Posted November 13, 2009 - 07:00 by Xin Lu
Currently millions of Americans are delinquent on their home loans or facing foreclosure. Foreclosure, deed in lieu of foreclosure, and short sales are several ways for borrowers to get out of a mortgage that is no longer affordable. Here is a quick guide to what these options are, and how much they could affect one's credit score.
Posted November 7, 2009 - 08:00 by Xin Lu
A couple months ago I wrote about the pros and cons of extending and expanding the popular first time homebuyer tax credit which was due to expire on November 30th, 2009. I wrote that there was a good chance that Congress would extend the credit regardless of the costs. Sure enough, this week Congress has approved an extension and expansion of the credit. Here are some details on the changes.
Posted November 5, 2009 - 07:00 by Xin Lu
In Becoming a Category of One, business consultant Joe Calloway writes about how companies can successfully beat their competition by creating their own category of business and being the only one in it. I feel that many business leaders would benefit by reading this book, and as a consumer I feel that the world would be a better place if all businesses applied the lessons in this book.
Posted October 26, 2009 - 05:00 by Xin Lu
A group of lawyers threatened a class action lawsuit last year against Disney for deceptive practices since their Baby Einstein videos are heavily marketed as educational but research showed that television could actually be detrimental for very young children. Now Disney is offering a refund of up to $15.99 for each Baby Einstein DVD. Here are some details on how you can trade in your old Baby Einstein videos for some cash or a different product.
Posted October 13, 2009 - 08:00 by Xin Lu
Clothing swaps parties have become popular in recent years as frugal and fashion conscious men and women find that trading clothes is a great way to update a wardrobe for next to nothing. For those of you who are not into attending or organizing these parties, it is possible to trade your gently used clothes from the comfort of your home. Here are five websites that help you achieve this.
Posted October 9, 2009 - 06:00 by Xin Lu
A few month ago, my husband received an unsolicited Visa Debit Card from NetSpend and I wrote about it here on Wise Bread. What I found interesting was that several commenters defended prepaid debit cards like NetSpend and stated that it was cheaper than getting a bank account. In response, I decided to look into the fees and services of these prepaid cards.
Posted October 7, 2009 - 05:33 by Xin Lu
Lately several couples I know have been trying to purchase real estate, and it seems that none of them are too happy with their real estate agents. Some of them have been working with their agents for months without any positive outcome. The fact is that some of these poorly performing agents should have been fired long ago. Here are some signs that you should fire your real estate agent.
Posted October 3, 2009 - 08:00 by Xin Lu
A new show named Bank of Mom and Dad just premiered on 9/30/09 on SOAPnet. This show chronicles parents who attempt to reform their financially irresponsible adult children by moving in with them for a week. With the aid of a "money coach," the parents take actions to reform their spendthrift children. Can this financial intervention really work?
Posted October 1, 2009 - 07:00 by Xin Lu
Stocks, bonds, and real estate are investments we are all fairly familiar with. In the recent economic turmoil, many people are looking for alternative investments to maintain the value of their assets. Here are three long term "investments" that you could enjoy while you wait for possible price appreciation.
Posted September 23, 2009 - 12:00 by Xin Lu
In the current economy, many of us are happy just to be employed, but at the same time very few of us are working at the elusive "dream job". For many people their jobs simply provide a paycheck and not much more. So how do you find the career that makes you truly happy? I think the first step to finding your dream job is to define what it is.
Posted September 18, 2009 - 06:49 by Xin Lu
The $8000 first time homebuyer's tax credit is set to expire on November 30th. This means that those who want to take advantage of this refundable credit have only a couple months left to close on their home purchases. Since it could take 30 to 60 days to close on a home, the deals must be made soon. Now there are talks in Congress and the Obama administration about expanding and extending this tax credit. Here are some arguments both for and against this decision.
Posted September 15, 2009 - 09:00 by Xin Lu
I.O.U.S.A. is a documentary film released in late 2008 by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation that focuses on the national debt of the United States. I finally watched it this weekend and I am glad that I did. Although this review is one year late, I think the topics addressed in I.O.U.S.A. are even more important now for the Americans who despise debt.
Posted September 9, 2009 - 08:00 by Xin Lu
In CHEAP We Trust: The Story of a Misunderstood American Virtue is a book that explores the morality and practicality of being frugal from the beginnings of America to 2009. The author Lauren Weber identifies herself as a cheapskate who learned her behaviors from her extremely cheap economist father. Here are some strange and surprising highlights from the book.
Posted September 4, 2009 - 17:10 by Xin Lu
When I went to college it was unheard of to rent textbooks, but a number of outfits such as Chegg, Campus Book Rentals, and BookRenter.com have sprung up in the last few years that allow students to rent good quality textbooks at a fraction of the purchase price. As an experiment, I checked out these sites to see if it is really worthwhile to rent a textbook and here are my findings with real examples.
Posted September 3, 2009 - 08:00 by Xin Lu
Warehouse clubs or wholesale clubs are large stores such as Costco or BJ's that charge a yearly membership that allows customers to purchase items at prices that are slightly above wholesale. The memberships cost anywhere from $50 to $100 a year and the idea is that you can save more than the membership cost by shopping at these stores. My husband and I recently decided to cancel our membership after realizing that we were not really saving money at all. Here are our reasons why we parted ways with the warehouse club.
Posted September 2, 2009 - 08:00 by Xin Lu
In my last article I gave several reasons as to why you need a plain text resume to apply for jobs online. This post is a short guide to preparing your resume in plain text.
Posted August 22, 2009 - 05:00 by Xin Lu
There are countless products out there that help job seekers format and lay out resumes to look beautiful and readable on paper. I believe that the appearance of a resume is definitely important, but I think on the internet the best and most useful formatting for a resume is plain text. Here are some reasons why you need a plain text resume if you are applying for jobs online.
Posted August 19, 2009 - 10:02 by Xin Lu
My husband and I were watching a movie on our Playstation 3, and suddenly the Blu-ray player stopped functioning. It was no longer covered by the manufacturer's warranty, but luckily we purchased it with an American Express card, and the extended warranty program offered by AMEX was still in effect. To make a long story short, we are getting our Playstation fixed for free.
Posted August 15, 2009 - 09:00 by Xin Lu
Bing is the new search engine from Microsoft, and right now they are sponsoring a promotion called "Double Saving Days" that is giving shoppers cashback of up to 50% until the end of August, 2009. The Bing cashback program is completely replacing the old Live Search cashback program and this is how it works.
Posted August 13, 2009 - 14:00 by Xin Lu
A recent article in The New York Times profiled young American graduates who found jobs or started businesses in China. This is not such a crazy idea considering that unemployment is still very high in the United States and China is still in need of talented professionals who are familiar with the western culture. Here are some quick tips for those who are interested in working in China.
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