Consumers Finally Get Their Watchdog

President Obama has done what he should have done months ago. On Wednesday, he appointed Richard Cordray as the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

Without missing a beat, Republicans, who have been holding up Cordray’s nomination to head this important consumer agency, criticized the president’s move, reports The Washington Post’s David Nakamura and Felicia Sonmez.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a statement that Obama “has arrogantly circumvented the American people” by using his executive power to make a recess appointment.

But allowing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to continue to operate without a leader was an arrogant political ploy by Republicans, who seem to be protecting financial companies rather than consumers. In appointing Cordray as America’s consumer watchdog, Obama said that the former Ohio attorney general, “is going to be in charge of one thing: looking out for the best interests of American consumers.”

As Obama pointed out, the CFPB was created as part of his financial reform act to protect families from the abuses of the financial industry, to make sure that you’ve got all the information you need to make important financial decisions and to ensure that millions of Americans are treated fairly by mortgage brokers, payday lenders and debt collectors.

So what do you think?

This week’s Color of Money question: What are your thoughts on Obama sidestepping the Senate to appoint Cordray to the CFPB? Send your responses to colorofmoney@washpost.com. Be sure to include your full name, city and state. Put “Consumers Finally Get Their Watchdog” in the subject line.

A 2012 Money Makeover

You’ve decided to make over your financial life for 2012. I get that. I congratulate you. But you may be wondering where to start.

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants has listed the following ways to start getting your financial life in order:

-- Plan. Savings don’t happen by accident. Figure out what you want or need for the year, and begin planning to save to get it. I know. The advice sounds super simple. And yet, so many people are in debt because they didn’t save and instead turned to credit to get what they wanted.

--Track your spending. For 30 days, track every penny you spend. Write down everything. After the 30 days are up; then look back at your spending and start cutting. Once you know where you are wasting your money, you can develop a better budget. On the Web site for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants you will find a number of online tools to help you get started, such as an emergency savings calculator.

-- Start small. You aren’t going to be able to get rid of all your debt or save three months of living expenses for your emergency fund in just a few months. Don’t try to do too much, or you will quickly get discouraged. Here’s one of my recent columns in which I give one couple advice on how to pay off their credit card debt.

Moving Financially Forward