Erica, who writes Philadelphia Weekly's Style blog, went to Target this past Saturday to purchase some new tank tops. She and her boyfriend filled their cart with a lot of other stuff too—"Ready to stimulate the economy?" she joked to him on their way to the register—and they agreed to s...

The Federal Reserve has released its much anticipated triennial summary of the Survey of Consumer Finances.  There's a lot to digest in this important report.  I fear, though, that the 2007 SCF is already hopelessly dated because of the economic turmoil of the past year.  I'...

By now most Credit Slips readers know that new federal credit card unfair and deceptive acts or practices, or “UDAP,â€� rules will prohibit banks from applying rate hikes to existing balances in most cases.  (The big exception will be where payment is more than 30 days late.)  This is ...

Welcome to the second edition of the Foundation Series (learn more about the Foundation series), a series of posts that discusses the very basics of personal finance and hopes to set a “foundation” for a solid financial approach to life. This edition tackles a topic that so many of us ar...

I often wonder how people commit various crimes related to their job activities and hope no one will notice anything and they will be able to continue doing such things forever - remaining on the job as well. Today there’s an interesting story about an IT manager who managed to steal more than...

Whoever came up with the name "courtesy overdraft fee" is one smart cookie. They figured out a way to let you do something you don't want to do, charge you a fee, and make it sound like they're doing you a favor. WaMu is one of the few banks that let you... ...opt-out of "courtesy overdraft fees" so...

Whoever came up with the name "courtesy overdraft fee" is one smart cookie. They figured out a way to let you do something you don't want to do, charge you a fee, and make it sound like they're doing you a favor. WaMu is one of the few banks that let you... ...opt-out of "courtesy overdraft fees" so...

Lauren was shocked to find five charges for a total of $200 on her account from a pizza place she hadn't been to in months. They were all levied from one Uno Chicago Grill during a day she wasn't even in town. What she found out about why they happened in the first place was even more disturbing, an...

Reader Jason says that the self check out system at his local Lowe's simply refuses to process his debit card transaction properly. After the third time, he's finally given up and will be shopping at Home Depot. Aren't self check out systems supposed to be convenient? Just had to share our recent ex...

Last Friday morning I made a quick trip to a local store to pick up a few things we needed. I drove straight there, made a small purchase and returned directly home. I remained at home the rest of the day. That evening when my wife got off work she asked it I’d like to go out to eat. That̵...