Welcome to the time machine!  This was originally posted on December 16, 2009.

Impulse shopping kills.  Not literally, of course, but it stings.  You need to stop.  I need to stop.  We all need to stop.

Here’s how:

1. Use a list. Everybody tells you to shop with a list.  Nobody has problems shopping with a list.  How, exactly, does a list prevent you from buying something on a whim? A list keeps you from forgetting things, it doesn’t stop your from putting Terminator:Salvation in your cart.  Skip this one.  It doesn’t count.  No beatings for the inner impulse shopper means no honorable mention here.

Take 2:

3 Ways to Flog the Inner Impulse Shopper

1. Don’t Shop. I’ve found that it is almost  impossible to leave Target for under $100.  It’s too easy to grab a discount DVD or a small surprise for the kids.  My solution is to use Alice.com.   That’s right, I get my toilet paper by mail-order. With Alice, there are few opportunities for impulse purchases. I add the items I need, scan the deals for items I will need in the next few weeks, and have my wife review the cart for things I’ve either missed or don’t need. A few days later, there’s a big blue box full of deodorant, toilet paper and soap sitting on my front step. The manufacturer coupons are automatically applied and shipping is always free. I’ve easily saved $1000 in retail impulse purchases using Alice over the past few months.  Alice is my favorite shopping-dom. Full disclosure: The Alice links are all referral links.  If you click one and join, I will get 3% commission on your purchase for a year, and you will get a $10 credit after you spend $50 .

2. Set a goal and reward the goal – AFTER the goal is met. My wife and I have a goal to be out of debt in four years. We will enter 2014 free from debt.  No car payment,  credit cart,  or mortgage.  I have promised my wife that, in exchange for almost 5 years(we aren’t starting the process today) of frugal living, when we are done  and have saved a bit at the other end of debt, I will take her on a cruise anywhere in the world. A real, debt-free vacation.   AFTER we pay off all of our debt.  AFTER we save enough to make the trip without sliding back into debt.  This is the carrot instead of the stick.   If the carrot doesn’t work, you can always try the stick.  Not on your spouse, of course, but on the inner impulse shopper.  Beat that little jerk ’til he cries.

3. Make yourself accountable. If you’re married, make yourself accountable to your spouse. If you’re single,  go public with your frugality. “I’m a cheap bastard and I’m swearing off xxx until I’m out of debt.” Let your family and friends know what you are doing so they can be your support system.  I regularly call my wife from a store, just so she can say “no” to me. When we are ready to check out at a store, we find some out of the way location and go through everything in the cart to see if we really need it or if it was simply an impulse grab.

How do you flog the masochistic little demon in your wallet?

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I try to give 10% of my income to charity.   I don’t succeed every year, but I do try.

I don’t give because I’m generous.  I give because I’m selfish.

If you give to charity, you are too.

I’m not talking about people who give to charity strictly for the tax deduction, though that is selfish too.   I’m referring specifically to the people who give to charity out of the goodness of their hearts.

If I give a thousand dollars worth of clothes to a homeless shelter, I get a warm fuzzy feeling knowing that I helped people stay warm.

If I send $100 to the Red Cross for whatever terrible disaster happened shortly before I made the donation, it makes me feel good to have contributed to saving those lives.

The put-the-inner-city-kids-on-a-horse thing we do?  Makes me happy to get those kids into a positive situation.

Donating blood?  Yay, me!  I’m saving lives!

While it’s nice to help other people, that’s not the ultimate reason I’m doing it.  I do it because it makes me feel good about myself to help other people, particularly people who–for whatever reason–can’t help themselves.

That’s the basis of altruism.   It’s not about helping others, it’s about feeling good about helping others.

The truly selfish, the evil dogooders, are the ones who want to raise taxes to give it away as “charity”.   They get to feel like they are doing something and helping others while not actually contributing themselves and, at the same time, stealing that warm fuzzy feeling from the people who are providing the money to start with.

Evil.

Charity has to be done at  a personal, local level or the benefits to the giver are eliminated while the benefits to the receiver are lessened.  Bureaucracy doesn’t create efficiency.

For the record, if it’s taken by force, by tax, it isn’t charity.  Charity cannot be forced.   Forcing charity is, at best, a fraudulent way for petty politicians, bureaucrats, lobbyists, and activists to feel they have power over others.

Again, evil.

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Life may be like a box of chocolates, but it is certainly not a game of Sorry, where one person wins at the expense of all others.   It is entirely possible for everyone to win in most voluntary interactions.

For example, if my company gives me a $10,000 raise, it would seem like I win and they lose.  I’m getting more money, at the expense of their bottom line, right?  Maybe.  But what if that raise spurs me on to make an extra $100,000 for the company?  That makes it a good investment and a Win/Win scenario.

When I’m dealing with one of my side-business customers or an advertiser, I’m definitely pushing for the Win/Win.   Of course I want them to pay me as much as possible, but I also want their repeat business, which won’t happen unless they walk away happy.   If I insisted that each of my customers pay the absolute top dollar, I may come out ahead in the short-term, but what about next month or next year?  It’s much better for both of us if we can find a happy middle ground.

The four basic forms of interaction are:

1.  Win/Lose.    This is where I win and you lose.  Haha!  The problem with a Win/Lose is that the loser isn’t going to come back to play next year.  He’s not happy and he’ll probably tell his friends how unhappy he is.   This is also the interaction that people are mistakenly assuming when they complain about excessive executive interaction.   The CEO is making a million dollars while the folks on the assembly line are stuck with $15 per hour?   It’s entirely possible that, if the CEO weren’t doing his job, nobody else would have one.   That is, like it or not, Win/Win.

2.  Lose/Win.   This is where I give up everything, hoping you’ll eventually throw me a bone.   It’s a cowardly interaction that won’t work well when dealing with someone playing #1.  I’ll keep giving, you’ll keep taking.  You go home happy, I go home sore.   When it’s done, I won’t do business with you ever again.

3.  Lose/Lose.  Nobody wins.   We fight so hard to get what we want, forcing the other side to give up as much as possible, while they are doing the same.   At the end of the day, the hatred is flowing so strong, there’s no possibility of a relationship.

4. Win/Win.  Yay!  Everybody wins!  Everybody’s happy!  This will involve some compromise, but hopefully we can reach the happy middle ground where we are both smiling.   If I’m looking for a deal that involves you paying me $1000 per month, is it better for me to push to get exactly that, or let myself get talked down to $750?   If the $1000 is more than you can afford, so you quit with hard feelings after one month, the ongoing $750 is much, much better for both of us.  It is actually in my greedy self-interest to give up that 25% to build our relationship.

Winning doesn’t have to be done at the expense of others.   If you do it right, we all win.

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Did you know that having a bad credit history could cost you your job? An increasing number of American employers have turned to running credit checks to screen job

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

applicants. Some companies even evaluate existing employees on a regular basis by checking their credit reports. If you have outstanding debts, you might consider getting one of those  credit cards for bad credit to clean up your report before you apply for your dream job.

Not all companies run your credit history when you apply for a position. However, if you’re applying for a job that entails working with money or valuables, it’s a safe bet that they’ll be checking your credit history. Financial institutions, brokerage companies and jewelry manufacturers all run credit checks, as do hotels, accounting firms, human resource departments and government agencies.

Companies run credit checks because they want to hire employees who won’t be tempted to embezzle company funds to pay off large debts. Some companies fear that employees who carry large debt loads are susceptible to blackmail or bribery. The federal government carries this concern even further, indicating that citizens who owe large debts are considered national security risks.

Many companies feel that your credit report gives them a sneak peak at your true character. Having a good credit history indicates that you are a responsible person with excellent character. Having a bad credit history means that you are an unreliable person of poor character. True or not and fairly or not, this is the current belief running throughout company hiring departments.

Unfortunately, you can’t relax about your credit report even after you’ve been hired for a position. Once you’ve given a company written permission to check your credit report, they can recheck it at a later date. Government and financial organizations often run periodic credit checks on all of their employees. Some companies only recheck your credit history if you are up for a promotion. It’s a good idea, therefore, to keep your credit history squeaky clean.

Keep in mind that having a couple of late payments probably won’t kill your chances of employment or promotion. Most employers look for the really big issues, such as high credit card balances, defaulted student loans, repossessions and foreclosures. Some companies also look for charge-offs and consistent late payments as well.

Steps You Can Take

Financial experts suggest checking your credit report before you start your job search. Read your credit report carefully and make sure that all of the information is accurate. If your report contains incorrect details or any unauthorized charges, dispute these errors immediately and have them corrected to raise your credit score.

If you have a host of unpaid bills, find a way to settle those debts to improve your credit history before applying for jobs. Many people turn to credit cards for bad credit consumers. These cards allow you to consolidate all of your debts into a single debt. Just don’t forget to make the payments on this card.

Be upfront with potential employers about any negative marks on your credit history. Just tell them that you have had past issues with your credit and are now working to clear up all of your debt. There’s no need to go into explicit detail.

Once you have a job, be sure that you check your credit report at least every six months to ensure it contains only correct information. Pay all of your creditors on time. Never take out any new lines of credit unless you are absolutely positive that you can pay it back in a timely manner.

 Post by Moneysupermarket

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This post was published a year ago as part of Budgets Are Sexy’s Side Hustle series.

On a chilly February day in 2007, I went with a friend to get a permit to carry a pistol. It was partially on a lark, and partially because a right not exercised is a right lost and I am a strong believer in the right to self-defense.

I spent the morning in an overcrowded classroom and the afternoon on an outdoor shooting range when it was -9 degrees Fahrenheit.  I was cold numb, but I had the paperwork I needed.  As my friend and I slowly thawed out on the drive home, we looked at each other and said “We can do better than that.”

After picking up teaching certifications from the NRA, the Minnesota Dept of Natural Resources, the Minnesota Association of Defensive Firearms Instructors and finally, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, we started teaching as Metro Defense Training, LLC.

We’ve been doing this for 3 1/2 years, holding one class per month. In the first two and a half years, we taught about 80 people what they needed to know to legally carry a gun. Last year, it exploded. By March, we had made more money than we made in all of 2009.  The rest of the year rocked just as hard. We turned ourselves into one of the top 10 training organizations by volume, among a field of 200 competing agencies.

This isn’t a huge market, and it will never make us rich, but it is bringing us a decent chunk of extra cash.   It’s made a huge difference on my debt repayment. I don’t include this money on my budget, so every penny I take as pay goes straight to my debt.  This has pushed me two whole years ahead of my debt repayment schedule.

What did we do right?

The most important thing we did was to partner with each other.   We make a good team.   My partner is a natural-born salesman, while I’m an introvert. I couldn’t have built this without him. I am a super-geek, so our technical costs have been nonexistent, aside from a domain and hosting.   I’m also a bit obsessive about my passions, so I keep us up to date on any legal issues and developments. He’s working on an MBA and has run small businesses before, giving us valuable knowledge and experience.

We’ve never cut any corners. We give the best possible class we can, no matter what. No extra fees, or sardine-packed students.

We answer questions for our students for years after class.  If a student wants a refresher, they can come back for free as often as they’d like.

Word of mouth has been a godsend. The local sheriff–in the most populous county in the state–recommends us when people call. You can’t buy ads like that.

What did we mess up?

Marketing. If a tree falls falls in the business district, does anyone care? If you run a business, put up some ads or fliers and get the word out.  No matter how good your business is, you’ll never make a cent if nobody knows about it.

Scheduling.  The nice thing about a business like this is the flexibility. We can run a class whenever we’d like. Unfortunately, we forget to schedule the next class until the end of the current class. We could do better.  That still leaves a full month’s notice, but some people have to request time off from work far in advance, or do things like going on vacation.

Would I do it again?

Absolutely.   We found an accessible niche that serves a need in the community.   We’ve turned a passion into a healthy side income, without having to devote full-time labor to it.  The buy-in cost was low.  It only cost about $1000 and a few weekends to get the equipment and make our training presentation.

It  has been an excellent learning experience.  I’ve learned a lot about running a business, and I’ve become something of an expert on the related laws.  It’s led to my involvement with a  non-profit, which has put me in contact with a number of lobbyists and politicians.  I’m learning more about how our legal system works than you’ll ever learn watching C-Span and sending letters.   Even if the business failed, I’d still be ahead of the game when you count the skills and knowledge I’ve acquired.

The most important thing I’ve learned is that, when you are looking for a side-hustle, you should find something you care about and chase that until it turns into money.   Not every hobby or interest can turn into a paycheck, but many can.    Ultimately, you have to do something you care about and care about what you do.

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Last week, when I mentioned that I lost my phone, there was some interest in my self-insurance warranty plan.

Image by brizzle born and bred via Flickr

The truth is, that’s just one of 14 savings accounts I keep.  I find it’s simpler to keep track of my savings goals by moving the money to separate accounts than to track everything in a spreadsheet.   This lets me tell how I’m doing at a glance.

I have one account each at two major traditional banks.  These savings accounts exist to provide a target for an automatic transfer that eliminates fees on the associated checking accounts.  Whenever much money accumulates here, I sweep it out and throw it at my credit card.

I also have 12 accounts at INGDirect.  I chose ING because they are extremely convenient and, at least at the time, had a competitive interest rate.   Different countries have different banking options.  For Australian readers, UBank offers both a term deposit account and a high interest savings account.

Here are the rest my accounts:

1. Emergency fund.   I deposit $25 every month.  I also keep part of my emergency fund in a CD that’s also at ING.
2. Property tax fund.  Every month, I deposit a bit more than a twelfth of my annual property tax bill.  When the time comes to pay, I just transfer the money from my account to the tax assessor.   It works well.
3. College fund.  Yes, this is a straight savings account.   Right now, I’m focused on debt, not college.   When my debt is gone I’ll ramp this up.  I started this just to get started.  From here, it’s a few seconds of work to increase the amount I contribute, which is currently $10 per month.
4. Warranty fund.  Instead of buying warranties, or going into a panic when something breaks, I deposit $50 into this account every month.  When something breaks, I take the money out of this account(assuming I have enough) and use it to replace or repair whatever is missing.   $50 isn’t a lot to contribute, if you have things breaking every week. I go several months without touching this money, and it’s always been enough to cover what we need.
5. Vacation fund.  This is pure fun money.  I sock away a bit out of every check, and occasionally when other money comes in.  Then, we plan our vacation around how much money we have here and how many points we have saved on our credit card.  Vacations seem like a luxury when we’ve got debt, but I work so much and miss so much of my kids, day to day, that I consider this a necessity.   It’s a week of downtime with my family, doing something they will remember.   It’s worth it, several times over.
6. Braces fund.   So far, we know that two of our kids are going to end up in braces.   One of them will probably be this year.  We had more in this account, but stole some to cover our vision therapy bill.    When our insurance reimbursement finally comes back, that will go straight into this account.
7. Camera fund.  My wife really wants a prosumer-level camera, so I started an account to save for it.   If we go over budget, this is the first account we raid, since this is purely a luxury.
8. Personal goal accounts.  We each have a goal account set up for things that don’t affect the family.   As a practical matter, I save to go to FINCON and a hunting trip with my Dad and my brother, while my wife saves for a couple of scrapbooking retreats each year.  These accounts are funded solely from extra money and don’t have an automatic deposit.
9. Car fund.  This started as a car repair fund, with a $50 deposit each month.  When my car was finally paid off last year, I took half of my car payment and redirected it into this account, to help us pay cash for our next car.    Last month, I stole some money from this account to play stockbroker.  It wasn’t a lot of money, but I’ve gotten a 25% return over the last 6 weeks.
10.  Internet.   This is just a convenient account to catch money that gets paid from things like my Amazon affiliate account.
11. Held for tax.  The name should be self-explanatory.   When I get paid from any of my side hustles, I set aside about 25% to cover any tax bill I may be missing.   After I file my taxes, I shoot any leftover money out to my other savings goals or my credit card, as appropriate.

I also have a couple of monthly line items in Quicken that I haven’t broken into separate accounts, just to provide an overdraft buffer, like our gift budget.

That’s proof that I am over-banked.  How about you?  How do you track your savings goals?

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On Tuesday, a potential customer took my business partner and I out for sushi.

Image via Wikipedia

The sushi bar was fun.  There was a little canal going around the bar.  The canal had little boats.  The boats had little plates.  The plates had sushi.   Lots and lots of sushi.  When you wanted something, you just reached out and took it.

Yum.

My only complaint with the place is the width of the chairs.  If you’re going to use narrow chairs, you really shouldn’t choose chairs with armrests.

Between the narrow chairs, the armrests, and my fat butt, my cell phone got knocked off of my belt.

Crap.

I normally check my money clip, car keys, pocket knife, and cell phone every time I stand up, but didn’t this time.

I noticed it was missing 15 miles later.

Of course, when I called, no one answered my phone.

The restaurant hadn’t seen my phone.

When we went back to retrace our steps, my phone was nowhere to be found.   Some busboy got a nice tip that night.

Now, I don’t carry insurance on my cell phone.  I still have every cell phone I’ve ever owned, in working condition.  Well, minus one, now.  At $5/month, that has saved me more than $1000 over the years.

Of course, it’s a bit painful this week.

Thankfully, I sock a bit of money away every month to cover things that break.  It’s my warranty fund.   That, combined with a good(hopefully) find on eBay, means that losing my phone, while irritating, isn’t going to break my budget.   It won’t actually touch my budget in any way.

On a side note, a parking ramp with a flat, “all night” charge and a lost ticket fee makes me angry.

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So the record companies, the movie studios, the obsolete media, and some large software companies want the ability to nuke a website from orbit if they find any of their intellectual property there.

Or a hint of their intellectual property.

Or, “Oops, I guess that wasn’t ours.  How much business did you lose during the 6 month appeal of a non-judicial takedown?”

Pure crap.

I’m not saying that from the perspective of some junior high pirate watching free porn in his parents’ basement.  Intellectual property is the basis of my livelihood.  I am a Microsoft Certified Professional; a software engineer.  I am a blogger; a writer.  I am a web developer; again, pure IP.

Giving private companies the right to arbitrarily take down sites for what may or may not be an actual violation is absurd.

Over the last few years, a law firm called Righthaven(spit!) has been teaming up with news agencies around the country to extort fees out of websites–generally small sites–for violating their copyright.   Most of those cases involved individual users–not owners–posting fair-use snippets of articles.   Since the cases were filed in Nevada, it would have cost more to fight the suits than to simply pay the blackmail, typically $5,000-$10,000.

Now, add the ability to threaten to administratively shut down the site if settlement isn’t made in 24 hours.  That eliminates the ability to consult with an attorney, undermining the legal system completely.

All because once-successful companies can’t cope with the current world.

I’m not a fan of piracy.  I enjoy buying movies because that encourages the people who made them to continue to make movies.  The delivery system sucks.

Netflix has developed a successful business model out of making it easier to watch movies legally than to pirate them.   For $8/month, you can watch as many movies as you’d like.  If you have a $50 Roku, or any number of other devices, you can watch right on your TV.  Add another $8/month to that, and you can get new DVDs delivered right to your door.   For less than $20/month, they are delivering licensed, legitimate content and making a profit doing so.

How did the movie companies respond?

Did they increase the availability of their libraries, to get more wanting-to-be-honest customers paying a small fee to watch their content?

Of course not.  They reduced the instant library and extended the amount of time before they would license new movies for rental.  They made it harder to get their content legitimately, which increased the amount of piracy.

Now, since Plan A is biting them in the ass, they are pushing for yet more legislation to salvage their failed business models.

Here are three options for watching movies I don’t own:

Option 1:   Instant

Through the magic of Amazon Instant, Netflix Instant, or any of the magical Roku channels, I can…

1. Open an account.  Once.
2. Find a movie I want to watch.
3. Watch it immediately.   This could be included in a membership fee, or as an individual rental.

Option 2: Piracy

I am not recommending illegal activity.  This is for the sake of example, only.

1. Download torrent software, like uTorrent.  Once.
2. Go to a site like Torrentz.com and find a movie I want to watch.
3. Click the torrent link, let the torrent software open it and download the movie.
4. Watch the movie in a couple of hours.  For free.

Option 3: Buy it.

1. Drive to the store each time I want to watch a movie.
2. Spend $15-$20 on the movie.
3. Drive home.
4. Fight the bank vault of plastic and tape they wrap the movies in.
5. Put the DVD in the player.
6. Watch 5 minutes of “Don’t Be a Pirate” garbage.  Hey jerkface, if I’m watching the DVD, I didn’t pirate it.  Bad market-targeting here.
7. Watch 15 minutes of commercials that I can’t skip through.
8. Watch 15 minutes of commercials previews that I can’t skip through.
9. Watch the movie.  This process takes longer than the piracy and costs more than option 1.

On top of that, I’m told I’m a pirate if I back up my movies for archival purposes.  Or if I rip my movies to my network to allow me to watch them conveniently.   I’m told that I’m merely licensing the content of the disc, but if the disc fails, I have to buy a new one.  I can’t just download the content again.

This is a failure, and it isn’t a legislative failure.

The companies that are embracing modern options are succeeding, and will continue to do so.   The companies that refuse, at the expense of their potential customers, will sink.

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Since I’ve been on a bit of a death theme lately, I thought I post something purely happy.

Here it is.  In no particular order, twenty unequivocated things that make me happy.

1. My three year old has the most beautiful blue/silver/gray eyes I have ever seen.
2. In the past 32 months, I’ve reduced my total debt load by $42,859.70.  That’s an average reduction of $1,339.37 per month.
3. My insane work schedule is paying off.  I’m more than halfway to making my day job’s income redundant.
4. My preteen son is currently showing none of the signs of the horrible rebellion that I put my parents through.
5. The world hasn’t imploded, exploded, or tilted its axis recently.
6. My parents did a good job of raising me.
7. I haven’t touched my overdraft line of credit in more than 2 years.
8. My wife loves me.
9. I love her.
10. Wrestling season starts tomorrow, and Punk ended last season with real promise.
11. I’ve dropped 12 pounds in the last 16 days.
12. Bacon is good.
13. Daughter #1 is starting kindergarten in September and excited about it.
14. Our cars are paid off.
15. This site helps me stay motivated to eliminate my debt.
16. You rock.
17. I may get out of debt just before the world ends.
18. The Yakezie Network has helped get this blog to where it is.  If you’ve got a finance blog, join today.  You won’t regret it.
19. FINCON 2012 is is Denver and I won’t be napping on my motorcycle on the way there, like I did the last time I went to Denver.  It’s not something I recommend, but it makes a neat story.
20. I have 20 things to be happy about.   That’s a recursive happy-maker right there.

     

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© Jason for Live Real, Now, 2012. | Permalink | 8 comments |
Post tags: Day job, debt, Denver, Yakezie Network

The year 2011 was a challenging economic year for many, with housing prices continuing to fall in many parts of the country, with unemployment numbers remaining high and with a credit crunch making it challenging for many to get new cards or unsecured loans.

Those going through economic turmoil were, unfortunately, faced with little understanding from many corporate conglomerates. In fact, so many companies instituted so many silly fees and surcharges that 2011 may as well be known as the year of unfair fees.

Whether you are taking out unsecured loans, opening a bank account or signing a TV service contract, it is up to you to read the contract carefully and be mindful of the fees you are being assessed.

Debit Card Use Fees

Many people who are trying to get out of debt and pay off credit cards, unsecured loans and other obligations may consider making a commitment to avoiding credit and using their debit card instead. Unfortunately, in 2011, many banks wanted to try to make this more expensive for consumers who were trying to be financially responsible.

Faced with a limit on the fees they could charge for debit transactions, a number of banks began to explore the idea of a monthly charge to consumers of between $4 and $5 just for using their debt card. Politicians and the public reacted so strongly against this, however, that the banks relented and gave up the plan. [ed. Just like Suze Orman's new blunder!]

Fees for Depositing Cash

Also near the top of the list are the fees that certain banks institute to business customers who deposit large sums of money. Some banks will charge a small fee if you deposit in excess of a certain amount, depending upon the type for account you have. For instance, one major bank charges .20 for each $100 in cash deposited over $10,000. The fees are small, but some customers are still upset at the principle. After all, just what is that fee justified by since all you are going is giving the bank your cash to put into your account.

Airline Fees

Airline fees aren’t a new thing and almost everyone is now aware that they’ll be charged for bags on many flights. However, in 2011, some airlines decided to try to take things a step further. Passengers faced fees for booking a ticket, for printing a boarding pass at the counter instead of at home and even for taking a carry-on bag. These surprise fees that hit you may make it difficult to comparison shop for the best flights, making it harder for cash-strapped consumers to find affordable travel.

Early Termination Fees

Early termination fees have become standard for cell phone contracts, but the dreaded charges are now spreading to other industries as well. Some television service providers have now instituted early termination fees for consumers who end their contracts with the service providers early. The cable and satellite companies attempt to justify this by saying they need to cover the prices of the expensive equipment used to provide you with service, but the companies have come under fire anyway. In fact, one major satellite company recently had to settle with regulators over its business practices and cancellation policy.

Watching for Fees

Only by being diligent will you avoid the excessive fees that banks and other companies are beginning to institute in a time when every cent counts.

Post by MoneySupermarket.

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