I came really close to banging my fist on the steering wheel when it became very clear that the government intends to bailout General Motors. What? How is this a good plan? And why is it my responsibility to rescue them? So, today brings us another post in the That Makes Me Stabby series. Why General Motors …
That Makes Me Stabby: The General Motors Bailout Read More »
The other day I was watching CNN. (I need to stop doing that. It tends to make me stabby.) On this particular day, a pundit declared that people who aren’t currently suffering as a result of the economic decline have a moral obligation to spend their money to help save the economy. I must have blacked …
That Makes Me Stabby: Do We Have an Obligation to Spend? Read More »
First, let me say I don’t drink coffee. Can’t stand the stuff. Not even coffee ice cream. I will buy an iced latte once every few months, but it took me nine months to use the last coffee gift card I received. (That leads me to another question: why do my friends, who know my …
Each day, we hear the dire reports that people have closed their wallets, retail sales are down, and stores are closing. Could it be that the problem isn’t negative retail sales growth, but excessive store growth? I tackle that topic in today’s That Makes Me Stabby. Happy Times at Some Malls? This Sunday I went …
That Makes Me Stabby: Over-Reliance on Retail Sales Growth Read More »
I’ve been on a slow burn for a few weeks over something my husband said. First, a little backstory. We helped found a small non-profit about ten years ago. For several years, we had to provide loans to the org to get it through some shortfalls. We’re actually still owed about $300. So, the other …
Last week, Chase sent me a notice about their “new and improved” checking accounts. The enhancement? My free checking account is no longer free. That may be improved for them, but not for me. I will be closing that account shortly because it was primarily a pass-through account for freelancing income, which I have little …
That Makes Me Stabby: Customers “Want” Fees for Checking Accounts Read More »
So, you may have noticed that I’ve been absent a few weeks. I’ve been very busy, both at work and in my personal life. However, that’s given me plenty of time to get stabby about a whole bunch of things! Magazines.com Auto-Renew Last year we bought a magazine subscription as a Christmas gift. I received noticed earlier …
Just when I thought we were finally making progress on that whole TARP debacle. Another bank paid back the money, and taxpayers were informed that we really hadn’t lost all the much money on the bailouts. I thought “Yay, we finally catch a break.” Enter Congress, stage left. The audience heaves a great sigh. I …
I’m sort of working my way around all the various rescue packages. Why do they all have to have fancy names and acronyms? TALF, TARP, Making Home Affordable, Making Work Pay. Argh! But that’s not today’s rant. Today’s stabby post about the way some of these programs and statistics are presented. The government likes to say …
That Makes Me Stabby: Averaging Figures Across the U.S. Read More »
I read a story on NPR’s Marketplace today that really made me stabby. Apparently some banks are now charging fees for customers to receive monthly paper statements. Sure, most of us can access our accounts online and have opted out of paper statements, but that’s not everyone. Banks shouldn’t charge you a fee for providing a core service, …
