Fresh after posting on whether small credit card charges are shameful or otherwise to be avoided, I got a comment on that post. “Paul” asks: “Wasn’t a provision of the financial reform bill that passed this July that store owners are now legally allowed to not accept a credit card charge for less than $10? … Read more
If keeping your day job is the cake, then investing in yourself outside of your day job is at least the icing, or maybe even another four or five cakes’ worth. But if that sounds like way too much work, there’s always the chance you can hit the jackpot by suing the entity that consumed … Read more
Smithee, a staff writer over at Consumerism Commentary, gave his opinions on the positive opt-in that’s now necessary for banks and credit unions to enroll customers in overdraft privilege services. In a previous life as a Bank of America customer service representative, he had to tell customers that they couldn’t opt out of the overdraft … Read more
David Ning over at Money Ning disagrees with the conclusion of this how-rich-is-rich article from CNN Money (via Yahoo! Finance). The conclusion is that it might be necessary to have $12 million banked to retire. Now, to be fair, the $12 million figure comes from assumptions are out of reach for most people: In retirement … Read more
User davr over at a new web applications question-and-answer site is looking for BugMeNot alternatives that don’t suck. For those of you not familiar with BugMeNot.com, this is a site that collects username and password combinations that allow access to web material that is behind a free registration firewall. Here’s how someone would use the … Read more
A friend recently took a job as a restaurant server to stop a mercifully-brief bout with unemployment. He’s a quick study: after only a week his tips are averaging 20% and only one server is doing better. Not a poor server by any stretch. A few days ago comes this little gem in his updates: … Read more
Update July 9, 2014: Good employees can turn things around. Check here. Update May 24, 2025: Updating some links. I recently purchased a keyboard at Guitar Center: an open-box Yamaha DGX-230 Portable Grand. (Update: this was similar to a Yahama PSRE-473.) I’ve been working with a trumpet player who has a need for a keyboard player that … Read more
Smart Money’s recent article, Ten things not to buy in 2010, listed the who’s who of soon-to-be-obsolete consumer products. Among them: CDs, DVDs, and newspapers. Newspapers, I can understand, especially after seeing a comedian absolutely decimate the folks at the New York Times. (Though I do fully recognize their point that news gathering is expensive … Read more