Some offers seem too good to be true. And generally speaking, they are just that. Here are three examples.
Borrowing
Personal Finance Guru Q&A: ‘Psych Yourself Rich’ Author Farnoosh Torabi
Next up in our personal finance guru Q&A series is Farnoosh Torabi, who doles out financial advice regularly on all the major morning talk shows, writes MoneyWatch’s Your So Money blog, and has a new book out called Psych Yourself Rich: Get the Mindset and Discipline You Need to Build Your Financial Life.
Personal Finance Guru Q&A: ‘The Real Cost of Living’ Author Carmen Wong Ulrich
In the first of a new series of Q&As with personal finance experts, the TV host and author of Generation Debt offers her thoughts on everything from why she would never pay cash—or even put more than 20% down—when buying a house, to why she always pays top dollar for quality tequila.
150 Tips: Cash-Back Credit Card Fine Print, Mental Tricks to Save More, Stuff Broke People Say (That Keep Them Broke), and More
Here’s what this week’s scouring of the web for good (or at least amusing) personal finance advice has yielded:
Coming Soon to Debit Cards Near You: Annual Fees, Fewer Rewards
It may soon be time to rethink the automatic usage of a debit card, which unlike a credit card is tied to actual money held in a bank account, and which has been the preferred plastic of consumers eager to avoid annual fees and debt quickly piled up by swiping its cousin, the classic credit card.
The Reward for Cash-Reward Credit Cards: Higher Bills, More Debt
In theory, cash-reward credit cards seem great: Card holders get 1%, and occasionally 5% back for purchases. The system seems like it provides automated discounts and instant savings. The problem is that the way the incentives work, consumers who spend more are “rewarded” with more cash back. And guess what happens? Consumers spend more …
New Year’s Resolutions: The Good, the Bad, and the Annoying
Resolutions made as a new year arrives tend to come in two main categories, with a goal to do something that’s good for you, or to kick some bad habit. There’s also a third category of resolutions—one that resolution-makers should probably keep to themselves.
Nothing New About the Old Standards in the ‘New Rules of Personal Finance’
In what world are age-old concepts such as creating a budget and delaying gratification considered “new”?
Plastic Predictions: What to Expect with Credit Cards in 2011
After years in which the credit card scene has changed dramatically—with landmark legislative reforms that prompted more fees and higher interest rates, a steep rise in how complicated card offers have become, millions of customer accounts involuntarily closed followed by a time when card issuers are actively pursuing customers even if …
Bad Credit? You Still May Be a Good Risk for Credit Card Companies
The credit card companies are mailing out ten times as many offers to open new accounts as they did last year, and what the offers show is that many people with bad credit are considered good for business. Often on the mailing lists are “risky” consumers with bad credit—so long as they have the right kind of bad credit. Being a …
The Christmas Without Credit Cards
Have consumers finally learned their lesson? This could qualify as a Christmas miracle. Surveys indicate that the number of shoppers using credit cards for holiday purchases has fallen to the lowest percentage ever since such data has been gathered. That’s a good sign considering that an estimated 13.6 million Americans are still paying …
The Nation’s Most Fiscally Responsible Citizens Hail From … New Jersey?
My home state, much derided as a haven of McMansions, malls, and obnoxious, tanning-booth-crazed reality TV stars, and a place regularly accused by its own residents of having one of the country’s most fiscally irresponsible governments in the land, actually boasts the country’s most financially capable and responsible people. Who says …