Tough love for charities
Cents and Sensibility: I am a sucker for a hard luck story. Ask me for money on the street, and I'll most likely find a dollar or two. Tell me you've got hungry kids, and I tend to up the ante. My son asks me how I know people are telling the truth.
Your credit card need not trip you up
Cents and Sensibility: The past few weeks it seems as if everyone I run into has the same story: My credit card's interest rate has jumped despite a good credit history.
Seeing abundance in time of need
Cents and Sensibility: At a time when many people are focused on what they don't have, Tamara Kissane and Cheryl Chamblee have a different outlook. It's a refreshing take and yet a bit surprising considering the two women are artists.
Don't be left with the bag
Cornatzer:We have seen some high-profile businesses file for bankruptcy in the past year -- Circuit City and Linens 'N Things to name just two -- but we've also seen a lot of small businesses go under as well.
Mothers teach by example
Cents and Sensibility:The e-mail this week from the National Foundation for Credit Counseling had the best of intentions: good financial advice that our mothers supposedly gave us.
Hope for credit card users
This has been a good week for those of us who would like to see the credit card industry behave a little nicer.
More pay? Check your W-4
Cents and Sensibility:Tax day is behind us, but it's not too early to start thinking about next year's.
Teach 'em how to handle money
Cents and Sensibility:Apparently, the heads of AIG, Bear Stearns and Lehman Bros. never got allowances when they were growing up. If they had, they would have learned to use their money -- and presumably their shareholders' money -- more responsibly.
ESC is playing catch-up
Mary Cornatzer:From this week's mailbox: Concerns, and some facts, about unemployment checks.
Healthy ways to cut costs
Mary Cornatzer:Many people right now are worried about paying their bills, and I keep reading -- in this paper and others -- that they're putting off checkups, postponing procedures and not taking medicine.
Tax refund loans aren't worth it
Mary Cornatzer:Refund anticipation loans are a lousy idea. And yet in 2007, 8.67 million people paid tax preparers for the privilege of getting their federal tax refund early.
Way out of debt is slow, sure
Cornatzer:Got your December credit card bill? Wondering how in the heck the balance got that high and how you're ever going to pay it off?
More Stories
