Mark your calendars and put away your wallets: Giveaway days at Denny’s, Auntie Anne’s Pretzels, IHOP, and Ben & Jerry’s are coming soon. For all of these special promotions, no coupons or purchases are necessary. Just stroll into the store or restaurant and ask for your freebie.
food
Avoiding “America’s Biggest Rip-offs”
CNNMoney put together a list of “America’s Biggest Rip-offs,” which include things like text messages (marked up 6500% with some cell plans), college textbooks (which cost the average student $900 a year), and popcorn at the movies (no surprise here, they charge nine times what it costs to make it). But for every rip-off, there’s usually …
Drink Like a College Student: Bottom-Shelf Booze on the Rise
Sign of the times: Liquor sales rose moderately in 2009, with the biggest growth among cheap brands like Popov vodka.
It’s a Deal: Flat $5 Shipping on all Wine Orders
Today only (Wed., February 3) at Wine.com, enter the coupon code SWEETHEART and shipping costs a flat $5 for your entire purchase.
Why You Buy What You Buy and Do What You Do: Because It’s Easy
“Cognitive fluency,” in psychologist phraseology, is the human tendency to prefer things that are familiar and easy to understand. This tendency plays into just about every decision you make—what you deem beautiful, what political messages resonate, what products earn your loyalty (and dollars), and so on. It’s even been shown that the …
Bottled Water Taste Test Challenge
If recent consumer spending is any indication, the best bottled water is … cheap bottled water.
A Week of Haggling Saves $730
As one writer recently found out firsthand, once you succeed in bargaining and realize how easy it is and how much you can save, it’s hard to go back to paying retail.
Fast Food: A 13-Times-Per-Month Habit
And that’s after numbers dropped off due to the recession. In 2006, 18- to 34-year-old Americans—a group known as “super fans” who have accounted for half of all visits to some fast food franchises—ate burgers, fries, nuggets, and other drive-thru favorites almost 19 times a month.
Credit Card Lies, Myths, and Misunderstandings
What you think you know about credit cards and debt may not be true.
It’s a Deal: Free Bagel & Shmear at Einstein Bros. Bagels
Between February 1 and February 7, you can get a free bagel with a shmear at Einstein Bros. Bagels. A coupon is required, which you can print here.
Saving Money: It’s All in Your Head
Silly games can equal serious savings. Here are a handful of psychological money tricks that work.
Thumbs Up? Thumbs Down? An Unscientific, Much-Welcomed Approach to Wine Ratings
When it comes to wine, whose opinions do you trust: A panel of professional tasters who frequently disagree amongst themselves, or some amateurs who like wine and drink it for the same reasons you do?