Who knew asking people to pay whatever they wanted for a sandwich or a cup or soup would prove to be a successful business model? Panera Bread’s nonprofit arm generated some buzz in 2010 when it announced an unusual concept: …
spending
The Secret to Memorable Vacations: Keep ’Em Short and End ’Em Sweet
In an earlier post we described research showing that people get more long-lasting satisfaction from money spent on experiences than money spent on material goods. If you read that post and took it to heart — humor us — an …
Why (Bill) Size Really Does Matter
In some Big Apple circles there’s a concept referred to as “The New York City Street Tax.” This isn’t anything official. Rather, the idea is that the simple act of walking through the city—walking through any bustling city, …
10 New Year’s Resolutions For Your Budget
So you’re going to lose 15 pounds, organize your closets and stop biting your fingernails. Great — now how are you going to improve your personal finances in 2012? Having a budget for your personal or household expenses is a great place to start, but New Year’s resolutions are about improving on the good habits you’ve already …
Season of Giving: More Secret Santas Pay Off Strangers’ Layaway Accounts
Shoppers aren’t being bashful about throwing money around this holiday season: Americans spent $52 billion at stores over Black Friday weekend alone. While the holidays are long known for charity, one of the newest traditions …
Going Shopping? Beware of Shopping Momentum
The Christmas shopping season is upon us, and if you decide to indulge in the shopping frenzy, be careful. Not just of your health, but of your wallet. Buying at bargain prices is a worthy thing, but once you start shopping it …
We Buy Fun Stuff With Credit, Dull Stuff With Cash
It’s well-documented that people cut loose and spend more when they’re paying with a credit card rather than cash. Scientists refer to this as a “decoupling of purchase from the pain of payment” — essentially, we don’t perceive credit cards as “real money.” But a new study takes this observation a step further by postulating that we …
8 Money Habits That Separate Doers From Dreamers
When it comes to securing financial security, are you a doer or a dreamer? By definition, financial doers have a better shot at reaching their retirement goals. No real surprise, they also have a much better shot at raising …
Smart Cookies: Girl Scouts Learn Financial Literacy
Think the Girl Scouts are all about making s’mores and campground sit-upons? Think again. A new overhaul of the organization’s merit badge program includes learning some decidedly 21st-century survival skills: budgeting, …
Washington, D.C., America’s Shopping Capital?
TIME Moneyland has discovered why nothing seems to get done in our nation’s capital these days: Everyone’s too busy buying shoes.
Why You’re Probably Financially Better Off Than You Feel
There’s no question that for many (if not most) Americans, today’s economy is challenging for numerous reasons we need not list. For a lot of people, though, their sense of economic vulnerability is greater than their actual …
Why We Can’t Spend Our Way Back To Normal
Every month, one of the most anxiously anticipated pieces of economic information is the Commerce Department’s spending data. Are people in the malls? How deep are discounts? Spending is cheered; frugality causes concern. In the …