In today's edition of the New York Times, David Leonhardt's article "Distractions and Bargains Bought in Bulk" questions whether consumers get fooled into thinking they're...

My family and I ate out this weekend and had lousy service. It wasn't that the waitress was bad--on the contrary, she was pretty good, but the restaurant had her working a ridiculous number of...

I like this article about the psychology of spending. It's not earth-shattering stuff--it basically says that people have different things that they're willing to pay a premium for. They use...

In my last post, I gave props to Triple A for its excellent handling of my car trouble yesterday. While I mentioned that paying for a tow truck might have been equivalent to the cost for my AAA...

In this world of defective products, broken promises and surly customer service, it is only right to give praise to those who buck the trend. The object of my affections today: AAA. My car...

At my day job (aka, the job in which I actually make a living), I think about credit cards. A lot. I think about low interest credit cards, balance transfer credit cards, cash back credit cards, gas...

Thanks to Writer@Large for pointing to this one that shows you the most expensive and least expensive cars to insure. Just for fun, here are the 20 cars. Guess if each belongs in the least or most...

This is a photo of our cleaning woman, Lydia. Unbeknownst to my wife, I requested she dress this way but had Lydia play it off by telling my wife that our house was much too hot and she couldn't...

It used to be you were safe out on the sidewalk. Now this: It's a new way to do retail. From Tom Cruise's finger tips in The Minority Report to shoppers on Madison Avenue. The Ralph Lauren...

Although her grass definitely needs a cutting, this woman appears happy with her home. But, is she happy because it's a great home, or happy because she knows its value is rising and one day...

There are a lot of financial products out there that claim to protect you, and most are, in the words of Guy Kawasaki, total shiitake. The worst culprits: extended warranties and insurance. I believe...

I use a provocative title on this post, with perhaps not as much of a payoff as I'd like. Nevertheless, I read this Motley Fool article today about the benefits of shopping late and thought it was...

At Motley Fool, Selena Maranjian (who cranks out so many articles she must be writing in her sleep) is discussing the age-old hypothetical, which goes something like "If you could just (quit...

I recently got ripped off by a vending machine that took my money and did not deliver the Reese's peanut butter cup I desired. This has happened to everyone at some time or another. Of course what...

I'm not generally one to go fishing for the free trinkets that various Web sites or retailers give out -- today's list from A Momma and the Boys shows that a lot of the free stuff you can get...

I'm really intrigued by these services like Skype that allow for free phone calls between computers, as long as both computers have the software installed. You can also call out or call in to...

Funerals are a tough time, of course--but putting them on your credit card that offers airline miles really softens the blow!......

I've always believed that the best you can do economically when it comes to car buying is to get a used car and drive it into the ground. I would never buy new, as cars depreciate by thousands of...