One of the first annoying things you figure out when you try to sell a few things on Craigslist is that there’s these people who just seem to go around asking you to halve your price. It doesn’t matter what you’re selling or what the price is, invariably someone pops up and says “How about half? I’ll pick it up tonight.” Over at Blogging Away Debt she talks about how she said no to one of these price choppers, even though her husband got angry. Then she ended up relisting at a higher price and selling it. Win! [More]
money
TD Bank Charging Customers $2 To Get Cash From A Non-TD ATM
By 2.17.11
As Congress today debates over proposed caps on debit card swipe fees that would limit bank profits and lower costs for merchants, TD Bank has announced they’re going to start charging customers a $2 fee whenever they take cash out of a non-TD bank ATM. That’s going to be on top of any fee that you already pay the ATM. The only way to avoid the fee is to be in a higher-tier checking account. [More]
Personal Finance Roundup
By 2.15.11
Nine Common Mistakes to Avoid When Filing Your Tax Return [Wallet Pop] “Here’s a rundown of nine mistakes to avoid when filing your tax return.”
Why It’s Worth Paying for a Tax Pro [Wall Street Journal] “Tax specialists can help ensure that business owners don’t pay Uncle Sam too much or too little and help identify all the tax breaks they’re eligible to receive.”
9 Tips to Find a Tax Pro: But Do You Really Need One? [Money Talks News] “The majority of Americans use a professional to help them file their taxes. Here’s how to find the best one for you. But are they really worth the money?”
5 Awesome Alternatives to Groupon [Wise Bread] “If glancing at one good buy a day is leaving you wanting for more, check out a few of the attention-worthy sites all destined to give the original a run for its money.”
Tax Relief Act: Four retirement moves to make [Market Watch] “Here’s a recap of what experts suggest you might do with your retirement accounts.”
Even Nice Cities Not Safe From Housing Meltdown Anymore
By 2.14.11
NYT reports that the real estate crashdown isn’t just limited to Potemkin-village style build-n-flip hotspots like Vegas and and Florida. That’s just where it started. The giant needle of bubble popping is plunging through Seattle, where prices are down 30% from last year, and is making swift work of Minneapolis and Atlanta. One expert predicts prices could drop another 5 or 7% nationwide. Get out the dramamine, it’s double-dip time. [More]
Wells Fargo ATMs Crash Across The Country
By 2.8.11
Most of Wells Fargo’s 12,000 ATMs crashed starting Monday afternoon and lasting several hours, reports the Star Tribune, and no one knows why. [More]
Personal Finance Roundup
By 2.8.11
10 Hidden Costs That Hurt Your Wallet [Wise Bread] “There are hidden costs, such as the time and money it takes to get to the store, that determine which decision is truly the less-expensive route.”
How to Avoid Common Money Mistakes [Get Rich Slowly] “Here are some tips to avoid costly money mistakes when you’re in your 20s, 30s, and 40s.”
6 Ways To Extend The Life Of Your Car [Bible Money Matters] “Lowering your mechanic bill and extending the value and life of your car isn’t difficult if you are a little proactive.”
The Well-rounded Résumé: Six Jobs to Have by Age Thirty [Mint Life Blog] “Before settling into a career, any well-rounded person should have these six different kinds of jobs on his or her résumé.”
4 Traditional Money Rules to Break Now [Smart Money “Here are four traditional money rules you can break–at least for now.”
The 79.99% APR Credit Card
By 2.7.11
It sounds ridiculous. First Premiere Bank launched a new credit card with a 79.99% interest rate. It targeted consumers who couldn’t get a credit card anywhere else, and it was popular. Too popular, in fact. “A lot of the people ran up the card, defaulted and went directly to charge off,” First Premiere’s Bank told CNN Money. Since then they’ve dropped it to 59.99% and that’s just low enough to keep enough people paying off interest to make it profitable. But wait, wasn’t the CARD act supposed to prevent these really hight rates and stuff? [More]
Delawareans Racked Up Most Debt
By 2.4.11
Delawareans lead the nation in average consumer debt, according to a new report. Misplaced sense of state pride? (A lot of credit card companies are headquartered in Delaware because of the state’s relaxed attitude towards usury and their low taxes). Whatever the reason, $20,233 is the average per-person consumer debt load in Delaware, and the next 9 states aren’t that far behind: [More]
Comedian Who Made Videos Asking For $1 Million And Got It… Was A Hoax
By 2.4.11
It sounded too good to be true: comedian Craig Rowin made a series of web videos asking for $1 million, and then he announced he had received it. A rich benefactor named “Benjamin” had seen the videos and was amused by them enough to hand over the cash. The videos went viral, Craig went on TV and international news teams were dispatching crews to cover his amazing story, which he maintained was completely real. Then at the end of the check-handing-over ceremony on Wednesday night, Rowin burned the check on stage and revealed it was all a hoax and the “investment banker millionaire” was an actor he had hired. Sorry, dreams. [More]
Send Your Ideas To The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's New Website
By 2.3.11
ConsumerFinance.gov, the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s new website, is live and in full effect. So is their Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and YouTube. They want your suggestions and ideas so send ’em in! As they announced on their website their central role is “to make markets for consumer financial products and services work for America…The CFPB belongs to the people it serves. If you have suggestions, we want to hear them.” [More]
A Miserable Life Inside A Foreclosed Apartment
By 2.2.11
Living inside an apartment building that has been foreclosed on can become a living hell when the building crumbles into disrepair around you and there’s no landlord to call. Bursting heat pipes, cockroaches, mice, hunks of ceiling falling on you, and black mold seeping up the walls have become the new neighbors to tenants in one low-income apartment building in the Bronx where the landlord has long since checked out. [More]
Chase Sends You New Credit Card, Then Cancels It Before It Arrives
By 2.2.11
Reader Danny writes in that he was approved for a new Chase Ink credit card, but by the time it showed up in his mailbox, it was already canceled. [More]
How To Beat Scratch Lottery Tickets
By 2.2.11
WIRED reports how a geological statistician figured out how to beat a scratch-off lottery ticket game, discovering a simple trick hidden in the numbers that let him pick winners 90% of the time before scratching the tickets at all. What’s more is that the exploit he stumbled across can be repeated again and again against so-called “extended play” or “baited hook” tickets, spreadsheet-like scratch-offs featuring rows and rows of numbers and near-miss combinations. [More]
Whopping 11% Of US Homes Are Empty
By 2.1.11
The vacancy sign is blazing over house divisions across the US. About 1 in 10 houses in America have no one living inside them, according to new data from the Census, CNBC reports. (Update: while technically correct, this number includes other kinds of properties like abandoned farm house. The more typically used number, the home-vacancy rate, is 2.7%, up from 2.5% the previous quarter). [More]
Wachovia Settles "Pick-a-Payment" Mortgage Loan Class Action
By 2.1.11
If you got a “Pick-a-Payment” mortgage from Wachovia between Aug 1 2003 and Dec 31 2008, you might be up for claiming some cash in a $50 million settlement. [More]
Tuesday And Wednesday Are Best Days To Buy Airfare, Smart Guys Say
By 2.1.11
The best day to buy airfare is often Tuesday, but Wednesday also offers good deals, which are sometimes even better. How come? [More]
Gas Prices Rise Amidst Egyptian Turmoil, But Now Holding Steady
By 2.1.11
The upheaval in Egypt is raising prices at the pump, with average prices rising to $3.10 a gallon, according to data from GasBuddy. Though Egypt is not a major supplier of oil, the Egyptian-controlled Suez canal and the nearby Sumed pipeline are key pass-through points for the world’s oil supply, and there are concerns that the civil unrest could spread to other oil-producing countries. As of Tuesday upwards pressure on oil prices eased off as so far back the protests haven’t disrupted transportation. [More]
Personal Finance Roundup
By 2.1.11
7 Reasons Why Bond Ladders Are Bad for Investors [Money Watch] “My case against ladders.”
3 Steps to Strengthen Your Emergency Fund [Christian Personal Finance] “There are basically three things you need to analyze about your emergency fund, and then make the appropriate changes.”
Don’t settle for less than the best in your 401(k) plan [Market Watch] “What are the best features for a 401(k) plan?”
How to Get a Free FICO Credit Score [Money Talks News] “New rules that might deliver a free look at your score started this Jan. 1.”
The Costs of End-of-Life Care [Wall Street Journal] “Whatever you think health-care costs are going to be toward the end of life, you’ve probably underestimated.”
