The Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (DFI)
urges consumers seeking short-term and/or small loans from
companies seen on TV or online to be vigilant, read the small print
and make sure any company they work with is licensed to do business
in the state of Washington.
With the end of another holiday season, we've moved all of our
shopping coverage to our Money Blog. This blog will remain
accessible for archival content, but for all of our latest
information about shopping-related issues, please visit us at
blogs.consumerreports.org/money.
Not even a week into the official launch of Cash for Clunkers and
the program may be tapped with its future now uncertain. It
is hard to believe that the $1 billion that was allocated for the
program would last until November. Even Congress initially
thought that "Bucks for Old Trucks" fund needed more cash. A
prior version of the bill would have deposited $4 billion into the
program. A House vote is expected today to add more money, perhaps
another $2 billion. As soon as more details are announced, we
will do an updated post. Update: The House voted to add $2
billion to the program. It will be taken up with the Senate
on Monday, August 3. Technorati Tags: CARS, Congress, automobiles,
finance, green cars, shopping and spending, Cash f...
President Bush on Tuesday signed legislation that temporarily
suspends a tax penalty for senior citizens who do not take a
minimum withdrawal from their 401(k)'s and other retirement
accounts in 2009. But dozens of Republican and Democratic members
of Congress are asking the President to help senior citizens whose
retirement savings plans have been hit by market losses this year.
Spearheaded by Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL) and Rep. Rodney
Frelinghuysen (R-NJ), 61 members of Congress on Friday asked the
President to direct Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson to
waive the so-called required minimum distribution rule for 2008.
Retirees older than 70 1/2 have to withdraw money from their
defined contribution savings plans by Dec. 31 of each year or pay
50 percent of that minimum in taxes....
Baby Boomers are turning 50 at the rate of 10,000 per day. One of
our favorite Boomers joined the ranks this week. Matt turned 50! As
fate would have it, we were at AARP’s HQ
working on a project on Matt’s big day. The
thoughtful folks at AARP recognized Matt’s
fiftieth lap around the sun by presenting him with his very own
AARP membership card.-- John Martin
May 21, 2010 Lawyers are still seeking people who have been harmed
by taking the acne drug called Accutane. Here is some background
information on Accutane. Retinoids are a class of chemical
compounds that share many attributes of vitamin A and have been
used in fighting many types of cancer. One commonly used form of
retinoid is [...]
After getting at least 10 reports of second-degree burns, Black
& Decker today recalled 670,000 "Spacemaker" coffeemakers in
the U.S. and Canada because the brew basket can shift out of
alignment causing hot water to overflow. The company has received
282 reports of hot water overflowing including the burn incidents,
according to the U.S. and Canadian recall notices. The Spacemaker
coffeemaker has an under-cabinet mount, programmable digital
clock/timer, removable water reservoir, and either a 12-cup glass
carafe or an 8-cup thermal carafe. Only model numbers ODC440,
ODC440B, ODC450 and ODC460 are included in the recall. The model
number is on the back of the coffeemaker. Made in China, the
coffeemakers were sold at major retailers nationwide, including
K-Mart, Kohl’s, Target, Walmart, B...
The elbow joint components on the wall mount's arm do not fit
together properly, causing the attached television to tilt and
possibly fall when the television is adjusted. This could pose an
injury hazard to a consumer.
Are you maximizing your technology with firmware updates? Make sure
you take full advantage of the latest and greatest features of your
Linksys router by upgrading your firmware when new enhancements are
available. If you own a Linksys E-Series router and are using the
included Cisco Connect software, you will be prompted when new
updates are available when you open the program, and can simply
click “ok” at this point.
Enforcement action taken at various locations throughout the
Houston area by members of the Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance
has resulted in the arrest of a man from the Dominican Republic for
conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, the arrest of a woman for
harboring aliens, and the rescue of several women from a life of
prostitution.
Revised Wireless application fee rates.
How would you like to spend your vacation exploring volcanoes,
swimming with dolphins, and dining at luaus? Enter Shop.com's Best
of the Big Island 2010 Sweepstakes, and you could win a vacation on
the Big Island of Hawaii that includes all of those things and
more. Read Full PostEnter Daily to Win a Trip to Hawaii's Big
Island from Shop.com's Sweepstakes originally appeared on About.com
Contests & Sweepstakes on Wednesday, August 18th, 2010 at
06:33:03.Permalink | Comment | Email this
The Fort Payne Walmart, located at 2001 Glenn Blvd. S.W., will
celebrate a grand re-opening this week, giving local shoppers a
glimpse of the company’s next generation of
store design and customer experience.
The wooden frame of the chairs can break, posing a fall hazard to
consumers.
You can march your Twitter avatar and the avatars of the people you
follow in Twitter a parade at isparade.jp. You can also make a
parade out of a keyword. May it never rain on your Twitter parade.
Permalink | Recent Headlines | Plurk | Twitter | WWFeeds.com
Detachment of the exercise workbench from the gym system causes
instability, posing a risk of injury to consumers.
And now for something completely different — a dispatch from
our roving mythographer, Peter Kohler: "Some survive by their wits
and some don't; there's nothing that can be done about that. But
let's have a look at a couple of Korean folktales — a
tradition in which imps, impishness, devils and devilishness abound
— and see if we can't learn a thing or two." Read more...
ITRC today announced that 87 percent of consumers who have made a
purchase or bank transaction online in the past month are concerned
about the safety of the personal identifying and financial
information they transmit. Click here for full survey.
This group is lead by Jean Claude Kasongo and Ezekiel Johnson and
they are stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from people
claiming they can provide SBLC for customers. This is 100% a fraud.
They both us churches and a fake foundation as a front to steal
money. The www.shitowafoundation.org is a fraud and a [...]
Want a fast and free way to see what your credit score looks like
today? Just answer 10 questions, submit the form and you will get
your credit score estimate instantly.
Kroger (product distributor) and Contessa Premium Foods, Inc.
(product manufacturer) are recalling 24 ounce bags of Kroger brand
Meals Made Simple Shrimp Linguini, because it may contain
undeclared milk product. People who have an allergy or severe
sensitivity to milk products run the risk of serious or
life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume this product.
Empty coffee cans are worth hanging on to. Consider this
money-saving use for them: A Compost Bucket Stick an empty coffee
can on your kitchen counter, and use it to hold your kitchen scraps
in between trips to the compost pile. The lid will help to contain
odors and prevent fruit fly attacks. 8 More Uses for Coffee Cans
Have you discovered a great use for coffee cans? Please share it.
Related Reading: Uses for Brown Paper Bags Uses for Broken Flower
Pots More Reuse-It Ideas Photo © Flickr user mdid
If you sign up for the Hurricane Grill & Wings Flavor Rewards
Loyalty Program, they'll send you a free $10 gift card....Read Full
Post
Credit card debt is one of the biggest problems most people face
when trying to get a handle on their finances. Credit cards make it
easy to spend more money than you have, and then the crippling
interest rates and fees make it seem impossible to get out from
under. While there isn't an instant cure for credit card debt,
there are steps you can take to put yourself on a path to becoming
debt free....Read Full Post
The CVS Extra Bucks and coupon match ups for this week are now
posted. Listed below are the sales that are non-ECB (extra care
bucks) deals with the applicable coupons listed. There are a few
good deals this week for free items and for money makers. Take a
look at the lists and comment below on other good deals that you
have found for this week. Here are the non-ECB Deals: Read Full
PostCVS Extra Bucks and Coupon Matches - 8/15 - 8/21 originally
appeared on About.com Coupons / Bargains on Sunday, August 15th,
2010 at 12:34:57.Permalink | Comment | Email this
When I saw the Weebles Musical Treehouse toy (Compare Prices) from
Playskool last spring I was eager to review the finished product.
The Weebles are back, but they have changed since we were little.
They're much bigger now because we're much more concerned with
choking hazards. (How did we survive our childhood?)...Read Full
Post
FDArecalls: Wright County Egg Conducts Nationwide Voluntary Recalls
of Shell Eggs Because of Possible Health Risk: The followi...
http://bit.ly/a9wec9
Get the real truth about Goverment Coverups, Swine Flu Pandemics
and known natural disasters that are headed our
way...http://dld.bz/cg9A
Advertising industry regulators say Procter & Gamble can back
up its ads asserting that its Charmin Ultra Strong toilet paper
holds up better and “leaves fewer pieces
behind” than Kimberly-Clark’s Cottonelle Ultra
Ripple. But the National Advertising Division Council of Better
Business Bureaus recommended changing a Charmin commercial.
If you’re in need of some extra cash, but
don’t have any collateral to put up to
guarantee a loan, consider getting a signature loan from a peer to
peer lending website such as Lending Club or Prosper.com If
you’re not familiar with the term signature
loan, it simply means that you are taking out [...]
For many people mobility scooters are the ticket to freedom, but
mobility scooters are not for everyone. If you are considering
buying your first mobility scooter, you might be interested
in the advantages and disadvantages and the reasons that some
prefer mobility scooters while others do not: Advantages of
Mobility Scooters * Mobility scooters are an inexpensive form of
transportation. You can buy a mobility scooter for under $1'000 and
some are as cheap as $500. * Mobility scooters run on electricity,
not gasoline. * Like disability equipment, mobility scooters can go
almost anywhere. You can drive your mobility scooter from your
living room to a grocery store, up and down the aisles and back
home again. * You can take your mobility scooter on airplanes and
no cost....
As you start to think about drawing up your Will, you may have
heard that drawing one up yourself from a template in Microsoft
Word is a safe way to do it. While for many this might be true, its
important to keep in mind that if your Will gets contested, it will
have to stand up to legal challenges. If you're concerned, you may
want to use a real lawyer, or at least have your Will reviewed by
an attorney to make sure you're not forgetting anything that could
cause it to fail in a court challenge. However, it is perfectly
possible to do your own Will so long as you take the right steps.
First, the basics. You'll want your Will to include the basic
elements: identify yourself and your estate, you'll need legal
verification that it was you who wrote the will (legal validation),
you should ha...
What is WebWatcher? WebWatcher is a software program that you
can install onto a PC and monitor all activity on that PC, from any
remote browser or via installed software. It's completely invisible
and undetectable, and allows you to discreetly monitor all: All
emails sent and received on that PC (including webmail) All instant
messages (IM) and chat like AIM and Yahoo Messenger and Google Talk
All websites visited All keystrokes typed Word & Excel
documents All applications used Take screenshots remotely See all
features Coupon Link: Click to activate a 40% discount on
WebWatcher Who uses WebWatcher? WebWatcher was rated the best
remote software monitoring package by CNET and has been covered on
CNN, FoxNews, ABC News, and Newsweek. WebWatcher is used by
interna...
Download Keystroke Monitoring Software Are you still looking
for how to secretly capture and record overall office
employees’ activity done on the computer system in your
absence? Don’t worry! Company offers PC monitoring software
which you can observes entire pc keyboard keystroke activities in
your absence. Keywords: Advanced, Keylogger, software, capture,
records, keyboard, activities, online, audio, chat, conversation,
email, sent, website, visited, URL, typed, documents, PC,
monitoring, utility, monitors, pressed, keys, clipboard, contents,
username, passwords, details Are you worried about what your office
employees or other guest users are doing on the PC/Laptop in your
absence? Now you are thinking that what I do? Don’t worry!
Company provides Best Advan...
What is ScanCafe? ScanCafe is a photo scanning service - you can
preserve your memories forever by turning all your old photos into
digital images. How does it work? You place an order with
ScanCafe Ship your photos using UPS ScanCafe digitizes (scans) your
images You get an email with a link to preview all your images Once
you approve, your images are shipped back to you via UPS (copies on
DVDs) Can I restore damaged photos? Yes, ScanCafe uses advanced
technology to restore damaged photos. Request a quote. Will my
photos be safe? Yes - ScanCafe guarantees all your photos. They
scan all images by hand. Who recommends ScanCafe? CNN recently
called ScanCafe the "best scanning service. Best quality and
cheapest.” How is ScanCafe different from KODAK /
ScanDigita...
What is DebtGoal? DebtGoal is a software tool that allows you to
more effectively manage your debt. If you're struggling to keep up
with several payments for credit cards, car loans, school expenses,
or other debt payments - DebtGoal can be the best way to get a
birds-eye view of your whole situation and pick the most efficient
strategy for paying down your debt most quickly. Main advantages of
using DebtGoal See all your accounts in one clean interface
Allocate interest payments more efficiently Accelerate your payoff
with debt tips & tricks Get support from their community of
borrowers Try DebtGoal now - Free 30 day trial offer DebtGoal vs.
Debt Settlement Control - you make all the decisions, rather than
handing control over to a 3rd party No upfront fees - debt settl...
If you want a life of excitement, perhaps you should consider a
career in criminal justice. Most people are familiar with uniformed
city and state police officers, but there are many other career
opportunities including private detectives and investigators,
probation officers, corrections officers, parole officers, even
fish and game wardens. Many entry-level applicants for police
jobs have often completed some formal postsecondary education at
accredited career schools. A significant number are college
graduates. Criminal justice degrees, both bachelors and masters,
are offered through many online and on-campus schools throughout
the country. Search for a criminal justice school now What are your
prospects? The U.S. government* predicts steady job growth for many
law enforcem...
Looking for a solid online degree program to help you advance your
career? You'll want to get your degree from a program that has a
good reputation with employers and one that is affiliated with a
top university. After searching for months, I finally came up with
this list: Online degree programs: search now First
Institute: Founded in 1982, First Institute has been
offering exciting new career paths to the residents of Northern
Illinois in Travel, Computer Technologies and Health Care. Our
Nationally Accredited Programs have trained nearly 3,000 men and
women to become employed in the Travel Industry, Computer
Technology Industries and the Healthcare Industry, currently in
such fields as Medical Assisting, Medical Office Administration,
Massage Therapy and De...
Are you facing an insurmountable amount of credit card debt? The
worst thing to do at this point is to simply keep making your
minimum payments. With interest, you'll end up paying 3x to 4x the
total amount you owe by the time you finish paying! You need a debt
reduction service. What is EmpireDebtRelief? EmpireDebtRelief is a
debt consolidation service that contacts all of your credit card
companies, rolls all your debt into one account that they manage,
and you make one simple payment to them. How do I know? I used
EmpireDebtRelief this year to help pay down my $32K in credit card
debt. Had I continued paying my minimum payments and interest, I
would have ended up paying over $98K by the end of it all! After
speaking with a consultant at Empire, I discovered that in my
situation (I had...
What is IdentityGuard? IdentityGuard is an identity monitoring and
protection service which recently won the Best in Class review
award from Javelin Research, a leading research group on consumer
affairs and products. What sets IdentityGuard apart are: $1M
insurance guarantee for loss resulting from identity theft
Industry-leading subscriber cost of under $5 per month With
IdentityGuard, you get a personal Dashboard which displays in
real-time all the activities which may or may not be putting your
information at risk. You get to stay on top of what's happening
with your information, rather than reaction when its too late. What
IdentityGuard monitors: Your social security number Credit report
Use of name and address Credit cards Bank accounts View all They
also provide a...
What is CampusBookRentals? CampusBookRentals is a leading textbook
rental company. Like Chegg and BookRenter, CampusBookRentals has
been in business from the early days of textbook renting, circa
2006. Note: see if CampusBookRentals is still running their 10% off
storewide coupon (applies at checkout) How does renting textbooks
work? On CampusBookRentals, you search their site for your books,
and rather than buying them, you rent them. CampusBookRentals ships
you your books (shipping is free), you use them for one quarter or
one semester, then when you're done, you use a free return envelope
provided by CampusBookRentals, then ship your books back. Its as
easy as that. How much do you save renting vs. buying? There's a
range, but typically you'll save between 70% to 90% for renting
your...
What is SocialShield? SocialShield is an online safety software
package that allows parents to monitor their kids' online activity
in order to detect risky behavior and potential dangers.
SocialShield will monitor kids' activity on social networks like
Facebook and look for any patterns that present risk and show those
to parents. What types of information does SocialShield show me?
Suspicious adult-to-child activity on social networks. If an adult
or another parent becomes a friend of your child on Facebook,
you'll be alerted. See all photos being posted about your child. In
one easy to read format, you'll get a digest of all the photos
being posted about your child across all social networks. Monitor
conversation topics. SocialShield monitors all conversations and if
any telltale s...
In July, 2010, Tresna Instrument has researched and produced the
new generation of the digital calipers interface ID:711-203B which
can enable all the Tresna Instrument’s digital calipers be
connected to the PC. This is a great huge breakthrough in the
digital calipers industry. Now we have decided to take 50%
off the ID:711-201B and ID:711-202A digital caliper interface to
make room for the ID:711-203B. We have also got lots of
special calipers which is more than 50% off! Digital
Calipers With Wedge Type , Series:SC33
Digital Calipers With Double Position Porule Inside
Groove Digital Calipers With Round Points , Series:SC32
Special Inside Groove Digital Calipers , Series:SC31 Inside
Groove Digita...
Compared with VistaPrint and 123Print, PrintPlace has deeper colors
and a heavier cardstock for their business cards and brochures.
However, we found grayscales to be more crisp on VistaPrint. For
color brochures and cards, however, PrintPlace was the winner.
Customer service: PrintPlace offers a 100% money-back guarantee if
you are not satisfied with your prints for any reason. This is the
best customer service policy we've seen among online printers, and
shows their dedication to good service. See details. Turnaround
time: For large orders, PrintPlace prioritizes big jobs and will
process and ship within 24 hours (view shipping policies), so they
are the best option for larger corporate jobs. VistaPrint has great
turnaround time for smaller jobs, as does 123Print. Business cards:
Prin...
What is Shopster? Shopster is full service e-commerce solution
which allows you to create an e-commerce store using their simple
online wizard. You can then browse the Shopster Network of 85,000
online retailers who have inventories of products that you can then
sell on your own ecommerce store. For retailers: Shopster is
the largest network of suppliers who you can connect with using
Shopster's ecommerce social network. Meet people, find new
products, expand your product suite. Find products to sell now.
Update: Check if Shopster is still running their 30-day free trial
For suppliers: Meet the thousands of new retailers that join
Shopster each day looking for new products to sell. List your
products on the Shopster Network and have other retailers sell them
for you. Set a pri...
What is Intelius? Intelius is the leading background information
and people search service which allows you to do background checks,
reverse phone lookups, people & email searches, and property
& neighborhood-based searches. Intelius also provides identity
protection services and services for businesses / employers such as
employee screening and tenant screening. Intelius is managed by a
world class executive team and has over seven years of experience
in search, retrieval, and security of personal information. Update:
See if Intelius is still offering 30% off people search (enter
ECUKSZ at checkout) What do you get when you run a Background Check
on Intelius? Background reports include, when available, a
criminal and sex offender check, lawsuits, judgments, liens,
bankr...
Shipping time? less than 12 hours to ship and delivered usually 1
day prior to estimate. Costume City got us our costumes quickly and
without incident. Return policy? Costume City allows returns for a
full refund within 30 days, returns must be in new condition.
Prices? Costume City has competitive discount prices, comparable to
most other discount online costume stores. Costume / material
quality? Costume City costumes are made from excellent high-grade
fabrics, the stitching quality is excellent and I was impressed
that the costumes lasted through a rather rough night out with
stuff spilled on it, and I was able to wear the same costume again
for 2 years and it still looked good. Best coupon? See if Costume
City is still running their 5% store-wide discount Sources:
www.costumecity....
What's MyAsiaTrade? MyAsiaTrade is a wholesale e-commerce site
which sells goods directly from Asia / China. Products are
commodity goods like electronics, accessories, fashion items,
electronics components, and jewelry, and prices are typically 40%
to 70% marked down from the lowest prices you see them in the US.
If you sign up for a Wholesale account, you get an additional 60%
off all listed prices. Its a great solution for anyone wanting a
direct channel into China for low-cost manufactured products, or
just anyone looking for cheap bargains. Create a free ecommerce
store selling goods from China MyAsiaTrade lets you sign up for a
hosted ecommerce store where you can sell any of their goods on
your own branded website, and they wlll handle fulfillment and
shipping for you. Use this...
What is TrustedID? TrustedID is a comprehensive identity theft
protection service that watches over your financial information as
well as certain "black market" areas of the internet to ensure that
none of your data is being compromised or at risk. If you are
concerned about your information being compromised, you need to use
a trusted identity monitoring service. Activation link: Get a FREE
credit score and 14 days free from TrustedID What you get with
TrustedID: 3-Bureau Credit Monitoring 3-Bureau Credit Report
3-Bureau Credit Score Identity Threat Score Identity Scanning Lost
Wallet Protection Fraud Alerts Anti-Phishing Protection Spyware
Protection Medical Benefits Protection Junk Mail Reduction
$1,000,000 Warranty Protection On-Call Protection Specialists
Family Prot...
What is Nitrobids? Nitrobids is a timed auction site where you can
buy high-value items such as TVs, cars, and jewelry for pennies on
the dollar. Recent items sold on Nitrobids: iPad 16GB - sold
for $6.21 Sony Blu-Ray disc player - sold for $10.36 How can items
be so cheap? Timed auctions are similar to competitive games, where
dozens or hundreds of people are bidding on the same item. The
winner of the auction is the last person to bid before the auction
timer runs out (usually set to 15 seconds or so). Because multiple
people are bidding on that item, the aggregate amount of money bid
(and thus contributed) to the item is closer to the item's resale
value. However, the winner gets the item for a very very cheap
price. You need to win to save, but its not hard to win. Get ...
