According to an e-mail from their PR guy:

Qvisory is an online community for young people [KM: That’s 18 to 34 acc. to them] that’s a brainchild of Andy Stern from the SEIU [KM: That’s a labor union] . It’s built on the same model as AARP, but for young people; it will help them with work, health and money issues they face with services like health insurance and financial counseling, and will advocate for their interests in DC as well.

It also acts as a social network where you can make a pact with other users to make a change– such as pay off credit card debt, move money into index funds, or start paying off grad school loans.

As for the age business, where are the 34 to 49 year olds to go? Where’s the advocacy for them? That demographic is so often lost in the talk about young people and old people. I guess I can join for two years.

A Qvisory membership costs $36 per year versus AARP’s $39.95 for five years. But with Qvisory, you get free phone financial counseling and use of handy tools like an e-safe deposit box.

The paper across the river also recently launched a salary database for public employees.

As one who is on the liberal side when it comes to sharing my personal financial data, the sites don’t bother me. But I imagine others, especially those who have their salaries listed, may feel uncomfortable.

How would you feel if your salary were listed for your friends and family to look up?

Do you have any tips on where to get decent quality stuff (new or used) on a tight budget? I want to be environmentally and fiscally responsible and not buy anything that is going to fall apart and need to be replaced in a few years. I have some of the basics like a bed, but I am going to need some furniture and a washer and dryer.

Pay tuition with any American Express® Card now through September 30, 2008 and enjoy savings from 15 participating merchants in retail, travel, technology and more, available especially for students and parents during the back-to-school season. Visit On Campus and get these offers and many more.

Since the home equity line has dried up, might as well charge it and earn discounts on buying More More More. Put it this way, consumers who resort to charging tuition do not need a reminder that they can do so.

And while I’m ranting, creditors, if you are reading this, I am not interested in your “convenience” checks. A week doesn’t go by without a mailbox full of these offers. Just yesterday, I received a snail mail reminder from a credit card with a zero balance that my credit limit is $12,000 and I should feel free to start charging. Start shredding is more like it.

Maybe we should start “whiny Wednesdays” on Ka-Blog!

Readers, what’s getting your financial goat these days?

Here’s a link to the b-day offers I highlighted.

Of course the phone calls and e-mails came in from readers telling me I missed their favorite birthday freebie have been rolling in.

Kristin B. told me that you’ll get a free entree priced up to $15 if you join Houlihan’s e-club.Bill has enjoyed a free birthday meal at Joe Senser’s sports bar without lifting a finger to the keyboard. That’s a good reminder that saying “it’s my birthday” can be enough to get something for free.

According to Jean, I committed a cardinal sin when I forgot to mention a free slice of pie from Baker’s Square. “Shame, shame, shame,” she clucked in a voice-mail. I could not find details online but my guess is that you have to order an entree for your “free” slice of pie. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

Finally, here’s a deal I went to the trouble to call about only to forget to list it on my freebies chart! Parents can order a free 7-inch cake from Lunds or Byerlys for their pride and joy’s first birthday. It’s an ongoing deal that’s not advertised, so don’t go hunting for details. All you need is Junior’s birth certificate to cash in.

Recently, I received an automatic phone call from GE Card Services, the company that administers the Gap store credit card. The robot kindly asked me to give them a call. I ignored it.

The next day, a bill came in the mail for my balance plus a late fee and finance charge. In total, I’d paid about $30 for my absent-mindedness.

I couldn’t believe that I’d forgotten to pay, but sure enough, no record existed of an automatic bill pay from my checking account.

So I called the Gap. I had no good excuse and decided to come clean. I told the customer service rep that I thought I’d paid my bill but hadn’t. Since I’ve been a good customer, I hoped he would reverse the late fee. Within seconds he agreed. Not only that, but within seconds, without argument, he reversed the finance charge as well.

The story acts as a reminder that it never, ever, hurts to ask. And if he’d have said no, it never, ever hurts to ask for a supervisor.

Have any negotiating strategies that have helped you lower your interest rate or waive fees?

And here’s an excerpt from Scott Bilker’s book “Talk Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt.”

From deciding which bills to pay first to communicating under pressure, you’ll get some unbiased, reasonable advice from these pages.

But I especially like the section for helping kids get through tough times. How do you talk to a teen about working to help pay the bills or moving because of a foreclosure? I think kids often get left out of the discussion. On the flip side, people tend to use credit to extend an unsustainable lifestyle because they don’t want to disappoint their children or are clueless about discussing their financial reality with their kids.

Another Extension resource worthy of linking to in these times is adjusting to suddenly reduced income. 

There’s a strong case to be made that the government should subsidize comprehensive financial advice for low- and middle-income Americans to help prevent bubbly thinking and financial overextension. One way to do this would be through co-pay arrangements like those in place for Medicare or for private health insurance. Accredited advisers, charging a flat fee, would be partially reimbursed by the government; the moderate costs to consumers would create a much broader market for their services.

Shiller, the “Irrational Exuberance” guy known for his prediction of the dot-com bubble as well as the bearer of bad news S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, says that the average person’s inability to assess risk, price and affordability has contributed to the current real estate mess we’re in.

Treating financial advice like medical advice is an intriguing concept. And finding a  sales-pitch-free advice model for the masses is a subject that I’m passionate about. But I think I read somewhere about how our health care system isn’t feeling so well.

And given the current deficit, I pity the fool who would be charged with convincing the government that financial advice for those of modest means is as critical as life-saving health care or food stamps.

Like many Americans, the other $600 from our check will go towards paying off a credit card balance. June was an expensive month, with some eating out, some reunion expenses and the purchase of a new patio set. Hence, the tracking spending exercise I started mid-June.

I must admit that exercise has fallen by the wayside of late. I did do a quick and dirty assessment, though, and our credit card transactions showed we’re spending about $15 more in gas than we budgeted and that we ate our entire fun budget for the month.