As featured in The Wall Street Journal, Money Magazine, and more!

August 2010

TD Bank’s Penny Arcade: An Investment With a 58% Return

by Luke Landes

I’m generally a fan of TD Bank and my local branch’s generous operating hours, and I’m also a fan of the bank’s coin counting machine called the Penny Arcade. After my interesting experience last weekend, I’m an even greater (and slightly wealthier) fan. Last weekend, my girlfriend and I counted the coins in our coin ... Continue reading this article…

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Podcast 69: American Express Customer Service Survey, Keri Buster

by Luke Landes

On today’s episode of the Consumerism Commentary Podcast, Tom Dziubek speaks with Keri Buster, Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Communications, World Service at American Express about her company’s recent survey about customer service. Tom and Keri discuss American Express’s findings about the importance of customer service to customers and the effect customer service has ... Continue reading this article…

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Citibank $50 Statement Credit Back To School Offer

by Luke Landes

If you’re a student in need of a credit card, you’ll want to do your homework on which card is the best for you. Are you looking for a credit card with a low APR so you can carry a reasonable balance from month to month? Perhaps you’re the type of student that puts all ... Continue reading this article…

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Paid Insufficient, My Old Friend

by Smithee

Last week on Facebook I was celebrating the new law that stops banks from auto-enrolling new customers into overdraft programs, making it merely optional instead. A more conservative friend from college expressed his dislike of the law, asking me (I’m paraphrasing) “What happened to personal responsibility in this country? Why is it a good thing ... Continue reading this article…

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Inactive Savings Accounts Can Be Turned Over to Your State

by Luke Landes

The state will take your money if you’re not vigilant. I received a warning the other day that I’m in danger of having the funds in one of my savings accounts handed over to the state of New Jersey. I’ll explain why in a moment. First, I should explain that rather than keeping a simplified ... Continue reading this article…

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How to Not Get Hired: Drink or Hold Alcohol

by Luke Landes

My job interview for my current corporate position included, for some reason, discussion of visiting bars on the Jersey shore to listen to mediocre cover bands. While in my future manager’s office, we were not actually drinking. It’s a good thing there was no alcohol during the interview, because rather than winning the job, if ... Continue reading this article…

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The Best Credit Cards for College Students, May 2013

by Luke Landes

Over the last three years, there has been a strong initiative to reform the banking industry in terms of attracting and maintaining credit card customers. Student credit cards have seen many of the changes. Gone are the days of marketing on college campuses for free t-shirts, and if you’re under 21 without a reliable source ... Continue reading this article…

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Student Loan Debt Surpasses Credit Card Debt

by Luke Landes

According to the latest statistics from the Federal Reserve and the publisher of FinAid.org, the total amount of money Americans have borrowed on government and private student loans at $830 billion has surpassed the total American consumer balance on credit cards, only $827 billion. As the Wall Street Journal mentions when sharing this information, this ... Continue reading this article…

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Make Sure You Really Want to Jailbreak Your iPhone

by Smithee

If you heard about it at all, you heard right: it’s no longer illegal to jailbreak your iPhone. That means you can install any app you want on it, regardless of whether it exists in the official App Store. But according to Apple, this will void your warranty, so proceed with caution. I’d recommend looking ... Continue reading this article…

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Degrees With Low Salaries: How to Beat the Odds

by Luke Landes

Eleven years ago or so I began my career with my bachelor’s degree in hand. Once I stabilized a little, I had a job with one of the top organizations in the world. It was a non-profit organization, and despite its prestige, it was a non-profit organization with staffing nightmares and horrific cash flow. My ... Continue reading this article…

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Podcast 68: Personal Investing, Carol Fabbri

by Luke Landes

On today’s episode of the Consumerism Commentary Podcast, Tom Dziubek talks to Carol Fabbri, co-author of the book Personal Investing: The Missing Manual. During the interview, Carol discusses many the preparation a person should make before investing, the different categories of investors, choosing the right index funds, a reasonable return on investment that investors should ... Continue reading this article…

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CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Visa® 30,000 Bonus Miles Offer

by Luke Landes

CitiBank, one of the premier credit card lenders in the US today, has developed a new credit card offer for small business owners that need to travel. For a limited time, the CitiBusiness® AAdvantage® / Visa® is awarding new cardholders 30,000 bonus miles, enough for a domestic round-trip ticket. The only requirement to qualify for ... Continue reading this article…

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Our New Budget Could Mean Extra Car Payments

by Smithee

Last week I talked about the need for my wife and I to decide on a new savings goal. We had been saving ten percent of our paychecks each month in the Joint Savings Account, which allowed us to do some fun things and avoid credit cards, but wasn’t really a place for money to ... Continue reading this article…

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BP Lowers the Price of Gasoline for Some

by Luke Landes

BP, whom we all know as the featured star in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, has understandably seen a decline in retail sales of gasoline. While retaliation by boycotting BP-branded has stations originally seemed to be more symbolic than effectual, apparently enough people are avoiding the brand to bother local station owners. In an ... Continue reading this article…

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TD Ameritrade In Trouble For Misleading Investors

by Luke Landes

According to the Pennsylvania Securities Commission, brokers for TD Ameritrade misled investors in 2007 in order to sell a mutual fund, taking advantage of customers looking for higher returns. A certain mutual fund, the Reserve Yield Plus Fund, was sold as a high-rate investment to investors looking for a money market fund. The brokers allegedly ... Continue reading this article…

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Personal Balance Sheet, July 2010 ($365,647, +8.0%)

by Luke Landes

My girlfriend and I are spending this week on vacation in Myrtle Beach. It’s my first visit to this area, and we are enjoying it. I’ve never been a big fan of the beach, but that may be only because most of my experience involves the Jersey shore. I’m learning to appreciate the “do-less” vacation, ... Continue reading this article…

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Amazon Kindle, Chapter Three

by Smithee

Amazon’s 3rd-generation Kindle e-reader, set to be released on August 27th, had me worried for a little while. My gadget-y friends and I often wonder aloud about upcoming features and technology advances, and many of them assumed Amazon would try to make it more like an iPad. As a happy owner of a 2nd-generation Kindle, ... Continue reading this article…

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How To Combine Finances for Couples

by Luke Landes
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When a couple marries or otherwise commits to be in a long-term relationship with each other, the question of whether to combine money usually arises. The debate about whether what could be called “his money” and “her money” should become “our money” is endless. Different arrangements work for different couples, and this article doesn’t address ... Continue reading this article…

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Podcast 67: The Importance of Earning More, Ramit Sethi

by Luke Landes

On today’s episode of the Consumerism Commentary Podcast, Tom Dziubek and Flexo talk to Ramit Sethi, author of the bestselling book I Will Teach You To Be Rich. Ramit discusses the importance of earning more money and talks about topics such as why people don’t earn as much as they can, the use of systems ... Continue reading this article…

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