Buyer Beware

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...

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...

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...

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 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....

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...

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...