Jan 23
The USAToday story: Five-cent highway robbery? Bag fee sparks rebellion reports that the first-of-its-kind law in the nation, requiring Washington D.C. shoppers to pay five cents for each disposable bag, is prompting some strangely false frugal behavior.
The newspaper reports Saturday that the 5-cent fee, begun New Year’s Day, is causing some people to shop instead in Virginia, where there’s a higher food tax, and others to carry armloads of food and beverages to their cars or offices, sometimes with disastrous results.
Virginia Johnson, in rejecting a plastic bag, saved five pennies on her $20 sushi order but then stumbled and watched the whole tray hit the ground.
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Jan 20
High unemployment rates and sluggish recovery in the job market mean that many Americans are still budgeting carefully and watching every penny that leaves their wallets. It’s times like these when studies like the one conducted by researchers at San Francisco State University can help us make important spending decisions.
Memories Last Longer than Stuff
The new budget study examined recent purchases made by adults enrolled at SFSU. Here’s what the researchers discovered:
Happiness from things
fades. On average, researchers found, the thrill brought about by new objects faded in six weeks to three months. T
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Jan 19
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Yes, you really can negotiate the cost of medical care
Although many people are not aware of it, the medical industry is one of the few American industries where negotiating the price is not only acceptable, but common.
HMO’s usually negotiate lower prices in advance and that is why prices can be much higher for uninsured and the under insured.
In addition, the practice of price negotiation is not only available through major institutions. I
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Jan 19
It rained like the cliche, “cats and dogs” today. Loved it. It was fun to finally see sleet and hail pound on the roof of our home after so many long months of having no weather (e.g. I mean: weather that isn’t too exciting ). In California, we have two types of weather: warm and slightly warm. So when the rains visit us, it can be fun.
And it immediately reminded me that our house is now beginning to require maintenance. A good amount of it. For example, it has become mighty obvious that we’ll need to repaint our entire house by the summer. And we need the gutters cleaned. I wante
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