Americans throw away a quarter of our food uneaten, which translates into serious wasted cash over time. The Guardian compiled an excellent list of ways to shop smarter so you end up buying what you need, and eating what you buy.
how-to
How To Get A Passport Fast
By 7.1.08
What do you do if you need a passport in less than three weeks? Don’t shell out for one of those passport expediters, call your Member of Congress. They have these things called constituent liaisons, whose whole reason for existence is prodding other executive agencies. This is the number one way to get a passport quickly. Call the district office for your Congress Critter, which is the number that doesn’t start with 202. A list of Members of Congress can be found here. Another thing to try is paying the extra $60 at the USPS for expedited passport service. The best thing to do is, of course, apply early, but if for some reason that hasn’t happened, getting a hold of a constituent liaison is the way to go.
Succeed Through Self-Undermining!
By 7.1.08
Our post on freezing your credit cards in a block of ice got me thinking. Anything that slows, stops, or impedes making transactions can be used as a technique for limiting your spending. Whatever it may be, cutting up your credit cards, locking up most of your money in an account it takes 3 days to transfer from, giving yourself an allowance, it will be a variation on a single principle: It’s easier to put a hard limit on the future then to make the right decision in the impulsive moment. Installing some kind of an automatic hiccup can help break you out of your desire-driven action and give you the breathing room to step back and make the right choice. So if you have trouble with overspending (or overeating or any kind of bad habit) and your sheer willpower is sometimes lacking, aka, you’re human, try brainstorming ways you can trip yourself up. The world is full of obstacles, it shouldn’t be too hard to find one.
Just Say 'Yes' To Telemarketers
By 6.30.08
Want to drive a telemarketer crazy and amuse yourself at the same time? Here’s an example of how to do it.
Ask For A Raise At The Right Time
By 6.27.08
Personal finance blog Free Money Finance suggests that employees can improve their incomes by asking for a raise, but you have to make sure to time it right.
How To Cancel An Order You've Placed On Walmart.com
By 6.27.08
As we noted in this earlier post, it’s technically not possible to cancel an order after you’ve placed it on Wal-Mart’s website. A helpful reader says there are a couple of ways around this, although neither option will immediately free up any hold on your funds.
The Envelope System: The Spreadsheet-Free Way To Manage Your Cash
By 6.10.08
Want to get some kind of money plan in place but spreadsheets cause hives to burst all over your face? Then you might like The Envelope System, and No Credit Needed’s video explaining how it works. Basically, you cash your entire paycheck each pay period and then put every dollar in a series of envelopes in different categories, with set limits for each category. Once you’ve spent the envelope for that category, no more spending in that category. Change goes into a piggy bank. Excess left over at the end of the pay period goes into savings or to paying off more debt. As a very “analog” “lo-fi” “old-school” method of budgeting, the envelope system is hard to beat.
How To Protect Your AC
By 6.10.08
There’s nothing like a bunch of schmutz to make your air conditioner run less efficiently, and cost you more in electricity, repairs, and requiring a new one faster. Here’s a few reminder tips from Consumer Reports about proper care and maintenance of your AC to keep it “cool runnings.”
How To Properly Work Your Ceiling Fan. Yeah, You Read That Right
By 6.8.08
Ceiling fans aren’t just on/off affairs, and it’s possible you could be using yours incorrectly. According to Consumer Reports, people get tripped up by the ability to reverse the direction of the blades…
Professional Complaint Letter Writer Shares His Secrets
By 6.3.08
“Praise with faint damn” is the underlying secret to how professional complaint letter writer Bruce Silverman is able to be so successful in getting companies to give him free stuff. First class upgrades, Room upgrades with views of frolicking whales, Checks for hundreds of dollars… all these and more are the fruits of Bruce’s calculated typewriter clacking. Now Bruce has come out with a small book with a big promise: to teach you How To Complaint For Fun And Profit. Here’s a chapter from it, exclusively on The Consumerist, detailing how he was able to turn a disappointing experience at the Ritz-Carlton in Hawaii into a long-term stream of room upgrades, comped meals, and decidedly above and beyond customer service… [More]
Manage Your Money While Traveling
By 6.1.08
Budgeting a key part of travel, but your usual budgeting tricks lose their potency when you leave home. Get Rich Slowly compiled a handy list of budgeting tips to keep you from overspending on your next vacation.
Search The Consumerist Directory Of Company Email Addresses And Phone Numbers
By 5.30.08
Are you trying to escalate a complaint within a company and want to see if we’ve posted any inside email addresses or phone numbers? Try replacing “companynamegoeshere” in the following URLs with the company you’re looking for. If the company name has multiple words, remember to separate them with hyphens, i.e. washington-mutual
Insurance Insider Tells How To Appeal Coverage Denial
By 5.22.08
We’ve heard plenty of horror stories about people’s coverage being denied for situations where they’re darn sure that they were covered, and now, an insurance industry insider has come forward with some tips on how best to make an appeal.
Save When Renting Cars
By 5.21.08
ABC has some good tips on how to save when renting cars. For instance:
5 Common Airline Ticket Errors And How To Avoid Them
By 5.20.08
Despite security headaches and rising fuel costs, air travel is still a popular way to get to your destination. But because of heightened security, a simple error on your ticket can result in extra fees or even leave you grounded. To help you avoid some common ticket-buying pitfalls, CNN Travel has complied 5 common ticketing errors and how tells us how to avoid them. Check them out, inside…
How To Say No To Charities
By 5.19.08
Trent at The Simple Dollar blog has a post about how to say no, especially to charitable requests. One of his readers describes the problem:
