“It is doubtful that doctors and other medical professionals would voluntarily cut their own income (even if some of it is generated by profligate spending). Most doctors I know say they are not paid enough. Their practices are like cars on a hill with the parking brake on. Looking on, you don’t realize how much force is being applied …
Cheapskate Wisdom from … a Self-Proclaimed ‘Memorial Service Junkie’
“Sometimes there’s even a free buffet after.”
(From a Times story on why one woman attends memorial services for people she has never met.)
These houses were made for walking
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omJSA0yl_30&hl=en&fs=1&]
I’ve got a new story* up on Time.com about people intentionally defaulting on their mortgages. The piece begins:
Up to 26% of U.S. homeowners who stop paying their mortgage may be doing so intentionally, not because they can’t make the payments but because they don’t want
…
It’s a Deal: Fares from $30 on Southwest Airlines
Flights from every city are on sale for $30, $60, or $90 one-way on Southwest Airlines. Tickets must be purchased by Wednesday July 8, for travel between September 8 and November 18. More details and a full list of cities, routes, and prices here.
Q&A with The Innovator’s Prescription Author Jason Hwang
Health care in the U.S. needs more than a gentle tweaking. It needs to be disrupted, updated, and reinvented to provide better care at a price that the individual and society as a whole can afford. When it comes to health care, we as consumers simply aren’t getting our money’s worth. Health care is crying out for innovation, and the …
Cheapskate Wisdom from … Steven Wright
“If it’s a penny for your thoughts and you put in your two cents worth, then someone, somewhere is making a penny.
So do we need more stimulus or not?
The WSJ has a story today about growing calls for another stimulus package. Bruce Bartlett has a column in the FT arguing that we don’t need one. Bartlett’s main point is that only a fraction of the stimulus money has been spent yet, and that fraction has been consisted mostly of what, according to the Administration’s own estimates, are …
Free Gas with a New Suzuki SX4
Suzuki is promising a summer or free gasoline for anyone who buys a new SX4. What the promotion amounts to is a gas debit card worth little under $300—not exactly a reason to buy a car you wouldn’t have normally purchased. But combined with up to $2,000 factory cash back, perhaps potential buyers on the fence will be nudged over into …
It’s a Deal: Two-for-One Dairy Queen Blizzards
When you join the online Blizzard Fan Club (and allow Dairy Queen to e-mail you special offers and promotions), you can print out a coupon that grants two blizzards for the price of one. Details here.
The controversy surrounding the cost of Dan Ariely’s Hershey’s Kiss
For some time I’ve been trying to figure out how best to express my annoyance—is annoyance the right word? I think it is—at the ever-growing group of books that seek to use social science research to explain how people often don’t act in their own economic self-interest. It’s not that I think research by psychology PhDs isn’t a …
Creative Job Training Solutions: Pro Wrestler, Clown, Trapeze Artist
Who wants to be a computer programmer anyway? As noted earlier, the usual job training programs may be proving less than satisfactory. Perhaps it’s time to try something more, uh … artistic?
Save at the Bank, Flea Market, Supermarket, and at Home
Just about everywhere you spend, there are simple ways to save. Here’s a roundup of stories with tips for spending wisely—and not getting taken for a sucker—at flea markets, the bank, the grocery store, and in your own home.