Thoughts and Riches

You are a member of the Settlement Class and eligible for a payment if you resided in the United States at any time between the dates set forth below, had an account at a bank listed below, and meet all three of the following requirements:

Your account was accessible through a debit card, check card, or any other bank card used for debit purchases; AND

You paid at least one:

insufficient funds fee, overdraft fee, returned item fee, or similar fee that was assessed to your account within five business days after a Bank of America debit card transaction either occurred or posted to your account; OR

overlimit fee or similar fee that was assessed for an account cycle in which a Bank of America debit card transaction either occurred or posted to your account; AND
The insufficient funds fee, overdraft fee, returned item fee, overlimit fee, or similar fee was paid between the following dates:

For customers of . . . From Through
Bank of America 12/6/2000 12/31/2007
Fleet Bank, N.A. 4/1/2004 12/31/2007
U.S. Trust Company, N.A. 7/1/2007 12/31/2007
LaSalle Bank N.A. and LaSalle Bank Midwest N.A. 10/1/2007 12/31/2007
...
The total payment to each qualifying Settlement Class Member will depend upon the total number of valid claims submitted by all Settlement Class Members. However, no Settlement Class Member will receive more than $78.

Labels: bank offers

Lewis and his compatriots purchased more than 513,000 shares of common stock Tuesday, as The Wall Street Journal’s Dan Fitzpatrick reported. BofA’s shares rose 31% Wednesday, fueled by a wider rally that also lifted Citigroup, J.P. Morgan Chase and other financial stocks.
.....
Let’s look at just a few, brief examples. Last November Citigroup Chief Executive Vikram Pandit and his deputies bought 1.3 million Citigroup shares after the stock had fallen below $9. Pandit alone spent $8.4 million. But that didn’t prevent a deeper rout in the stock nor the need of an additional $301 billion in government backstops for Citi’s toxic debt. Oh, and the stock closed Wednesday at $3.67, and that’s after rising 31% on the day.

Directors at Wachovia snapped up hundreds of thousands of shares in October and early November, only weeks before the bank was shoved into an arranged marriage, first with Citigroup and then Wells Fargo. At Washington Mutual, the bank’s decline was presaged by a months-long buying spree by directors and officers–none of which persuaded investors or depositors of WaMu’s viability long enough to forestall an FDIC near-seizure and fire sale to J.P. Morgan.
....
The lesson? That investors believe that no one, including executives, know enough about the market these days to confidently predict all the factors that could affect the future of any company.

Labels: mile, survey

No purchase is required. Any taxpayer can talk to a live TurboTax tax expert who will answer their personal, federal tax-related question for free (a $29.95 value) through Jan. 31 at www.FreeTaxQuestion.com. Taxpayers can submit a question online and they’ll receive a personal call back, at a time they request. This is a limited time offer and subject to availability through January 2009

1. Grow Your Own Food
2. Set Limits and Stick to Them
3. Buy Savings Bonds
4. Redirect Your Raises
5. Split Raises in Half
6. Track Spending
7. Spend Less by Budgeting
8. Save by Using Credit

My husband and I do not carry any significant amounts of cash -- have approximately $20 to $40 maximum in each wallet.

All purchases -- food, gasoline and nominal retail purchases -- are on the card. All credit purchases are paid up completely every billing. Savings are twofold: 30-day float and no credit card interest ever for the past 30 years or more. Our motto is, if we pay any interest charges, they must be tax-deductible!

Labels: frugal

Points.com

Earn Rewards at MyPoints.

Labels: quotes

Class member will be eligible to receive, while supplies last, a maximum of ONE free cosmetics product from one of the Manufacturer Defendants from which he or she purchased Department Store Cosmetics1 during the class period, May 29, 1994 through July 16, 2003, from the list of products below. If a class member has only purchased products, during the class period, from one of the Manufacturer Defendants listed below, then that class member is only entitled to receive a free product from that Manufacturer Defendant. If a class member has purchased products, during the class period, from multiple Manufacturer Defendants, then that class member must choose the ONE free product he or she wishes to claim from one of those Manufacturer Defendants. Again, these products are only available while supplies last, and no rainchecks will be issued. If your store has run out of settlement products from the Manufacturer Defendant(s) from which you have previously purchased Department Store Cosmetics during the class period, then you may claim a product (again, while supplies last) from another Manufacturer Defendant.

Problem: You're too nervous to invest in the stock market, but your bank is offering paltry yields on CDs.
Solution: Auction your cash to the highest bidder. At MoneyAisle.com, more than 100 small and midsize banks compete for consumer deposits through live auctions. When a customer comes to the site and asks for the terms of a CD or high-yield savings account, the banks bid against one another -- through automated auction software that runs on the Web site -- to win the deposit. The cost is free to consumers, and you don't have to commit to investing anything before you see the results of an auction. Participating banks, which are all FDIC-insured, are screened by an independent bank-rating agency to filter out the riskiest banks.

Savers can also find high-yield CDs with brokered CDs, which are offered by banks and brokerage firms around the country, and typically sold through brokerage firms and financial intermediaries. As the big brokerage firms expand their deposit business, many -- including Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch -- are offering attractive yields to lure buyers. Keep in mind that brokered CDs have different rules. If you cash out before they mature, you may lose some of your principal.

Labels: frugal

May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be adored, glorified, loved and preserved throughout the world now and forever.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us.
St. Jude worker of miracles, pray for us.
St. Jude helper of the hopeless, pray for us.

1. Don't try to predict the future.
2. Do keep enough cash available.
3. Do invest internationally.
4. Don't try to pick one winning investment. Diversify.
5. Do think about energy efficiency.
6. Don't stop contributing to 401(k) and other retirement accounts.
7. Do live below your means. Save.
8. Don't make sudden moves.
9. Do pay off expensive debts.
10. Don't give up on stocks.

Labels: frugal