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• Support your neighborhood beanery

  Posted Aug 20 2008, 09:24 AM by Donna Freedman
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  Filed under: spending, dining, McDonald's, Donna Freedman
  Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money

  When a Smart Spending message board reader posting as "jestjack" gave his daughter $10 for fast food, he expected to get back a bunch of change. He didn't. It cost his daughter more than $7 to get chicken strips, fries and a drink. In a thread called "Where have I been?" Jestjack remembered filling up his 1973 Chevy for $7. "I feel like I'm Rip Van Winkle," he lamented. "Anybody else going through sticker shock like this?"
  

  Yep. In high school, I was able to get a cheeseburger and fries for less than a buck. Nowadays, I could easily spend $7 on the "extra value" menu. Or I could spend that money at Barriga Llena ("full belly"), a tiny restaurant that specializes in meaty Mexican sandwiches called tortas. I'd be supporting a small local business, and I might even practice my Spanish if I could be certain they'd hold their guffaws until I left the restaurant.   Read More...

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• The bridesmaid's curse: Ugly gowns and lots of spending

  Posted Feb 09 2008, 01:06 PM by Karen Datko
  Rating:
  Filed under: spending, saving, clothing, McDonald's
  Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money

  DogAteMyFinances is trying to pay off her credit card debt and, in fact, has stopped buying clothes as part of her frugality. But now she has to cough up $275 for a hideous "rich chocolate" bridesmaid gown. "Second, I will have to pay for the bachelorette party/bridal shower/kitchen-gadgets shower/home-repair shower/chick-flick shower," she writes, adding, "Weddings are out of control."

  The last time she was a bridesmaid, it cost her $1,250. Other personal-finance bloggers have experienced the same budget drain. Ms. M&P at My Money and Politics last month paid $240 for a bridesmaid dress (plus made a $265 deposit on a hotel room for another wedding she's attending, and spent $468 for plane tickets to go to yet another wedding). Mrs. Micah says that if she were asked to be in a wedding, she'd have to pass because of the cost. "This is crazy, folks. We need a solution," she writes.   Read More...

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