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personal finance
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personal finance
overdraft fees
Watch Out For These 5 Overdraft Traps
Banks need your money. They're not doing too well on their own, and you're not screwing up enough to generate the fees they need to make their shareholders happy. That's why they've set up sneaky ways to maximize your every mistake—or in some cases, ways to change the rules so that you make new mistakes where you didn't before—in order to penalize you. Here are five things SmartMoney says to watch out for. More »
personal finance
6 Unpleasant Truths About Personal Finance
Ready for some tough love about how to improve your financial situation? Jeffrey Strain, the man behind SavingAdvice.com, has put together a list of six "awful truths" about personal finance for TheStreet.com. The reason they're "awful," he writes, is that "these truths mean that the each person must take more responsibility and make hard decisions that they would rather leave to others." More »
greenwashing
Coinstar Calls Cashing In Change 'Recycling'
Douglas writes, "Coinstar wants you to 'recycle' your coins in their machines, and save the environment! Minus their 8.9% fee of course." They even have a little wizard on their website that estimates how many parts of the environment—water, energy consumption, and geological waste—you save by putting those coins back into circulation, instead of hoarding them like the polar bear murderer you are. They don't provide any source for these estimates, though, and we're not convinced you're doing anything "green" other than lining Coinstar's pockets. More »
bad deals
Quick, what's 2 x 2? Did you get 4.32? No? Then you should be able resist Walmart's "Buy 2 And Save" Old Spice "special."
More »
Walmart's "Buy 2 And Save" Old Spice Deodorant Deal Stinks
Quick, what's 2 x 2? Did you get 4.32? No? Then you should be able resist Walmart's "Buy 2 And Save" Old Spice "special."
More »
grocery
7 Ways To Save On Groceries Without Using Coupons
Are you a coupon clipper? No? Lots of people like saving money, but don't really buy the sort of products that have coupons, or don't have time to waste searching and clipping. These tips are for you. More »
11:27 AM on Fri Aug 1 2008
By Meg Marco
20,898 views,
81 comments
hsbc
HSBC sent around a big cheery email to let everyone know that they've extended the promotional 3.5% rate on their online savings account until September 15th.
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HSBC Extends 3.5% APY Online Savings To Sept 15
HSBC sent around a big cheery email to let everyone know that they've extended the promotional 3.5% rate on their online savings account until September 15th.
More »
shopping
3 Ways To Spend Less While Shopping
Shopping is a war and you are outgunned. Stores attack your desire for self-restraint with armies of psychologists, marketers, and "brand gurus." Defend yourself from overspending with three easy and effective tips from Alpha Consumer... More »
shopping
Morning Deals
- Girl Talk: Girls Talk's new album "Feed The Animals." Pay what you want to pay.
- MGM Grand: $69/night + $25 Restaurant Credit
- Amazon: "The Complete Led Zeppelin" MP3 Album download for $9.99. 165 tracks.
- Endless.com: Save up to 40% or More off Shoes & Handbags
- TiVo.com: New Savings: TiVo HD DVR now $180 Shipped
- Amazon: Canon SD850 IS 8MP Digital Camera $230 Shipped
tax holidays
Save Money by Taking a State Tax Holiday
In an effort to spur retail sales, many states offer sales-tax holidays each summer — periods of time where sales tax is temporarily suspended on certain products. This year the slumping economy has some states enhancing their efforts by extending the holiday dates and broadening the list of eligible products. Smart Money lists each state sponsoring a sales-tax holiday as well as the applicable dates and details of each offer. It also suggests a few helpful hints for making the most of a sales-tax holiday as follows: More »
how to
Buy Super-Cheap Costco Gas Without Costco Membership
Costco sells gas for $0.10-0.15 less per gallon than retail stations, but only to members who pay annual dues. Blueprint For Financial Prosperity claims to have found a way for non-members to access the bargain gas... More »
advice
The Basics Of Insurance, Taxes, And 401(k)s For First-Time Employees
If you're entering the work force for the first time (although this probably pertains to lots of older employees too), all the details of insurance, taxes, and 401(k)s can be daunting/boring/confusing. Ron Lieber at the New York Times has pared away the extraneous bits and created a "primer for young people starting their first job," including helpful advice like why it's important to get health insurance, how to fill out your W-4, and why it's good to take advantage of the built-in "raise" that comes from a company-matching 401(k). Sure, this is all basic stuff, but that's the point. Ya gotta start somewhere. More »
confessions
Another Washington Mutual insider has stepped forward with a slew of tips to help save your ass from overdraft fees, check deposit holds, and talking to Filipino bankers. Details, inside...
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WaMu Banker Confessions, Part Two
Another Washington Mutual insider has stepped forward with a slew of tips to help save your ass from overdraft fees, check deposit holds, and talking to Filipino bankers. Details, inside...
More »
weddings
7 Ways To Have A Gorgeous And Inexpensive Wedding
Blowing $100,000 on a wedding is still in season, and there's no better way to show up your over-spending friends than by throwing a lavish affair without bankrupting your parents. Inside, seven tips to have a lovely and affordable wedding. More »
movies
Summer means movies, but don't get stuck paying $12 per ticket or $7 for a bag of popcorn. Instead, check out these nine ways to slash your movie budget without missing any summer blockbusters.
More »
9 Ways To Save At The Movies
Summer means movies, but don't get stuck paying $12 per ticket or $7 for a bag of popcorn. Instead, check out these nine ways to slash your movie budget without missing any summer blockbusters.
More »
money
Some Online Savings Yields Jump Upwards, Others Decline
After several depressing months of steadily declining rates, the yields on a few online savings accounts rates rose a tad. With .45 percentage points, HSBC Direct had the biggest jump and at 3.5% reclaims the title as the highest yielding online savings account from a big-name bank with no minimum balance. However, this is only a promotional rate through August 15. Tricky like a rock rhythm. (I found the big red "DEPOSIT MORE NOW" button in the announcement email HSBC sent out especially amusing). You might instead want to look at the online savings account offered by Provident Bank at 3.5%. That's down from 3.75 but the cut was tracked to the decrease in the federal interest rates. So with the Feds saying we're done with cuts for the near future, it's probably decent bet the Provident Bank rate will hold. Here's a good number of the rates that have gone up, and those that have stayed the same or decreased since the last time we posted this info. More »
amazon
Get 5% (Or More) Off Anything Anything At Amazon
ProBargainHunter tells us how to snag 5-15% in extra savings on Amazon by tweaking the "Quick Picks" function.
1. Be an Amazon member
2. Log in
3. Locate similar, companion or accessory items to the one you want to buy and click "I own this item." For instance, if you want a Sony PSP, claim ownership of a PSP 2GB Memory Stick
4. Wait a day
5. Go to Today's Deals
6. At bottom it says "(Your Name)'s Quick Picks"
7. The item you really want to buy might show up there with 5-15% discount
The Quick Picks are normally based on your previous purchases. But by using the "I own this item" on related items, you may be able to get a deal on a pricey item. It won't work on everything, we're guessing it works best on things where the accessory can only be used for just one item, the item you want.
Tricking Amazon into an extra 5% off [ProBargainHunter]
Are you managing your aging parents' finances, or looking for a good financial advisor of your own? The AARP has just released a new booklet called "A Financial Professional's Guide to Working With Older Clients" (PDF). [AARP]
