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Posted
Jul 01 2008, 11:46 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com. When large corporations face tough times, they often hire "efficiency experts" who come in and tell them how to save money. Households, struggling under the strain of higher gasoline prices, could use the same kind of service right about now. Playing the role of an efficiency expert, Consumer Reports magazine says it has looked for and found ways for the average consumer household to trim up to $500 a month from its budget. Even at $4 a gallon, that buys a lot of gas.
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Posted
Nov 20 2007, 06:45 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Trent Hamm at partner blog The Simple Dollar.
Let’s face it: Most items at garage sales and yard sales are junk. It's stuff the family conducting the sale wants to get rid of, hoping to make $100 on a good weekend.
With that in mind, I often visit yard sales to look for specific items. Here are six things I usually look for:
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Posted
Jul 10 2008, 03:57 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Note to future self: If we're traveling on US Airways after Nov. 1, take a book. That's when the downsizing airline will stop showing movies on domestic flights. The decision to end in-flight films shouldn't be a surprise. The video systems weigh 500 pounds, a lot of extra weight -- particularly when they aren't paying their freight. Fewer and fewer people have been willing to shell out $5 for the headsets.
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Posted
Jun 30 2009, 05:30 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Jim Wang at partner blog Bargaineering.
I hate going to the post office. It doesn't matter what day I go or what time of day I go, there is always a line and there's always only one or two people working behind the counter.
I've gone to post offices that serve a large residential ZIP code and post offices that serve a smaller residential ZIP code, and there is always a line and never enough workers. If we're near a holiday, forget it -- I'll be waiting in line for at least half an hour. If you visit the PO with any regularity, I bet you understand my pain.
The worst part is watching people struggle through a process that is otherwise fairly straightforward. People show up with packages they haven't even finished packing. I understand not knowing how much postage is needed, but not to have your package taped up and ready to go is inexcusable.
That's why I try to do as much as I can at home so I can shorten the time I'm stuck in the post office. Recently, with all the shipping I've been doing related to contests and auction winners in the Bargaineering Bucks Store, I've been considering printing my postage online.
Here's what I've found.
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Posted
Dec 15 2008, 07:15 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
At a New York City restaurant, the all-you-can-eat special is actually all-that-you-eat. If you leave food on your plate, you pay a 30% surcharge. For the $26.95 special at the Hayashi Ya (which includes soda or sake), that would add another $8 to the check. It's a somewhat unusual approach, but food for thought as more restaurants are using the endless-trough-of-food strategy to get more customers in the door.
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Posted
Feb 15 2008, 01:20 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Can a family with an income of $100,000 or more really have a hard time getting ahead? FreeMoneyFinance's recent post on that question has prompted quite a discussion among commenters at his site. FMF launched the debate by remarking on a family mentioned in one of a package of MSN Money stories about the "squeeze on the middle class." The couple make six figures, but are unable to save. "We struggle to stay afloat with the rising costs of car insurance, gas, utilities, food and other necessities," one of the family members said. FMF's assessment: "They're simply spending too much. They have no control on expenses." He also guesses that they live in an expensive area, noting that "$100,000 per year is a lot, but it's more in Omaha than it is in Los Angeles."
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Posted
Oct 17 2007, 04:00 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
The new Consumer Price Index shows noticeable increases in the cost of food and energy. So why doesn't that necessarily mean we're experiencing inflation? Philip Brewer at Wise Bread explains the difference between the CPI and the "core" CPI (which doesn't include food and energy prices ), and why the core is a valuable tool in the Federal Reserve's efforts to predict inflation. The new core doesn't indicate inflation, Brewer writes. But the CPI contains sour news for us common folks: Rising food and energy prices cause our standard of living to decline.
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Posted
Dec 12 2008, 11:01 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
It's been a bad year for Circuit City, Sharper Image, Linens 'n Things and Value City -- just a few of the big companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2008. Latest on the list is KB Toys, a mall staple battered into bankruptcy just two weeks before Christmas. Retailers aren't the only ones hurting. Bally Total Fitness is in Chapter 11 again. Collectibles are also taking a hit. Lenox Group Inc., which includes the Lenox, Department 56, Gorham and Dansk brands, filed for Chapter 11 last month. And in case you haven't noticed, strapped German ceramics maker Goebel stopped producing those iconic Hummel figurines this year. Here's the rest of our Chapter 11 list for 2008. (Note: In this post, we're not including the financial sector.) Can you add to it?
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Posted
Apr 30 2008, 10:38 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Lisa Wade McCormick at partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com. Consumers who buy professional hair-care products at major retailers -- or at grocery stores and drugstores -- are not getting the bargains they may think they are. They're also fueling a gray-market industry that deals in counterfeit, stolen or outdated merchandise. That's the warning issued by hair-care giants like Paul Mitchell, Redken and Matrix, which are trying to crack down on an industrywide problem known as diversion.
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Posted
Jan 15 2008, 11:23 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
A recent study involving wine-tasting in California seems to confirm our worst fears about the power of marketing. Bloomberg.com reports that not only did volunteers overwhelmingly prefer wines they had been told were more expensive (when they weren't), but brain scans confirmed that they got more pleasure from the supposedly pricier wines. The Bloomberg headline seems appropriate: "Brain scans reveal secret to tastier wine: Jack up the prices." People in the test group were occasional wine drinkers. The results were similar when people who are knowledgeable about wine participated. This gets even worse: In a follow-up to the experiment, most people picked the $5 wine as their favorite when they weren't told about cost.
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