Ten Signs that the Economy Is Still in Awful Shape
News is out: The economy grew in the third quarter. But don’t start the celebratory parade just yet.
Articles from Contributor
40-Year-Old Deadbeat
At least partly because of the recession, more and more fully-grown people—ones you’d probably refer to as “Sir” or “Madam,” or at least as “adults”—are financially dependent on their parents.
Guess How Many Credit Card Companies Engage in “Unfair and Deceptive” Practices?
You’d think there would be at least one or two credit card issuers out there that weren’t totally trying to rip off customers. But you’d be wrong.
For Shoppers, the New Black Friday is Tomorrow
Retailers, desperate to milk everything they can out of the holiday shopping season, are introducing a second Black Friday. Even though October 30 is usually a night for toilet-papering people’s homes and other pranks, this is no trick.
$300 Jeans: Going the Way of Acid Wash?
When you look back on fashion trends, what you see is often not pretty. Now, in light of a bleak economy—and a rather obvious realization that denim is just, well, denim—we can all turn to someone who bought a $300 pair of “premium” jeans and say, “What the heck were you thinking?”
Are You Broke? Perpetually So?
If you answer yes, you probably avidly try to keep up with the Joneses, buy stuff you don’t need, never plan ahead, pay more than you need to all the time, and blame your problems on outside forces.
Bank Fee Horror Stories
There’s no shortage of anecdotes about banks hitting their customers with odd fees. For example, many banks offer free checking accounts for customers who use direct deposit. One teacher says that her bank gives her fee-free checking during the months her salary is direct deposited—but because she gets paid only ten months of the year …
Maximizing Your Halloween Candy Haul with Zillow
The real-estate site Zillow has created a trick-or-treat index. Factoring in data like home values, population density, walkability, and safety, the site tells trick-or-treaters what neighborhoods give the best chances of bringing home enough candy to scare any dentist silly.
Q&A with the IKEAhacker
Following the directions to put together a piece of IKEA furniture is so pedestrian. Sure, it’ll be cheap and functional, but where’s the challenge? And where’s the creativity? The Cheapskate Blog chats with the author of blog where people explain how they transformed IKEA products into things you’d never find in the catalogue—like, …
Keep Your Chin Up: Cosmetic Surgery on the Cheap
Despite a less-than-stellar economy, the number of cosmetic surgery procedures performed in the U.S. actually went up 3% in 2008. But apparently it’s possible to be vain and thrifty at the same time: Overall consumer spending on these procedures fell 9% in 2008 compared to the year before, meaning folks going under the knife were …
Jacking Up Credit-Card Rates and Fees is Cold. Solution? Freeze Them
The final provisions of new credit card legislation aimed at protecting consumers won’t go into effect until February. What this means is that right now, while consumers are relatively unprotected, credit card companies are raising rates and adding fees to reap in as much profit as possible from their customers before such strategies are …
Scam Alert: No Shampoo or Dietary Supplement Will Protect You from Swine Flu
When people freak out, you can be assured that other people—bad people—will try to take advantage of the situation. Millions of Americans are still waiting for the chance to get the H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine, and amid the hysteria, all sorts of products and websites have arisen that claim they can help prevent or cure the illness. …