“Collective Buying Power” is the apt slogan of Groupon, a rapidly-expanding bulk-buying website in which members get big discounts on everything from yoga classes to pro baseball tickets to teeth-whitening services to live lobsters—so long as a certain number of members sign up for the offer.
“Sometimes it is better to accept less in a negotiation than to walk away a total loser.”
Read more about Franzese’s book here.
Down toward the bottom of today’s Times story about deals at restaurants like Applebee’s, Ruby Tuesday, T.G.I. Friday’s, and Chili’s is a little nugget that every cheapskate should be aware of—namely, that some restaurant franchises hide the special offers from diners so that they’ll unknowingly pay full price.
USA Today examines the impact of the recession on younger folks—Millennials or Gen Y, as they’re known. Or will they be known as the “Recession Generation”? Hard to say. No one thought of WWII era folks as “The Greatest Generation” until decades after the war. The immediate impact of today’s hard times: We’ll all probably hate the …
“The only reason a great many American families don’t own an elephant is that they have never been offered an elephant for a dollar down and easy weekly payments.”
CNN has a photo gallery of folks who are making the most of the recession, starting up businesses or spending the time well, building decks in their backyards or just hanging out with their families. Check it out here.
Perhaps heading off to college right after high school isn’t the slam dunk decision it has been in the past. Somehow, the going rate for a year’s tuition, room, and board is now in the neighborhood of $50,000 at many colleges. That’s a lot to pay for four years of keg stands, random hookups, and occasional insights into all that man has …
I’m a fan of Netflix. The DVDs arrive in a timely fashion. When something goes wrong, like a movie goes missing in the mail or is too scratched to work, the company takes responsibility and fixes it quickly. And any business that voluntarily lowers customer fees—Netflix did this a couple years back, dropping my family’s monthly bill by …
When it comes to sunscreen, paying more doesn’t mean you get more protection from the sun. Inexpensive store brands work just as well as any pricey brand, according to the American Academy of Dermatology via the WSJ. So it’s OK to save your money by buying a cheaper bottle of sunscreen, but make sure to use SPF 30, which blocks 97 …
CNN’s Consumer Tips blog has a post about how to figure out if someone you’re dating is THE ONE. Wait. What? Yes, this is filed under Consumer Tips, with the tag line “Empowering you to be a savvy consumer.” I guess this is one area in which you really should shop around. I’m not sure if there’s a way to get a deal on last year’s model …
Here are some of the latest numbers that indicate our health care system is sick and in need of immediate attention: A new poll shows that one-quarter of American households had trouble paying for health care costs in the past year, and that, to avoid incurring expenses, 40 percent plan on delaying treatment and routine doctor’s visits …
In certain circles, this may qualify as sacrilege: Bargain merchant H&M will soon be selling Jimmy Choos—the chic designer women’s shoes that are regularly seen on red carpets and “Sex and the City,” and that normally retail for over $500. It’s unclear how much the shoes will cost at H&M, but it wouldn’t be shocking if they’re offered …
