Their Norton AntiVirus subscription had expired

This is all so frustrating. We don't know what to do. We want to close our account with TD Bank, but feel we can't because then they really won't help us retrieve our lost funds.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
Greg & Dmitry

Is this yet more fallout from the TD Bank and Commerce Bank data merger leaving massive amounts of transaction backed up? Or something else? The last reader we posted about a href="http://consumerist.com/5382687/td-bank-mans-100000-misplaced">had $100,000 in limbo, and it took him walking into the bank and mentioning how he was thinking about filing a police report to clear things up.

Though banks are within their rights to place holds on the funds, and can take up to 11 days (this email was sent to us on the 11th day after the check was cashed), simply saying "the other guy has it" is not a valid explanation.

Are there no words in the Canadian language for "customer service?"

RELATED: TD Bank: Man's $100,000 Misplaced

(Photo: Sister72)

From: Kelsey
Date: Mon, Oct 19, 2009 at 3:05 PM
Subject: Two important consumer issues
To: colleen.haggerty@bankofamerica.com, britney.w.sheehan@bankofamerica.com, nicole.nastacie@bankofamerica.com, joe.price@bankofamerica.com, keith.banks@bankofamerica.com, michael.jones@bankofamerica.com, brian.t.moynihan@bankofamerica.com, steele.alphin@bankofamerica.com, maryellen.baker@bankofamerica.com

Good afternoon,

My name is Kelsey. I have been a loyal B of A customer for years. I'm enrolled in Keep the Change, have two credit cards with BofA, and have my first savings account (I've been with BofA since college) and a checking account. I have recommended BofA to my boyfriend and my roommate, both of whom have switched and also enjoy keep the change and the Add it Up program. The online banking setup is superb, and your ATMs are everywhere...hard not to like BofA. However, in the past few weeks, there have been a few instances making me question my relationship with the bank:

/snip/

Recently, I left town for my grandfather's 90th birthday. My rent check cleared a few days before, but apparently the first purchase I made once I was in Connecticut overdrafted my account. Mea culpa. I was out of town and not checking my account balance, but was still, as mentioned before, under the impression that I was covered by overdraft protection. Apparently this was not the case. I got paid in the interim so the paycheck corrected the overdraft. I log in to find that there is a significant amount of money missing. I look at the statement. Eleven overdraft fees; one for each time I used my debit card while I was out of town or once I got back and needed to buy groceries. That's a total of $385. I was told on the phone that I could be refunded $140 as a courtesy, but since I believed I was enrolled in overdraft protection I don't really see how that is a courtesy.

I told the customer service woman I spoke with (who to her credit was very nice despite my tears/frustration) that I thought I was enrolled in overdraft protection. She told me several things: First, that if I were enrolled, it would say that on my statement. How do I look for something on my statement that I have never seen on another one of my statements and don't know to look for? Second, she told me that since I had overdrawn recently, and didn't say anything about overdraft protection at the time, she really couldn't believe my claim that I requested it when I opened the account. I'm sorry, but this seems ridiculous to me. One fee is easy for me to overlook, slap myself on the wrist and move on...11 is off-the-charts and warranted an immediate call to customer service. I have no recourse here: it's my word against your computer system, which "has no notation" that I requested overdraft protection. How am I supposed to prove that, when the person I asked to set me up with it undoubtedly doesn't even work at that branch anymore? Basically, what she is telling me is that because someone messed up on B of A's end four years ago, I am out $245.

I'm a reasonable person, and I can admit a mistake, but 11 fees is something I cannot afford. With the $245 that has still been deducted, I could pay off half of my Komen Visa balance (a card I gladly and PURPOSEFULLY opened with B of A), but these two events have me contemplating moving my money elsewhere. I may not have millions in the bank, but I think that my loyalty, especially during some of these more trying times, should count for something.

Best,

Kelsey

Two hours later, Kelsey got a call from someone who said she would investigate the checking account complaint. Two days later, all the overdrafts fees were refunded.

"Although at the time I believed it was 11 overdraft fees total, it was actually 15, totaling $525 of my hard-earned money...The woman from the executive office thanked me for reaching out, and being polite and proactive, and told me that by looking at my accounts she could tell this was a one-time thing and that I am a responsible banking customer," writes Kelsey.

"I never expected that response, especially from BofA, but plus one to Consumerist for teaching us all that a level head and a fair request can help the consumer come out on top."

He writes:

I recently signed up for a year subscription of Men's Health magazine. I sent in the subscription card, and got an e-mail back saying I could either pay online via credit card or pay with a check sent via snail mail. Being wary of them re-charging my card at the end of the subscription and unwillingly signing me up for another year, I decided to pay by check.

However, looking at my bank's online account today, I've noticed that instead of cashing my check, Men's Health took my account number and routing number off of the check and used it to charge my account $12.

Is this a common practice? Should I be worried? And, doesn't this set me up for the exact thing I tried to avoid? With the payment set up like this, won't Men's Health be able to charge me for any subscription plan in the future, making me have to call and cancel it if I want it to stop?

Probably not. "Electronic check conversion" is a legit way to process checks, and in fact some stores now do this at the register when you pay by check—they'll process the check in front of you, then hand it back along with your receipt.

The Federal Reserve has published a handy guide explaining in detail how electronic check conversion works. Some things to note:

• The business has to tell you ahead of time that it plans on doing this (when you're mailing in a check, there must be a notice somewhere on the bill saying that the company plans to process it electronically);
• The business has to disclose any fees up front, for example a virtual "bounced check" fee if the check doesn't go through;
• The business doesn't have to provide an opt-out, which means if you don't want the check processed in the way they disclose, you'll have to find another way to pay; and
• Each check can only be processed for one transaction, so a check can't be used to set up a recurring payment agreement.

That last item should guarantee that Men's Health won't automatically charge you again in a year, Dylan. To be safe, you may want to log in to your subscriber account once the subscription is active, and verify that any auto-renewal setting is turned off.

"When Is Your Check Not a Check? Electronic Check Conversion" [Federal Reserve]
(Photo: heidielliott)

You don't e ven have to be logged in to Amazon, or any other site that uses it. Best of all, it's not PayPal. It's linked to your credit card so if something goes wrong with your transaction, you actually have a prayer of getting your money back. And it's also linked to your shipping address so you don't have to keep entering it in at all these different sites.

A possible solution for making it easier to buying stuff on your mobile.

Would you use PayPhrase? Do you think it's safe?

PayPhrase [Amazon]
Amazon Speeds Checkout with New PayPhrase Technology [Read Write Web]

The biggest advantage is that whether you currently own a home or are renting an apartment, you can get far more bang for your buck with a mobile home. Single wide mobile homes (even ones of recent manufacture) can often be had for under $10,000 used, in a mobile home park.

You'll also be building equity in something you can re-sell, and—if you find a good neighborhood—mobile home parks tend to have low car traffic, meaning your kids can have more freedom outside.

As for the biggest disadvantage: oh look, a tornado.

It's not really true that tornadoes are attracted to mobile home parks, but it is true that when a tornado his a manufactured home community it generally leaves a real mess, and what that attracts is news crews and their cameras.

"The affordable housing option you may have never considered – but perhaps should"
(Photo: mattza)

Sinegal told the Seattle Times that once they got the software in place in their trial-run stores in NYC, "it became relatively easy to roll out the program nationally."

The company says at least half of the 410 US stores will start accepting the food stamps by Thanksgiving, and that they're focusing on getting stores in economically hard-hit areas, like Michigan and the central valley of California, up and running first.

"Costco plans to accept food stamps nationally" [The Seattle Times]
(Photo: David McKelvey)

— FREE MONEY FINANCE (Photo: fallenposters)

Why are so many states going after debt relief companies? Because they insert themselves between consumers and creditors and suck up the money earmarked for creditors by promising that they're going to renegotiate payments—and then they don't keep that promise.

According to a lawsuit by the Illinois Attorney General, Credit Solutions of America does just that; it "continually fails to negotiate with consumers' creditors even though consumers cease to pay their creditors directly and, instead, make months of upfront payments to CSA."

So now the AGs are asking the FTC to tighten telemarketing rules, like prohibiting them from collecting fees before rendering services.

"In an ever-building wave of ploys and scams on consumers, debt settlement and debt negotiation companies promise to help consumers eliminate or reduce their debts, but often fail to deliver on these promises," said Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray. "Tougher regulations will help to rein in some of the most deceptive and unfair practices in this industry."

"States Want Coordinated Crackdown On Debt Relief Firms" [Consumer Affairs]

(Click to embiggen)

Sure home sales have picked up the past few months, but is it sustainable, or mainly people trying to get in before the new homebuyer tax credit expires in November?

One disturbing indicator of how the mortgage market is still messed up: The 7-month program to refinance underwater homes has only reached 3% of eligible borrowers.

And even after refinancing, some of these homeowners still owe more than their house is worth, as banks refuse to refi at the real market price for fear of realizing the loss on their books. Some of those who re-fied are already in foreclosure.

Consumers are more stressed than ever to make their mortgage payments. With hundreds of thousands of Option-ARM mortgages resetting this month, high unemployment, strapped bank accounts and cut credit lines, the housing crisis is far from over.

US foreclosures' flurry of activity [USFST]
(Big Graphic: GDS Digital)
PREVIOUSLY: Newsflash: The Next Tsunami Of Aggressively Irresponsible Loans Didn't Magically Disappear
Monthly Mortgage Rate Resets, 2007-2016

1. THERMAL CURTAINS: They keep a room a couple of degrees warmer in cool weather and a couple of degrees cooler in warm weather. Much faster and cheaper than replacing windows, even with the tax credits available.

2. REVERSE CEILING FAN ROTATION

3. TAPING WINDOWS: We used the double sided tape on the mesh screen itself as it comes out. When it was taped we then used the plastic shrink wrap on both sides and then used the hair dryer to shrink it. The upside is that we had a quick way to install and remove the plastic. We then taped around the edges of the screen itself in the window and the whole thing took about 10 minutes a window and cut down on almost all of the air flow.

4. OR USE CLEAR VINYL: Go to Home Depot or Lowes, and buy heavy gauge clear vinyl in 4 foot wide rolls. They keep it with the other insulation stuff like weatherstripping (and the shrink kits).

Then go online and look for "gaffers tape" which is a cloth-based tape that has an adhesive that holds like iron but removes later without leaving gummy residue. Like duct tape but without the crap it leaves behind when it dries out. You can get it in various widths and colors; I prefer to use 2" wide in white to match my paint (Amazon sells the ProGaff brand). Cut the vinyl to fit onto your window frames, and seal it to the window frame with the gaffers tape. Use small pieces at first on the corners and the mid points of the long edges to get it stretched tight, then seal all the way around with longer continuous strips to make a pretty airtight seal. No heating or shrinking required.

In the spring, heat up the tape with a hair dryer first and peel it off slowly. It should come off totally clean. If you're careful you can probably fold up the clear vinyl and use it again the next season. It's pretty rugged, and most cats and dogs would have a hard time tearing it.

5. FOAM STRIPS ON DOORS: On the outside door itself we installed the foam strip around the border of the door itself on the frame. This cut down the air flow a lot and the door itself does not get caught up on this as it is on the frame and not the door.

6. FLAPS ON DRYER VENTS: If you have a dryer that has an exterior vent look at getting a vent flap that opens when you are using the dryer and closes when it is not in use. That also cuts down on the cold air getting into the place a bit (not totally, but, every bit helps).

7. PLUG HOLES WITH TOOTHPASTE: One recommendation I got (from a contractor) was use toothpaste to plug holes (ala caulk)...obviously don't use the crazy stuff with the stripes or it'll look stupid.

8. ELECTRIC RADIATORS: We turn the gas heat all the way down to 50, then use electric radiators in the bedrooms to keep it around 68. Saves us about between $50 and $150 per month net during the winter on the gas bill vs. the slightly higher electric bill. Gotta love off-peak electricity pricing... Very important to note you don't want to set the thermostat too low as burst pipes will cost more than the heat bill.

9. CLOSE THE VENTS

10. COVER THE VENTS

11. SEAL THE BASEMENT STORM CELLAR DOOR: I put plastic over the basement storm cellar door. That will keep the cold from invading the house there.

12. REPLACE INSULATING TAPE AROUND ATTIC HATCH

13. PUT DRAFT-DODGERS AT DOORS TO ROOMS THAT REMAIN MOSTLY CLOSED

14. HANG CURTAINS

15. PUT RUGS ON TILES

16. DRAIN AND PUT AWAY HOSE

17. CHECK HOSE INSULATION

18. LAP BLANKETS FOR LIVING ROOM

19. HEAVY BLANKETS FOR BEDROOM

20. BUST OUT THE SWEATERS

21. DO THE ELECTRIC BLANKET: I realized a very nice savings when I installed it and bought an electric blanket. The temp setting drops to the lowest (60) at 8:00 p.m. and stays there till 6:00 am where it goes up to 71. At 71 I am chilly and my wife is hot so it is a compromise. I figured the savings for the first full heating season at around $600. All that for not keeping the house warm while we are asleep.

22. PROGRAMMABLE THERMOSTAT: Honeywell programmable t-stats FTW. Instead of just doing a 1-2 degree over/under, they target a certain number of cycles per hour, and then change the duration of the cycles to keep the house comfy. Also, the setpoint times are done by getting your house TO the setpoint by the time you select, as opposed to turning on the system at the same time every day. This makes it better able to deal with the differing heating demands of 40-degree days vs. 0-degree days.

Some local utilities will give away programmable thermostats for free.

23. ZERO-DEGREE SLEEPING BAG: Buy a zero degree sleeping bag and turn the heater down loooooooooow. Oh yea. I'm cheap.

24. DON'T TURN HEAT COMPLETELY OFF: If you are not going to be home for much of the day, don't turn the heat completely off, just lower it to something like 65f (it cost more money to heat a house from like 40f to 75f than it does to keep the house at 65f).

25. INSULATE INSULATE INSULATE!: Our garage is located right below the living room and prior to our moving in it wasn't insulated. The result was that the living room would hover around 55-60 degrees in the winter and make the furnace work longer and harder than it needed to. Our gas bill was horrible every month. After we put in the insulation ourselves to save some cash (and to allow us to afford better insulation) the living room easily stays around the same temperature as every other room in the house. This is not only true in winter, but summer as well.

26. GET YOUR FURNACE SERVICED: Call the company you get your oil/gas from and tell them you need your furnace serviced. They will come out, check the filters, adjust the burner, check for leaks, etc. We had it done last year at the house we rent and it almost *halved* our oil consumption.[1]

[1]results probably non-typical because who knows when it was last done.

27. ADD EXTENSTIONS TO DOWNSPOUTS SO WATER RUNS 3-4 FT AWAY FROM FOUNDATION: We added a "stream" to take the water a good 15 or 20 feet away from the foundation (after having some basement water problems). The gutter (for the whole back of the house, we have a very simple roofline) and the sump outlet both come out in the same place, so we built a little stream lined with an impermeable liner, filled it with river rocks for pretty, and it runs down to a "hollow" that we planted up with prairie swamp plants (that love alternating soakings and parchings).

It draws many compliments and keeps the water well away from our foundations.

28. SNUGGIE: Buy and wear snuggie full-time.

(Photo: jakeliefer)

<- Franken clip.

In the second clip, Sen. Whitehouse asks: "Did you actually read the bill that is the subject of today's hearing?"

Here she uses the big "UC" - that less strict bankruptcy laws have the "unintended consequence" of encouraging more people to seek bankruptcy. Her solution to so many medical bankruptcies is then to make it harder to seek bankruptcy, rather than addressing the underlying over-inflated costs that drive consumers into medical bankruptcy in the first place.

Pharmaceutical companies like Eli Lilly, Merck and Novartis number among The Hudson Institute's funders.

You can watch the entire session and read and search the transcript here on C-SPAN.

(Thanks to Dirk!)

Step one, of course, is to cancel any credit card that's been swiped. It's the second step that too many people forget, she writes:

Most people forget this step until it's too late. After I had cancelled my card, it quickly dawned on me how many automatic bill payments I had filtering through that very credit card on a monthly basis.

After you've cancelled your card, you'll have to go through and switch every automatic payment from that credit card to another card or bank account.

This is the catch-22 with those handy-dandy automatic bill payments – they can always come back to haunt you if your credit card changes or expires (or gets hijacked by some scammer halfway across the globe forcing you to cancel your card).

The tongue-in-cheek step 3 is my favorite — track down the jerks who stole your credit to exact sweet revenge.

What You May Be Forgetting When You're The Victim Of Identity Theft [Carrie... On the Cheap]
(Photo: scenemissingmagazine)

Recently my fiancee and I were making offers on a house. As part of the negotiations we tried to see if the seller would cover the closing costs. The seller's broker, who up until this point had been really cool and on the level, asked which costs we were talking about. I mentioned transfer tax. NYC charges 1.425% of the sale price, and New York State charges $4 per $1,000 of price. Since it was odd that I even mentioned this, the broker immediately honed in on the fact that I didn't have all the closing cost terminology under my belt and hemmed and hawed about how that was typically a buyer cost and the seller wouldn't pay it. We didn't come to terms on the final price and perusing the broker's site later we found a whole section on closing costs, and on the broker's very own site it listed transfer taxes as a seller cost.

We didn't get jacked, but we could have if we hadn't done our research, which is why this Good Morning America story, "Save Thousands on Closing Costs" is pretty valuable. Check it out if you're thinking about buying, or if you've already bought and want to see if you were smart or not.

(Photo: egarc2)

Personal finance blogger Trent Hamm at The Simple Dollar takes a stab at listing fifteen things more important than money as follows:

Experiences
Wisdom
Marriage
Friendships
Physical health
Mental health
Personal passions
Communication
Self-reliance
Security
Helping others
Personal growth
Thankfulness
Hobbies
Spirituality

This lists seems like a good start at naming the things in life more important than money. Any here that you would disagree with or maybe some you think are missing?

Fifteen Things More Important than Money [The Simple Dollar]

— FREE MONEY FINANCE (Photo: strobist)

— FREE MONEY FINANCE (Photo: jaredrubinsky)

Quan writes:

I just wanted to let you know about a recent problem (10/15) with the Shell branded Citi Mastercard. Apparently, on October 15th, Citi decided to close thousands of accounts without notice. When I personally called to see why my card was closed, they CSR's response was " Something on your Equifax report prompted us to close your account. A letter was supposed to have sent out to you, but there was a delay. You will receive your letter shortly, which will provide further details." She would/could not tell me what was wrong exactly. Curious, I decided to check my credit report and NOT to my surprise, absolutely nothing negative was recently added! I decided to do a google search to see if others have experienced similar issues and I found out I was not the only one.

So, they are closing accounts for no apparent reason and telling their (former) customers that there is something wrong with their credit report when there really isn't. The best part is that Citi is not going to be paying the rebate we have earned for purchases in the previous month because the account was closed. For some people this is quite significant because they use this card as their primary card. I have not confirmed, but apparently, the 15th was chosen as the date to close accounts because that is the day before the billing cycle ends, which allows them to forgo giving us our rebates.

Some background info on the card: This is a shell branded Citi Mastercard that gives 5% rebates on all Shell gas purchases. I use this card exclusively to purchase gas and have always received a monthly rebate equal to 5% of all my shell gas purchases and 1% for all other purchases. The majority of the time I pay my balance in full each month, which allows me to maximize my savings (obviously).

Did Citi cut off your gas-station branded credit this week? Does this affect your personal finance situation? Sound off in the comments.

Citi starts closing Mastercards without warning [MSNBC]
(Photo: Kenny Hindgren)

Zach IM'd me and emailed me this morning and those six figures jumped out quite plainly. I told him that he should think about filing a police report and then I emailed a TD Bank PR person for him. Here's what happened next.

Zach writes:

I just returned from the 32nd & Park branch of TD Bank, and I'm pleased to report that the $100,000 has been posted to my CD account. The assistant manager, Angela, made several phone calls (probably over a dozen) after I arrived threatening to file a police report. I had previously met with her on Monday, when she filed a "Vector Request" to search for my deposit. Luckily I was able to present my CD certificate, along with withdrawal and deposit slips from when I opened the account on 10/2 (I opened the account after 6 PM so the slips and CD were dated 10/5). Before this incident, I never held on to deposit slips for more than a day or two, but now I definitely plan on keeping very detailed records of all of my banking transactions.

I first contacted TD Bank on 10/8, when I discovered that one of my CD's had a $0 balance. They informed me that deposits had been delayed for many customers, but told me not to worry, that my account would be up to date "by the weekend." When Saturday came and my account was still displaying a $0 balance, I visited the 101 Springdale Rd. branch (Cherry Hill, NJ), as I was home visiting my parents for the weekend. The branch filed a "Vector Request" for the second time (the first had been filed by the first CSR I spoke to on the phone), and told me that it could take anywhere from 24 hours to a week for my transaction to post, but that most of the delayed transactions were posting in 24 hours. I became rather frustrated and informed the manager on duty that I wished to withdraw my funds and close all of my accounts, and she told me that I could close my accounts but would not be able to make a withdrawal from the CD, as it was reflecting a $0 balance. I left and decided to go to the branch where I opened the account on Monday instead.

I noticed that the "Public Relations Specialist" claims that all of the accounts are now up to date, and that my issue was "most likely" unrelated. That conflicts with claims from all of the TD Bank representatives that I spoke to from 10/8 on, who stated that there were many other customers that were still affected. Just today, I spoke with Angela at the 32nd and Park branch, who said that my account was one of "a hundred thousand or so, from Florida to Maine" that was delayed. Later, Larry, who identified himself as the manager for the midtown Manhattan branches of TD Bank, informed me that as of this morning, there were "roughly 1000" accounts in Manhattan with transactions that have yet to post, but that mine had been resolved because it was "moved to the top of the stack." He said that my delayed posting was likely taking longer than others because it was a CD account, and so the bank had likely determined that it was not as urgent as other customers' accounts, because many of them need those transactions to be corrected so they "can buy food" and that that didn't seem to be the case for me. This is obviously a legitimate concern, and I'm certainly glad that the bank is treating these customers as a higher priority.

Larry and Angela offered me a $100 gift card for my troubles (Angela had originally offered the standard $25 gift card before Larry arrived), but I didn't feel that my lost time and frustration was worth $100, so I decided not to take the cards. I'd prefer to take advantage of the $100 promotion offered by other banks, when I open my accounts there after closing my six accounts at TD Bank.

Again, I thank you very much for your concern. Please let me know if there's anything else I can do to help, and I hope you're able to inform other customers that their money is likely not lost, but that the bank may need to pull some strings to have it posted immediately.

Regards,
Zach

I'm going to have to start to use the phrase "vector request" more often.