If you participate in an automatic savings program like Bank of America‘s Keep the Change service, where debit card purchases are rounded up and the difference is deposited into your savings account, keep an eye on maintenance fees. James says he was hit with a $5 charge last month because he hadn’t met the minimum monthly deposit requirement of $25: “It turns out that I wasn’t even accruing $5 worth of change per month, so I was losing more money due to the maintenance fee than I was saving via Keep the Change!”
personal finance
Personal Finance Roundup
By 11.11.09
Be a smarter charitable giver [CNN Money] “Make your charitable dollars go further by following these three strategies.”
Golden Parachute Or Gilded Noose?
By 11.10.09
WSJ takes a look at the “severance class” – unemployed formerly high-ranking folks burning through their chunky termination pay package to maintain the outward apperance of their pre-pink slip lifestlye.
Citibank To Charge Fees On Checking Accounts
By 11.9.09
If you’re a Citibank customer who has one of the bank’s two smaller checking account plans—the ones where the monthly fee is waived as long as you use direct deposit or their online bill payment—then maybe it’s time to consider taking your business elsewhere. Starting in February, anyone with an average balance of less than $1500 will be assessed a monthly $7.50 service fee, reports the New York Post.
Denied A Credit Card? Try A Reconsideration Letter
By 11.9.09
Frugal Travel Guy has a story of how he was able to get a credit card for his son after the company first denied him. The magic bullet was a well-crafted “reconsideration letter.” What’s that?
10 Things Learned About Life And Personal Finance
By 11.6.09
You blog for 3 years about money, life, and personal finance, all of which are interconnected, and you pick up a few things. Trent from The Simple Dollar shares the 10 most important lessons he’s learned since starting his personal finance blog. For starters, number 10, while it’s easy to get caught up in trying to save one more nickel off every purchase, “Reliability and functionality worth a premium”!
What You Need To Know About Today's Unemployment Benefits Extension
By 11.6.09
If you’re still struggling to find a job in the current economy, you’ll be happy to know that this morning President Obama is expected to sign legislation to extend benefits for few more months. The New York Times has more info on how the extension will work, and who qualifies for it.
USAA Expands Membership To All Vets
By 11.6.09
Perennial Consumerist favorite banker and insurance company USAA announced yesterday that they’re expanding eligible membership to all honorably discharged vets, regardless of dates or lengths of service.
Negotiating Reduced Payoff Can Hurt Credit Score
By 11.5.09
Did you know negotiating a reduced payment payoff with a lender negatively affects your credit score?
10 Ways to Lower Your 2009 Taxes
By 11.5.09
With less than two months left in the year, it’s time to start considering year-end money moves to reduce your 2009 tax burden. To help spur some ideas, MSN Money has ten suggestions as follows:
Quicken Online To Be Shut Down Next Year, Accounts Merged With Mint
By 11.4.09
When news broke back in September that Intuit, the company behind Quicken, was buying personal finance website Mint, everyone wondered how the two services would co-exist. The worst case scenario was that Mint would be absorbed somehow into Intuit’s in-house competitor, Quicken Online. Thankfully, it looks like the opposite will happen.
Verizon Wireless To Hike ETFs On "Advanced" Devices
By 11.4.09
Are you looking to get a smartphone on the Verizon network anytime soon? Make sure that you like it before you sign a contract, since starting November 15th, Verizon will be imposing a higher early termination fee—up to $350—on contracts for “advanced” devices. That means smartphones.
Personal Finance Roundup
By 11.4.09
How to give even when you’re broke [Smart Spending] “Your time might be more valuable than your money.”
Update: Capital One: Waive Your Rights, Get $10 Off Your Next Overlimit Fee!
By 11.4.09
Here’s the straight scoop on what’s up with the story in that “Capital One: Waive Your Rights, Get $10 Off Your Next Overlimit Fee!” post.
Take More Notes, Save Money
By 11.2.09
Yesterday I grabbed a notebook app for my smartphone and spent a couple of hours organizing the various content folders—ideas for Consumerist, gift lists for Christmas, things to look up later on a computer—so that I could capture information more efficiently. Wait, why s ths n Cnsmrst? Because The Simple Dollar argues that by keeping a notebook and using it all the time (Lifehacker calls it “ubiquitous capture”), you can end up saving money.
When To Buy A Home And How To Avoid Screwing It Up
By 11.2.09
Are you hitting that stage in life where you’re thinking of becoming a homeowner? Morningstar has published two home buying articles that together offer some good, concise advice to the prospective buyer, especially if you’re a first-timer.
Goldman Secretly Bet On Housing Crash
By 11.2.09
A 5-month investigation by McClatchy Newspapers has found that Goldman secretly bet on the housing crash, went out and pimped the dickens out of assets it knew were junk, and may have broken securities laws in doing so. McClatchy found that Goldman…
