Jeff Yeager, Wise Bread blogger and author, has just published a new book titled The Cheapskate Next Door, where he interviews over 300 self-described cheapskates to find out what makes them tick. In an interview over at Daily Finance, he says that for most of his subjects, the choice to live frugal lifestyles wasn’t primarily about money. [More]
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Like Being Single? That'll Be $388,059, Please
By 7.21.10
According to a British price comparison website, the cost of being single from 22-75 (in the UK) is £254,082 or $388,059. The extra expense comes from having to carry mortgage, holiday costs, insurance premiums and utility bills alone — do they not have roommates in the UK? [More]
Cities Are So Broke They're Outsourcing The Police
By 7.19.10
The new trend in government cost-cutting involves disbanding the police department, says the WSJ. The paper has an article about Maywood, a tiny city southeast of Los Angeles. The city lost its insurance after its carrier decided to cancel its policy “because of the $21 million in legal expenses and judgments against the city stemming from the conduct of its police department.” This means that Maywood can’t employ anyone. [More]
United Overloads Plane, Kicks Off Passengers Who Paid The Least For Their Tickets
By 7.19.10
Last week, a United Airlines flight from Burlington to Washington, D.C. was deemed too heavy to fly, so the company had to decide who to boot off. In a moment of what was almost certainly accidental honesty, they targeted the 20 least profitable customers. We know this was their criteria because they announced it to the rest of the passengers, so those who remained were able to rest easy knowing that all the cheapskates, budget travelers and poor people were gone. [More]
Mint Makes Saving More Fun With New "Goals" Dashboard
By 6.30.10
Mint was the cool kid on the financial website block until it cut its hair and went corporate, but the Intuit-owned service can still roll out some nifty features now and then. The latest is a “goals” dashboard, which takes advantage of our natural tendency to try harder if there’s some way to see immediate feedback. Under your account there’s now a goals tab, where you can activate any of the default choices (“get out of debt,” “take a trip,” “buy a home”) or create your own (“laser hair removal,” “pvc bodysuit”). Then you can link your accounts to that goal, and have a quick visual metric you can use to stay focused. [More]
Billshrink: iPhone 4 Is Best Value Among Latest Smartphones, If You Watch Data Usage
By 6.23.10
BillShrink compared the new iPhone 4 to the Droid Incredible, the Evo 4G, and the Nexus One to see which one is the cheapest in total cost of ownership, and the results were somewhat surprising given the iPhone’s reputation as a money gobbler. If you opt for the cheapest data plan AT&T offers, the TCO for the iPhone 4 is the only one of the four devices that comes in under the $2,000 mark. But beware! That “cheapest data plan” conditional is a pretty tricky one. [More]
Want A Good, Cheap Chardonnay This Summer? Try 7-Eleven
By 6.14.10
No, seriously. According to taste tests performed by wine experts at Consumer Reports, Yosemite Road chardonnay–which is sold by 7-Eleven for around $5 a bottle–is among the top four “very good” recommendations by the magazine in its July issue. [More]
In The Military? Museum Admission Is Free This Summer
By 5.25.10
Starting Memorial Day, May 31, and lasting until Labor Day, September 6, more than 600 museums around the country are waiving admission fees for active members of the military and members of their immediate family. The Blue Star Museum program is a joint effort that’s being launched by the National Endowment for the Arts and a nonprofit group called Blue Star Families. The NEA has a map showing which museums are participating around the country. [More]
Fighting About Money Frequently Increases Risk Of Divorce
By 5.25.10
You already know that it’s not healthy to fight about money all the time, but it might be a bigger risk factor for divorce than you think. A 2009 University of Virginia study found that couples who argue about finances every a week are 30% more likely to divorce than those who argue less frequently. In addition, a couple that marries with no assets are 70% more likely to divorce in three years than a couple bringing $10k in assets into the union. [More]
Are Pay-Per-View Hotel Movies Pointless In 2010?
By 5.12.10
LodgeNet provides pay-per-view movie services to hotels, and the company’s latest financial filing shows nearly a 10% drop in revenue in the first quarter of 2010 compared to the same period a year ago. (And that’s after a 19% drop in revenue from 2008 to 2009.) Travelers seem to be wising up to the high prices of hotel pay-per-view and are resorting to other ways to stay entertained. Now if only our laptops and smartphones could contain a mini-bar compartment. [More]
Things You Don't Need To Buy For A New Baby
By 5.5.10
Cameron Huddleston, an editor at Kiplinger and a mom, has some advice on how to make the most of your new baby budget. The money you save on things like play mats, changing tables, and fancy first-year clothes can be used to pay for less pleasant but more important safety-net things, like life and disability insurance, health insurance, and a will. [More]
Save Money On Haircuts
By 4.26.10
Personally I can’t imagine a haircut costing much money, so MainStreet’s list of 18 ways to get a cheap haircut seems like frugal overkill to me. But then again I’m a guy and I’m going bald, so I just use clippers to avoid the sadness of listening to scissors snip away at nothing, and consequently I don’t really know much about the world of hair salons. Apparently a good haircut for a woman can cost a lot of money, unless you know how to find a bargain. [More]
How Far Can You Get On $10?
By 4.19.10
Earlier this month, CNN asked readers to see how far they could stretch $10. A lot of people chose unusual purchases or silly things, but there were some good ideas for tightwads too. [More]
Shopper Successfully Haggles Macy's Clerk
By 4.14.10
You never know when an opportunity to haggle might present itself when you’re out shopping, as our reader Marty demonstrates. He was able to get a 10% discount on a blazer at Macy’s just by asking the clerk at the register. [More]
Don't Buy An iPhone Right Now
By 4.13.10
If all this iPad iPad iPad Apple Apple Apple gyrating has got you hot and bothered for an iPhone, take a deep breath and calm down. Now is probably the worst time to take the plunge, notes The Unofficial Apple Weblog. Historically, mid-summer is when Apple ugprades the hardware, so if you wait a couple of months you might be able to get a faster or more feature-rich iPhone for the same cash you’d be shelling out today. [More]
Asphalt Has Become So Expensive That Some States Are Going Back To Gravel
By 3.31.10
Kiplinger says that in the near future, if you’re driving down a rural or less-traveled road, you might find yourself driving on gravel. Road asphalt has doubled in price over the past three years and shows no signs of coming back down, so some states–Michigan, Minnesota, Indiana, Vermont, and Pennsylvania to begin with–are looking for ways to cut corners. Gravel costs $20 a ton compared to asphalt’s current $400/ton price. [More]
31 Steps To Unlocking Cash In Your Life
By 3.26.10
With just a few hours work, you could unlock hundreds of dollars. It’s called a financial tuneup, and if you set aside some time to tackle some of those nagging to-dos, and wrassle with some customer service departments, you could end up with serious coin in your pocket. To get you started, NYT Your Money’s Ron Lieber has put together a killer interactive 31-point interactive checklist. He shows you how to save money, and how much money you can save. [More]
How To Find Affordable Therapy
By 3.24.10
I know of two great ways to deal with issues in one’s life: drinking heavily, or seeing a therapist. I’ve tried both, and I have to say that the therapy route is more efficient, because if done correctly it can help you figure out why you do what you do, so that you can properly enjoy your liquor without all the tears.
The problem is that therapy sounds expensive, but there are actually affordable options out there if you know where to look. Here are some tips.
