Experienced consumer reporter, empowering people with information, getting results, always giving back.
Mar 12

IRS Holds $1.3 Billion in Unclaimed Refunds

Posted By Tracy
12 March 2010 / 7:39 am
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Forget about your 2009 tax return for a minute. If you didn’t file one for 2006, you might be missing out on some money from back then. But you’re quickly running out of time to claim it.
Three years ago, more than 1.4 million individuals apparently decided they had better things to do than file their [...]

Mar 11

State sales taxes continue to rise

Posted By Tracy
11 March 2010 / 8:15 am
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If you flip on the news or thumb through a newspaper these days, it’s no secret that the federal government is facing a mounting deficit. Spending has outstripped revenues for years now, and the current recession has cut deeply into the biggest source of income: taxpayers.
What hasn’t been touted as much is how the same [...]

Mar 11

Foreclosure rates up by smallest amount in 4 years

Posted By Tracy
/ 8:13 am
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The foreclosure crisis isn’t over, but the pace of growth may finally be slowing down.
RealtyTrac said Thursday that the number of U.S. households facing foreclosure in February grew 6% from the year-ago level, the smallest annual increase in four years.
HOUSING MARKET: Track the rise, fall and … rebound?
CLOSE TO HOME: A look at [...]

Mar 11

Insurers test health plans that stress patient choices

Posted By Tracy
/ 8:11 am
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Workers at a Portland, Ore., steel mill soon will be able to pick a new type of insurance that offers free care for some illnesses, such as diabetes or depression, but requires hefty extra fees for treatments deemed overused, including knee replacements, hysterectomies and heart bypass surgery.
The insurance, which will be offered by five different [...]

Mar 09

Stay tuned: More fee disputes over local TV coming

Posted By Tracy
09 March 2010 / 7:44 am
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Stay tuned for more fee disputes threatening local television stations on cable TV lineups.
Broadcasters hurt by declining ad revenue are demanding more fees from cable and other subscription TV providers to carry the stations. The providers are resisting, and in the latest tussle, Cablevision Systems Corp. dropped the ABC station in New York in the [...]

Mar 08

Gas price headed back to $3 a gallon this spring

Posted By Tracy
08 March 2010 / 10:10 pm
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The national average price for a gallon of gasoline is up 9 cents in a month and will likely crack $3 in coming weeks, given a typical spring rally before the summer driving season, oil and gas analysts say.
But motorists may not see prices go much higher — or even stay that high throughout the [...]

Mar 08

Some credit card users see new perks

Posted By Tracy
/ 8:13 am
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While millions of American card users received notices of interest rate hikes and new fees in recent months, a select portion learned they’re getting new perks.
Citigroup Inc., for example, let certain customers with cards that carry the American Airlines logo know they now get 1.2 miles for each dollar they spend, up from a 1-mile-for-$1 [...]

Mar 04

Struggling Blockbuster Bringing Back Late Fees on Rentals

Posted By Tracy
04 March 2010 / 10:27 am
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Since the dawn of the home-video era in the 1980s, as the proliferation of VCRs and DVD players spread to the point where just about every American home was equipped with one, Blockbuster was, well, a blockbuster. The company dominated its sector of the economy, gobbling up competitors and forcing many mom-and-pop video rental stores [...]

Mar 04

Continental Airlines joins in charging for exit-row legroom

Posted By Tracy
/ 7:45 am
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If you want to stretch out on Continental Airlines, it may cost you.
Continental (CAL) has become the latest airline to start charging coach passengers for seats with extra legroom.
Starting March 17, passengers in coach can buy a seat in the exit row and grab at least 7 more inches of space. Passengers who belong to [...]

Mar 04

New deductions, credits for ’09 taxes

Posted By Tracy
/ 7:40 am
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When taxpayers sit down to file their 2009 returns, they will find plenty new — some the result of adjusting for inflation, and other changes passed by Congress last year to try to bring the country out of recession.
“Depending on their individual situation, there could be good news and there could be bad news,” said [...]