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. [...]
A Series of Unfortunate Events: Do You Buffer Your Checking Account?
I check all of my bank accounts almost obsessively during the week like a new mother listens for her baby’s breath throughout the night—not because I expect there to be any issues, but simply because it’s a feeling of security. However this week I decided to check it on Saturday because I had an eerie [...]
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 [...]
When Being Cheap Upfront Costs Big Bucks in the End
I have managed to do it again—try to save a little bit of money and end up paying astronomically more in the end. Again is the key word here, as the first time this occurred was in the summer of 2009. Paul and I were going to a movie at the Edward Regal Cinema [...]
6 Sneaky Ways Grocery Stores and Retailers Get You to Spend More Money
Author’s Note: This is the first article of a two part series this week on teaching you the skills to become a better shopper, for non-couponers and couponers alike. Tune back in on Wednesday for the second part of this series. It’s happened to us all: we go to a store, or an online store, [...]
5 Fees I Hate to Pay
As companies, states, and local governments are scrambling to make up for shortfalls in profits from sales taxes (because people are not spending themselves into the red as much anymore—hurrah!), new fees are popping out of the woodworks. No one likes to pay fees, but there are some that have become mainstream that I find [...]
How I Handle Collection Agencies and How You Can Avoid them in the Future
I am sharing this experience with you to hopefully help you protect yourself from future, random calls from collection agents, like I received last week. Read through to the bottom for tips on how to avoid future headaches. Growing up, both sets of my parents declared bankruptcy within a few years of one another. This [...]
The High Cost of Fear and Responsibility: How to Cut Down on Insurance Costs
While fine-tuning our budget the other day—an activity I admittedly love to do—I had a small realization. I base our budget off of our net pay, or the amount that Paul and I take home after all deductions have been made, which is a logical way to do it. But what about looking into our [...]
Stop the Bleeding—How to Mitigate Months When your Spending is Out of Control
It begins with one large bill. Then something happens, exacerbating the fact that you just spent a lot of money on the first large bill. Perhaps your car breaks down, or your appliance breaks down, or you have a large medical expense. You spend the rest of the month a little clammy around the wrists, [...]
I have Joined the Yakezie Challenge!
