I buy maybe three video games a year, which is as often as they make games good enough to buy. I find it impossible to pay $60 for a new game, partially because as a child of the original Nintendo, I got accustomed to $40 games, so I always wait at least a couple weeks to get a used copy. And I did the same thing with Assassin’s Creed II, which was worth every penny.But I’m not going to tell you how awesome this game is, since you’d either like it or you wouldn’t. No, the...

It’s time for another giveaway. H&R Block wants to give an iPod Touch to two Consumerism Commentary readers. The iPods will be delivered with an app pre-installed to help taxpayers as we approach the final filing stretch.The strongest feature of the “H&R Block Tax Answers App,” available here from the Apple store, is the ability to get personalized answers to your tax questions. When using the app, your iPhone or iPod Touch with WiFi is connected directly to H&R...

The first time I shopped for car insurance I didn’t know much about what I would be buying. I should have taken the time to learn more about the various types of coverage before shopping. As a result of my lack of preparation, I did a poor job comparing rates. I was slightly better armed after I purchased a new car six years ago. By then I knew a little more about car insurance. I worked with AAA to find the best rates offered to me in New Jersey and received rates from a variety of other ...

The Consumerism Commentary Podcast is featuring Lou Scatigna, author of the book The Financial Physician: How to Cure Your Money Problems and Boost Your Financial Health. Lou also hosts the Financial Physician Radio Show on WOBM and XM Radio.Among the topics discussed, Lou talks about his approach to giving financial advice, his take on the housing market and why both husbands and wives need to be involved in financial decisions.If you enjoy this podcast, please vote for us in the First Annual P...

The giveaway has ended. Thanks to everyone who has participated. The winners will be notified shortly.This week I will be giving away five “extreme finance packages” containing Quicken, TurboTax, and QuickBooks. Each winner will be able to choose their flavor of each piece of software.Today is the last day to enter to win this giveaway. Response has been much slower than I expected, so your chances of winning are currently very good.In order to put your name in the hat, read these in...

Bank of America is controlling the news cycle lately. First, the bank eliminated overdraft fees for debit card purchases. Now, the bank has apologized to a woman for seizing her parrot.Back in October, Bank of America believed Angela Iannelli was defaulting on her mortgage and she had abandoned her house. The bank ordered a contractor to visit the house to install a new lock and otherwise secure the location. The contractor saw Luke, a blue macaw, and took the pet, believed to be abandoned, away...

ING Direct’s recent survey results about retirement are scary. I don’t know what the world is going to be like in thirty years, the time I’ll be approaching “retirement age.” I do know that if my pattern of increasing expenses doesn’t change until then, and if I’m still earning primary income by trading my time and effort, a comfortable retirement is going to require a lot of saved and invested money.If you believe the 4% safe withdrawal estimate, in ord...

Last year, Smithee reported that Bank of America was the first major bank to allow customers to opt out of overdraft protection and the associated fees. Those customers who opted out of overdraft protection would have their card rejected when attempting to make a purchase without the funds available.Thanks to these changes as well as the limitation of four overdraft fees charged per day rather than ten, the bank lost out on $160 million in income in the last three months of 2009. Nevertheless, t...

When I post my financial reports each month, they reflect only a small piece of who I am as a person. My bank account balances are only a small part of my life although they are center stage on Consumerism Commentary. I try to avoid labels for this reason; when I reach a net worth of a million dollars, I will be hesitant to call myself a “millionaire,” a label that would describe only a small part of me.Even when looking at my finances in whole, net worth is a small piece. You cannot...

At the beginning of March, the banking arm of Sallie Mae, a publicly-traded corporation whose main business is student loans, began offering high-yield savings accounts. As I’ve mentioned before, “high-yield” is currently a joke; just a few years ago, you could deposit cash in high-yield savings accounts and count on slightly beating inflation.It is likely your money in a savings account will lose purchasing power until rates increase again. Even then, with the proliferation of...

I never thought I’d put an exclamation mark on a sentence about credit card statements, much less be sincerely excited about it, but here we are. You have to pick your battles in life, and clearly-displayed information is one of mine. Educating people about credit card danger is another. Today, I feel like I’ve won a battle, or at least helped.In addition to the rest of the recent changes to U.S. credit cards, any statement made after Feb. 22 will be including some information about ...

The giveaway has ended. Thanks to everyone who has participated. The winners will be notified shortly.Thanks to the team at Intuit, Consumerism Commentary has “extreme finance” packages to give to our readers. This is a complete package that covers personal finance management, tax filing, and even business accounting. Five of these packages are available. Although the company balked at my initial idea of giving away free tax filing for life, I’m happy to say we were able to com...

Last year was the first year I abandoned my own tax return preparation, deferring to a professional to do the dirty work. I’m glad I did; he suggested I restructure my business retroactively, resulting in a savings of about $15,000. I still haven’t seen most of this; the IRS is still processing my amended 2008 return.As you could probably guess, my taxes are more complicated than most people’s. For many years, I was able to take care of my tax filing using online software. Prio...

Today’s guest on the Consumerism Commentary Podcast is J.D. Roth, founder of the website Get Rich Slowly.J.D. has made the transition from blogger to published author. In this episode, Flexo, Tom Dziubek, and J.D. discuss the financial advice in his new book, Your Money: The Missing Manual. We also discuss the process of publishing J.D.’s first book.If you enjoy this podcast, please vote for us in the First Annual Plutus Awards for “Best Personal Finance Podcast.” Thanks!...

I wrote last November about a rollout in my city to upgrade everybody’s power meters to the “smart” kind which should allow the power companies to operate and communicate remotely with our electricity. They should also enable us consumers to have more data about which devices in the house waste the most energy.It appears that in the first month after some people got upgraded, their electric bills went up much higher than normal, in some cases twice as much as the previous month...

I can’t completely fault companies like Amway, Mary Kay, and Lia Sophia. They know that friendship results in two important qualities: trust and guilt. These two qualities are important to companies because they make the process of selling products much easier. I find it relatively easy to politely decline — and hang up on if necessary — a salesperson who calls me uninvited in order to get me to upgrade my phone service or subscribe to a theater. Although I usually don’t ...

This article is presented by Kelly Whalen, Consumerism Commentary staff writer, who hosts a weekly internet show called the ¢entsible show.Unexpected income is a problem many people would love to have, but it happens more frequently than people realize. Whether it’s a $20 birthday check from your eighty-something grandmother or a raise, there are few months we don’t have something unexpected.When you get a windfall you could dream up many ways to spend or save it, so it is important...

Don’t forget! Consumerism Commentary is in the running to win a few Plutus Awards. The Plutus Awards are designed to celebrate the best personal finance resources such as books, savings accounts, and blogs. Vote here now before the deadline on March 16. The finalists were selected from among those that received the highest number of nominations in each category.To be honest, since I created the awards, I am not completely comfortable being in the final running. If I do happen to win a Plut...

I’ve been closely tracking changes in high-yield savings account interest rates for a few years. Having a high-yield savings account is an essential part of being in control of your finances, and it’s the perfect vehicle for the bulk of your emergency fund. There is a possibility of having too much of a good thing.Traditional banks have caught on to the popularity of internet-based savings accounts and over the past few years have launched their own online savings accounts to increas...

The market for Hollywood Hills homes of the stars hasn’t been immune to the real estate downturn. Although she purchased the house for $7 million in 2007, the asking price is now $4.59 million. Judging from the photographs on CNN Money, the villa looks like a great place to live.CNN Money often profiles houses for sale. Occasionally readers see fantastic homes like Scarlett’s, and other times the website features houses on the other end of the spectrum. A few months ago I read a fea...