Bored, without a job, facing the mini-crisis of turning 30, and inspired after watching “Julie & Julia,” Marisa Lynch decided to take on a new project last summer: For 365 days in a row, she would mend, cut, dye, stitch, and otherwise transform secondhand clothing into a new dress daily, and she would do so with a budget of just $1 a day.
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Cheapskate Wisdom … About the Lack of Customer Loyalty to Pay TV and Phone Companies
“The problem for cable, satellite and phone companies is that they expect to get credit for things they’re expected to be doing … If you want me to be a loyal customer, you have to go beyond the things you’re supposed to do.”
Quick Tip: With Strategy and Good Timing, Your Car Is Almost Free
For many cars, there’s a sweet spot that occurs after a brand-new car depreciates in value and before major service expenses are likely. During this period—between roughly two and five years of age—cars don’t depreciate all that much. The result is that, with good timing, you can buy a car, drive it for a few years, and then sell it …
Bound to Buy: The 10 Types of Consumers Who Inevitably Overspend
Are you an Illogical Rationalizer? A Fine Print Ignoramus? Or perhaps a Shortsighted Sign-Me-Upper? If your behavior fits one of the ten consumer categories below, then there’s your explanation for why you don’t have more money in the bank. If you behave like all of the consumer types below, then let’s hope you make a lot of money — and …
Super Deprive Me: Consumer Experiments With No Shopping and No Garbage
A young couple in Oregon just went an entire year nearly trash-free: At the end of 12 extremely green months, their household’s only waste that couldn’t be composted or recycled amounted to a mere 3 pounds of garbage—which is less than what the average American generates in a single day. Meanwhile, self-proclaimed fashion junkies are …
How Fat Is the Markup on Designer Sunglasses?
An Italian manufacturer called Luxottica, which makes shades for Dolce &Gabbana, Oakley, Ray-Ban, Prada, Chanel, Donna Karan, REVO, and Versace—yes, these are other pricey brands are all made by the same company—says it earns a hefty gross profit of 64¢ on each $1 in sales. And here’s another fact you’ve probably suspected but never …
Get a $250 Debit Card from Suzuki
How? By purchasing a car not made by Suzuki. Seriously.
Coming Soon: Smaller, Cheaper Pay TV Packages?
The average cable TV customer gets (and pays for) 118 channels, yet watches only 17. Consumers may soon have alternatives to this inefficient, costly, and far-from-ideal situation.
Top 10 Signs of a Troubled Economy and/or the Apocalypse
This is a gray area: When money is a problem, it can feel like the end of the world is near.
Cheapskate Wisdom … About Why Auto Dealers Shouldn’t Be Exempt from Financial Reform
“It’s like creating the F.D.A. and then denying it authority over pain relievers.”
I Know Women Love Shoes, But … $25,000 Worth of Shoes?!?
A new study reveals that the average woman owns 19 pairs of shoes at any given time, and in the course of her lifetime, she’ll buy 469 pairs of shoes and spend nearly $25,000.
$200 ‘Toning’ Sneakers Won’t Make You Skinny
The idea that a certain kind of sneaker will significantly help the wearer get in shape and lose weight is “utter nonsense,” according to a professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Another expert says, “Nothing about these shoes has any redeeming value.”