Preschools can be a giant chunk of change, so some parents are banding together and forming their own unofficial co-op preschools. Tuition is minimal and mainly goes to paying the teacher (that they get to choose), and they save on overhead by rotating the location between different family’s homes. There are definitely some considerations to figure out. People who’ve done it before advise: [More]
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Collectors, Stop Harrassing Me About Mom's Debt
By 9.28.10
Michele keeps getting nasty letters and phone calls from debt collectors trying to get her to pay for her mother’s debt. One of them told her the local police had said she “should be arrested” and another pretended to be from the U.S. Department of Education. How does she get them to stop? [More]
Without Receipts, Some Are Losing Money When They Return Recalled Similac
By 9.28.10
Jeff says since his local grocery stores put Similac on sale, his daughter hasn’t been able to get the full price back for the recalled Similac she returned because she doesn’t have her receipts. Without proof that she bought it before it went on sale, they will only refund her the sale price. “Who saves grocery receipts?” he writes. “My daughter was out $40 with everything she returned and repurchased a different product.” [More]
Bank Reverses Erroneous Foreclosure On Family With Very Sick Child
By 9.28.10
After the Washington Post reported on their plight, a family with a gravely ill child that got foreclosed on a day after they were told their loan modification was approved, the bank investigated and found that they had screwed things up. [More]
Chase Forecloses On Family With Son Crippled By Rare Genetic Disorder
By 9.27.10
A family whose son has debilitating cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy got foreclosed on by Chase, just days after they were told their loan modification was approved. [More]
NPR's Pet Toxic Asset, "Toxie," Dies
By 9.24.10
To see what would happen, reporters for NPR’s Planet Money pooled their money and bought a toxic asset for $1,000. At 99% off, it seemed like a bargain. This week, “Toxie,” as they dubbed their pet, gave up the ghost. Contrary to expectation, she was killed not by foreclosures, but by loan modifications, which reduced the amount of cash flowing into the bond. Planet Money tells the whole story in this awesome and hilarious animation. [More]
Lauren's Quick And Easy Excel Budgeter
By 9.24.10
It’s hard to beat an excel spreadsheet for quickly shifting between a granular and top-level view of your personal finance situation. Here’s reader Lauren’s account balance spreadsheet she made to keep track of her expenditures, past, present, and future, and itemize her budget. [More]
Woman And Her 30,000 Lbs Of Stuff Get Evicted
By 9.24.10
30,000 pounds of belongings stretched up and down the DC sidewalk. They all belonged to one woman who was evicted after she couldn’t make rent. [More]
Webloyalty Settles With NY AG For $5.2 Mil
By 9.24.10
Online “marketing” company Webloyalty has settled with the New York AG for $5.2 mil. You know how when you buy movie tickets and at the end it says, “You won a free $10 gift certificate!” And then if you read the small print it says that if you accept the gift certificate you get signed up for a discount club that charges a monthly fee? Yeah, that was their game. [More]
Foreclosure Firm Allegedly Forged Bank Execs' Signatures On Affidavits
By 9.23.10
A foreclosure firm listed “Bogus Assignee” as the mortgage owner on the documents they submitted to the court to process the foreclosure. That’s one of the many oddities surfacing in the investigation of a Florida foreclosure firm for allegedly using improper documentation to speed up foreclosures. Another is an employee “Linda Green” who signed of on thousands of foreclosure affidavits claiming to be executives from Bank of America, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank and other lenders. [More]
BofA Forecloses On Man's House, Even Though He Has No Mortgage
By 9.23.10
Bank of America stole Jason’s house from him, putting it through foreclosure even though he has no mortgage, with them or anyone, and he paid for it in cash. [More]
Woman Finds Sleeping Pills In Beef Bought At Walmart
By 9.23.10
Butcher! There’s a sleeping pill in my beef! A woman is upset after buying meat at Walmart for stroganoff, only to crack open the beef and find two sleeping pills inside. [More]
Chase Tries To Pass Fake Money Back To Customer
By 9.23.10
A guy withdrew some hundreds from his credit union to pay his roommate his portion of the rent. The roommate deposited them at Chase, which later discovered that one of the hundreds was actually a $5 altered to look like a $100. [More]
Verizon Talks Elderly Parents Into Pricey Phones They Can't Use
By 9.22.10
A fast-talking Verizon rep talked Joanna’s septuagenarian parents into buying expensive Blackberry Storm 2’s, but after they got them, they found that when it came to using the devices, they were all thumbs. Her dad has large fingers and rheumatoid arthritis, and the gadgets were overall too complex for her parents. [More]
USPS Out Of Regular Mail, Only Fancy Mail Left
By 9.22.10
Leesha says her local post office has gone upsell crazy. They wouldn’t let her mail a letter without sitting through an extended spiel about express and upgraded options. When she tried to fast-forward through the song and dance, the guy behind the counter snapped. Or, as the saying goes, “went postal.” [More]
Next Stop, TV Ads Inside The Subway Car
By 9.22.10
Mark another “safe from motion-based commercial messages” area off the list. New York is trying out adding TV screens inside subway cars as a way to bolster flagging revenues. The first campaign is a “full body wrap” – what graffiti artists used to call “bombing” – on the 42nd street shuttle for TBS’s baseball playoff coverage. The (silent) monitors will show highlights from previous games. [More]
Our Water Is Totally Fracked Up
By 9.22.10
An independent lab found fracking chemicals in the well water of “almost everybody” living in one neighborhood in Pennsylvania. Fracking is not a typo or a joke or a TV reference, it refers to “hydrofracking,” in which chemicals are pumped into the ground to create cracks and fissures that increase the output of oil and gas wells. The neighbors point their fingers at nearby drilling company Cabot, who has countered that the chemicals, like methane, were in some of the wells already before they began fracking everything up. [More]
Bank Of America Lets You Keep Get Out Of Jail Free Card
By 9.21.10
Chaz forgot about a check he wrote a month ago and when it got deposited this month, his Bank of America account went into the red. This also caused a transfer he started to get rejected, so he got two $35 overdraft charges. Armed with a “stuff happens” one-time fee refund card Bank of America gave him when he opened his student account, he went in and threw himself at their mercy. [More]
