Nora Dunn's blog

The Four C's of Applying for and Managing your Credit

What exactly is your credit score? What factors are weighed when you apply for a loan? How can you improve your credit and ability to get great loan rates? And how can you unwittin

Impulse Shopping: A Controllable Handicap

A friend of mine has a pathological weakness for impulse shopping. But using the techniques outlined here, she dug herself out of debt and into impulse shopping bliss.

I Got Duped! Dealing With Credit Card and Merchant Disputes

So you bought an awesome thing-a-ma-jiggy or service with your credit card. But when you got it home you discovered the item doesn't work, the service was a heist, or the

Stop Calling Me! How to Avoid Telemarketers

Are you tired of dinner getting cold while waiting for a telemarketer to pause long enough for you to say you're not interested? Stop the calls dead in their tracks with some h

Credit Card Fees: Hidden and Otherwise

Annual fees, grace periods, balance transfer options…it's a wonderful world of credit card jargon out there, and depending on your needs and planned u

I Shouldn't Have to Pay for This! A Consumer's Guide to your Rights

If you buy something that stops working immediately and the seller refuses to refund your money, do you still have to pay for it?

My Car is a Lemon! What Now?

It all looked so great at the outset. But numerous trips to the mechanic and problems at the side of the road have shown you that you unwittingly purchased a lemon of a car.

Is it Time to Talk with your Parents?

With your parents (and other family members), avoiding conversations about finances can be detrimental in more ways than one. Because life happens when you’re busy making pla

10 Financial Frights to Avoid

This is a lighthearted (yet serious) look at some of the financial pitfalls we may find ourselves in if we're not careful.

Seven Tax-Efficient Perks to ask your Employer For

If you are doing a good job, your employer will want to keep you. And to do so, they know they might need to woo you or otherwise entice you to stay if your skills are marketable a

Disability Insurance: Payments and Pitfalls

Disability Insurance is yet another tool in the arsenal of insurance products that may be a life-saver for some people, but that also can unveil some bitter surprises at the worst

Holiday Gift Giving Techniques

Some of the things we love about Christmas (like sitting around a beautifully lit tree on Christmas morning with the family and opening gifts and enjoying some Christmas cheer) get

Scrumptious Sprouting for Your Meals

Instead of buying those expensive sprouts in the produce section at the store, did you ever consider making your own sprouts?

Credit Card Rewards Programs

A commenter on a recent article of mine on credit card usage, suggested a follow-up post with an eye to uncovering the mysteries of credit card rewards programs. And in my research, I discove [more]

AD&D Insurance: No Good, No Bad, Just Ugly

Accidental Death And Dismemberment insurance. Wow – doesn’t that sound just lovely? I mean, at least Life insurance has a euphemistic name (they call it “Li

Doubling Your Money with the Rule of 72

Did you ever wonder how financial professionals can so quickly mentally calculate how much money you’ll have in 30 years based on an investment return? Seems like magic, huh? Well,

The Dirt on Travel Insurance

In the world of travel insurance, no two policies are the same. Different activities and locales are covered in different ways between insurance companies, and even within the same

The Truth about Wealth

Is wealth about money, or having goals, or achieving milestones, or something completely different? Read on for a description of what a wise friend told me wealth might actually b

Money Matters: Why All the Secrecy?

As I alluded to in another article, I am amazed at how people will si

Give Two Laptops for the Price of One

Until November 26th, this program allows you to order the revolutionary XO laptop, only now bein