Archive for the 'Money' Category

The Economic Stimulus Plan

Monday, February 11th, 2008

MoneyAstute Chad’s News readers have heard about the US government’s economic stimulus plan. The linked article has the facts. Essentially, the law creates a one-time tax cut for the 2008 tax year (the cut is in the form of a tax credit). The credit will be estimated, based on your 2007 tax return, and will be distributed this May. Then, when you file your 2008 return, you’ll have to determine the actual credit amount. There is also a rebate calculator to determine how much you’ll receive—looks like mine will be $600.

Link: http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/…
(via The Consumerist)

Class Action Lawsuit For Diamond Purchases

Thursday, January 17th, 2008

MoneyA class action lawsuit has been brought against members of the DeBeers Group for inflating the price of diamonds. You can get part of the settlement if you belong to this group: “All persons located in the United States who purchased any diamond or diamond jewelry or other products containing gem diamonds for personal use and not for resale between January 1, 1994 and March 31, 2006.”

Link: https://diamondsclassaction.com/
(via The Consumerist)

Free Money

Tuesday, December 11th, 2007

AbsurdA computer glitch in a Kmart credit card approval system, that approved anyone who applied, led to a riot. The thing I find most interesting, however, is that they considered the credit card to be “free money.”

Link: http://www.wisn.com/…
(via The Consumerist)

Class Action Settlement For Seagate Hard Drives

Tuesday, October 23rd, 2007

Hard DriveIf you purchased a Seagate hard drive in the United States between March 22, 2001 and September 26, 2007, then you are part of a class-action settlement and can get useful stuff or money. Note that you have to have purchased the hard drive by itself—it doesn’t count if it came with a pre-built system.

Link: http://www.harddrive-settlement.com/…
(via engadget)

Canadian Dollar Worth More Than US Dollar

Wednesday, September 26th, 2007

MoneyFor the first time in 30 years, a Canadian dollar is worth more than a US dollar. The linked article looks at the pros and cons of a weak dollar, and it’s not necessarily as bad as one might think.

Link: http://www.csmonitor.com/…
(via digg)

New Hundred-dollar Bill Has A Big Change

Friday, August 31st, 2007

MoneyThe US treasury is redesigning the $100 bill again, this time with a nifty effect that will be difficult to counterfeit.

Thanks to Josh for this topic.

Link: http://www.foxnews.com/…

TurboTax Filing Woes

Sunday, April 29th, 2007

MoneyTurboTax customers who e-filed at the last minute this year ran into some serious problems. The company’s servers were overwhelmed—I heard a report on the radio saying they were getting 50-60 requests per second. Some customers printed out the forms and made a midnight run to the post office, while others missed the deadline. Fortunately the IRS was merciful and gave TurboTax users a 48-hour reprieve.

Link: http://news.com.com/…

Wal*Mart Rolls Back Price by 0.3%

Thursday, April 26th, 2007

AbsurdThe picture tells all. (The discount is $1.24.)

Link: http://www.consumerist.com/…

Demystifying Credit Card Numbers

Wednesday, April 11th, 2007

MoneyEver wondered how credit card numbers are generated? The linked article explains all.

Link: http://www.consumerist.com/…

Dollar Bill Origami

Saturday, March 31st, 2007

MoneyHere’s some really neat origami figures made from dollar bills. My favorite one is the cat.

Link: http://www.financialhack.com/…
(via digg)

Kiplinger’s 13 Most Overlooked Tax Deductions

Saturday, February 10th, 2007

MoneyKiplinger presents its list of obscure-but-useful tax deductions. Note that you may have to file a 1040 and/or itemize deductions in order to receive some of them.

Link: http://www.kiplinger.com/…
(via digg)

Cocaine and Currency

Wednesday, January 24th, 2007

PoliceResearchers tested 45 Irish banknotes and found traces of cocaine on all of them. Assuming this also applies to most American high-denomination currency, the finding is especially significant for people in the US—because detecting traces of drugs on currency is sufficient cause for law enforcement to seize (and keep) the money via a process known as forfeiture. Simply put, don’t carry large amounts of cash.

Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/…
(via Nothing To Do With Arbroath)