“You’d be surprised what goes on behind closed doors. Every day, you were asked to break the law. If you didn’t break the law, you were asked what was wrong with you.”
Borrowing
Seeking ‘Retail Therapy’ When What You Need Is Real Therapy
Why do some people take their roles as consumers literally and consume and consume and consume—purchasing items they don’t need, splurging on silly gifts (for friends and themselves) without pausing to consider costs, hitting the mall whenever they’re feeling down or bored, and digging themselves huge amounts of credit card debt in the …
Foreclosure: A Letter from the Front Lines
With rare honesty and touching insight, a veterinarian in northern California discusses what it’s like for her family to lose their dream home to foreclosure—and she blames herself at least as much as the economy for their predicament.
The Latest Disturbing Unemployment Statistic
Right now, there are six times as many people who have been unemployed for at least 99 weeks as there were three years ago.
Q&A with Trent Hamm, Author of ‘The Simple Dollar’
“The trick is to just make sure you’re not spending a lot of money on stuff you don’t use or appreciate very often.”
Q&A with Jeff Yeager, Author of ‘The Cheapskate Next Door’
Jeff Yeager made a name for himself as The Ultimate Cheapskate. Now, after traveling the country and talking to tons of fellow members of the “cheaphood,” he’s back with a new book that’s all about how cheapskates proudly do what they do and save more and spend less than typical consumers, how they couldn’t give a hoot about keeping up …
America, Home of the Financial Ignoramus
This just in: A startlingly large number of Americans—perhaps you’re one of them—are basically financially illiterate, without a clue when it comes to concepts like inflation and interest rates. At the same time, financial options have grown, and grown more complicated, with gotcha mortgages and credit card agreements overloaded with …
Tips! 84 Fresh and Frugal Ones!
Cheap date ideas, tactics for negotiating with your landlord, ways your phone isn’t as dumb as you think, reasons life would be better if it was more like Monopoly, days of the year when people hand you stuff for free, and more.
New Fed Rules: You Can’t Be Charged for Not Using Your Credit Card
Last summer, while credit card companies were jacking up rates and adding fees in anticipation of new regulations that’d make it more difficult to part customers with their money, one of the most nonsensical charges to surface was the “inactivity” fee. In other words, a fee for not using your card — for not buying stuff. New rules from …
How to Unload Your Car Lease: Q&A with a LeaseTrader.com Executive
We’ve all heard about buyer’s remorse. But how about leaser’s remorse? Some consumers who hope to get out of their car leases—or who want to take over someone else’s lease on the cheap—are turning to lease trading websites, notably LeaseTrader.com, which handled 60,000 lease transactions in 2009 and is on pace to handle 70,000 this year.
Revenge of the Mortgage Lenders: They’re Coming after Strategic Defaulters
Millions of homeowners are considering the idea of walking away from their mortgages. But walking away doesn’t necessarily absolve the former homeowner of responsibility. Beyond the damage done to your credit score, there’s the very real possibility of lenders coming after you for the money that was lost in a short sale or foreclosure. …
Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid
Some insight as to why you really want to avoid payday loans, store-affiliated credit cards, and high overdraft fees.