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Entry bubble Fuel Economy Estimates for 2010 Vehicles

By: Jake | October 05, 2009 | Category: Money

Gasoline pumpWe have talked a lot about the Car Allowance Rebate System, more popularly known as the "Cash for Clunkers" program but we really haven't talked about fuel economy since Colleen posted about President Obama's proposal for stricter fuel economy standards.

Today, cars must average 27.5 miles per gallon and light trucks must average 23.1 miles per gallon. A couple of weeks ago, the President formally proposed that manufacturers increase fuel economy 5 percent each year, and in 2016 new cars and trucks would have to achieve an average rating of 35.5 miles per gallon. The new national standard aims at both increasing gas mileage and decreasing greenhouse-gas pollution. As Colleen mentioned in her original post, there are many pros and cons to this plan.

Fueleconomy.gov just released the mileage estimates for 2010 vehicles. I thought it would be interesting for us to see if the average gas mileage has gone up for cars since 2009. The best overall vehicle last year was the Toyota Prius with an average of 46 overall miles per gallon. The 2010 Toyota Prius averages 50 overall miles per gallon.

My 2009 Toyota Matrix has the same overall miles per gallon for 2010. Does the 2010 version of your car get more miles per gallon overall than your current model?

| Post a Comment | View Comments [3] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: cars   fuel_economy_guide   greenhouse_gas  

 

Entry bubble Interest Free Credit Card for Everyday Purchases

By: Colleen | September 16, 2009 | Category: Money

Do you have issues with credit card debt?

If you're anything like many of my friends, you're being smothered by debt you started accumulating in college and it has since just snowballed.

Trying to combat this somewhat is a new type of credit card. The new card has a feature called "Blueprint" that allows consumers to avoid paying interest on everyday purchases, such as groceries. Borrowers get to keep an interest-free grace period for everyday items as long as they choose those categories in advance and pay them in full each month. Card holders are still charged interest on the other items charged to the account.

I think it's a great idea, not only for groceries, but gasoline as well.

Would you apply for this kind of credit card? Would it be helpful to you?

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Entry bubble Cash for Appliances

By: Jake | September 14, 2009 | Category: Money

Fridge in KitchenThe Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save Act of 2009 program has ended, but later this year a similar program for appliances will begin. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 funded a $300 million program that will offer rebates to buyers of energy-efficient appliances and other products that carry the Energy Star label.

Consumers can expect between $50 and $200 in rebates towards the purchase of refrigerators, dishwashers, furnaces, air conditioners and other appliances. You won't have to trade in your old appliance like people did with their automobiles. Of course there are some states with separate programs that pick up old appliances and give the owner $25-$50 for it.

Each state will write its own rules for the rebate program and the Department of Energy will start reviewing rules in October. Money from the programs could start flowing to the public in November. Again this will be handled on a state by state basis, so check with your state energy office for details.

What do you think of the cash for appliances program?

| View Comments [8] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: cash_for_appliances   department_of_energy   energy_star  

 

Entry bubble How to file a complaint

By: Jess | September 03, 2009 | Category: Money

customer service agentThis past month my Internet service provider has been the bane of my existence. My service has been fickle, at best. More often than not, it will work for a few hours and then stop. And then I'll spend another hour on the phone with customer service trying to troubleshoot.

They've sent a technician once to fix the problem, and our service worked for a week or two, but then last week it went out again. I wasted more time on hold and talking to very nice and very helpful customer service agents. (That's not sarcasm, the people I spoke with this time around tried to do the best they could.)

But alas, my service still goes out every couple hours and then stays out for several more.

I finally had to file a complaint against the company. I've never had to do that before so I turned to ConsumerAction.gov for advice on what to do.

My first instinct was to call up my Better Business Bureau, but ConsumerAction.gov advised that I try to contact someone higher up at the company first. So I hunted around on the company Web site until I found a contact name and email for the Vice President of customer relations.

Then I followed some of the suggestions from one of the sample complaint letters and read about next steps to take. I decided I'd wait a week before contacting the BBB to see if the company could resolve the problem. Earlier this week I got a phone call from the company telling me they were trying to get the problem fixed as soon as possible and I have another technician coming out this week.

I really hope this solves the whole problem. I hate paying so much for service and then not having it and I'd really rather not have to file a complaint with the BBB.

Have any of you ever had problems with a company that you had to file a complaint against? What was the process like? Was it easy or tough and did you get the results you wanted?

| View Comments [3] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: complaints   customer   internet   jess   service  

 

Entry bubble Government May Owe You Money

By: Joanne | September 01, 2009 | Category: Money

I just read that my State Treasurer is holding onto 1.5 billion dollars in unclaimed money. That’s right – all the states are holding unclaimed money, and if they’ve got some for you, all you have to do is step up and claim it.

States end up with valuable things like abandoned bank accounts, forgotten stocks, uncashed checks, certificates of deposit, life insurance policies, safe deposit box contents, and recovered stolen property.

When I did a search I didn’t find any records that the state has money for me, but I did find a record that looks like there’s money waiting for my brother-in-law. Lucky him!

The federal government is also holding money for people. Pension funds, FHA mortgage refunds and federal tax refunds from the IRS are all piling up because the government doesn’t have your correct address. Searching for unclaimed property from the federal government is a little bit more difficult because you have to check with each agency individually, but USA.gov can help you determine if the government owes you money.

Times are tough, so don’t overlook this opportunity to collect money owed to you.

| View Comments [1] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: cash   government   joanne   money   pension   tax   unclaimed  

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