Pimp Your Finances

If you really want to see how people are affected by the economy -  look at what they’re buying. Don’t listen to what the media says. After all, they missed the lead up to the crash, so I’m naturally skeptic when it comes to their coverage of the fallout.
Time Magazine recently got it right it right though, [...]

I just ended my gym membership, but not without some pain.
To give you the back story, I signed up for a two year gym contract in January 2007, and recently received a letter in the mail saying that my membership was about to expire.  It also had some information about how to renew it, including payment [...]

Some people think that that consumers are finally changing the way they spend money.  Last October, CNN reported that the savings rate increased to 3% after four consecutive years below 1%.  In December, CNN also reported that household debt dropped for the first time ever.
Lee Scott, CEO of Wal-Mart – one of the few retailers [...]

Lauren Sherman at Forbes came up with a list of 10 Things We’re Still Buying even though consumer spending is at an all time low.  Here’s my summary of her list.
 

Smart phones – new cell phones can easily become a source of entertainment, and for some it’s a business requirement
Video games and consoles – I [...]

I recently found some good money tips from a surprising source – Cracked.com.  For those not familiar with Cracked, it’s an off-color humor site, normally full of scathing sarcasm, funny lists, and borderline inappropriateness.
One of their recent lists – “D**k-onomics – How 5 Everyday Businesses Trick You” had some great insights.  Since the site isn’t [...]

I stumbled across an interesting concept recently.  It’s “Buy Nothing Day“, taking place on Friday, November 28th.  The idea is that for all 24 hours of Black Friday, you will not spend any money or buy anything.  The name is obvious – but what about the goal?

To stop and think about what and how much [...]