Consumerist
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meals
Eat Out And Save
Eating out is one of the fastest ways to burn a hole through your wallet, but with a few tips from Five Cent Nickel, you can still enjoy a good meal without breaking the bank. More » -
risky deposits
Woman Hides Life Savings In Mattress, Mattress Taken To Dump By Helpful Daughter
A woman in Israel hid her life savings—she says nearly $1 million dollars—in her mattress. Her daughter bought her a new mattress as a surprise upgrade and threw it out. Dump employees are now searching on behalf of the family while security has been hired to keep out treasure hunters, but they don't know which of the two city dumps it was taken to. We imagine it's the one where the rats are all wearing tiny gold rings and toasting each other with little glasses of champagne. More » -
savings
How To Redeem Government Bonds
Earlier this week, Consumerist published a story about how you can check for unredeemed, matured government bonds by checking with TreasuryDirect. Here's how to redeem a bond. More » -
personal finances
Give Yourself A Financial Stress Test
Why let banks have all the fun? Run the numbers on your own personal finances, suggests a certified financial planner in the Dallas Morning News, and see whether or not you're prepared for disruptions like a layoff or sudden interest rate increase. More » -
forgotten money
Check For Unredeemed, Matured Government Bonds
A PR person just contacted us on behalf of the U.S. Treasury Department to point out that there are $16 billion in unredeemed bonds that are no longer earning interest. "Specifically, there are 40 million Series E savings bonds purchased between 1941 and 1978 that are over 30 years old and therefore have fully matured. They can be cashed out today for at least four times their face value." More » -
chase
updated: WaMu Accounts Become *Almost* Totally Chase July 24
Starting July 24, 2009, WaMu accounts will get fully transitioned to Chase. After that, ex-WaMuers will be able to fully enjoy the benefits of Chase banking, like making deposits into Chase ATMs, the full range of Chase branch banking services, and the luxury of paying Chase's service fees which are higher than WaMu's were.
UPDATE: Actually, this is just the second conversion. The third and last conversion will happen in the fall.
(Photo: mr.hodgson)
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Consumer Reports picks top 529 plans. If you have a little spare cash to squirrel away for college, you've probably given some thought to those state-sponsored, tax-advantaged 529 plans. But with over 50 to choose from, where do you start? How about right here, with some tips from the Consumer Reports Money Lab. The blue-coated boffins picked their five fave funds, paying particular attention to those that offered "below-average fees and an investment strategy that was sufficiently aggressive in the early stages and appropriately conservative later on." Oh, and parents, here's another tip: You can usually change the beneficiary on a plan to another family member. So, if you were saving for Johnny and he goes deadbeat after high school, you can pass his cash along to Janie. Or just use it for yourself. Admit it: you always wanted to ditch it all and go to film school, right? [Consumer Reports Money Adviser]
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savings
Here Are 30 Money Saving Twitterers To Follow
Savings.com has put together a list of 30 of the most followed people on Twitter who offer tips on good deals. Of course, savings.com readers have already started adding alternates in the comments below the list. Feel free to make your own suggestions after the jump.
"30 Deal Hunters to Follow on Twitter" [Savings.com]
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good samaritans
Best Buy Employees Find $10,000 Hidden In Computer Tower
A man in St. Louis dropped off his computer for repair at the area Best Buy, but apparently forgot that he was also using it as a bank. "Employees at a Best Buy store in South County discovered about $10,000 cash inside," writes the St. Louis Post Dispatch. More » -
personal finance
Get Ahead By Working For Yourself One Hour Each Day
For most people, their career is their most valuable financial asset. But for those willing to make the effort, even a small one, there might be something even more valuable—a side business that could potentially turn into a very large source of income. More » -
imaginary savings
Target Saves You Money In Ways You Can Only Imagine
Target continues its rebranding as the Duchamp of retail stores, with this receipt that indicates savings where no savings ever existed. Or perhaps multi-dimensional savings; we can't pretend to know what Target sees when it stares into the void. Mark notes, "The cookies were on sale, as indicated. The cascade, I had a coupon for it to be free. Total savings should be $4.23. The receipt says $7.37. Maybe it's a conspiracy since it is the Love Field (near the airport) in Dallas where Southwest flies only 737s." That's as good an explanation as any, Mark. Maybe you should work for Target? More » -
consumer reports
Consumer Reports Offers Tips For Saving On Pet Food
The Consumer Reports Health Blog has some good suggestions for pet owners who might not have quite as much money to spend on their animals as they used to. More » -
personal finance
What Are You Going To Use Your Tax Refund For This Year? 28% Say "To Pay Off Debt"
The comparison shopping website PriceGrabber.com just completed its "what are you going to do with your tax refund?" survey for the second year in a row, and not surprisingly there are some notable differences between last April and now. The biggest change is among those who plan to spend the money: it was 44.0% in 2008, but only 29.2% this year. More » -
5 Ways to Save On Organic Food "When I'm in the grocery store I'm always pulled two ways. I want to load up on organics but I balk at the cost. What's worth the extra money?" [Consumer Reports Health]
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personal finance
Suze Orman Says Build Up Emergency Cash As Much As Possible
In Suze Orman's most recent book, "2009 Action Plan," she urges people with credit card debt to pay off their balances as quickly as possible using the high interest first method. "The fact that you pay just the minimum is a huge warning signal to your credit card company," she writes, "that you may already be on shaky ground." Now she's changed her mind and says you should just pay the monthly minimum and put the rest of your money toward building an emergency cash stash. Based on the way credit card companies have been behaving, we think she has a point. More » -
saving money
Seems More People Playing "The Penny Arcade" At TD Bank
So like I said I got $120 from the Penny Arcade this weekend, but I was far from alone. Here is the crappy cellphone picture I took of the line. All those people on the right (plus the dog) are waiting for their turn at the spare change counting machine. More » -
daylight savings time
Daylight Savings Can Save You Money
Congress will sneak into your bedroom tonight and steal a precious hour of sleep, but you don't need to take the theft lying down. Get up tomorrow and use a few tips from Consumer Reports to steal back some hard-earned cash. More » -
Let's make a deal
Bartering Makes A Comeback
Capitalism isn't doing well these days leading the entrepreneurial among us to embrace bartering. Traffic to Craigslist's bartering section has more than doubled since last year as people to try to make use of skills that might not otherwise have much value. More »
savings
New York, 6:26 PM
Sun Jul 5
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