Here’s the real reason for an airline to switch to credit-card-only sales on board its flights: people spend more. Southwest Airlines’ customer service veep, Daryl Krause, told the Dallas Morning News that “since Southwest began accept credit cards (and no longer taking cash) on Sept. 9, its drink sales are up about 8 percent.” Since in general “the goal was one more drink sale per flight,” we wonder whether that wasn’t the real reason for going cashless all along.
spending
Toy With A Budget More Depressing Than Your Own… The Federal Government's!
By 9.30.08
Think you’d do a better job at balancing the budget than Presidential Candidate X or Presidential Candidate Y? Now you can! American Public Media has put together the world’s most depressing game. You are asked to meet certain goals (you decide what they are, so you can choose to be either candidate, or a treehugger, or a socialist, or a libertarian, or a pr person for Walmart, whatever it is that you actually are) by playing different budget-affecting cards (Example: You can end “No Child Left Behind” and save $110 B.)
Citi Credit Card Cautions You Against Spending
By 9.30.08
Citi’s been burned enough by its cardholders’ profligate spending, apparently. Check out the message on this activation sticker on a new card. We like the inclusion of a sort of Yin-yang background, as if to remind us that debt and repayment are equal elements of the consumer credit world. A balance must be maintained! Just, you know, not so high a balance that you can’t make your monthly payments.(Thanks to Jerry!)
Guess What Kids? You Ain't Getting $@%* For Christmas
By 9.17.08
A new Reuters polls says that shoppers will be cutting back on gift-buying this holiday season due to, you know, being broke. The poll found that there are six times as many shoppers planning to cut back than there are consumers who are planning to spend more than last year. The pollster in charge called these results “staggeringly bad.”
Watch Out For These 5 Overdraft Traps
By 8.20.08
Banks need your money. They’re not doing too well on their own, and you’re not screwing up enough to generate the fees they need to make their shareholders happy. That’s why they’ve set up sneaky ways to maximize your every mistake—or in some cases, ways to change the rules so that you make new mistakes where you didn’t before—in order to penalize you. Here are five things SmartMoney says to watch out for.
Are We Nearing The End Of Credit Card Consumerism?
By 8.12.08
Is it possible? Can this country’s insatiable appetite for consumer goods be slowing down? No! Surely not! US News & World Report’s Alpha Consumer, Kimberly Palmer took a look at consumer demand and its relationship to cheap credit.
3 Ways To Spend Less While Shopping
By 7.19.08
Shopping is a war and you are outgunned. Stores attack your desire for self-restraint with armies of psychologists, marketers, and “brand gurus.” Defend yourself from overspending with three easy and effective tips from Alpha Consumer…
Hey, We've Got The Lowest Consumer Confidence Since The First Bush Administration!
By 6.24.08
Consumers are hurting these days and they haven’t hurt this bad since Papa Bush was in office way back in 1992.
Five Sites That Will Help You Recession-Proof Your Life
By 6.16.08
Although we are not technically in a recession, it’s starting to feel like one. As gas prices and unemployment continue to rise, we’ve rounded up a collection of useful advice for the current period of economic austerity.
By 6.12.08
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US News & World Report’s Alpha Consumer Blog offers a quiz to help you determine the answer to the following ever-puzzling question: Can you afford to have a baby? [Alpha Consumer]
Cable: The Worst Deal Of The Decade
By 5.24.08
The price of everything in the telecom world has fallen over the past decade, except for cable. Cable is now 77% more expensive than it was ten years ago, an increase that dwarfs the rate of inflation and makes telecom executives salivate. The Times looks with pity on all of us who splay our wallets wide for the industry, and asks if there’s any salvation other than à la carte pricing.
Are You A Sucker For Using Your Credit Card?
By 5.18.08
Nationally syndicated personal finance columnist Michelle Singletary thinks you’re a sucker for using your credit cards, even if you pay off your bills in full each month.
Five Easy-To-Follow Principles To Safeguard Your Financial Future
By 5.18.08
Ron Lieber kicks off his inaugural Your Money column by presenting five excellent principles to help guide your financial decisions.
12 Ways To Save Money Without Scrimping
By 5.4.08
Some economists think we’re starting to pull out of our not-recession. For those of us who believe them and want to save without putting too firm a dent in our wallets, consider these twelve tips endorsed by the Wall Street Journal.
Money Can Apparently Buy Happiness
By 4.5.08
Feeling down? Money might help, according to Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers. The Wharton economists released a paper arguing that countries with higher gross domestic products have happier citizens. The study shatters the conventional wisdom known as the Easterlin Paradox, which holds that GDP and happiness are largely unrelated.
At What Point Is A Recession Really Just A Depression?
By 4.1.08
Vigeland: What are the traditional definitions of a recession first and also a depression? How are they different?
Citigroup Developing Citi-Branded Phone That Can Make Contactless Payments
By 3.28.08
Do you wish you had a way to spend your money more easily, without all that opening-the-wallet or punching-the-pin-number manual labor? The trade publication Cards & Payments (registration required) says that it’s received a copy of a report filed with the FCC that indicates Citigroup is developing a Near Field Communication, or NFC, mobile phone that would allow its customers to make contactless payments at participating retailers.
By 3.19.08
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The Great Wireless Auction raised $19 billion dollars for the U.S. Government. According to Wired, they’re going to use it to buy converter boxes for people who don’t have digital tvs.
