Retail gas prices are currently hovering just a few percentage points shy of the all-time high set back in 2008. So we couldn’t think of a better reason to go for a (rather expensive) drive down memory lane to gawk with fondness at the last decade of gas price volatility. [More]
recession watch
Little League Decides It Doesn't Want Strip Club Money After All
By 3.14.12
Remember yesterday’s heartwarming story about the troubled California Little League teams that got a financial boost via a semi-anonymous $1,200 donation from a local strip club? Well, no sooner did we post the story then the league decided it didn’t to fund its baseball games with lap dance loot. [More]
130,000 Students Petition Congress To Not Double Interest Rates On Stafford Loans
By 3.13.12
While interest rates on federal Stafford loans have stepped down over the last several years from 6.8% in 2007 to 3.4% for the current school year, that number is set to bounce all the way back up to 6.8% on July 1, leading 130,000 students to deliver letters to lawmakers in protest. [More]
Are Student Loans A Ticking Time Bomb For The Economy?
By 3.12.12
Four years later, we’re still standing on the rim of a smoldering crater where the housing market used to be, pledging we’ll never let another financial disaster like that happen again. But some prognosticators worry we could soon be bracing for another blast, judging by the growing number of people who can’t pay back their student loans. [More]
How Does A 14-Year-Old Girl Buy A House?
By 3.9.12
You occasionally hear about teen pop stars and actors buying their own homes, but it’s not every day that you run across a seemingly average 14-year-old girl who not only purchased a property but has already turned it into an income generator. [More]
Where Do The 1% Pawn Their Pricey Goods When They Need A Quick Loan?
By 3.8.12
Remember that bank executive who worried he wouldn’t be able to afford to send his children to an exclusive private school and afford his family’s summer rental home in Connecticut? Maybe he should consider a high-interest loan from one of these pawn stars for the wealthy. [More]
Recent College Graduates Making 8-11% Less Than They Did 10 Years Ago
By 3.7.12
To the graduating class of 2012: All that money you or your parents have spent or borrowed to pay your tuition for the past few years? It’s not getting the same return on investment it did a decade ago. [More]
City Fines Man For Not Cutting Grass At House He Lost Through Foreclosure
By 3.2.12
A man in Arlington, Texas, recently found out that even though the bank foreclosed on his house two years ago, the city thinks he should be held responsible for maintaining the property. [More]
Downsized Bonuses Have Bankers Whining About Clipping Coupons
By 2.29.12
Times are tough out there. Millions of people owe more on their homes than those buildings are worth. The job market is still weak with many Americans just happy to take work that will help them pay the bills. Bankers can’t afford to add square-footage to their million-dollar homes. [More]
High School Rewards Students With Gift Cards For Showing Up To Class
By 2.15.12
Forget the images of truant officers chasing no-good punk school-skippers out of soda jerks or stories of headline-chasing judges sentencing parents to community service because they can’t get their teens to show up to school. One Ohio high school is going the opposite route and using monetary rewards to lure its students into their seats every morning. [More]
Help! My Employer Folded And Now I Can't Get A W-2
By 2.9.12
As you might have noticed, a number of companies have shut their doors over the last few years. Making matters worse for the former employees of some of those businesses is that they still have to file their tax returns — but no one wants to give them a W-2. [More]
California City Thinking Of Closing Wells Fargo Account Over Foreclosure Debacle
By 2.2.12
It’s not just individuals and small businesses that are peeved about the way big banks have mishandled the massive amount of foreclosures during the last half-decade. The city government of Berkeley, CA, is looking to pull several hundred million dollars out of its Wells Fargo accounts and plunk the pile down at a more consumer-friendly financial institution. [More]
Feds Announce Program To Turn Foreclosures Into Rentals
By 2.1.12
In an effort to put living, paying bodies into homes left vacant following foreclosure, the Federal Housing Finance Agency has announced the beginnings of a program to sell off pools of foreclosed properties to investors who would then rent them out. [More]
American Workers Growing More Flexible About Temp Work, Changing Careers
By 1.27.12
With about a half-decade of a blah economy and weak employment, Americans are growing more amenable to taking temporary employment, changing their viewpoint from the glass-half-empty opinion of “it’s a job without permanence” to “it’s a job that may lead to something permanent one day.” [More]
Unemployment Dropped In Most States In December, But Will It Last?
By 1.24.12
For everyone who so over these economic doldrums, the latest Labor Department jobs data for December 2011 may prove to be a bit of a belated holiday gift. Let’s just hope that gift doesn’t end up being returned in a couple months. [More]
Auto Lenders Approving Car Buyers Who Can't Pay Their Mortgages
By 1.5.12
Usually, one of the main factors a lender uses to determine whether or not to let an applicant borrow money is the applicant’s history of paying back (or failing to pay back) other loans. But with so many Americans having skipped mortgage payments in recent years, auto lenders are apparently no long slamming the door on potential borrowers just because they weren’t able to keep current on their house payments. [More]
Survey: 40% Of U.S. Drivers Putting Off Vehicle Repair & Maintenance
By 12.20.11
When you’re driving around in a vehicle that needs repairs, there’s a possibility that you’re putting yourself and others at risk. But with many people still strapped for cash, car troubles often take a back seat to pinching pennies, according to the results of a new survey by our polling pals at Consumer Reports. [More]
Every Monday Is Cyber Monday This Holiday Season
By 12.14.11
According to the ancient tradition, the Monday immediately following Thanksgiving has been known as Cyber Monday, that day when we all pretend to be working but are really sifting through countless websites looking for bargains. But that long-held tradition is now being repeated every first day of the work week this holiday season. [More]
