Latest Articles From The Money Scribes

EverBank’s Confusing Array of Interest Rates

From Consumerism Commentary on Jul 02, 2009

I plan to open up an account with EverBank within the next week to take this bank for a test drive. I like what I see of EverBank’s interest rates, but I have to admit the structure is not as simple as I like to see. As of today (July 2) ...

When Money DOES Buy Happiness

From Get Rich Slowly on Jul 02, 2009

Money can’t buy happiness. Or can it? The TierneyLab blog from The New York Times recently conducted an informal survey. Based on Spent: Sex, Evolution, and Consumer Behavior, a new book from Dr. Geoffrey Miller, readers were invited to: List the ten most expensive things (products, services or experiences) that you ...

Stupid-Proof Budgeting

From Bargaineering on Jul 02, 2009

One of the first things you will hear from anyone who is helping you with your finances is about budgeting. A budget is usually the difference between someone who has their finances under control and someone who doesn’t. The problem is that budgeting is often on the to-do list right ...

Credit Card Issuers Making Life Tough For Consumers

From Consumerism Commentary on Jul 02, 2009

Whether due to the economy or the impending regulation enacted within the Credit CARD Act of 2009, credit card companies are taking the opportunity to raise interest rates and minimum payments. This is perhaps an unintended consequence of increasing regulation. These changes affect consumers with manageable debt, but others who ...

Dealing With Financial Mistakes

From Consumerism Commentary on Jul 02, 2009

My wife and I went way our budget in a couple of categories during June. Part of it was to be expected because I’m commuting to a new internship, and part of it was planned, but unfortunately, most of the over-spending can be chalked up to a simple fact: we ...

How Long You’ll Be Investing

From Get Rich Slowly on Jul 02, 2009

This is a guest post from Robert Brokamp of The Motley Fool. Robert is a Certified Financial Planner and the advisor for The Motley Fool’s Rule Your Retirement service. He contributes one new article to Get Rich Slowly every two weeks. A couple of weeks ago, I spoke to a group ...

Adjust Your W-4 Withholdings

From Bargaineering on Jul 02, 2009

Over two years ago, one of the first Devil’s Advocate posts I wrote was that you shouldn’t adjust with your payroll deductions. Back then, as it is now, conventional personal finance advice told you to adjust your withholding so that you don’t have too much tax withheld from your paycheck. How ...

Credit Freeze

From Stop Buying Crap on Jul 02, 2009

Some stuff are just better when served cold.  Ice cream. Sushi. Revenge. There was a joke somewhere in there, linking cold stuff to freezing credit reports, but if you’re reading up on credit freeze because of identity theft issues, the last thing you’d probably want to read is a lame joke ...

Breaking Free From a Culture of Temptation

From Five Cent Nickel on Jul 02, 2009

Money… can symbolize work, power, love won, or love denied. It can take the form of expensive homes, expensive clothes, expensive presents. Luxuries become necessities. Debt compensates for all shortcomings. “For people to admit they can’t afford things they want means placing themselves in a position of weakness,” says Dr. ...

Lending Club - June 2009 Performance

From Five Cent Nickel on Jul 01, 2009

This is just a quick note to let everyone know that I made it through the month of June with all of my Lending Club loans intact. This isn’t particularly surprising, as most notes are paid on time when they’re new, regardless of quality. Taken together, my high and low risk ...

What to Expect in Traffic Court

From Bargaineering on Jul 01, 2009

I had the great pleasure of going to traffic court this morning. Yay! I was there to contest a ticket I received for making an improper left turn through a red light. The ticket was for $90 and I’m unsure how many points it would’ve been, but an improper turn costs ...

Discover as the Most Forgiving Credit Card

From Consumerism Commentary on Jul 01, 2009

Bankrate.com recently completed a study of 20 different credit cards from 10 different issuers and concluded that if one of your priorities is a card which will forgive your human errors, Discover is probably the card to apply for (or not cancel). Looking at the fine print for one platinum card ...

A Simple Guide to Surviving Unemployment

From Bargaineering on Jul 01, 2009

You just lost your job; now what? The instinctive path is to hit the newspapers and job boards, flooding resumes out to potential employers who might give you a chance. You might follow that activity by contacting recruiting firms to enlist them in your search. If this describes you here ...

Good-Bye, Microsoft Money! 16 Powerful Personal Finance Programs

From Get Rich Slowly on Jul 01, 2009

As of today, Microsoft Money is no longer available for purchase. Microsoft has essentially conceded that there’s no demand for the product. From the website: With banks, brokerage firms and Web sites now providing a range of options for managing personal finances, the consumer need for Microsoft Money Plus has changed. ...

Kiplinger’s Best 529 College Savings Plans

From Consumerism Commentary on Jul 01, 2009

Although I do not have children, I am considering starting to save for college. With the cost of tuition rising well above levels of inflation, the sooner I get started, even before any children exist, the higher the chance my child or children will be able to go to school ...

Credit Score - Good? or Good Enough?

From Five Cent Nickel on Jul 01, 2009

This is a guest post from Jim Wang of Bargaineering. If you like what you see here, please consider subscribing to his RSS feed. Credit scores are becoming increasingly important each and every day. While some people check them compulsively, almost as frequently as they check their investment portfolio, others ...

The Best of Get Rich Slowly: June 2009

From Get Rich Slowly on Jun 30, 2009

Get Rich Slowly keeps humming along! Thanks to your participation, it was another great month around here, with a lot of interesting discussions. I’ve managed to collate most of the results from the recent reader survey, by the way, and will share them with you in a few days. Meanwhile, ...

What is the Average Credit Score?

From Bargaineering on Jun 30, 2009

Have you ever been curious what the average credit score is? We know that the FICO credit score range goes from 300 to 850 with a good credit score being up above 750, but what is the average credit score? Fair Isaac shares a chart that indicates the average FICO credit ...

No-Penalty CD (Certificates of Deposit) Rates

From Bargaineering on Jun 30, 2009

Ally Bank was the first online bank to offer a no-penalty certificate of deposit and now it appears that the idea is catching on. Discover Bank will announce tomorrow that they are making their 12 month CD a no-penalty CD, where you can withdraw your funds should you involuntarily lose ...

Cash for Clunkers: Paying You to Junk Your Car

From Five Cent Nickel on Jun 30, 2009

In case you haven’t heard, I just wanted to point out that President Obama recently signed the so-called “Cash for Clunkers” program into law. Starting July 1st, would-be car buyers can get a $3500-$4500 credit for trading in their “clunker” and purchasing a more fuel efficient vehicle. Officially known as the ...

How Much You Can Save By Using a Free Library

From Consumerism Commentary on Jun 30, 2009

I am a typical American consumer. I buy books, music, and movies for my own entertainment, and the objects spend more time on my shelves than they do in their respective playback devices. I make an exception for music as everything I buy is almost immediately transcoded digitally and transfered ...

Why Pursue Financial Freedom?

From Get Rich Slowly on Jun 30, 2009

Your financial choices do not stand in isolation. They have a cumulative effect. As you pay off debt, as you save for retirement, as you reduce your spending, you are creating a snowball of right action. Or, to use a better metaphor, each smart choice you make creates ripples throughout ...

Best Options Broker Review

From Bargaineering on Jun 30, 2009

As you may have read in my review of The Options Playbook, I’ve started to get interested in trading stock options. As has been the case with everything I try, I do a lot of research first and then I dive right in. As my dad always said, you learn ...

Eating Out Without Breaking Your Budget

From Five Cent Nickel on Jun 30, 2009

Being frugal doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy yourself. Believe it or not, you can still go out and have a good time. In fact, there are plenty of ways to cut costs while still being able to join friends for an occasional restaurant meal. The first step is to ...

4 Important Tips for Graduates Beginning a First Real Full-Time Job

From Consumerism Commentary on Jun 30, 2009

The summer following graduation is an interesting time for recently-former students. The newly-commenced young men and women, those not opting to pursue an additional number of years in an institution of higher learning, spend their time amongst activities such as attending backyard barbecues in celebration of their achievements, traveling to ...

The Personal Finance Hour, Episode 14: Home Improvement

From Get Rich Slowly on Jun 29, 2009

Summer’s here, and for many homeowners that means it’s time for projects around the house. Since we bought our current home, Kris and I have spent a lot of money to make improvements. (At this very moment, contractors are painting the house!) Join Jim and me this afternoon for the ...

Buying A Prius Is An Emotional Decision

From Bargaineering on Jun 29, 2009

Have you seen all the Toyota Prius commercials lately? The ones with the people dressed up as foliage and climbing on top of one another? It was to highlight how “green” the vehicles are and announce that Prius was launching another generation of the hugely popular hybrid-electric. At first, my ...

Credit Karma Review

From Bargaineering on Jun 29, 2009

I can’t believe I’ve been using Credit Karma all these months and never wrote up a quick review of the service! I’ve written reviews about their credit score report card, but never about the entire service. Tsk tsk, what a bad blogger I am. Credit Karma offers a lot of nice ...

Escape from Cubicle Nation

From Get Rich Slowly on Jun 29, 2009

Last Friday, I attended a workshop put on by Pamela Slim, who writes about entrepreneurship at Escape from Cubicle Nation. Before this meeting, I didn’t know much about Slim or her message, but her work came highly recommended from my friend, Chris Guillebeau. “Pam is the real deal,” he told ...

Easy Budgeting for Non-Budgeters

From Bargaineering on Jun 29, 2009

Budgeting isn’t fun. Very few people look forward to tracking all of their purchases, cutting back when they’ve overspent, and adjusting their budget from month to month to meet changing conditions. However, it’s a necessary chore, like cleaning your house or apartment, that you should do because it’s good for ...

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