Banks love graduation almost as much as parents. You’re finally on your own, able to afford food, rent, and beer, so why shouldn’t the banks—the kind, selfless banks that let you save while you slaved for knowledge—now sink their teeth into your anorexic accounts for a hearty bite of their own? FiLife compiled an excellent list of bank policies so students know how their institution plans to celebrate their impending graduation.
savings
Create A Virtual Piggy Bank For "Spare Change" From Debit Card Transactions
By 1.16.08
Consumerism Commentary wants you to “put your savings in hyperdrive.” Funny, we thought that’s what we already did, which is why our savings raced light years away from our bank account. But Flexo, in his series of posts this week on how to save, uses a more grounded definition of “hyperdrive” and offers suggestions like opening a high yield savings account, saving your spare change (or the contemporary equivalent of spare change if you pay with a debit card), and automating your savings. Yes, these are simple suggestions, but that’s what makes them easy to remember and easy to implement.
Get 100 Gallons Of Heating Oil For Free
By 1.12.08
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez wants to give you 100 gallons of free heating oil to help survive the cold cruel capitalist winter. The hogshead of liquid warmth is available to anyone enduring a financial hardship who fills out a handy online form.
How To Talk To Your Teen About Investing
By 1.9.08
In the list of most popular regrets, the “if only my parents had taught me that” one usually ranks pretty high, which is why we’re glad to have found this post titled “How to talk to your teenager about personal finance.”
At Home Depot, Larger Signs Mean Higher Prices
By 1.7.08
Robert sent in this photo he snapped at the Home Depot in Frederick, Maryland on January 4th. “The cashier rang up all three at first and they came up as $11.97. Scanning them one by one set the price to $3.33.” Maybe the extra $2 is for the stackability of the containers. After all, you don’t get that feature with just one.
The Best Deals Are Not Found On Black Friday
By 12.30.07
Stores offer the steepest discounts the day before Christmas, not on Black Friday. A Boston Globe study found that the orgy of mindless early-morning consumerism is good for cutesy door prizes and savings on one or two items, but provides no discount for the vast majority of surveyed goods.
Biodegradable Coffins, "Composting At Its Best"
By 12.28.07
Biodegradable coffins allow you to rest in peace without putting a permanent dent in the planet or your wallet.
82-Year-Old Woman Sues Chase To Recover Life Savings
By 12.28.07
Chase is refusing to honor a cashiers check for $19.700.22, 82-year-old widow Willie Floyd’s life savings. Willie stored the check, originally drawn by her late-husband in 1985, in a $10 per year safe deposit box at the local bank. When she tried to shift the funds into a regular savings account last year, she was told that the check expired after five years, and that her life savings now belonged to the state.
Personal Finance Columnist Loses $10,000
By 12.16.07
Personal finance columnist M. P. Dunleavey lost $10,000. Her year-end financial review showed an inexplicable, gaping hole in her bank account. Where did the money go? Large hidden bank fees? Identity theft? Drugs?
I ran through the numbers again with my husband, and he reached the same conclusion: approximately $10,000 was missing in action. That was the vacation we didn’t take, part of the new roof we might need, some terrific wine we didn’t drink. Now we really wanted to know where that money went.
Fund Your Teen's Roth IRA
By 12.13.07
Kiplinger’s idea of a good Christmas present for a teenager is helping them start a retirement account. We kind of think the average teen is going to have a hard time understanding why that’s a “better” gift than, say, a game system, but the underlying idea is sound. As long as your teen worked at some point in 2007—even babysitting counts—he can open a Roth IRA. But other people (that means you) can fund it, up to the amount the kid earned in wages.
A Bunch Of Ideas For Turkey Leftovers
By 11.23.07
If you are like us, you like turkey leftovers more than you like Thanksgiving dinner, but don’t have a ton of creative ideas for turkey and stuffing.
Cremation: The Cheap And Environmentally Friendly Alternative To Burial
By 11.17.07
Cremation is catching fire as Americans look for low-cost, low-resource alternatives to burial. Cremation often costs half as much as traditional funerals – $4,000 instead of $8,000 – and does not require wood or land space. This combination is putting the heat on traditional funeral homes.
In theory, death care should be immune from short-term economic swings. Death is one of only two sure things in life, and the U.S. population is aging.
Saving Money The Lazy Way
By 11.17.07
If you’re like approximately 25% of the writers at The Consumerist, then prolonged talk of budgeting makes your eyes glaze over with boredom as you imagine yourself somewhere else doing something fun, like playing a video game or looking at pornography. Here, then, is a list of 10 so-called “easy” ways to save money, none of which require that you read a book or finally open that Quicken box your parents bought you two years ago. Many (or most) of the ideas may be of dubious value, but nobody said being lazy was profitable.
How To Fix A Broken Eyeshadow
By 11.17.07
If you are like me the first thing you do after you buy expensive eyeshadow is drop it on your bathroom floor, shattering it completely. I can not tell you how many times I have done this, so when I found the above tutorial on YouTube I was overwhelmed with joy.
Walmart "Saves The Average Family $2,500 A Year," But You Don't Actually Have To Shop There
By 11.13.07
Walmart’s new ad campaign says that the store saves the average American family $2,500 a year. What is doesn’t say is that you don’t actually have to shop at Walmart to take advantage of the savings.
Call For Advice: Reader Wants Discount Brokerage Recommendations
By 11.8.07
Onoodles writes, “I’ve managed to put away 20k into a Roth IRA. I started it directly through one mutual fund and now I’m looking to move it to a discount brokerage firm to diversify. So my question is, which one is the best?!” For a general overview and comparison of leading brokerages, we suggest looking into SmartMoney’s 2007 Broker Survey from a few months ago. And note that by going with a discount brokerage firm, you’ll likely be trading better customer service, research tools, and trading tools for cheaper fees.
What The Fed's Rate Cut Means For You
By 11.4.07
The Fed’s recent quarter-point rate cut could either mean more or less cash in your pocket, depending on what you accounts you own. Here is the breakdown:
6 Financial Demons And How To Exorcise Them
By 11.1.07
If you keep trying to save money and failing, there’s a good chance you’re possessed… by “financial demons,” says Kiplinger. Here’s a list of six common ones and how to exorcise them, before your credit rating goes all Linda Blair on you.
