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Posted
Aug 05 2008, 03:23 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Just how much caffeine does a person need in one day? Plenty, or so suggests Starbucks, which today rolled out a new nationwide promotion to entice morning customers back for a same-day afternoon fix. It's just the latest in a series of short-term discounts and freebies designed to get repeat traffic into Starbucks' shrinking number of stores. This one was available for a test drive in several locations around the country before its unveiling today at every store.
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Posted
Jul 18 2008, 01:09 PM
by
Karen Datko
Mike at Clever Dude recently faced one of those "does this make me look cheap?" moments. He and Stacie were part of a group of 11 honoring a departing colleague with dinner. Mike and Stacie split a veggie main course after everyone shared appetizers, and they drank water. Others had meat dishes and drinks. When it was time to pay, the others decided the bill should be split evenly, which would cost Mike and Stacie a lot more than the price of their actual meals. What do you do when you're faced with that situation?
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Posted
Jul 14 2008, 07:14 PM
by
Karen Datko
We love questions like this one asked by Nickel at FiveCentNickel: "What is your biggest financial vice?" You just never know what people are going to say. Readers name pretty common splurges, like lunches out, and then someone comes out with a zinger. For instance, after Nickel and others estimated they spend $1,000 to $2,000 more a year than they'd like on eating out, they heard from reader "TSModie." "Is a couple of thousand dollars a year really affecting your finances? If so, you need to start making more money," said TSModie, who lost $20,000 on gambling last year.
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Posted
Jun 18 2008, 02:39 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
It's once again time to take a break from the heavier issues of the day, and "Frugal Dad" gave us the respite we were looking for. Ponder this one: Is sneaking your own candy into the movie theater frugal or cheap? This is an academic exercise for us because we don't really care for movie theater candy. (We've got our eye on the popcorn with extra butter.) But it's a real-life decision for Frugal Dad, and you might be surprised at the decision he reached.
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Posted
Jun 18 2008, 06:31 AM
by
Karen Datko
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Before Cupid's arrow pierced his manly heart, "Nut" at The Writer's Coin did, well, guy things. He ordered takeout for dinner a lot. Even worse, "I would buy one of those salads in a bag that has all the fixings and -- gross as it may sound -- I ate it straight out of the bag," he writes. Now that he's moved in with "M," he's happy as a geoduck clam, and he's found the financial benefits of coupledom. Food, entertainment and "going out" are all costing less. "Economists call it 'economies of shared living,' and it basically comes down to sharing everything," he says.
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Posted
Feb 26 2008, 10:24 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
If you value a sound night's sleep, it may be good news that 7,100 Starbucks in the U.S. are closing at 5:30 p.m. today. No evening Starbucks latte for you. (Stores that have night hours will reopen at 9 p.m.)
CEO Howard Schultz said 135,000 employees will get "espresso excellence training" during that time "to pull the perfect shot, steam milk to order and customize their favorite beverage." It's part of Schultz's efforts to rejuvenate the monster java chain's sagging customer-service image.
If you fear caffeine withdrawal, you can avail yourself of the 99-cent small gourmet coffee drinks available today from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Starbucks rival Dunkin' Donuts. The timing is a coincidence -- Dunkin' Donuts says it's celebrating a first-place finish in a coffee customer-loyalty survey -- but couldn't be better. "It's definitely a fortuitous time for us," Frances Allen, Dunkin' Donuts' brand marketing officer, told Newsday.
Independent coffee houses are responding with their own specials while Starbucks employees are rehashing their foam-making skills. "I'm not sure why it's going to take them three hours to learn how to press a button," said Coffee Klatch Roasting owner Mike Perry, who will offer free coffee at his two California stores while Starbucks is closed
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Posted
Feb 04 2008, 02:11 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
No Credit Needed has provided an invaluable service for readers of personal-finance blogs. He's compiled the best money-saving tips from across the blogosphere. From My Dollar Plan's suggestions for buying stamps at a discount to Easy Change's proposal that you eat only half of that pizza, the advice submitted for the list by PF bloggers covers a wide variety of spending and saving scenarios. Kay Bell at Don't Mess with Taxes advises that you listen to what your mom said, including "Don't you already have one of those?" and "Bake it or make it, then take it," and "Doing your best pays off." Smith's Trading Post suggests dumping vices like cigarettes, alcohol and your daily-latte addiction, while Frugal For Life writes about the treasures that can be found in Dumpsters.
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Posted
Jan 03 2008, 01:16 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
You've probably heard about the two big guys in Houma, La., who were charged extra at an all-you-can-eat buffet -- the waitress supposedly said, "Ya'll fat, and ya'll eat too much" -- and claimed they were banned from the place as well. Well, those guys couldn't hold a candle to Nick at Punny Money. We thank Clever Dude for directing us to Nick's side-splitting, belt-busting post, "Eat your money's worth at any all-you-can-eat buffet." Clever Dude also provides a link to getting the most from a side salad when Pizza Hut limits you to one bowl.
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Posted
Dec 26 2007, 05:38 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
This post comes from Abby Freedman, a freelance writer and daughter of Smart Spending blogger Donna Freedman. An MSN article about portion sizes got me thinking about the economics of eating. Food is, arguably, one of the most expensive aspects of modern life, whether you make your meals at home or eat out. We order our days around meal breaks. We deny ourselves some foods and force others down our throats -- when was the last time someone willingly ate a rice cake? Finally, we pay tons of money to gyms so that we can work off all that food. I don't have diet foods or delivered meals worked into my spending plan. But I do have to fit into a wedding gown in 5½ months. So I decided to try a little experiment with portion size, and see if I couldn't make food a bit more affordable at the same time.
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Posted
Dec 24 2007, 12:39 PM
by
Karen Datko
This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity. We live in a disposable society. We've gotten so used to everything being so cheap that we often think about replacement before we think about refurbishment. That's great for companies but bad for our budgets and our environment. I experienced this firsthand a month ago when I pulled out my coffeemaker to make a cup of coffee. About a year or two ago I took advantage of a Gevalia free coffeemaker offer that gave me two little bags of Gevalia coffee, a travel mug, and a 12-cup programmable coffeemaker for only $5. It was the first coffeemaker I had seen that used little cone-shaped coffee filters, and I thought they were a custom shape you had to buy from Gevalia.
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