Posted On: April 16, 2010
Comments: One Response
When schlepping more stuff into the house the other day, a brilliant idea hit me:
How about a family project in which we try to acquire nothing new for one month. (Okay, except for food…
Posted On: November 27, 2009
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What do your Christmas memories look like? With any luck, you see some heartfelt, colorful scenes of gathering, feasting, singing, baking, decorating, giving, gratitude and more. Let’s hope those traditions live on—whatever your beliefs. And…
Posted On: September 19, 2009
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The suffering economy may be leading people to couponing and cocooning, but we’re still suffocating in stuff. Gosh, when I recently took some high-quality clothes to a local consignment store, they rejected almost all of…
Posted On: June 29, 2009
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We blame the banks. Blame the Wall Streeters. Blame the Joneses. But once again, we did it ourselves. This fine article reminds us that the average credit card debt has hovered around $8,400. And more…
Posted On: June 12, 2009
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I may be topping off a glass that’s not even half-full. But buried in this dreary personal wealth story are some—okay, a few—signs that Americans are learning fast during this disastrous downturn. Can compulsive spenders…
Posted On: May 18, 2009
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A recent survey published in TIME reveals that more than half of Americans are losing faith in the future of the American Dream. No surprise there, and perhaps it’s even a contrarian indicator? After all,…
Posted On: December 1, 2008
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The news has been all over the airwaves and screens for ten days now. Say it ain’t true: Consumer spending in October slipped by 1%.
Yet when I painstakingly avoided Shoporama-Land last weekend, Black Friday…
Posted On: November 29, 2008
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Sorta brings new meaning to the term “Black Friday,” doesn’t it?
From our good friends at Wiki:
“In many cities it is not uncommon to see shoppers lined up hours before stores with big sales…
Posted On: November 23, 2008
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Oh jeez. Looks like Santa’s going to be a bit of a Grinch this X-mas, among other signs of the times…
88% will spend the same or less on gifts
83% will buy more items…
Posted On: November 22, 2008
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Here’s a book recommendation—for anyone who can handle relatively scholarly tomes.
It’s “The Great Inflation and Its Aftermath: The Past and Future of American Affluence,” by Robert J. Samuelson. He’s out promoting it now, so…
