Sign of the Times

A recent Time magazine cover story touted “10 Ideas That Are Changing the World.” Number 8 was “The New Austerity.” The magazine explained that there have been many times throughout history when the demise of the American consumer was predicted. But now we may be witnessing the real deal, with people resorting to such radical […]

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ID Theft Protection Hype and Help

With identity theft much in the news, various ID theft protection services have emerged. But a recent Wall Street Journal article said most are not worth the cost. The only pay-to-play service that may be worthwhile is a credit freeze, which prevents access to your credit file. Depending on where you live, it may cost […]

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Price Matching

Savvy shoppers know that many retailers have either formal or informal price-matching policies, so it pays to do some comparison-shopping. For example, at Circuit City, if you find a lower advertised price at another local store, the retailer promises to beat the price by 10 percent of the difference. Or, if you buy something from […]

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Help for Hagglers

In a recent post, a story about haggling generated several reader tips such as the following: Ask for a price match. Miriam found that the office supply store Staples “didn’t quibble a bit” when asked to match a competitor’s price. Ask for more than a match. Dan discovered that Best Buy would not only match […]

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TGI…M?

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” – Colossians 3:23 More than half of all U.S. workers are dissatisfied with their jobs. That’s the conclusion of a recent Conference Board survey.  And which aspect of their work do you think people are most unhappy […]

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Time Banking

For all who really believe that time is money, now there’s a bank for you–a time bank. As described in an article on Mainstreet.com, the concept works like this: you spend an hour doing something for another member of the time bank. That hour then gets “deposited” as a time dollar, which can be spent […]

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Saving for College While You Shop

Upromise, the first of several programs that enable you to earn money for a 529 college savings plan while you shop, is offering a $10 bonus if you sign up and make a purchase before the end of April. Okay, $10 isn’t much when you consider how much college is likely to cost by the […]

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Your Number

Financial services company ING is heavily promoting a new interactive web site designed to help you figure out “your number” – that is, how much money you’ll need to have saved by the time you retire. I took it for a test ride, and while it gets high marks for user friendliness, it doesn’t help […]

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Name Your Price

Haggling has long been an assumed part of the home- and car-buying experience. But in a down economy more and more retailers, including Best Buy and Home Depot, are going along when people ask for a better price. And not just on big-ticket items. One clothing store shopper profiled in a New York Times article […]

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Story Follow-Ups

In a recent post I summarized an article about appealing your property assessments. One reader wondered what implications a successful appeal might have on his homeowner’s insurance coverage. In another article I had commented on the importance of married couples using joint financial accounts wherever possible. A reader wrote to say that even though many […]

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