One writer—and she happens to be a woman, not just some cheap guy—argues: “To encourage more marriages, reduce materialism and further the equality of the sexes, I say let’s chuck the engagement ring.”
Everything You Need to Know About Consumers, Part II
In Part I of this consumer factoid extravaganza, we learned all sorts of weird info about spending habits, housing costs, and family expenditures. For the sequel, we’re dealing with moms, Mexicans, McDonald’s, men’s dwindling DIY skills, the earning power of maiden names, how using a cell phone can be a sign of poverty, grandparents …
Think Commodity Prices Are High Now? Just Wait
The just-released monthly inflation report showed that prices for most goods eased a bit. The exception of course is oil, and even though oil prices globally have declined in recent weeks, most Americans are paying ever more for gasoline even as inflation overall remains statistically tame.
The way we calculate inflation is fraught with …
A Surprising Jobs Recovery: American Manufacturing is Back
Post Updated: 1:30, Monday, May 16.
The jobs rebound came early at the Case I-H farm equipment factory in Grand Island, Neb. Last September, when many companies were still cutting employees, Bill Baasch, the manager at the Grand Island plant, which manufactures combines – the large vehicles that harvest grain crops – was hiring. In …
What Strauss-Kahn’s arrest means for the IMF
The arrest in New York of International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn on sexual-assault charges (to which he is expected to plead not guilty) will probably end his career at the Washington-based organization. But what will it mean for the global economy and the IMF’s future?
The biggest short-term impact of …
Will Consumers Stay High on the “Bin Laden Bounce”?
The mass cheering over Osama Bin Laden’s death was, well, kind of weird. But even weirder (for Wall Street watchers that is) was that the stock market didn’t bounce on the news, especially since, as noted earlier on this blog, “Bin Laden has been a major contributor to the booming federal deficit, much more so than the federal bank …
Quick Money Tip: Make Your Kids Pay the Bills
They don’t have to pay with their own money (though that’d be nice, wouldn’t it?). But one expert heartily endorses sitting down as a family to physically pay the bills—with kids doing the math, stuffing envelopes, balancing the checkbook, and all.
83 Money Tips: Get Half Off All Your Purchases, Get Out of Speeding Tickets, and More
This week’s tip roundup also includes lessons learned from taking on DIY projects, from observing the business model of discount supermarkets, and from not shopping for 127 days in a row.
Find the Meaning of Life … At a Flea Market?
“Flea markets proliferate a volume of goods needing to be sold and people who are hungry — emotionally and aesthetically — to sort out the meaning of life … For most people who go on these ritualized scavenger hunts looking for something that they may not know exists, it is a kind of pilgrims’ process through the detritus of the past.”
Foreclosures: Are Bank Regulators Messing Up the Housing Recovery?
Foreclosures are down. Time to celebrate? Not really. Realtytrac, which monitors foreclosures, says the number of people losing their homes is dropping not because people are having fewer financial problems but because banks are taking longer to process foreclosures. And that’s not because they are modifying loans and helping people stay …
It’s a Deal: Free Sweet Potato Fries Today at Chick-fil-A
Here’s yet another quasi-holiday: Friday, May 13, is Free Sweet Potato FryDay, and Chick-fil-A locations are giving away its newest menu item—sweet potato waffle fries—from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Celebrate the Quasi-Holidays: Give Something Away, Bike to Work
‘Tis the season to bring your clutter to the curb and offer it to the masses for free. It’s also the time of year to dust off your two-wheeler, pump up the tires, oil the chain, and—if it’s even in the realm of possibility—pedal your bicycle to work.