I just canceled another one of my credit cards this week.  It had a zero balance, but I just kept it around.  That was partly out of laziness and partly out of a warped sense of security.  The good news is that I’m running out of cards.  What scares me is that I have a very small emergency fund, and have an feeling that I should hang onto a few cards “just in case.”  What changed my mind was the annual fee the card charged, and it got me thinking about all the other “fees” consumers face.  (warning, rant follows)

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I’ve written about student loan consolidation before, because the date that loans go up is July 1st.  I know one couple that has had to make sure they consolidated their student loans in order to avoid the rise in loans rates.  They’re trying to reduce their debt load as much as they can, and this is one step in the right direction for them.

Interest rates seem to be going up all over the place and the rates that new students are going to pay are might be much higher than student’s have had to pay before.  Be careful and do some research before you consolidate your student loans, because there are some caveats. For example, this article points out one pitfall:

“Borrowers who consolidate must immediately start repaying the loan, whereas most variable loans give students up to six months past graduation during which they have no payments.”

So if you have student loans, now might be a great time to at least look into consolidation and see if it’s right for you.  If you’ve had any experience with this, please comment and let me know how things worked out for you…

I’ve written before about how we (at least in the US) are poorly educated when it comes to personal finance.  We lack some very fundamental knowledge when it comes to the day-to-day management of our money.  Ideas like budgeting, saving an emergency fund, or even writing a check is rarely taught, from what I’ve seen.  So when it comes to investing, why do some people in the finance industry try to talk to us like we have MBAs?

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I posted previously about Google Spreadsheets, which look like Google’s first strike at Microsoft’s Office empire.  The spreadsheets seem to be designed for the everyday user as a low-cost alternative to the expensive MS Office suite.  Well, I’m all about saving money, so I decided to give it a spin.

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I’ve mentioned student loans before, now is a good time to mention them again.  June 30th is the deadline for those seeking to perform student loan consolidation.  Why?  Loan rates are set to jump on the 1st of July.

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I’ve been doing my budget, checkbook and other financial planning in Microsoft Excel for some time now.  It’s handy enough, does my calculations quickly and allows me to move between files and sheets quickly.  Products like Excel have also made Bill Gates the richest man on the planet.  But now Google has what just might shut down part of Microsoft’s gold mine.

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I’ve been a very bad boy.  I didn’t mean to be, honestly.  But I realized that I’m doing something that really sabotages my success.  What is it?  I still charge things to my credit cards.  There, that feels so much better now that I’ve said it.

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HDTVs look so amazing in the store - especially the large plasma or LCD ones.  They radiate a billboard sized picture with details so perfect you swear you could reach inside and touch the action.  But I didn’t buy one and I’m pretty darn happy about it.  Here’s why…

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