The Sun's Financial Diary

A Costco rebate check of $63.17 arrived last night in our mail box. It’s the annual rebate for being an Executive member and shopping at Costco. I started in 2004 as a Gold Star member which costs me $50 membership fee because at the beginning, I wasn’t sure how much we would spend at Costco. [...]

Got this in the email today that ING will offer 1% cash backs for using their debit card in the next two months: Starting June 1, 2007 to July 31, 2007, when you open Electric Orange and use your MasterCard Debit Card to make signature-based purchases, you’ll get 1% Cash Back, up to $250 per [...]

Last night when I was checking my Discover card statement, I browsed their site and found a new card they are offering: the Discover Motiva Card. I don’t know exactly when this card was first available, but since I didn’t notice it last time I checked my account early this month, I guess it’s fairly [...]

I recently received a notice from Citibank regarding upgrading my Dividend Platinum card to Dividend World MasterCard. Among the changes that come along with the new card, the “No Pre-Set Spending Limit” is one features I don’t have with any of my existing cards. At first, I thought it’s pretty cool to have a card [...]

Citibank just launched a new product, Citi Ultimate Money Account, that pays 5.00% APY when you use their free online bill-pay service. However, monthly maintenance charge will apply if you don’t have an EZ Checking account. According to Citi website, To apply for an Ultimate Money Account, you must have or open an EZ Checking [...]

FNBO Direct is the online division of First National Bank of Omaha. The bank currently offers 1.25% APY for its online savings account with no minimum and no monthly fee. With five online bank accounts (not including the Bank of America checking account) already, am I supposed to simplify our finance instead of making it [...]

Yesterday, Bank of America introduced its no-fee mortgage program. According to their website, the new program No Fee Mortgage PLUS, which is available to home-buyers nationwide, includes the following features: No Application Fee No Closing Fees No Private Mortgage Insurance Required Close-On-Time Guarantee Best Value Guarantee According to a CNNMoney report yesterday, BoA also “won’t [...]

A recent article on CNNMoney listed seven behaviors that are not going to help you in growing your net worth. Among the 7 net worth killers, I found the first one, ignoring your money, is probably the one mistake I could most likely make. 1. Ignoring your money The beauty of lifecycle funds is that [...]