An emergency fund can help you avoid complete financial chaos.

It’s the first reader question of the New Year:
I have a credit card with a $6700.00 balance,with an interest rate of 14%, have a CD which I can cash in to pay this down, CD will yield about $5600.00. Should I use the CD to pay down the credit card?  CD is paying about 3.6%
Personally, I am inclined to take the money in the CD and pay down the credit card. The 14% interest that you pay on the credit card more than cancels out the 3.6% you are getting on the CD. Indeed, you will be paying …read more

I have a high yield savings account at Citi. I also have a Upromise credit card with Citi. But I’m starting to wonder if it’s time to pull back business i’m sending to Citi. The company is kind of ticking me off a bit. First of all, the Citi is slashing jobs in an effort to stop the hemhorraging it has been doing in terms of cash. I can see that. Cost cutting is an effort to save oneself.
But, while cutting jobs in large numbers seems to be a no-brainer, Citi can’t seem to make the decision to cut executive …read more

So, something happened this morning that has me really considering the GM bailout: My car freaked out on me. As a result, car repairs are going to have to be (presumably) made. Luckily, we have an emergency fund in a high yield savings account for just these occasions.
But, since my car is a Saturn, I am suddenly  more interested in the possible GM bailout on a personal level. The level of: Who is going to fix my car if there is no more GM? Sure, dealerships are a rip-off, but they make cars so that you have to go in …read more

Are you into saving money? And I mean really saving it. You know, by setting it aside in some sort of an account (be it investment or high yield savings or CD). Do you do that? I do, and I really felt the truth behind a recent BusinessWeek article about how savers are basically getting the shaft. Due to the very real effects of inflation, many savers are finding that their gains are being eaten away. And with the bear market, some are concerned that investment accounts are tanking.
All of this is somewhat excerbated by the recent attempts to shore …read more

If you have waited until today to pay your taxes (or file for money back), you are probably wondering why you waited until the last minute. Again.  (Incidentally, I don’t wonder this; I get everything ready to go and then don’t mail it til the last day. It’s purely psychological. It sort of makes me feel better.)
But there are some things you can start doing now to ensure that next year’s Tax Day isn’t quite so onerous.

Get organized. Look through your tax return. What sorts of things are you deducting or getting credits for? Throughout the year, keep receipts from …read more