Personal Finance and Money Stack Exchange
Personal Finance and Money Stack Exchange

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1500 questions
90
votes
3 answers

Is it true that the price of diamonds is based on a monopoly?

I've heard quite often that the only reason diamonds have the high value they have is because the price is set by a single worldwide diamond mining monopoly. That, if actual quantity versus demand is taken into account, diamonds are intrinsically…
Weckar E.
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90
votes
15 answers

How to spend more? (AKA, how to avoid being a miser)

I was blessed growing up to have a father that greatly impressed upon me the need to save. I am very thankful for his influence, it has allowed me to make smart decisions with my money and I am currently living completely debt free -- except for a…
Eddie
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89
votes
7 answers

What should I do about a dealer that took a deposit then sold my motorcycle to someone else?

I recently was interested in purchasing a motorcycle from a dealer but I was about to be out of town for a few days for a vacation. I called him and said I can make a deposit on the bike for $500. He agreed and I gave him my credit card # over the…
James Dean
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89
votes
5 answers

How to get rid of someone else's debt collector?

For the past three and a half years (as long as we've had this phone number -- a land line), we've been getting calls from debt collectors for the person who apparently used to have our number. The collectors don't believe that she doesn't live…
bstpierre
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89
votes
8 answers

Is it a scam if the person only wants to deposit into my account, not make a withdrawal?

A man in west coast Austria wants to deposit money into my account. I'm in Alabama. I had to get an online account. I did that, but he says his bank manager needs all this information: DOB SSN online access username online access …
donna
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89
votes
22 answers

In a competitive market, why is movie theater popcorn expensive?

I have seen some arguments claim that movie theater popcorn is expensive because the theater acts as a monopolist. However, this is only true after I have paid for a movie ticket. Before entering the theater I can choose among theaters and compare…
Ram Ahluwalia
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89
votes
5 answers

Where is the scam in a "giveaway" in Oxford Circus, London?

This weekend I was walking around Oxford Circus with a friend when we saw a guy with a microphone on a stage giving stuff away almost for free to people inside an open store with no goods and big "clearance" signs. Just to clarify, this wasn't an…
Charmander
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87
votes
13 answers

Paid cash for a car, but dealer wants to change price

My son recently graduated from college, and he and his wife went to buy a car. They never discussed financing with the dealer. They agreed on a price, went to the bank and brought back a cashiers check for the amount. They brought the car home, and…
maria palmer
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87
votes
6 answers

I co-signed on an apartment for a now ex-boyfriend who refuses to pay. What can I do?

I co-signed on an apartment with my ex-boyfriend when I was 18 and he was 21. We broke up. I am now 26 and it has been in collections for years. He refuses to help pay the debt. I am now stuck with the bills for the apartment and not in the…
Kodi Canty
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86
votes
5 answers

I have sole custody of my child but the child's father's brother claimed him as a tax deduction

I have court papers showing that I have full and sole custody of my son and that he was with me like 99% of the year. I let my son's father have him a few weekends last year but only a handful. My son's father told his brother that he should claim…
neubert
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85
votes
10 answers

Why is being "upside down" on a mortgage so bad?

For the longest time (especially during/after the housing crash in the US), people would speak in hushed whispers or terrified pleas when they talked about being upside down on their mortgage. While I understand that an asset suddenly losing a huge…
WannabeCoder
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84
votes
11 answers

What to do if I can't trust myself with monthly wages?

I work in the UK, like most people here I get paid once a month. I've been doing this for about 2 years now (on a modest income) and my ability to make the money last has not gotten better (if anything it has gotten worse). I feel like if I could…
Jalapeno
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84
votes
7 answers

Is this $200 "welcome money" (from a major bank) some sort of scam?

I googled around (this in the US) about "bank accounts you can open online", I noticed: https://www.us.hsbc.com/checking-accounts/campaigns/offer-2018/#advance-checking-details Notice they will (seemingly) literally give you 200 bucks cold hard…
Fattie
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84
votes
10 answers

I am an EU resident being contacted about stock I own in a defunct company by a supposedly US based lawyer, is this a scam?

I am based in the EU, so I have very little knowledge of how the US legal system works. I have been contacted by a "law firm" in the US about a financial issue: a company in which I own a small amount of shares went bankrupt several years ago, and…
blueFast
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84
votes
11 answers

Why don't banks give access to all your transaction activity?

In the era of big data, I find it surprising that banks and credit card companies only offer access to a ridiculously small number of transactions - often only your last 180 days, if that. The longest I've seen was 720 days going back. I suspect…
Dan Dascalescu
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