Homeowners who owe more on their house than it’s worth face a dilemma. Should I stay or should I go now? Suze Orman tells CBS Sacramento’s Call Kurtis that those folks need to take a hard look at the value of their homes and make a tough decision. “If you own a home that is 50% underwater, 70% underwater, it will never ever, ever come back to where you purchased it.” she said. [More]
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Personal Finance Roundup
By 4.26.11
Why I Prefer Living Rural [The Simple Dollar] “I yearn for a life with fewer distractions and more opportunities to dig deep into the things most important to me, and I also yearn for a life with a lower cost of living and a lower need to earn a mountain of money.”
What To Do When You’ve Got Too Much Debt [The Digerati Life] “Here are few tips to look into if you are preparing to face your growing debt.”
4 money rules you should break [MSN Money] “Low interest rates and a rebounding economy make now a good time to ignore a few old-school financial axioms – and reap benefits such as more savings and less debt.”
Small companies are fertile ground for job seekers [CNN Money] “Hiring is starting to pick up again at firms with fewer than 500 employees. If you have only big-company experience, here’s how to sell yourself.”
How to Investigate Your Potential Future Boss [US News] “Here are a few ways to find out a bit more about your potential supervisor.”
Travel: Choosing The Best Credit Card
By 4.25.11
Like deciding whether to tap your Fountain of Youth or send in your Force of Nature in Magic: The Gathering, deciding which credit to play in the travel game depends on your situation and strategy. [More]
Win $5,000 Scholarship For Wearing Duct Tape To Prom
By 4.22.11
For those of us not lucky enough to be born poor or smart, there are tons of other scholarships out there that reward uniqueness, skills and “just being yourself.” For instance, there’s the $5,000 you and your date could win for wearing an outfit made of Duct Tape to prom. [More]
Getting Married For $73.34 In 1972
By 4.21.11
A far cry from the extravagance, pomp and expense of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding is the much simpler affair enjoyed by yearofshoppingdetox’s mother and father back in 1972, where they achieved eternal union for only $73.34. [More]
Personal Finance Roundup
By 4.19.11
How to Stay Relaxed During (And Make the Most of) a Job Interview [Free Money Finance] “If you rehearse the job interview in advance, you will be much more relaxed.”
25 Bizarre Scholarships [MoneyTalksNews] “Even making a peanut butter sandwich could be worth 25 grand.”
When should you discuss your salary in a job interview? [CNN Money] “Revealing your current compensation too soon could undermine your chances for higher pay. Here’s how to negotiate.”
What Your Bank Doesn’t Want You To Know [AskMen] “Personal bankers have sales quotas like any other sales person, and most of their salaries rely heavily on commission.”
6 financial benefits of marriage [MSN Money] “Getting hitched can mean not only increased income but lower costs and more opportunities to save money.”
Debt Collector Can't Harass Through Facebook Friends, Court Rules
By 4.18.11
In a precedent-setting case, a court has ruled that a debt collector can’t continue to contact a debtor’s friends and family on Facebook about her car payments, reports the Orlando Sentinel. The debt collector had already emailed, texted her, and called her at home and work, according tot he lawsuit, 23 times in one day. [More]
Being 30 Days Late On House Payment Can Knock 100 Points Off Credit Score
By 4.15.11
Usually very closed-mouth about how it calculates scores, FICO released a whole bunch of data about how being late on your mortgage payments affects your credit score. For instance, being 30 days later on a mortgage payment can chop your 780 credit score down to 670. And a short sale or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure will hurt your score just as bad as a foreclosure if the service reports it as having a deficiency amount or an unpaid balance. Yikes! Here’s some sexy tables with more details: [More]
Wells Fargo To Test Chip Embedded Cards With Travelers
By 4.14.11
Wells Fargo is going to send 15,000 EMV chip-embedded credit cards to frequent travelers this summer, the largest US bank to make a move towards these international-style credit cards. Consumers had complained about troubles using their credit card abroad with kiosks that only accept chip cards or with merchants who refused to take cards that only have the magnetic strip. [More]
Get A Bad Deal On Your Loan? Now You'll Know Why
By 4.14.11
If you applied for a loan and got denied or received a higher interest rate than other borrowers with better credit scores, starting July 21st, the lender has to send you a free copy of your credit score. [More]
11 Legal Ways To Pay No Taxes. No Bunker Required.
By 4.11.11
It’s tax time, so you’re probably wondering, man, do I really have to give the government so much of my money? If you’re rich, the answer is no! Step 1: Be a millionaire. Step 2: Hire a flashy accountant. Step 3: Have them use one of these 11 completely legal ways the wealthy use to avoid paying taxes. One of them, which Bloomberg Businessweek calls “The Friendly Partner,” allows for a property to be sold without any capital-gains tax at all. [More]
Personal Finance Roundup
By 4.11.11
When to Say No to a Job [US News] “Here are a few tell-tale warning signs about a potential job.”
Bargains on the First 4 Semesters [NY Times] “Six of the most important things you need to think about if you’re trying to save money [by attending community college the first two years of school].”
Retirement planning for you and your spouse [CNN Money] “Forging a joint plan now will give you a better shot at a retirement that will make you both happy.”
Frugal to a Fault? 6 Dumb Money ‘Saving’ Mistakes [Money Watch] “Here are some more common financial traps when we aim to be too frugal.”
5 ways restaurants get you to spend [MSN Money] “These tactics can bust your dining-out budget while lining the pockets of food service companies.”
BofA Charges Fee After 3 Withdrawals To Discourage You From Making More Than 6
By 4.8.11
Here’s a funny fee that I just found out about, even though it’s been in place for at least a year. So, Federal regulation, Regulation D, prohibits more than six withdrawals per month from a savings account (ATM withdrawals don’t count towards the 6). Most banks will just charge an “excess activity fee” if you go over that amount, but Bank of America charges a $3 fee if you have more than three withdrawals in a statement period. When Paul questioned why, customer service told him it was a “deterrent fee” to discourage him from hitting the Federal limit. “That’s like giving me a speeding ticket for going 27.5 miles per hour as a deterrent so I don’t go 55,” he writes. The rep was unmoved by his analogy. [More]
Chase Will Reinstate Debit Card Rewards If Fee Overhaul Is Delayed
By 4.7.11
Chase has pledged to reinstate debit card rewards programs if the cap on fees it collects from merchants per debit transaction, scheduled to go into effect July 21st, is delayed. [More]
Personal Finance Roundup
By 4.5.11
How to Reward Friends Who Help You Move [Wise Bread] “Here are some ideas for how to treat your hard-working friends.”
6 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Accepting a Job [US News] “Before you accept the offer, there are some important questions you should ask yourself to ensure that you have found the right job for you.”
6 Tax-Smart Ways to Help Your Kids (or Grandkids) [Kiplinger] “Uncle Sam (and some states) will reward you for helping pay for a child’s college education.”
30 Last-Minute Tax Tips [Smart Money] “We have identified eight deductions that many people overlook, eight audit triggers, six common mistakes, five reminders for investors and three ways to cut your tax bill right now.”
Deliberate Practice: Improving Your Finances, Career, and Life [The Simple Dollar] “People who do excel at a particular skill tend to rise quickly, earn more, and often eventually become independent contractors, earning even more.”
Even With New Fees, Most Checking Accounts Beat Prepaid Debit Cards
By 4.4.11
Pushers of prepaid debit cards say the fees they charge are comparable to a checking account, but a new study by Consumers Union, publishers of Consumer Reports and this blog, finds that by and large, checking accounts are still a better deal. [More]
How Did You Fare Financially Last Quarter?
By 4.3.11
A fourth of 2011 has already whizzed by, so you’ve probably either abandoned any financial resolutions you made going into the year or adopted them permanently into your lifestyle. [More]
Free Checking Lives On At Smaller And Online Banks
By 3.31.11
Now that free checking is dead at each of the four major retail banks, is there any where you can go to just have a simple checking account without paying a bunch of fees? Yup, look at your smaller local bank or credit union, or think about an online checking account, reports American Banker. Unlike the big banks that have such dominant market presence that they don’t need to compete on price, just who has more ATMs, the scrappier outfits are going to to use free checking as a competitive advantage and a way to get people in the door so they can try to upsell them to other banking products and services. [More]
