“I’m sort of a foodie, and I’m not going to do the ‘living off ramen’ thing,” said one 31-year-old resident of Baltimore who recently qualified for $200 a month in food stamps—and who used that money to prepare a dinner of roasted rabbit with butter, tarragon and sweet potatoes. “I used to think that you could only get processed food …
Thus far in an online survey, AT&T, Best Buy, and Bank of America seem to be the early leaders.
Generally speaking, extended warranties don’t pay off. Warranties are profit-makers because customers who buy them don’t—or can’t—ever use them. So when, if ever, is it worth paying an extra 10% or 20% on top of the product’s price for an extended service plan?
As far as promotions go, a day of freebies is nice. For example, next Tuesday (3/23), Ben & Jerry’s is giving out free ice cream cones. But one day of giveaways seems pretty skimpy compared to a year’s supply of freebies.
Some tips to drink in for getting the most of two essential liquids for the least amount of money.
Last week, the bank made news by eliminating debit card overdraft fees. That’s not quite correct, though: Bank of America has basically eliminated debit card overdrafts entirely. Starting this summer, when you try to use your debit card but don’t have enough money in your account to cover the bill, your card will be rejected. (Right now, …
Not long ago, a job wasn’t expected to be much more than a fling—a mutually beneficial arrangement that lasted maybe a couple of years, if all was going well. Workers hopped from job to job in the ’90s and early ’00s like swingers hopped from bed to bed in the ’70s. In the era of the Great Recession, however, workers are eager to stay …
Consumers: Thanks to the web, and the long string of digital data one produces with each click, market researchers know more about your behavior than ever before. And they will soon be able to get inside your brain and get even better at predicting your buying habits.
It certainly makes sense that the two go hand in hand. Complaints about cell phone and TV providers rose steeply, and complaints about banks and Internet scams soared.
In both cases, when you are overconfident and take a lot of chances, you’re bound to crash. And when you refuse to ask for directions, it’s really hard to get where you want to go.
It’s Your Money is on hiatus. I’ll post again starting Monday, March 15.
The NY Times “Living With Less” series has collected, oh, something like 2,500 tips and strategies from readers.