Credit cards are convenient and they effortlessly provide a record of every purchase you make. But using a credit card doesn’t feel like spending money. Consequently, it's easier to overspend with one than it is if you only use cash and checks. Unless you constantly monitor your purchases, there’s no easy way to stay aware of how whether your spending out of control. In a few months, though, Citigroup will introduce a credit card that lets you define a monthly cap for different purchase categories: instant budgeting for credit cards. Read the full article

New rules taking effect August 15th mean two things if you have a checking account: (1) you must make explicitly authorize your bank to enroll you in their overdraft plan if you wish to make debit card overdrafts, and (2) expect changes in your bank’s fees and checking account rules in the near future. Read the full article

Now in its 10th year, Boston Restaurant Week | Summer 2010 will kick into gear next month. Fine restaurants in the Boston area will offer reduced-price versions of their cuisine, giving thrifty diners opportunities to eat well at a discount. Read the full article

Yesterday’s second hour of the radio program “On Point” featured the author of “Buy Ketchup in May and Fly at Noon: A Guide to the Best Time to Buy This, Do That, and Go There.” Read the full article

Figuring out which cell phone plan to buy can be a huge pain. There's no point in paying for services that you don't use, and if you pick the wrong plan, you're stuck for as long as two years unless you pay a termination fee. Over at the Flowing Data blog, there are some graphs that help simplify the process. Read the full article

Yesterday the Bureau of Labor Standards provided a CPI update through July 2009. Prices seem to be firming, but no clear pattern has yet emerged. Read the full article

For several years Massachusetts, like many states, has had a summer tax holiday weekend – sort of like Christmas in August. This year, the Grinch has come to the Bay State. Read the full article

Probably we could have avoided last year’s economic crisis if only everyone had watched Saturday Night Live a few years ago. Read the full article

Boston College’s Center for Retirement Research recently released a brief that examines whether people nearing retirement should pay down their mortgages. Read the full article

When I moved to Boston, I was surprised to discover that despite the severity of New England winters, ice cream is a regional obsession. Here’s a useful resource for finding the area’s finest ice creameries as you travel this summer. Read the full article

The IRS is drawing attention to the fact that the cost of sending your children to a summer day camp can qualify you for lower taxes via the child care tax credit. Read the full article

Although I’m not a true “foodie,” I do enjoy a good meal. I enjoy saving money, too. Restaurant Week enables me to do both simultaneously. Now in its ninth year in Boston, Restaurant Week offers an opportunity for locals to sample the offerings of pricey restaurants at a discount. Moreover, there are Restaurant Weeks in other cities. Read the full article

Scott McCartney, who writes a travel column for the Wall Street Journal, noted yesterday that there are signs that airlines appear to be replacing their summer sales with fare increases. His travel blog, The Middle Seat, discusses some of the indications that fares are on their way up and includes several helpful videos with air travel tips. Read the full article

Although early summer in the Boston area has been unseasonably cool, it probably won’t stay that way. Coupled with some of the highest electrical rates in the nation, warm weather provides plenty of motivation for energy conservation. Here are some suggestions for cutting your electric bill during the summer. Read the full article

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its report today on changes in New England region prices for May 2009. Read the full article

Here’s the test of whether you're a true contrarian: would you buy a Chrysler today? Read the full article

Running out of budget-cutting ideas? Here’s one: cut your cable bill to zero. Read the full article

May is Disability Insurance Awareness Month. You won’t be getting any “Happy Disability Insurance Awareness Month” cards, though, because Hallmark™ hasn't caught up to this yet. Read the full article

College graduation season, which lasts for several weeks, is upon us here in the Boston area. According to the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS), graduating seniors with educational debts carry an average debt load on the order of $20,000. More and more, college students are beginning their working lives with fairly heavy debt loads. It's more important than ever for newly-minted grads to hit the ground running with a plan for their finances. Read the full article

A friend who works in the food services industry (thanks, BE!) responded to my post on restaurants by informing me that there's a wave of promotions going on in the food-eaten-away-from-home world these days. He notes that a number of restaurants have begun waiving extra charges for splitting a meal or bringing your own wine.

This week I also discovered a site that offers a growing registry of restaurants that offer “kids eat free” specials: mykidseatfree.com. Read the full article

With the economy in a funk, consumers are becoming more cost-conscious. In response, retail businesses seem to be offering more discounts. Recently I discovered a neat resource for people who like saving money but who'd also like to be able to have a meal at a nice restaurant. Read the full article

With short-term Treasuries yielding fractions of a percent, people who need safe investments find they're getting very little for their money. What are the best options for low-risk cash investments right now? Read the full article

Many employers offer Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) that can be used to pay for healthcare expenses not covered by health insurance. If you participate in one, the money that you have withheld in the account has use-it-or-lose-it status. In some plans, the deadline for spending funds contributed in 2008 was 12-31-08, but many plans have taken advantage of an IRS provision that allows prior-year FSA funds to be used up to 2.5 months after yearend. The deadline this year is March 16th (the 15th is a Sunday).

FSA funds can be used to pay for co-payments, deductibles, or other expenses not covered by your health insurance. In addition to prescription drugs, the IRS has ruled that FSA funds can be used for certain over-the-counter medications.

A number of online over-the-counter drug vendors provide information at their sites regarding which medicines qualify as FSA-reimbursable expenses. Medications for acne, cold medications, pain relievers, and a wide variety of other items can be purchased to use up remaining funds in your account (the IRS frowns on “stockpiling,” though, so don’t buy thirty bottles of Beano®). Be sure to maintain receipts showing the items purchased so that you can substantiate the eligibility of your expenses.

Any funds not used by the deadline are lost to you, so if you’re not sure when your FSA’s deadline is and you have money left from last year's funds, check to be certain. Read the full article

A week or so ago, the Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal, and other sources reported that used clothing stores were planning to stop selling items for children under the age of 12 in response to new laws taking effect February 10. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has now clarified its intentions and it looks as though this won't be the case. Read the full article

Christians traditionally celebrate the birth of Christ by giving gifts. I’ve never been able to determine whether this custom originated because of the gifts the wise men brought to the infant Jesus or because Christ’s incarnation was a gift to the world. In either case, I’m taking a break from financial matters in this post to give a gift to my readers: one of my favorite recipes. Read the full article

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