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Extreme home makeover, Part III: Falling victim to project creep

6:00AM 11/14/2009

Buyer Beware, Real Estate, Personal Finance, Family Money

This is the third part of a five-part series about how the writer and her husband, Charlie, tackled a major overhaul of their home and the pitfalls they faced along the way. To read the first installment click here. The situation is deteriorating fast. A large part of the problem is our fault,...

Monavie thinks people don't have a right to criticize it

1:00PM 9/01/2009

By Zac Bissonnette

Ripoffs and Scams, Buyer Beware

LazyManandMoney.com is one of the better personal finance blogsites out there -- and it recently had the nerve to do a post skeptical of a multilevel marketing company called MonaVie and its $1.70-per-ounce juice.Well, of course MonaVie wouldn't stand for that and responded by sending an e-mail to...

Listen to your elders -- and avoid the family heraldic history scams

4:30PM 8/26/2009

By Beau Brendler

Ripoffs and Scams, Relationships, Buyer Beware, Consumer Ally

You may have seen TV ads for a customized personal history of your family name, printed out on faux-parchment and hallway-display-ready (the commercials are about as cheesy as Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia Obama's). You may have found your way to the MyFreeScroll.com Web site, typed in your personal information...

How to tell when a 'watchdog' isn't really one at all

6:00PM 8/20/2009

By Beau Brendler

Ripoffs and Scams, Technology, Buyer Beware, Consumer Ally

These days it's getting so you can't tell the consumer watchdogs from the crooks. I've exposed a number of phony do-gooders over the years, and the pretend-watchdog routine runs rampant among competing marketers of junk-products like acai berry supplements and colon cleansers.The way it works: One...

Help me WalletPop: I sent books to Textbookwheel and they said they didn't arrive

5:00PM 8/19/2009

By Mitch Lipka

Ripoffs and Scams, Consumer Complaints, Buyer Beware, college finance, Consumer Ally

Laura McCurdy of Rhode Island wrote to WalletPop about her problem with Textbookwheel.com, a site that markets itself as a place to get cash for old college texts. She followed the directions and shipped off what she said the site reported as $243 worth of books. She said she shipped the books a...

The 2 Mortgage Guys - Paying points on your mortgage

8:00AM 8/17/2009

By Ryan Minick

Credit, Real Estate, Buyer Beware, The2MortgageGuys, Credit, Real Estate, Video

Do you know what it means to "pay points" on a mortgage? On this week's episode of "Show & Tell with The 2 Mortgage Guys" we explain what discount and origination points really are. We'll also give you a few scenarios in which you may have to pay points on your next mortgage transaction. Ryan...

U.S. runs low on sugar, get ready for high prices

3:30PM 8/13/2009

By Damanick Dantes

Economy, Stimulate US, Buyer Beware, Food

The United States is facing a major sugar shortage, according to the Wall Street Journal (subscription may be required). On Aug. 5, General Mills, Hershey Co, Mars Inc., and Kraft Foods alerted Thomas J. Vilsak, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, of their combined forecast of low...

Rush Limbaugh loses weight- should you rush to join him?

5:00PM 8/05/2009

By Tom Barlow

healthcare, Buyer Beware

Rush Limbaugh throws his weight around the political world like a boy with a bazooka in a paintball game, but lately there's less of Rush's weight to throw; the radio talk show star has lost 90 pounds. Expect to see a stampede to Quick Weight Loss Centers, which Limbaugh credits for his loss....

Liveblog: Financial mistakes by experts who should know better

11:00AM 8/04/2009

By Bruce Watson

Ripoffs and Scams, Relationships, Buyer Beware, Retail, Food, Family Money

Learn from our mistakes! We'll be adding our own stories of financial mistakes to this space and telling you how we coped with the aftermath. If you've got a story to tell us, send it along to askwalletpop@walletpop.com.This last weekend, my wife and I drank our first $300 bottle of wine. This was...

Chew on this: gum brands stick health claims on their products

6:30PM 7/28/2009

By Martha C. White

Buyer Beware, Food, Family Money

When you pick up a pack of sugarless gum on your way to an interview or after drinking a cup of coffee, you could be forgiven for thinking the sticky stuff is a veritable Swiss Army knife for your health. Lately, as this article in The New York Times points out, gum makers have been boosting their...