Posts Tagged With ‘ finances ’

Photo: Vauxford Buying a car is such a complicated process. I always appreciate information from Consumer Reports on the topic. Each year Consumer Reports issues a report on car reliability. It’s latest report showed hybrid vehicles and midsized or large sedans are among the most reliable, while electric vehicles and full-size pickup trucks are the two most problematic categories. Seven of the top 10 most reliable brands are Japanese and Korean. Lincoln is the only domestic brand in this year’s top 10.  Here are how the brands ranked, along with information about whether they went up or... Continue Reading

Photo: The Pancake of Heaven! It’s great progress that 40 state attorneys general have reached a $391.5 million settlement with Google over its location tracking practices. The Big Four – Google, Amazon, Apple, and Facebook – have tremendous power over our personal information and more needs to be done to rein them in. Google misled its users into thinking they had turned off location tracking in their account settings, when Google actually continued to collect their location information, according to the settlement. In addition to paying money, Google has agreed to improve its location... Continue Reading

Briana called AgingParents.com in distress. She was feeling panicky and angry. Her 80-year-old mother, Rhonda, had just bought another new car she could not afford. Briana explained that her mother’s funds were limited, but she kept insisting on living the life she had before her husband passed. Her parents had depleted their assets in the process of having a lot of fun in retirement, never considering that their money would not last. Rhonda was going to run out of savings in about a year, the way she was spending, and it was becoming clear that she was starting to need help at home. Briana had... Continue Reading

It’s one of the biggest frauds unleashed on the American public: high gas prices despite falling crude oil prices. As consumers prepare to vote, it’s often the high gas prices that are on their minds. Recently, I wrote about price gouging. I reported about one-third to half of the current inflation in the United States is being caused by big companies making excessive profits. It was difficult to get information on price gouging, but a friend send me a copy of a chart that’s gone viral. In April, John Bevins of director of research at the Economic Policy Institute, an economic policy think... Continue Reading

On Thursday, I put my ballot in a nearby drop box. Fortunately, there weren’t any Right-wing election deniers with guns standing nearby as has been reported in some areas of the country. It’s really important for people to vote in the upcoming election. Right-wing fanatics are on the ballot in every state including running for secretary of state, the job in many states that oversees elections. It’s so disappointing to me that Republicans have evolved into a party that needs to cheat and lie in order to win. Scurrilous ads, gerrymandering, and outright hate speech are now the... Continue Reading

When I switched from Verizon to T-Mobile, it wasn’t a problem to cancel once I finally got the correct information on what to do. However, some consumers have found it difficult or nearly impossible to cancel a service because companies illegally trick or trap people who use their services. An example is Vonage, a phone company that didn’t give customers an easy way to cancel their services. Vonage used hurdles called “dark patterns” that made people: hunt for the cancellation phone number; go from agent to agent with repeated sales pitches when they called; and pay high... Continue Reading

After a loved one dies, going  to a funeral home to make arrangements for a burial or cremation is extremely difficult. Fortunately, in the 1980s I wrote an article on how to pick out funeral goods and services. I learned a lot. I did a survey after funeral directors in the area told me consumers didn’t have any problems picking out funeral goods and services. I found: People who chose the funeral home closest to their home didn’t get the inexpensive funeral they wanted. Funeral homes didn’t tell customers that bodies in airtight caskets can decompose just as quickly as... Continue Reading

It’s Halloween, time to get the treats ready, and maybe a costume for you and the kids, too. I got a kick out of reading an article from my blog coach, J. Money at Budgets Are Sexy, on some good – and frugal costumes. Among them are static cling, wear normal clothes and safety pin socks and lint to it and Christmas tree, wear all green, wrap yourself in Christmas lights, and then plug yourself into the wall. This year, 69 percent of Americans plan to celebrate Halloween this year, with the average person expected to spend $100 on the spooky holiday. Forty-seven percent plan to dress... Continue Reading

For years, I’ve suggested that consumers consider banking with a credit union rather than a bank. Why? Consumers often can’t trust banks not to gouge them with high interest rates and fees. It was great to listen to President Biden speak on the radio and on television about the action his administration is taking on “junk fees.” Junk fees can weaken market competition, raise costs for consumers and businesses, and hit the most vulnerable Americans hardest. Biden is calling on federal agencies to reduce or eliminate hidden fees, charges, and add-ons from banking services,... Continue Reading

Recently, I wrote about how price-gouging by corporations is responsible for a third or more of the inflation consumers are experiencing these days. Now, another instance of corporate wrongdoing that’s costing consumers millions has been exposed. Tyson Foods, the largest chicken producer in the nation, will pay $10.5 million to settle a lawsuit from the Washington State Attorney General’s Office over price-fixing on chicken products. It’s the third and largest resolution in state’s lawsuit against 19 chicken producers, Attorney General Bob Ferguson said in a statement... Continue Reading