January 15, 2010 – 4:39 pm
Not long ago, I received an email from Wachovia Bank advertising a new program called Way2Save. It’s one example of the automatic savings programs now being offered by a range of different banks. Here’s how it works at Wachovia: We’ll transfer $1 from your Wachovia checking account to your Way2Save account when you make everyday [...]
January 14, 2010 – 10:10 am
If you’re working on Capitol Hill, you may have joined us Tuesday for our webinar on credit markets and personal credit history. In line with that topic, there’s good news on the horizon for consumers concerned about the effect credit scores have on the terms they’re offered from a lender. Starting in January of 2011, [...]
January 4, 2010 – 12:19 pm
Every night, around the time the sun sets, my local television station runs an evening news broadcast. It’s been this way my entire life – a setting sun means that the evening news will be coming on shortly. But what if we said this: Since the sun always sets at about the same time as [...]
December 23, 2009 – 3:38 pm
Hannah’s post yesterday on how to get out of credit-card debt referenced the Federal Reserve’s most recent Survey of Consumer Finances, which is full of fascinating data about which households are the most likely to be in debt. Overall, 46.1 percent of American households reported holding debt on credit cards. But a look at who [...]
December 21, 2009 – 4:38 pm
Just in time for Christmas, First Premier Bank is out with a new credit card that offers rates as low as – 80 percent! It’s no mistake. This credit card’s interest rate is 79.9 percent. […] So for a $300 balance, a cardholder would pay about $20 a month in interest. The rate is the [...]
December 16, 2009 – 4:13 pm
We’ve written recently about credit reports, credit scores, and how you can go about improving both. These topics are on the minds of many Americans as they balance their gift lists with their bank accounts during the Christmas season. But buyers beware – those good sales that stores offer through their brand-name credit cards could [...]
December 14, 2009 – 12:40 pm
The New York Post recently profiled the 175-square foot “micro-studio” apartment of the Prokop family, located in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of New York City. It has the distinction of being the smallest apartment in New York, at a size that’s smaller than many people’s guest bedrooms. At 14.9 feet long and 10 feet wide, [...]
December 3, 2009 – 4:25 pm
Americans have been increasingly interested in “going green,” seeking out products seen as being friendlier to the environment. Retailers have been quick to capitalize on this desire, and this season the eco-trend of the moment is the rented Christmas tree. The Living Christmas Co., based in Torrance, is offering potted, 2- to 7-foot-tall Christmas trees [...]
November 24, 2009 – 9:04 am
This year, the American Farm Bureau Federation is reporting a drop in the full cost of a Thanksgiving meal. The Thanksgiving meal with turkey, stuffing, cranberries, pumpkin pie and all the trimmings will cost an average of $42.91, a decrease of $1.70, or 3.8 percent, from last year, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. [...]
November 16, 2009 – 5:04 pm
With the holidays approaching, many Americans will find themselves on airplanes en route to family and friends. And with air travel come the constant frustrations of long lines and baggage fines. Some of our elected representatives have decided to take a closer look at the now-ubiquitous baggage fines (or fees, depending on how you see [...]
