News Topic: Consumerism

I have been an American Bankruptcy Institute member since June 1999, but I have finally made the difficult decision to allow my membership to lapse after 22 years at the end of next month.  ... Read full article

Today is the last day of National Financial Literacy Month. At a time when the economy has come to a grinding halt, it seems pertinent to talk about financial literacy, or, more accurately, the fallacy of financial education . ... Read full article

Short term (payday) loans and high interest consumer installment loans continue to deplete low income households of micro dollars and their communities of macro dollars. Although the CFPB seems intent on supporting the depletions, a good number of states ... Read full article

Last year, I posted about John Oliver's segment on Last Week Tonight dissecting multilevel marketing (MLM) companies (aka pyramid schemes), and proposed a link between personal debt, bankruptcy, and MLM companies. ... Read full article

You may have heard it. It was on the radio the last three mornings as I drove to work. It goes, "I got bills I gotta pay, so I'm gonn' work work work every day." It made me think about bankruptcy (naturally). And it is really catchy. ... Read full article

Clearly, the biggest surprise in consumer borrowing since the crash has been the explosive expansion of student loan debt. It has surpassed both auto lending and credit card lending. And, since it ties with Payday Lending and pre-crash sub-prime mortgage ... Read full article

If you have kids who talk as much as mine (gee, wonder where they picked up loquacity as a trait), conversations can go nearly anywhere. My boys, ages 9 and 6, are quite interested in money lately, a phenomenon driven in part by the tooth fairy and their ... Read full article

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I had a weird night’s sleep and then openned up my e-mail to find this headline from credit and collection news “Does The Consumer Bureau Harm Those It Claims to Protect? & Study Predicts Millions Will Die In Credit Card Red.” The immediate ... Read full article

Nathalie Martin invited readers to skip Black Friday and do a spending fast. Her post caused me to wonder whether we have lost the true meaning of Black Friday. Based on an informal survey, it seems to be the case that people have forgotten why we call ... Read full article

Perhaps you'll recall that a few years ago on black Friday (the day after thanksgiving), overzealous shoppers trampled  a seasonal Wal-Mart worker (meaning a guy who did not even have a regular Wal-Mart Job) to death. This is what happens when ... Read full article

Wow, our guest bloggers have been working hard for us and you! Nice job Amy and John.  I myself got a little wrapped up in my intensive financial literacy class this year, and am finally here to report on our experiences. First up, a conversation about ... Read full article

Nathalie Martin has done great work and has posted comments on Creditslips.org regarding payday lending. I also have been interested in how these payday loans prey on consumers with the least resources and power, and have helped consumers with related ... Read full article

I was delighted to see Melissa Jacoby’s call in September for more poetry on creditslips.org ! Therefore, I wish to share the poem I wrote that served as basis for the lyrics to a  consumer protest song that accompanies a non-profit consumer outreach film, ... Read full article

First, I want to thank you for the invitation!   ... Read full article