Joshua Heckathorn

Dear Creditnet: I have unsuccessfully tried to cancel my contract with an alarm company. Although my 3-year contract ended, I've been told I automatically signed up for another year because I didn't give them one month's notice. I did call 2 1/2 weeks in advance to cancel.

I believe these guys are unethical since they continue to charge my credit card every month, so what happens if I initiate a chargeback through my credit card company? Is that the only way to get them to stop charging my card?

It's time for a bit of a Friday rant. I apologize in advance, but I get so tired of listening to people talk about credit as if it's synonymous with debt. It happens to be one of my biggest pet peeves, and I've heard it way too much lately, so I think it's about time I vent some frustration and set the record straight. Begin rant.

You can't get away with skipping out on flowers for Valentine's day. So don't even try to talk yourself into believing the dinner reservation you managed to land at the fanciest restaurant in town is a good enough effort this year. Sorry—it's not. Show up to meet your date without flowers of some kind in hand, and you're special someone will most likely feel a bit slighted. Retailers are obviously in on the secret too, which is why a dozen roses can run somewhere close to $100 around Valentine's Day. Fortunately, if you whip out the right kind of rewards credit card to make your last-minute flower purchase online, you can make sure your wallet feels a bit of Valentine's Day love this year as well.