If you have a bunch of variable rate Federal student loans, July 1st could be your lucky day. July 1st is when the interest rates on Federal student loans changes, and one financial id expert is predicting they’re going to drop to “historic lows.” What this means is you will have an opportunity to consolidate your variable rate Federal student loans together at the new, lower, rate, and save yourself some cash. How much?
personal finance
$100 For Opening Chase Checking Account
By 6.4.09
Who couldn’t use an extra $100 these days? Chase is giving $100 if you open a new Chase checking accounts. Just go here, enter an email address, take the coupon they send you to a nearby branch, and open a new checking account. Of course, there are a few caveats: 1) You have to deposit $100 into it. 2) The $100 can’t come from another Chase account or an affiliate. 3) Within 60 days, you have to either make 5 debit card purchases, or set up direct deposit. 4) You have to keep the account open for 6 months or they take the $100 back. 5) If you don’t set up direct deposit and you don’t make at least 5 debits a month, you get hit with a fee. Still, a hundred bucks is a hundred bucks.
Make A Budget That Leaves You With No Money
By 6.4.09
Budgets are supposed to leave you money left over, right? Well, the zero-based budget takes the opposite view, and thinks you should allocate every single dollar from every paycheck so that you’re left with nothing. Well, nothing that you don’t know what you’re going to do with. The allocation can, and probably should, include savings, for example. Getting Finances Done shows you how to get started with this budgeting technique that can save you time, headache, and yes, money. To jumpstart things, here’s a spreadsheet template you can use.
Walgreens Cancels EasySaver Program, But That Doesn't Mean You Can't Still Play "The Drugstore Game"
By 6.4.09
Mitchell wrote to us complaining about Walgreen’s decision to cancel its EasySaver Rebate program, where customers could submit multiple rebate requests at once and get the money back along with a 10% bonus applied to a gift card. Although the program is no longer with us, it’s still very possible to game the reward/discount systems at Walgreens and other chain drugstores to accumulate huge savings. Sometimes you can even make money back.
Tax-Saving Moves For 14 Big Life Events
By 6.2.09
Life is full of surprises and challenges. Luckily, there’s a tax form for just about all of them. Via Kiplinger’s, here’s 14 major life events that allow for smart tax-saving moves, and how to make those moves.
By 6.2.09
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Know your financial obligations: Though you let your car get voluntarily repossessed, you’re still responsible for the unpaid balance on the loan, plus any storage and transportation fees, plus interest charges. [Bankrate]
65% Of Modified Loans Will Default Again Anyway, Study Predicts
By 6.1.09
Many homeowners that couldn’t afford their home the first time around, can’t afford it the second or third, a new study finds. Fitch Ratings predicts that 55-65% of home loans getting modified will end up at least 60 days behind within a year. The percentage is even higher for those in subprimes…
updated: WaMu Accounts Become *Almost* Totally Chase July 24
By 6.1.09
Starting July 24, 2009, WaMu accounts will get fully transitioned to Chase. After that, ex-WaMuers will be able to fully enjoy the benefits of Chase banking, like making deposits into Chase ATMs, the full range of Chase branch banking services, and the luxury of paying Chase’s service fees which are higher than WaMu’s were.
Get Ahead By Working For Yourself One Hour Each Day
By 5.27.09
For most people, their career is their most valuable financial asset. But for those willing to make the effort, even a small one, there might be something even more valuable—a side business that could potentially turn into a very large source of income.
WSJ Asks, "Is Your Home A Good Investment?"
By 5.26.09
Brett Arends at The Wall Street Journal has compared Case-Shiller house price data to annual inflation rates, and speculates that owning a home may not be a very good investment. “You can often do better on long-term inflation protected government bonds,” he writes.
Which Parts Of The Country Are Carrying The Most Credit Card Debt?
By 5.25.09
Forbes wanted to know which states had the highest average balances per household in May, so they took the total amount of debt in 50 major metropolitan areas, divided that by the number of households, then divided that by the median household income for that area for May. Here are some of their results.
Expensive Purchases Are Like Peacock Feathers, Except They Don't Work
By 5.25.09
Geoffrey Miller, an evolutionary psychologist at the University of New Mexico, says marketers are trying too hard to find a working model of why people spend money the way they do. It really comes down to the human equivalent of “cost signaling” in the animal world—a sort of “peacock feather” display that’s supposed to tell peers and prospective mates how smart or sophisticated we are. The only problem is, other people never fall for it.
President To Sign CARD Act This Afternoon
By 5.22.09
President Obama is poised to sign the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act this afternoon. Everyone celebrate by buying lots of steaks and hot dogs and fireworks this weekend. In cash. [AP] (Photo: northernplateguy)
Seth Green Gives Sound Financial Advice In Special Cribs Clip
By 5.22.09
Seth Green takes you on a tour of his crib in this clip from Un-Broke, a financial program airing next Friday on ABC. “BOOM! That’s math all over your face!”
Costly Private Loans Masquerade As Federal Student Loans
By 5.22.09
Some students who didn’t read the fine print are finding out too late that what they thought were federal student loans were actually private loans. The mistake is the difference between a 6% and 18% interest rate.
Suze Orman, Revealed, Frightens
By 5.22.09
Get to know the woman behind the patterened jackets: NYTM had an incisive profile of personal finance guru Suze Orman last weekend. At one point, she eats six hot dogs in a row. [NYTM] (Photo: pynchonoid)
Jobless Guy Buys Facebook Ads To Land Microsoft Gig
By 5.21.09
Eric just graduated from an MBA program Monday and landed smackdab in the middle of our job-shriveling recession. So what did he do? To try to land a job at Microsoft, he bought Facebook ads that specifically targeted employees at the companies he wants to work for. It cost him less than $50, and he got over 20 Microsoft employees to contact him offering their help. Here’s how he did it:
