Archive for October 2008

Reduced Credit Limits? Share Your Experience

Written by Nickel - 212 Comments

About a month ago, I published an article over at Credit Addict about protecting yourself against reduced credit limits. Since that time, readers have left a smattering of comments lamenting that their credit limit has been reduced. We’ve been totally unaffected by this, so I’m curious as to how widespread this problem is. Interestingly, all [...]

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Published on October 31st, 2008 - 212 Comments
Filed under: Credit Cards
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Cheap(er) Gas, High Fees

Written by Nickel - 3 Comments

Earlier this week, I wrote about the fate of gas-related surcharges given that fuel prices have dropped so steeply. Shortly thereafter, I spotted an article in Smart Money talking about this very topic. They argued that, while some businesses actually have reduced or eliminated their fees, others are sticking to their guns.
What follows is a [...]

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Published on October 31st, 2008 - 3 Comments
Filed under: Economy, Energy
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Weekly Roundup – Vote Early and Often Edition

Written by Nickel - 3 Comments

As you’re no doubt aware, the Presidential election is next week. But did you know that you can most likely vote early to avoid the election day crowds? Perhaps the easiest way to find out about the possibility of voting early in your state is to run a Google search for: early voting <your state>. [...]

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Published on October 31st, 2008 - 3 Comments
Filed under: Link Love
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Layaway Making a Comeback?

Written by Nickel - 14 Comments

While perusing The Wisdom Journal, I ran across an article predicting the return of layaway. For those of you that aren’t familiar with the concept of layaway, it refers to the service where customers are allowed to ‘reserve’ a product at a store by making a deposit, paying off the purchase price over time, and [...]

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Published on October 30th, 2008 - 14 Comments
Filed under: Miscellany
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Another Fed Rate Cut – Time to Load up on CDs?

Written by Nickel - 8 Comments

Consider yourself warned… The Federal Reserve just cut interest rates by another 0.50%, meaning that it’s just a matter of time until the interest rate on your online savings account drops. Again. If you have extra money sitting around, now might be a good time to think about locking in a decent rate of return [...]

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Published on October 29th, 2008 - 8 Comments
Filed under: Banking, Carnivals
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$50 Signup Bonus from ING Direct Electric Orange

Written by Nickel - 10 Comments

The $50 offer expired, but you can still get a $25 signup bonus.
Time is running short on this one, but apparently ING Direct is offering a $50 signup bonus for their Electric Orange checking account. There are two catches… First, it looks like you have to have an ING Direct savings account (not a big [...]

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Published on October 28th, 2008 - 10 Comments
Filed under: Banking
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Paying Off Fixed vs. Variable Interest Debt

Written by Nickel - 26 Comments

A reader named Milan recently wrote in with the following question:
Here’s my situation:
Parent PLUS Loan – $9,892 @ 7.75% APR (fixed)
Stafford Loan – $14,252 @ 4.00% APR (fixed)
Private Loan – $24,357 @ 7.72% APR (variable)
I have $10k right now that I can dump into one of these loans. Do I dump the $10k in the [...]

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Published on October 28th, 2008 - 26 Comments
Filed under: Debt Reduction
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TradeKing $50 Bonus Reminder

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This is just a quick reminder that the $50 TradeKing Bonus offer expires at the end of this week. Simply open an account, fund it with at least $2,500 within the next 30 days, and then make a trade within the next 180 days. Also note that there’s a Sharebuilder $50 bonus offer going on [...]

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Published on October 28th, 2008 - Leave a Comment
Filed under: Saving & Investing
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Matching Foodbank Donations Followup

Written by Nickel - One Comment

This is just a quick note to let you know that FiveCentNickel readers donated a total of $2879.84 to their local foodbanks. Adding in my match ($1000) as well as that of a reader named Noam (another $1000), that brings the total to $4879.84!
Thanks to all who donated, including: jim, C, Andrew, Jesse, Cap, Rachel, [...]

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Published on October 27th, 2008 - One Comment
Filed under: Charity
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Are Fuel Related Charges Here to Stay?

Written by Nickel - 20 Comments

The other day while driving home from work, I was struck by how far the price of gas has fallen. Around here, it’s down into the mid-$2 range, well below the $4+ prices that we were dealing with just a month ago.
This sudden drop in fuel prices got me to wondering about what will happen [...]

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Published on October 27th, 2008 - 20 Comments
Filed under: Economy, Energy
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  1. < $10,000
 

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