Somewhere in every mutual fund offering is the cautionary language noting that “past performance is not an indicator of future outcomes.” It’s a simple truth and one that many investors have learned the hard way, by buying yesterday’s star performers only to learn that they they were betting on shooting stars, not great …
Shout Out: ‘Living on $18K a Year—By Choice’
Three people show how it’s done: A 25-year-old former construction manager who now collects unemployment while starting up a website; a 44-year-old woman who earns a total of $20,000 a year from two part-time jobs; and a 60-year-old part-time administrative assistant.
Men Are from Mars, Women Drive VW Beetles and Don’t Shop at Best Buy
Everybody likes getting good value for their money, but how and where you try to get bang for your buck may have a lot to do with which public restroom door you’d enter: Ladies or Gents? If men are from Mars and women are from Venus, then apparently, there’s a lot of hardcore negotiating happening on Mars, not so much on Venus. Also, it …
China’s yuan reform: back to the future
After months of debate, denial and conflict, China finally announced a new policy on its controversial currency, the yuan (also known as the renminbi, or RMB). For the past two years, the yuan has (unofficially) been pegged to the U.S. dollar, sparking criticism from politicians in Washington, high-profile economists and China’s fellow …
Soda Wars: $3.99 for a Case of Coke
Last summer, the average price for a case of soda was $6.12 in grocery stores. Beverage manufacturers preferred it that way, before soda price wars broke out, with Wal-Mart charging $4 or $5 for a case of Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and other top brands, and grocery store competitors matching prices.
Tips! 84 Fresh and Frugal Ones!
Cheap date ideas, tactics for negotiating with your landlord, ways your phone isn’t as dumb as you think, reasons life would be better if it was more like Monopoly, days of the year when people hand you stuff for free, and more.
Will Spain face a debt crisis?
This is a question everyone needs to be worried about. We can all recall the turmoil in global financial markets when Greece fell into a debt crisis. Well, that would look about as exciting as a sing-along with Barney if Spain experienced a similar meltdown. Spain is a much, much bigger economy, the world’s 9th-largest in fact, and the …
The Facebook Boycott BP Debate
Ever since the Boycott BP movement was launched in early May (actually this guy seems to have been way ahead of his time), it has had an upward battle against this confounding argument: The gas you get at a BP station is not actually from BP. So, the argument goes, when you drive past a BP station you are not actually hurting BP at …
What You Wind Up Spending to Snag Free Wi-Fi: About $5
Starbucks made customers happy with its recent announcement giving everybody free Wi-Fi. But, as many a Starbucks patron knows, it’s highly unusual to enter one of its coffee shops without spending some money.
It’s a Deal: Up to 50% Off at Eddie Bauer
During Eddie Bauer’s biannual Ultimate Sale, clothing, shoes, accessories, bags, and gear are on sale at discounts of up to 50%.
New Fed Rules: You Can’t Be Charged for Not Using Your Credit Card
Last summer, while credit card companies were jacking up rates and adding fees in anticipation of new regulations that’d make it more difficult to part customers with their money, one of the most nonsensical charges to surface was the “inactivity” fee. In other words, a fee for not using your card — for not buying stuff. New rules from …
How to Unload Your Car Lease: Q&A with a LeaseTrader.com Executive
We’ve all heard about buyer’s remorse. But how about leaser’s remorse? Some consumers who hope to get out of their car leases—or who want to take over someone else’s lease on the cheap—are turning to lease trading websites, notably LeaseTrader.com, which handled 60,000 lease transactions in 2009 and is on pace to handle 70,000 this year.