Managing Money
Headline News Archive
2008
July
07
- Groups press Congress for more DTV notice. Consumer advocates will gather on Capitol Hill this week to lobby for more money to publicize the big change in television next February, when people…
- Doctors press Senate to undo Medicare cuts. Congress returns to work this week with Medicare high on the agenda and Senate Republicans under pressure after a barrage of radio and television advertisements…
- Coupon interest rises in tight economy. With her household budget tightening, Michelle Fox treats couponing like getting a part-time job to help make ends meet. In her case, it's a job…
- A way to save on flights. You've shopped around and bought your flight at the lowest fare you could find. But would waiting have yielded a better deal? If this worries…
06
- Mortgage brokers as naysayers in NY. New York's borrowers could notice a different tone in their discussions with mortgage brokers in coming months, as brokers adjust to a new state law…
- You can raise credit scores. If you can improve your credit scores, you will probably spend less money, perhaps hundreds or thousands of dollars less each year. Here is how…
- A lesson on credit cards. Recently, a subcommittee of the House Committee on Financial Services held a hearing on the marketing tactics companies use to pitch credit cards to college…
- Home equity door slams shut. Some 122,000 borrowers with Countrywide home-equity lines of credit, or HELOCs, received letters in January informing them that they could no longer withdraw funds from…
- Dividends start to crumble. The credit crisis and economic slowdown have become so grave that many companies are chopping dividend payments to their shareholders. Financial institutions, reeling from the…
05
- Help for homeowners hangs in the balance. Congress left town for the July 4 recess with a half-baked cake in its legislative oven -- one that has huge potential significance for the…
- Credit card overhaul seems likely. Consumer advocates say regulation of the credit card industry has long been without teeth. But as card holders struggle under the weight of big balances,…
03
- New ways to save on drugs. We've reached a dubious health milestone: More than half of insured Americans are now taking at least one "maintenance" drug for a chronic condition, according…
- Home equity credit line delinquencies hit high. The troubled economy is leaving consumers with increasingly tough decisions about which debts to pay first, and in some cases, which to pay at all.…
02
- Visa rescinds debit card rule. Consumers can now use Visa debit cards for smaller purchases without entering a personal identification number, the same way they can skip signing receipts. Visa…
01
- Student loan changes good for borrowers. Like your driver's license and your high school diploma, your first student-loan payment is one of those milestones that mark the journey from youth to…
- E-prescription networks merge. The nation's two electronic prescription networks plan to announce today that they are merging in an effort to encourage the adoption of their technology by…
- Wachovia quits offering risky mortgage option. Wachovia said it will quit offering a mortgage payment option that allows borrowers to pay less each month than the bank charges in interest. The…
June
30
- Mortgage meltdown was no accident. George Mitchell's wife, Lillian, took her last breath in the house she loved, on New Year's Day 2006. "Right there in that spot," says George,…
- Carry-on luggage to get more scrutiny. Admit it. That chunky carry-on bag of yours would never fit into the sample box displayed outside the airport gate. Don't expect that bag to…
- Northeast braces for home heating oil increases. New Englanders struggling this summer to pay gas prices topping $4 a gallon should brace for more bad news — home heating oil costs next…
29
- Obama knows firsthand about debt. Far too many people are buckling under the strain of running a household as consumer prices rise, home values decline and banks tighten up on…
- Bring product placement into the open. I love TiVo. The ability to skip TV commercials is right up there with microwave popcorn as one of those life-altering advances that make the…
- The safe deposit box goes online. Say somebody steals your wallet while you're traveling. Wouldn't it be convenient to recover copies of crucial credit card information and other documents from any…
- All consuming problem: obsessive shopping. Shannon Hassemer went on a shopping spree when she got her first credit card in college. Tired of owning just one pair of tennis shoes,…
28
- Keep watch on your credit report—free. If you're thinking about buying a home or refinancing a mortgage, you may want to avail yourself of a forthcoming free service that could help…