I'm in week five of the Money Diet, where I try to lose weight by counting how much I'm saving every week by not eating junk food. And it's still working. I'm really pretty shocked by my weight loss. When I started this, if anyone had asked me to be truthful, I would have admitted that I was full of bravado and would have predicted that, by now, I'd have stormed a White Castle, scarfed down 132 of their little burgers and would have been waving the white flag.

But I've managed to resist the temptation, and I've lost weight again this week. I'm losing it slowly, which is frustrating, but I know that's what you're supposed to do.

Anyway, here's how I'm doing:

My weight when I began: 264
My weight last week: 250.5
My weight this week: 248

If you're fed up with overdraft fees, you're not alone. During a telephone press conference held earlier this afternoon, which I sat in on, Consumer Federation of America released the results of a national poll today showing that (surprise) just about everyone wants limits and additional disclosures on bank overdraft fees.

I'll get to that in a moment, but there was really a second message that the CFA and the Center for Responsible Lending, which had a representative at this conference, wants to get out: If you're truly fed up, call your Congressman or woman and ask them to get behind two bills circulating in Congress that intend to put much more severe restrictions on overdraft fees.

At first, the story sounds funny. Looking at it a little more closely, however, it's really not.

Francis Coleman, a 40-year-old, unemployed machinist, has made headlines because he told a news station he was going to rob a Bank of America the next morning and that they should be there to tape the whole thing. Well, the news station called the police, and the police went to Coleman's house and arrested him.

But this really isn't the case of the dumb criminal; it's really the story of a man at the end of his rope, a man who made a bad decision that's now going to cost him, which makes this story even sadder.

It's an age-old problem that's been with us for ages. You raise your kids to be independent adults, but...what if something goes wrong?

What if, for instance, they lose their job, suddenly run out of cash and need help? Or what if they got in over their heads financially with credit card debt and need a loan to help pay off their debt?

Do you look the other way and let the chips fall where they may, even if that means they wind up on the streets? Or do you help them out? And what if they need a lot of help? How far should you go to get them out of the bind they're in? And at what dollar amount are you really helping them out, or just enabling them to continue their financially unsound lifestyle?

New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today announced a nationwide agreement regarding banking fees. He held a telephone press conference, which I listened in on, and if you're a Citibank customer, this news may affect you.

Starting today, Citibank was basically going to kill its free checking program. But after the New York Attorney General's office stepped in, Cuomo was able to announce today that -- for many customers -- the free checking program has been extended until at least the end of the year.


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I still can't quite believe it, but the "Money Diet" I'm on appears to be working; I'm still losing weight.

First, the quick explanation for those of you who don't know the backstory: Since January 1, I've been on a diet. But instead of counting calories, I decided to tally up what I'm saving by not eating junk food. It seemed like it might work -- since nothing else has -- and so far for me, it has.

My weight when I began: 264
My weight last week: 252
My weight this week: 250.5

If you've been trying to log onto Bank of America's web site today, with no luck, it's not your imagination or your computer's fault -- B of A's Web site is down. Or at least it was at the time of this writing -- and had been throughout much of Friday morning and the early afternoon.

If you try to log onto its site, you'll get a "problem loading page" notice (if you're using Firefox).

It was speculated on BusinessInsider.com that it might be a cyber attack, although the writer there admitted that plenty of web sites malfunction, and this may just be one of those times.

Times Asia is reporting it as the server simply crashing.

I contacted Bank of America, and spokesperson Anne Pace told me that "Bank of America's Online Banking service is, indeed, available. However, some customers are having intermittent issues accessing the site."

If we learn more, we'll let you know. In the meantime, if you're one of those "some customers" trying to do some online banking, you might want to resort to the old-fashioned way and head to a brick and mortar branch, or call its customer service line if you have half an hour to spare. If you were planning on paying bills online, pull out your checkbook and find a stamp. Or try another computer, and maybe you'll have better luck.

P.S. I'm told by Ms. Pace that as of 8 p.m., Friday, January 29th, the issues have been resolved, and that the web site is up and running.

No use complaining. It's coming, whether we like it or not: April 15th is on the way.

But on the plus side, if you're thinking about your taxes already and not trying to make sense of everything on April 14, then you have some time to ponder what gifts Uncle Sam has come up with to make paying your fair share feel a little more fair. As in -- tax credits.

Wells Fargo recently surveyed 1,000 online banking customers and discovered that it's the 30-somethings who are more likely to use an online bank Web site, mobile banking and other Internet-related tools to manage their finances.

The 30-something folks are also using social networking, advanced photo and film technologies, and career networking sites more often than other respondents.

Rebuilding lousy credit is a hot topic with consumers these days, and one I've thought about a lot, having recently written a book about bad credit and having survived many, many years of financial turmoil. I currently have no credit cards, save one that my wife and I were able to get when my wife needed dental work last year. When I mentioned this to my bank manager once -- during a discussion about my almost-every-other-month overdraft fees -- he suggested I get a secured credit card.

Secured, as in, I put my own money into the credit card, say $300, and then I use it for a year, and eventually I'm be granted credit again. (Bankrate.com does a nice job of explaining the ins and outs of secured credit cards, in case you're interested in learning more.)