A year ago, JCPenney promised an end to “fake prices” and the usual retailer mind games played to make customers think …
Smart Spending
6 Ways to Stay Out of Debt This Holiday Season
Every January, there’s a proliferation of financial advice about how to recover from holiday-related spending. How about trying something different this year? Start strategizing now for ways to avoid running up those bills and …
Why We Stopped Buying Fast-Food Combo Meals
Bundling is everywhere: Insurance policies, TV and Internet connectivity and cellular service packages are ubiquitous. Yet the granddaddy of bundled purchases, the fast-food combo meal, has fallen out of favor. According to …
10 Things You Should Be Buying Used
What if everything didn’t have to be new? Thanks to sites like Craigslist.org and Freecycle.org, along with old-school standbys like thrift shops and tag sales, there are more ways than ever to score new-to-you stuff. Buying …
The Best (and Worst) Things to Buy at a Dollar Store
License To Sin: When Good Behavior Leads To Bad Results
Most people are taught early to believe in what we might call “momentum morality”: the idea that good (or bad) actions lead to further good (or bad) habits. Economists and other philosophical types call these feedback loops …
A Quarter of Extreme Couponers Have Incomes of $75,000 or More
When researchers from the University of Arizona set out to study people’s couponing habits and motivations, they discovered that a significant number of the most die-hard coupon aficionados aren’t clipping out of financial need. …
NYC Grocery Store Pipes in Artificial Food Smells
When you walk into one of the Net Cost supermarkets in Brooklyn, N.Y., you’ll be greeted by hints of chocolate and grapefruit and rosemary focaccia. And while the store actually sells those products, the smells you’ll smell are fake.
The Cheapest City in America
There is a place in these United States where a loaf of bread will cost you 90 cents. Where a gallon of gas will set you back $2.65. Where you can rent a two-bedroom house for $450 a month. So where is this penny-pincher’s paradise?
Profitable Nonviolence
How the surprising effects of violent movies can help us to make smarter money decisions.
Is the High Cost of Healthy Food Really the Reason for Poor Nutrition?
The New York Times‘ Economix blog has an interesting post on new research on the “cost per calorie” of different foods and drinks.
Can the Amish Teach You to Be Rich? A New Book Says Yes
Lorilee Craker might be the most versatile journalist in America.
