Looks like Balloon-boy’s family wants to be famous.

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Let’s talk about credit card debt.

Spotted: Posh Spice on Gossip Girl!

This must be the son of Superman.

This money's all mine now, bank!

When I got to college, my parents and I debated between giving me a credit card or a debit card. With my propensity for shopping and dining out, my parents had enough foresight to realize I’d be $20 million in debt by the end of the first semester with a credit card at my fingertips. Debit card it was. But that didn’t come without its own share of problems.

Before I discovered the wonders of online banking, I was always petrified to use my debit card when I feared my funds were nearing depletion. The curse of the overdraft fee haunted my nightmares. There’s nothing worse than overspending by 30 cents and being charged $30 for your mistake. Then being charged another $30 for the automatic withdrawal from the bank to cover the overdraft.

WTF? How do they expect you to pay off the charge of overdrawing when having no money was the very thing that put you in this place to begin with?

But all of this may be coming to end. And hopefully, on my tight budget, it will be sooner rather than later. There is proposed legislation on the table that will force banks to ask the customer whether or not they would like the “protection” of the overdraft program instead of automatically enrolling debit card users in this plan. (Basically, we will have the option of being able to withdraw more money than we have in the account [with a fee] or only use what we got [without a fee].) Read More »

And it is really, really gross.

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Beware of those college credit cards.

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Credit card companies set limits based on where you shop.

Don’t deny it; you know you have a closet full of free t-shirts you got when you signed up for a credit card on the way to a football game. Those damn banks and credit card companies have tents and tables all over campus luring you in with free sh*t if you sign up for one of their student-specific credit cards.

Free stuff and a new credit card? Hell yes! What’s the harm, right?

How about serious credit card debt (an average of $2,623 for college seniors nationwide)? Or serious credit issues – the kind that got us into this whole recession mess in the first place – after graduation?

We all know that credit card companies target college students because we don’t know how to handle our money, but it seems they aren’t the only ones profiting. According to the New York Times, our very own universities are selling our information to those guys! Instead of protecting us and our futures, our schools are handing us over to the sharks and promoting our potential to incur serious debt.

Shouldn’t universities – places of learning – teach us how to manage money instead of profiting from our lack of experience? Doesn’t working with credit card companies go against the role of a university in the first place?

What do you think?

[Photo courtesy of NYTimes.com]

August 1st. Can you believe it? Where has time gone?

Perhaps it’s time to stop blacking out/macking on totally unavailable men and start enjoying the summer days. Although, with all the crazy sh*t that went down this week (earthquakes? lumps? embarassing doctor’s appointments?) can you blame me?

Alcohol seems to be the best (and only) remedy for forgetting things I wish I never saw, getting over the fact that he didn’t call and, of course, my growing credit card bill. (I guess I should be glad I didn’t fork over the cash for that cosmetic surgery.)

Usually I would turn to music to get me through the tough times, but even that has been ruined for me.

With only 4 weeks left of summer, I better get crackin’ on finding a summer fling. It has been far too long since anyone has parked their beef bus in my tuna town. Yeah, I said it. I guess that’s what the weekend is for. Well, that and movie marathons.

College can be devastating — to your wallet, that is. Between rising tuition and textbook prices and the cost of housing (student or otherwise), more and more students are finding it impossible to get through college without amassing some serious debt.

And financial institutions know it, too. They create all kinds of products to target needy college students — student loans and credit cards being the most common. There’s a reason why banks and credit card companies practically throw money at college students, and it’s not out of a sense of altruism. They know that if they lend you money now, they will be earning interest on it for the next decade — at the very least.

So how to avoid getting screwed by moneygrubbing financial institutions? Bob Sullivan has some answers for you in his fantastic little book, Gotcha Capitalism. Although the point of the book is to expose the sneaky fees businesses hit us with every day, there are several pertinent chapters for college students: one on student loans, one on credit cards, and one on cell phones.

Since pretty much every college student these days has at least one of each of those things, Gotcha is practically a handbook for surviving college without burying yourself in debt. Read More »

A bachelor’s degree is a funny thing. Depending on your major, it’s either the equivalent of an extremely pricey receipt with a huge FINAL SALE stamp on it, sending you off to continue your studies, or it sends you to work. In either situation, the joys of the undergraduate lifestyle are mourned on almost a daily basis.

No more are the nights of frat parties and pregaming at seven A.M. for football games. The real world isn’t all bad, don’t get me wrong, but before you make that giant leap to becoming a legitimate person, take the time to consider what lies ahead.

1.) The phrase “I need” has likely lost its charm with your parents. Unless it’s food or some sort of medical emergency, they know damn well you’ll spend any extra money to supplement your happy hour four work nights a week. They also know you’re making money, and therefore, shouldn’t spend it if you don’t have it. This is never not depressing. You can only fake having to go to the doctor so many times before they realize you’re on your own insurance, and sadly, cute little dresses no longer qualify as “emergency” spending. Read More »

I am horrible with money. Seriously.

Which is why, for my own benefit (and my loved ones), I need to get my holiday shopping done now before I spend all my money on dresses I don’t need and beers I shouldn’t drink.

Thank God today is Cyber Monday! This silly little day is the day for online sales…like Black Friday, only for us lazy online shoppers.

So, pull out your credit cards, take a deep breath, and check out these sites for some debt-causing holiday goodness!

Get your gadgets on the cheap at bestbuy.com!

Impress those people in your life who value things like iPods and GPS devices the same way we value a hot pair of boots. When you can get your favorite techie what they really want it’s always sure to please.

And just because the prices are good, don’t be tempted to pick up something for yourself! Let someone else treat you to a new iPhone.

40% off at Barnes and Noble!

Books are always a fantastic present. I don’t care if you’re a lit major or one of those people who “don’t read”, B&N always has something for everyone.

If you’re not into buying reading material for someone special, check out their journals, calendars, DVD’s, and games! Read More »

Starting college is arguably the best thing ever. So many new people, new classes, new ideas—it’s like an ocean of new things that you can’t wait to experience. It’s awesome.

But with all these new, exciting things, you are bound to get caught up in the fervor of college before you realize—FUCK, maybe I shouldn’t have done that. Fuck, I’ve screwed up. Fuck, I am sooo stupid.

Which is why, my dears, I am going to tell you all the things that made me drop the f-bomb time after time in hopes that perhaps you can learn from my many, many mistakes:

Don’t drink the punch. Read More »