November, 2009

GAO Report Seems to Back Up Convenience Stores

We told you back in July about the Credit Card Fair Fee Act of 2009. To summarize: Visa and Mastercard skims a percentage of the retail price every time you use a card to buy something. It’s called an “interchange fee”. Allegedly, U.S. merchants pay up to six times more for this service than merchants ...

Click here to read complete article.

Ask the Readers: How Do You Handle Peer Pressure?

Your friends and family influence you. They affect the way you view life. If your friends are frugal, it’s easier to be frugal yourself. But if they’re wrapped up in consumerism and materialism, and can be difficult to resist the urge to join them. It’s only natural to want to fit in. Rob wrote yesterday to ...

Click here to read complete article.

The End of Credit Card Rip-offs?

(The Consumerist) For many years, the credit card industry has resembled a modern day Wild Wild West. Unrestrained by regulatory discipline, American credit card companies have made life confusing (to say the least) for millions – often with no serious repercussions whatsoever. This lamentable state of affairs has led to the common complaints we’re all ...

Click here to read complete article.

Costco Auto Buying Program Experiences?

After having some more issues with our 15-year old car, we may be in the market for a new or lightly used car. We were looking at the Honda Fit (the newest gen looks even better than the previous one), and went to a local dealer for a test drive. I ...

Click here to read complete article.

Reader Story: A Very, Very Fine House

This morning, April wrote about trying to figure out how much house you need. In the comments, Tyler K. shared a photo of the house he and his wife live in. It has 450 square feet: “Last year our joint gross income was about $170,000,” Tyler wrote, “but we still find this house plenty adequate, and ...

Click here to read complete article.