17-minute interview about credit unions, money, and the economic crisis

Last week, I recorded an interview about credit unions, money, and the economic crisis with George Hofheimer at the Filene Research Institute, which studies consumer finance and credit unions. George and I met when I spoke to credit union executives a couple of years ago.
Here’s the interview in streaming MP3 form, plus a transcript below.

RSS [...]

How my publisher got $5,000 of goodwill with $100

It’s about that time where we start getting tons of invitations to weddings, birthday parties, and family reunions. Over the last few weeks, I’ve noticed my friends mentioning how expensive these are. For example, one of my friends will end up paying about $1,000 to attend her friend’s wedding, with airfare, hotel, and gift. And [...]

Here’s how I negotiated out of bank fees — part 2

Here’s how I negotiated out of a $20 overdraft fee and a $27.10 finance charge from Wells Fargo.
I accidentally overdrafted a couple weeks ago (overdrafting is when you don’t have enough money in your checking account to pay off your bills, so your bank helpfully transfers money from your savings or credit-card account. They also [...]

I’m doing a live interview Friday (today) — listen in

Quick link: Listen to me being interviewed, live, for an hour starting at 11am Pacific today (Friday, 4/6).
I’m being interviewed by Pamela Slim (who was one of my most popular Friday Entrepreneurs interviewees ever) today at 11am Pacific. This will be a live interview and you can stream it online, free.
We’ll be talking about iwillteachyoutoberich, [...]

Nicole’s Bridal and Formalwear at Tanforan has poor customer service

[This is part of the IWillTeachYouToBeRich Week of Discontent.]
Last week, I needed to be measured for some formal wear, so I went to a tux shop at a nearby mall in San Bruno, CA, where I walked in and asked if they could measure my chest. This is a 30-second procedure that involves using a [...]

Volkswagen targets stupid people, tries to rip them off

Well, VW certainly knows its target market: stupid people and poor people. I can only conclude that after my friend showed me a mailing he received a couple weeks ago, which helpfully asks, “Why Not Skip a Payment This Holiday Season?”
“The holidays…time to give thanks, spread joy and shop for the best sales. Now, [...]