Lifestyle

Man looking frustrated while looking at his phone

He Sent His Sister $60 for Groceries After She Asked, Got an Instacart Notification an Hour Later Showing She Had Charged $89 More to His Klarna Account, and She Stopped Responding When He Brought It Up

ByKristin Stones

His older sister is 40, lives in a rough rental in a rough neighborhood, and has never been particularly financially stable. He’s let her stay with him before and eventually realized that arrangement wasn’t healthy for his own life. The way she usually gets him to help financially is by bringing up her child, and…

Person sitting in a chair donating blood

He Let His Stepdaughter and Her Boyfriend Stay for 30 Days, Four Months Later They’re Still There and Not Contributing While He Sells Plasma to Cover Rent

ByKristin Stones

Five years ago his stepdaughter, now 19, started dating a boy who used to hide in closets and under beds when his wife said he couldn’t spend the night, break into vacant apartments in their building, and eventually get arrested for trespassing. He lives about 100 miles away. His stepdaughter moved to another state after…

Angry man at airport counter

He Booked Delta One Seats Next to His Wife Five Months in Advance on a Nearly Empty Plane, Paid $16,000, Confirmed the Assignment Four Hours Before Departure, and Found Out at Check-In They Had Been Separated With No Explanation

ByKristin Stones

He and his wife paid $16,000 for two Delta One tickets to Italy, a trip he describes as one they rarely get the chance to take. He’s been a loyal Delta customer for years, flies first class exclusively, and spends a significant amount with the airline between business and personal travel. When they booked five…

Young woman giving a weird stare

She Found a Wallet With Cash, Cards, and an ID in a Grocery Store Parking Lot, Told Herself Someone Else Would Have Kept It Anyway, Spent the Money, and Threw the Wallet Away Because Seeing the Owner’s Face Made Her Feel Guilty

ByKristin Stones

A few years ago she found a wallet in a grocery store parking lot. It had cash, several cards, and the owner’s ID inside. She stood there for a moment knowing exactly what the right thing to do was, and then she put the wallet in her bag and walked to her car. She wasn’t…

Woman looking at a paper with a look of shock on her face

Someone Accessed Her Roth IRA, Added Two Strangers as Contingent Beneficiaries Splitting the Account 50-50, and She Only Found Out When She Read a Routine Five-Year Review Letter

ByKristin Stones

She opened a Roth IRA decades ago, hasn’t contributed in years, and listed her husband as the primary beneficiary. Recently she received the standard five-year account review letter and noticed something she hadn’t put there. Two contingent beneficiaries had been added to the account, a man identified by initials and a woman identified by initials,…

Secretary with a messy desk yelling on the phone

She Expected a $4,000 Tax Refund, Her Preparer Offered to Handle the Fee From the Deposit, and When the Money Arrived the Preparer Had Already Taken $3,500 in Processing Fees Without Ever Telling Her the Amount

ByKristin Stones

She expected a $4,000 tax refund. When the check arrived it was $500. Her tax preparer had deposited the full refund into her own account and kept $3,500 as processing fees, an amount she never disclosed before filing the return. The preparer had framed the arrangement as a convenience, taking her fee directly from the…