Taking Charge: A blog from CreditCards.com

Chad Ochocinco's venti venting over stolen Starbucks card

Connie Prater — 05/25/2012

Customer loyalty knows no bounds.

NFL baller Chad Ochocinco took to Twitter this week in a rant about the loss of his Starbucks coffee card. Someone broke into his SUV May 23 and stole his iPod and wallet containing his driver's license and two credit cards.

Ochocinco wasn't sweating the loss of those things, though. He expresses the real outrage in a video he taped inside his SUV: He lost his Starbucks card. And not just any Starbucks card.

Emily's list: Back to Costa Rica edition

Emily Starbuck Crone — 05/25/2012

Did you miss me last week? I was busy in Costa Rica holding monkeys and practicing archery with an indigenous tribe in the jungle. No, really. The most memorable experience of my trip was visiting a Bribri village, an indigenous community that lives far from modern society.

They aren't consumed with technology 24/7. They don't stress out about work the way we do. They don't have their heads buried in their smartphones. They aren't always obsessing over the next latest, greatest thing to buy. They value family, their community and their environment. They cook together and tell stories together. The only bummer is that when you're out in the boonies, you can't rely on credit cards.

Now that I'm back in the United States, check out my roundup of my 10 favorite personal finance blog posts from the past week!

Good news or bad? I got the Facebook IPO stock

Connie Prater — 05/18/2012

The good news is that I got in on the biggest Internet stock initial public offering (IPO) in history. The bad news, if you believe all of the analysts who have warned about overvaluation and low chances of future earnings growth, is that I bought Facebook stock.

I'm still thrilled. It's extremely rare for a small potatoes investor like me to be able to get in on an IPO. eTrade sent an email early this morning alerting me that they have fulfilled my request to buy FB (as the social media giant will be known on NASDAQ when public trading begins) had been granted. I asked for 100 shares. I was able to buy 50 shares at $38.

$1 trillion in student loan debt -- worth it?

Aundraya Ruse — 05/18/2012

Congratulations, my fellow student loan debt owners (or should we be referred to as martyrs?). We have hit the $1 trillion mark. That's right. $1 trillion in total student loan debt. Or as I like to think of it, enough money to buy a hundred of everything ever created forever and ever.

A student's eye view of credit cards in China and the U.S.

Ruisha Qian — 05/17/2012

I was one of the first college students to get a credit card when I was a freshman at Beijing Foreign Studies University.

But now that I'm studying in the United States, credit cards don't seem like a must-have.

Facebook IPO blog gets Mother's Day nod

Connie Prater — 05/14/2012

My blog about hoping to get in on the upcoming initial public offering (IPO) of Facebook stock was selected for the 361st edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance.

When it comes to marriage, how much debt is too much?

Kelly Dilworth — 05/11/2012

Would you call off your wedding if you just found out your partner was deeply in debt? How about if he missed a couple of credit card payments and now has a black mark on his credit report?

It's an uncomfortable question, and the answer you get depends on the person you ask -- and the depth of the financial damage, according to a recent study by TD Ameritrade.

Mom's financial advice sticks for many of us

Connie Prater — 05/11/2012

What do you remember about what your mom told you about managing your money?

If you're lucky you had a money-wise mom who taught you the importance of saving something for a rainy day or a nest egg. Not everyone was blessed with such mentoring -- from either parent. If that were the case and the advice stuck, we would all be like Warren Buffett, the billionaire investment guru.

A new survey published this week in time for Mother's Day found that the most popular words of wisdom remembered from mom were: "Money doesn't grow on trees." Surely, many of us recall this from mom or grandma or some other caregiver, perhaps when we left the water faucet running too long or left an empty room with the lights on.

Emily's list: Mother's Day edition

Emily Starbuck Crone — 05/11/2012

I love my mom for many reasons. Just one reason is because she raised me to be so responsible, especially when it comes to my finances. Did your mom help give you a good financial start?

Continue reading for this week's roundup of my favorite personal finance blog posts.

I want a piece of the Facebook IPO, but I'm just a small potato

Connie Prater — 05/08/2012

I want in on the Facebook IPO -- even though analysts point out that its revenues are leveling off, even though there are questions about its ability to grow future earnings to push stock prices higher, and even though a newcomer on the social media scene could knock it off its pedestal. What difference is there between buying Facebook stock and going to blackjack or poker tables in Las Vegas? It's all a gamble to me.

Full disclosure: I'm one of the half billion daily active Facebook users. I was excited when I heard that Facebook Inc. was finally setting an estimated price range (of $28 to $35 a share) for the IPO on its stock. This is the most anticipated stock offering in years. I want a piece of it -- even if it's only a single share.

Everyday folks -- mom and pop investors like me -- rarely get a chance to buy stock at those low initial offering prices. I have a glimmer of shot through eTrade. Wish me luck. I'll need it.