Remember those cold winter nights when your family stayed up late and fought to bankrupt each other? Recall the number of times you cheered a little metal dog (or hat or thimble) to move around a square board quickly? Recollect regularly screaming “come on seven!” only to roll a six? Who knew that all that time you were really learning about personal finance? Well, Blueprint for Financial Prosperity now knows this was the case. He’s detailed eight personal finance lessons he learned from Monopoly.
BLOGS
Airlines Renege On Stranded Passenger Plan Promise
By 9.27.07
- No plans for supplying emergency food and drink
- No time limit for how long passengers are kept on plane
- No plan of how to get passengers off
U.S. News And World Report Launches "Alpha Consumer" Blog
By 9.27.07
Check out a new blog on the consumer beat, Alpha Consumer, published by U.S. News and World Report and penned by Kimberly Palmer. In long-format style, Palmer tackles reader questions, gets expert quotes, and tries to help people conquer personal financial problems. Recent posts include:
Checking Account Fees Hit New Highs
By 9.26.07
Almost all costs and fees are up at the brick and mortar banks included in Bankrate’s 2007 Checking Account Pricing Study. Average fees reached new peaks across the board.
By 9.24.07
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Vonage customers can switch to the $14.99 Unlimited Special from the $24.99 plan by calling 1-866-243-4357, talking to Account Management Department, asking for the reduced plan, and threatening to cancel if they don’t give it you. [Hustler Money Blog]
By 9.24.07
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How one blogger paid off $11,500 in 10 months using the “debt snowball” method. [No-Credit Needed]
By 9.24.07
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British Airways had the ability to sell this passenger’s lost folding chiropractic table, but not the inclination to Google “Dr. Marta Callotta, Sports Chiropractic” imprinted on the front of it it to return it to it’s rightful owner. [Elliot via Rick Seany]
Does Anyone At Dell Handle Busted Hard Drives?
By 9.23.07
Nobody at Dell can help Kevin return two broken hard drives. Kevin’s Seagate 320GB FreeAgent drive refuses to power on, and his 160GB Western Digital won’t boot. Kevin sent Dell a note after wrangling with eleven CSRs over five hours:
I called tonight due to 2 harddrives I purchased 26 days ago. Both drives have completely failed. One is knocking and the other won’t power on at all. I called Dell and have been transferred to 11 people and 3 different calls:
82 Personal Finance Myths Debunked
By 9.21.07
Grad Money Matters debunks 82 of the head games we play with ourself that keep us from handling our money the way we should.
Top 10 Worst, Hidden, Airline Fees
By 9.21.07
Airfarewatchdog released a list of the Top Ten Most Obnoxious Hidden Airline Fees. We love:
6. Getting a refund when a fare goes down
All Charges Dropped Against Circuit City Receipt Refuser
By 9.21.07
Legal charges have been dropped against Michael Righi (pictured), the guy arrested after refusing to show his receipt to Circuit City, and his driver’s license to a police officer, in exchange for Righi’s pledge to not sue the city. On his blog, Righi writes that he was willing to fight the city to the end without forfeiting any rights whatsoever, but he wanted to spare his family, who would have been principal witnesses, from a protracted legal battle.
Payday Loans Die In DC
By 9.20.07
In a victory for consumers, Washington D.C. effectively outlawed payday lending today with the passage of the Payday Loan Consumer Protection Act capping lending interest rates at 24%.
How The Fed Rate Cut Affects You
By 9.20.07
The Fed cut interest rates Monday, but what does this mean for your wallet?
WSJ Editor Caught After Accidentally Stealing From Kmart
By 9.20.07
Kmart detained Wall Street Journal editor Laura Landro after she accidentally stole $8 from them by putting a more expensive pair of flipflops in a box with a cheaper price tag.
Vintage Weights And Measures Scams
By 9.19.07
Before leaded toymakers, these homegrown shortchangers profiled in a 1938 issue of Mechanics and Handicraft conned “Mr. and Mrs. Buying Public” with lead-weighted ducks, berry boxes designed to look like they held more than they really did, and various deliberately faulty scales.
Employers Can Reject New Hires Based On Low Credit Scores Credit History
By 9.19.07
A friend of ours recently took his Air Force application tests and was told he qualified for every job, except those with Top-Secret classification, because his credit score was too low.
TypoTrawler Finds Misspelled eBay Deals
By 9.19.07
TypoTrawler scans eBay looking for misspellings. Savvy eBay shoppers know that misspelled listings result in fewer bidders, because they’re harder to find, so they offer the opportunity for getting a lower final auction price and/or making the item easier to win. You can select which categories you want to view and you can vote on which items are really misspelled or not, as well as click through to the eBay page.
Credit vs Debit
By 9.19.07
What’s better, debit or credit? Red Tape Chronicles examines the pros and cons. For our money, debit cards are better for controlling spending, but credit cards protect the buyer better, much better, and so we use debit cards to withdraw cash from ATMs and credit cards for transactions.
