Recent comments

  • Ask the Readers: How Do You Avoid Stressing Out During the Holidays?   9 years 21 weeks ago

    Not really buying or receiving gifts take most of the stress out of it. And Xanax when I fly!

  • The Benefits and Drawbacks of Credit Unions   9 years 21 weeks ago

    I definitely agree. Credit Unions are much healthier (financially speaking) than Corporate Banks, they use your earnings to do devilish investments. In the long run they can hurt us as well with our own money they used.... sad! and unfair!

  • Ask the Readers: How Do You Avoid Stressing Out During the Holidays?   9 years 21 weeks ago

    I do very little Christmas shopping because I'm in survival mode. I must admit that it saves me a lot of stress.

  • 4 Ways Millennials Are Changing Marriage   9 years 21 weeks ago

    I think the reason for more prenups is that divorce is a more acceptable option for many Millennials than for previous generations. Bottom line: If you go into a marriage believing that you will never get a divorce, then there's no need to consider a prenup. But if you go into a marriage with divorce on the table, then of course you're going to protect your assets.

  • Ask the Readers: How Do You Avoid Stressing Out During the Holidays?   9 years 21 weeks ago

    Cash and gift cards for most recipients. I have a Christmas Club at the bank so I have the cash I need for gifts.

  • Want to Keep Your Disposable Razor Blades Sharp? Use Your Arm   9 years 21 weeks ago

    this does work, I do this along with a towel and jeans, I swear i'm using the same mach 3 blade, for 23 months now with no signs of dulling. don't believe me? good ! try it then argue with me. I have no monetary interest in this . just trying to save you money, ask yourself why, Gillette fusion blades have to cost $5.00 apiece now really $5.00 each lol what fools we were.

  • The Overdraft Protection Racket: Why Banks Want You To Overdraw, And How You Can Get Your Money Back.   9 years 21 weeks ago

    I am just wondering, has anyone ever had any problems with Capital One? When I got my first real job after college, I closed my BofA account (which charged a monthly fee just for having an account with them if my balance was below a certain limit...I hated that), and I opened an account with ING. Then a year or two later ING was bought by Capital One and re-branded as Capital One 360. I have never had ANY problems with either ING or Capital One 360 after they bought ING - no sneaky fees or tricks ever. My paycheck is set up for direct deposit into my checking account and always shows up immediately and in the correct order. All of my bills are also set up for auto debit from my checking account, except for a few that I pay manually, but I still use Capital One's Bill Pay feature to pay those, and I have never had any problems. Additionally, at least a couple times a year, I will transfer money from my savings account to my checking account (using their mobile app) literally seconds before making a purchase when I know my balance is low, and I have never been hit with any overdraft fees or had the order of my transactions manipulated ever in almost 5 years of banking with them. The only downside of Capitol One 360 is they are completely online - there is no physical "branch" you can go to (except for a few "banking cafes" in sparse locations that I have never been to), but this has never been a problem for me as their online and mobile app services are always simple, efficient and reliable.

    BUT! The best part is, Capital One 360 gives you the CHOICE of FOUR different options for how you would like them to handle your account being overdrawn:
    1. Auto-Decline
    2. Free Savings Transfer
    3. Next Day Grace
    4. Overdraft Line of Credit

    For the Next Day Grace option, they will "consider" paying your overdraft amount and give you 24 hours to pay it back. If you miss they deadline or they decide not to cover the overdraft for some reason, they won't charge an NSF fee if your account is overdrawn by $5 or less, and they will not charge more than 4 NSF fees in one day.

    Here is a link that explains each option in detail:

    https://home.capitalone360.com/terms_360checking#Overdraft-Services

  • Ask the Readers: How Do You Avoid Stressing Out During the Holidays?   9 years 21 weeks ago

    I shop year round and prep randomly throughout the year for the holidays. It's all about organization and communication!

  • Ask the Readers: How Do You Avoid Stressing Out During the Holidays?   9 years 21 weeks ago

    We order a holiday meal instead of okming.

  • Ask the Readers: How Do You Avoid Stressing Out During the Holidays?   9 years 21 weeks ago

    I don't wait until the last minute to do my shopping.

  • Ask the Readers: How Do You Avoid Stressing Out During the Holidays?   9 years 21 weeks ago

    We don't have kids or really any other close family other than my husband and myself. So really we only have gifts for us and our dogs, so it's not that hard to buy things for just 2 people and two pups. I try to shop black friday or cyber monday in order to cut down on costs for our presents and whatever else we need at the time.

  • 5 Tips From "Playbook For Tough Times" That'll Help You Live Your Best Life   9 years 21 weeks ago

    I would love to win a copy of your book

  • 5 Financial Moves Now That You'll Regret When You Retire   9 years 21 weeks ago

    Strong list. It really speaks to how most people look at retirement as something they don't really have to worry about just yet. Sadly that is certainly not the case.

  • 5 Reasons Not to Apply for a Loan Modification in the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP)   9 years 21 weeks ago

    We signed up for a making homes affordable programs. It ruins your credit because at the time we were late on our payments and they would. It help us until we stopped paying. Bullshit! This made have tons of late charges and now are mortgage is back where it started 8 years ago when we bought the house. Our 30 year mortgage is now 60 years and we save 300 per month. This program is a joke! They are getting every penny plus ruining credit of hard working Americans.

  • 5 Tips From "Playbook For Tough Times" That'll Help You Live Your Best Life   9 years 21 weeks ago

    The discount code WISEBREAD was rejected when I entered it at the link that took me to the e-junkie website.

  • 8 Truths From a Mystery Shopper You Must Read Before You Get Started   9 years 21 weeks ago

    I have mystery shopped for years & its a fun way to make a little extra money. I love it. I did work for one company that paid on time every pay period right on time & then .....nothing when I called in I got yelled at called names & so it it goes. Needless to say I quit with them moved on. I have to say be careful if the ones scheduling your appointments are the ones you need to stay close with, if they don't answer your questions or you have to keep rewording the question or statement to get an answer...

    The last place I worked the website was a mess, I put in the amount of money I spent the exact same amount that was showing on the receipt. The website tells me its "wrong amount" Really?????.
    Secret shopping is fun but if you don't get with a supporting company you will have more headaches than you ever thought possibly.

  • How to Look Rich Without Having Much Money   9 years 21 weeks ago

    The truth is, you can't look rich without being at least middle class. The true key in this is dressing well, in well fitting preppy/business casual wear most of the time and business formal wear sometimes. Just the cost of having well tailored, clean, pressed clothes and shoes alone is costly if you hope to have any variety.

  • Ask the Readers: How Do You Avoid Stressing Out During the Holidays?   9 years 21 weeks ago

    I take a break from everything for a while before jumping back in.

  • A Used Car Salesman Reveals Dirty Tricks (and How to Beat Them)   9 years 21 weeks ago

    I followed all these steps, but still got cheated. Because all tips/instructions about buying used cars mention this sentence "The best way to protect yourself is to pay for an independent vehicle inspection and buy a CARFAX or AutoCheck report,". This is where the author is needs to correct the sentence to protect customers. It must be "Check history from both CARFAX AND AutoCheck for same vehicle".

    Because most of the times, 1 report is clean (with no accident history), where as other history has accidents recorded. Dealers aware of this, so they only advertise either carfax or AuthCheck, which DOES NOT show any prior accidents. Same thing happened with me and got cheated. But when I went another dealer to trade, he checked both reports and showed me that your vehicle was involved in prior accident and he offered my peanuts. I was shocked to know this, because dealer showed clean report to me when I bought. Dealer when they are selling they only show clean history, but when they buy they go through both reports.

    Another hint to customers, if you see word "Vehicle was auctioned", most of the times, vehicle is involved in accident and has major structural damages. Dealers buy such vehicles, repair themselves, does not report to carfax/autocheck and sell to unsuspected customers and cheat them.

  • Ask the Readers: How Do You Avoid Stressing Out During the Holidays?   9 years 21 weeks ago

    First, I allow myself not to be perfect from the very start of the Christmas holiday. Doing something for someone else - whether I know them or not - relieves stress. It can be as simple as picking out a person, while in line at the checkout, and praying for whatever they need the most. The gifts I give are simple but chosen with care. This year meaningful photos reproduced on canvas are ordered for those on my list.

  • 25 Ways to Make Money Today   9 years 21 weeks ago

    I know this list is older but it's still super useful! If you all decide to do an updated one, you should definitely add Stow to your list. It's kinda like AirBnB for storage mixed with craigslist. I've been using it for a few months now and it's super simple. I think their website it stow.io

  • Ask the Readers: How Do You Avoid Stressing Out During the Holidays?   9 years 21 weeks ago

    I don't worry about gifts or material things and instead focus on spending time with my family.

  • Ask the Readers: How Do You Avoid Stressing Out During the Holidays?   9 years 21 weeks ago

    It's the stress of travel and being away from home that gets to me the most. Since I'm introverted, I really like my alone time at home, so committing to being away from home and being constantly surrounded by a group of people (family) for several days wipes me out. I haven't discovered a way to tackle this stress and usually just power through it and then crash when I get back home.

  • Ask the Readers: How Do You Avoid Stressing Out During the Holidays?   9 years 21 weeks ago

    Booze...booze...and more booze!

  • Ask the Readers: How Do You Avoid Stressing Out During the Holidays?   9 years 21 weeks ago

    I avoid the crowds, shop all year long and keep a list of the gifts for people that I have stored in my "gift dresser", and I try to get everything else done ahead of time, too.