Spare Change

Money Tip

The strength of the euro against the U.S. dollar is making Europe a more expensive destination, but many travelers are finding bargains through tour operators, who set prices in advance and can often negotiate rates that individual travelers may not be able to get.

Net Nugget

Shopping around for low rate credit cards has taken on greater importance these days as interest rates continue to inch up each month. A good place to look for plastic offering better rates is the World Wide Web:

“www.bankrate .com/brm/rate /brm—ccsearch —advanced.asp

“www.card ratings.com

“indexcredit cards.com/

Market Tip

The lazy investor is often more successful than the hard-working one. If you’re checking in on your portfolio holdings every day, you may be tempted to trade more than you need to. In turn, you may run up high tax and transaction costs.

Money Q&A

Q: My condo association’s maintenance fees almost doubled because of an expensive remediation project to correct defects in the building’s structure. Are we allowed to deduct the interest paid on the loan in proportion to our fees paid?

A: One can deduct qualified interest expense for a residence, which includes a house, a condo, a co-op apartment, a mobile home and sometimes a houseboat. There is also a special rule that allows a tenant- shareholder of a co-op apartment to deduct a proportional share of money paid to a co-op association for the cost of fix-up work. But you own a condo. And, unfortunately, this particular deduction isn’t available to condo owners. If this situation irks you, perhaps you and the other condo owners may want to consider converting your ownership into a cooperative.