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President Obama has really rocked the credit card world since he’s taken office. Of all of the industries affected by the downturn in the economy, the credit card industry has been hit as one of the hardest. President Obama passed the credit cardholders bill of rigths this year which gives protection to you as a consumer. As a result of this, prepaid debit cards are on the rise in popularity. We have just written a new article on this located here.

Kids are expensive – and I should know, I have three of them! Like most parents, I am guilty of indulging my children from time to time. I buy them juice boxes emblazoned with Cinderella and Lightning McQueen instead of the generic stuff, I splash out on nice clothes (especially for my daughter), and I waste all sorts of cash on playdates, parties, day trips, and the gas to shuttle them to and from these activities. As Chicago-based CFP Leisa Brown Aiken points out, most parents want to make their kids happy. Plus, most kids are good at getting their parents to feel really lousy if they don’t do what they want.

I know that my local dollar stores are always hopping, and judging from what I read, Dollar Tree / Dollar General / Family Dollar are growing in numbers and doing better than ever before. Whether they are picking up greeting cards, off-brand tinfoil, or frozen burritos, folks are flocking to these stores in droves. SmartMoney columnist Anne Kadet says that this is not a promising economic indicator.

Remember a few months ago when all those experts were muttering about five-dollar-per-gallon gas prices by the 4th of July? Well, it sure is nice to see that they appear to have been wrong. Gas is sitting pretty in the $3.40s in my neck of the woods, and prices are going down by the day. The downward trend started in April, and prices are currently less expensive than they were last year at this same time. Of course, I wouldn’t go so far as to call these prices “cheap,” but we’ll take what we can get when we were so recently paying almost four dollars per gallon, right? Of course, gas prices vary widely from state to state, and even within states. I read an interesting article on places in the United States where gas prices are far from as reasonable as they are where I live.

It used to be the case that merchants could not legally enforce a minimum purchase amount to take credit or debit cards as a form of purchase. Many merchants flouted this rule, to the chagrin of customers caught without enough cash to pay for small purchases. Nowadays, however, things are different. When Congress was considering changes to the laws governing merchant-credit card transactions, coalition of retail and small-business organizations asked Congress to require a minimum purchase for credit card purchases as part of the new rules. Processing credit cards and debit cards costs money – and quite a bit of it, these days – and on small transactions, it can actually cost money for merchants to process the sale.

From coast to coast, young people are proudly taking to the stage at colleges and universities, turning their tassels and celebrating their long-awaited entry into the real world. It’s graduation season. As a fresh crop of newly-minted adults finish their degrees and start independent lives of their own, it’s a safe bet that many of them will be applying for credit cards. It’s a heady and liberating feeling to be out on one’s own for the first time, no doubt. Independence is also a path fraught with peril sometimes, as many college grads will learn fairly quickly. Credit cards are a great financial tool, for those who use them carefully. Unfortunately, for a lot of young people, the decision to use plastic will end up being one that they regret. The good news is that credit card drama is, for the most part, completely avoidable with a little forethought. You just to keep in mind a few common-sense rules and guidelines for smart usage.

Traditional American clothing retailers are getting beat down in the high-stakes shopping game by the up-and-comers of the fast fashion world. For those not familiar with the phrase, “fast fashion” refers to the clothing sold by such popular chains as Forever 21, Zara, and H&M – cheap reproductions of cutting-edge designer pieces that can literally go from runway to rack at any mall in the nation within six weeks. Considering that more old-school competitors like American Eagle, Gap, and Macy’s have historically been stuck waiting about a year in concept-to-store time, is it any wonder that the world of fresh, fast fashion is winning the war for consumers’ credit card dollars?

The tax man cometh, but not for another two days. April 15th has historically been acknowledged as tax day in the United States, but the whims of the calendar have given taxpayers a bit of leeway for filing their 2011 returns, and you still have until Tuesday to get your paperwork e-filed or mailed off. This is thanks to the 15th falling on a Sunday (no mail) and Monday, the 16th being a lesser-known local holiday in the nation’s Capital called Emancipation Day.

Ah, spring! Along with the blooming flowers and warm sunshine that characterize this season come the absolute downpour of brides that choose April and May for their weddings. The wedding industry kicks into high gear during this time of year, and brides, therefore, can expect to pay more for their weddings thanks to high demand. As if weddings weren’t expensive enough already! I mean, TheKnot.com (a wedding planning website) estimates that the average American wedding cake carries a hefty price tag of five hundred forty dollars! Frugality is the name of the game in 2012, however, and even spring brides can save a pretty penny on feeding their guests by utilizing some savvy little tricks of the trade to cut dollars.

Tax time is stressful no matter how you choose to do your taxes. Unless you are single and have very few assets, it’s likely that you pay someone to prepare your taxes on your behalf. The IRS states that, of one hundred forty-four million tax returns filed in 2010 (accounting for $1.17 in gross collections), sixty percent were handled by professional tax preparers. Most tax pros are upstanding, knowledgeable, and ethical in respect of their profession, but, unfortunately, that doesn’t mean that their work is perfect. Far from it, actually: the Government Accountability Office reviewed nineteen randomly-chosen tax preparers back in 2006 and found, disturbingly enough, that all nineteen made mistakes.

I read an article on MSN Money about some of the trendiest grocery purchases that are causing my fellow countrymen to shell out when they go shopping for food. All I can hope is that they aren’t putting these fancy treats on their credit cards!