If any good came out of the financial crisis and the Great Recession, it’s that it made many of us become more financially literate and more aware of the need to pay attention to our finances. We now think before making purchases and we are better at prioritizing our expenditures. We certainly understand our credit [...]
Continue Reading →There’s nothing more maddening than checking your credit card rewards balance only to learn that they have expired or are about to expire before you have a reasonable chance to use them. According to a study done by Synovate, a market research firm, only a quarter of eligible cardholders redeemed points in 2010. That means [...]
Continue Reading →I have a confession to make. I’m a coupon clipper, but it hasn’t led to extreme couponing, yet. My friends and family know that I’m a proud coupon clipper, and because I’m not shy about sharing my shopping exploits, they know that I’m pretty good at it. Based on a typical family budget, I should [...]
Continue Reading →There are few things in life that bring as much angst as it does excitement than buying a car. And, in this day and age of tighter budgets the debate rages on in our heads over whether it’s better to buy a new car vs used car. We’ve all heard the argument of driving a [...]
Continue Reading →Reach your fitness goals without paying for a gym. For the first time in many years I didn’t have as one of my New Year’s resolutions to “join a gym” or to “get in shape.” For at least 15 years running, those were among my top one or two resolutions because I, like so many other [...]
Continue Reading →With personal savings playing an increasingly larger role in people’s financial lives, understanding how to maximize the benefits of a savings account is important if you want to get the most from them. Today, people are faced with numerous choices when it comes to their savings, and with the availability of online banking that can [...]
Continue Reading →Guess what? It’s cool to be thrifty. Everybody’s doing it, at least according to a U.S.A. Today article that revealed a stunning 70% of Americans are thrift shopping. In the span of the last three years – the heart of the economic downturn – Craigslist.com reported an increase of 2000% in the number of hits on [...]
Continue Reading →Face it, when it comes to auto insurance, your life is reduced to a bunch of statistics and you are nothing more than a risk category to your insurance company. Insurers are in the business of making money, which means they want to pay as little in claims as they have to. The protection of your [...]
Continue Reading →Many consumers choose their banks out of convenience, including the ability to have one stop access to all of their banking needs. While the big banks have always had the edge over their smaller competition, it may surprise you to know that the whole industry is reaching some level of parity. Last week we provided [...]
Continue Reading →When setting up a savings plan, the challenge for most people is determining which savings product to choose. The banks, credit unions, and thrifts are all competing for your savings dollars by offering a cafeteria of savings vehicles with varying features and rates. If you’re saving simply for the sake of saving, then it’s hard [...]
Continue Reading →Do you know how to take advantage of 2011 tax deductions before 2012? There is perhaps no busier time of year than the holiday season – holiday shopping and preparations, planning Christmas vacation, closing out year-end business, all while trying to squeeze in as many college football bowl games as is humanly possible. Financial matters [...]
Continue Reading →It’s a sad commentary on human nature that there are so many ways that people can get ripped off these days. The worst part, is that many of the rip offs come in the form of legitimate businesses, products or opportunities that, while not illegal, border on immoral or unethical. There can’t be enough regulations [...]
Continue Reading →The fraud and rip-off brain trust is constantly evolving, innovating and striving to get into your wallet. The Internet is a virtual incubator of diabolical scams ready to be unleashed on a billion people all at once. But the real challenge facing consumers is that most of the scams and rip-offs they encounter are perpetrated [...]
Continue Reading →Spread Holiday Cheer by Spreading Your Rewards Points Holiday shopping can’t come soon enough for retailers, in fact many haven’t been shy about mixing their Halloween and Christmas, although we think that may be a bit gauche. It would appear that they are preparing for what could be a very competitive shopping season as consumers [...]
Continue Reading →It’s been a long time since we have seen credit card issuers offering 0% APR for 12 months AND no balance transfer fee. Since the credit melt-down, almost every card issuer charges at least 3% for people to transfer balances; that’s a lot of money for people with high balances! The Slate from Chase – [...]
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