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What Sex And The City Taught Me About Love, Life, and Money

What Sex And The City Taught Me About Love, Life, and Money

Sex And The City: The Movie is coming out in May! I am so, so excited, and I'm betting that many Sex And The City feel the same way. Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda - you ladies have been missed! (By the way, I love the photo below - head-to-toe ...

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5 Year Travel Plan: Making Your Travel Dreams a Reality

5 Year Travel Plan: Making Your Travel Dreams a Reality

I've been struck by a bad case of the travel bug lately... I haven't been out of the country since 2007, which seems like a long time. CB and I are saving for Galapgos, but we also want to travel quite extensively in the intervening months before our Big Galapagos ...

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Graduate School: (When) Should I Go?

Graduate School: (When) Should I Go?

Graduate school is a significant undertaking both in terms of time and money. During the last few months, I've felt some pressure from concerned family members about going to graduate school. I know they only want the best for me, but I'm glad I followed my gut instinct and ...

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Should Parents Pay For College Education

Should Parents Pay For College Education

A college education has, for a large percentage of society, become the de rigueur entry-level degree. "Should parents pay for college education" is a question where the answer is always, "it depends." In today's economic climate, I imagine that many parents are having the difficult talk with their kids ...

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Free GMAT Study Resources

Free GMAT Study Resources

Taking and prepping for standardized tests isn't cheap, fortunately, there are many free study resources available online. I've taken advantage of most of these resources when I was preparing for my test last year. Hopefully you will find them helpful as well. Free Online Study Materials The GMAT Uncovered by ManhattanGMAT: A ...

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7 Steps In Overcoming Rejections In Job Search

7 Steps In Overcoming Rejections In Job Search

Rejections during job search are disappointing, to be sure. Nobody likes to be told that they were qualified candidates, but the management has decided to go in another direction. In this environment, however, rejections are common-place through out the job search and interview process. After the initial disappointment wears off ...

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How to Host a Dinner Party On a Budget

How to Host a Dinner Party On a Budget

Hosting a dinner party is always fun, but right now I need my get-togethers to be budget-friendly as well. Remember when I made crab cakes? That was for a group of 5 or 6 friends. The crab cakes were delicious and everyone loved them, but, crabs are expensive! Two pounds ...

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Hair, Hair, Everywhere – the Recession Edition

Hair, Hair, Everywhere – the Recession Edition

I wrote a hair post in both 2007 and 2008, so I suppose it's only appropriate to continue the tradition in 2009! This post is dedicated to recession's impact on hair budgets. The recession is a major reason why I've been neglecting my hair a bit during these past several months: ...

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Pure Altruism - Does it Exist?

Pure Altruism - Does it Exist?

Every time the holidays come around, feel-good human-interest stories surface. This is a time to give to others, help those in need, and realize that the world is not as cutthroat or as competitive as we may believe. But is it true? Can people be purely altruistic? The authors of Superfreakonomics (the ...

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The Price of Addiction To Argentine Tango

The Price of Addiction To Argentine Tango

It's happened. I fell for the sultry dance, hard. (I even made its own category!) I leave class with a big smile on my face. I read Argentine tango forums and blogs. I fall asleep thinking of boleos and molinetes. I'm not sure how my wallet feels about the possible financial ...

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Old Cars: Unsung Heroes of Personal Finance

Old Cars: Unsung Heroes of Personal Finance

New Cars are shiny, gleaming, loaded with the latest technology and features. New cars get the big commercials on TV, where they swerve confidently in snow storms, zoom down idyllic country lanes, and maybe even dance a little to the sound of a state-of-the-art in-car sound system near a trendy ...

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Disney World Recap

Disney World Recap

I realized that I haven't really talked about my Disney World adventure (aside from the Dining Plan review) on this blog yet... and well, that oversight must be rectified! If you have any specific questions about Disney World, please ask away and I'll do my best to answer. We Got To ...

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Job Fairs: How to Prepare So You Stand Out

Job Fairs: How to Prepare So You Stand Out

Job fairs can be a great opportunity for applicants to interact with many different companies. But if you don't prepare adequately, job fairs can be a disaster. Last week, I attended a job fair - prior to the event I debated whether I should go. I had heard the horror ...

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How To Practice Safe and Responsible Credit Card Use

How To Practice Safe and Responsible Credit Card Use

Wait, you mean you never had a credit card education class in school? Okay, me neither. The quality of education these days! But there's no reason that high schools or colleges shouldn't offer a class like this. After all, credit card education isn't an awkward topic like the other type of ...

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Experience, Not Stuff

Experience, Not Stuff

I've decided to make the above my mantra to live by. It'll be hard, because I like nice things (ex: shoes), but... Guess which of the following I remember the most? (a) A $100 leather jacket purchased in Buenos Aires, that I've worn ONCE in 3 years. (b) A $45 hour-long horse ride on the coastline of ...

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The Man Gets The Check?

The Man Gets The Check?

When CB and I go out to dinner, we usually split the check. Other times, one of us would pick up the whole tab. I've noticed something interesting - when we ask for the check, sometimes the waiter/waitress would place the check towards CB, clearly in his direction or by his arms (on the ...

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Disputed / Fradulent Credit Card Charges

by WellHeeled on December 20, 2009

This past week has been a week of credit card mishaps. I found that I have a disputed charge on my Visa and a series of fraudulent charges on my American Express.

When I checked my Visa credit card statement, I saw that I had a disputed charge from a restaurant. At dinner, I was given and signed a credit card receipt for $17. My friend signed her $14 receipt. I don’t even know how the restaurant can put the $14 on my card when I was never even charged for it in the restaurant.

So I called my card company.  The customer representative first told me that the “proper procedure” was for me to call the restaurant and tell them to call the card company. I refused. If the restaurant can’t even be counted on to sort a simple transaction, there’s no way I’m trusting them to call the card company for their mistake.

I insisted the customer rep transfer me to the billing dispute department. Once transferred, I finally got some answers on what steps I need to take to get my charge refunded.

As for the American Express card – apparently a company in Europe has been charging my AmEx for “internet payments” for the past several weeks. So again, back to customer service I go.

Here are lessons I learned:

1. Always look over your credit card bill. In my 3+ years of having the Visa, this is the first time that something like this has happened. But if I didn’t look through my purchases carefully, I wouldn’t have discovered this issue.

2. Even if you use your card sparingly or not at all, still check your statements! The AmEx is my backup card and it has never left my house before. But it still got compromised.

3. Insist (politely) on your rights as a customer. If your current customer representative does not offer you a suitable solution, escalate the issue to the supervisor / department with the power to help you.

4. State what you’d like to be done – i.e. have the charges eliminated, freeze the card, close the account, etc. The customer representative will be more able to help you if you articulate what steps will make you a satisfied customer.

5. Keep on top of the situation – at the end of the call, repeat critical information back to the customer representative to make sure you’ve understood the process. (i.e. I will receive XYZ in the mail with ___ days. Is that correct?) Don’t assume things will get fixed without confirmation.

***Carnival of Personal Finance is up at Mighty Bargain Hunter. My post on net worth calculation is included. Thanks to MBH for hosting and for including my submission.

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Week in Review: Christmas Edition :Buck$ome Boomer's Journey to Retirement
December 27, 2009 at 5:08 am

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Investing Newbie December 21, 2009 at 1:13 am

Thanks for the tips. I've had a card for over 4 years and it has never happened to me, but I know it will happen eventually. I'm surprised that the customer service department actually helped you when they told you to go back to the restaurant. It's good to know that I have the ability to decline their suggestions if I don't like it.

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WellHeeled December 21, 2009 at 2:34 am

Of course you have the ability. You're the customer. :) Especially if the procedure sounds unreasonable or you are uncomfortable with it (i.e. I REALLY doubt that the restaurant would've called the card company on my behalf. What's their incentive for getting this straightened out?), insist on speaking to a supervisor. Often they can make situation more satisfactory for you.

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