Consumerist

personal finance

Personal Finance Roundup

By FMF 1.18.11

6 Ways to Save Money on iPads, iPhones, and Macs [Wise Bread] “Here are six ways you can ‘go Apple’ and save some money while you’re at it.”

How Not to Land a Job: 18 Interview No-Nos [Money Talks News] “Avoid these mistakes – some common and others just weird – at your next interview.”

Keep Your Ride Rolling: Tips For a Longer Lasting Car [Mint Life Blog] “Some good advice for my fellow car owners.”

The Importance of Salary Negotiation [Get Rich Slowly] “No matter how much money an employer offers you, it’s never Enough. Ask for more.”

5 Bad Financial Decisions and How to Recover [Yahoo Finance] “Some frequent missteps consumers make as they navigate their finances.”

— FREE MONEY FINANCE

credit cards

Kardashians Sued For Fee-Drenched Debit Card, By The Card's Makers

By Ben Popken 1.14.11

The Kardashians have been sued over their Kardashian Card, a pre-loaded debit card they agreed to put their faces and names on and help promote. The card was slammed by critics and an AG almost as soon as it came out for the high hidden fees it hoped to extract from the teen audience it was targeting. But the plaintiff isn’t a government body or members of a class action, it’s the Kardashian’s former business partners. [More]

credit cards

Ex-Credit Card Thief Recommends Making Up Fake Answers To Security Questions

By Ben Popken 1.14.11

In an interview, a former credit card thief talks about some of the scams he used to run on unwary consumers. It’s got some good takeaways for protecting yourself, like the one where you make up fake answers to security questions. With all the info that can be found online now some of these security questions aren’t that hard to figure out. So instead of putting down the real answer to “What’s your mother’s maiden name?” put down “unicorn princess.” [More]

economy

Banks To Start Paying Dividends For First Time In 3 Years

By Ben Popken 1.14.11

After a 3-year hiatus, banks, plumped up by big profits thanks to a dizzying array of federal aid programs, are ready to stay paying dividends again to investors. Before they can be restored, the government will conduct a round of secret “stress tests” to evaluate the banks’ financial health. If all goes well, individual investors who had seen their dividends slashed to pennies, could start once again supping from the income stream. [More]

clothing

What's Your Magic Shirt Number?

By Phil Villarreal 1.12.11

Unless you’re blessed with a photographic memory, it’s tough to remember exactly which clothes you have, and thus too easy to over-buy when you’re out shopping. If you maintain such a program, you can end up with a closet full of stuff you didn’t even know you had, riddled with duplicates. [More]

lawsuits

Dirty Debt Collectors Sued Under RICO Act

By Ben Popken 1.11.11

A judge has set an interesting precedent, allowing a pack of skeevy debt collectors get sued under the RICO act, the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization law. [More]

roundups

Personal Finance Roundup

By FMF 1.11.11

Eight resolutions for retirement savers in 2011 [MarketWatch] “Now that 2010 year-end statements are arriving in the mail it’s time to get back on the grid — and to make sure you start 2011 on the right foot, especially with your retirement accounts.”

Extra Income Online: 5 Websites That Can Seriously Pad Your Pockets [Wise Bread] “Instead of taking on a second, or in some cases, third job to elevate your earnings, consider making use of these websites that can take you from rags to debatable riches.”

11 Tricks to Cutting Travel Costs in 2011 [NY Times] ” Here are 11 strategies — and some useful Web sites — to help you save on travel this year.”

30 Things Broke People Say (That Keep Them Broke) [Smart on Money] “Why save money? You can’t take it with you when you die!”

Save Money on Gas, Food and Travel: 13 Smart Tricks [MoneyWatch] “Here are 13 ways to trim some of these everyday expenses.”

— FREE MONEY FINANCE

consumers union

Win $1000 For Making A Picture About The Dangers Of Debt

By Ben Popken 1.10.11

Make a picture illustrating “The Dangers of Being in Debt” and you could win $1,000 in our publisher Consumers Union’s new contest. Simply submit your Photoshop, drawing of a spider, collage or what have you on this Facebook page. Get people to vote for you and the image with the most votes wins. Then you can use your cash prize to pay down your credit card debit. See, it all circles back… [More]

airlines

Southwest's New Frequent Flier Program Rewards Biz Travelers Over Hoi Polloi

By Ben Popken 1.10.11

If air travel was a multi-player video-game, you would call Southwest’s new “Rapid Rewards” frequent flier program “adjusting the game balance.” In this case, the “Pinstripe” class is getting favorably tweaked at “Joe Sixpack” class’s expense. [More]

complaints

Apocryphal And Hilarious "Letter A 98-Year Old Woman Wrote To Her Bank" Makes The Rounds Again

By Ben Popken 1.10.11

An amazing letter that a 98-year old woman wrote to her bank to protest a bounced check is making the rounds. She complains about a check getting bounced from her account because it occurred “three nanoseconds” before her pension got direct-deposited. She then says that going forward the bank will have to appoint a special rep to open her mortgage and loan payments, he has to use a 28-digit PIN to talk to her, and will have to go through a lengthy phone tree. It’s quite clever, but it’s not real. Not exactly. [More]

money

What You Get If You Start Saving Today

By Ben Popken 1.7.11

A lot of people probably made “save more money” one of their New Year’s Resolutions. It’s true, the best day to start saving is right now. Based off of what the average American spends annually, if you set a goal for next January and save $157 a month, you can have all your clothes paid for for the year. [More]

bank of america

BofA Tests New Checking Accounts With New Fees

By Ben Popken 1.6.11

Bank of America is trying out a new system of checking accounts with new rules—and new fees for breaking them. [More]

southwest airlines

Southwest Overhauls Frequent Flyer Mile Program

By Ben Popken 1.6.11

Southwest today announced a major revamp of its frequent flyer mile program. Under the new system, travelers will get points based on their airfare amount. There will also be no blackout dates or seat restrictions (existing members will get grandfathered in). The airline also introduced three new fare buckets, “wanna get away,” “anytime,” and “business select” with increasing points per dollar to redeem and total points required for a free flight. So not only are you getting from point A to point B, you’re also polishing valuable math skills. Southwest came out with 3 videos to explain it all: [More]

money

SmartyPig Cuts Rate From 1.75% To 1.35% APY

By Ben Popken 1.6.11

In an email to customers, savings site SmartyPig announced it had cut its rate from 1.75% to 1.35% APY. Now it’s no longer the top rate for a nationally available online savings account. Sad day. [More]

dodd-frank act

More New Debit Card Fees Loom

By Ben Popken 1.5.11

Banks are making less money when you swipe your credit and debit cards because of new caps on interchange rates, the fee that they charge to process each of these transactions, that go into effect on July 1st. They have to make the money up somehow! We’ve seen new fee-incurring tripwires on checking accounts, and now they’re dreaming up even more fees for debit cards. Here’s what’s on their wishlist: [More]

roundups

Personal Finance Roundup

By FMF 1.4.11

8 Unexpected Ways to Generate Extra Cash [MintLife Blog] “Alternatives to help supplement income or even simply maintain it, aside from asking for more job perks.”

How to Take Control of Your Finances in 2011 [Get Rich Slowly] “Here are eleven simple but effective steps to build a better financial future.”

Slow and Steady Saving Still Pays [Wall Street Journal] “Steady savings and the passage of time can benefit younger 401(k) investors.”

Will your pet bankrupt you? [MSN Money] “Before you adopt that cute mutt or exotic fish, be sure you know what the animal’s needs are — and that you have a plan to deal with unexpected expenses.”

25 Toughest Interview Questions of 2010 [MoneyTalksNews] “Some of the weirdest questions employers asked their prospective employees in 2010.”

— FREE MONEY FINANCE

credit cards

What's My State's Statute Of Limitations On Debts?

By Ben Popken 1.3.11

One of the first thing you’ll want to check when you get a debt collection notice is the expiration date. No, it won’t be written on the top like a milk carton. But you can check to see when the debt is from. If it’s longer than your state’s statue of limitations on debt collections, they’re unlikely to successfully sue you. Those dates vary by state, so here’s a handy list that gets routinely updated. [More]

portfolio recovery associates

Dead Woman Used To Collect Thousands Of Debts

By Ben Popken 1.3.11

Martha Kunkle has been dead since 1995, but that hasn’t stopped her from trying to collect on thousands of debts. Despite being six feet under, her signature continued to be signed on thousands of affidavits filed by Portfolio Recovery Associates (PRA) in lawsuits against borrowers, lawsuits that are ripe for contesting because the documents they’re based on are fraudulent. [More]

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