Archive for October, 2008

With the holiday spirit already starting to flow and it is just now Halloween, many people will feel a bit put out that their strict budgeting does not allow for making charitable donations to the Santas at the mall or on the corner. Passing up a Salvation Army bucket seems scrooge-like and you feel bad [...]

There are more and more families losing their jobs and struggling to keep food on the table for the humans in the household that is becoming increasingly common for families to have to give up their beloved family pets. There is barely enough money for basic needs that it is becoming more difficult for many, [...]

There are a number of items that can be found around the home that can become part of a home-safety kit, and help you evaluate whether your home is safe for children or not.  ConsumerReports’ recommends that you gather the following items into a do-it-yourself home-safety kit, and use them regularly to ensure the safety [...]

As the Christmas holiday nears, most consumers are looking for one thing during their holiday shopping – great deals. Because of the struggles of nearly every family nationwide to cope with the unstable economy, consumers will be shopping much smarter than perhaps they have in the past. This year many families can not afford to [...]

It used to be that ATM’s were a matter of convenience, an easy way to access your bank account and get your own cash without having to work around the operating hours of your local bank. However, as more and more people have grown to rely on this convenience, the banks themselves are cashing in [...]

Master Your Card (genius blog name…) offers up the latest issue of the Carnival of Personal Finance.  When you get there, you’ll be presented with a POP QUIZ, so I thought I’d repost the question here to give you a little more time to think about it before you get there
Pop quiz – [...]

It’s about time for “open season”.  I’m not talking about the hunting season – instead, I’m referring to the period of open-enrollment for your health plans.
The majority of employers will be requiring their workers to contribute even more to their health insurance costs as 2009 predicts healthcare costs to increase anywhere from 6% to 10%.  [...]

Interview after interview, perfectly capable job candidates are being told they’ll get a phone call when business improves.  Is it possible to land a job during a tight economic period where money troubles are common?  It’s true that the job market outlook is dimming, but the lights are on somewhere – it’s not completely blacked [...]

Your home is your castle, right? It is the place where you raise your family, eat your meals, and lay your head at night. Your home is supposed to be your safe haven but what happens if your home is making you or your family members sick? The world is becoming more conscious about the [...]

With the way things are going financially, so many families have had to make tough decisions in the name of basic survival. Many people have been hit hard by the economic crisis and are facing a lot of changes in their lives in a short period of time. One demographic group that is really feeling [...]

With today’s technology, it takes almost no time at all to catch up on and keep up with your monthly bills. Not only is paying your bills on time each time essential to your credit rating, it is also important if you are interested in keeping the most money in your pocket. Additional fees and [...]

If you’re the type of person to use prepaid credit cards instead of a traditional credit card (whether it’s due to a less than perfect credit history or because you want to avoid temptation to overspend), you might be happy to discover that Citi is now offering their ThankYou Network rewards program as part of [...]

As the holidays drawn nearer, more stores are ringing in the holiday merchandise a lot sooner than ever before. The idea behind this holiday explosion during Halloween is to give families a bit of a break because so many have to stick to a strict budget. This allows parents and families some extra time to [...]

There are 4 different credit card mistakes that people commonly make that lower their credit score, resulting in the person being less credit worthy to the credit card companies.  Most of the common credit card mistakes are items that many people would not even imagine affecting their credit score, but the reality is that there are [...]