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Don’t Let Dealerships Mislead You About Cash for Clunkers

by Flexo

It’s debatable whether the Cash for Clunkers program, formally known as the “Car Allowance Rebate System” or the apt but unoriginal acronym “CARS,” will eventually be seen as successful either in terms of the economy or the environment, but it certainly has dealerships fired up. While the dealers appreciate the customers — without Cash for ... Continue reading this article…

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Take Back the Beep Campaign

by Smithee

If you were to start adding a comment to this blog post, but we first made you wait fifteen seconds after pressing the “comment” button to make you hear some extraneous instructions, you’d be terribly frustrated. Now imagine if every Web site had the same problem, and imagine further that you were being charged for ... Continue reading this article…

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Podcast 14: ING Direct’s “We, the Savers” and the AICPA’s Feed the Pig Campaign

by Flexo

Episode 14 of the Consumerism Commentary Podcast includes interviews with representatives from ING Direct and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). Our discussion with Jim Kelly, the chief operating officer of ING Direct, focuses on the bank’s “We, the Savers” campaign and we also discuss ING Direct’s beginnings in the United States and ... Continue reading this article…

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Take a Financial Health Day to Organize Your Finances

by Flexo

Ron Lieber, a columnist for the New York Times, spent one day focusing on the financial tasks that he had been neglected. He calls this day a “fiscal health day,” like the mental health days everyone needs to take once in a while to remain a functional human being. I think this is a great ... Continue reading this article…

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Am I Required to Report All Income to the IRS?

by Flexo

In general, if you have to ask whether you need to report certain income to the IRS, the most likely answer is, “Yes.” Here are some examples, courtesy of MSN Money. Q. I hosted a party to sell products to my friends (and use my social circle for multilevel marketing from some corporation), and the ... Continue reading this article…

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The FTC Fights Sites Offering “Free Credit Reports” With Musical Commercials

by Flexo

The Federal Trade Commission wants consumers to know that the only website offering the three federally mandated free credit reports each year — one from each credit reporting bureau — is AnnualCreditReport.com. While they don’t name the “other” website specifically, this campaign is a direct response to freecreditreport.com, a service from the reporting bureau Experian ... Continue reading this article…

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$250,000 Tax Rates and You

by Smithee

We’re still waiting to hear the official proposal, but you’re bound to hear a lot of talk this week in the mainstream media about the U.S. budget, deficit, and the plan to let the “Bush tax cuts” expire. Reporters are going to use the phrase “people earning more than $250,000 a year” with respect to ... Continue reading this article…

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Personal Balance Sheet, January 2009

by Flexo

2009 started off well. Since December 31, my “modified net worth” has increased 2.4 percent despite a sickly stock market, presenting a January bottom line of $188,566. It’s not only a tradition for me to publish my monthly financial reports, this transparency is the original purpose of Consumerism Commentary. People post about their lives online for ... Continue reading this article…

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