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Living My FiLife
My summer break is coming to a close and I don’t feel ready to go back to class in two weeks. I do feel ready to run my financial life though. As you might imagine, I’ve learned a whole lot about personal finance during my FiLife internship.
Here’s some advice I can pass on:
1. If you’re going to invest in an expensive electronic gadget, make sure you can afford it and that it’ll be worth your while. If you tire out your old phone or mp3 player, enroll in a buyback program so you can get some money back for trading your item in.
2. There are times when you should pinch pennies and times when you should spend a little more.
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Is This Fee Fair?
Did you know that the average family paid almost $400 in hidden credit card interchange fees last year, whether it used a plastic card or not?
Lenders collect interchange fees from merchants every time they make a credit or debit card transaction. Many merchants pass the cost on to customers by factoring the fee into their prices. This means that even if you’re not using your credit card to pay for an item, you’re probably still paying interchange fees.
PF for Back-To-School
Summer breaks have passed the halfway mark for many college students like me. As much as we’re dreading the return to late nights in the library, there are many things we should start doing to prepare for the back-to-school season. On the top of my priority list is reorganizing my financial stuffs.
Bank Accounts: It’s important to sort out your bank accounts before you return to school so that come September you keep paying bills on time and have a way to withdraw cash without paying hefty ATM fees.
I recently opened a new checking account with Citibank to take advantage of the ThankYou Network promotion. I already had a M&T Bank account that I opened when I started college. M&T Bank is close to my campus so it’s convenient to use during the school year. But this summer I deposited checks (like my paychecks from my FiLife internship) into the new Citibank account. It’s easy to manage this account online and I’m going to keep using it for paying bills when I go back to school. But I need to remember to transfer money to my M&T account so that I have emergency cash handy at school.
It Costs To Care About Your Health
These days, medical care can cost you an arm and a leg…literally.
In this article in The Wall Street Journal, Benjamin Brewer writes that many of his patients are opting to pass on medical treatments due to their high expense. One guy even went to work with severe pneumonia because the bill for a trip to the E.R. would be too costly.
Has medical care become too expensive for you? Have you been skipping your annual check up because you can’t afford to take a day off? Share your stories with us or post your questions about health insurance here.
Worth the Splurge!
Many of us are worried about the economy. We’ve been cutting corners by discount shopping for clothes, bringing lunch to work instead of buying it, taking mass transportation, and staying in on a Friday night instead of taking a night out on the town. Earlier this week Colin and Vanessa offered some other ideas about how to cut spending.
But there are some things that you shouldn’t scrimp on, especially if they pertain to your health, your safety, or if you’ll be getting a lot more by spending a few extra bucks.
Marketwatch compiled a list, from MSN Money, of four instances in which it’s a good idea to splurge a little. Check it out.
Lunchanomics
The lines at some of our usual lunch spots have been getting shorter. With food and gas prices so high, many of us are being frugal when it comes to our midday meals. A homemade sandwich can cost a lot less than a gourmet store-bought sandwich. And cutting back on lunch spending can help your budget without really hurting your overall quality of life.
But there are a few reasons to jump back into the deli line. These days there are some good lunch deals out there. As The Wall Street Journal recently noted, restaurants are being squeezed by climbing food prices and shrinking customer lines. Many places are trying to lure back diners with cheaper sandwich options and loyalty programs.
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Buyback Your Gadgets
The economy may be mired in crisis, but that hasn’t stopped the world from getting the new iPhone. People always seem eager to empty their wallets to catch the latest technology, whether it be for a smaller laptop or a better mp3 player.
But here’s a conundrum: technology evolves quickly, so what do you do with gadgets that rapidly age into obsolescence? In the latest issue of PC Magazine (currently not online), Heather Eng writes about “Turning Old Gadgets into Cash.” About $5.8 million worth of consumer electronics were sold on eBay in the first quarter of this year, according to Eng. But many people simply put their old gadgets to the side once they get new ones.
That’s foolish, because even old gadgets can make you money. TechForward Inc. is a company that has a Guaranteed Buyback program which allows consumers to trade in anything from computers to mp3 players, and much more, for a fixed rate. About 70 percent of their users return their gadgets for buyback dollars which can be used for other purchases at retailers who participate in the TechForward program.
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Credit Cards: Know Your Limit?
What’s more embarrassing than having your credit card declined while checking into the honeymoon suite? Not much. But these days, the chances that your card will be declined due to a reduced credit limit are increasing.
Credit card companies are growing wary of their customers’ abilities to make payments. Our friends over at The Wall Street Journal reported that many of these companies are now decreasing their customers’ credit limits. The companies are trying to ensure that they get paid back; a customer who doesn’t borrow as much is probably more capable of paying off the loan.
Here are a few things you can do to avoid getting your credit limit slashed:
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Louis Vuitton to eBay: Knock It Off!
The next time you’re thinking about placing a bid on an item on eBay, you might want to double check its authenticity. In a recent lawsuit, eBay is being fined about $63 million by LVMH Möet Hennessy Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior for selling counterfeit goods.
Louis Vuitton, known for its monogram leather goods, accused the online seller of not making sure that all of its products were real. According to the Wall Street Journal, eBay spends about $20 million a year employing 2,000 people to find and remove fake items from the website – guess that wasn’t enough.
This isn’t the first time eBay has dealt with a major lawsuit on bogus goods. In 2004, Tiffany & Co. sued eBay, claiming that only 5% of its products on the website are real. The trial is still pending.
Finding designer duds for a sweet price can seem like a steal at first. But you are always bidding at your own risk. Not all is lost when you don’t end up with the real thing, though. EBay has a buyer protection program which refunds you a small fraction of the money you paid if the item you buy isn’t want you thought it’d be.
T-Mobile Raises Rates, Opens Loophole
Thinking about switching from T-Mobile to another wireless carrier? Here’s your chance. According to Consumerist, T-Mobile has announced that they’ll be raising their text-message rates to 20 cents per text, up from 15 cents. On the one hand, this is lousy, but there is a silver lining: T-Mobile’s price increase means you to end your contract without being charged an ETF (early termination fee).
Reason? Five magic words: Materially adverse change of contract.
This clause differs for each company. For T-Mobile, the rules are this: If there any changes in the contract are materially adverse (aka financially harmful to you) you can cancel your contract without paying a fee.
Not everyone is qualified, though. If you have an unlimited texting plan, or a deal for a certain amount of texts (400 texts for $4.99/month), then the raise in texting rates don’t apply to you and you’re stuck with T-Mobile until your contract runs out.