November 2011 Archives

It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is next week, which means it's nearly Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Then we really won't be able to avoid the holiday commercials and music everywhere we go. Companies with existing gift cards are already pushing them hard.

Gift cards are extremely convenient, especially since so many can be sent by email. But the thing that kills me is that the recipient knows the exact value you spent on the gift. Plus, gift cards are also inherently risky since it's not guaranteed the stores will be there forever. Then again, it's very hard to beat the luxury of getting to buy whatever you want in a certain store or restaurant.

Read on for my list of my 10 favorite personal finance blog posts from the past week, many of which offer great tips for holiday shopping!

Several weeks ago, I had jury duty for the first time. Even though my dad is a lawyer and my husband is in law school, but I never really stopped to think about how much the legal system financially impacts everyone involved, from jurors to the families of the defendant and victims. We can all do our best to obey the law, but nobody is perfect, and one wrong move can wreck us financially. Another reason why it's best to always be prepared.

I hope you'll learn more about personal finance with my list of my 10 favorite personal finance blog posts from the past week!

American consumers have really found their voice lately. In late September, Bank of America announced it would be implementing a $5 monthly fee for some debit card users, and their customers went into a rage. People complained hotly and loudly in every online outlet possible that this change was unacceptable and that they would take their business elsewhere. A little more than a month later on Nov. 11, Bank of America changed course and said it was scratching its plans to add a fee.

Just a few months ago, Netflix made headlines when they announced a major price increase in addition to a splitting of DVD and streaming services. They received massive amounts of backlash. Netflix eventually crawled back into the spotlight and admitted the flub, and decided to go back to just having one service with two products.

People have been using social media to broadcast bad experiences with companies, but I feel like in the past few months, consumers have really had a huge voice and lead major corporations to change their policies and prices. For all kinds of interesting financial tidbits and know-how, please read on for my roundup of my 10 favorite money-related blog posts from the past week!

Are you a mean, no-good jerk? Then you are more likely to have a good credit score.

According to a study released Wednesday, people with bad attitudes tend to have higher credit scores, the numbers used by lenders to determine whether to loan money and how much interest to charge. Researchers from Louisiana State University (LSU), Texas Tech University and Northern Illinois University found a link between credit scores and consumers' personalities.