As a single mother of a special needs child and a fourth-year medical student, Katherine Ritter sometimes needs to pay her bills using a credit card.Although she has never missed a payment and her credit remains solid, her card balances have soared.To manage her growing debt, Ritter has opened accounts, transferred balances and spoken to her credit card companies in hopes of getting lower rates. None of her efforts were particularly successful.So she was caught off guard in July when the Elite Planning Group in Tempe, Ariz., called her, unsolicited.The Elite Planning representative told her he had gotten permission to call her from a consumer credit consolidation company she had called months earlier. He said that for a one-time fee of $990.90, Elite Planning would ... Continue reading →

(Photo courtesy of Harper Collins) The 'Chicago Tribune's' Jon Yates has a new book out that helps readers cut through the red tape. Do you avoid conflict even when you have been wronged? Maybe you think the problem is not worth the time it will take to get it solved. Jon Yates says you should take charge. He writes the popular "What's Your Problem" column for the Chicago Tribune. His new book, What's Your Problem?: Cut Through Red Tape, Challenge the System, and Get your Money Back, is a sort of survival guide for consumers. He discussed his book, and offered advice to listeners looking to take action on some of their problems. Continue reading →