If you buy an expensive product at a discount, is it still a discount? What if you can buy the same product at pretty much the same price everywhere else without a coupon or a special link? Is it still a discount? I’m talking about the “discounted” TurboTax offered through financial institutions like Vanguard or […]
Why Others Seem to Have More Money Than You Do
Have you ever wondered why so many others seem to have more money than you do? Over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays I took some time off for a vacation in Arizona. We went to Sedona, AZ, which is famous for red rocks canyons. We saw ads for helicopter rides in tourist brochures. “That […]
Magazines At 50-70% Off: The Atlantic, The Economist, Bloomberg Businessweek, Wall Street Journal
Some great bargains on select news and business magazines and newspapers: The Atlantic, The Economist, Bloomberg Businessweek, Wall Street Journal
Don’t Save Money on Groceries With Coupons
Do I need to tell you coupons are hot? Groupon is often in the news. You hear about how many billions it’s worth, its anticipated IPO and its controversial accounting metric ACSOI (now dropped). Of the top 10 personal finance blogs compiled by Wisebread, at least 6 are in the coupon and bargain shopping category, […]
User Fee for Public Library
Due to budget problems, the local public library system is asking me to pay a $80 annual fee if I want to continue my membership. After the initial shock, I decided to pay the fee. Come to think of it, I don’t see anything wrong with library users paying a fee for using the library. […]
Irrational Sensitivity to Gas Prices
Speaking of inflation, I noticed that people have irrational sensitivity to gas prices. Warehouse club Costco stores in my area also sell gas. The price is usually a little cheaper than the price at other gas stations. I can tell by the length of the lines how much cheaper it is. If it’s five cents […]
More From Argentina: Middleman and Consumption Smoothing
For those keeping track, I’m happy to report that I’m writing this from safety in Argentina. I, together with some other foreign tourists, got out of the literal tourist trap set by the Chilean protestors by walking 6 hours, refugee style, to the Argentina border. We successfully crossed two blockades before we reached the border. […]
How To Call US Toll Free Numbers From Overseas
When you are overseas you can still call US toll-free number free of charge, only if you know how.
The Best Way to Use a Donor Advised Fund
Speaking of donating appreciated shares to charities, I read a great article by Nickel at FiveCentNickel.com about using a donor advised fund as an alternative to donating shares directly to each individual charity. Donor Advised Fund In a Nutshell A donor advised fund lets you do time-shifting. You donate and take the tax deduction now. […]
Complain About Bad Service
I wrote about paying more for good service. This time I’m facing the opposite. I’m debating if I should complain about bad service. It’s getting cold outside. Some mice or rats decided to come into my attic for shelter at night. I called a pest control company I used in the past. They provided good […]
Staples Sets an Example for Good Service
I wrote a while ago we should be ready to pay more for good service. I have an example to share today. I bought a file cabinet from the office products store Staples a few years ago. I only used it for storing random things, not files. As such, I didn’t install the rails for […]
Pay More for Quality Service
If I ask people "Would you pay more for better quality or service or do you go for a lower price?" I’d imagine most people will say they don’t just go for a lower price and they would pay more for something better. However, my observation tells me people aren’t willing to pay more for […]