Personal finance gurus Ken and Daria Dolan weigh in on what you really shouldn’t buy at warehouse clubs like BJ’s and Costco.
Word of the Day: “Unbanked”
The growing list of hard-times, recession-era words and phrases like mancession and recession porn welcomes a new member: “unbanked.” If the word applies to you, you might be paying nearly 1000% interest on short-term loans.
Don’t bank with a sports nut
After yesterday’s sad tale of the fall of Colonial Bancgroup founder and Auburn football dictator Bobby Lowder, now we have another sports/banking mess, this time from the Netherlands. From the NRC Handelsblad (translation, for once, theirs—I’m going to stick with only English-language links this time):
The Dutch central bank took
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Does Anyone Need to Buy Cooking Mags Anymore?
There are thousands and thousands of recipes on the Internet, and they’re all available for free. So just how many recipes does one person really need?
Springsteen Tickets for $15: Now That’s a ‘Reason to Believe’
A self-professed Jersey cheapskate, who prides himself on snagging free parking and scalping tickets to concerts and football games for below face value, gets floor tickets to Bruce Springsteen at Giants Stadium for $15 apiece.
Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance: Thanks, But No Thanks
There are times when you should turn down the insurance plans offered by your company.
The story behind the year’s biggest bank failure
Fortune‘s Brian O’Keefe (the man who gave the Curious Capitalist its name) has an epic account of the rise and fall of Bobby Lowder and Colonial Bancgroup. Much Auburn University gossip is dished as well. Just one almost-randomly chosen example:
For years, Lowder’s most vocal opponent on the board of trustees was a lawyer named John
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Don’t Even Think About Letting Mother Nature Dry Your Clothes
Everyone is in favor of practices that save money and are good for the environment, right? Actually, no. Turns out your neighbors may not approve.
Bashing 401(k)s on CNBC
In case you haven’t seen it already, our colleague Stephen Gandel has an excellent cover story on the problems with the 401(k). And here he is talking it up on CNBC this morning:
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Has the Recession Been a Curse or a Blessing?
The recession has been a major kick in the pants—but is that exactly what you needed? For folks who underwent big career shifts they were more or less forced to make, and who are happy about the changes, the answer is most definitely yes.
It’s a Deal: 25% Off Entire Purchase at Timberland
Use the coupon code FALLSAVE for 25% off your entire purchase of shoes, boots, and apparel at Timberland.com. The deepest discounts are available on items already being discounted in Timberland’s online outlet. The coupon code is valid only through October 12.
Ostrom and Williamson get the Riksbank
In a new peak of econogeekiness for me, I actually watched the webcast of the announcement of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel (a.k.a. the economics Nobel, or the fake Nobel, as detractors of the field put it). So I heard it announced in Swedish that Elinor Ostrom of Indiana University and Oliver …