We Are Not Going to Help Them Make Vegetable Soup out of a Stone and Water
Read the original Timeshare Story, as well as Timeshare Part 1 posted earlier this week. Talking with the agent from Casablanca Express was a little like the folk story of Stone Soup. Here’s the synopsis: a hungry foreigner comes upon a village with only a pot and no one will share their food with him. [...]
Deal or No Deal or Which Deal?: Our Timeshare Update
Please read all the way through and leave your votes in the comment section below. Our decision and the results will be revealed in Wednesday’s article. ~Amanda Do you ever get that feeling that you don’t quite know if you’ve been snowballed or not…but you suspect that you have? Let me pose the scenario to [...]
Scan Artist
“Ma’am, it won’t take this coupon.” After scanning the coupon for the third time and hearing an annoying beep, the cashier presses the total button on the cash register and hands me back my coupon with a sorry-can’t-help-you smile dripping off of his face. I hold my hand out towards his, pushing the [...]
RecycleBank: The Creation of a Black Market for Trash
Commodity prices, such as gold and steel, are on the rise. Unfortunately I do not own any of these commodities. What other commodity value is on the rise that I do own? My trash. Well, not trash exactly. But recyclable trash. It’s like Houston opened up a scrap metal shop with roadside service. I [...]
Negative Externalities of Frugality
“…frugal shares a Latin root with frug (meaning virtue), frux (meaning fruit or value) and frui (meaning to enjoy or have the use of)…Frugality is enjoying the virtue of getting good value for every minute of your life energy and from everything you have the use of.” – Your Money or Your Life. There is [...]
What Kind of Information is Your Credit Card Collecting on You?
Paul hates mail. He gripes about the inefficiency of the postal system, the junk mail seeping into our home, and even the physical opening of the envelopes themselves. But I love mail! How could I not love something that shows up on my doorstep full of wonderful deals and cheap internet finds? In fact just [...]
How to Get Through to a Live Person in Customer Service
It seems like almost once a week I have to call customer service to resolve some sort of technicality or ask a question to get important information. I’ve logged many hours on the phone over the last few years disputing bills, starting and shutting down service, getting an online coupon code to work, upgrading to [...]
That Most Overpriced of Foods: The Hot Dog
With July 4th quickly approaching, I thought it would be fun to write an article about a food pivotal to any picnic, party, or barbecue: the hot dog. It’s a simple, great-tasting finger food enjoyed by kids and adults alike, and relatively cheap. What could be more American than the hot dog? I know: taking [...]
Reading the Fine Print—My James Coney Island Experience
Oftentimes coupons for free products do not actually result in a free product (of course that does not mean you can’t score an abundance of free products), a sad fact I experienced just recently. Last Friday I was riding high. Even though I normally do not work on Fridays (I work 4 ten-hour days, Monday [...]
The Cost of Making Your House a Home: Average Spent in Your First Year of Home Ownership
According to the National Association of Home Builders, the average annual spending on various items (decoration, appliances, painting, repairs, etc.) as of 2007 for single-family detached homes built before 2004 is $8,927. For people who purchase newer homes (built after 2004), the average annual spending is even more in the first year: $12,332. Doesn’t that [...]
I have Joined the Yakezie Challenge!
