When last I posted about choosing where you live I promised some methodologies. Left brain/right brain? Subjective/objective? Let’s not go there for now. Starting from the purely rational or practical approach, my recommendation is to do a simple self assessment of what is important to you (and any significant others involved–spouse, family, intimate friend, etc.). Are recreational [...]
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Remember unit-pricing (have you even heard of unit-pricing)? It’s something you will find on the little labels on supermarket shelves that tell you not what the the total price of an item is but what the price is per some unit of measure. It might be by weight (ounces, pounds, etc), by volume or by [...]
Do you carry a balance on one or more credit cards? Big mistake. The highest interest rate for borrowing money is on revolving credit. Way higher than mortgage loans, student loans or even used car loans. Let’s say you carry an average daily balance of $3,000 a month on a credit card. At the current [...]
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An odd sort of faulty economic impact analysis keeps leaving the lips of TV and radio talking heads. I suppose it is part and parcel of the often observed herd behavior of mainstream media’s first line reporters. High gasoline prices are keeping people home. Vacations will be shortened or limited to local travel. In the end, [...]
Continue reading about Gas Prices–The Real Harm Is NOT Vacations
Is there anything sold in Walmart, other than produce and many grocery items, that is NOT made in China? How many low cost electonic accessories sold in BestBuy, Circuit City, Radio Shack are NOT made in China. How many toys sold in the various toy stores, along with Walmart? Actually, this is not as xenophobic [...]
Steven Pearlstein wrote an article this week that encapsulates way better than I can summarize, the greed of CEOs versus the hired help. In this case, it’s airline executives contrasted with the skycaps who lost most of the tips they receive for curbside check-in when American Airlines imposed a $2 per bag fee that the [...]
Continue reading about Moral Outrage Feels Good But Changes Nothing
Perhaps I should have noted it then, but in posting my comment on the passing of Martin Luther King and mentioning my mother’s teaching me about the evils of racism, I missed the fact that she died exactly five years before King. As I came to visit her in the hospital that day in 1963, [...]
Whoa, now there’s a term you don’t see much anymore. It refers to a manufacturer or business concentrating production of parts, supplies, etc., into wholly owned subsidiaries rather than non-owned suppliers. Not to bite the hand that might someday feed me, but Amazon (like many other corporations) is jumping now while the laissez faire antitrust [...]
Contemplating a divorce? Too bad; it happens, even if you have tried to make the marriage work. But a word of caution based on my career in consumer protection and legal training: If you own property together, make sure the divorce decree properly handles the division of real estate.
Continue reading about The Perils of Incomplete Divorce Settlements
We had an enjoyable time at Disneyworld this February, save for one sour taste their customer service left in our mouths–and in our pocket book. Disney puts on a great show, treats patrons graciously at all their attractions, but when it comes to money–there is no compromise, no negotiation, no capitulation to the old credo [...]
Continue reading about Disneyworld is Always Right; the Customer is Wrong