The Credit CARD Act, which took full effect earlier this year, is generally lauded as a victory for consumers (hooray!), but, despite its welcome protections, the law doesn’t mean we’re now fully protected against questionable practices by people who issue us plastic.

While the CARD Act includes many welcome reforms for debit and credit cards (including a limit to abusive overdraft loans), its protection is far from total. It may have expanded our rights as consumers, but it didn’t create a bubble of consumer safety around all credit products.

This post about understanding gift cards from Mint.com offers an important reminder about just costly some cards can be. Here’s a summary of what you need to know if you’re thinking about giving gift cards this year – or if you have some parked in your wallet.

Spend Your Money Wisely

Sources note that, as a nation, we drop about $87 billion on gift cards every year – and far too much of that money never goes to actually making purchases. Here’s a primer on what the CARD Act requires from gift card issuers.

• Expiration limits: The new limits on expiration dates state that a gift card cannot expire earlier than five years after its purchase. You may want to mark this date on any cards you buy.
• Fee limits: Card issuers can only impose fees on unused cards after they have been idle for a full year; further, such fees can only be charged once per month. Also, card issuers are prohibited from charging replacement fees for lost or stolen cards.
• Fee disclosures: Somewhere on the card or its packaging, all fees must be detailed in full.

This is all good news, but keep in mind that reloadable plastic cards (which are often non-gift items) are not covered, and neither are promotional gift cards.

Watch Out for Bankruptcy Filings

The other tricky thing to consider if you’re buying gift cards is the financial state of the company. In many cases, if a company files for bankruptcy or goes out of business, its gift cards are no longer valid. And, according to sources, this can be a big deal: it seems Sharper Image’s customers had about $20 million in unused gift cards when it went under.

A License to Overspend?

We all know that one of the most important parts of maintaining financial health is saving money when we can by bargain shopping. But, according to Mint.com, when we shop with gift cards, we’re 2.5 times more likely to pay full price than when we’re paying with cash.

This is understandable, but can be frustrating for budget-conscious folks. So remember: an informed consumer is a better consumer. Spend well!

With recent Census Bureau figures showing that more Americans are living at the poverty level, I figured we could all use some hints and tips for saving money and stretching what we already have. So here, from around the Internet, are a few suggestions for making sure you hang onto more of the cash that you pull down.

Don’t Pay Too Much for Electronics!

Even the most frugal person sometimes needs to splurge – and, if you’re like me, when it’s time to make a major purchase, you always consider buying used first. Now, thanks to the web site WorthMonkey.com, you can take the guesswork out of bargain hunting.

Here’s how it works:

• You enter in the product you’d like to buy or sell.
• WorthMonkey.com collects data from around the Internet to see what similar products are being sold for. In addition, the search function brings up a current sale list for products that match the gadget you entered.
• You can use the information to price what you want to sell or to guide your buying process so you don’t overspend.

This site can work as an excellent time-saver for people who want to bargain-hunt but don’t have the time to spend browsing lots of online outlets.

Spend Less on Groceries by Wasting Less Food

This article from FiscalGeek.com provides an important reminder that wasted food accounts for $600 of the average American family’s annual budget. Not interested in tossing that much money in the garbage? Consider these tips:

• Buy in bulk only if you can store properly. Setting the fridge too warm may save money on electricity, but if you have to keep tossing perishables, the savings is probably cancelling itself out.
• Eat leftovers. In fact, plan for leftovers. Freezing single servings of a meal is a great way to save money (it’s cheaper than buying single-serve dinners), and cooking stuff that can be “re-purposed” on the second night can keep this from seeming like a chore.
• Go by your nose, not the date. Expiration dates on foods are generally play-it-safe guidelines. If something is unopened and only slightly past the expiration date printed on the package, you’re probably okay to eat it. A better guide to a food’s edibility is the way it smells.
• Preserve. Now is the season of excellent bulk buys of delicious fresh produce at farmers’ markets, but it’s easy for so much food to spoil before you can eat it. Home canning and dehydrating (which is super-easy and takes very little skill) are great ways to stretch the harvest and make sure you don’t end up tossing what you buy.

Freebies: What Not to Pay For

Finally, this frugality post from PTMoney.com offers a list of 15 items you can get for free. While some of these are familiar, some may lead to unexpected savings. Here are some highlights:

• Music: Web sites like Pandora and 8tracks.com offer free music online, and your library lets you check out CDs – why pay?
• TV: Again, even if you don’t own a television, you can watch many TV shows for free on web sites like Hulu.com or check out entire seasons on DVD from the library.
• Books and DVDs: Again, the library comes into play. And it has so much to offer!
• Newspapers: There’s a reason the industry is dying: most content is available free online.

No matter how we manage to cut back our expenses, we’ll never be able to cut out paying for food—and most of us wouldn’t want to. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to spend less on what you eat, even if you don’t have the time or space for a home garden.

Study: Save Thousands with Store Brands

A recent study from Consumer Reports notes that the average household can save up to $1,500 per year by opting for store brand items at the grocery store. In addition, the study showed that:

• In taste tests of 21 name- and store-brand products, testers actually voted for the store brands three times. The name brands won seven times, and in the remaining 11 contests, the two items tied. This means that, for some items, you can save cash without sacrificing flavor or value.
• Many manufacturing companies actually make both the name brand and the generic version of a product, meaning you can basically choose how much you want to pay for some products.
• It’s important to always check per-unit prices. In some cases, name brands are actually cheaper, and other times there’s a third option that’s cheaper than even the store brand (for example, at my grocery store, Quaker Oats go for $4.89 per tube, the store brand costs $2.00 and the ValueTime brand costs only $1.83).

What Not to Order When Eating at a Restaurant

While dining out can be expensive, it doesn’t have to be a total no-no for budgeteers. But this post from WalletPop.com details some of the biggest markups restaurants put on food. In other words, here are some tips of what not to order when you’re eating out:

• Wine: Analysts apparently estimate that wine can be marked up from 200 to 600 percent at restaurants. Unless you’re a die-hard wine fan, consider waiting until you get home to have your tipple.
• Soda: There’s a reason restaurants are so eager to offer free refills on drinks like soda, coffee and tea: they cost only pennies on the dollar to buy, but sell for significantly more than that. If you must have a soft drink, you’re probably better off purchasing it by the two-liter bottle.
• Pasta: In the grocery store, this foodstuff costs mere cents per ounce, but in restaurants, pasta-based meals can get pretty steep, especially if they’re topped with fancy meats or seafood. Yes, you may love that alfredo dish, but compare what it would cost to make at home and you may be wincing with every bite.
• Pizza: Like pasta, this is one food item whose ingredients are much cheaper than the final result. But, considering that preparing and cooking high-quality pizza can be time-consuming, this may be an item worth spending on if you really love it.

Take (and Maintain) Control of Your Finances Today!

Whether you’re looking for ways to cut back spending or are considering a more drastic move like a bankruptcy filing, now is the time to commit to improving your finances. And, if you’re ready to see what kind of financial protection the government has to offer, you may want to talk with a bankruptcy lawyer about some of your options.

With unemployment rates hovering near 10 percent nationally, more Americans than ever are currently on the job market. And, thanks to all the conveniences of online job hunting, more of us are also running into online scams disguised as opportunities for work.

In an initiative aimed at helping job seekers avoid scams that could cost them serious money (and lead to endless frustration besides), the Better Business Bureau has released a list of red flags that point to fraud. They include the following:

• You don’t have to leave your house: There are some legitimate offers around for making money by working from home, but be cautious when proceeding with such offers. Scammers, it seems, are all too willing to take advantage of the elderly, students and those with disabilities by luring them into false offers for home-based work.
• An employer requests money upfront: Some scam artists have come up with legitimate-sounding reasons why you might need to pay money before you start working: to process fees, to cover a background check, etc. But such requests are almost never legitimate. Before opening your checkbook, research the company that’s asking for cash.
• Salary and benefits seem too wonderful: The wisdom goes that any offer that seems too good to be true probably is, and the BBB suggests people keep this in mind when considering the salary and benefits mentioned in job offers. If a position requires little or no experience but says it has the potential to earn you serious money, watch out for scams.
• The language in the email is off: Many job scams come from people living outside the U.S. who are not native English speakers. This is generally evident in offer emails and advertisements, which can have significant grammar or spelling errors. If something sounds off to you (even if you’re not sure why), make sure to research the company’s background before proceeding.
• You’re asked to check your own credit report: Some potential employers will run a credit check on a person as part of the hiring process, but you should never be asked to do so yourself. Often, requests for you to check your own credit are nothing more than veiled attempts to get you to divulge personal information or sign up for a useless credit monitoring service that could cost you money.
• You’re asked for personal information too soon: Once you’re hired, it’s perfectly normal for an employer to ask for your Social Security Number and even bank account information for tax and payment purposes. But if an employer requests this information before hiring you (or hires you without an interview and then requests the data), walk away. Such requests are almost always scams and can lead to costly identity theft.
• You’re asked to wire money: As a rule of thumb, never wire money to anyone you don’t know – regardless of what they offer you in return.

According to bankruptcy filing statistics released so far this year, we’re on track to hit more than 1.5 million bankruptcy filings by the end of 2010, which suggests that plenty of us are dealing with significant debt.

The good news, according to a recent article from WalletPop.com, is that on average, we owe slightly less on our credit cards than we did this time last year ($4,951 compared to $5,719) which means some people are getting serious about paying down credit card debt.

Slaying the Beast

So how can you join the ranks of those freeing themselves from credit card debt? Financial analysts recommend some of these strategies:

• Target your budget: Many people who find themselves in serious credit card debt got there by ignoring their real monthly limitations and capabilities. In order to get serious about eliminating your debt, you need to know exactly how much money is coming in and going out of your house each month (in the form of bills, mortgage or rent, food, entertainment, and anything else you spend on). You may want to get right down to paying off your debt, but you can’t make a realistic plan until you know how much money you have leftover each month to put toward debt payment.
• Consider the snowball: If you’ve done some research about debt elimination strategies, you’ve probably heard of the debt snowball, which involves making minimum payments on all credit cards and funneling any extra money (as determined by your budget) to the balance of the card with the highest interest rate. If you’re a hard logic-and-numbers kind of person, this method will likely work well, because it’s the least expensive way, in the long run, to eliminate your debt.
• Or start with the smallest: On the other hand, some people prefer to start funneling extra money to the credit card with the lowest total balance, which allows them to eliminate entire card debts more quickly. This might work better for you if you like small rewards to keep you on track. In the end, it might cost a few more dollars than the snowball method, but if it helps keep you motivated to pay down your debt, it’s probably worth it.
• Find out where you really stand: If thinking about your debt overwhelms you, it may be difficult to understand objectively. To get a concrete idea of where you stand financially, try using this debt calculator to determine exactly how bad (or not so bad) your situation is.
• Know the benefits of bankruptcy: If you do the above calculations and realize you’re in over your head financially even if you juggle your money a bit, don’t be afraid to consider filing bankruptcy. Bankruptcy protection exists for a reason, and, for some people, it’s the only realistic solution to serious debt. A bankruptcy lawyer near you can help you determine whether bankruptcy is a realistic solution to your problems.

Because so many of our expenses are fixed (like rent, electricity and water), one of the easiest areas to save money is in day-to-day shopping. Here’s a look at some great online articles that offer suggestions for ways to save serious money in ordinary shopping situations.

Store-Specific Tips

This ConsumerReports.org article outlines strategies for saving money at specific chain stores. One of the article’s main points is that there are serious savings in the world beyond big-name discounters like Target and Wal-Mart.

Here are some highlights:

Costco & Sam’s Club: These membership-required stores both offer higher-than-ordinary membership levels. If you already spend significantly at either venue, an upgrade may be worth the ramped-up savings you can get on regular trips.
• Kohl’s: Again, if you’re spending significantly here, you can get serious cash-back benefits. Check out the store’s website for some of its money-saving strategies.
• Kmart: This store uses a rewards program called “Shop Your Way,” which gives you one percent back on your purchases. Plus, if you’re out of work, you can apply on the store’s web site for a special savings card that cuts 20 percent off the price of more than a thousand goods.

Outlet Mall Scams

This article Consumerist.com highlights the potential for wasting money at outlet stores, which often seem deceptively bargain-friendly. The problem, according to the article, is this:

• Years ago, when clothes and other goods were more often produced in the United States, “factory outlets” were located in actual factories and offered great prices on slightly damaged or irregular goods that were otherwise great.
• Today, many of the consumer goods we buy from outlet malls are produced overseas; the “factory” part of the outlet has disappeared.
• Because of the popularity outlet stores have gained in recent years, it seems many manufacturers are making outlet-specific goods that are intentionally of a lower quality than their “regular” items.

What all this means is that what may seem like a terrific bargain is actually a fair price for a less-than-stellar piece of merchandise. So, if you’re shopping outlet malls, keep in mind that you aren’t guaranteed a bargain&38212;you still have to do that work yourself.

On Accepting Used Items

This last article deals with some of the tricky parts of the budget-friendly strategy of opting for second-hand goods. If you’ve been offered other people’s castoffs, keep these questions in mind:

• Can you keep them? Some people want their stuff back when you’re done with it, so make sure you know others’ expectations from the beginning.
• Do you need it? Before blinding accepting other people’s goods, figure out what you need and what you don’t—otherwise, you might end up with a lot of unwanted things cluttering your home.
• What comes next? When you’re finished with whatever the items are, are you expected to donate them, sell them or toss them? Make sure you have an idea of your responsibility so you don’t upset anyone by accident.

Educational debt has been mounting in recent years, as the cost of higher education escalates. And many students are finding that it’s much easier to get a loan than it is to repay it—especially considering the tough job market many are finding upon graduation.

Perhaps the scariest part of the student loan situation is that, in most cases, student loans cannot be discharged by filing bankruptcy—once you’ve taken on educational debt, you’ll likely be responsible for paying it back, no matter how hard it is for you to find a job.

Luckily, there are some strategies you can use to help ease your student debt burden. Consider some of these, adapted from this CreditBloggers.com article:

• Focus on principal: It’s a good idea to funnel extra money to student loan debt, but make sure you put that money toward the principal and not toward interest. Paying off principal before it has time to accrue interest is one of the most effective ways to minimize the total amount you pay.
• Don’t give up: Even if you’re only able to make your minimum monthly payments, keep them up. Because there are few cases where student debt can be excused, debt collectors can go to great lengths to get the money you owe them.
• Work with what you have: The government program Income-Based Repayment lets borrowers make payments based on how much money they make, which can help ease the monthly burden while keeping you current on your loan. Check out the web site to see if you might qualify.
• Work another job: If you don’t qualify for payment modifications, you can try to increase your income by working a second job. This can be anything from babysitting to tutoring to lawn care to home repairs. You can put the extra money toward your student loans and keep up the hard work until you’re debt-free.
• Consider public service: There’s another program that helps ease the student debt monster, the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. Basically, this one works by forgiving a percentage of your debt after several years of work for the public good.
• Cut it short: If you can afford higher monthly payments than you’re currently paying, it may make sense to work with your lender to reduce the term of your loan (meaning that you’d owe more each month but would end up paying less in interest over the life of your loan). Alternately, you could simply pay more than the minimum each month and watch the principal shrink.
• Transfer the debt: This one is apparently difficult to do—you’ll have to have solid credit—but it can save you some money in interest. If you qualify, consider switching your student debt to a private loan with a lower interest rate. This will allow you to pay less in the long term and might even let you pay it off faster.

The vast virtual world in which we conduct our online lives has endless resources to make our lives easier—and perhaps just as many that can leave us with unpleasant headaches.

Here’s a look at two of the latest online scams that could lead to identity theft and seriously harm you and your credit.

The Employment Credit-Check Scam

The blog Consumerist.com reported recently about a scam targeted at the unemployed. The scam, it seems, works like this:

• A job seeker is given a tentative offer of employment that’s dependent on whether or not she agrees to sign up for a “free” credit reporting service to “verify her U.S. citizenship.”
• When the job seeker signs up for the “free” service, she has to include sensitive personal information like her Social Security Number.
• The scammers, instead of actually employing the job seeker, use this information and/or charge her serious money for the “free” service.

Here’s how you can tell that this offer is a fake:

• While it’s legal (and fairly common) in most of the country for a potential employer to pull an applicant’s credit report, the applicant would never be asked to do this herself.
• You should never pay for a credit report—free ones are available to all Americans at www.annualcreditreport.com.
• Citizenship and credit history are not linked—you can have a credit report in the U.S. without being a citizen, and you can be a citizen without having a credit history.

The Consumerist article also includes the original scam email, which has several grammatical and usage errors—bad writing is another tipoff that an offer is a scam.

The Facebook “Dislike” Button

Watch out, social networkers: the latest Facebook scam (reported here) is apparently disguised as something Facebook users have been requesting for months—a “dislike” button to counter the “like” button. Here’s how this scam works:

• An offer for the “dislike” button appears, usually with some catchy, Facebook-sounding lingo.
• A Facebook user who clicks on the link is directed to a separate install page (which, according to sources, would not happen if the dislike button were legitimate).
• The scam requires the user to run an application, which installs malicious spyware onto his computer.
• After the spyware is installed, the user is directed to a “survey,” which is likely just an excuse to gather personal information so the scammers have a better shot at stealing the user’s identity and/or money.

These two scams target large swathes of the population, considering the popularity of social networking sites like Facebook and the high unemployment rate. Protect yourself by keeping your personal information close, and spread the word to your friends and family.

I saw a great post this week over at FiveCentNickel.com that discusses one major key to eliminating debt. Considering that a recent report from the New York Fed shows that we, as a nation, have 11.7 trillion dollars of household debt, I think this is a lesson we could all stand to consider.

The Small Steps “Secret”

The gist of the above article is that the only way to get out of debt is one dollar at a time. Sounds simple, but it’s a point worth keeping in mind. If you’re hungry, you can’t shove a whole sandwich in your face and expect that to take care of the problem, and if you’re in debt, you can’t expect to make one major change in your life and be financially free.

So, adapted from the article above, here are some important tips to keep in mind for those looking to eliminate debt:

• Choose the slow lane. Get-out-of-debt-quick schemes are about as successful as get-rich-quick ones—if you want real, lasting financial stability, you’re going to need to accept that you probably won’t eliminate your debt in one fell swoop. But that doesn’t mean you’ll be any less successful.
• Break it down. No, this is not part of the driving analogy—don’t break down your vehicle, break down your money goals. Ultimately, you may want to be debt-free, but you need to know what everyday actions will get you there. So take the time to write down your smaller goals, which might include paying all bills on time, making more than the minimum payments, eating out less and putting the money toward existing debt, and so forth.
• Stop the bleeding. It would be pretty difficult to reduce your debt if you kept adding new debts to your existing pile. So make a commitment to stop taking on new debt—that might mean saving up for purchases instead of charging them, or scaling back your shoe shopping habit.
• Enjoy every success. The most important point highlighted by the Five Cent Nickel article is that it’s easy to lose the motivation to improve your finances if you only reward yourself for total debt elimination. Instead, keep yourself focused and excited by congratulating yourself when you cook food at home, pay cash for a purchase, and pay more than the minimum on a credit card bill. You’ll realize you’re moving toward your goal and will likely enjoy the journey more.
• Employ a partner. While getting out of debt may sound simple, it’s rarely easy. Consider joining forces with a friend or family member and let that person cheer you on and bolster you through difficult periods. It’s often easier to stick to our goals when we’re accountable to somebody else.

A recent post from CreditBloggers.com examines the question of how scammers convince us to part with our hard-earned money. Turns out, there are some tricks of the trade—and you can learn to watch out for them and hold on to more of your income.

How People Get You to Spend on Stuff You Don’t Want (or Need)

Here’s a look at six of the techniques that are apparently common practice for those selling services or products (or even just collecting money for causes) that may benefit them more than the rest of us.

• Reciprocity: We tend to feel more willing to buy stuff from a person if we feel like that person has done us a good turn—this is why many charities send out personalized return address labels with their requests for donations. When we’ve already been given a “gift” (whether or not we requested it), we feel obliged to return the favor. But the trick is that the initial gift is of much less value than whatever it is you’re being asked to buy—so learn to say “thanks” and move on.
• Scarcity: You’ve probably seen infomercials that advertise something as a “limited time offer,” or that proclaim “supplies are limited.” This ploy is designed to awaken a sense of urgency in the consumer—when we think there’s a limited supply of something, we’re more inclined to pay for it. After all, our internal logic goes, we may not need it now, but what if we need it in the future—and can’t get it then? Being aware of a contrived sense of scarcity will help you make more level-headed decisions: after all, if a product were selling like hotcakes, would people have to come to your house to ask you to buy it?
• Liking: It seems that we’re hard-wired to like people who are similar to us. Knowing this, salespeople (and scammers) often try to establish a rapport with their victims by insisting on similar interests, telling jokes, or flattering us. There may not be a remedy for hard-wired vanity, but being alert to such gimmicks should help.
• Authority: One effective way someone can convince you to buy is to establish authority, which can mean expertise on a subject, advanced degrees, or any other marker (legitimate or otherwise). It’s hard to argue with someone in the know, but remember what the stakes are: your hard-earned dollars.
• Social proof: It’s important to humans to fit in with our social groups, and con artists can use that to their advantage. Be very wary in any situation when a salesperson discusses what “other people” in your area or social group have done—it’s probably just a ploy to get you to pay.
• Commitment/consistency: This ploy is a little subtler and appeals to our need to be viewed as consistent, rational beings. Imagine this: a salesperson comes to your door and asks if you’re worried about the state of the environment. When you say “yes,” she then asks you to donate to an organization that’s working to preserve some aspect of the natural world. It’s hard to say “no” without contradicting yourself—but if you don’t feel comfortable giving, shake your head and shut the door.

The blog GetRichSlowly recently posted a piece about a man who accepted the Groupon.com challenge of living off coupons for an entire year. And it’s a strict bet: he’s not allowed to even touch money during the 12-month period—but if he succeeds, he’ll win $100,000.

While few of us will get to experience such an extreme version of living without spending, we can all learn a few lessons from the Groupon.com challenge.

• Creativity saves: Sources note that the challenger made a suit of coupons on the first day of his challenge, before he was able to buy any clothes (with coupons, of course). While we may not want to go that far, we can certainly get creative to save money on greeting cards (make your own), groceries (substitute ingredients you already have), clothes (repair, don’t replace) and just about anything else. Before forking over money for something, ask yourself if you can cook up a functional version for less.
• Embrace the barter system: The challenger notes that he often has to use coupons and gift certificates in place of cash (for tipping, especially). But plenty of people are willing to accept such a trade. If you have Internet access, you can even take advantage of bartering web sites to post things you have but don’t want and trade them for stuff you want but don’t have.
• Reach out to your friends & family: Most of us are far more connected today than we were ten or twenty years ago. But do you take advantage of your online friends? It never hurts to ask a large network of people for help, whether that’s guidance on where to find the best bargains, a place to crash while you’re in town, a ride somewhere or a good recipe.
• Focus on experiences, not objects: Because many of the coupons given to the Groupon.com challenger are for experiences (like yoga classes), he gets to focus on his internal enjoyment rather than external accumulation of goods. This is an important idea to keep in mind (and an easy one to forget, as we’re bombarded by ads for things to buy)—free things (like a walk with a friend) can make you just as happy as expensive things. And they won’t leave you with a credit card hangover months later!

While making calls to customer service representatives may not be the most pleasant way to spend an afternoon, I’ve found that approaching it with the right mindset makes it much more worthwhile.

There may not be an approach that makes these calls fun, but a few tactics can make these calls more product – and that makes me happy.

Remember: most of the calls we make are to correct a problem that has cost us money. In other words, we’re calling to save money.

But, as WiseBread.com reminds us, it’s easy to fall into the trap of venting our anger or frustration on a representative who isn’t responsible for our woes.

To maximize the benefit of the customer service calls – even those with credit card companies – you make, try following these steps:

• Know what you want. Before dialing the phone, determine what you want the representative to do for you: Waive a fee you think was charged in error, fix an incorrect bill, change your service plan, etc. Having your specific goal or goals in mind will help you focus your energy and keep the call productive.
• Get to the point … politely. It doesn’t help either party if you wander into excessive background information about how you got into a situation, why you chose that service in the first place or what your plans are for the future. Rather than over-explaining yourself, speak simply and politely – the rep will likely be grateful for both features and more willing to assist you.
• Tell the representative what you want. You know your goal, and it’s important to make sure the person helping you does, too. Don’t be shy about asking for refunds or waivers – the worst any rep can tell you is “no,” and you’ll likely save yourself some time by being direct about what you’d like.
• Talk yourself up. After telling a rep what you want, let him know why he should give it to you – usually this means describing your positive history with that company.
• Know when to take it to the next level. If you feel like your request is not being understood or you discover that the rep you’re talking to simply doesn’t have the authority to do what you’re asking, ask politely to speak to a manager. There’s no need to get angry; a simple request should do the trick.
• Recap the call. Once you’ve reached a solution, restate the initial problem, your request and the proposed solution to make sure you and the rep are on the same page. This should clear up any confusion and give you the peace of mind that you’re getting what you want.
• Take some notes. When the call is over, jot down the name or employee number of the person you talked to, the date and time and the solution you reached. Should you need to contact the company in the future, you’ll have this information to refer to.

The Debtress has been doing some traveling in the past few weeks, and I encountered a surprising situation at one hotel during check-in: while reading the paragraph or so that included the terms of my stay, the desk clerk laughed and said I was the only one he’d ever seen read the paper before signing it.

He said, “I could put anything in there—most people just sign.” He seemed like a nice guy and the terms were not, in fact, outrageous, but this incident stood out to me. I mean, there were only three of four lines of writing to get through before signing on the line and agreeing to all the costs mentioned.

Which is why I was glad to hear about National Money Night Talk, sponsored by Jean Chatzky and American Express. It’s scheduled for September 16, which will give parents plenty of time to brush up on the basics of money management so they can make sure their kids always read the fine print.

Covering Important Financial Information

Not sure whether to address credit card use, savings accounts, college funds, personal bankruptcy, interest rates, car loans or maintaining a good credit score? Fear not, bold parents. The web site mentioned above includes helpful guides for all age groups.

College Kids

Consider addressing these topics:

• Living within their means
• Setting aside money for bills before splurging on fun, spontaneous purchases
• The differences between debit, credit and charge cards
• How and why it’s important to build and maintain a strong credit history
• Whether to take on student loans, what those loans might mean for the future and the most cost-effective ways to borrow money for their education
• How to use technology to manage their finances with online and digital tools
• How much financial support they can expect from you, their parents—and how long they can expect it

High school

For older kids who are still at home, think about discussing:

• What they’re expected to pay for—now and in the future (with special attention given to what they’ll be responsible for in college)
• Whether they should be working, and if so, what their income is supposed to pay for
• How much they should be saving (particularly with regards to their future college finances)
• How to live on a budget (which may mean giving allowance on a monthly basis and helping them budget week-to-week)
• The differences between and advantages and disadvantages of debit cards, credit cards, checks and cash

Middle school

Some analysts think kids in middle school are especially receptive to financial discussions. They’ll likely be interested to know:

• What things really cost and how much money they can expect to make in various careers
• How saving, spending, working, investing and giving fit together in the bigger financial picture
• How to distinguish between wants and needs and adjust spending appropriately
• What jobs or chores they can do to earn extra money
• How, when and why to open bank accounts

And don’t sweat if you aren’t sure about some of these topics—the Money Talk Night web site has information for parents!

Whether you’re rebuilding from a bankruptcy filing or just committed to paying off some debt, the traditional shopping trips that accompany the back-to-school season may seem like a daunting obstacle. But fear not, budgeteers: here are some tips on financially savvy back-to-school techniques from across the World Wide Web.

• Swap, don’t shop: An article from the Associated Press details the trend of clothes swapping for children. The nationwide online network ThredUp lets parents trade gently used clothes for the cost of shipping, which can be a great bargain, particularly if your kids aren’t too picky about what they wear.
• Shop used: If you and your kids like to know exactly what you’re getting before you pay (which isn’t always possible with swaps), check out a Good Will, Salvation Army or garage sale, where quality items go for great prices. It’s wise to take your kids along, though, because sizes can vary greatly and you don’t want to buy something that won’t fit.
• Revamp old clothes: If your kids (or you!) have lost otherwise good clothes to stains or growing pains, check out rufflesandstuff.com, which has great tips on turning old pieces into functional and fun new ones. Warning: you’ll need to know your way around a needle and thread to achieve most of these fixes.
• Start a fund early: Rather than putting back-to-school purchases on a credit card, consider opening a savings account specifically for early fall purchases. Adding a few dollars each month will ease the stress of wondering where you’ll get the funds for supplies and new clothes.
• Pay attention to sales: Many office supply stores (like Staples and Home Depot) offer amazing back-to-school sales on specific items. Know what’s cheap where and divide your list so you can take advantage of super-low prices.
• Make lists: Take advantage of a rainy day in summer to sort through your kids’ wardrobes and figure out what you have and what you need. This can help you avoid buying duplicates or forgetting important essentials when you’re at the store.
• Buy some extra: If your child is likely to need more than one of a key supply (like folders, crayons, notebooks, etc.), consider buying multiples during summer sales. That way, you can avoid paying full, non-sale prices when it’s time to replace the original in the middle of the year.

The bottom line is that back-to-school shopping doesn’t have to be a budget-buster. With a little planning and research, you can likely get all the gear your child needs without draining your resources.

Attending college can be an enriching and beneficial experience, both for your potential earning power and for your life in general. But with today’s high tuition costs, it can also be a great way to get into debt—and, in most cases, student loan debts are not dischargeable in bankruptcy, which means you’ll almost certainly have to pay them back, even if you find yourself in financial distress.

Luckily, there are lots of resources on the web for college students trying to keep their budgets under control. Here’s a look at some of them.

What to Avoid

A recent post from CreditBloggers.com outlines some common financial mistakes college students make and how to avoid them. These include:

• Racking up credit card debt: While it may seem almost logical to accrue credit card debt in college (with the assumption that it will be easy to pay off once you have a full-time job), avoid this kind of debt at all costs. True, many college students have limited budgets, but that’s not an excuse to live beyond your means. Plus, in this economy, a full-time job is no guarantee upon graduation, and credit card payments may seem crushing when combined with those for student loans.
• Graduating late: Spending an extra semester (or longer) in school may seem fun, but it’s rarely a good move financially. Be sure to review graduation requirements at the beginning of every semester and—for serious savings – try taking some college-credit classes at a community college or in high school to save money on credit hours.
• Having your identity stolen: While identity theft isn’t the fault of its victims, its damage can be kept in check with good financial habits. A recent study found that college students are generally the slowest to notice their identities have been stolen, largely because they tend to monitor accounts less carefully than older adults. To stay on top of your finances, be sure to check your credit report for free at www.annualcreditreport.com.

What to Embrace

So what can a student do to keep bills in check and resist the temptation of the plastic cards? Consider some of these tips:

• Turn off lights and other appliances when you’re not using them. Get a power-smart power strip that can be switched off when you’re not at home—your energy bills should shrink.
• Make your own cleaning supplies for less than what it costs to buy name-brand stuff. While you’re at it, choose rags over paper-towels to save even more.
• Print assignments on both sides of a page whenever possible—you’ll save on paper, ink and printing costs.
• Opt for a reusable water filter over bottled water. You’ll save money and keep waste out of the landfills.