Due to an odd loophole in the so-called death tax, the highest tax rate assessed to a deceased person’s estate goes from 45% this year to 0% next year, then up to 55% in 2011. The takeaway is: If you’re super rich and want to pass along that wealth to your kids and not the government, do your best to kick the bucket in 2010.
food
Happier Hours: At Restaurants, Cheaper Drinks and More Hours in Happy Hour
To attract customers at a time when many are inclined to eat at home, restaurants are offering big happy hour discounts (and adding more happy hours period), slashing the prices of margaritas and wine, and introducing new drinks priced especially for the recession—like Benihana’s Scorpion punch, a mix of vodka, sake, and Southern …
Starbucks Instant Coffee: Cheaper Alternative to Starbucks Store-Brewed Coffee
Starbucks is introducing a new instant coffee called Via. It’ll cost a bit less than $1 per cup, and the company CEO, when comparing the new brew to the store product, says, “Most people will not be able to tell the difference.”
It’s a Deal: Kids Eat Free at Chevy’s on Tuesdays
At nearly every Chevy’s restaurant location, you’ll get one free kids’ meal with the purchase of each adult entrée all day on Tuesdays. More details here.
It’s a Deal: Free Chocolate at Godiva
Join the Godiva Chocolate Rewards club and you’ll receive e-mails with special discounts and promotions, along with a free piece of chocolate once a month. More details here.
Ten Odd Economic Indicators: Hot Waitresses, Men’s Underwear, Blacked-Out Football Games, and More
It’s hard for the lay person to wrap one’s brain around the rise or fall of GDP, new residential sales, money supply, and other traditional economic indicators. What do those numbers really mean? Well, here are some other indicators that do as advertised, truly indicating in simple terms how people are living, what they’re doing to keep …
Cheapskate Wisdom from … Benjamin Franklin
“Beware of little expenses. A small leak can sink a great ship.”
Read on for ten more wise quotes from B.F.
Q&A with “In Cheap We Trust” Author Lauren Weber
Lauren Weber’s father is cheap. Really cheap. He kept the thermostat at 50 degrees during the winter. When driving, he used hand signals to indicate he was turning to avoid burning out the headlight bulbs. He washed dishes in cold water to keep the hot water bill down. As a child, Lauren hated how cheap her father was. But she grew up …
Kraft Mag & Outrage
Food & Family, a magazine put out by Kraft Foods that features Kraft products and is mailed to 10 million Kraft Food consumers, used to sent out for free. Not anymore. Subscribers are now being asked to fork over $14 a year for what many folks consider little more than a marketing tool to sell Kraft food.
Fast Food Burgers Go Big: 1/3 Pounders, 900 Calories, $4 and Up
Where’s the beef? If you have to ask, you haven’t been to a fast food establishment recently.
A List of Money-Saving Lists: 422 Ways to Save in Total
When it comes to tips for saving, the more the better, right? Here’s a list of lists that’ll help you save money around the house, out at malls or restaurants, in Starbucks, at the grocery store—just about anywhere.
Will Adding a Soda Tax Wind Up Saving Taxpayers Some Money?
Nobody likes taxes, least of all me. But what the much-discussed idea of taxing sugary soft drinks boils down to is this: Does it make more sense to pay up when you buy Dr. Pepper, or when we all pay the doctors’ bills and rising health insurance premiums related to guzzling way too much Dr. Pepper?