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Posted
Aug 29 2008, 01:10 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Imagine this scenario: "The Frugal Duchess" (aka Sharon Harvey Rosenberg) and her 10-year-old daughter kill time before a movie in a clothing store that caters to tween girls. A cute young salesclerk loads the daughter up with cute merchandise. They leave without buying because the movie is about to start, but the daughter promises to return. She at least wants to say bye to her new friend. Hold on a minute, Sharon says. "She's not really your friend. ... Sure, she likes you. But she also likes your business." Now Sharon wonders if she said the right thing. "Should I have continued to let her believe that the cool clerk was a friend?" she asks.
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Posted
Jun 14 2008, 08:22 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Here's a concept we can wrap our mind around: A Bankrate article talks about 12 "new necessities" of modern living that are actually "entitlements" we can do without. The article quotes psychotherapist Olivia Mellan by way of explanation: A lot of us in wealthy, overspending America are either born or raised with a tremendous sense of entitlement. We say to ourselves,"I work hard or, I work at a job I hate -- at least I should be able to have a Starbucks coffee every day or eat out for lunch." But of course, those are not needs, they're wants. They're pleasures.
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Posted
Jun 13 2008, 09:07 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Michael Nolan begins a recent post at Frugal Mania with this excellent question: "Have you ever noticed how many aspects of frugal living used to be considered just plain common sense?" Yes, we have. And we also suspect that the adjustment to higher prices for food and fuel would be less jarring if we all applied some of that old-fashioned thinking. For those who want to give it a try, Michael offers a crash course in the form of the 30-day frugal challenge.
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Posted
May 16 2008, 03:33 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
If you want The Frugal Duchess' business, you'd better listen up. In an open letter to consumer-product companies, she says she's fed up with those that mislead, poison, overcharge or downright insult customers. "Stop filling magazine pages, cyberspace and television airwaves with advertisements designed to make me feel needy, greedy and inadequate," she writes in a guest post at Frugal For Life. For instance: "What's wrong with fine lines around my eyes? I've laughed a lot. I've cried plenty."
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Posted
May 08 2008, 04:40 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Pinyo's wife thinks he's cheap. In his mind, he's frugal. Who's right? He scored a 20 on the cheap vs. frugal test he devised and posted at Moolanomy. That score indicates that he's neither, but that he "appears to be reasonable" with his spending. Take the test. It's fun. For example, here's Question No. 6. You have some old clothes. Do you ...? - What are you talking about? I don't have old clothes.
- I donate them when they get a little older.
- I turn them into rags.
- I am still wearing them.
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Posted
Apr 22 2008, 03:18 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
An article at MSN Money about things you should buy only when they're new prompted Mrs. Nespy at Mrs. Nespy's World to come up with her own top 10 list. Among her items: child car seats, helmets, mattresses, children's shoes, makeup, hot tubs and many car parts. She also offers an action plan if you really can't afford to buy these things new.
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Posted
Apr 16 2008, 02:35 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
It goes without saying that you shouldn't chew gum, drop bad-word bombs or wear your gym clothes when you're at a job interview. Or does it? Based on the experience of "Gibble" and that of his readers, job candidates sometimes violate these basic rules and a bunch of others. As a guide for job applicants, Gibble offers "10 things not to do during an interview" at Gather Little by Little. Gibble, who interviews a lot of candidates in his job as an IT manager, said those 10 violations "pretty much make me cut the interview short and walk out."
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Posted
Mar 29 2008, 03:34 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
"FMF" at Free Money Finance worked one summer years ago as a management intern at Kmart, so he has an insider's perspective on the chain's decline. In his new series of store reviews, he gives his former employer an "F." When he worked there, "Kmart was the king of mass merchants, but my particular store was panicked because a new competitor was headed into their region, some company by the name of Wal-Mart," he says. "... they were bracing for an invasion that they expected to be about as terrible as the Huns coming to ransack their city." The ransacking apparently has taken its toll. By the way, FMF gave Wal-Mart a "B+" rating.
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Posted
Feb 25 2008, 07:23 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Count on Lynnae at Being Frugal to assemble a comprehensive list of money-saving tips for the home and garden. Her "75 frugal hacks for your home" includes lots of great information on home maintenance and improvement, including a number we hadn't heard before and definitely need to incorporate into our routine. "The cost of living is going up, and oftentimes salaries aren't going up to meet those costs," she writes. "In response to the money crunch, ordinary people like you and me need to cut costs to make ends meet." Dirty miniblinds? Put an old sock on your hand, dampen it with rubbing alcohol and then run your hand along the blinds. Lime deposits clogging up the showerhead? Tie a plastic bag filled with vinegar around it for an hour "and you should be good to go," Lynnae says.
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Posted
Jan 23 2008, 09:34 AM
by
Karen Datko
We thank Escape Brooklyn for pointing out this survey: When women were asked to pick between having a body like Jennifer Aniston or having a million bucks, 78% chose the money. As Editor-in-Chief Jane Chestnutt of Woman's Day magazine, one of the online poll's sponsors, pointed out in a New York Post article, with that kind of money you can pay a personal trainer to whip a broadening behind into shape and still have lots left over. (And we're sure the women would invest the money wisely and not blow it all in one place.)
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