Category Archives: Bankruptcy
Even Small Debit Cards and ATM Withdrawals Can Lead to Big Fees
Since when does a cup of coffee cost $40? Since banks started using debit cards to make profits off their customers. In the past few years, consumers have increasingly turned to debit cards and cash rather than credit. It makes sense – most Americans are carrying some sort of debt burden and we don’t want… Read More »
Banks Are Making Some Debit Cards More Expensive Than Credit
Imagine opening up your bank statement and finding that the $5 lunch you bought with your debit card last week actually cost you $45. Sound outrageous? It is – but it’s happening to bank customers across the county. As more consumers choose to forgo credit and its accompanying interest and fees, banks are finding sneaky… Read More »
Bankruptcy Can Be More Effective Than Mortgage Modifications
Thousands of struggling homeowners were in for a shock when they received mortgage modifications this year – and their payments went up. During 2008 and the first three months of 2009, more than a quarter of all modified mortgages went unchanged, according to a recent USA Today article. Even worse, another 27 percent got more… Read More »
Some Mortgage Modifications Have Hidden Fees
If you were going to modify your mortgage, common sense says you’d make it more affordable, right? Well, it seems that some lenders don’t agree. More than half of mortgage modifications have either made no change or actually made loans more expensive, according to this story in USA Today. How? It turns out that lenders… Read More »
Saving Isn’t Just About Spending Less, It’s About Spending Smarter
Earlier this year, a poll found that 32 percent of Americans believe spending less has become their normal, permanent behavior. Cheap chains like McDonald’s, Wal-Mart and dollar stores have been thriving. There’s even been talk that our generation will be penny-pinchers just like our grandparents and great-grandparents who lived through the Great Depression. If there’s… Read More »