Cable is one of the first things you should cut to keep expenses down, but that doesn’t mean you should ditch your favorite shows. J.D. over at Get Rich Slowly cut his cable bill from $65.82 to $11.30 without missing a single harrowing plot twist. Here’s how he did it…
how-to
Trouble Saving Money? Harness Robots!
By 2.16.09
Sometimes when people have trouble saving at least 10% of their income on a regular basis, it’s because it hurts too much. After you pay the bills, set aside money for groceries, booze and guns, it seems you don’t have enough left over to save with. So, what you can do is exploit “out of sight, out of mind,”
Is This Gas Company Lying About Reading Meters? Nope!
By 2.16.09
Update: As several readers have pointed out, there’s a simpler explanation for the confusion: both the OP and I were misreading the meter. The first digit should be rounded “down” to 9, so the meter in the photo actually reads 997.4 MCF—which is more in line with the previous bill. Thanks to everyone who caught this and wrote in or commented! We hope this helps you out, Michael.
Unstick Your Ears After A Flight
By 2.12.09
Sometimes your ears get stuck during airplane rides and even an hour later, you’ve still got a painful pressure built-up and difficulty hearing. Here’s some things you can do to unclog the works.
Talk To A Friend Who's Been Laid Off
By 2.12.09
In case you haven’t noticed, we’re in the midst of an economic slump where it seems like thousands of jobs are being lost every day. Ok, maybe that’s because thousands of jobs are being lost every day. This brings up an issue that more and more of us will be facing in the future: how should you talk to a close friend or relative that loses his job? Career blogger Penelope Trunk suggests the following seven steps:
Battle Bank Fees
By 2.7.09
Banks love fees. Want to wire money? Need to pay a fee. What to stop a check? Need to pay a fee. Need to use the bathroom? Gotcha!
Ten Ways To Take $100 Off Your Cable Bill
By 2.5.09
Adam from Free Press sent us his tips for lowering his cable bill. Using these strategies, Adam reduced his monthly bill from $190 to $90, and added three movie networks, a sports package, and two additional boxes.
Find If Your Kid's Toys Got Recalled
By 1.26.09
Want to know if your kid’s toys got recalled? The Parents.com Toy and Product Recall finder shows you. Just enter the name, brand, or model number, or search by category. For this task, at least, it’s more More organized and prettier than Google.
"Star Raids" Thrash Product Ratings, Get Company's Attention
By 1.22.09
Add this to the Consumerist toolbelt: Star Raids. If a company is pissing off a bunch of customers and refuses to change some aspect of their product, some consumers are finding it effective to band together and thrash the product’s rating. An avalanche of “zero” ratings can make a ratings score plummet, and turn away potential customers. The fall-off in sales will definitely grab their attention.
ExecutiveBomb Makes Finding Executive Contact Info Easy
By 1.21.09
Looking for that info to load your EECB, file a letter of complaint, or reach executive customer service? ExecutiveBomb.com has entries for 861+ companies. Just type in the company name to the search box. If they’ve got a result, they’ll spit it out to you. They also rely on users to submit contact info as well, so get to emptying your rolodexes in there.
By 1.13.09
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From Wikihow: 12 ways to teach your kids about money.
Deprogram Bad "Money Scripts"
By 1.12.09
How you relate to money money could have a lot to do with emotional connections you made to money at a young age, and these so-called “money scripts” can be a blindspot that’s causing you financial pain, reports WSJ.
Get $90 Or $35 In The Sprint Early Termination Fee Settlement
By 1.9.09
A proposed settlement has been reached in the class action lawsuit against Sprint over early termination fees (ETF). It seems to basically apply to anyone who has had a time-based contact with Sprint that had an etf clause it i.e. most Sprint wireless customers. You get $90 if you were charged an ETF and can provide proof, and $35 if you didn’t cancel a contract for fear of getting charged an ETF. You can file at www.sprintetfsettlement.com, and get a more in-depth and explainer of the terms over at Top Class Actions.
DIY ID Theft Protection
By 12.14.08
Do you want to be one of over eight million identity theft victims? No, but most of the services sold by “identity theft protection” companies you can get for free. Here’s how.
Avoid Airport Rental Car Fees
By 12.9.08
Upgrade: Travel Better has good some ideas on how you can avoid those excessive airport rental car fees (you know, the ones like “facility fee.” What is that, you have to pay a fee for the rental place having a roof? Can I choose the place without a roof then?) One idea is to rent at the airport, then drop the car off the next day downtown. This way you only pay extra airport fees on the first day. Just make sure the place isn’t going to tack on a one-way dropoff fee. This is even better in Europe, which isn’t as into one-way fees as America is.
Check Your Credit History Year-Round, For Free
By 12.7.08
Statistics show that 80% of credit histories have at least one error. Most of them are minor and inconsequential but some can have an adverse effect on your credit score, often costing your thousands on mortgages and car loans. I believe credit bureaus were so lackadaisical about accuracy because it forced consumers to buy their credit reporting services. You wouldn’t know there’s an error unless you paid Equifax for a copy of your report. Fortunately, federal law now makes it possible for us to police our own records and force bureaus to correct them, all on their dime. Here’s how:
How To Get Your First Credit Card
By 12.6.08
I got my first credit card from one of those guys on campus with a folding table and free tshirts. Back then, they gave give credit to anyone who could fog a mirror. No income? No assets? No clue? No problem! The tshirt wasn’t even cool, it was for AT&T, and I got it as easily as my first beer. Nowadays, what the meltdown of our financial system and all, they actually have some requirements to pass before giving you a credit card. Crazy. So what’s a young consumer looking for fresh plastic to do?
Prod Unemployment Office To Action With Your Local State Rep
By 12.5.08
Aaron has gotten a busy signal from the Pennsylvania unemployment office call center for a month. He started filing his claim online, which was fine, until he started getting automated emails saying there were problems with the online system, and instructed him to call the toll-free call center number. That’s right, the one that’s a constant busy signal. So, he got in touch with his local state representative, and got results!
